30 Jun

  • BMW plans to sell 1100 6 Series Coupe in a full year. 90% of sales will be the 640d, which returns 51.4mpg and emits 144g/km CO2.

29 Jun

  • The 56.2mpg (67.4mpg UK) 2025 US fuel economy target debate rumbles on. Detroit Senator Carl Levine has written to the White House, asking how it arrived at the 56.2mpg target. The EPA and NHTSA are also pushing for a review. (Det)
  • A 34.1mpg (40.9mpg UK) fuel economy target by 2016 was set in 2009: the EPA and NHTSA say this will cost the US car industry $51.5bn.
  • Saab has secured a €25m bridging loan – with this week’s other cash-generating activity, it takes total funds raised up to €66m. Enough, says Saab Automobile CEO Victor Muller, to restart production within 2 weeks.
  • Daimler is considering broadening its cooperation with the Renault-Nissan Alliance, as the current plans are successful and ahead of schedule. They include joint development of a new RWD platform for a future smart fortwo, a smart-four-seater and the new Renault Twingo.
  • Other ventures include Renault supplying Daimler with 3 and 4 cylinder petrol and diesel engines for the new smart range, plus Mercedes A- and B-Class. In return, Daimler will supply Infiniti with 4 and 6 cylinder petrol and diesel engines. (AN)
  • The global new car market in 2016 will reach 90 million – Carlos Ghosn.

28 Jun

  • Saab has agreed a sale and leaseback deal for 50.1% of its property, with Swedish real estate investors. This raises £25m: Saab has a 15-year lease agreement in place, with one year lease-free.
  • Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited MG Motor Longbridge over the weekend. Conscious of the debt crisis some EU countries are suffering, he said he hoped for more Anglo-Chinese trade. The MG6 he saw is a tribute to marrying “English design, Chinese production and English assembly”. (ANC)
  • How can China and the UK compete in the future? By using, said Wen Jiabao, Chinese funds, labour and market with British technology and management.

27 Jun

  • The Lotus Advisory Council meets 4 times a year to advise the redeveloping brand. Members are: Bob Lutz (he’s the chairman), Tom Purves, Frank Tuch and Professor Burkhard Goschel. They get travel expenses and a loan Lotus Evora. (PH)
  • Ford’s operating profit in 2010 was 6.1%. It wants to raise this to 8-9% by 2015 – selling 50% more cars in the process. (WW)
  • An unnamed Chinese company has ordered 582 new Saab, and will pay the full £12m amount this week. It means Saab can pay its employees’ wages and also start paying suppliers. However, production is not scheduled to restart.
  • Toyota’s Burnaston plant is the only one in the world building the Avensis. 85% of its capacity exported to 47 countries – with Japan now added to that list. 750 Avensis a month will head from Derby to Japan, as Toyota expands its home market ‘European’ offer.
  • Since 1997, 1.8 million Toyota Avensis have been built at Burnaston.

26 Jun

  • Shares in Chinese car companies have risen following reports the government may revise or remove limits on car registrations in Beijing. 891k cars were sold there last year, but the government has placed a 240k cap on registrations for 2011.
  • President Obama is considering a 56.2mpg requirement for new car sales in the US, to be imposed in 2025. This is part of a plan to raise fuel economy by 5% per year over an 8-year period. That’s US gallons, too: the European equivalent is 67.4mpg. Car makers are arguing against it, saying it would add up to £1600 to the price of a new car.
  • The current US target is 30.2mpg, or 36.2mpg in European gallons. Raising the target to 56.2mpg would, say analysts, save up to £4300 over the lifetime of the car: that £1600 up-front cost would be recovered in 2.5-3.5 years.
  • There are 160 Lotus dealers worldwide, says the firm: 14 or 15 in the UK. (HA)

25 Jun

  • Saab’s rescue by Pang Da is still on track, said a Pang Da board member, despite Saab’s short-term funding problems. They’re not fundamental problems, the board member said. (AN)
  • Ford has fallen from 5th to 23rd in the JD Power Initial Quality Survey (which measures satisfaction in the first 90 days of ownership). Technology, specifically Ford’s MyFordTouch touchscreen and Ford Sync onboard systems, is the cause.
  • J.D. Power says new cars (122 problems per 100 cars) are worse than updated cars (103 problems per 100). Making the trend of modernising existing platforms more valid?
  • Compact cars (VW Golf-sized models) make up 14% of the US car market so far this year. In the UK, they take around 26% of sales. Europe also has superminis below this, accounting for 36% of sales in the UK. Then there’s city cars below this, too…
  • Best selling compact car in the US? Honda Civic.
  • Audi pays a royalty to VW for every A3 it builds on the Golf platform. (AID)

24 Jun

  • Saab faces a bankruptcy threat from its worker unions. They will issue a formal demand for the payment of wages on Monday. The  firm has seven days to respond: if payment is not forthcoming, unions will demand the firm is made bankrupt. (AN)
  • What do old Saabs turn into? When their production lines are bought by Chinese firm BAIC, they turn into this: is the C70 9-5 better or worse than the ‘spectacles’ facelift?
  • Nissan GB has a new MD – Jim Wright, a former Nissan sales and marketing man, who returns to Maple Cross after leading Infiniti Europe. He’s been with Nissan and Infiniti since 1993.
  • Opel/Vauxhall boss Nick Reilly says Q2 earnings are ‘on track’ – and could be ahead of plans. To be announced in July, they’ll be part of Opel/Vauxhall’s plans to break even in 2011. As they’re ahead of schedule, could this mean a profit will be announced in July? (AN)
  • Any Opel/Vauxhall profit will be welcomed by the GM top brass. GM Europe was the only region to lose money in 2011 – a full $1.6bn. The roadmap has profits pencilled in for 2012.

23 Jun

  • Saab has issued a statement saying it is unable to pay the wages of employees, due to a lack of short-term funding. Efforts to find a solution continue – including the sale and leaseback of Saab real estate – but, said the statement, “there can however be no assurance that these discussions will be successful or that the necessary funding will be obtained.”
  • Hyundai UK sales 2008: 28k. 2010: 62k.

22 Jun

  • The Indian new car market is growing 20% every year: 1.2m sales in 2005 will rise to 3m by the end of 2011. It will become the world’s 4th-largest market in 2015. 60% of buyers are first-timers; 57% are under 35. (Renault)
  • China detail: it is the National Development and Reform Council – NDRC – that rubberstamps all the mergers and acquisitions with foreign companies. It is this body that Saab needs to win over in its deal with Youngmanand Pang Da.
  • Volkswagen Group will invest €85m in equipping its Bratislava production facility with a new small car pressing division. This will employ 100 people and begin production of New Small Family car components in 2013 – signposting the arrival of the Volkswagen Up! shortly after? (FT)
  • The Slovakia plant built 145k Porsche Cayenne, Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg last year, a 36% rise. 99.3% are exported.
  • Saab wants its 800 suppliers, to whom it owes $47m, to accept a payment deal: 10% now, the rest in September. It is also promising to ‘pay on delivery’, 5-6 days after parts are delivered. Car production remains halted. (AN)

21 Jun

  • Saab production is halted, and won’t restart for at least two weeks. Short-term cash is the issue, while the Chinese authorities process the JV with Youngman and Pang Da. (AN)
  • Honda wants to reduce CO2 by 30% over 2000 levels by 2020. Interestingly, it says this will be from all its products, not just cars.
  • Volvo has topped the J. D. Power customer satisfaction tables in Germany, overtaking Mercedes. Mazda is third, then MINI and Honda.
  • Ford is investing $1bn to revive Lincoln. So far this year, it has sold just 35,000 cars in the US – less than 1% market share. The plan is to boost an 80k 2011 total to 150k by 2015. GM boss Dan Akerson is unimpressed: “You may as well sprinkle holy water. It’s over,” he reportedly said… (AN)
  • The supply chain represents about 40% of the retail price of a car. (SMMT, via @sam_burnett)
  • Lotus is building its own 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine – as emissions laws mean volume car makers will stop building their own come 2015. (Car)

20 Jun

  • Hyundai is the latest big car firm to say it isn’t interested in buying Opel/Vauxhall. Fiat said no last week, and Volkswagen has also said it’s not interested. (AN)
  • Hyundai, which has recently joined ACEA, has big plans of its own: boost EU sales by 40% in two years. It wants to sell 400k cars this year, up 10%, and sell half a million in 2013.
  • Volkswagen Group is Europe’s top car maker, with a 23.9% share. PSA is second wiht 13.5%, Renault 3rd with 8.9%, GM 4th with 8.8%, Ford fifth with 8%. Hyundai is currently 9th.
  • Could Maybach become a sub-brand of Mercedes, like AMG? A decision on its future has been delayed by a month, while Daimler decides. A JV with Aston Martin remains an option too.

20 Jun

  • Toyota is well ahead of schedule in restoring production, with a full inventory being claimed for most cars. Lexus and the Toyota Prius are the exceptions. (AN)
  • Toyota factory orders were 30% better in June than in May – and July will be double May’s levels. The pace of the recovery has surprised many in the industry.
  • Toyota is offering lease customers a 6-month extension if the model they want is not available for delivery – along with a $750 retail coupon.
  • 53% of car purchases begin with an online search: 26% begin with a dealer visit. Google Gearshift soon expects 8 in 10 car purchases to start with an online search.

19 Jun

  • Pang Da chairman Pang Qinghua expects the Chinese government to approve the joint venture with Youngman and Saab, as the due diligence process nears its end.
  • All Chinese companies wanting to acquire or partner with a foreign company has to seek approval from the Government. Only then can they submit an application to open a joint venture.
  • Likely confusion: Youngman chairman is Pang Qingnian. Pangda chairman is Pang Qinghua. Confused yet?
  • China is close to setting standards for car recalls. Since May, Changan Ford, Mitsubishi, Cadillac, Jaguar, Shanghai GM and Dongfeng Peugeot have all issued recalls.

18 Jun

  • May EU car sales were up 7.6%, to 1.25 million. Germany was up 22%, France was up 6.1%: they are the two largest European car markets.
  • VW rose 16% to grab a 23.9% EU share. BMW was up 22%, GM 10%, Ford 9.7%. Toyota was down 9.5%, Renault was down 8%.

17 Jun

  • Volvo has started imports of the S60 to China. However, the Geely-owned firm’s rival Chang’an has also announced it will soon start building the S60 in China.
  • Lotus has launched in China, with a Beijing ceremony marking the debut of Lutesi. Zhang Lichen will be the Chinese importer. Not Youngman, which also uses the Lotus in China. Youngman uses the Lianhua tag (the literal Chinese translation): hence Lotus OE going with Lutesi (the phonetic version). Fewer than 200 Lotus will be sold in China, to dodge homologation issues: the model range will include Exige, Elise and Evora. (CCT)
  • Porsche has announced a 38.4% rise in sales so far in 2011 – taking it up to 50k cars (much of this growth is from new markets, but it is predicting a 20% rise in Europe for 2011 too). From Jan-May, it made a profit of £606m.Volkswagen Group itself delivered 3.37m cars, a 14.6% increase.
  • Ford says the Galaxy is the UK’s best-selling full-size MPV, with a commanding 64% share of the market. 3500 have been sold so far this year.

16 Jun

  • Eaton is promoting its small-engine Twin Vortices Series superchargers as alternatives to turbos on small capacity engines. They’re easier to install and work better at lower revs, says the firm: the Nissan Micra already offers a 1.2-litre supercharger and Eaton hopes others will follow. (CNET)
  • Renault has been in China since the early 1990s, with home brand Sanjiang. The alliance has been messy until now, but Carlos Ghosn has given it new impetus: within the next 3-5 years, Renault aims to sell 100,000 cars per year in China. Last year, it sold just under 15,000 cars. (GG)
  • The Chinese government wants to rationalise its home car industry. Currently, there are over 100 Chinese brands. Leaders want this to be cut: the aim is for 10 car brands to command 90% of the market. (BB)

15 Jun

  • Ford has committed the NEXT generation Focus to Saarlouis in Germany, and the NEXT Ford Fiesta to Cologne. The Fiesta will also get a facelift in 2012.
  • Other Ford long-term news includes two new models at Valencia – Kuga and Transit Connect – while Saarlouis will make the Focus Electric next year. Ford’s Romanian plant will build the B-Max and Turkey will get the new Transit, plus another all-new LCV.
  • Lotus China launched today, called Lutesi and boasting the addition of ‘NYO’ (new) to the Lotus roundel. The new name is to differ it from Youngman Lianhua Lotus.
  • The Volkswagen Tiguan is VW’s 4th best seller, behind the Golf, Polo and Passat. 600,000 have been built in 4 years.
  • Great Wall Motor will open its first European plant this September in Bulgaria. It will initially built knockdown kits of an SUV, pickup and small car – capacity will initially be 50,000 a year. (JA)

14 Jun

  • Saab news in detail:  The firm has signed a MOU with Pang Da and Youngman for distribution and manufacturing in China, in an equity participation deal worth €245. Pang Da has invested €109 and Youngman will invest €135m (up from €65m when the MOU was announced on 16 May).
  • Pang Da has a 24% stake in Saab parent Spyker. Youngman now has 29.9%. Both get two seats on the board.
  • Saab is thus now 53.9% Chinese-owned.
  • The manufacturing joint venture is 45% Youngman, 45% Saab, 10% Pang Da.
  • The distribution join venture is 33% Youngman, 34% Pang Da, 33% Saab.
  • Aston Martin and Maybach are to team up for a new concept car, to be shown at this September’s Frankfurt Motor Show. (AC)
  • MINI claims it has more information and raw on EV usage patterns than any other maker, thanks to its ongoing MINI E trials.
  • Honda expects a 63% fall in full-year profits due to the Japanese earthquake. Net income may fall to $2.4bn. Last month, Honda sales were down 23% in the US and 32% in China.
  • Daimler will decide on the future of Maybach by 30 June, said Dieter Zetsche. The Aston Martin link means the odds are good. A turnaround is needed: original plans were to build 1500 Maybach a year. Last year, 157 were built. (AN)

13 Jun

  • The Beijing Auto Show, to be held at the end of October, is expected to attract more than 200 new cars. Mercedes and BMW have both apparently expressed a desire to attend.
  • Chinese-built new car sales were up 8% in China in Q1 2011 – but imports were up 42%, to 234,000.
  • It’s now in force for cars: now, vans will become the latest new vehicles that have to meet Euro 5 emissions legislation. The deadline is the end of the year. Vauxhall has jumped early: it has deleted the 1.3 CDTi and 1.9 CDTi engines in the Astravan, for a new Euro 5 1.7 CDTi.
  • Saab news: Youngman has entered the frame – the Chinese manufacturing specialists have been named as the manufacturing partner to build Saabs in China, following the 16 May MOU between the two.
  • Nissan will sell around 10,000 LEAF in the US this year, half the original target. Production and delivery delays have hampered rollout.

12 Jun

  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed frustration GM has not fully clarified its position on Opel/Vauxhall. She is said to be seeking ‘clarification’.
  • Toyota predicting a 31% profits drop this year due to Japanese earthquake (it has lost 670,000 units of production) and strength of Yen. Still means Toyota will make $3.75bn (although this is a 36% decline). (AN)
  • Remarkably, Toyota will actually end the year with a rise in global production: it will make up in the second half of the year with overtime and speeded-up production lines.
  • Good read by Steve Cropley, summarising the current good news for the UK car industry. (AC)
  • Chevrolet has upgraded the Volt for 2012, with two new colours outside and in, plus 7 options packs (the 2011 model had 3). The base price has also been cut, to $39,995 – because the firm has taken out the previously-standard sat nav and Bose stereo. This has created the new entry model: they remain in other cars. (DET)
  • Chevrolet is still on schedule to roll out the Volt in all 50 US states by the end of the year.

11 Jun

  • Trends indicate US car buyers are shifting away from Honda and Toyota. Why? Hyundai and Kia are no longer budget, Ford and GM are no longer unreliable, VW is no longer overpriced. (AN)
  • Hyundai has restarted production at its Seoul plant that makes Sonata and Grandeur, after an employee threatening suicide halted the plant. He complained Hyundai was ‘suppressing the labour movement’. The plants can make 1200 Sonata and Grandeur a day: annual capacity is 240,000. (AN)

10 Jun

  • GM CEO Dan Akerson is ‘frustrated’ with Opel/Vauxhall’s inability to make money – but won’t sell it. Last year, Opel and Vauxhall lost $1.6bn. (ANE)
  • Who could buy it, if it was for sale? Well, VW Group has almost €20bn available to spend…
  • Toyota expects European sales to once again hit 1m within two years. This year, however, it forecasts worldwide sales will decline by more than 30%.
  • The US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has revealed SUV drivers now have the highest probability of survival in a crash. A complete turnaround: they were once the ones most likely to die. Greater use of ESC is being cited as one cause, as it reduces rollovers. The study looked at crashes between 2005-2008. (AN)

9 Jun

  • France halted its scrappage scheme at the end of 2011: new car sales are suffering as a result. Renault Twingo Q1 sales were down 70%, Scenic were down 44%. Peugeot has chopped the entry 207 price to £9200, Citroenhas cut 30% off some C3 Picasso – which Renault has beaten with a 43% discount off some Clios. (AE)
  • France’s best selling car last year was the Peugeot 207, with the Renault Clio in second.
  • Volvo sales were up 42% in China in May – making it Volvo’s 3rd largest market after the US and Sweden. Sales were also up 58% in the US and 44% in Sweden: 41,465 sales in May was a 42% rise for the Geely-owned firm.

8 Jun

  • 1 in 3 new Audi sold in the UK is an Audi A3. (HA)
  • Audi sales grew 19.5% last month, thanks to a 44.6% increase in China, which now accounts for 1 in 5 VW Group sales.
  • Aston Martin is shifting Rapide production from Magna Steyr Austria to its Gaydon HQ. The shift will happen in the second half of 2012. Magna currently builds the MINI Countryman, Peugeot RCZ and Mercedes G-Class.
  • SMMT new car sales data shows the UK fleet market was up 10.7%. Retail, however, was down 15.3%, and 18.9% year-to-date. Hence lots of car firms launching fleet-friendly specials, with sat nav and other corporate essentials.
  • Key stat behind today’s Nissan Qashqai news? 83.6% of the car’s 3779 parts comes from one of 224 UK suppliers.
  • Saab production, which restarted on May 27, was halted yesterday. It restarted this morning, but has since halted again. The Just-In-Time production system is being blamed: some suppliers have not made parts at all for two months. (ANE)
  • Meanwhile, the Saab/Pang Da deal awaits Chinese government approval. If it goes through, it will solve Saab’s medium term problems, said an insider: it will be good until the end of 2012.
  • The Chevrolet Cruze hatchback goes on sale next month. The firm will use it to promote an ‘holistic’ multi-model offer to fleet sales – the Cruze hatch is a key corporate car for the budget maker with big UK sales increase aims.
  • BMW plans to make 600-800,000 front drive cars a year, badged as both BMW and MINI. The firm reckons the premium small car market will grow between 4-6% each year until 2020. (AC)

7 Jun

  • Ford Mustang and Mazda6 are currently built in the same Flat Rock US car plant. Not for long, though: Mazda is pulling out. Last year, it built 36k Mazda6 there, two-thirds less than it wanted to. Ford built 78k Mustang. (ANE)
  • Mazda is also struggling with widening losses: the latest financial full year showed a $742m loss.
  • Ford plans to increase sales by 50% come 2015. It wants to sell 8 million cars a year. By 2020, over half of these will be small cars. (DET)
  • GM has come to Saab’s rescue: in May, the only Saab in production was the Mexican-built 9-4X. Bringing in small but vital revenue for Saab.

6 Jun

  • GM CEO Dan Akerson says the firm will have two global brands in the future - Chevrolet and Cadillac. Chevrolet is ready now, Cadillac will take 1-2yrs to get a range of global-ready cars. GM is also planning a tech push. The Chevrolet Volt will be seen as ‘old’ in five years’ time.
  • GM wants to produce 8 million cars a year – and, like Toyota, Akerson intents 3-4 models to be responsible for half those. (DET)
  • The New Bus for London will emit 40% less NOx and 33% less PM than current double-deckers. it will average 10mpg, which is 40% better than current models. Prototypes arrive in November and it will go into service in 2012 (TfL)

5 Jun

  • Chinese car sales will grow 15% a year until 2015, predict analysts. The potential is huge: 72% of urban households with an annual income exceeding £9250 own a car… but they represents only 10% of households in the country. (CCT)

4 Jun

  • The FIA has called for a ‘clear vision and more integrated framework’ for EVs. This may include a green car labelling scheme, to help clear confusion over EV eco benefits. It comes as pressure to clarify the EV green picture increases, following the EU’s €5bn 2008 Green Car Initiative.

3 Jun

  • More on Ford’s new engines: the 1.0 3-cylinder will be an Ecoboost, with the performance of a 1.6 but 20% better efficiency. Ecoboost = direct injection, turbocharger. According to Ford global powertrain head, people now don’t count cylinders, but rank engines on performance. (DET)
  • BMW is the leading luxury car brand in the US, usurping Lexus which led for 11 years. BMW sales are up 16%, Lexus are down 45% 9due to the earthquake). Mercedes is up 1.8% and Audi is up 14%. (AN)
  • Fiat has secured a majority stake in Chrysler, by paying $500m for the US government’s 6% share.
  • Lotus is the latest brand looking to China for sales volume. Next month, it will hold a launch ceremony. But, in a perfect irony following the recent High Court action, the cars can’t be called Lotus. Home truck makerYoungman owns the rights over there…
  • Ford is planning to built 1.5m Ecoboost engines by 2013 – up from its original target of 1.3 million.

2 Jun

  • US car sales fell for the first time in 8 months in May. They still topped the 1m mark though, with 1.06 million new cars sold. Chrysler was a winner, with sales up 10%; Japanese car makers were down due to the impact of the earthquake. (DET)
  • Ford plans to build its first-ever 3-cylinder engine. A worldwide motor, it will have an output similar to today’s 4-cylinder units… but be much greener. (DET)
  • The French government wants Carlos Ghosn to dedicate more of his time to Renault, and build new larger cars (presumably for the ministerial fleet). (ANE)
  • Pang Da has just paid €15m for a further 630 Saabs – again, cash up front. They’ll be delivered in Q3.
  • French car worker labour costs are the third highest in Europe, behind only Germany and Belgium. It is eight times more costly to employ a French worker than a Romanian one. (ANE)
  • The US government will lose less than 20% of its $80bn car maker bailout. The $14bn loss is far less than originally estimated. Back in 2009, a 60% loss was estimated. (DET)

1 Jun

  • Coventry -based Liberty Electric Cars has acquired the engineering talent of Modec, which folded earlier in the year. The 12 experts have created EV CVs that have covered 2.5 million miles – ‘the most experienced CV EV team in the world’.

News: May 2011

News: April 2011

News: March 2011

News: February 2011

News: January 2011