GM: Turnaround Continues With $891 Million Profit

General Motors this morning posted a better-than-forecasted second-quarter profit of $891 million, compared with a $3.4 billion loss in the same quarter a year ago.

GM's improved financial performance suggests the automaker's turnaround plan is progressing.

Investors liked the news as GM shares were on the rise in early electronic trading, Reuters reported.

Now, the question is can GM be profitable for a full year after two years of losses?

(Read more...)

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GM Offers Long, No-Interest Loans on Trucks

General Motors began offering zero percent financing for up to 60 months on its full-size Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks over the weekend and will continue through September 4.

The incentives are in response to similarly aggressive ones being offered by Ford, Chrysler and Toyota on their trucks.

GM reports second-quarter earnings Tuesday and is expected to announce disappointing sales again for July. Edmunds.com is forecasting a nearly 19 percent fall in year-over-year sales for GM, which reports sales on Wednesday.

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Tower Automotive CEO Steps Down

One of the auto industry’s highest-ranking women, Kathleen Ligocki, has stepped down as CEO of struggling auto supplier Tower Automotive. She will become a consultant for Tower’s new owner, Cerberus Capital Management, which is also buying Chrysler.

Ligocki, 50, has been president and CEO of Detroit area-based Tower since August 2003. She joined Tower from Ford, where she had been personally recruited by then CEO Jac Nasser.

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New Chrysler: Wolfgang Bernhard Reportedly to Return

As many predicted, Wolfgang Bernhard reportedly will become chairman of the board of the New Chrysler when the upcoming owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, takes over, possibly by this Friday.

Few know Chrysler better. Cerberus hired Bernhard, who left Chrysler for Volkswagen in a political dispute and left VW for the same reason, as an adviser when it was negotiating to buy Chrysler.

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GM Profit Predicted: Modest? Disappointing?

Industry analysts expect General Motors will report a second-quarter profit -– around $639 million -- when it announces its financial results tomorrow. Some say it will be a modest profit; still others say earnings will be disappointing.

On the plus side, analysts say GM is benefiting from a high proportion of sales coming from trucks and well-equipped vehicles in North America and strong growth in emerging markets in Asia, Europe and Latin America. On the negative side, however, GM, despite successful launches of new models, is struggling for sales, market share and profits in its home market.

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The New Chrysler: Still Connected Under the Hood with Daimler and Others

By Bill Visnic

The “breakup” of Daimler-Benz and the Chrysler Group is nearly complete, with Chrysler’s new owner, Cerberus Capital Management, due to ink the deal any day now. But like a married couple that’s amicably split, the two companies will continue to “get along” -- continuing with many technical, manufacturing and development ventures neither company is seeking to put asunder.

For one, Chrysler will stay connected in an under-the-hood venture with Daimler and other entities because of the capital-intensive nature of developing new powertrain technologies for global use. Chrysler said recently will spend upward of $3 billion on new, efficiency-enhancing powertrain initiatives over the next several years.

One other reason Chrysler and Daimler will maintain amicable post-breakup relations: the oft-overlooked detail that Daimler will hold a 19.9-percent equity interest in the new Cerberus-owned Chrysler, legally known as Chrysler Holding LLC.

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Ford Makes Money

After seven quarters of losses despite cost-cutting, Ford reported a surprise second-quarter profit.

Ford posted a net profit of $750 million, compared with a loss of $317 million a year earlier. Revenue increased to $44.2 billion from $41.9 billion a year earlier.

"Overall our plan is working and is showing clear signs of progress. We have a long way to go,"€ Ford CEO Alan Mulally said Thursday in a statement. Ford is closing 16 plants, cutting up to 45,000 jobs and trying to sell Jaguar and Land Rover.

Ford said it was doing a strategic review of Volvo, which has been rumored to be up for sale. That review will conclude by year-end.

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Edmunds.com Forecast: July Sales Down

Summer 2007 is turning out to be rather unusual compared to summers of the recent past, and it is showing up in sales.

This summer, no big blowout, model-year-end incentives are being offered -- yet -- to consumers to clean up leftover inventories. In recent years, General Motors has led the parade with big campaigns that have forced others to follow, But throughout this year, GM has tempered its incentives.

As a result, in part, July new vehicle sales, to be announced next week, are expected to be down for the industry, according to Edmunds.com's forecast.

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Chrysler Offers Lifetime Powertrain Warranty

Chrysler was expected to announce this morning that it will offer a lifetime powertrain warranty on vehicles sold beginning today.

Believed to be the first of its kind in the industry, the warranty applies to the original owner of the vehicle and is not transferable.

The warranty covers virtually all new Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep models, with a few exceptions, sold beginning today. It does not cover rental cars and special fleet vehicles, like for police and fire departments.

A no-charge inspection is required every five years, within 60 days of the vehicle's every five-year anniversary.

Posted by at 7:45 AM under Chrysler, News | Comments (7) | digg this | del.icio.us

Toyota To Test Plug-In Hybrids in Japan, Europe and U.S.

The plug-in hybrid race is on.

Toyota announced in Japan today that it has developed a plug-in hybrid that it will test on public roads in Japan, Europe and the U.S.

Like other Toyota hybrids, the Toyota Plug-in HV uses a gasoline internal combustion engine, an electric motor and a nickel-metal hydride battery –- not the advanced lithium-ion batteries currently under development.

The five-passenger Toyota Plug-in HV, like the Chevrolet Volt concept unveiled by General Motors at this year’s Detroit auto show, uses increased battery capacity to allow longer electric-motor-only cruising mode and a battery-charging device that replenishes the batteries using household electricity. That enables the car to run more often in gasoline-free, electric-only mode, such as on short trips in city driving.

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Cadillac Prices 2008 CTS Above Competitors

General Motors isn’t being shy about the pricing of its dramatically restyled 2008 Cadillac CTS.

The base MSRP on the CTS, arriving in showrooms in late August, will be $32,990, including the $745 delivery fee.

That is $540 less than the base price of an outgoing 2007 CTS equipped with the same 3.6-liter V6 engine; the 2007 CTS started at $33,530.

Still, according to Edmunds.com’s analysis, only two of the CTS’s main competitors -– the Acura TL and Mercedes-Benz C280, have higher base prices. Those models are near the end of their product lifecycles so dealers are heavily discounting them, noted Michael Lumunsad, Edmunds.com product development manager.

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2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid Price: Less for Less

Toyota announced it has dropped the price of its 2008 Camry Hybrid by $1,000 to $25,860, apparently to boost sales in an intensifying midsize car market with a growing number of hybrids in the category.

Toyota’s move on the Camry Hybrid echoes a similar one on the Prius in April. But there's a big difference between the two.

Toyota achieved the Camry Hybrid markdown through removing standard equipment from the base model to lower the base MSRP; it accomplished the Prius’ price reduction by lowering option prices, not dropping equipment, noted Alex Rosten, Edmunds.com’s manager of pricing and market analysis.

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GM Incentives Offered – on 2006 Models

Who knew there were still 2006 models on the lot collecting dust?

On the eve of the 2008 model year, General Motors is offering no-interest loans for up to five years on all 2006 models. The incentives started July 21 and run through the end of this month.

Posted by at 6:49 AM under GM, News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Fiat: The Turnaround Kid

It was too long ago that Fiat had been given up for nearly dead.

But today, the Italian automaker reported its second-quarter profit more than doubled (sales were higher for the 18th consecutive month), increased its share of the European car market and surpassed Volkswagen's operating margins.

Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne earns the credit. He led Fiat to its first profit in five years in 2005. He changed management and products -– new compelling ones like the Grand Punto that share more components underneath.

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Guest Commentary: Detroit's Big Three on the Road to Oblivion

By Richard Feast

Oh, how my old colleagues in the U.S. liked to tease if the topic of the decline of the U.K. auto industry arose.

The derision was deserved. The U.K. automotive industry was second in scale only to that of the U.S. in the 1950s. It was the world’s leading car exporter, putting bread on hundreds of thousands of tables across the country.

Today, the U.K.’s indigenous manufacturers have either vanished or been taken over by foreign competitors. No other country has so nonchalantly kissed good-bye so much potential wealth-creation in so short a time.

But events in the U.S. auto industry, where the Big Three's share is nearing less than 50 percent, parallel those in the U.K. a couple of decades ago.

Whisper it, but Detroit is now on that same road to oblivion.

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UAW Kicks Off Talks With GM, Ford

They’re all smiles now, but we likely won’t see many grins come September.

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger performed the ceremonial handshake with GM Chairman Rick Wagoner and Ford Chairman Alan Mulally today as the union kicked off talks with both companies. A similar ceremony at Chrysler was held Friday.

While all parties are amiable now, this round of contract talks is predicted to be the most contentious and high stakes of any undertaken in recent memory. The viability of the domestic manufacturers –- particularly Ford –- hangs in the balance in these talks, which could continue on after the mid-September deadline.

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Delphi Faces Another Union Hurdle

Just as ailing auto supplier Delphi Corp. gets things settled with the United Auto Workers union after two years, it now faces a challenge from another one of its unions.

The International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers-Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA), which represents about 2,000 Delphi employees, announced it intends to terminate its local and national contracts with Delphi following protracted negotiations. That means the union could strike in October.

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Earthquake Damage Stops Japan Car Production

Japan’s major car companies have halted vehicle production because of earthquake damage to a key supplier’s plant.

Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Toyota stopped production due to damage to Riken, a piston ring and seal manufacturer. The automakers use just-in-time delivery so assembly plants maintain very few parts in stock.

Experts say the temporary production halt will have little impact overall for the year since the automakers can make up the production in the usually slow month of August.

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GM, Toyota Jostle for Global Sales Leadership

General Motors moved in front of Toyota in global sales in the second quarter, but Toyota, which beat out GM in the first quarter, retained the lead for the first half of the year.

This could be the year Toyota overtakes GM in global sales and production for the year. GM has been No. 1 in both for 76 years.

Toyota said second-quarter global sales totaled 2.37 million vehicles; GM’s global sales hit 2.41 million, lifted by strong sales in Latin America, Asia and emerging markets. In the first quarter, Toyota sold 2.35 million vehicles to GM’s 2.27 million.

That put six-month sales totals at 4.72 million for Toyota and 4.67 million for GM.

Posted by at 8:29 AM under GM, Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

UAW-Big Three: The Showdown Begins

By Joseph Szczesny

A showdown gets under way in Detroit today as domestic carmakers open contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, contract talks that are more critical for both sides than any in recent memory with not only jobs but also the very survival of the automakers at stake.

Negotiations for a new contract to replace the one that expires in September begin today at Chrysler with the ceremonial handshake; talks at General Motors and Ford officially start on Monday.

The UAW enters negotiations with its influence greatly reduced. And GM, Ford and Chrysler are in a weakened condition. The Big Three can ill-afford the sort of winner-take-all confrontations that could produce the sweeping changes some analysts think are necessary to reshape Detroit's creaky business model.

"Everybody's scared," said one veteran UAW representative. "Nobody really knows what's going to happen.”

(Read more...)

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Multiple Suitors Interested in Ford's Jaguar, Land Rover

Turns out, suitors -– as many as a half-dozen –- are interested in Jaguar and Land Rover.

The Financial Times in London reports today that Ford expects up to six bids for the two British marques, which could kick off a surprisingly competitive auction.

Among the suitors are –- not surprisingly –- private equity firms Cerberus Capital Management (the upcoming owner of Chrysler), Ripplewood Holdings and One Equity Partners. Another is India’s Tata Motors.

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GM’s Opel Preparing All-Electric Car, Report Says

General Motors reportedly is working on an all-electric car for the Opel brand that could go into production by the end of 2010.

Opel will unveil the electric vehicle, which uses the E-Flex technology shown in January in the Chevrolet Volt, at the Frankfurt auto show in September, according to a report from Thomson Financial, Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport magazine. The vehicle reportedly has a range of 60 kilometers without using a combustion engine.

Perhaps the car will eventually arrive in the U.S. -- as a Saturn, since Opel now supplies vehicles and designs to that American division of GM.

Posted by at 6:36 AM under GM, Technology | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us

Higher Fuel Economy Standards Kill Chrysler Imperial

Anticipated higher fuel economy standards have claimed yet another victim: the Chrysler Imperial.

The large luxury sedan, unveiled as a concept car at the Detroit auto show in 2006 and to go into production at Chrysler’s Brampton, Ontario, plant as a 2009 model, has been scrapped, the Detroit Free Press reported today.

A Chrysler spokesman confirmed CAW President Buzz Hargrove’s comments to the newspaper that he was informed the intended Chrysler flagship was scrapped because of pending legislation in the U.S. Congress to increase fuel-efficiency standards.

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Ford Dumps Familiar Names; Invests in Obscure Romanian Firm

Maybe it makes sense, but it seems ironic. Ford has sold Aston Martin, put Jaguar and Land Rover on the auction block and may be selling Volvo.

At the same time it ditches these famous marques, Ford is investing in a Romanian carmaker most of us, even in the auto business, have never heard of. Ford said Monday it plans to invest $930.6 million for a majority stake in Automobile Craiova. That's about $100 million more than Ford received for selling almost all of Aston Martin; Ford has maintained a tiny piece of the British luxury maker.

Ford says it plans to boost employment to between 7,000 and 9,000 people from the current 3,900 and, by year-end, increase vehicle output to 300,000 units from a scant 24,000 last year.

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GM Buys 50% of Penske’s VM Motori Diesel Maker

General Motors announced Monday it had reached a joint venture agreement with Penske Corp. to purchase 50 percent equity of VM Motori S.p.A, a designer and manufacturer of diesel engines based in Cento, Italy.

This investment builds on GM’s existing relationship with VM Motori. At the Geneva Motor Show in March, GM announced it will jointly develop a new 2.9-liter V6 turbodiesel engine with VM Motori to launch in the 2009 Cadillac CTS in Europe.

That engine could make its way across the Atlantic in the next-generation Cadillac CTS and the Saturn Aura. Last week, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said in his FastLane blog that GM would introduce diesels in a Cadillac sedan and a Saturn with rollout to crossovers and other models to follow.

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Saturn’s Comparison Promo Paying Off

Saturn’s gutsy promotion that offers shoppers a test drive of its Aura midsize sedan against as its competitors is working, Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak told Reuters in an interview.

In fact, the success of the program may prompt Saturn to expand it to other models, including the upcoming 2008 Vue compact sport-utility. The Vue  would be pitted against the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.  Other General Motors divisions, specifically Chevrolet with its upcoming Malibu, may follow Saturn’s lead as well.

The showroom challenge is intended to shift public perception and demonstrate GM has, indeed, improved quality.

(Read more...)

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Acura Tops Customer Satisfaction Survey

Acura topped a consumer satisfaction survey intended to measure how well U.S. car shoppers thought they were treated in dealer showrooms and whether they bought a vehicle on their first visit.

The first-ever study, released Monday by the Pacific Grove, California-based sales consultancy Pied Piper, showed Acura in 1st place, followed by Land Rover, Saturn, Volkswagen, Nissan, Saab, Audi and BMW. 

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Toyota Prius: Chapter Three

By Peter Nunn

It’s still the best part of two years away. Nevertheless, the world is already watching and waiting on the next Toyota Prius.

Behind firmly closed doors in Toyota City, Japan, Toyota engineers and designers are now working on exactly this vehicle. What will it look like? How will it be engineered? How will it move the sector to enable Toyota to reach its goal of selling 1 million hybrids per year by the early 2010s?

Toyota’s reported vision is for:
· a new, third-generation Prius, slightly bigger than today’s model for debut in 2009;
· a trio of versions, including one smaller than the Corolla and one larger than the current Prius that resembles the Hybrid X concept shown at March’s Geneva Auto Salon;
· traditional nickel-metal hydride batteries, not lithium-ion ones;
· further progress in the Prius becoming leaner, meaner, greener and cheaper.

One thing is for sure: The current Prius is a standard setter and global superstar. Its successor in will have a lot to live up to.

(Read more...)

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Fuel-Efficiency Realism Dampens Hybrid Aspirations

As consumers become more realistic about the fuel-efficiency capabilities of hybrids, the percentage of new-vehicle shoppers considering a hybrid has declined, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Alternative Powertrain Study released today.

The study finds that 50 percent of new-vehicle shoppers are considering a hybrid -- down from 57 percent in 2006, the first year of the study.

“In the 2006 study, we found consumers often overestimated the fuel-efficiency of hybrid-electric vehicles, and the decrease in consideration of hybrids in 2007 may be a result of their more realistic understanding of the actual fuel economy capabilities,” said Mike Marshall, director of automotive emerging technologies at J.D. Power and Associates.

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Study: Diesels To Outpace Hybrids

Yet another study forecasts diesels, of which there are few now, outpacing hybrids in the U.S. in the future.

Siemens VDO Automotive Corp. projects in an article in today’s Automotive News that U.S. diesel sales will grow to 867,000 units in 2012, up from an estimated 653,000 units this year. Hybrid sales are projected at 510,000 units in 2012, up from an estimated 193,000 units this year.

This forecast could be perceived as self-serving since Siemens VDO Automotive is one of the largest suppliers of diesel fuel-injection systems. Nonetheless, the supplier has the inside scoop on who is planning what vehicles in the future.

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Posted by at 7:22 AM under Chrysler, GM, Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Ford Sale of Volvo Rumors Revived

Talk has heated up once again that Ford is selling Volvo.

London’s Sunday Times, citing unnamed sources, said the decision to sell Volvo, which is part of Ford's Premier Automotive Group (PAG), was made in the past two weeks, but that the timing of the sale had yet to be decided.

If Ford sells Volvo it would the final piece to completely dismantling the automaker’s European luxury collection, the Premier Automotive Group.

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Lear Shareholders Vote No on Icahn Offer

Shareholders of automotive supplier Lear Corp. rejected a $2.9 billion buyout offer led by billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

Icahn's American Real Estate Partners LP had slightly sweetened the offer, to $37.25 a share, or $2.9 billion, up from $36 a share, or $2.8 billion.

Still, critics, including some major shareholders who had advised shareholders to join them in voting against the sale, charge the offer remains too low. They contend company executives have put their own financial interests before those of shareholders.

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Ford Uses Soy in 2008 Mustang Seats

Ford said the 2008 Mustang will be outfitted with soybean-based foam cushions, as part of an effort to cut the use of petroleum in its auto manufacturing. Other models may get the foam as well.

Developed by Ford researchers with seat supplier Lear Corp., the foam is 40 percent soy and 60 percent oil-based. Most manufacturers use an average of 30 pounds of petroleum-based foam per vehicle, with 9 billion pounds of foam sold a year to the auto industry.

Ford said the environmental advantages are reduced carbon dioxide emissions in manufacturing, lower energy use to produce the soy foam and reduced dependence on foreign oil. Currently, the soy-foam costs about the same as conventional foam that is fully oil-based but Ford, which is applying for patents on the technology, hopes with increased volume the cost will drop.

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Exclusive One-on-One with GM's Mark LaNeve

In an effort to kick -– or at least taper back –- the incentive habit as it was launching a host of new vehicles, General Motors announced that for the 2006 model year it was cutting prices on vehicles accounting for about 90 percent of its sales volume -– some by as much as $2,500.

The timing of the price repositioning came as GM headed into 2006 launching 19 new products representing more than 1.5 million sales. GM has introduced even more new models since then.

“This is a big step for us and arguably the biggest price repositioning in our history,” Mark LaNeve, GM vice president, North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing, said in making the announcement at the 2006 Detroit Auto Show. “This move is in line with our customers’ desire for simple, compelling prices.”

But not enough consumers have found the prices compelling, apparently.

Only a week after reporting unexpectedly dismal June sales that resulted in GM’s lowest monthly market share ever (aside from July 1998 when it was shut down by a strike), LeNeve gave GM’s so-called value pricing a B grade. In an interview with AutoObserver.com, LeNeve says value pricing has done positive things for GM but has not generated the hoped-for sales volume.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:21 AM under Commentary, Featured, GM, Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Rep. Ed Markey: Stupid Comment of the Week

To you, Rep. Ed Markey, goes the Stupid –- and Insulting –- Comment of the Week for this one:

“Innovations such as the plug-in hybrids should not have been sitting on the shelf for so long,” he said. “After all, this isn’t rocket science; it is auto mechanics.”

Where to begin?

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:52 AM under Commentary, Personalities, Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chrysler Minivans: Lower Price, More Stuff

Chrysler Group one-upped competitors today in announcing it has lowered prices an average of $2,000 and added standard features to its fifth-generation 2008 minivans that go on sale in September.

"The new starting price of $22,470 puts Chrysler at a significant advantage over its competitors as it is the second lowest starting price of any minivan,” said Alex Rosten, Edmunds.com’s manager of pricing and industry analysis. “That low price will certainly appeal to young families and bargain hunters. Plus the standard equipment list is pretty substantial.”

Steven Landry, Chrysler’s executive vice president of sales, said this morning the lower pricing is an effort to more closely align the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price to transaction prices. Chrysler hopes to offer little or no incentives on the minivans, which Landry called this year’s most important product launch for the automaker.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 8:38 AM under Analysis, Chrysler, Featured, News | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us

Toyota Prius: The Model T of Hybrids

Toyota’s top North American official reaffirmed the Japanese automaker’s commitment to hybrids and predicted hybrids will eventually dominate U.S. roads as fuel prices continue to rise.

"Eventually, everything will be a hybrid," said Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor North America, told Bloomberg News in an interview Tuesday.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:18 AM under Technology, Toyota | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us

Ford Partners on Plug-In Hybrids

Ford announced a partnership with Southern California Edison to test and develop plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

The utility will get one plug-in hybrid to evaluate and test this year, with as many as 20 vehicles by 2009. Ford hopes to work with the utility to help develop the infrastructure side of the electric car network. The utility will study the vehicles and will place them in the hands of real-world consumers so that Ford can get information on their durability and usage in true life situations.

"By partnering with these two industries... we're hoping that it does accelerate the commercialization and certainly drive some of the cost issues down," said Ford Vice President for Sustainability Susan Cischke.

Posted by at 10:42 AM under Ford, News, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Smart Could Consider Alternate Engines

Smart USA President Dave Schembri told the Automotive Press Association in Detroit today that before the microcar company considers selling new models beyond the already planned Fortwo, it would consider selling alternate powertrains in the Fortwo.

No models beyond the 1.0-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine-powered Fortwo are planned. The Fortwo is expected to achieve at least 40 miles per gallon when the federal government certifies it, Schembri said. However, Schembri added, Smart would consider electric, micro hybrid and diesel versions in the future before it added more models.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:36 AM under Companies, News, Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

GM Plays It Conservative on Truck Incentives

General Motors appears to be serious about focusing not on sales volume and market share but instead on profitability and on not giving away the store when it comes to incentives.

GM announced a new round of incentives on Tuesday, a week after seeing June sales that tanked and a market share that sunk to its lowest mark, aside from one month when it was being struck. Despite its dismal June performance, GM’s new incentives remain relatively conservative, as they have been all year.

“To be honest,” remarked Alex Rosten, Edmunds.com’s manager of pricing and market analysis, “I expected something more than this.”

The most significant change in GM incentives was on full-size pickup trucks, which now have zero percent financing for 60 months to match Toyota’s deal on the Tundra. 

Still, GM is giving away nowhere near what its competitors are.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 9:24 AM under Analysis, GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Mazda Launches Internet Shopping Assistance

Starting today, Mazda is offering a personal shopping service via the Internet that provides shoppers with an actual price quote through a dealer of their choice – and even haggling of that price via the Web. Mazda claims this is an industry first.

Through links on its Web site (www.MazdaUSA.com), the Mazda Shopping Assistant (MSA) program connects consumers with Mazda personal shoppers who can answer specific product questions and provide personalized shopping experiences through live Web-chat sessions.

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Posted by at 10:30 AM under Companies, News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

VW Considers North American Plant

Volkswagen is considering building a new North American factory if the dollar stays weak, CEO Martin Winterkorn said in an interview with German magazine Focus, picked up by Reuters.

Winterkorn admitted in the interview that VW had performed poorly in the U.S. and that Volkswagen’s “planned new offices” moving “away from Detroit” would bring VW closer to U.S. consumers, according to the Reuters report. A clarification later by Volkswagen said the automaker is planning to set up a second administrative hub near Detroit.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:06 AM under Companies, News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

June Sales: GM Hits All-Time Low Market Share

General Motors’ market share last month hit an all-time low, according to Edmunds.com’s analysis of June sales.

GM’s June market share slumped to 22.17 percent, the lowest level in recent history and dipping below the previous monthly low of 22.3 percent in October 2005, according to Edmunds.com.

In June, the industry sold 1,455,236 vehicles; GM sold 322,048 vehicles, down 24.2 percent from June last year. GM closed 2006 with 24.6 percent market share.

The stock market didn't like GM's sales results. GM shares fell $1.22, or 3.2 percent, Thursday, the first trading day after GM announced lower June sales.

“GM may have miscalculated the need for incentives in June, particularly as Toyota and Honda boosted incentive spending to their record levels,” said Alex Rosten, Edmunds.com’s manager of pricing and market analysis.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 5:34 AM under Analysis, Featured, GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chrysler To Sell Chery Cars Next Year

Next year, Chrysler will introduce in North America a small car built by China’s Chery Automobile Co. It likely will be the first Chinese-made car to be sold in America and may well be the cheapest.

Chery’s A1 hatchback will be sold by Chrysler beginning in the first quarter of 2008, Chery president Yin Tongyao said in Beijing as the two companies officially inked the deal that had been announced last December.

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Posted by at 7:55 AM under Chrysler, Companies, News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

GM's Cadillac Sixteen, Buick Velite: RIP

General Motors has scratched the Cadillac Sixteen and Buick Velite concepts from any plans for future production.

GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, on the automaker’s Fast Lane blog, said environmentally friendly, high fuel-efficiency vehicles take priority over the Sixteen and Velite, which GM had hoped to produce.

Lutz said introducing the 16-cylinder, 1,000-horsepower Sixteen would “not be an extremely prudent thing to do” in terms of GM’s public image and would be “a display of a lack of sensitivity to environmental concerns.”

In fact, instead of offering a bigger Cadillac, Lutz said Cadillac needs to look at a vehicle smaller than the current CTS.

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Posted by at 7:33 AM under GM, News, Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us

Mazda: Missed Opportunity with No Mazda 2 for America

By Peter Nunn

Soaring gas prices are heating up U.S. demand for compact, fuel-efficient cars. So Mazda must be kicking itself now for not having its new Mazda 2 mini join the party, right?

The cute, crisp all-new Mazda 2 -- launched to great acclaim in Europe and now on sale in Japan as the 1.3- to 1.5-liter Demio -- seems on the face of it the perfect head-on rival for the Nissan Versas, Honda Fits and Toyota Yarises of this world.

It looks good, has great dynamics and is deliciously affordable (prices start at just $9,186 in Tokyo). What’s more, official fuel economy numbers go as high as 54 miles per gallon, putting it up with the top of the class.

But at the launch party for the Mazda 2/Demio in Tokyo today, Mazda officials said the car won’t be heading to the U.S. anytime soon.

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Posted by at 6:24 AM under Commentary, Companies | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us

Incentives: Minivans Reach Near-Record

Minivan incentives are at near-record levels. Incentives on Toyota and Honda models are rising. American luxury brands Cadillac and Lincoln spent the most per vehicle, while Mini and Scion spent the least, according to Edmunds.com's analysis of incentives for June.

Edmunds.com estimates that the average automotive manufacturer incentive in the U.S. was $2,483 per vehicle sold in June 2007, up $92, or 3.85 percent, from May 2007, and down $132, or 5.05 percent, from June 2006.

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Smart Moves: Microcar Goes for Big Splash

For more than a year, paper shades have covered the giant windows of an old car dealership on busy Telegraph Road in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, home to Detroit’s automotive captains. Occasionally a teensy, quirky car is parked outside; one seen only in photographs or at an auto show, if at all.

Inside the building, well, there’s not much: a couple of offices within the cavernous shell; empty cubicles in a color scheme of yellow, silver and black; and a few inhabitants.

But in the next several months, this place will be bustling. The former dealership is the corporate headquarters for Smart USA, the Roger Penske-operated distributor of the quirky Smart cars from Mercedes-Benz.

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Posted by at 7:51 AM under Analysis, Companies, Featured, Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us

Ethanol Demands Prompt Record Corn Harvest

Demand for corn-based ethanol for vehicles has led to American farmers planting more corn than since the waning days of World War II, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report cited by an Associated Press story.

Farmers are expected to harvest 93 million acres of corn this year, up 19 percent from 2006 and well above the March estimate of 90.5 million acres.

The increased demand for corn to be converted to ethanol has led to high demand -- thus higher prices -- for corn. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal this month increasingly are worried about inflation, caused by higher energy and food prices (especially milk and corn-fed beef) stymieing economic growth.

Posted by at 8:03 AM under News, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Why Did Top GM Designer Leave?

If the auto industry does not involve more women in its product decisions, it risks becoming irrelevant, French-born Anne Asensio, a former designer for General Motors and Renault, told the Automotive News Europe Congress in Prague last week.

“The industry doesn’t need cars designed for women but by women,” she told the gathering as reported by the sponsoring publication.

On the face of it, her comments were predictable and hardly new. However, they are curious in terms of their timing.

French-born Asensio recently resigned -– ever so quietly –- from GM, and there’s lots of buzz about why.

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Posted by at 7:29 AM under GM, Personalities, Rumors | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us