Ford Flex Pricing to Start at Nearly $29,000

By Dale Buss

Ford is promoting its new 2009 Flex as a “white-space vehicle” that will be delightfully difficult to categorize. For the privilege of purchasing the flat-topped, three-row vehicle, consumers will have to pay a suggested starting price of $28,995, including shipping charges — a beginning price point that will put Flex atop the automaker’s growing lineup of crossovers.

When it is introduced this summer, the Flex will be offered in three trim series, and in front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions. Flex SE is the base model, a front-wheel-drive version. Prices for the all-wheel-drive Flex Limited will start at $37,255, including shipping, but options could make the top price much higher.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 2:37 PM under Ford, News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us

Bush Comments Lend Another Boost to Cellulosic Ethanol

By Dale Buss

The politicians in Washington aren’t on the same page on every issue with the U.S. auto industry. But it’s increasingly clear the most important of them see eye to eye with some major automakers when it comes to cellulosic ethanol.

Remaining presidential candidates have made a point of touting cellulosic ethanol — which can be made from a number of sources other than corn — as an important alternative fuel. On Thursday morning President Bush added to the chorus of support at his White House news conference. He emphasized cellulosic ethanol as a crucial part of the short-term answer to problems of fuel pricing and availability, as well as a long-term solution.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 5:36 AM under GM, News, Personalities, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Strike 2: Strike at Supplier TRW Halts Chrysler Minivan Production

By Joseph Szczesny

WINDSOR, Ontario — Strike fever is spreading in the auto industry.

On Thursday, 175 members of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 444 employed at a TRW Automotive plant in Windsor, Ont., went on strike after contract negotiations reached an impasse.

The TRW plant supplies suspension frames used on the 2008 Chrysler Town & Country and 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. Chrysler’s Windsor assembly plant, which produces the minivans, was forced to shut only hours after the CAW strike began.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 5:16 AM under Business, Chrysler, Companies, GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Mazda: U.S. Market Looking More European, Canadian

By Joseph Szczesny

DETROIT — After starting the year with a 10 percent sales increase in January, Jim O'Sullivan, president of Mazda North America, said the automaker is holding its own during what has been a difficult February.

“We’re still seeing some strength in Mazda3 and Mazda5,” said O’Sullivan, who was in Detroit to promote the redesigned 2008 Mazda5. “The 10-days sales numbers I saw were a mixed bag.”

(Read more...)

Posted by at 4:41 AM under Business, Companies | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Fuel-Cell Experiment Misses the Bus

By Bill Visnic

Some cost and durability figures for operating hydrogen fuel-cell powered buses have leaked out, and from them it appears the best thing that can be said is it’s a good thing it’s a demonstration program.

To fulfill a California Air Resources Board requirement that operators of large bus fleets participate in a Zero-Emission Bus demonstration program, in 2005 the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority purchased three buses powered by early versions of fuel cells developed by Ballard Power Systems Inc. of Vancouver, Canada.

Green Car Journal reports a memo directed to the Santa Clara VTA’s board of directors indicated operating the buses has cost the Santa Clara VTA a staggering 32 times more than the overall running cost for comparable diesel-engine buses.

Cost per mile for to operate a diesel bus: $1.61. Cost per mile for the fuel-cell buses: $51.66.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 11:31 PM under Business, Companies, Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us

C-Oh!-2 Emphasis at Geneva

By AutoObserver staff

It now seems safe to say the European auto industry is more than a little preoccupied with carbon dioxide.

In fact, Europe’s hubris over CO2 perhaps has surpassed the industry’s longstanding performance one-upmanship, so the pending Geneva Motor Show will feature the strange juxtaposition of automaker PR machinery cranked up to propound, of all things, modesty — environmental modesty.

That means a plethora of diesel engines and alarmingly downsized gasoline power plants. And yes, even a few hybrids.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 1:07 PM under Business, Companies | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chrysler Loses Nearly $3 Billion in Two Months, Daimler Report Says

We knew Chrysler was burning madly through cash; now we have a sense of at what rate. Sort of. It appears it may be worse than we even thought.

Chrysler LLC reported a loss of about $2.8 billion in August and September of last year, according to Daimler AG’s annual report, filed with the U.S. government Wednesday.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 7:24 AM under | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

GM Closes Truck Plant Due to Supplier Strike

By Joseph Szczesny

DETROIT -- The strike by the United Auto Workers against American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. has begun to pinch production of General Motors' pickup trucks, including the 2008 Chevrolet Silverado and 2008 GMC Sierra.

GM shut its assembly plant in Pontiac, Michigan, Thursday as the strike created shortages of critical parts. GM said it has not yet decided whether to close more truck plants. GM hopes to keep other pickup truck plants in Flint, Michigan, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, running at least into next week, sources said.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:21 AM under Business, GM | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us

Forget George Clooney — GM Might Have Been Biggest Loser on Oscars Night

By Dale Buss

Actress Jennifer Garner may have felt mugged on the red carpet outside Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre on Sunday night, but at least she was safe once the Oscars telecast began inside.

General Motors enjoyed no such haven after the curtain rose. Abysmal ratings were the company’s reward for its 12th consecutive year as the auto industry’s exclusive national-TV advertising sponsor of the Academy Awards. The Oscars drew the fewest viewers in more than three decades, reaching only about 32 million people, according to Nielsen’s initial calculations.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 5:45 PM under Business, Companies, GM | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us

Hyundai Is Working on the Next Great Niche

By Bill Visnic

CHICAGO — Even before unveiling its redesigned Sonata sedan and a low-slung hydrogen fuel-cell concept car at the recent Chicago auto show here, John Krafcik was already talking about Hyundai Motor America’s next big ideas.

Agreeing the company appears to have most conventional U.S. market segments covered, Krafcik, HMA’s vice president of product development and strategic planning, told AutoObserver the company now is under way with an advanced-planning initiative to identify — or create — new market niches and evaluate the potential for Hyundai to develop appropriate new vehicles.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:56 AM under Business, Companies, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Straight Talk at Renault Roundtables

By Nick Kurczewski

PARIS -- Surrounded by cameras and hounded by journalists, there was no doubt Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn was the star attraction during the French manufacturer’s financial results meeting held recently in Paris.

However, some of the most tantalizing details as to how the Renault-Nissan alliance will approach the coming years came during roundtable meetings with Renault’s top executives.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:54 AM under Business, Companies | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Ford Linked to Jaguar, Land Rover Despite Sale to Tata

Ford, which is expected to sign a deal to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover brands to India’s Tata Group next week, will continue to be linked to the luxury brands for years to come, according to a news report.

Ford plans to sell its entire stake in the brands as well as facilities and technology to Tata for $2 billion. But Tata has signaled to British labor leaders that, under the deal, it intends to continue using engines and other parts currently built in Ford-owned plants in the U.K., the Wall Street Journal reports. Tata could continue to get the engines from Ford for the next five years, and perhaps longer, a source told the newspaper.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:50 AM under Business, Ford | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Daimler’s Zetsche: $13 Million Man

Daimler AG Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche received the equivalent of $12.9 million in compensation in 2007, according to the company’s annual report issued Wednesday.

Total wages, bonuses and benefits for Zetsche and the rest of the 10-member Daimler management board amounted to $37.6 million.

Posted by at 6:42 AM under Business, Chrysler, Companies | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Magna’s Quarterly Profit Dips

Magna International Inc., Canada's largest auto-parts maker, posted fourth-quarter profits that dipped to the equivalent of $28 million, from $29 million a year ago.

Magna, in which Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska purchased a $1.54 billion stake last year, was among the bidders for Chrysler in 2007.

Posted by at 4:57 AM under Business, Companies | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Hyundai Tries Big Incentives To Keep Alabama Plant Humming

By Dale Buss

Hyundai has been cutting production at its nearly new assembly plant in Montgomery, Ala., and greatly beefing up incentives to keep the plant humming.

Hyundai cut daily production at its sole U.S. assembly plant by about 20 percent late last year, AutoObserver has learned, and has been turning to monster sales incentives to try to keep the three-year-old plant producing Sonata sedans and Santa Fe SUVs at the current lower rate. Hyundai also has used hefty incentives to clear out 2008-model Sonatas to make room for the 2009 model it's just begun building in Alabama.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 1:20 PM under Analysis, Companies, Featured | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Ford Pursues 'Good' Fleet Business

By Michelle Krebs

The not-so-good fleet business — the daily rental-car business automakers are trying to depart — has been much discussed in recent years. But there’s the often-ignored “good” fleet business, which Ford in particular is trying to capitalize on in the U.S. as it has done so well in Europe.

Ford has made a number of recent moves to enhance its position in the profitable commercial-fleet sector. Its latest comes this week with the introduction of a freshened E-Series van at a commercial vehicle show in Atlanta.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 8:57 AM under Business, Ford | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Edmunds.com Forecast: Better Car Sales in February than January

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — February car sales likely will be off some from year-ago levels but improved from dismal January when automakers report them Monday, according to a forecast by Edmunds.com.

February’s new-vehicle sales are expected to be 1.22 million units, a 2.3 percent decrease from February 2007 but a 16.8 percent increase from last month.

"The month is proving better than some industry watchers may have expected," observed Jesse Toprak, Edmunds.com’s executive director of Industry Analysis. “This month should exceed the typical 10 to 15 percent boost in sales from January, historically the slowest car-sales month of the year.”

(Read more...)

Posted by at 8:24 AM under Analysis, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Hydrogen-Powered Cars: 16 Million on Europe’s Roads by 2030, Report Says

A new report by the European Union (EU) estimates 16 million hydrogen-powered vehicles will be traveling European roads by 2030, dramatically reducing oil consumption but requiring lengthy and expensive infrastructure changes.

The use of hydrogen fuel is a realistic alternative to fossil fuels and could cut oil consumption by 40 percent by 2050, but infrastructure investments could cost the equivalent of nearly $90 billion (based on today’s exchange rates), says the EU’s research, reported on by Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 7:16 AM under Business, Chrysler, Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Hyundai: More Models, More Production, More Dealers in China

Hyundai is targeting sales in China of 380,000 vehicles this year, from around 231,000 vehicles in 2007 and doubling its China production by 2010, Beijing Hyundai Motor Co. President Noh Jaeman told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview Tuesday.

The 50-50 joint-venture company will open a second China plant in April to produce 100,000 units of the HDC, a new four-door sedan designed for the Chinese market.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 7:02 AM under Business, Companies | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Ford, Tata Deal Close to Signing

Ford reportedly is close to signing a long-anticipated agreement with India’s Tata Motors for the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover, having resolved issues with union members in the United Kingdom.

The official sale is expected to be announced next week. Ford had targeted to close the deal by the end of first quarter, which ends March 31.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:18 AM under Companies, Ford | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Sirius’ Boost in Subscribers Narrows Loss

Sirius Satellite Radio, which is offering its services in a increasing number of car models, got a boost in the number of people who subscribe to its service, which helped lower its costs and helped narrow its fourth-quarter loss, the New York-based company reported.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:15 AM under Business, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

GM, Chrysler Supplier Takes a Strike

By Joseph Szczesny

More than 3,650 members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) began a strike early Tuesday against American Axle & Manufacturing Holding Inc., a key supplier to both General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, which could quickly feel the impact of the walkout.

The strike began shortly after midnight when the company and union negotiators reached an impasse over wage cuts for employees at American Axle plants in Michigan and New York.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 3:55 AM under Chrysler, GM, News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

GM and Ford Should Have Learned Lessons from Lada and Russia's Central Planning

By Richard Feast

LONDON — Ford’s sale of Jaguar and Land Rover, to be finalized within days, and General Motors’ continued stumbling in search of a role for its Saab subsidiary, which shows off new concepts at next week's Geneva Motor Show, remind me of something I saw during a tour of the shabby, sprawling AvtoVAZ factory in the Soviet Union in the early 1980s.

The events are unrelated except for the way in which they highlight the laughable results of central planning. For the Kremlin then, read Dearborn and Detroit today.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 4:03 PM under Commentary, Featured, Ford, GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us

Toyota to Seed More U.S. Research

By Bill Visnic

News from the U.S. financial media cites a report from Japan as saying Toyota Motor Corp. plans to fund several new advanced-research groups in the U.S.

Media in Japan are reporting Toyota will establish new U.S.-based research teams for alternative energy, safety and advanced materials. The company typically has engaged such long-term research only in Japan.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 2:36 PM under Business, Companies, News, Technology, Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Nissan: 500,000 Vehicles In China in 2008

Nissan Motor Co. said Monday it aims to sell 500,000 passenger and light commercial vehicles in China this year as it launches three new models, including the Qashqai in March, Dow Jones reported.

The Japanese automaker will launch three new models under the Nissan brand in China this year, Nissan said in a statement. The first new model will be the Qashqai, or Xiaoke, a crossover between a hatchback and a sport-utility vehicle that goes on sale in March. The other models weren’t mentioned.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 7:05 AM under Companies, News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

GM, Chrysler Watch Supplier’s Union Tallks

General Motors and Chrysler undoubtedly are paying close attention to labor negotiations taking place at Detroit supplier American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, as their truck production is at stake if workers strike. The contract between American Axle and the United Auto Workers union expires at midnight Monday.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:53 AM under Business, Chrysler, GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Honda Looks to Boost India Sales 32%

Honda aims to boost auto sales in India by 32 percent next fiscal year after doubling the capacity at its local plant to meet surging demand for City and Civic cars, Bloomberg News reported.

The automaker plans to sell 90,000 vehicles in India in the year starting in April from an estimated 68,000 in the current fiscal year, Masahiro Takedagawa, chief executive officer of local unit Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., told Bloomberg on Monday.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:40 AM under Companies | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Nut-Based Biofuel: Works in Planes, Could It Work in Cars?

Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways successfully tested a jumbo jet Sunday that was partly powered by a biofuel made from babassu nuts and coconut oil, a first for a commercial aircraft, Bloomberg News reported.

The Boeing 747-400, which took off from London and landed in Amsterdam, had one unmodified engine running on a mix of about 25 percent biofuel with the rest coming from standard jet kerosene, Branson said at a news conference at London's Heathrow Airport.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:26 AM under | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us

Fewer Teens Behind the Wheel at 16, NY Times Reports

America’s 16-year-olds seem less eager to hit the roads than their counterparts of previous generations.

In the last decade, the proportion of 16-year-olds nationwide who hold driver’s licenses has dropped from nearly half to less than one-third, according to statistics from the Federal Highway Administration reported by Monday’s New York Times.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:09 AM under Analysis | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Tata Nano Could Be Sold Via Internet

Tata Motors reportedly is considering selling its $2,500 Nano via the Internet, reports Mumbai, India’s Daily News & Analysis.

Someone on the company’s customer forum apparently posted the idea and Tata Motors’ chief of marketing, Subodh Marathe, replied on the company's online blog that despite conventional wisdom, “selling a car online cannot be ruled out.”

(Read more...)

Posted by at 5:56 AM under | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us

Automakers Hope Oscars Ads Provide An Encore

By Dale Buss

At least three automakers should be real happy with the market-moving effectiveness of their Super Bowl advertisements from three weeks ago. And at least two of them — General Motors and Audi — are banking on a repeat of that performance from their marketing investments in Sunday’s Oscars telecast.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 1:00 PM under Business, Companies | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Tata Nano: World's Cheapest Car Gets an On-Sale Date

By Nick Kurczewski

The world’s cheapest car finally has an on-sale date.

When it appeared January 10 at the New Delhi Auto Expo, the Tata Nano amazed everyone with its rock-bottom starting price of $2,500. Tata Motors executives explained how and why the company chose to build such a low-cost car, but no one would go on the record to say when the Nano would go into commercial production.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 12:54 PM under Companies, News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Maserati's Selwa Leaves North American Distributor

Maserati North America Inc., announced Thursday that James Selwa, president and CEO, has left Maserati, effective Friday.

The Italian automaker said Maserati CEO Roberto Ronchi will continue to directly oversee the market in coordination with the Maserati North America team.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 7:05 AM under News, Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Ghosn Says the R-word — Out Loud

Nissan-Renault Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters in South Korea on Friday even if the United States is not in recession, its auto industry is, The Associated Press reported.

"We are very lucid on the situation of the industry that there is a recession in the United States, at least in the car market," said Ghosn, adding automakers face rising costs for iron ore, precious metals, aluminum and other materials. "These represent risk for the industry."

Still, he expressed optimism the market will improve. The American auto market "will not stay in recession for a long time," he said.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:55 AM under Companies, Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Auto Affordability: Paying Less, Extending Payments

By Michelle Krebs

DETROIT — Consumers who are buying cars are reacting to the difficult economic environment by spending less on a new car and extending their loan payments, according to a new study.

New-car buyers, whose ranks look to be the lowest this year of any since the turn of the century, are spending on average $300 less for their cars, according to the Auto Affordability Index compiled by Comerica Bank in Detroit, which overall showed vehicles more affordable than the last quarter or a year ago. In addition, they are extending the average term of a car loon by two months to 63 months.

The study showed the average-priced light vehicle was $28,715 in the fourth quarter.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:17 AM under Analysis | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Formula 1 Opus: Conspicuous Consumption of the Literary Kind

By Bill Visnic

At last, an automotive book truly equal to the tastes — and pocketbooks — of moneyed “car guys” — a heftily proportioned, 850-page tribute detailing the history of Formula 1 racing titled Formula 1 Opus.

The book, more than a foot-and-a-half square and weighing 82 pounds, is priced at £3,000 — about $5,800 at current exchange rates.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 4:28 AM under Commentary | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Cadillac CTS Has Fans in Japan

By Peter Nunn

News that will come as a welcome fillip for the team at General Motors: Cadillac's new CTS has landed in Japan and has been earning rave reviews after the first media drives.

GM's local arm, GM Asia Pacific (Japan) recently laid on a ride-and-drive for the media down in Yokohama. This was the first local drive of the 2008 CTS following its launch back at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 1:39 PM under Business, Companies, GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Oil at $100 May Look “Cheap” Within Five Years, Bank Exec Says

Crude-oil prices of $100 may look cheap within five years if OPEC production fails to keep pace with global demand growth, said Ronald Smith, head of Moscow-based research for Alfa Bank, in an interview with Bloomberg television.

“We may hit peak oil in the course of the next three, four or five years, in which case $100 oil will look somewhat quaint,” he said.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 7:31 AM under Business, Companies | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Tata Shareholders Not Thrilled with Proposed Jaguar, Land Rover Purchase

A lot of people — investors, specifically — are not thrilled with India’s Tata buying Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. They insist the company should focus on the $2,500 Tata Nano microcars, not $100,000 Jaguars.

Bloomberg News reported a number of investors, including A.S. Thiyaga Rajan, who manages a $250 million fund, are dumping their Tata stock.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 7:19 AM under Commentary, Companies, Ford, Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

GMAC Cuts Jobs, Offices

GMAC, the financial services group owned by General Motors and Cerberus Capital Management, said it would close 15 of its 20 offices and eliminate 930 – or 15 percent – of its jobs in North America.

The cost-cutting moves come on the heels of GMAC reporting a loss of $724 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared with a $1-billion profit a year earlier. GMAC’s troubles are due to the crisis in the housing and subprime lending businesses. In addition, delinquencies on car loans are rising.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 7:03 AM under Business, Chrysler, GM, Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Help Wanted: Autoworkers at $14 an Hour

By Michelle Krebs

New labor contracts negotiated between Detroit’s automakers and the United Auto Workers union last fall, combined with upcoming buyouts and retirements of aging baby boomers, may lead to a healthy hiring spree of engineers and hourly workers by auto companies nationwide, according to a new study.

The overall employment level for workers at auto companies in 2016 will be about the same as in 2007 — about 355,000 people — well off this decade’s peak of nearly 500,000, says a study on automotive hiring trends released this week from the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 4:06 AM under Analysis, Business, Chrysler, Companies, Ford, GM | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us

Audi: Diesel Is the Practical Choice

By Michael Jordan

Now that BMW has officially announced it will introduce a diesel-powered sedan for America, the German carmakers finally are making good on their promise to bring diesel to the U.S. as a clean-air solution.

BMW certainly isn't alone; Audi plans to announce the introduction of a diesel-powered Audi Q7 for the U.S. Johan de Nysschen, Audi of America's executive vice president, notes diesel-powered vehicles will play an important role in his company's attempt to expand its annual sales to 200,000 -- a long way from the less than 100,000 vehicles the company will have sold during 2007.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:39 AM under Companies, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Venturi’s Electric Eclectic, Version 2.0

By Nick Kurczewski

MONTE CARLO, Monaco — As the only automobile company to call the glamorous enclave of Monaco home, it’s no wonder Venturi has turned environmentally friendly vehicles into green-themed status symbols. The second generation of the company’s successful solar-electric Eclectic model is due later this year.

First seen at the 2006 Paris auto show, the Venturi Eclectic certainly lives up to its name. Looking like a cross between a dune buggy and a lunar rover, its design evolved around the 2.5 square meters of solar panels on the roof. The Eclectic seats three, and when fully charged has a range of 30 miles.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:38 AM under Companies, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

China's Vehicle Sales Continue Double-Digit Growth

China’s vehicle sales continued to grow by double digits in January, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Economic growth and falling prices made cars affordable to more people.

Vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, totaled 859,400 in January for a 20 percent increase over the previous year. Chinese consumers bought 661,900 cars in January.

Volkswagen’s Jetta and Santana compacts were the month’s best sellers; Hyundai’s Elantra ranked third.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 6:35 AM under Business, Companies | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Renault, AvtoVAZ To Seal a Deal by Month End

France’s Renault confirmed it will seal a deal negotiated in December with Russia’s leading car manufacturer, AvtoVAZ, whereby Renault will take a 25 percent stake in AvtoVAZ on February 29, Dow Jones Newswire reported.

Renault has said the deal will help rejuvenate the Lada brand by providing AvtoVAZ with new vehicle platforms and powertrains. AvtoVAZ and Renault will sell cars together.

Renault Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said the deal makes the combined sales of Renault, Nissan and AvtoVAZ at more than 7 million vehicles a year, ranking the trio as the world's third-largest carmaking group after General Motors and Toyota.

Photo courtesy Renault: Renault President and CEO Carlos Ghosn, left, and Sergey Chemezov, head of Russian Technologies and chairman of the board of AvtoVAZ, sign a memorandum of understanding December 8, 2007.

Posted by at 6:26 AM under Business, Companies | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Automakers Still Moving Cautiously on Mobile Advertising

By Dale Buss

Auto-marketing executives know they’ll be advertising more on cell phones and other mobile devices in the coming months. But they still have a “prove-it” attitude toward the medium, as mobile-service providers work through issues such as image enhancement and platform standardization.

“The biggest issue with mobile is still that we have to do everything different for each different carrier,” said Gregg Benkendorfer, Toyota’s national manager of media and digital. “Until they really sort that out, I don’t think you’re going to see tremendous growth.”

Christine MacKenzie, Chrysler’s executive director of multi-brand marketing and agency relations, said mobile-advertising providers still can’t “provide us enough data to justify a major move into mobile yet.” She added, “it’s still an area where we’re learning, and we’ll continue to learn.”

But carmakers clearly are moving into mobile in a significant way nonetheless, encouraged in part by the booming popularity of Apple’s iPhone and the richness of its interface.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 4:59 AM under Chrysler, Companies, Featured, Ford, GM, Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Delphi’s Steve Miller Publishes Memoir, Turnaround Lesson Book

The turnaround of Delphi Corp. is far from complete. The latest chapter in that  saga came last week when the banks were unable to find funding that would allow the nation’s largest auto-parts supplier to emerge from bankruptcy.

Nevertheless, Delphi executive chairman Robert S. “Steve” Miller, a former Chrysler executive and a veteran of a dozen turnarounds, has written a book, The Turnaround Kid: What I Learned Rescuing America's Most Troubled Companies (Collins, $25.95, 272 pages). It is due out in April.

Fortune magazine’s Editor-at-Large Allan Sloan reviewed the book in an article picked up Tuesday by the Washington Post, entitled “Self-Portrait of a Turnaround Artist.”

Sloan said he got hooked immediately on the book, not only because the autobiography talks about Miller’s 30 years of corporate troubleshooting but more because it shows him to be a human being, “a business man in full” and “not a calculator with legs.”

(Read more...)

Posted by at 11:55 AM under Chrysler, Commentary, Companies, Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Cerberus Dragged Reluctantly into Spotlight by Chrysler, GMAC Stakes

If Stephen Feinberg, the ultra-secretive founder of Cerberus Capital Management, which owns 80 percent of Chrysler and 51 percent of GMAC, hates the public spotlight now, he’s seen nothing like what he will if the automaker goes under, according to a column in Tuesday’s New York Times.

“If Chrysler, which has $18 billion in pension and health care liabilities for at least the next two years, winds up sinking into bankruptcy, it would be a watershed event,” wrote Andrew Ross Sorkin in the paper’s Dealbook column. “Such a failure might take down the entire private-equity industry — everyone in the business, bystander or not, would be tarred. It would be on the 6 o’clock news. Mr. Feinberg would be hauled in front of Congress. It would be considered a national crime. Remember the outcry when Kohlberg Kravis Roberts bought RJR Nabisco for $25 billion back in the 1980s? That was just a dress rehearsal.”

(Read more...)

Posted by at 7:32 AM under Chrysler, Commentary, Featured | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

What Would George and Abe Say? Automakers Shelve ‘Made in America’

By Dale Buss

Maybe, more than six years after 9/11 and nearly five years after the start of the war in Iraq, consumers are tired of patriotic pitches.  Maybe the unmitigated globalization of auto production makes it just too hard. It might be that “green” marketing doesn’t leave room for the red, white and blue. Or perhaps the idea is just in a lull.

But whatever the reasons, the use of “Made in America” themes in car marketing seems to be at a generational low these days.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 12:50 PM under Analysis, Chrysler, Companies, Ford, GM, Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us

What Used Vehicles Sell for $2,500 in the U.S.

By Michelle Krebs

Car buyers in India will be able to get a spanking-new car for $2,500 when the Tata Nano goes on sale in India later this year. So what kind of vehicle can American car buyers purchase for $2,500?

Edmunds.com’s data department researched what used vehicles were out on the market that cost between $2,000 and $2,500. The list turned out to be long ― long-gone nameplates; vehicles from gone-extinct brands; European classics; cheap sports cars; old standbys; and haulers of all sorts.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 8:39 AM under Analysis | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us

What Else Will $2,500 Buy?

India's Tata Motors grabbed headlines when last month it unveiled the Tata  Nano with its $2,500 price tag. Tata Motors' founder, Ratan Tata, sees the cheap Nano as way to get drivers in India off their motor scooters and into cars.

That got AutoObserver wondering: What would $2,500 buy in the U.S. aside from the car?

Jane Nakagawa, AutoObserver's design editor, set to work researching the Top 10 things she'd rather buy for $2,500 than a Tata Nano.

Here's what we came up with:

(Read more...)

Posted by at 8:28 AM under Commentary | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Tata Nano: The Secrets of the $2,500 Car

By Nick Kurczewski

NEW DELHI, India -- Tata Motors created automotive history at the New Delhi Auto Show in January when the $2,500 Nano hatchback rolled onto the stage. Ratan Tata, the soft-spoken chairman of Tata Group and Tata Motors, said the Nano’s first mission is to move India’s scooter owners into the safer, cleaner and more comfortable world of four-wheeled motoring.

But even more incredible than the car’s rock-bottom price is the fact that, underneath the Nano’s cute jellybean shape, there are no hidden tricks or bizarre cost-cutting measures.

How exactly has Tata kept the Nano’s price so low? The answer isn’t nearly as complex (or draconian) as many automotive experts predicted.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 8:25 AM under Analysis, Companies, Featured | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us

Marketing Powertrains Becomes Trickier

By Dale Buss

Back in the good old days, when an engine was still an engine and not some fuel-sipping mockery of locomotion, Chrysler dusted off its Hemi tradition, gussied up a powerful new V8 and wrote a great chapter in sub-branding history by promoting its robustness. Consumers went nuts from 2002 through 2006 selecting the 5.7-liter option and turning "That thing got a Hemi?" into a cultural touchstone.

What a difference two years and $3-a-gallon gasoline can make. Nowadays, Chrysler still touts the Hemi. But it is repositioning the iconic engine brand into a platform for powertrain diversity that notably includes a version that boosts fuel economy by shutting down half of its cylinders at cruising speeds.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:22 AM under Analysis, Ford, GM, Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Ghosn Remains Bullish in a Bear Market

By Nick Kurczewski

Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn says the French auto manufacturer is “ready to take the offensive” as it sticks to an ambitious turnaround plan. Speaking with journalists at Renault’s Paris headquarters Thursday, Ghosn’s continued confidence seems to run counter to a stagnant European car market, volatile exchange rates and what appears to be a looming global economic cool-down.

Ghosn mixed his optimism with several notes of caution when discussing Renault Commitment 2009, the name of the company’s bold recovery plan.

“We’ve identified the risks and know how to counter them,” said Ghosn.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:20 AM under Business, Companies | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Are Customers Finished Buying Tickets to the Horsepower Race?

By Bill Visnic

The evidence is mounting. Big engines and huge horsepower no longer are the keys to the car-buyer’s heart. In fact, it quickly may become the opposite.

Installation rates for V8 engines -- the bread-and-butter powerplant for the horsepower wars that have dominated the U.S. market for more than a decade -- are dropping. And data from Edmunds.com extrapolating the purchase intentions of consumers actively shopping for a new vehicle show those potential customers are markedly less interested in V8 power.

Certainly, it’s a time of deep but swift transition for the U.S. light-vehicle market. At the recent Detroit auto show, there were numerous examples of high-horsepower wares, but they most decidedly were presented in modest tones, taking a back seat to whatever fuel-efficient and eco-friendly model or technology was available. The chest-thumping days of explosive, twin-Hemi concept SUVs are done.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 1:19 PM under Analysis, Chrysler, Featured, Ford, GM, Technology | Comments (17) | digg this | del.icio.us

2009 Acura TSX: European Flavored

By Peter Nunn

TOKYO - Acura's redesigned 2009 TSX sports sedan has broken cover, weeks ahead of its official intro at the New York International Auto Show.

In what's shaping up to be a busy year for Acura, Honda's premium brand, this new TSX announcement comes just days after the revised 2009 Acura RL flagship was unveiled at last week's Chicago Auto Show. Acura has also said it will debut an all-new TL performance luxury sedan later year as Acura's model lineup gets a substantial revamp.

Indeed, John Mendel, executive vice president of automobile operations for American Honda Motor Co., had promised last summer that 2008 would be the year of laying out Acura's new direction.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 5:59 AM under Analysis, Companies, Featured, Technology | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us

GM Reports Loss for 2007 and Fourth Quarter

Despite improvements in its overall global auto business, General Motors posted losses for 2007 and for the fourth quarter of 2007.

GM's financial results show the automaker is flourishing in emerging growth markets but is still struggling in its North American auto operations. It also has been hurt by the housing and subprime lending crisis in the U.S.

In an effort to cut costs in North America, GM announced Tuesday it had reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers union for an even more attractive buyout program for hourly workers than the last one offered in 2006.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:59 AM under Chrysler, Commentary, In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Tata Nano Bound for Europe

By Nick Kurczewski
 
Launched at the New Delhi Auto Expo to a frenzy of worldwide interest, the Tata Nano city-car is coming to Europe within four years, according to Reuters. 

The Nano was the unequivocal star of the New Delhi Auto Expo in early January, where it was announced the car’s Indian-market price will begin at only “1-lakh,” the equivalent of $2,500. About the only thing louder than the waves of applause during the Nano’s debut was the sound of other automotive executives’ jaws hitting the floor.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:58 AM under Companies, News, Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chrysler Won't Survive; Sell It, Advises Ex-Chrysler Exec

Chrysler LLC won't survive on its own and its private-equity owners should sell the company to a foreign automaker, Dow Jones reports a former finance chief of the automaker.

"Step A is that Cerberus Capital Management should do everything they can to fix it, and step B is that they should sell it to a foreign automaker that has strong market share in emerging markets," said Jerry York, who was Chrysler's chief financial officer between 1990 and 1993. He now serves as a representative of billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:57 AM under Chrysler, Commentary, Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Ford Marketing: Restore the Trust

Ford Motor Co. plans to unveil a new marketing campaign in March or April that works to restore consumer trust in the Dearborn automaker's products, according to Jim Farley, Ford's group vice president of marketing and communications.

"The key elements are" to "restore the trust," he said Sunday, following a meeting with Ford dealers in San Francisco at the National Automobile Dealers Association's annual convention.

Farley is expected to lay out his plan for revamping Ford’s global marketing efforts on the eve of the New York auto show in March.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:52 AM under Companies, Ford, Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Blessed Is Poore in Spirit, for He Shall Inherit -- Nissan’s Brands

By Dale Buss

Nissan didn’t mount a news conference at the Detroit auto show last month. But the company and its vehicles were still there in force. The $70,000 cult supercar, the 473-horsepower Nissan GT-R, was beckoning gawkers ahead of its midsummer launch. Also the concept minivan, Forum, which Nissan unveiled in December.

It was sort of the same with Ben Poore. He didn’t march front and center with a mini-mic, TelePrompTer and portfolio of gestures to address a media throng about sales expectations or future models. But the company’s new North American vice president of marketing communications was certainly available around the display for interviews.

And even just three months after moving into his job from Ford, the 41-year-old Poore already has reached plenty of conclusions about where he wants to lead the third-ranked Japanese brand in the U.S. market.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 2:26 PM under Companies, Featured, Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

India’s Mahindra Plans Truck Production in Ohio

The U.S. distributor for Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. told dealers Monday it plans to assemble tens of thousands of light pickup trucks annually in Ohio starting in 2009, and to start selling a range of hybrid vehicles in the U.S. by 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday afternoon.

Mahindra, which was defeated in a bidding contest by rival Tata for Jaguar and Land Rover, has partnered with Atlanta-based Global Vehicles USA, which will distribute the vehicles, establish marketing plans and manage a network of hundreds of dealers that have signed up to sell Mahindras throughout the U.S., the newspaper reported.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 1:14 PM under Companies, News | Comments (11) | digg this | del.icio.us

Toyota’s 7-Year Loans Offer Reward, Risk

Toyota has begun offering customers 84-month loans on new cars to help dealers sell cars during the current economic downturn, an initiative that has some upside potential but also some risk for Toyota, said Joe Spina, Edmunds.com’s senior manager of remarketing.

“If Toyota Financial Services indeed offers these loans to customers with high credit scores and doesn’t do many 84-month loans as a percentage of its loan portfolio, then the risk of credit loss is low,” said Spina.

But, he added, “The risk with an 84-month loan is that customers may be purchasing a vehicle they really cannot afford. That could put them upside-down in the loan for longer. Then the loans become a tool that perpetuates negative equity financing.”

(Read more...)

Posted by at 1:09 PM under Commentary, Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Kia Revolving Door Turns Again as Latest Execs Leave

The top two executives of Kia Motors America Inc. are out. The U.S. marketing arm of the South Korean automaker confirmed at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in San Francisco over the weekend that CEO Len Hunt and Ian Beavis, vice president of marketing, had left the company.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 9:17 AM under Companies, Personalities | Comments (1) |