Nissan Scoops Up Hyundai Marketing VP
High-flying Hyundai Motor America took one on the chin this week as Nissan North America Inc. pirated Hyundai Marketing Vice President Joel Ewanick -- father of the company's cogent Hyundai Assurance buy-back program -- to become the new vice president of marketing for the Nissan division.
Word is that Hyundai is not amused to lose Ewanick, whose work netted him a handful of awards last year, including Chief Marketer of the Year from Forbes, Grand Marketer of the Year from Brandweek and Advertising Age's Marketer of the Year.
Ewanick, who had been with Hyundai since 2007, held positions outside the auto industry and also worked for Porsche Cars North America Inc.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:11 AM under Business , Companies , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
IHS Global Insight Buys CSM Worldwide
Industry consultant IHS Global Insight announced this week it is acquiring auto-supplier data and forecasting firm CSM Worldwide for $27 million.
Global Insight delivers financial and economic analysis for a broad range of industries and entities, but its automotive-sector consultancy is one of its better-known businesses. The acquisition of CSM Worldwide will give Global Insight direct access to CSM's supplier-focused data and market information.
"CSM's strengths in the supplier market, production and powertrain analysis, and North American and Asian customer markets are highly complementary to services provided by IHS," the company said in a statement.
"Becoming a part of IHS creates tremendous opportunity and allows us to leverage the experience and expertise of both organizations to better serve our customers around the world," said CSM Worldwide founder, president and CEO Craig Cather, who will direct the combined automotive forecasting and analysis operations of CSM and IHS. "Our combined automotive forecasting business will offer clients unparalleled intelligence related to the global automotive market."
Posted by Bill Visnic at 7:09 AM under Business , Companies , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Jerry York, Industry Exec, Straight-Talker and Critic, Dies at 71
Former auto executive Jerome York is dead at the age of 71 after suffering a brain aneurysm on Tuesday.
In the 1970s, York held high executive posts at Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. and was a central player in Chrysler's early 1980s turnaround, yet always was a vocal and strident critic of Detroit automakers for what he characterized as a myopic management culture.
York's seemingly perpetual prediction that Detroit would fall if it did not change essentially came to fruition with last summer's bankruptcies at General Motors Corp. and Chrysler.
York had a colorful career for someone who often was characterized as relentlessly methodical and calculating - a perception that may have cost him the CEO chair at Chrysler when legendarily emotional Lee Iacocca retired in 1992.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:31 PM under Business , Chrysler , Ford , GM , In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
J.D. Power: Vehicle Dependability Improves Industry-Wide; Caddy DTS, Porsche Tops
Overall vehicle dependability has improved 7 percent and for the first time in more than a decade, a domestic vehicle is the industry's dependability leader, says the latest Vehicle Dependability Study from J.D. Power and Associates.
Power's latest version of its widely-watched dependability study was based on 52,000 responses from owners about their experience over the last year with their 3-year-old, 2007-model vehicles.
General Motors Co.'s Cadillac DTS was the study's leader, beating all individual models with 76 problems per 100 vehicles; the industry average was 155 problems per 100 vehicles, a 7-percent improvement over the average 165 PP100 reported by owners last year.
Porsche was the overall nameplate leader at an average of 110 problems per 100 vehicles and Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln brand climbed six rungs since last year to finish in second place with a 114 PP100 rating. Overall, 25 of 36 brands improved their rating from last year and 14 brands performed better than the industry average.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:47 AM under Business , Companies , GM , Hyundai, Kia , News , Toyota , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Volkswagen Getting Cozy with New Big Stakeholder
The Volkswagen Group and its recently acquired Porsche Automobil Holding SE, owner of Porsche Cars, said this week a delegation that included the German State of Lower Saxony traveled to the Emirate of Qatar to "intensify cooperation" with the Emirate in the areas of research, development and education.
Last year, the complex financial and investment arrangement that led to VW's takeover of Porsche (after an improbable attempt at the opposite was aborted) led to Qatar becoming VW's third-largest shareholder - after the Piech family and Lower Saxony - with about 17 percent of VW. Through the deal, Qatar also holds about 10 percent of Porsche Automobil Holding SE.
Volkswagen said in a statement, "Topics discussed included possible research cooperation into new materials, energy production and storage, fuel economy optimization in engines, and the medium-term openings for establishing a vehicle materials test laboratory."
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:12 PM under Business , Companies , News , Technology , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Grand Cherokee, Car Washes Don't Mix
If you're seeing a lot of particularly dirty Jeep Grand Cherokees these days, there might be a good reason.
Doug Newman, owner of conveyer-belt style carwash chain in Milford, Connecticut, told Bloomberg news last week the Chrysler Group LLC sport-utility is an unintended acceleration beast, accounting for all four of the unintended-acceleration incidents that have occurred at his operations since 2000.
Little more than a month ago, a worker piloting a 2006 Grand Cherokee at the Octopus carwash in Albuquerque, New Mexico, killed another worker after the driver said the Jeep accelerated uncontrollably, smashing the worker against a wall.
And a member at Edmunds.com's CarSpace social-media forum identified as Octo30yrs said the Grand Cherokee's unintended-acceleration reputation with the carwash community is such that some operations now are either pushing through Grand Cherokees or rejecting them altogether.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 6:57 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota on Sikes' Runaway Prius: We're Not Buying It
James Sikes said last week the accelerator on his 2008 Toyota Prius hybrid-electric vehicle 
stuck open and the car took him prisoner on a 20-minute high-speed run on a San Diego freeway.
After examining and testing Sikes' Prius for two days, Toyota Motor Corp. engineers effectively are saying, "No sell."
Sikes' account of the event, in which he said his Prius accelerated of its own accord to speeds as high as 94 mph, has come under increasing skepticism in the week since it was reported, initially by Sikes himself calling 911. Now Toyota's investigation results -- although some will brand them as anything but unbiased -- add more doubt regarding Sikes' credibility.
"While a final report is not yet complete, there are strong indications that the driver's account of the event is inconsistent with the findings of the preliminary analysis," Toyota said in a press conference Monday.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:45 PM under Featured , News , Personalities , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota: Some Recall Fixes Done Improperly; Prius Runs Wild?
Well underway with the colossal job of attending to more than six million vehicles recalled to address either potentially sticking accelerator pedals or wayward floormats, a Toyota spokesman yesterday admitted some of the repairs may not be properly conducted.
The spokesman, in attendance of a media event where engineers demonstrated how unintended acceleration simulated by one researcher using a Toyota electronically controlled throttle system is virtually impossible to happen in real-world conditions, said the company is aware of multiple reports of continuing incidents of unintended acceleration in vehicles that had undergone the stipulated warranty repairs.
He added that only a few of the claims had been verified, but seemed to admit not all repairs are being properly carried out, saying that for some of the vehicles reported to still be accelerating of their own accord, "it had to do with the repair not being done properly."
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:39 AM under Business , In the Media , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Refutes Researcher's Simulation of Unintended Acceleration
Toyota Motor Corp. battled back yesterday against a hurricane of negative publicity and Congressional calls for action related to unintended acceleration in its Toyota- and Lexus-brand vehicles.
The controversy takes a new twist as Toyota and Exponent Inc., the high-profile engineering consultancy and troubleshooter the company has hired, demonstrated the unintended acceleration-causing conditions produced in a highly publicized test for Safety Research and Strategies Inc. conducted by Dr. David Gilbert, an associate professor of automotive technology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, are highly unlikely to occur under real-world conditions.
The Exponent team also showed that the design of Toyota's wiring for its electronically controlled throttle - the component suspected to be at the root of unintended acceleration - is engineered to prevent the potential for the kind of failure Gilbert's testing generated.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:58 PM under Featured , In the Media , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford, Porsche Make Enviro-Muscle Statements
The composting-saves-the-world neighbors won't be able to sneer (as much) at the gas-sucking muscle car in the driveway after Ford Motor Co. crowed today that a Mustang sporting the nameplate's new 3.7-liter dual-cam V6 churns out 305 horsepower - yet was just certified by the Environmental Protection Agency as earning a highway fuel-economy rating of 31 miles per gallon.
Ford says the car is history's first example of a production model that exceeds 300 hp yet also tops 30 mpg.
The number actually beat Ford's earlier expectations for 30 mpg from the V6 Mustang, the number the company was proudly promoting in January at the Detroit auto show.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:55 AM under Analysis , Business , Ford , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Notable Numbers from February Sales
The story that Ford Motor Co. outsold General Motors Co. (by 471 units) for the first month since August, 1998, has made the rounds.
But February's sales charts served up some other noteworthy numbers. Here is a selection:
Ford and GM's totals were No.1 and No. 2 in the market, and figures for the "Big 7" automakers were rounded out, in descending order, by Toyota Motor Sales USA at 100,027; Chrysler Group LLC at 84,449; Honda Motor America at 80,671; Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. at 70,189 and the Hyundai Group (Hyundai and Kia brands combined) at 58,056.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:05 AM under Analysis , Business , Chrysler , Ford , GM , Hyundai, Kia , Mazda , News , Toyota | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Lutz To Retire May 1
General Motors Co. vice chairman Bob Lutz, the company's energetic and often combative product guru - and long the embodiment of the auto industry's quintessential "car guy" executive - will retire May 1.
The company announced Lutz's retirement today.
The 78-year-old Lutz has had a larger-than-life automotive career that begin in 1963 and included stopovers with significant executive roles at each of the Big Three automakers and BMW AG prior to rejoining GM in 2001.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:50 AM under GM , In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Even Blizzards Can't Obscure This: Ford Tops GM in February Sales
February marked the first month since August, 1998, that Ford Motor Co.'s monthly sales topped those of chief rival General Motors Co., providing an unexpected jolt in a month when the broad industry was handicapped by severe winter weather in the northeast regions of the country - and by the spillover from Toyota's safety-recall debacle.
Total U.S. auto sales for the month were 779,743 units, an increase of about 13.5 percent from year-earlier sales of 687,182, when the American automotive market was at the very bottom of one of its biggest slumps ever. And the February pace represented a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 10.4 million units, a number at the upper middle of most SAAR projections.
"The good underlying news is that the industry hasn't gone into reverse in terms of its recovery," said Jessica Caldwell, senior industry analyst for Edmunds.com.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 5:50 PM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Hyundai, Kia , News , Toyota , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (13) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Reportedly Axes Cadillac Version of Chevy Volt
Several media sources reported late Monday General Motors Co. is dropping plans for a Cadillac-badged version of the high-tech Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle so Cadillac can focus on less-expensive plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles.
Apparently a Cadillac version of the Volt would be too weighed down by the expected luxury and comfort features to replicate the Volt's 40-mile electric-only driving range without extensive extra cost, a Bloomberg report said. Sources suggested achieving even a 20-mile driving range solely on battery power might require $30,000 of added cost, the report added.
The loss of the proposed Cadillac variant of the Volt casts more doubt on the near-term applicability of the Volt's battery-intensive, series-hybrid design.
Some GM executives had argued a Cadillac version of the Volt would help reduce costs -- mostly centered around the expensive lithium-ion batteries -- and speed wider adoption of the Volt's technology.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:03 PM under GM , In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Another GM Management Shuffle Coming?
General Motors Corp., prodded by impatient chairman and newly named CEO Ed Whitacre to start hiking sales and market share, reportedly is planning a new management restructuring that will place more power with GM North America president Mark Reuss.
Automotive News reports Reuss will take over responsibility for sales from vice president of sales and marketing Susan Docherty, who will continue to head GM's marketing functions.
Each of GM's four remaining sales divisions -- Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC -- will have newly appointed chiefs for both sales and marketing, with divisional sales bosses reporting to Reuss and divisional marketing heads reporting to Docherty.
Currently, division heads are in charge of both functions.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:10 PM under Business , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Lux and Little the Focus at This Week's Geneva Motor Show
There aren't that many true concept vehicles slated for the Geneva motor show this week. The few that are unveiled are bookended by a heavy presence in two sectors: small cars and luxury models.
Most of the attention in Geneva is concentrated on the small-car sector, thanks to continuing environmental pressure on both sides of the Atlantic. Europe continues to press with carbon-dioxide reduction measures, while financially battered U.S. customers evidence a downsizing mindset and the nation glides inexorably closer to a 2016 deadline for all automaker fleets to average 35 miles per gallon.
So while the Geneva show is mostly about what makes sense for an auto sector evolving toward less dependence on fossil fuels, the makers of luxury performance cars continue to respond with their own individual visions of how that future will be addressed. In many senses, it's becoming evident the makers of premium vehicles may in fact have more of an opportunity to capitalize -- as customers able to spend but unwilling to compromise may represent the best market to accept pricey new fuel-saving innovations.
The possibilities for synergy between the environmental movement and the luxury auto market may be almost limitless: even Ferrari, after all, is showing a hybrid-electric concept at this week's Geneva show.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:00 PM under Analysis , Business , Companies , Featured , Ford , News , Technology , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Chief Leaves Legislators With Little Resolution
Other than apologizing to a raft of House of Representatives lawmakers for accidents 
involving their constituents and pledging to improve the company's quality, communications and transparency, Akio Toyoda, president and CEO of embattled Toyota Motor Corp., didn't give Congress much to chew on after a day of exhaustive testimony in Washington, DC.
Testifying for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform along with Yoshimi Inaba, president and COO of Toyota Motor North America, Toyoda was hampered by the need to mostly speak through an interpreter and by delivering precious little in the way of definitive answers for House members desperate to produce public satisfaction.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:01 AM under Featured , News , Personalities , Toyota | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Fallout: Hyundai Halts Sonata Sales
As part of the obvious fallout of Toyota's problems with vehicle recalls and humiliating 
Congressional hearings, Hyundai Motor Co. announced in Korea Wednesday that it would temporarily stop selling its much ballyhooed 2011 Hyundai Sonata to fix a faulty door latch.
Hyundai said the problem affects 1,300 cars that have been bought by customers and 4,000 cars on dealership lots in the U.S.; it affects 47,000 vehicles globally as the Sonata is one of Hyundai's bestsellers, the other being the Elantra.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:37 AM under Companies , Hyundai, Kia , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Why the Toyota Puzzle Doesn't Fit Together - For Anybody
It was frustration, not answers, that came out of the House of Representatives Committee on 
Energy and Commerce investigation into Toyota Motor Corp.'s wide-ranging recalls for vehicles alleged, for different causes, to have unintended acceleration.
There were just two definitive take-aways from Tuesday's exhaustive hearing -- neither of which goes anywhere toward explaining whether mechanical, electrical or software faults could be at the root of thousands of consumer complaints of unintended acceleration and the recall of millions of Toyota vehicles.
Those two absolutes:
1. Toyota knew of an unintended acceleration trend -- evidenced in vehicles worldwide -- and now executives essentially are admitting the company underplayed its potential importance.
2. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the governing body charged with riding herd on automakers to assure action in such matters, wasn't doing its job.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:32 AM under Commentary , Featured , News , Toyota | Comments (12) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Cranks Up Chevy Cruze Production
Optimistic that its upcoming Chevrolet Cruze small car will be a hit, General Motors 
announced Tuesday that it is cranking up production at its Lordstown, Ohio, plant by adding a third shift and hiring 1,200 workers.
The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze goes on sale in the third quarter. The Cruze is the first of a new family of Chevrolet small cars.
"Cruze is a perfect example of how GM's turnaround is focused on the right products at the right time," said GM North America President Mark Reuss at a plant press conference. "This is a global car already kicking goals in 60 international markets. Based on that reaction, we expect the plant will be busy building a hot seller for North America."
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:35 AM under GM , News | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Saab Nearly a Done Deal; Hummer Sale Collapsing
General Motors sale of Saab to Dutch sportscar maker Spyker is expected to be finalized as early as Tuesday.
Meantime, GM's sale of Hummer to a Chinese company looks to be on the verge of collapse.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:41 AM under Companies , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota's Lentz Admits Slow Response on Safety Issues, Promises Improvement
Toyota's top U.S. sales executive will tell Congressmen Tuesday that the automaker was too 
slow to act on safety issues, was poor at communicating but will do better in the future.
"It has taken us too long to come to grips with a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our good faith efforts," Jim Lentz, Toyota Motor Sales president and COO will tell the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. His statement, to be read to the committee, was released by Toyota Tuesday morning.
Lentz said the automaker's slow reaction has been "compounded by poor communications both within our company and with regulators and consumers."
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:25 AM under Featured , News , Personalities , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Hyundai Spending Big To Launch 2011 Sonata; Promises Unique "Experiment" With Equus
Even in a wobbly U.S. auto market, Hyundai Motor America is pretty confident about the prospects for its all-new 2011 Sonata sedan. But not so confident the company doesn't think its best-selling model couldn't use some support, so it's rolling out its biggest budget ever to launch the new version of its best-selling model.
That would be about $160 million, said CEO John Krafcik during a media event today for the 2011 Sonata, which he said is just now reaching dealers.
"In Hyundai terms, this is really big money," Krafcik said. He compares the figure to the $80 million Hyundai recently spent to launch the Genesis premium sedan and $120 million to roll out the previous-generation Sonata in 2006.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 6:24 AM under Business , Companies , Hyundai, Kia , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Boss Reverses Course, Will Address Congress Next Week
After initially saying he would let executives from the company's U.S. operations handle appearances at two separate hearings in the U.S. Congress next week, Toyota Motor Corp. president and CEO Akio Toyoda abruptly changed course and announced he will put in a personal appearance.
Two House of Representatives committees will stage hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday next week regarding Toyota's high-profile -- and some say alarming -- recalls for sticking accelerator pedals and floor mats that have the potential to cause "unintended acceleration" in millions of Toyota vehicles.
Earlier in the week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform -- whose hearing is on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Eastern time -- invited Toyoda to appear at its hearing. Toyoda declined, as he also had for a Senate hearing scheduled for March 2.
But now Toyoda -- the grandson of the company's founder who became president and CEO in January, 2009 -- confirms he will appear at the House Oversight Committee's hearing next week.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 6:43 PM under Companies , Featured , News , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
NHTSA Investigates Toyota Corolla Steering
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is launching a formal investigation into 
consumer complaints regarding steering on 2009-2010 Toyota Corolla models, an investigation that may lead to a recall of the bestseller.
The agency said it had received 150 complaints. Toyota Executive Vice President Shinichi Sasaki told reporters in Japan this week that NHTSA had received more than 80 online complaints. NHTSA's inquiry will cover 500,000 vehicles.
The Washington Post cited one complaint on a 2010 Corolla read: "When driving on the highway (60+ mph), the vehicle will all of a sudden start to wander back and forth in the lane, for a few hundred yards. Then as quickly as it started, it stops. The wandering has almost created four collisions so far."
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:38 AM under News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota's Lentz To Testify at First Congressional Hearing
Toyota's president of U.S. sales, Jim Lentz, will testify at the first U.S. House hearing on Toyota's recalls next week, rather than the originally planned appearance of the company's North American president Yoshimi Inaba.
Toyota has been called to testify at two congressional hearings next week. The House Energy and Commerce Committee moved up its hearing by two days to Tuesday, February 23. Toyota said the date change would require Inaba to alter his travel plans. He will testify at a February 24 hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, she said.
Toyota President Akio Toyoda said he does not plan to testify at any of the Congressional hearings.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:32 AM under News , Personalities , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota vs. NHTSA: The Posturing Begins
With the first of a series of Congressional hearings only a week away, posturing by Toyota 
and the federal safety agency in charge of watching Toyota and other automakers has begun.
Both will be on hot seats during the hearings, and both are attempting to put themselves in the best light possible between now and then.
On Tuesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it was using its statutory authority to force Toyota to provide paperwork showing when and how the automaker learned of the defects that led to the recall of million of vehicles in the U.S. The government safety agency wants to determine of the recall were conducted "in a timely manner."
At the same time, Toyota Motor Co. President Akio Toyoda is preparing to brief the media Wednesday evening in Japan. He is expected to provide detail the global task force he is leading to revamp Toyota's quality control system.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:42 AM under Featured , News , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler May Test What a Name's Really Worth
At the Chicago auto show this week, Chrysler Group LLC president and CEO of the Dodge 
brand and senior vice president of product design Ralph Gilles reminded that the lowly esteemed and poorly selling Dodge Avenger and its Chrysler Sebring counterpart will get substantial overhauls for the 2011 model year.
The makeovers might include new names, Gilles told Bloomberg News.
The situation with the Avenger and Sebring leaves Chrysler in a conundrum that will test one of the more lasting adages of the auto business: establishing a nameplate is a costly investment, making it a good idea not to change. Likewise, establishing a new name for an existing or revised model can confuse consumers, threaten sales and squander the investment in the previous name.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:11 AM under Chrysler , News | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Honda Goes After Toyota Prius With Insight Lease Deal
Honda, unlike General Motors, Ford and Hyundai, has steered clear of incentives aimed at 
specifically and blatantly at luring would-be Toyota buyers to their folds as Toyota struggles with quality and image problems.
Honda is, however, offering an attractive sub $200-a-month lease deal on the Honda Insight, obviously to go up against the Toyota Prius, which has been recalled for brake problems. The deal is so good Edmunds.com has named the promotion its lease deal of the week.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:16 AM under Companies , News , Toyota | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Distributor Offers 0% for 60 Months Some Models, Including Recalled Ones
As Toyota faces plummeting sales and market share in February, its Central Atlantic 
Region has launched a President's Day promotion of no-interest financing for up to 60 months on a half-dozen models, including some that are covered under Toyota's recent recalls.
It's not clear if other distributors will follow suit.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:01 AM under News , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Prices Take Some Hit, Edmunds.com Reports
Recalls, stop-sales orders and the accompanying bad press have put downward pressure on 
prices of new and used Toyota vehicles, but the hit is not as huge as might be expected, according to an analysis by Edmunds.com.
New vehicles specifically covered by Toyota recalls are selling for an average of 0.5 percent - or $150 per vehicle - less than earlier this year, according to the most recent adjustments made to Edmunds.com's True Market Value pricing.
Used Toyota vehicles covered by recalls are selling for about 3 percent less than earlier this year, according to Edmunds.com. However, dealers --- either being cautious or opportunistic -- are paying about 6 percent less for Toyota trade-ins than they did before the recalls were announced.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:51 AM under Analysis , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler-Fiat CEO Ditches Chicago To Do Russian Deal
In conjunction with the 2010 Chicago Auto Show, the Economic Club of Chicago was geared up for a Thursday speech from Fiat Auto Group and Chrysler Group LLC chief executive Sergio Marchionne.
Instead, Marchionne traded one snowy city for a place probably a lot snowier, bowing out of the Chicago engagement in order to attend the signing of a new Fiat venture in Russia.
Marchionne plans to be on hand tomorrow for the signing of a joint venture with Russian automaker OAO Sollers to produce Fiat cars at an existing Sollers assembly plant in Naberezhniye Chelny, located in west central Russia. Russia Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reportedly also plans to visit the plant tomorrow.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Like a Pesky Neighbor, State Farm Is There -- Again
State Farm insurance warned U.S. regulators repeatedly of a rise in vehicle-accident claims 
involving Toyota vehicles and uninntended acceleration as far back as 2007, according to various media reports coming out of Washington Tuesday, a day before Toyota's top U.S. executive is scheduled to testify before the House oversight committee.
The nation's largest auto insurer saw an increase in reports of unwanted acceleration in Toyotas from its database of 40 million customers and told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTHSA) in 2007, the company confirmed.
Interestingly, State Farm also was first to sound the alarm on the deadly rollovers of Ford Explorers with Firestone tires in 2000.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:34 AM under Ford , News , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Recalls 437,000 Hybrids Globally, Including Toyota Prius
Toyota Motor Co., as expected, announced Tuesday the global recall of 437,000 hybrid 
models, including the Toyota Prius and Lexus HS 250h, to fix faulty braking systems.
The latest recall covers four models and brings the total number of recalled vehicles for various problems to about 8 million worldwide.
Toyota Motor Co. President Akio Toyoda announced the hybrid recall at a press conference in Japan Tuesday. As he did at a press conference last Friday, Toyoda, grandson of the company founder, apologized for causing customers to worry about Toyota's quality and safety and vowed to "redouble our commitment to quality."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:58 AM under Featured , News , Personalities , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Despite Quality Woes, Toyota Turns a Profit, Admits Prius Brake Problems
Despite recalls, stop-sales orders on some of its best-selling models and other mounting quality concerns, Toyota 
announced Thursday it had earned money in the previous quarter and raised its earnings forecast for the year, saying it will return to profitability this year.
Toyota's profit forecast comes as the automaker's quality issues are increasing. Toyota's latest quality problem involves its high-profile Prius -- the world's best-selling hybrid car -- that company executives admitted Thursday has brake issues.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:07 AM under Business , Featured , News , Toyota | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Transportation Secretary Says Stop Driving Recalled Toyotas
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said owners of Toyota vehicles recalled for 
accelerator-pedal defects should "stop driving" them and bring them to a Toyota dealer for repair.
"We need to fix the problem so people don't have to worry about disengaging the engine or slamming the brakes on or put it in neutral," LaHood told a House Appropriations panel hearing in response to questions from a lawmaker.
"If anybody owns of these vehicles, stop driving it and take it to a Toyota dealer," he added.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:29 AM under News , Personalities , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota CEO Apologizes; Company Advertises Apology in U.S. Media
Akio Toyoda, grandson of the founder of Toyota who was named president and CEO of the company last year, made his first public comment about the massive recall that led to a stop-selling order of eight popular models in the U.S. this week.
"I am deeply sorry," Toyoda said in a brief interview with the Japanese network NHK as reported by ABC News. Toyoda was attending the famous economic conference in Davos, Switzerland.
He apologized to customers for causing them worry. He said he could not answer questions because the company "was still investigating," but he hoped to provide customers with an explanation soon. "I would like for people to trust us," he said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:35 PM under In the Media , News , Personalities , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Clarifies Some Recall Info; Recall Expands to Europe, China
A top Toyota executive, in a briefing with Edmunds.com staffers, clarified some points of the automaker's recent actions regarding the recall and subsequent sales and production suspension of eight best-selling Toyota-brand models. He described symptoms that suggest unintended acceleration in these vehicles could occur and provided an update on a remedy for the problem.
Meantime, Toyota expanded its stop-sale to Europe and Asia as well as to the U.S. Toyota Corolla/Matrix-based Pontiac Vibe, a model from a brand that General Motors has discontinued. The Vibe had been built at the New United Motor Manufacturing GM-Toyota joint venture plant in Fremont, California, that is being closed by Toyota. Toyota also added about 1 million vehicles to the floormat recall initiated last fall.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:25 AM under News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Sells Sweden's Saab to Spyker Cars
General Motors and Spyker Cars confirmed Tuesday that GM has agreed to sell Swedish automaker Saab to the 
Dutch sports car maker.
"Today's announcement is great news for Saab employees, dealers and suppliers, great news for millions of Saab customers and fans worldwide, and great news for GM," said John Smith, GM vice president for corporate planning and alliances, who will hold a press conference later in the day.
Spyker told Bloomberg News it has agreed to pay $74 million in cash and $326 million in preferred shares in the new company that would emerge from the deal, to be called Saab Spyker Automobiles, which will carry the Saab brand forward. The sale is subject to Sweden agreeing to guarantee a 400 million-euro ($563 million) European Investment Bank loan for Saab.
The sale is expected to close in February and Saab will exit an orderly wind-down process in line with the timetable, the Dutch company said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:30 AM under Business , GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM to Develop, Build Electric Motors
General Motors Co. announced Tuesday it will enhance its ability to develop and build future 
electric vehicles by designing and producing its own electric traction motors, effectively the "engines" that propel fully electric vehicles.
GM says the decision to design and manufacture its own traction motors makes it the first domestic automaker to make the commitment to in-house development. The company says it is investing $246 million in electric motor and electric drive facilities in the U.S.
Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman, global product operations, said in a media event with reporters the company believes committing to developing its own traction motors will save money, improve performance and allow better optimization of the entire electric drivetrain.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:30 AM under GM , News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Fusion Hybrid Beats Toyota Prius as Consumer Favorite Hybrid
The Ford Fusion Hybrid won the Consumer Favorite in Edmunds.com's hybrid vehicle survey, 
narrowly beating the Toyota Prius.
The Ford Fusion Hybrid earned 26 percent of the votes, closely followed by the Toyota Prius with 23 percent.
"Ford's midsize hybrid sedan, which helped boost Ford's overall sales performance in an otherwise dismal 2009, has been praised for its smooth operation, fuel economy, looks and interactive information system that helps drivers modify their behind-the-wheel behavior to increase fuel economy," according to Edmunds' GreenCarAdvisor.com Senior Editor John O'Dell.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:16 AM under Ford , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Recalls 2.3 Million Vehicles for Sticky Gas Pedal
Toyota issued another major safety recall late Thursday -- this one for 2.3 million Toyota- 
brand vehicles to correct sticking accelerator pedals.
The newest recall is in addition to an ongoing recall of 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles for sticking gas pedals due to the wrong floormat being in the car or an improperly placed floormat. About 1.7 million vehicles are covered by both recalls.
Toyota vehicles listed in the latest recall represent the biggest sellers for the automaker once known for bulletproof quality. In fact, the models covered under the recall account for more than two-thirds of Toyota brand's sales.
They are the: 2009-'10 RAV4, Corolla and Matrix; 2005-'10 Avalon; 2007-'10 Camry; 2010 Highlander, 2007-'10 Tundra and 2008-'10 Sequoia.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:07 PM under Featured , News , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Starts Opel Restructuring with Closure of Belgian Plant
General Motors' restructuring of its Opel operations in Europe have begun with Thursday's 
announcement that the automaker - as expected - will close an assembly plant in Antwerp, Belgium, mid-2010, eliminating 2,600 jobs.
The Belgian plant builds the Opel Astra, which had been sold in the U.S. as the Saturn Astra before the Saturn brand was eliminated. The plant was selected because Astra and other models it assembles are made elsewhere so capacity shifts can be easily accomplished, Opel CEO Nick Reilly said in a news conference in Brussels.
"The decision to announce this today, was not taken lightly; instead, it is the unfortunate result of the current business reality," Reilly said. "We must make this announcement now so that we can secure a viable future for the entire Opel and Vauxhall operations."
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:09 AM under Business , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM-Style Bankruptcy Sought for Japan Airlines
If it works for General Motors, why not Japan Airlines?
U.S. bankruptcy experts insisted last summer that new laws were being written during government-backed "quick rinse" Chapter 11 proceedings of GM and Chrysler. Now international companies were looking to those bankruptcies as the way to get the job done.
Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL) filed for bankruptcy - Japan's sixth-largest bankruptcy ever - this week. Analysts are looking at GM's bankruptcy to determine how much JAL's investors will be re-paid. Based on the GM scenario, they expect JAL investors to recover 20 to 25 percent of their investment.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:46 AM under Chrysler , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Talks Concessions for Reacquired Former Delphi Plants
Even as it talks of the need to ramp up production at several U.S. assembly plants, General Motors Corp. is sending another message to the handful of former Delphi Inc. plants it "reacquired" as part of Delphi's departure from bankruptcy: costs have to be reduced.
The Detroit News reports today GM is seeking wage concessions from the United Auto Workers union workers who staff the components plants. The gambit likely was inevitable: GM spent billions to purchase the plants when Delphi exited its protracted bankruptcy late last year in order to assure the orderly delivery of vital parts - but GM reportedly is seeking to sell many, if not all of the facilities. The company already announced earlier this month it is selling the Nexsteer steering-components plant in Saginaw, MI.
The report that GM wants to reduce labor costs hardly is a surprise, then, as it brings these plants - and the thinking that originally created Delphi - full circle.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:17 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Sweeps Car and Truck of the Year Awards
The Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Ford Transit Connect won the 2010 North American Car and 
Truck of the Year awards, it was announced Monday morning at the Detroit auto show.
The Fusion Hybrid won over two other finalists for the prestigious award -- the Buick LaCrosse and Volkswagen Golf. The Transit Connect beat out the Chevrolet Equinox and Subaru Outback.
"Winning both of these prestigious awards is confirmation that the One Ford plan is working, delivering industry-leading product for our customers," said Mark Fields, Ford president of The Americas.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:38 AM under Featured , Ford , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Taurus Wins First Edmunds.com Technology Breakthrough Award
The 2010 Ford Taurus is the winner of the first annual Edmunds.com Technology 
Breakthrough Award.
"The 2010 Ford Taurus offers a long list of high-tech features at a great price," said Doug Newcomb, Edmunds.com senior technology editor.
The award was given at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:52 AM under Ford , News , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Whitacre Sees Chance for 2010 Profit, Little Hope for Saab
General Motors Chairman and Interim CEO Ed Whitacre said the automaker has a shot at earning a profit in 2010, but he sees little hope to a rescue of Saab.
In a wide-ranging conversation with media in Detroit on Wednesday, Whitacre said GM's top priority to is earn a profit so that it can pay back its government loans and become a public company again. Going public wouldn't happen earlier than late this year, however.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:18 PM under Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
December Sales Provide Hopeful Farewell to Last Year
U.S. auto sales in December accelerated to their best pace of the year outside last summer's Cash for Clunkers bonanza, providing a hopeful punctuation mark to the industry's worst year in decades.
Sales in December totaled 1,010,003, up 1.9 percent from December 2008, when automakers and American consumers were newly stunned by the economic debacle unfolding on several levels around them.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:56 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Ford , News , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
In Dismal Year, Subaru Sets New Sales Records
Subaru of America was first to announce December and full-year 2009 sales. And not surprisingly. The Japanese automaker is proud that it not only bucked the downward trend of the industry in 2009 -- one of the worst years in three decades; it shattered its own records.
Subaru sold 216,652 vehicles, an increase of 15 percent from 2008, surpassing the previous 2006 record of 200,703 vehicles. .
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:11 AM under Business , Companies , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Distinguished Automotive Journalist Bill Visnic Joins Edmunds.com
Automotive publishing veteran Bill Visnic joins Edmunds.com as full-time senior editor for 
Edmunds' AutoObserver.com.
Having been a regular freelance contributor to the automotive industry blog since 2007, Visnic will expand his role, providing expert analysis of business and technology developments.
Visnic brings to the position 16 years of experience as an automotive journalist. As Senior Technical Editor at Ward's Automotive Group, he implemented the highly regarded Ward's 10 Best Engines program. Prior to Ward's, Visnic worked as Associate Editor at Car and Driver.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:46 AM under In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Clean Up on Pontiac, Saturn Aisles!
General Motors Co., in an effort to clear the decks for the new year, is offering hefty 
incentives to dealers to sell thousands of vehicles from its discontinued Saturn and Pontiac brands.
In a December 23 letter to dealers, obtained by the Wall Street Journal, GM said it would pay dealers $7,000 for every new Saturn or Pontiac that it moves to a rental-car or service-vehicle fleet operated by the dealer and then sells as a used vehicle to a customer. The offer expires January 4.
There's no guarantee the $7,000 will go from the dealer to the customer. However, a dealer can use some or all of the cash to make the deal more attractive to the customer. In the case of Pontiac's cheapest vehicle, the G3, that would mean almost half off if the dealer passed along all of the incentive.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:30 AM under Business , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Set to Close Volvo Sale to China's Geely by June
Ford Motor Co. confirmed Wednesday details of its sale of Volvo to China's Zheijang Geely 
Holding Group Company Ltd. have been settled, and the deal likely will close in the second quarter of next year.
Saying more information would be revealed when the final documents are signed in the first quarter of 2010, Ford provided no details about the terms of the sale, including the price. Experts estimate the price $1.8 billion, making it the largest overseas acquisition by a Chinese automaker.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:05 AM under Business , Companies , Ford , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Hires CFO from Microsoft
General Motors announced Monday it has hired as its new CFO Chris Liddell, most recently 
CFO for Microsoft Corp.
"Chris brings a depth and experience to this job that were unmatched in our search for a new financial leader," Ed Whitacre, GM chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
"Chris will lead our financial and accounting operations on a global basis and will report directly to me," Whitacre added. We're also looking to his experience and insights in corporate strategy as a member of the senior leadership team in helping our restructuring efforts."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:09 AM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Sale of Saab Fails; Swedish Brand to Die
General Motors announced Friday its planned sale of Saab has failed, and the Saab brand 
will be eliminated, resulting in the loss of 3,400 jobs and 1,100 dealers globally.
After Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg Group AB last month withdrew from negotiations for Saab, GM took up discussions with Dutch sports car maker Spyker Cars. The deal, which failed Friday morning, was considered a long-shot due to the short timeframe to close the deal -- GM set a Dec. 31 deadline. In addition, Spyker is a small and unprofitable company, plus financing in any deal is challenging in these times.
"Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction could not be executed in a reasonable time. In order to maintain operations, Saab needed a quick resolution," said GM Europe President Nick Reilly.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:58 AM under Business , Companies , Featured , GM , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
This Week's AutoObserver Reader Favorites: GM Plans; Award Finalists; VW-Suzuki
Not surprisingly, this week's favorite post by AutoObserver readers was our coverage of 
General Motors Chairman and Interim CEO Ed Whitacre's outline for the automaker's short-term game plan.
The former AT&T CEO held his first media roundtable since adding the CEO title two weeks after the ouster of Fritz Henderson.
At the press briefing, Whitacre said GM's priorities are paying back $6.7 billion in government loans by June and selling more cars and generating more revenue. He also called GM's sale of Saab to Dutch sports car maker Spyker is "possible" by year-end, but, if not, Saab would be eliminated.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:07 AM under Analysis , Business , Companies , Ford , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Finalists for North American Car and Truck of the Year Announced
The Ford Fusion Hybrid, Buick LaCrosse and Volkswagen Golf are finalists for the 2010 North American Car of the Year awards. 
Finalists for the 2010 North American Truck of the year are the Subaru Outback, Chevrolet Equinox and Ford Transit Connect.
The half-dozen finalists for the prestigious awards were announced Wednesday at an Automotive Press Association luncheon sponsored by organizers of the Detroit auto show, where the winners will be announced in January.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:09 AM under Companies , Featured , Ford , News , Toyota | Comments (7) | digg this | del.icio.us
It's (Mostly) Official: $4 Billion of Chrysler TARP Loans a Writeoff
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan filed Tuesday by the company comprised of 
the remnants of the former Chrysler, Old Carco LLC, effectively leaves the U.S. taxpayer on the hook for about $4 billion loaned to the company through the U.S. Department of Treasury's infamous Troubled Assets Relief Program, Reuters reported.
The plan accounts for no payback of the $4 billion "bridge" loan to Chrysler made through TARP in January, prior to its summer bankruptcy, although secured creditors accounting for a mere $20.6 million of the billions in debt the company left behind will be paid in full.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:07 AM under Chrysler , News | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Whitacre Outlines Automaker's Short-Term Game Plan
In his first media roundtable since adding CEO to his title only 14 days ago, General Motors Chairman Ed Whitacre said: the automaker would pay back $6.7 billion in government loans by June; selling more cars and generating revenue are GM's top priorities; and a sale of Sweden's Saab to Dutch sportsmaker Spyker is "possible."
Whitacre, the retired CEO of AT&T who became GM chairman at the request of President Obama's automotive task force following GM's emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy July 10, said GM will make a $1.2 billion payment on the loan it received from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) this month.
GM then intends to make quarterly payments until June 2010 when it will pay in full the $6.7 billion in TARP funds it owes. At the same time, GM will make payments on its loans from the Ontario and Canadian governments.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:11 AM under Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
New GM North America Boss Tightening Up the Team
In webchat with a "consumer" audience that seemingly was populated by plenty of industry-savvy questioners, new General Motors Co. North America president Mark Reuss said Friday one of his first initiatives since assuming his new role early this month will be to streamline some of the corporate structure.
Reuss said his planned new system comprises just five direct reports that are "laser focused" on sales, marketing, manufacturing, Canada/Mexico and GM's OnStar telematics-service unit. He said recently-resigned CEO Fritz Henderson "had a lot more to do," inferring that the reporting to Reuss can be simplified because of the different duties of CEO and North American president positions.
Reuss also insinuated he will be working to solidify the ties between GM's North American engineering activities and its Adam Opel AG European Operations. After a lengthy period in which GM made preparations to sell off Opel, the company's board decided to retain the division. Now, Reuss said, he plans to leverage the engineering and product-development experience at Opel to the benefit of all GM vehicles.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 2:30 PM under Business , Featured , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chevy Boss, Another GM "Lifer," To Retire
General Motors Co.'s crucial Chevrolet division has a new general manager as yet another long-serving executive is leaving GM.
The company announced late Wednesday that Brent Dewar, 31-year GM veteran and vice president, global Chevrolet, will retire effective April 1, 2010. Taking over immediately as Chevrolet general manager is 45-year-old James M. Campbell, who had been in charge of GM's Fleet and Commercial Operations.
Since GM emerged from bankruptcy in mid-July, chairman Ed Whitacre has emphasized GM is striving for younger faces and fresher thinking -- not to mention fresh blood from outside -- to reinvigorate GM's hidebound executive culture.
Chevrolet's new general manager is appropriately young, perhaps, but is no newbie at GM, having been with the company since 1988.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 7:19 PM under Analysis , Business , Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Invests $336 Million in Chevrolet Volt Factory
General Motors announced Monday that it will invest $336 million in the Detroit-Hamtramck 
assembly plant to begin production of the Chevrolet Volt electric car in 2010.
GM said that brings its total Volt-related investments in Michigan to $700 million, covering eight facilities.
"We expect the Detroit-Hamtramck plant will be the first facility in the U.S. owned by a major automaker to produce an electric car, Jon Lauckner, GM vice president of global product planning, told the company and government officials gathered at the plant Monday.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:50 AM under GM , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Suzuki Reportedly in VW's Hands by Year-End
Maybe tiny Suzuki Motor Corp. no longer has to be concerned that sales for its American 
Suzuki Motor Corp. unit have been evaporating towards near-nonexistence: information from Europe says the burgeoning Volkswagen Group has plans to take over Suzuki by the end of the year.
A report in Britain's Car magazine, authored by Georg Kacher -- a writer with historically reliable and highly-placed sources -- says VW has been negotiating for months to acquire Suzuki and that the company had planned to announce the consummation of the deal at the Tokyo motor show in October, but last-minute contractual negotiations delayed the timeline.
Now, Kacher says in Car, VW should announce by the end of the year it's completed a deal to own Suzuki, making the Japanese minicar specialist VW's 11th brand.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:08 AM under Companies , Featured , GM , News , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Details Management Shuffle
General Motors made official a number of key leadership changes, including the elevation of 
Mark Reuss, a 46-year-old engineer and "car guy," to president of GM North America, Nick Reilly to president of GM Europe and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz becomes an advisor on design and product development.
"I want to give people more responsibility and authority deeper in the organization and then hold them accountable," said GM chairman and interim CEO Ed Whitacre, in a statement. "We've realigned our leadership duties and responsibilities to help us meet our mission to design, build and sell the world's best vehicles."
Reuss served ever so briefly as vice president of global engineering after being brought back early as head of Holden in Australia.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:56 AM under Business , Featured , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Another Exotic-Car Suitor for Saab
First it was one-off exotic-car builder Koenigsegg Group. With that deal part of history, a new one-off exotic-car maker, Netherlands-based Spyker Cars NV, formally confirmed yesterday it is talking to General Motors Co. about acquiring GM's twisting-in-the-wind Saab Automobiles.
Spyker is backed by its majority owner, Russia's Conversbank Financial Group, which owns 29.9 percent of Spyker, currently best known for its gullwing C8 Aileron sports car. Spyker reportedly has 132 employees and has sold less than 25 cars through the first half of this year. Saab currently employs about 4,500 and sold 93,000 vehicles last year.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:01 PM under Companies , GM , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler Gets Political
Chrysler Group LLC is taking part in an interesting politically-oriented promotion with a TV 
film - opening on the Chrysler brand's Website Thursday - supporting a movement advocating the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, pro-democracy leader in Burma and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Kyi has been under sporadic house arrest for more than two decades.
Chrysler partnered with Lancia Automobiles for the 30-second film originally created for Lancia's sponsorship of the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Berlin last month.
The theme of the summit was "knocking down new walls and building bridges for a world without violence," to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the demolition of the Berlin Wall.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:25 AM under Chrysler , In the Media , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Supreme Court Denies Ford Explorer Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-ditch effort from Ford Motor Co. Monday to reverse an 
$82.6 million decision in a product-liability case involving the Ford Explorer, according to the Wall Street Journal.
California resident Benetta Buell-Wilson and her husband sued Ford in 2002, the year the Ford Explorer Buell-Wilson was driving overturned on a highway. Buell-Wilson swerved to avoid a piece of metal, causing the Explorer to roll over and its roof to collapsed, crushing Buell-Wilson and rendering her a paraplegic.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:30 AM under Companies , Ford , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Renault's Apparent Cold Feet Killed Saturn-Penske Deal, Report Says
Just as General Motors was about to seal the deal to sell Saturn to the Penske Automotive 
Group on Sept. 30, French automaker Renault, which had pledged to supply small vehicles to the venture, backed out, an executive involved in the negotiations told a Detroit newspaper.
Tom LaSorda, retired Chrysler president who was helping Penske negotiate the Saturn-Renault deal, laid to rest any notion that it was Penske who wanted to back out of the deal. "Somebody got cold feet" at Renault, LaSorda told Detroit Free Press columnist Tom Walsh, whose article ran in Wednesday's edition.
"We were shocked," LaSorda told paper in his first public comments on the aborted Saturn sale. In fact, little has been said by anyone involved since the deal went sour.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:29 AM under Chrysler , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota to Replace 3.8 Million Gas Pedals; Edmunds.com Re-Enacts Problem
Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will repair and replace accelerator pedals on 3.8 million recalled Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the United States to address the issue of pedals being jammed by the floor mat, potentially causing unintended acceleration.
As an interim step, Toyota said it will have dealers shorten the length of the accelerator pedals beginning in January while the company develops replacement pedals, to be available in April. Some vehicles will have an engine management system-based brake override installed as well.
Based on Edmunds.com's re-enactment of the floor mat-pedal situation, these fixes should alleviate the problem.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:07 AM under Featured , News , Toyota | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Sale of Saab to Koenigsegg Collapses
General Motors confirmed Tuesday that its planned sale of Swedish automaker Saab to Koenigsegg Group AB has collapsed with Koenigsegg terminating the sale.
What's next for Saab has yet to be determined.
"We're obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase," GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement issued by GM. "Many have worked tirelessly over the past several months to create a sustainable plan for the future of Saab by selling the brand and its manufacturing interests to Koenigsegg Group AB.
"Given the sudden change in direction, we will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week," Henderson added.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:12 AM under Featured , GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Tough New Roof Test Whittles Down Field of IIHS 'Top Safety Pick' Winners
A rigorous new roof-strength standard means a lot fewer new models earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's "Top Safety Pick" award for 2010.
This year, just 27 individual models were named Top Safety Pick by the IIHS, compared with last year's record 94 models that earned the award. Most of the reason so many new vehicles couldn't grab the brass ring comes down to a newly instituted roof-safety test presumed to indicate superior protection in rollovers, which are involved in about one-third of all fatal accidents.
"With the addition of our new roof strength evaluation, our crash test results now cover all 4 of the most common kinds of crashes," said IIHS president Adrian Lund in a release. "Consumers can use this list to zero in on the vehicles that are on the top rung for safety."
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:00 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , Ford , In the Media , News , Technology , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ghosn Confirms Nissan to Persevere with Titan, Other Trucks in U.S.
In a recent meeting with automotive media, Nissan-Renault chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn said Nissan intends to stick with fullsize pickups in the U.S. and also said there is a future for other trucks and SUVs in Nissan's model range, including the Quest minivan.
The fullsize pickup market has been battered by the U.S. economic upheaval and the auto industry's resulting plunge, and import-brand fullsizers have had the worst of it. Sales for Nissan's Titan were down a striking 50.2 percent through October, to a meager 15,393 sold.
After a deal in which Nissan arranged to have the next-generation Titan based on the Dodge Ram pickup and manufactured by Chrysler Group LLC evaporated earlier this year, questions began to circulate about whether Nissan would remain in the domestic-nameplate-dominated segment that has proven difficult for import brands to invade.
But Ghosn said despite the setback from losing the Chrysler connection, Nissan is hanging in the fullsize-pickup game.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:05 AM under Business , Companies , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chevy Volt Less Than One Year Away
Engineers at General Motors Co. working on the 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle yesterday told the media development remains on track and that the start of production for GM's game-changing, fuel-saving 4-seater now is less than a year away.
When GM unveiled the Volt at the Detroit auto show in January, 2007, the promise of production seemed tantalizingly far-flung - and improbable, given the myriad technical problems GM admitted had to be solved. But chief engineer Andrew Farah says the accelerated development program is on schedule and GM will begin producing the Volt in less than a year's time.
And despite the recent drama involving the proposed sale of GM's Adam Opel AG European operations and the company's eleventh-hour decision to keep the division, Farah says Opel's version of the Volt, the Ampera, remains on target to hit showrooms about a year after the Volt.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Companies , GM , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Mazda2 Makes North American Debut in Los Angeles
The Mazda2 is coming to North America, making its debut at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show in early December.
Named last year's World Car of the Year and sold in Japan as the Demio, the Mazda2 goes on sale in late 2010 in the U.S. and Canada as a 2011 model.
The Ford Fiesta, which shares the Mazda2's architecture, beats the Mazda2 to showrooms with a spring arrival. The Euro-designed Fiesta will be built in Mexico.
The Fiesta also will have its North American debut at the Los Angeles show.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:21 AM under Companies , Ford , Mazda , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
New GMAC Chief: Become a Premier Auto Finance Company
Michael Carpenter, a board member turned new chief of GMAC Financial Services, vowed to make the company into "a premier auto finance company," something it has not been of late.
Troubled GMAC provides loans to General Motors customers and dealers and eventually will do the same for Chrysler but itself has been living on government loans to survive.
"The top priority is to turn GMAC into a premier auto finance company and pay back the government in a reasonable time frame," Carpenter said. "I am confident we can achieve that."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:47 AM under Chrysler , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Stock Sets 2-Year High as Investor Boosts Stake
Ford Motor Co. stock closed Monday at its highest price in more than two years after 
billionaire investor George Soros upped his stake in the automaker.
Ford shares rose 30 cents, or 3.6 percent, to close at $8.71 a share on Monday. That's the highest price since the shares closed at $8.95 per share on Nov. 2, 2007, according to Bloomberg. Ford shares have risen 25 percent since Oct. and more than tripled this year.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:24 AM under Ford , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Will Make First Government Loan Repayments in December
General Motors said Monday, in releasing its first financial statement since emerging from 
Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 10, it would make its first loan repayments to U.S. and Canadian taxpayers next month. At that time, it will pay back a total of $1.2 billion.
Still, the new GM reported a loss of $1.15 billion in its first 83 days of operation. However, that was an improvement from last year.
"We have significantly more work to do, but today's results provide evidence of the solid foundation we're building for the new GM," said GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson in a company statement. "With a healthier balance sheet and a competitive cost structure, our focus is on driving top line performance. We'll achieve that by winning customers over, one at a time, with vehicles that deliver performance and value."
(Read more...)
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Edmunds.com Recommends Shift From MPG Emphasis
Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver, late last week submitted a recommendation to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation to make fuel-economy information on new-vehicle window stickers more useful by shifting to a cost-of-energy figure rather than today's emphasized miles-per-gallon numbers.
Edmunds.com believes beginning to focus on annual or monthly energy-cost figures will better prepare consumers and the industry for the increasing number of alternative-propulsion vehicles coming into production. Fully electric, extended-range electric and plug-in hybrid models all will rely less (or not at all) on burning liquid fuel - and translating their energy usage to MPG equivalents so far has proven to generate unrepresentative numbers that make for difficult comparisons between different types of vehicles.
"Consumers have used the existing MPG ratings primarily to get a sense of the relative cost of operating a vehicle on a day-to-day basis," said Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl. "However, using energy equivalents can easily cause consumers to draw erroneous conclusions."
(Read more...)
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Daimler Doesn't Expect Quick U.S. Recovery
Dieter Zetsche, Daimler AG chairman and head of the German automaker's Mercedes-Benz passenger-car division, said yesterday in a media conference in New York that it "remains to be seen" if the U.S. economy really is improving, adding that "there is some (economic) data causing concern."
He said Daimler instead is banking on growth in China and some Latin America markets.
"I do believe the U.S. market will come back to former volumes," Zetsche said, adding, however, the company does not think it will happen until 2012 or 2013.
"There is one country where we haven't seen any retraction," he said. "This country is China." Zetsche said China soon will be the third-largest market for Mercedes-Benz - and already is the world's largest market for the company's S-Class flagship.
(Read more...)
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TARP Watchdog Reiterates: Billions Loaned to Automakers Likely Lost
Top executives at General Motors Co. and Chrysler LLC have both gone out of their way in the past week to say their once-bankrupt companies are positioning themselves to pay back the tens of billions of dollars loaned to them by the federal government.
The man charged with overseeing the U.S. Dept. of Treasury program through which the money was loaned doesn't share their confidence.
Neil Barofsky, the special investigator assigned by Congress as the watchdog for the $700-billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, said at a conference in Washington D.C. that while GM and Chrysler may pay back some of the approximately $65 billion extended to them, the U.S. probably won't ever see full payback.
"Tens of billions of dollars are likely to be lost on the automotive bailout," Barofsky said flatly.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:10 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , GM , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
New-Gen Buick Midsizer Flaunts German DNA
General Motors Co.'s Buick division today released images and information for the 2011 Buick Regal and is openly billing the new-age Buick as a sport sedan.
Given the new Regal's origins with GM's second-generation global midsize chassis that was engineered by Adam Opel AG - the Germany-based European division GM just retrieved from the clutches of mega-supplier Magna and Russia's Sberbank - there might be reasonable credibility for the sport-sedan claim.
In addition to being based on the German-engineered Epsilon II architecture also used by the well-regarded new Opel Insignia (not to mention Buick's new LaCrosse sedan), the 2011 Regal also will be built in Germany at Opel's Russelsheim assembly plant.
The Regal's lines may be some of the crispest ever to be seen in a Buick showroom and GM is calling out the Acura TSX, Volkswagen Passat, Mazda6 and even the Volvo S60 as competitors. The Regal goes on sale in the second quarter next year - and in a significant sign of the times, only 4-cylinder power will be on offer.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:55 PM under Business , Companies , GM , News , Technology | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
VW Pushes Past Toyota as Global Production Leader
The distractions for much of the year surrounding the Volkswagen Group's ownership tussle with Porsche AG didn't stop VW from achieving a significant global milestone: VW this month surpassed Toyota Motor Corp. as the world's largest vehicle manufacturer.
The United Kingdom's Guardian newspaper reports IHS Global Insight figures as indicating Volkswagen (now with Porsche included) production hit 4.4 million units for the year, easily shouldering by Toyota and its production of about 4 million units year-to-date.
Analysts have noted this event was not unpredictable; in the face of a global dropoff in demand, Toyota had made the decision to drastically curtail production in the early part of the year, a move that removed as much as 1 million units or more from Toyota production schedules.
Volkswagen, meanwhile, has been the beneficiary of large-scale stimulus efforts in China and many European countries trying to prop up flagging new-vehicle sales.
(Read more...)
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BMW: Consumer Values Evolving - But Luxury Brands Will Survive
With luxury automakers taking a beating from the global recession and the geared-down "new" economy left in its wake, some are writing the epitaph for premium cars.
But in a meeting with the media this week, BMW North America LLC officials said that although the economic meltdown indeed has caused shifts in consumer thinking and "America has been changed by this recession," premium brands will continue to be a force in the U.S. market.
BMWNA president Jim O'Donnell said yesterday at the company's headquarters that "premium automakers will help shape the future of mobility" because high-end brands historically have been the first to develop and introduce new innovations.
And given the pressure for new solutions to the automobile's environmental impact, O'Donnell said, "It is our belief that the premium market - and the BMW Group as the leader of this segment - will continue to fill an important and necessary role of bringing innovation and technology to market to meet customer, social and regulatory needs and providing direction for the entire industry."
(Read more...)
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Marchionne Disarms Alfa-In-U.S. Speculation, Calls Cost of Coming 300 Platform 'Shocking'
At Chrysler Group LLC's unveiling of its 5-year business plan at its headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI, today, CEO Sergio Marchionne laid to rest a few rumors about the new joining of Chrysler and Fiat S.p.A. One of them was the long-rumored ambition for Fiat to use the alliance to distribute its Alfa Romeo brand in Chrysler's U.S. dealerships.
There is no current plan to sell Alfas in Chrysler dealerships, said Marchionne. In wearing his Chrysler hat (he also is Fiat's CEO) Marchionne insisted that Alfa Romeo would have to "make a convincing case" about which Alfa Romeo models could be profitably exported to the U.S. and sold in Chrysler showrooms.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:39 PM under Business , Chrysler , News , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Confirmed: Fiat 500 in Some Chrysler Dealers This Time Next Year
At a giant confab Wednesday to unveil its 5-year business plan, Chrysler Group LLC ended months of speculation by detailing how the Fiat 500 subcompact will be initially sold in the U.S.
The 500 - a runaway hit in Europe for Fiat S.p.A., Chrysler's new managing partner and 20-percent owner - will be sold, as a Fiat, in Chrysler dealerships starting late next year. Fiat will sell a North American version of the Fiat 500 Cabrio beginning in 2011 and the Fiat 500 Abarth in 2012.
But perhaps not all Chrysler dealerships. Sales of the 2-door 500 will be sold "mainly" at dealers in metro markets and who carry all Chrysler brands, said Peter Grady, Chrysler's vice president, network development and fleet.
(Read more...)
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Jeep: Wrangler Anchors the Brand
The original Jeep -- the Jeep Wrangler -- will serve as the anchor of the brand, the brand's 
keeper Mike Manley told the 400 media, dealers and analysts attending the meeting at which Fiat is rolling out Chrysler's five-year plan.
Special models and new derivatives of the Wrangler, including a diesel version, will be offered. But the Wrangler, which continues with body on frame and solid front and rear axles. "The Wrangler is the ultimate expression of the brand," Manley said.
Jeep plans to revamp its current models and add new ones. By 2014, 80 percent of Jeeps will be new or significantly redone.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:57 AM under Add category , Chrysler , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fiat's Marchionne: Chrysler Is Better Off Than Most Think
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, in kicking off a six-hour business meeting outlining Chrysler's 
five-year plan, said Chrysler is in better financial shape than the media and outsiders suggest.
He said Chrysler has boosted its cash reserves by $1.7 billion from the $5.7 billion it had on June 10 when it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He said at the end of September the automaker was profitable on an operating basis.
Massive cost reductions have been underestimated, he said, adding the company is downright "cheap" in its spending.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:09 AM under Business , Chrysler , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
AutoObserver Twittering from Chrysler Business-Plan Unveiling
Chrysler Group LLC is underway right now with what is one of the year's most crucial auto-industry events: the company's plan moving forward for the next five years under management by Italy's Fiat S.p.A.
Chrysler is revealing new models it's working on, how it plans to fix and improve its existing products and improve its quality and business practices.
AutoObserver is in attendance and editors will be Twittering with highlights throughout the day-long overview.
Follow on Twitter at @AutoObserver
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:56 AM under Chrysler , News , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Dodge Lays Out Future Product Plan; Hornet-Like Vehicle, New CUV
Ralph Gilles, Chrysler's head of design and CEO of the Dodge division, laid out the division's future product plan at the marathon meeting outlining Chrysler's five-year plan under Fiat.
The biggest news is that Dodge finally will introduce a new B-segment hatch in the vein of the highly acclaimed Dodge Hornet concept shown some time ago, and Dodge will debut a completely new seven-passenger crossover based on Fiat technology.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:35 AM under Chrysler , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Board Votes to Keep Europe's Opel
General Motor board of directors, meeting in Detroit Tuesday, has voted that the automaker 
keep its European subsidiary Adam Opel AG in light of the improving environment for GM and the importance of Opel and Vauxhall, its British entity, to its global strategy, the automaker said in a statement issued late Tuesday.
GM, however, will initiate a restructuring of its European operations "in earnest," it said.
GM has a tentative agreement to sell Opel to Canadian-Austrian parts supplier Magna International, with the financial backing of Russia's Sberbank.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 2:14 PM under GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fiat Engine Tech Impressive - But Would U.S. Buyers Accept the Cost?
In exchange for becoming the operating partner and 20-percent owner of Chrysler Group LLC, Fiat S.p.A. said it would work to incorporate its new efficiency-enhancing powertrain technologies into Chrysler-badged vehicles and other models the two companies may introduce into the U.S. market.
Fiat recently launched one such technology, showing the media the first car powered by an engine using the company's innovative "Multiair" variable-valve timing system.
The technology seems genuinely impressive - it cuts fuel consumption by a solid 10 percent while increasing power and torque by a similar amount - but the car in which the first Multiair 4-cylinder engines are launched, the Alfa Romeo Mito ("me-too") subcompact, are markedly more expensive than most Americans would consider reasonable for such a small car.
The mid-level Mito, with a 133-horsepower Multiair 4-cylinder that most closely matches the power U.S. buyers expect from the 4-cylinder engine in a compact car, costs about £14,645 in the United Kingdom, auto-enthusiast magazine Car reports. In straight exchange-rate conversion, that amounts to about $24,000.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:13 PM under Chrysler , Companies , News , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Vehicles Returned under GM 60-Day Guarantee Less Than 1%
Less than 1 percent of the vehicles bought under General Motors' 60-day moneyback guarantee program have been returned.
Susan Docherty, GM's vice president of U.S. sales, said 142,000 vehicles have been sold under the program with 449 customers opting for the guarantee instead of the $500 cash rebate. Of those, four have returned their vehicles and gotten their money back on a Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Malibu and Chevrolet Silverado. In total, 49 customers, including the four that already have returned their vehicles, are in the process of a return or exchange, she said.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:33 AM under GM , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Wins Most Awards Ever from Popular Mechanics
Ford Motor Co. set a new record in Popular Mechanics Automotive Excellence Awards by 
winning more categories in a single year than any other automaker in the history of the awards.
Ford vehicles winning 2010 awards, which recognize the best in design, execution and technology, were the: 2010 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, Best Performance; 2010 Ford Transit Connect; Best Workhorse; and the 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, Best Off-Road Ability.
"Ford's sweep of three categories in this year's awards speaks to the onslaught of great products coming from Dearborn," said Ben Stewart, automotive editor, Popular Mechanics.
(Read more...)
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Consumer Reports: Ford Among World's Most Reliable Carmakers
Ford Motor Co. secured its position as the only Detroit automaker with world-class reliability, 
according to Consumer Reports magazine's 2009 Annual Car Reliability Survey.
Of 51 Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln models, 46 had average or better reliability, the magazine said in an announcement made Tuesday at the Automotive Press Association in Detroit.
"Ford's sustained production of vehicles that are as dependable -- or better than -- some of the industry's best dispels the notion that only Japanese manufacturers make reliable cars," the magazine said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:50 AM under Analysis , Featured , Ford , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fisker Automotive Buys Plant from 'Old' GM
Fisker Automotive, the new-age startup company aiming to sell an expensive and high-tech extended-range electric vehicle next year, confirmed it has purchased an assembly plant in Wilmington, DE, from Motors Liquidation Co., the entity holding the assets of the former General Motors Co.
Fisker said in a media release the company paid $18 million for the plant, which most recently build the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky 2-seat sportscars.
That's a great price to acquire what is essentially a fully functional auto assembly plant with a relatively new paint shop, one of the costliest areas of investment in any auto-assembly operation.
Fisker said it will invest another $175 million to retool the plant to produce a still-under-development plug-in hybrid sedan targeted to sell for considerably less than the $87,000 Karma extended-range electric sport sedan Fisker plans to begin selling next year.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:10 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Only Five GM Execs on Pay-Czar List Involved in Car Business
The new compensation plan for General Motors Co. CEO Fritz Henderson made the 
headlines last week after particulars of the ruling from Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration's "pay czar" became known. But there were many other interesting details in that report - including the fact that of the 20 highest-paid GM executives whose pay packages had to be approved by Feinberg, only five work on the operational side of GM.
Fifteen of the 20 executives whose compensation packages came under review have nothing to do with GM's automaking business - they are employees of Promark Global Advisors, GM's asset-management company that until this past March was known as General Motors Asset Management.
(Read more...)
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Ford Could Run Short on Some Models Due to India Labor Dispute
Ford could run short of Ford Edge and Ford Flex models due to a labor dispute at a supplier 
plant in India that has forced the automaker to close its Oakville, Ontario, assembly plant.
Ford closed the Canadian plant, which makes the Edge and Flex as well as the Lincoln MKX and newly-launched Flex-based MKT, due to a shortage of transmissions, the result of a labor dispute a supplier plant, Rico Auto Industries, in India. The strike turned violent Sunday night after a plant employee died during a protest.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:43 AM under Analysis , Ford , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
'Old' GM May Offload Plant on New-Age Automaker
The "old" General Motors Corp. - now known by the name Motors Liquidation Co. - could be 
on the verge of completing a deal that would bring in some revenue to pay back some of the former GM's creditors, according to a report over the weekend from the Wall Street Journal.
Motors Liquidation reportedly is ready to sell its assembly plant in Wilmington, Del., to Irvine, Calif., new-tech automaker Fisker Automotive Inc. The company, whose CEO is Henrik Fisker, a former designer for BMW AG, has made headlines in recent years with his Fisker Karma extended-range electric vehicle, a slinky, nearly-$90,000 sport sedan set to go on sale next year. The Karma will be produced in Finland under contract with known low-volume vehicle assembler Valmet Automotive.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:22 AM under Companies , GM , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
More Delay for Sale of GM's Opel
Anyone - or is it everyone at this point - hoping for an October finish for the saga of General Motors Co.'s sale of its Adam Opel AG European operations will have to wait at least a while longer.
In a blog at GM's website, John Smith, GM's group vice president of business development and the company's lead negotiator, said GM's deal to sell Opel to a consortium headed by Canada's Magna International Inc. and Russia's Sberbank will be on hold until at least early November.
The deal has won approval from the Opel Trust Board, but the European Union expressed concern about several details and their potential transnational effect on labor in various nations in which Opel operates.
The EU also "has been reviewing the Opel investor process and the circumstances surrounding the selection of Magna/Sberbank," Smith said in the blog. Some EU member nations have expressed skepticism that GM's decision to sell to the Magna/Sberbank group was based solely on business metrics.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:23 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Tata Nanos Catch Fire - Literally
Three Tata Nanos reportedly have caught fire due to a short circuit in a steering column switch, the Times of India reports.
As a result, India's Tata Motors, which bills the Nano as the world's cheapest car, has called two of them back for repairs and has ordered a pre-delivery audi of the Nanos' electrical circuits before customer delivery.
The Nano went on sale earlier this year with customer deliveries beginning in late spring.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:25 AM under Companies , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Buick Recommissions Regal Name
The refrain from General Motors Co.'s Buick division is that it wants to entice younger buyers to forget about Buick's car-for-the-Medicare-crowd reputation. But Buick announced today it's nonetheless resurrecting an old name for its next midsize car: the model will be called the Regal.
"The Regal name has played a very important role in Buick's history for many years and continues to be one of the top Buick nameplates recalled by consumers, even though it's been out of the market for the past six years," Buick said today in a release.
In August, GM showed the media a midsize-sedan concept car but did not indicate the car's name, although it was speculated the Regal nameplate - still used in China - could be revived for the U.S. market.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:10 AM under Companies , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Aftermarket Maker, Apple Aim to Put Keyless Remote Suppliers Out of Business
Despair surely reigns in the electronics divisions of several major automotive suppliers with this week's unveiling of an Apple iPhone-based aftermarket system to remotely start your vehicle as well as perform all the functions of a traditional keyless remote.
After all, the electronics boffins have themselves already nonsensically eliminated the need for actual keys, so now Apple and the aftermarket are taking the exercise one step further, eliminating the need for OEM remote key fobs.
Directed Electronics said this week it has an iPhone app that will allow a vehicle properly wired with its Viper SmartStart hardware to be started remotely. The app also enables conventional door and trunk lock/unlock features and "panic" alarm operation.
And unlike current OEM and aftermarket remote starters, the company says the Viper SmartStart system allows the vehicle to be remotely started from almost any distance, provided both iPhone and vehicle have access to cellular signal.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:17 AM under Business , In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Bad Switch Prompts Another Large Ford Recall
A faulty switch to disengage cruise control will cost Ford Motor Co. yet again in what has been a wide-ranging safety problem.
In the latest recall that encompasses some 4.5 million vehicles - mostly trucks - Ford will repair the switch that can overheat and cause underhood fires. This round brings the number of vehicles recalled to fix the switch to 16 million. It is the largest recall ever in the U.S.
The vehicle lines affected by the latest recall - the Detroit Free Press said it now is the eighth recall for the switch - are:
1992-2003 Ford Ranger
1992-2003 Econoline vans
1995-2003 Ford Windstar
2000-2003 Ford Excursion
1993, 1997 and 1999-2003 F-Series Super Duty with diesel engines
1994 F53 motorhomes
The National Highway Transportation Safety Admin. opened an investigation for the latest recall in June 2008 after reports of engine fires in Windstar minivans.
Windstar photo courtesy Ford Motor Co.
Posted by Bill Visnic at 6:29 AM under Business , Companies , Ford , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
China on Track to Surpass U.S. in Sales This Year
China is on track to surpass the U.S. in vehicle sales this year. Automakers reported selling more than 1 million vehicles in September - a first - according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
China's total vehicle sales are expected to close the year at 12 million, as much as 2 million above what analysts project for the U.S.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:35 AM under Ford , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Reaches GM-Style Deal with UAW
Ford reportedly has reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers union 
similar to one negotiated with General Motors earlier this year.
The proposed agreement would freeze entry-level wages, implement a no-strike clause and pay a bonus to workers for agreeing to new concessions, sources have told the Wall Street Journal.
The agreement now goes to the union's national council delegates, who will decide if it should go to members for a vote.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:21 AM under Companies , Ford , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Done Deal. GM Sells Hummer to Chinese Company
General Motors, as expected, announced Friday it had signed an agreement with China's 
Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd. Friday to sell Hummer.
The deal is subject to approvals by U.S. regulatory agencies and Chinese authorities. Tengzhong acquires ownership of the Hummer brand, trademark and trade names, as well as specific intellectual property license rights necessary to manufacturer vehicles. Tengzhong also assumes the existing dealer agreements.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:36 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Names Susan Docherty New Sales Chief
General Motors wasted no time in naming a new sales chief. 
Susan Docherty, who was heading Buick-Pontiac-GMC, will become GM's vice president of U.S. sales, replacing Mark LaNeve, whose departure from the automaker was announced Wednesday morning.
"Susan will bring a wealth of experience from previous marketing and sales assignments," GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement. "I have confidence that she will bring a new perspective to the position as she guides a new, lean and customer-focused dealer network."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:07 PM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Consortium Led by Former Ford Execs Makes Play for Volvo
Although Ford Motor Co. has been trying to offload its money-losing Volvo Cars unit for some time, it appeared there had been only one entity serious about buying Volvo: China's Geely Automotive Holdings.
But the Financial Times reports today that a consortium headed by former Ford executive Michael Dingman and that also includes Shamel Rushwin, another executive for both Ford and Chrysler, has emerged as a bidder for Volvo.
There are few reported details about a proposal from Dingman's Crown consortium to acquire Volvo, but the deal likely may vary significantly from that proposed by Geely, which, among other facets, is said to include a provision that Ford retain responsibility for certain pension liabilities and that Ford retain a share of Volvo.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:34 PM under Business , Companies , Ford , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Two More Chrysler Big Shots Out in Fiat-Led Management, Brand Reorg
Chrysler Group LLC is losing two more high-level executives after a board meeting last week conducted by 20-percent owner and managing partner Fiat S.p.A. The company is casting the moves as part of its ongoing efforts to reorganize Chrysler management in an orientation more focused on the company's individual Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands.
Leaving the company are Gary Fong, president and CEO of the Chrysler brand who also was Chrysler's chief sales executive, and Michael Accavitti, a longtime product-oriented Chrysler executive who most recently had been appointed by Fiat as president and CEO of the Dodge brand.
In a statement, Chrysler also said it is reorganizing the Dodge brand, creating separate groups for Dodge cars and trucks.
The move is just the latest in a series of executive shuffles that has left many long-serving Chrysler executives on the outside looking in, as Fiat often harvests its own ranks for replacements.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:04 AM under Business , Companies , Featured , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Strong Yen Could be Next Problem For Japan Automakers
Tough selling to still-wary American consumers might be a problem at the lower end of Japanese automakers' list if currency exchange rates continue their current trend. A soaring yen and a drooping dollar are raising red flags for the bottom line in corporate Japan.
Late last week -- after the yen hit a near high for the year at just more than 88 yen to the dollar -- Honda Motor Co. Ltd. president and CEO Takanobu Ito expressed concern about the yen's ongoing strengthening. Although Honda and many other Japanese automakers, such as chief rival Toyota Motor Corp., produce the preponderance of their vehicles sold in the U.S. inside North America, revenue earned in dollars still must be erodingly converted to yen.
With the global automotive sales environment tenuous and the economies of most large auto-buying nations still sputtering, Takanobu said in an Associated Press report that the currency exchange situation is helping push Honda to a "danger zone" that is hampering fragile recovery efforts.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:25 AM under Business , Commentary , Featured , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Penske To Close Saturn Sale This Week
Detroit media reports that General Motors will announce Wednesday or Thursday it has completed the sale of its Saturn division to Penske Automotive Group, though no one from either GM or Penske will confirm the report.
GM and the Penske group have been negotiating the deal since June. In an exclusive interview with Edmunds' AutoObserver.com then, Roger Penske laid out his vision for Saturn as a different kind of global motors -- one that sells GM-made models but also sells vehicles made in other parts of the world by offshore manufacturers.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:23 AM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
U.K. Extends Cash for Clunkers
The United Kingdom is the latest European nation to expand and extend its Cash for Clunkers program, which in the U.S. has expired with no plans to revive.
The U.K. government announced an extension and additional funding for as many as another 100,000 cars for its so-called "Cash for Bangers" program.
Automakers in Europe fear, with Cash for Clunkers programs ended or winding down, car sales will return to double-digit declines. Some countries are considering bringing the programs back or extending current ones, as the U.K. has done.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:13 AM under Companies , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford's Turn To Scratch Microsoft's Back
Microsoft Corp. said Ford is among a handful of companies that will upgrade to the new 
Windows 7 operating system and help the company promote the new system that goes on sale next month.
Sounds like "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" deal.
Ford uses Microsoft's Sync communications and music system in many of its vehicles, and Microsoft, including its famous founder Bill Gates personally, has helped Ford promote it.
Now it's Ford's turn to help out Microsoft.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:49 AM under Companies , Ford , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota's Lexus Advertises on Paid CNN App
Toyota's luxury division Lexus is among initial marketers to advertise on CNN's iPhone and iPod Touch application, making its debut Tuesday.
CNN followed the Wall Street Journal in charging for news on such mobile devices. The one-time fee is $1.99 for the news feeds that can be personalized by location or topic and shared by email, Twitter and Facebook, CNN said. Content includes articles, videos, photos and user-generated material. CNN said it has taken almost six months to develop the app. The Wall Street Journal begins charging $2 a week for its mobile app beginning in October.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:28 AM under News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Industry EV Maneuvers Charging Up; Detroit Show to Feature Multi-Maker EV Area
With General Motors Co.'s India subsidiary this week inking an electric-vehicle development 
deal with an Indian EV specialist and once hybrid- and electric-averse European automakers unfurling serious EV plays, accelerating OEM and battery-making initiatives seem to demonstrate EVs are going to be more than a fad.
So much so that next year's Detroit auto show - in the home of the industry responsible for bringing internal-combustion personal transport to the masses - will prominently feature a first-ever, multi-maker display promoting electric cars.
(Read more...)
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Chrysler Puts Pedal to the Metal on New Models, Report Says
Addressing its glaring problem of an empty product pipeline, Chrysler will do a speedy makeover of at least five models by mid-2011, along with 
introducing the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee and redesigned Chrysler 300 that year, as part of a five-year plan reportedly being submitted to the automaker's board by Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne on Friday.
The Detroit Free Press reports Marchionne wants makeovers accomplished within a quick 18 months on the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Caravan minivans; the Dodge Caliber, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot compact crossovers; and the Chrysler PT Cruiser, which Fiat revived from the to-be-killed list.
The Fiat 500 minicar will be built at the Toluca, Mexico, plant that also assembles the PT Cruiser, for a mid-2011 U.S. introduction, the newspaper reported.
(Read more...)
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Buick Launches Ads Starring LaCrosse and "Class" Tagline
General Motors' Buick division launches a major advertising campaign with the first 
ads starring the new LaCrosse and premiering the new tagline -- "The New Class of World Class."
The Buick ad, airing for the first time in prime time Monday, is one of the promised brand- and model-specific follow-ups to come on the heels of a GM corporate marketing program that was heavily promoted last week.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:10 AM under Featured , GM , In the Media , News | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fuel-Efficiency Research Funding Approved by House
A bill to invest $2.9 billion for auto-industry research into technologies to improve fuel efficiency was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives this week in a move that could further help bolster the staggered U.S. auto industry, particularly the Detroit-based automakers.
The money is to be spent over five years, starting with $550 million next year, an increase of more than $100 million over funding that already was approved by the Obama Administration to hasten the pace of fuel-saving technologies and alternative fuels such as hydrogen and electricity.
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New Fuel Economy Rules: Didn't We Do That Already?
The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday announced they are jointly proposing new nationwide standards for both fuel economy and carbon-dioxide emissions targeted for a timeframe between 2012 and 2016.
The interagency effort set a fleet-average target of 35 miles per gallon for light vehicles, increasing five percent each year to achieve the 35-mpg total by 2016. They also propose a "greenhouse gas" (carbon-dioxide) limit of 250 grams per mile by 2016.
Average folks, at least those paying attention at all, are likely to ask, "Didn't that happen already?"
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President Obama Visits GM Ohio Plant; AutoObserver Follows Him on Twitter
President Obama is visiting General Motors' assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, Tuesday, 
giving a speech on jobs, the economy and, of course, the mention of health care to a packed house of auto executives, local dignitaries and United Auto Worker union employees.
GM CEO Fritz Henderson will host the president at the more than four-decades-old plant that now builds the Chevrolet Cobalt and will soon convert to building GM's all-important Chevrolet Cruze.
The trip marks the president's first one to an auto plant since the federal government's bailout of GM and Chrysler from bankruptcy. He visited several auto manufacturing facilities during his campaign.
AutoObserver's senior contributing editor Bill Visnic will be chronicling the president's visit to the plant on Twitter @autoobserver.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:10 AM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Hyundai May Add Canadian Auto Assembly
Riding high on a sales wave in North America, Hyundai could open an assembly plant in Canada in the next few years.
Steve Kelleher, president and chief executive officer of Hyundai Auto Canada, told the Toronto Star in an interview that Hyundai will need to take "a hard look" at opening an assembly plant in Canada if it continues hitting ambitious sales targets during the next few years.
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Frankfurt Motor Show: Enviro Plays, Luxury the Big Question
Press days for the Frankfurt auto show, one of Europe's most important international auto 
shows, kick off Tuesday, and the lineup of production models and concept cars oriented largely for the European market evidence an auto industry anxious to continue moving the environmental needle - but also grappling with how to keep luxury relevant.
Luxury is where the big profits lie, but many industry analysts say consumers - pounded by the eroded global economy and wracked retirement accounts - are girding for a prolonged downshift in their automotive desires that may leave luxury marques sucking wind.
(Read more...)
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Remaining GM Dealers To Get a Pay Cut
"Don't worry about the profit margin -- you'll make it up on volume."
Anyone familiar with any kind of retailing has heard that platitude, but General Motors Co. dealers will be the latest to find out if it works.
GM reportedly plans to chop a half-percent from dealer margins as the company -- goaded by new chairman Ed Whitacre -- scrambles to regain slipping share and revenue.
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GM Tries "If You Find a Better Car, Then Give Ours Back"
General Motors will launch a marketing campaign it calls "May the Best Car Win" that offers buyers of Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles a 60-day money-back guarantee.
The promotion will kick off with an advertising blitz on Sunday during morning news shows and NFL football games. The ads will feature GM's chairman Edward Whitacre.
Though GM has not provided advanced viewing of the advertisements, there's a hint of deja vu from Chrysler's first emergence from bankruptcy when then-Chairman Lee Iacocca challenged American consumers to buy Chrysler cars with the tag line: "If you find a better car, buy it."
(Read more...)
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U.S. Taxpayers Can Kiss Some GM, Chrysler Loans Good-Bye
An independent panel overseeing the government's loans to General Motors and Chrysler has revealed that U.S. taxpayers probably won't be entirely paid back by the two just-out-of-bankruptcy automakers.
The Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), in its latest report issued Tuesday, said it is highly unlikely that the government will recover all of the $81 billion in loans to the auto industry. The panel did not say exactly how much in total it expected to recover.
The report did say Chrysler is "highly unlikely" to repay $5.4 billion of its $15 billion in government loans, and GM probably will pay back little of the initial $19.4 billion of its total $50 billion in government loans. In a statement, GM insisted it intended to pay back the loans.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:50 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , GM , News | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Porsche's Off-Message Models Axed in VW Takeover
Get a good look at the Porsche Cayenne SUV. In the wake of the bizarre German corporate 
soap opera whose end will soon see the absorption of Porsche AG into the mighty Volkswagen Group, the controversial Cayenne -- and even more astoundingly, the just-released Panamera four-door sport sedan -- has no future after VW takes over.
Such is the report from Britain's Car magazine, which says a "massive U-turn in Porsche's product plan" resulting from the bitter VW boardroom triumph means Porsche will be forced to discontinue the Cayenne and Panamera after their product cycles are complete around seven years from now.
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Saab Unveils New Flagship
It's leaving the General Motors Co. empire by the end of this year, but GM nonetheless issued the press material detailing Saab's next-generation 9-5 flagship, a car that goes on sale next year after Saab effectively is no longer under GM management. The car will be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show next month.
Although there are well-executed Saab-esque design details, including a feint at the Saab-signature wraparound windshield and an angular sideglass/C-pillar junction reminiscent of the 900 Series, the bodysides betray a hint of Buickness that shouldn't surprise: the all-new 9-5 is built around the GM global midsize architecture on which rides the new Buick LaCrosse, not to mention Europe's well-received Opel/Vauxhall Insignia.
Leveraging the global midsize underpinnings means the new 9-5 is markedly larger than the current flagship, some five inches longer in wheelbase and nearly seven inches longer overall.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:24 PM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Closing Nummi In March; Tacoma to Texas
Toyota Motor Corp. announced late Thursday it will end its production contract at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. assembly plant in Fremont, CA, next March, shifting assembly of NUMMI-manufactured Tacoma midsize pickups to Toyota's recently built plant in San Antonio, TX.
The NUMMI facility was a joint-venture operation between Toyota and the General Motors Co., but in June, just prior to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, GM said it was vacating the NUMMI operation and leaving its ownership in the venture with the "old" GM.
GM did not see a future for NUMMI and shortly thereafter Toyota also began to send signals it, too, might abandon the venture that began in 1984. GM ended production of the Pontiac Vibe (a badged variant of the Toyota Matrix) on Aug. 17.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 5:36 PM under Business , GM , News , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Shutdown of Cash for Clunkers To Smack Down Industry Sales
Watch out for a world of sales pain now that the federal Cash for Clunkers rebate program is over, as data from Edmunds.com projects a serious decline in industry sales for the coming weeks.
Edmunds.com's proprietary tracking of purchase intent from visitors to its Web site -- which has proven to be a reliable leading indicator of actual near-term industry sales -- has plunged some 50 percent from its peak during the Cash for Clunkers program.
It is an effect analysts had warned was likely.
"Cash for Clunkers distorted the market in a way that benefited the industry for four weeks -- now the payback begins," said Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl.
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GM Accelerating Decision on Opel?
Just days after the General Motors Co. board of directors countered the company's management and ordered a reexamination of the favored bid to take majority ownership of GM's Adam Opel AG and most of the company's associated European operations, reports from Europe say GM may announce within a matter of days -- or even hours -- the course it will take with Opel.
GM's abrupt reversal in the months-long process that seemed to be proceeding toward selling Opel to a consortium led by Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. riled sensitive German politicians and the country's powerful labor unions, all of whom had made it clear they preferred the Magna bid -- which seeks to minimize German job losses -- to the rival offer from Belgium's RHJ International.
GM's about-face last week, in which it announced the board effectively told company leaders to reconsider GM's options, seemingly signaled to the German interests that GM now might be trying to hedge in light of improving auto-industry and economic conditions on both sides of the Atlantic.
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GM Readies Break With Four Divisions, but Opel Intrigue Continues
With the news-dominating Cash for Clunkers program now officially finished, the auto industry can get back to normal: battling U.S. and global recessions and trying to figure out who's going to own half of the former divisions of General Motors Co.
The last month's news was devoted almost exclusively to Cash for Clunkers, so anybody could be forgiven for not being caught up on what's been happening with the sales of GM's Hummer, Saturn, Saab Automobiles and Adam Opel AG divisions. Here's the updated scorecard:
Opel
Suddenly, Opel is GM's problem child.
The company's board last week slapped down the bid from a consortium led by Canadian mega-supplier Magna International Inc., a deal that was favored by GM's management and had the vital blessing of the German government, which was to provide billions in assistance in exchange for Magna's vow to minimize job losses.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Analysis , Business , Featured , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
"Clunkers" Not Dead Yet
No, they can't sell any more new vehicles under the month-long Cash for Clunkers federal rebate program, but dealers swamped by last-minute customers -- and stymied by government computer systems unable to keep up with the deluge -- now have until noon on Tuesday morning to submit their claims for reimbursement.
It is an extension that was widely expected after a weekend of frenzied Clunkers-driven new vehicle sales -- at least for dealers and dealer groups that still were participating.
Many dealers had shut down Cash for Clunkers deals for fear the overloaded government application pipeline would make it impossible to determine if there was funding still available, leaving dealers on the hook for possibly paying the consumer rebates out of their own pockets.
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GM Board Brushes Off Magna Bid for Opel
The newly reconstituted board of directors for General Motors Co. might turn out to be a little more "activist" than originally presumed.
The Wall Street Journal reported late last week the new GM board has rejected the bid of management's favored suitor for the company's Adam Opel AG automaking unit.
A consortium headed by Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. has been vying with RHJ International, a Belgian investment firm, for control of Opel, but GM leaders and much of the German government have long been reported to favor Magna, which for one thing resolved to minimize job losses in Germany, the main base of operations for Opel and the other portions of GM's European operations up for sale.
Over the weekend, Reuters reported German Chancellor Angela Merkel as expressing a need for urgency in the situation.
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Report: Chrysler's Press Is Out
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday afternoon that Chrysler Group LLC Deputy Chief Executive Jim Press will leave the company sometime before the end of the year.
It had been widely speculated that the ever-optimistic Press -- who served as Chrysler president under majority ownership of Cerberus Capital Management LLC and prior to the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy -- would leave not long after the company's post-Chapter 11 restructuring and resulting management control by Italy's Fiat S.p.A.
Press has been serving as special advisor to Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne.
Marchionne already has been at work reorganizing Chrysler's executive ranks in a structure based on better supporting the company's Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands.
Neither Chrysler or Press would confirm the news. Press, prior to his Chrysler stint a longtime, high-ranking executive at Toyota Motor Corp., told the WSJ, "I don't think anything has been released about management changes."
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:24 AM under Chrysler , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Mini Launches Mobile App for Roadside Assistance
The fun, sometimes frivolous but often helpful mobile-device applications just keep proliferating and BMW AG's Mini USA -- often an innovator in clever methods to bond with its customers -- is introducing an "app" for roadside assistance, an idea that is likely to be copied by other automakers and third-party road-service providers.
Available to Mini owners with iPhone or Blackberry devices, the Mini Road Assist app enables a one-button connect with roadside-assistance services and, most importantly, uses the devices' built-in location identification software to relay the exact position of the disabled vehicle.
Although many onboard services such as General Motors Corp.'s well-known OnStar offer the same capabilities, they often aren't much use if locked out of the vehicle or the battery is dead.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 7:52 AM under Companies , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Despite Payback Fiasco, Dealers Will Regret End of Cash for Clunkers
The much-examined Cash for Clunkers new-vehicle rebate program ends August 24 and the armchair quarterbacking has already started. Most evaluations of the program will focus on the government's inability to quickly process applications and reimburse dealers for the $3,500 or $4,500 rebates given to buyers.
The backlog of payments certainly affected dealer cashflow, particularly for smaller operations.
But according to new data from Edmunds.com, dealers (and automakers, ultimately) did enjoy more than a few offsetting perks: Besides hiking sales volumes, the Cash for Clunkers program, along with the resulting accelerated reduction of new-vehicle inventories, was responsible for immediately jacking up average transaction prices, margins -- and dealer profit.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 2:00 AM under Analysis , Business , Companies , Ford , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Cash for Clunkers Ends August 24
The story of the summer in the auto industry has been the federal government's Cash for Clunkers rebate program. And it's set to close next Monday.
Even two automaker bankruptcies to start the summer seem to have taken a back seat to the furiously popular and always controversial Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), the official name of the Cash for Clunker program devised by the Obama administration to simultaneously stimulate the auto industry and its dealers and better the environment by removing gas-guzzling and emissions-belching old vehicles (as old as 1984, anyway) from the road.
The program has proven immensely popular with consumers and dealers at first were enraptured, too. But the Cash for Clunkers story quickly evolved into one of bureaucratic snafus and dealer acrimony as the Department of Transportation, administrator of the CARS program, proved unable to quickly and efficiently process the tidal wave of applications in order to promptly reimburse dealers for the $3,500 or $4,500 rebates extended to new-vehicle-buying consumers.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:17 PM under Business , Companies , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
It's Dealers Versus DOT as "Clunkers" Program Set to Close
No auto dealer is complaining about the extra customer traffic the Cash for Clunkers program has generated in the past weeks. But although the federal program has been a solid lifeline in what surely would have been a dead summer for sales, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) is amounting to the ultimate in profitless prosperity for too many dealers.
Complicating the situation, data from Edmunds.com indicates that with the program nearing its conclusion - just announced to be Monday, Aug. 24 - Cash for Clunkers transactions are slowing markedly from highs of 40 percent or more of all new-vehicle sales to less than one in five new-car deals.
Despite the CARS program's undeniable invigoration of previously tomblike showrooms, angry and dispirited dealers across the nation said they had no choice but to give up on Cash for Clunkers participation. The government was so slow in repaying the $3,500 or $4,500 rebates they literally couldn't afford to keep selling new vehicles.
The government foot-dragging was so endangering the final days of the CARS program that General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and others stepped in today to say they will provide cash advances on Cash for Clunkers transactions so dealers don't have to wait for the feds to pay up.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:18 AM under Analysis , Business , Featured , GM , In the Media , News | Comments (7) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Cancels "Vue-ick" Crossover
Barely a week after showing it and many other pending new models and concept vehicles to the media and a select group of the public, General Motors Co. is pulling the plug on a Buick variant of the Chevrolet Equinox/GMC Terrain compact crossover the company only first confirmed weeks ago it would build.
The company announced the new Buick crossover just last month during a high-profile industry conference at which the recently-emerged-from-bankruptcy GM seemingly sought to generate some positive news. So the company said Buick -- the brand's minders still flush with the comparative success of the Enclave full-size crossover -- would try again to catch lightning in a bottle with its own model based on GM's global compact crossover architecture.
Better still, Buick would launch a plug-in hybrid variant in 2011, allowing GM to get some green mileage from the investment it made in the plug-in technology originally intended for the Saturn Vue version of this crossover family.
All that was before the media and GM's hand-picked "civilian" viewers got a look at the still-unnamed Buick, though.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:26 AM under Analysis , Featured , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM To Add 60K Units Through End of the Year
General Motors Co. confirmed it is boosting production of several models to restock depleted inventories of vehicles popular in the ongoing Cash for Clunkers rebate program and to address "consumer reaction" to new 2010 models such as the Chevrolet Camaro, Cadillac SRX and CTS Sport Wagon and the Buick LaCrosse.
GM says it will add production shifts at the Lordstown, Ohio, plant that produces the Chevrolet Cobalt, a popular choice for buyers replacing a "clunker," and at its CAMI facility in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, that assembles the new 2010 versions of the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain compact crossovers. The company also will add overtime and reinstate previously scheduled downtime at other plants.
In all, GM said it expects to add about 60,000 units of increased production -- the bulk coming in the fourth quarter, when many of the new models will be well along in their launch cycles.
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"Clunkers" Interest Dwindling
The buying furor instigated by the federal Cash for Clunkers program has peaked and is slipping quickly, according to a new analysis from Edmunds.com, whose data researchers also say it could be mere weeks before auto-industry sales are back to pre-Clunkers levels.
Studying new-vehicle purchase intent, Edmunds.com analysts say figures are down 31 percent from the peak roughly one week after the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), the official name of Cash for Clunkers, began on July 24. Edmunds analysts have determined purchase intent is a reliable indicator of actual sales that can be expected to come in the following 90 days.
It appears that like many other wide-scope auto-industry incentive programs of the past, the steam may be running out of Cash for Clunkers after several weeks of furious buying by consumers initially unsure of whether the federal funding would run dry.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:09 PM under Business , In the Media , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Honda Latest To Boost Production as Cash for Clunkers Resuscitates Small-Car Sales
General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. are the latest automakers to spool up U.S. vehicle production to answer inventories depleted by the ongoing "Cash for Clunkers" new-vehicle rebate program.
GM will add one day shift at the Orion Township, Michigan, plant that assembles the Chevrolet Malibu midsize sedan; the plant currently is on a four-day work week. Also ramping up with the addition of a two-shift day will be the automaker's plant in Lordstown, Ohio, that produces the Chevrolet Cobalt compact cars, Dow Jones reported.
GM is expected to announce more production increases as it adjusts a third-quarter output that had been drastically reduced from year-ago levels. In extending the Car Allowance Rebate System, the official name of Cash for Clunkers, from the original $1 billion in funding to a total of $3 billion, the program has put unanticipated pressure on the stock of many of the most popular vehicles purchased by those trading clunkers.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:20 AM under Analysis , Featured , Ford , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
New Cadillac GM Pondering the Diesel Equation
WARREN, MI - Bryan Nesbitt has been on the job as Cadillac's new general manager less than a month, and at a recent media event here, the former vice president of General Motors Co.'s North American design isn't afraid to admit he's still getting up to speed on direct product issues for the company's premium-vehicle division.
One, he told AutoObserver, is diesel engines.
GM product-development higher-ups are adamant that diesels are too costly for the U.S. market. They require complex and expensive exhaust aftertreatment ("onboard chemical factories" is one term repeatedly employed) to comply with the world's toughest diesel-emissions standards - and U.S. diesel fuel is not taxed advantageously, as it is in Europe, where diesels have captured more than half of the region's light-vehicle market.
That includes an outsized presence in Europe's premium sector, where diesel has made distinct inroads because of its combination of efficiency and primary technical advantage: huge torque output, the perfect attribute for engines used in heavy and large luxury models.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:13 AM under Business , GM , News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
VW Merger With Porsche All But Final
The final leg in the convoluted journey Volkswagen AG and Porsche AG have undertaken in the past several years is nearing as VW, once the takeover target of miniscule Porsche, prepares to instead take a controlling interest in Porsche and merge the two companies.
VW reportedly plans to drum up nearly $6 billion to obtain a 42-percent portion of Porsche AG and all of the company's holding company, Porsche Automobil Holding SE. Meanwhile, there's an estimated $1 billion coming from Qatar Holding LLC that will give it 10 percent of Porsche and most of the options Porsche holds in VW stock. The deal is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
The complex arrangement would make the Qatar Emirate the third-largest VW shareholder, behind the Porsche and Piech families probable eventual stake of a reported 35 to 39 percent and the German state of Lower Saxony's approximate 21 percent. The companies had not elaborated, however, on exactly what Qatar Holding's VW stake might be.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:06 AM under Business , Companies , News | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
U.S. Investor Out of Pending Saab Deal
A controversial U.S. investor and part owner of Koenigsegg Automotive AB - the exotic sportscar maker planning to buy Saab Automobile from the "old" General Motors Corp - is out of the picture as the Koenigsegg Group progresses with its plan to acquire Saab.
Swedish business media report that Mark Bishop, who made a name and a fortune as an investor in securitizing sub-prime mortgages, sold his holding in Koenigsegg to another investor. Tiny Koenigsegg is hoping to acquire Saab by the end of this quarter.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:12 AM under Companies , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
"Clunkers" Demand Prods Ford To Hike Production
Trying to insure it doesn't run dry of two of the best-selling new vehicles in the still-humming Cash for Clunkers rebate program, Ford Motor Co. confirmed today a modest production increase for the third quarter, from 485,000 units to 495,000 units.
Ford's 2 percent production hike over its previous plan will come from extra shifts and more overtime at the Kansas City, MO, plant that produces the Escape compact crossover and the Wayne, MI, factory that assembles the Focus compact.
Data from Edmunds.com indicates the Focus and the Escape ranked as the No.1 and No.2 new vehicles bought to replace "clunkers" in the government-funded Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) incentive program that runs through the end of this month.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 7:35 AM under Companies , Featured , Ford , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Hyundai Officially Announces Arrival of Equus
Hyundai made it official at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Thursday that it, indeed, 
will bring its most premium luxury sedan, badged as the Equus in Korea, to the U.S. next year.
Edmunds' Inside Line, AutoObserver's sibling Web site, earlier reported its arrival and posted the first test ride of the vehicle.
The Equus would be the automaker's next step to move the brand more upscale after this year's launch of the Genesis. The Equus is intended to compete with BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:21 AM under Companies , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Sees Cash for Clunker Momentum Continuing; May Increase Production
General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson said Tuesday morning that he sees "positive effect" of the Cash for Clunkers program continuing through August and September and, as a result, GM may ramp up production.
Henderson said at a press conference and Web cast that the automaker's new executive committee meeting Tuesday will decide if production should be increased as the government's Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) has depleted inventories of many of GM's models.
Edmunds.com forecasts Cash for Clunkers is running out of steam, though the slight overall improvement in the economy may boost vehicle sales in the second half.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:01 AM under GM , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Claims Chevrolet Volt Gets 230 MPG City
General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson announced Tuesday morning that the upcoming
Chevrolet Volt will achieve the equivalent of 230 miles per gallon in city driving, based on new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mileage ratings.
Though he didn't give an exact number, Henderson said the combined city-highway mileage will be in the triple digits. The Volt, which has an onboard gasoline engine that recharges the battery -- also rechargeable via a household electrical outlet -- is designed to travel 40 miles on pure electric power. That's the distance most Americans commute in a day.
GM had hinted about the mileage rating through an anonymous ad campaign featuring a 230 mpg with a smiley-faced electrical outlet in place of the 0.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:30 AM under GM , News | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
California GM Dealers List Cars on eBay
Beginning Tuesday, General Motors dealers in California can begin listing their inventories of
some Buick, Chevrolet, GMC or Pontiac vehicles on online shopping site, eBay.com, in an effort to draw more consumer eyeballs to the automaker's cars and generate sales leads for dealers. GM and eBay executives detailed their partnership Monday morning, after GM CEO Fritz Henderson hinted about it a month ago when the automaker emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Henderson used it as an example of new ways the new GM would go to market.
The eBay venture is hardly groundbreaking. Already, about 30,000 dealers nationwide list their vehicles -- mostly used but some new -- on the site. In fact, GM was the first to coordinate with eBay to list dealer inventories of Certified Pre-owned Vehicles on eBay.
The newest GM-eBay venture is the first "virtual showroom online" by eBay with an auto manufacturer, said eBay Motors Vice President Rob Chesney in a conference call with media Monday. While exclusive to GM now, similar ventures with other automakers are possible, he suggested.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:10 PM under Companies , Featured , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Charities Are Potential Clunkers Losers
Cash for Clunkers, the federal stimulus program that's put money in car buyers' pockets and
depleted automakers' once-bloated inventories may end up responsible for producing at least one regrettable "loser": charities that depend on donated used vehicles for funding or direct transfer to the needy.
Some charitable organizations that accept vehicle donations and either sell them for cash or turn over the vehicles directly to new low-income owners are seeing vehicles that normally would come their way instead being used for the $3,500 or $4,500 vouchers Cash for Clunkers provides toward new-vehicle purchases.
(Read more...)
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Magna Takes Loss, Other Suppliers Soaring
Magna International Inc. is embroiled in a bidding war with Belgium's RHJ International SA to take over General Motors Co.'s European operations, but Aurora, Ontario, Canada's Magna has another hassle in the form of its balance sheet: the company lost $205 million in the second quarter.
Magna's sales for the quarter slumped to $3.71 billion, a 45 percent drop, the company said.
(Read more...)
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Cash for Clunkers Alive Until Labor Day
With Cash for Clunkers phase I scorching through its $1-billion funding in what is projected to be two weeks or less, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday evening a moderately controversial continuation of the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) will be approved by the Senate. The vote will inject an additional $2 billion that should see the program through to its Labor Day termination.
(Read more...)
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GM: Leases To Be Competitive
Barely noticed in the clamor over the Cash for Clunkers effect was that General Motors Co.
announced this week it is reviving its leasing business with a pilot program rolling out for vehicles in each of its four marketing divisions.
The revived leasing program is earmarked to last for just a month.
GM said that just a year ago, leasing accounted for about 17 percent of sales; the ratio has plummeted to around 1 percent thanks to a variety of industry and credit-market travails.
(Read more...)
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Toyota Loses $819 Million in Quarter; Better Than Analysts' Estimates
Toyota reported Tuesday it lost 77.8 billion yen -- the equivalent of $819 million (U.S.) in the
most recent quarter. The loss was smaller than analysts had forecasted, suggesting the worst is over and that Toyota's full-year losses will be less than previously expected.
Toyota said it now expects to lose 450 billion yen ($4.7 billion) for the fiscal year that ends March 31, 2010. Previously, Toyota expected to lose 550 billion yen ($5.8 billion) for the year.
In a conference call with media and analysts Wednesday morning, Toyota Managing Officer Takuo Sasaki noted a dramatic drop in vehicle sales volume. "However, the introduction of demand stimulating measures by various governments, including Japan, has begun to trigger a revival in some regions," he said.
(Read more...)
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Subaru's July Sales Soar 30%; Set New Record
Subaru said it will report its July sales soared 30 percent in July compared with a year ago,
setting an all-time monthly sales record.
On Monday, automakers report their July sales figures, which are expected to be stronger than forecasted at the start of the month due to the Cash for Clunkers program.
Subaru, however, has been weathering the downturn the best of any automaker.
(Read more...)
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Another "Clunkers" SNAFU: Car-Trashing Not Happening
The nation's new and too-popular Cash for Clunkers program has been a boon for the nation's newest car buyers -- but the Car Allowance Rebate System's execution has not been one of the federal government's shining moments.
The big problems centered on the inadequacy of the CARS hotline to help consumers and dealers, and of course the program's major issue: a dramatic and almost comedic underestimation of initial consumer response that drained the $1-billion CARS piggy bank in what is projected to be little more than a week.
Now come reports of another CARS foible: a lack of oversight to ensure the engines of the traded-in clunkers are destroyed, as the program requires.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:45 PM under Companies , In the Media , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler To Continue With Cruiser; Plans With Fiat Changing?
Chrysler Group LLC said Friday it will continue production of the PT Cruiser compact wagon, although the company announced more than 18 months ago the car would be discontinued.
Chrysler restarted production in mid-June at the Toluca, Mexico, assembly plant that builds the PT Cruiser and the Dodge Journey crossover. It was one of seven Chrysler plants to resume production after an extended temporary shutdown as Chrysler dealt with ongoing inventory difficulties and its eventual bankruptcy and change in ownership.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:40 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Cash for Clunkers Produces July Sales Increase for Ford
Ford Motor Co. will announce Monday a year-over-year sales increase for July, thanks to the
government's cash for clunkers program. It will be Ford's first year-to-year sales increase since November 2007.
The Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) is expected cash for clunkers pushed the Seasonally Adjusted Sales Rate (SAAR) to well above 11 million vehicles sold to as high as 13 million, the highest level this year by a long shot.
July's SAAR will be 11 million to 12 million "for sure," Ford's sales chief George Pipas told AutoObserver.com in a phone interview Sunday. "The increase is a nice proof point of the progress Ford has made but being the first of the Big Six automakers to post an increase may be a sign that the consumer is a little more optimistic."
(Read more...)
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U.S. House Votes To Fund Cash for Clunker Extension
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Friday afternoon for a Cash for Clunkers extension funded by an additional $2 billion through Sept. 30.
The measure, which passed on a 316-109 bipartisan vote, will be funded from a renewable energy loan guarantee included in the economic stimulus package.
The measure goes to the Senate next week where it faces more challenges than the fast-track bill did in the House. Some senators already have said they'll oppose it; others said they will insist it contain more stringent fuel-economy standards for the vehicles bought under the Cash for Clunker plan.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:28 AM under News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
CARS Gas Gauge: There Yesterday; Gone Today
A gas gauge showing how much money remains in the Cash for Clunkers program has
disappeared from the Car Allowance Rebate System's (CARS) Web Site
.
Clearly, the gauge has not kept up with real-time tracking of the flurry of transactions.
As of Thursday, the gauge showed $779 million remaining for clunker trades. In reality, the program is quickly running through its $1-billion allocation.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:11 AM under News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Cash for Clunkers Limbo: What Next?
As of Friday morning, the U.S. government still had not publicly announced the suspension
of the Cash for Clunkers program due to it running out of its $1-billion allocation, but lobbying already has begun for additional funding.
The White House reportedly is working with Congress behind the scenes to try to extend funding for the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) at the same time that lawmakers are preparing to recess for the month of August, Reuters
reported.
In the meantime, dealers are in limbo. They will be left holding the bag if the program runs out of money and they aren't reimbursed for clunker trades. Some have chosen to suspend Cash for Clunker trades.
Ad agencies are scurrying to pull back clunker ads. And automakers, many of which are running low on the popular vehicles bought through the program, are pondering how to plan factory production schedules.
(Read more...)
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Cash for Clunkers Could Be Done or on Hiatus
The Department of Transportation (DOT) reportedly is suspending the Cash for Clunkers program, as it is running out of its $1 billion allocation.
The DOT, which administers the program, hadn't confirmed publicly the move but the agency had informed Congressmen and dealer groups of the action. What's not clear is if it will end completely because it is, indeed, out of money, as dealers and dealer organizations suspect, or will be suspended as the agency calculates how close the program is to the $1-billion mark.
From the start, the program called for a November 1 expiration or the depletion of the $1 billion in funding. It became clear the program would run out long before November 1, but no one expected it to run out of money in the first week.
(Read more...)
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Summer Non-Driving Means Oil Prices Take Big Dip
The price of crude oil dropped six percent Wednesday to around $66.50 per barrel, oil's biggest
slide in almost three months -- a decline that flies in the face of historic trends that typically see oil prices jump in the summer travel months.
But drivers clearly are curtailing travel as the economies in most developed nations continue to drag, and their reduced gasoline and diesel use is driving down the price of oil and ballooning crude oil inventories.
The U.S. Energy Information Agency said the nation's crude-oil stock is 18 percent higher than at the same time last year, a summer that will be long remembered for volatile spikes in gasoline and diesel-fuel prices. Even inventories of gasoline are bloated, despite uncharacteristically low prices.
(Read more...)
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Feds Push National Texting-While-Driving Ban
Using the often-played bargaining chip of federal highway funding, the U.S. Senate is pushing
a bill for a nationwide ban on text messaging while driving.
Thirteen states and the District of Columbia already have such laws, but the bill proposes a two-year time frame for the remaining states to adopt similar laws and formulate a penalty structure.
Virginia Tech's Transportation Institute this week released the "duh" results of a study showing commercial truck drivers were 23 times more likely to crash or experience a near-miss accident if texting.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:50 AM under News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Government Decision Imminent on How To Handle Cash for Clunkers Mileage Glitch
The U.S. Transportation Department will decide by the end of today how to handle a glitch that caused
vehicles once qualified as clunkers under the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) program but then deemed ineligible when fuel economy ratings were udpated on the eve of the program's launch.
Edmunds.com brought the glitch to the government's and public's attention after visitors to the car-shopping Web site raised it. Some consumers reported to Edmunds that their vehicles qualified as a clunker on Thursday, but when they double-checked or were at the dealership, they discovered they no longer were eligible.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:23 AM under Companies , Featured , News | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Magna Submits Improved Bid to GM for Opel
Canadian auto-parts supplier Magna International reportedly has increased the amount of
upfront capital it will inject into its offer for General Motors' Opel. No word on whether its competitor RHJ International has countered.
Unnamed government sources have told various news outlets that Magna is now offering 350 million euros ($700 million U.S.) of its own capital immediately and 150 million euros in a convertible bond.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:02 AM under Business , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Retains World's No. 1 Sales Spot
Toyota Motor Corp. held onto the No. 1 position for global auto sales in the first six months
of this year despite being outpaced by General Motors in the second quarter. GM lost its more than seven-decade world reign to Toyota in 2008.
Toyota reported Tuesday it sold 3.56 million vehicles worldwide in the first half that ended June 30; GM sold 3.55 million. In the April-June quarter, GM sold 1.94 million vehicles, due to strong sales in China, compared with Toyota's 1.80 million.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:21 AM under GM , News , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Another Cash for Clunker Glitch: Mileage Ratings Change, Disqualifying Some Deals
The qualifications for the Cash for Clunkers program, officially known as the Car Allowance
Rebate System (CARS
) that launched Monday, apparently are a moving target, Edmunds.com
has learned.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed that last Friday -- the day the rules for Cash for Clunkers were released and dealer sign-up opened -- the agency "refreshed" its combined mileage ratings. It is the combined mileage ratings of the vehicle being traded in as a clunker and of the new vehicle being purchased that determine if the deal qualifies under the program that gives a $3,500 or $4,500 voucher toward the purchase of a new vehicle.
In some cases, the "refreshed" ratings show the potential trade-ins with a higher mileage rating than previously indicated by the EPA, and make them ineligible for the Cash for Clunkers program.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:46 AM under Companies , Featured , News , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fiat Loses $238 Million in Second Quarter
Italian automaker Fiat, the new owner of Chrysler, reported Wednesdsay that it lost the equivalent
of $238 million in the second quarter, due to dramatic decline in vehicle sales, especially for trucks and commercial vehicles, from a year ago, when it turned a profit.
"The global economic crisis continued to have a significantly negative impact on demand levels for all the group's business, but with signs of improvement in certain markets compared with Q1 levels," Fiat said in a statement.
Still, Fiat said results improved from the first quarter, with losses narrowing from quarter to quarter. And company executives said they expect improvement through the remainder of the year.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:33 AM under Chrysler , Companies , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Despite Asia-Pacific Strength, Slumping U.S. Pulls Down GM Global 2Q
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT --
There were plenty of offsetting numbers in General Motors Corp.'s second-quarter report on global sales, reflecting the heavy transitions GM -- and the broad industry -- is absorbing.
But GM executives say the overall trends appear positive, despite the company's brief bankruptcy and the quarter's 1.94 million sales representing a drop of 15.4 percent from the second quarter last year.
(Read more...)
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Chrysler Offers Incentive Equal to Cash for Clunkers Vouchers to Everyone
AUBURN HILLS, Michigan -- Chrysler Group LLC will offer incentives up to $4,500 -- the
maximum amount of vouchers issued to qualified buyers under the government's Cash for Clunkers
program -- to all consumers.
Beginning Thursday and ending August 31, Chrysler will offer $4,500 cash rebates or zero-percent financing for 72 months through GMAC Financial Services on most 2009 models.
Customers who take advantage of the government Cash for Clunkers program, officially known as Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS), also qualify for the rebates and financing in addition to receiving credit for the vouchers, which range from $3,500 to $4,500. That means the Cash for Clunkers customer could chop $9,000 off his or her new car purchase.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:40 AM under Chrysler , News | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
Former Ford Exec Nasser in Running To Head Mining Company
Former Ford CEO Jacques "Jac" Nasser has reemerged, this time as a top contender to head the
world's largest mining company, BHP Billiton. The job is described by Australia's Business Day
as "one of corporate Australia's most prized positions."
Born in Lebanon and raised and educated in Australia, Nasser currently is a non-executive director of BHP. The Australian business press reports he and one other candidate are being interviewed this week to replace BHP CEO Don Argus, who retires in November.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:59 AM under Ford , News , Personalities | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Porsche-Volkswagen Settlement May Be Delayed
A decision on how to settle the contentious Volkswagen-Porsche ownership battle may not
occur on Thursday, as many had anticipated, and instead be delayed until the end of the month.
The supervisory boards of the two German automakers were set to meet separately in Thursday, presumably to work out terms of a possible merger. But German media reports suggest a decision may not be forthcoming after all.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:25 AM under Companies , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Accepts Three Final Bids for Opel
The new General Motors Co. said it has received three final offers for its Opel division in
Germany, without naming the bidders. GM had set a July 20 deadline for final bids.
And then comes the tricky part. GM will examine the bids, present them to the various European government entities who are being asked to help finance the deal and, with their counsel, accept one of the bids.
As the Financial Times notes, however, the best deal businesswise for GM may be at odds with the offer that is in the best interest of the governments, mainly the German government.
(Read more...)
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"New" GM Has Busy First Week
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT - The "new" General Motors, which emerged from bankruptcy just last Friday, had a busy first week
The automaker announced a series of executive retirements, departures and re-assignments, likely the first of many as it sheds about a third of its executive ranks. The top three executives, it was revealed in government filings, will retain their previous pay. Unretired executive Bob Lutz had his first misstep in the communications role he now heads. And the automaker got back to the business of building, promoting and selling vehicles
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:55 AM under Business , Featured , In the Media , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
House Passes Bill To Make GM, Chrysler Reinstate Dealers
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a plan to restore franchise agreements with dealerships canceled by General Motors and Chrysler during their bankruptcy proceedings.
The automakers as well as President Obama and his task force opposed the provision in a spending bill that is part of the 1020 fiscal year budget beginning Oct. 1 and was passed 219 to 208 Thursday.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:53 AM under Chrysler , GM , News | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Camaro Selling Briskly - but Quality Control Seems Shaky
By Bill Visnic
One of the bright spots in a bleak inventory of sales numbers for the new General Motors Co. has been the 2010 Camaro. GM executives in recent weeks have pointed to the new-age Camaro as the example of how GM can connect expressive cars with customers willing to pay full price.
Luckily for GM, the car has a receptive audience -- after just three months on the market, the Camaro made a major statement by outselling the Ford Mustang in June -- because the Camaro's launch has been anything but smooth, largely due to quality-control issues.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:24 AM under GM , News | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Deal For Opel Moves Closer To Finish Line
Canadian auto supplier Magna International and Belgian financial investor RHJ International
SA are have the inside track for the purchase of General Motors' Opel division as the automaker reviews all final bids in Germany early next week.
GM Executive Nick Reilly said in a Bloomberg Television interview from his Shanghai headquarters Friday that that a decision may come next week and Magna and RHJ are "probably the front runners" for Opel.
(Read more...)
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French Auto Workers Threaten To Blow Up Factory
French auto workers make North American ones look like wimps.
The Associated Press reports workers laid off from a company that makes auto parts from French automakers Renault and PSA Peugeot-Citroen were huddling around gas canisters tied to an electrical cable Thursday, threatening to blow up a factory in protest of cost-cutting during the economic downturn.
(Read more...)
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Daimler Shares Stake in Tesla with Abu Dhabi
Daimler AG appears to be pulling along its largest single investor for a ride with the company's recent investment into industry-disruptive electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc. Daimler reportedly is selling a portion of its 10-percent holding in Tesla to Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments PJSC.
The deal will give Aabar about 4 percent of Tesla, Bloomberg
reports.
Daimler said it will use Tesla-developed lithium-ion battery packs in a trial fleet of 1,000 of Daimler's smart cars converted to run entirely on electricity.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 7:23 AM under Business , Companies , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
New GM Goes High-Tech, High-Touch
DETROIT -- The new General Motors will be closer to the customer and will employ high-tech as well as low-tech ways to do so.
Next week, the new GM will launch a "Tell Fritz" Web site that allows consumers and others to send ideas, questions and concerns directly to GM CEO Fritz Henderson.
"I will personally review and respond to some of these every day and will encourage other executives to participate as well," Henderson said at a Friday news conference.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:07 AM under GM , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Plants To Start Moving Again
By Bill Visnic
Assembly plants for the new General Motors Co. will start to fire up again next week after the newly reconstituted GM left Chapter 11 bankruptcy today and the company completes its traditional two-week shutdown, said president and CEO Fritz Henderson.
The new GM, after leaving many of its plants and other operations with the cast-off assets of the "old" company, should begin to "run our plants on a stable basis going into the second half of the year," Henderson said in a press conference today to announce GM's emergence from bankruptcy and to detail other organizational changes for the new company.
How the company will be organized is important, but the immediate concern is to sell new vehicles in a U.S. auto market that stubbornly refuses to break a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of sales in excess of 10 million units -- the industry sales volume GM continues to say it needs to at least break even selling vehicles in the U.S.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:03 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Lutz Stays On With New GM; Heads All Things Creative
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- General Motors' Bob Lutz will stay on with the new version of the automaker as head of not only product development but also GM's brands, marketing, advertising and communications.
Earlier, Lutz, 77, had announced plans to be an advisor through the end of the year when he would retire entirely. He turned over his day-to-day duties as head of global product development to Tom Stephens on April 1.
In his new role, Lutz will report directly to GM CEO Fritz Henderson and will be part of the executive committee. Lutz will work directly with Stephens and Ed Welburn, vice president of design.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:23 AM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
The "New" GM Focuses on Customers, Cars, Culture
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- The world was introduced to the "new" General Motors company Friday, one that is largely owned by U.S. taxpayers and will be focused on customers, cars and culture.
"Going forward, the new General Motors is fully committed to listening to customers, responding to consumer and market trends, and empowering the people closest to the customer to make the decisions," GM CEO Fritz Henderson said at a Friday morning press conference.
"Our goal is to build more of the cars, trucks and crossovers that customers want, and to get them to market faster than ever before," Henderson said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:14 AM under Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Judge Clears Way for GM To Leave Bankruptcy
By Michelle Krebs
NEW YORK -- A U.S. bankruptcy judge has cleared the way for General Motors to leave Chapter 11 by approving the sale of some of the automaker's assets, including the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC divisions, to a new, largely government-owned company.
Judge Robert Gerber of the U.S. bankruptcy court in New York ordered the approval of asset sale, despite the filing of 11th-hour appeals. GM will close the sale Friday morning and hold a press conference immediately after to provide details.
Judge Robert Gerber wrote in his ruling that allowing the sale was in the public's best interest, by saving jobs and health-care coverage for hundreds of thousands of employees and retirees globally as well as the tax base of communities. "If GM were to have to liquidate, the injury to the public would be staggering," he said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:19 AM under Featured , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Supplier Lear Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
DETROIT -- Auto supplier Lear Corp., as expected, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Tuesday.
Burdened by debt and a sharp decline in car sales, Lear, the world's second-largest maker of seats and seat components, already has laid out a proposed deal with creditors to restructure its $3.6 billion debt. Lear intends to emerge from bankruptcy within a couple months.
(Read more...)
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GM's Opel Still Up for Grabs; BAIC Offer in Contention
General Motors is seriously considering an offer for its Opel unit in Europe from Chinese
automaker Beijing Automotive as talks with Canadian auto supplier Magna International and the German government continue.
BAIC made a non-binding offer for Opel this week that requires less government help, cuts fewer jobs and provides for expansion of Opel in China more than an offer by Canadian auto supplier Magna International.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:19 AM under Companies , GM , News , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Judge Approves GM Asset Sale, Paving Way To Emerge From Bankruptcy
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- A U.S. bankruptcy judge has approved General Motors' plan to sell its "good" assets to a new company and leave "bad" assets with the old one, paving the way for the automaker to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings.
Late Sunday night, Judge Robert E. Gerber of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved the sale of substantially all of GM's to a new company to be called General Motors Company and to be funded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
In his ruling, Gerber wrote the sale is needed to avoid "immediate and irreparable harm" to GM.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:42 AM under Featured , GM , News | Comments (9) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler Completes Board of Directors
Chrysler Group LLC announced it has finished naming the last of its nine-member board of directors, with the new (and still private, despite billions of dollars in government loans) company's first board meeting scheduled for July 29.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:35 AM under Business , Chrysler , News , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Feds: No More Dough if GM Bankruptcy Not Final by July 10
By Bill Visnic
It may not come exactly on the Fourth of July, but the Obama administration is directly threatening some of its own fireworks -- the financial kind -- if the ever-quickening pace of General Motors Corp.'s bankruptcy procedure isn't concluded by July 10.
That's barely six weeks since the automaker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 1.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:17 AM under GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Led by Surging Ford, June Sales Ratcheted Reassuringly
By Dale Buss, Michelle Krebs and Bill Visnic
Automakers expressed more optimism about the U.S. car market despite the fact that overall sales in June fell by 28 percent compared with a year ago, to 859,420 vehicles. That represents only a slight improvement in year-ago comparisons over results for the first five months of this year.
Jesse Toprak, executive director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com, characterized the month cautiously. "It means, if nothing else, that things are not getting any worse, although things are not getting that much better, either. There was a lot of volatility, but there were signs of life."
Toprak added that June was "probably the best retail-demand month of the year."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:52 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , News , Toyota | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Kicks Off Second Half With 72-Hour Sale
General Motors announced a 72-hour sale offering zero-interest financing for 72 months on some 2009 and 2010 models to get the second half off to a quick start.
In addition, GM is promoting its 74 models eligible for the Cash for Clunkers program to kick in later this month.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:48 AM under GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
How's This for Energy Policy?
Portugal said today it is preparing to install some 1,300 electric-vehicle recharging stations in the next two years as the country moves aggressively to gain energy independence.
The initiative's first phase encompasses installation of charging stations in 21 of the country's major cities and most densely populated and trafficked rural areas, reported the Associated Press. The stations will be located in parking areas, shopping malls and gas stations.
Portugal has almost no significant internal energy sources such as coal or petroleum, yet it says it now has renewable-energy sources to supply 43 percent of its electrical demand.
With the charging stations, the country is attempting to prod demand for affordable, mass-market electric vehicles projected to go on sale next year. By 2020, officials claim Portugal could have 180,000 EVs in use and 25,000 public charging sites.
Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:15 PM under In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Magna Deal for GM's Euro Operations Souring?
Although it has for some time enjoyed a preferred-bidder status to buy Adam Opel AG and the European operations of General Motors Corp., the grip of Canada's Magna International may be slipping.
The Financial Times
reports GM is weighing a restructured offer from Belgian holding company RHJ International after detailed negotiations with Magna and its consortium partners became snarled by new conditions.
The Magna-led consortium includes Russia's second-largest automaker, GAZ, and the FT reports the group's offer to GM includes conditions that allow access to certain GM technologies, some of which GAZ seemingly intends to wield for Opel-based vehicles built in Russia.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:01 PM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
"Window Closing" on VW-Porsche Tie-Up
First, tiny sports-carmaker Porsche SE ran a gambit to gain control of the world's second-largest automaker, Volkswagen Group.
Various industry and political pressures and the global economic crisis got in the way, though, and VW now is turning the tables as Porsche bows under the towering debt it ran up during nearly four years of acquiring VW stock.
Reuters reported from Europe today that Porsche rejected VW's latest offer to buy the sports-carmaker and continues to resist pressure from Germany's state of Lower Saxony -- formerly VW's largest stakeholder -- for the two companies to combine.
(Read more...)
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"New" GM Will Back Bad-Product Claims
Hoping to mitigate legal speed bumps that might slow its sprint through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the "new" General Motors Corp. will take responsibility for product-liability claims, even for vehicles produced and sold by the company prior to bankruptcy.
The Washington Post
reported the new GM will assume responsibility for all future product-liability claims, a point that raised the ire of some consumer groups and state Attorney's General when it became known part of the company's restructuring blueprint included a plan to shield the new company from any exposure to any liability claims on vehicles the company produced up to the point of its bankruptcy. The objectors said the legal maneuver to shield the restructured GM from such liens was improper.
(Read more...)
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Nada for NUMMI, So Far
DETROIT -- General Motors North America President Troy Clarke said the automaker has yet to find a model that is suitable to build at the GM-Toyota joint venture plant in California, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.
GM will stop making the Pontiac Vibe at NUMMI in August as it winds down the entire Pontiac brand. The Vibe is based on the Toyota Corolla and Toyota Matrix.
"We've just not found a product that suitable for NUMMI," Clarke told reporters Friday in a conference call on GM's small car plans. "They've been great partners...and the dialogue continues."
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GM To Announce Michigan Gets Its Small Car Plant
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- General Motors will announce later Friday that its future small car, likely the Chevrolet Spark, will be built at a Michigan plant and not plants in Spring Hill, Tennessee, or Janesville, Wisconsin.
GM President North America Troy Clarke will host a media conference call Friday afternoon to make the official announcement, although word already had leaked out by Thursday's evening news.
The Orion Township, Michigan, plant, located in the Detroit suburbs, assembles the Pontiac G6 sedan, which will be discontinued when the entire Pontiac division is eliminated at year-end. The plant then added production of the popular Chevrolet Malibu, which is also made at a Kansas plant.
(Read more...)
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President Obama Signs Cash for Clunkers Legislation
WASHINGTON -- It's official. President Obama has signed the Cash for Clunkers legislature that provides a financial incentive to consumers who ditch their old gas guzzler for a new fuel-efficient model.
The author of the legislation, Ohio Democratic Rep. Betty Sutton, was quoted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as saying the measure would "improve our environment and help shore up the jobs of millions of Americans who depend upon our auto and related industries for their livelihood."
(Read more...)
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Miata Designer Matano Provides Cryptic Clues to His Mysterious New Venture
By Michelle Krebs
Ah -- the plot thickens.
Legendary Mazda Miata designer Tom Matano, who last week was revealed to be the design director for a start-up company that will assemble cars in Louisiana, provided only cryptic clues about the kind of vehicle to be produced and the more important, innovative business model to be employed.
Without giving away any secrets, Matano said in a phone interview with AutoObserver that the business model is more revolutionary than the car itself. But he promised a kinship between the buyer and the car, not identical but similar in spirit to that between the Miata and its owner.
(Read more...)
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Government Launches Cash for Clunkers Web site; Rules Being Written
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government launched a Web site Monday to provide consumers
with information on the so-called Cash for Clunkers legislation passed last week.
The site, www.cars.gov
, explains how the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) program works, provides a list of frequently asked questions and the verbage of the law, links to the government's fuel economy ratings on vehicles
and allows consumers to sign up for updates.
The rules for the program have yet to be written, a process likely to take 30 days.
(Read more...)
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Global News: Karmann Builds Last Convertible; AvtoVAZ Gets Loan; Vanmaker Ends Output
In news from Europe, German coachbuilder Karmann built its last convertible Monday -- a Mercedes-Benz CLK convertible -- Russia's AvtoVAZ is going for a government loan and troubled vanmaker LDV may end U.K. production depending on who buys it.
(Read more...)
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Vehicle Quality Improves Despite Bumpy Financial Ride
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- The financial turbulence of the global auto industry has not hurt vehicle quality. Quite the opposite, according to new data released Monday by J.D. Power and Associates.
"Vehicle quality is better than it has ever been," Dave Sargent, J.D. Power's vice president of automotive research, told the Automotive Press Association here as he announced the results of the 2009 Initial Quality Study. The study measures defects reported by buyers in the first 90 days of ownership.
"There's a positive disconnect. There's no correlation between the financial side of the business and the production side," said Sargent. "Despite the turbulence on the business side and concern for the future of their own jobs, the people who design and build vehicles are getting on with their jobs and keeping their eye on the ball. That's remarkable."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:49 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , News , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Half-Hearted Cash for Clunkers Bill Awaits President's Pen
By Bill Visnic
Finally agreeing on legislation hoped to spur the nation's beaten-down auto sales and get some gas-guzzlers off the road, the Senate last night passed a version of the long-debated Cash for Clunkers bill that only needs President Obama's signature -- which he said will happen -- to become law.
Too long in coming and too limited in reach, the final bill, part of larger war-spending legislation, earmarks a $1 billion fund for owners of older, less-efficient models to trade in for new vehicles that use less fuel and emit less pollution. The program's official name is Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS).
Owners of 1984 or newer vehicles with a combined fuel-economy rating of 18 mpg or less will get a voucher for $3,500 if the car they trade for gets at least 4 miles per gallon better than their clunker. The payday improves to $4,500 if the purchased vehicle delivers a combined rating of 10 mpg better than the traded vehicle.
Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver, reckons the measure, expected to take about 30 days to implement and set to expire in November, might generate only about 250,000 new sales for struggling automakers and dealers -- a fraction of what originally was hoped and with a stimulus impact much less than seen in other nations that have adopted similar programs.
(Read more...)
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Miata Designer Matano, T. Boone Pickens Part of Start-Up Car Company
MONROE, La. -- Mystery solved. Or at least the players behind it.
Mazda Miata designer Tom Matano and Texas billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens are key figures behind a car plant being established in Louisiana to build environmentally friendly vehicles by a start-up company that has never before built cars.
V-Vehicle Co., of San Diego, is a start-up company being financed by California venture capitalists. Its CEO is Frank Varasano, a former executive vice president of Oracle Corp. who is described as the project's visionary.
Company chairman is Ray Lane of the California venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, which has been extensively involved in environmentally friendly projects and companies, including Fisker Automotive. John Doerr, a managing partner with the California venture capital company, is a V-Vehicle board member. Former Vice President Al Gore recently joined the firm. Matano will direct design.
(Read more...)
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Chrysler Resumes Production at Seven Plants June 29
DETROIT -- Chrysler announced Wednesday it will resume vehicle production at seven of its
North American assembly plants starting the week of June 29.
Chrysler closed all of its plants when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Since then, it has re-started only one plant; the Detroit Conner Avenue plant that makes the Dodge Viper cranked up production on Monday.
(Read more...)
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Cash for Clunkers Passes the House; Faces Senate Opposition
WASHINGTON -- Cash for Clunkers legislation passed in the House on Tuesday by a narrower margin than many had expected and now goes to the Senate Wednesday where it faces opposition by some Republicans.
The House passed the Cash for Clunkers measure as part of a $106 billion wartime spending bill by a vote of 222 to 206.
Senate Republicans see Cash for Clunkers as more handouts for the auto industry.
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Niche Automaker Koenigsegg Takes Saab Off GM's Hands
By Bill Visnic
After months of shopping it and years of unsuccessfully operating it, General Motors Corp. is selling its Saab Automobiles AB division to a tiny maker of exotic cars that will return Saab to its homeland of Sweden.
GM announced Tuesday it has a memorandum of understanding with Koenigsegg Group AB for the company to purchase Saab with the boost of a $600-million funding commitment from the European Investment Bank that is guaranteed by the Swedish government.
In a statement, GM also said it and Koenigsegg will provide "additional support" to fund Saab operations and program investments.
(Read more...)
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Cash for Clunkers Up for Votes This Week
The so-called Cash for Clunkers legislation is up for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday with a Senate vote to follow shortly. If passed, the measure should be in effect sometime between July and September.
The legislation, which allows consumers to receive vouchers worth up to $4,500 on their trade-ins of clunkers for more fuel-efficient vehicles, may generate added sales of about 500,000 new vehicles this year, said Jesse Toprak, executive director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver.com.
(Read more...)
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GM Purchasing Czar Headed for Russia
Bo Andersson, who resigned last week as General Motors Corp.'s group vice president-global purchasing and supply chain, is taking a position with Russia's second-largest automaker, GAZ.
The company said Andersson, who served as GM's top procurement executive since 2001, will be the chief consultant to the Russain automaker's board of directors. GAZ is one partner in a group led by Canada's Magna International Inc. to take over GM's Adam Opel AG and most of the company's European operations, including the United Kingdom's Vauxhall.
The announcement of Andersson's departure came abruptly last week and it was speculated he could be leaving GM to be part of a new management team for GM's Saab unit, which GM also is in the process of selling and currently is under bankruptcy protection in Sweden. Andersson began his GM career as a Saab executive.
The Detroit News reported GAZ as saying there is the likelihood Andersson also will be elected to the GAZ board of directors when the company meets to elect a new board on June 29.
(Read more...)
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GM Playing Own Plants Against One Another?
By Bill Visnic
The political and financial jockeying has started among three General Motors Corp. assembly plants in competition to win the job of building a new generation of compact cars sometime around 2011.
And there is criticism GM -- currently in bankruptcy and earmarked to be more than 60 percent owned by the U.S. government -- is using the promise of the new work to coerce additional tax dollars from the three states hoping to prevail.
The company reportedly has been offered $44 million in long-term tax abatements from the township of Orion, Michigan, site of one of the three competing plants. Countering that are reports GM suggested to Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen the company might choose to build the small cars in the GM plant in Spring Hill -- if the state coughs up $200 million.
(Read more...)
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Chrysler, GM Losing and Moving Execs
By Bill Visnic
The Chrysler Group's bankruptcy is over, General Motors Corp.'s is accelerating like a Corvette and both companies are moving and losing significant personnel in sync.
None of this is unexpected, particularly as Chrysler is sure to be entertaining a certain amount of Fiat S.p.A executive injections now that Fiat is Chrysler's operational owner. And most insiders and industry analysts say GM still has plenty of management dead wood to burn and will see more voluntary separations, too.
GM still dealt a serious surprise when announcing Friday that purchasing chief Bo Andersson is leaving the company. Andersson was generally well-regarded in the supplier community, despite its usually tumultuous relationship with Detroit automakers for the past decade or more. Andersson had a reputation for being demanding and calculating but eminently fair in one of the toughest jobs in Detroit, if not the entire auto industry.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:48 PM under Chrysler , Featured , GM , News , Personalities , Rumors | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Pulls Plug on 2010 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid
DETROIT - General Motors has pulled the plug on the 2010 version of the Chevrolet Malibu hybrid
due to slow sales and high inventory levels, the Wall Street Journal
reports.
A GM spokesman told the paper the automaker has a "sufficient stock of 2009s" and starting up production in the near future is "possible, but not likely."
(Read more...)
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Kia Plans to Sell 20,000 Forte Koup Cars This Year
SEOUL - Kia plans to sell 20,000 units of its new Forte Koup vehicle this year and 35,000 in
2010 globally, the company revealed in regulatory documents.
The automaker also said it is considering building a midsize sedan at its soon-to-open U.S. plant in Georgia. The vehicle under consideration for the plant is codenamed VG, currently sold as the Kia Amanti.
(Read more...)
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Mercedes-Benz Sued by U.S. Workers for Overtime
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Daimler's Mercedes-Benz unit was sued by U.S. workers at its 
Vance, Ala., plant, claiming they are owed overtime wages because the company made them cover breaks for managers, Bloomberg News
reports.
The plant builds Mercedes' SUVs, including the M-Class, R-Class and GL-Class, none of which have been fast sellers in this recessionary economy and with the waning popularity of sport utes.
(Read more...)
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Supreme Court Clears the Way for Chrysler-Fiat Alliance
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court cleared the way for the transfer of select Chrysler assets to Italy's Fiat.
The nation's highest court rejected a request from Indiana pension funds to delay the transfer until their objections were heard.
The court's ruling suggests the path will be cleared for General Motors, also in bankruptcy, to move fast on its sale of good assets to a new GM company, allowing it to emerge from bankruptcy quickly.
The Chrysler-Fiat alliance had been put temporarily on hold by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Monday. But, as predicted by legal experts, that hold was lifted quickly as the court refused to hear the case brought by the pension funds.
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GM Extends Plant Closures
DETROIT -- General Motors, which last week filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is extending summer shutdowns at seven plants.
The automaker is adding up to four weeks to temporary shutdowns at plants in: Detroit, Lansing and Orion Township, Mich.; Spring Hill, Tenn.; Shreveport, La.; and Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
GM said the extended closures are to lower inventories of unsold vehicles.
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U.S. House Passes Cash for Clunkers Plan
WASHINGTON - The U.S. House has approved the "cash for clunkers" bill, aimed at boosting slumping car sales and replace old vehicles on the roads with more cleaner, more fuel-efficient ones.
The House bill, approved with a vote of 298 to 119, allows consumers to turn in their vehicles for vouchers worth up to $4,500 voucher toward more fuel-efficient ones.
Nevertheless, as the House bill is constructed trying to address the environment as well as sales, it's impact will be less than it could be, according to an analysis by Edmunds.com.
"A program intended to stimulate car sales should target people in the market for a car, but this program does not," said Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl. "The only people who qualify are those willing to take no more than $4,500 for their current car and immediately buy a new one - quite a narrow profile."
(Read more...)
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Judge Rules Chrysler Can Cancel Dealer Franchises
NEW YORK - U.S. Judge Arthur Gonzalez, who is overseeing the Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings, ruled Chrysler can, indeed, terminate the franchises of 789 dealers.
Gonzalez issued the order late Tuesday afternoon that the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealerships designated by Chrysler to be terminated at midnight can no longer act as authorized dealers, effective immediately.
The ruling comes as now surprise as bankruptcy law superscedes state franchise laws. The rejected dealers had made a last-ditch effort to plead their case.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 2:28 PM under Chrysler , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Names New Chairman: Former AT&T CEO Edward Whitacre, Jr.
DETROIT -- Edward E. Whitacre, Jr., former chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc., will become chairman of the new General Motors that emerges from bankruptcy later this summer, the automaker announced Tuesday morning.
GM's interim chairman Kent Kresa will continue in his post until the launch of the new GM.
(Read more...)
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U.S. Supreme Court Puts the Brakes on Chrysler-Fiat Deal
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court has put on hold Chrysler's proposed deal to be
taken over by Italy's Fiat. The move pushes forward Chrysler's emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and puts the Fiat deal, which expires June 15, at risk.
It also calls into question if General Motors, which followed Chrysler into bankruptcy, might face similar roadblocks.
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the nation's highest court ruled Chrysler cannot yet transfer most of its assets to Fiat until more information is gathered and a hearing held on the subject.
(Read more...)
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GM Dropped From Dow Average
Monday marked another historic day in the General Motors saga.
The automaker, which last Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, has been removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average after more than 80 years as an index component.
GM will be replaced by technology firm Cisco Systems. Banking giant Citigroup also is being dropped, replaced by Insurer Travelers.
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GM To End Medium-Duty Truck Production
DETROIT -- General Motors announced Monday it will stop making the medium-duty
Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC TopKick trucks July 31 as it has found no buyer for the operations.
The trucks are built at a GM plant in Flint, Michigan, which also builds the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.
The factory employs about 2,100 people, with most of its production in pickups. Last year it made more than 22,000 medium-duty trucks for GM and Isuzu.
(Read more...)
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Chrysler-Fiat Deal: Will It or Won't It? Only Supreme Court Knows for Sure
By Bill Visnic
Tension mounted over the weekend as investors in Chrysler LLC asked the U.S. Supreme
Court to consider their appeal of the sale of Chrysler's assets for Fiat S.p.A.
Given past history, it was unlikely the Supreme Court would further delay the decision of a New York appeals court that approved the sale. But the three objecting constituencies -- investment funds located in Indiana, including ones for state police and teachers -- submitted an emergency request that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg will consider, the Associated Press reported.
It was expected Justice Ginsberg would decide on the merits of the emergency appeal Monday.
(Read more...)
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Penske: Envisioning Saturn as a Global Motors
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- Roger Penske's dealership group doesn't hold a single Saturn franchise, but now he's offered to buy from General Motors the whole kit and caboodle.
Penske's vision, as he laid it out in an exclusive interview with Edmunds' AutoObserver.com Friday shortly after GM and the Penske Group announced they had made a deal for Saturn, is twofold: to sell GM-made models in Saturn showrooms while shopping the globe for other vehicles to sell, eventually convincing the offshore manufacturers of those vehicles to make them in the United States.
(Penske announced on Sept. 30 it terminated discussions with GM for the purchase of Saturn.)
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:49 AM under Business , Companies , Featured , GM , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Chrysler Defend Dealer Cuts in U.S. Senate
By Michelle Krebs
WASHINGTON -- General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson and Chrysler President Jim Press found themselves on the hot seat yet again in Congress Wednesday as they testified that it is essential to cut thousands of dealers in order to survive.
And once again, much as Detroit Three executives were at last fall's hearings for federal loans, the executives were grilled and skewered by members of Congress. Dealers being put out of business and dealer association executives chimed in as well.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:41 AM under Chrysler , Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Scrambles To Clarify Financial-Disclosure 'Tude
By Bill Visnic
Barely 48 hours into its new era as a bankrupt company, General Motors executives hustled to backtrack on a provocative statement from its chief financial officer that also was tinged with an arrogance that could damage the company's need to appear contrite before customers and politicians.
GM CFO Ray Young told the media that thanks to its now-bankrupt status, GM technically is a private company -- and as such is not obligated to make available the same depth of corporate financial information as are public corporations.
(Read more...)
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GM To Deal Hummer to Chinese Machinery Manufacturer
By Bill Visnic
General Motors Corp. confirmed yesterday it has a memorandum of understanding to sell its Hummer brand and assets to China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd a privately held company that makes heavy-duty industrial equipment.
In a statement, GM said Tengzhong intends to retain Hummer's current production capabilities (a GM assembly plant in Shreveport, Louisiana, that also builds GM's midsize pickup trucks -- the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon) and management team. GM said the deal could save 3,000 U.S. jobs.
(Read more...)
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Chrysler Exec Confident of Pending Factory Restarts
By Bill Visnic
With its once-ballooned inventories shrinking to more bearable levles - and projected to get uncomfortably low for at least a couple of models - Chrysler will restart at least some of the assembly plants in its currently-idled manufacturing system by the end of the month.
As an aside while speaking with reporters about Chrysler's May sales results, Steve Landry, Chrysler's executive vice president - North American sales, service and parts, said the company will soon decide which operations to restart, and of those facilities, "the majority of the plants will come up by the last week of June."
(Read more...)
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Delphi Maneuvers To Finally Leave Bankruptcy Behind
By Bill Visnic
Following nearly four years of wallowing in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, automotive super-supplier Delphi Corp. now has a substantive plan to emerge - curiously enough, just as its "inventor" and largest and closest customer, General Motors Corp., begins its own bankruptcy proceedings.
Delphi says it will sell most of its assets to private-equity firm Platinum Equity LLC, with a GM "affiliate" purchasing some of Delphi's parts-making operations, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
(Read more...)
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May Car Sales: Flirting with 10-Million SAAR
By Bill Visnic, Mary Connelly, Michelle Krebs
DETROIT - It's far too premature to break out the champagne and even too early to finally call the absolute bottom of one of the worst auto sales slumps in decades. But May sales reports from auto manufacturers in the U.S. hinted the worst just may be over.
"We saw glimmers of hope in May sales reports," said Jesse Toprak, executive director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver.com.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:58 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , News , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Future of GM-Toyota NUMMI Plant Uncertain with GM Bankruptcy
General Motors may stop building cars at a factory it owns with Toyota in California, known as NUMMI, following
the Detroit-based carmaker's bankruptcy filing Monday, Bloomberg News
reports.
The only GM product the plant builds is the Toyota Corolla/Matrix-based Pontiac Vibe, which will be eliminated as the automaker closes down the Pontiac brand.
The plant also builds the Toyota Corolla and Toyota Tacoma.
(Read more...)
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GM Has Buyer for Hummer
DETROIT -- General Motors announced it has signed an agreement to sell Hummer, though it hasn't yet revealed who the buyer is or how much GM will receive for the SUV company.
GM said it expects to close the deal by the end of September, pending various approvals. The sale of Hummer will save 3,000 U.S. jobs in manufacturing, engineering and at Hummer dealerships, GM said.
The arrangement includes the new buyer contracting vehicle manufacturing and business services during the transition. GM's Shreveport, Louisiana, plant continues to contract assemble the H3 and H3T through at least 2010.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:56 AM under GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
President Obama, CEO Henderson: Paving the Way for a New GM
By Michelle Krebs and Bill Visnic
DETROIT -- President Obama, in a White House press conference Monday, said General Motors' filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy "marks the end of an old GM and the beginning of a new GM."
The president, recalling the famous quote of former GM CEO and U.S. Defense Secretary Charlie Wilson in the 1950s, that "we'll be able to say again what's good for General Motors is good for America."
And in a statement less than an hour later, GM president and CEO Fritz Henderson called the action a "defining moment in the history of GM."
GM, which only last year celebrated its centennial, made history Monday by filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. Henderson said the company expects the bankruptcy to be complete in 60 to 90 days.
(Read more...)
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GM Closes 14 Manufacturing Plants; Three Service Parts Operations
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- General Motors will close or idle 14 manufacturing plants and three service and parts operations as part of its bankruptcy filing.
That brings GM's U.S. assembly, powertrain and stamping facilities from 47 in 2008 to 34 by year-end 2010 and 33 by 2012. GM will reopen an unnamed, now-idled, now-closed plant to build future small cars.
(Read more...)
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Another Historic Event: Chrysler Begins Emerging From Bankruptcy
NEW YORK -- A judge in the same New York City bankruptcy court where General Motors
will file for Chapter 11 Monday has approved the sale of Chrysler assets to a group led by Italy's Fiat.
Judge Arthur Gonzalez approved the asset transfer saying, in his written opinion, it was the only alternative to "immediate liquidation" of Chrysler.
(Read more...)
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GM Bankruptcy: History in the Making
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- Once the largest and one of the mightiest corporations on the planet, General Motors, which only last year celebrated its centennial, makes history Monday, June 1, as it files for bankruptcy.
The automaker is asking the Southern District of New York court to grant it protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy court early, to approve the transfer of most of its global assets to a new GM entity and to allow GM's operations to continue operating uninterrupted during the process.
"Today marks a defining moment in the reinvention of GM as a leaner, more customer-focused, and more cost-competitive company that, above all, can quickly generate winning bottom line results," GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson, who will hold a press briefing later Monday, said in a statement.
(Read more...)
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GM Commits to More U.S. Small-Car Production
By Bill Visnic
The timing of the announcement is curious, but General Motors Corp. said Friday it will build unnamed, next-generation small cars in the U.S. using a currently idled assembly plant and stamping facility and United Auto Workers union labor.
The small car GM plans to build on U.S. soil likely will be based on the Chevrolet Beat concept introduced at the 2007 New York Auto Show and paraded around other shows as well as Washington, D.C., events as GM's small, fuel-efficient car of the future.
(Read more...)
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GM, Germany Edge Toward Magna as Opel Buyer
By Bill Visnic
Various press reports on Friday indicate Canada's Magna International had reached a tentative agreement for ownership of General Motors Corp.'s Adam Opel AG automaking unit and most of GM's European operations, including Britain's Vauxhall.
The move would fulfill a long-held ambition for Magna, known mostly as an auto-industry supplier, to evolve into an automaker, although the company's European unit, Magna Steyr, has a strong background of low-volume and niche-volume vehicle production for a variety of automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Chrysler.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:03 PM under Business , Companies , GM , In the Media , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Bondholders Committee Accepts Sweetened Deal; Chrysler-Style Bankruptcy Next
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- A committee of General Motors' bondholders, after soundly rejecting an earlier debt-for-equity swap by the automaker, has accepted a sweetened deal backed by the U.S. government that paves the way for a quick pre-packaged bankruptcy a la Chrysler's, CNBC reported.
GM, in a statement issued Thursday morning, said the U.S. Treasury had proposed incentives for GM's unsecured bondholders that would allow GM to pursue a pre-packaged bankruptcy under section 363 of the U.S. bankruptcy code.
"Implementation of this proposal would result in a new GM with a healthy balance sheet, putting the new company on a clear path toward long-term viability and success," the automaker said.
(Read more...)
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Auto Supplier Visteon Files for Bankruptcy
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- Auto parts supplier Visteon Corp., as long anticipated it would, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday.
Visteon, one of the world's largest auto-parts suppliers, was created from Ford Motor Co. parts operations and employs 31,000 people in 27 countries.
Visteon follows in the footsteps of Delphi Corp., formed from General Motors' parts operations. Delphi has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy for three and a half years.
Like all automotive suppliers, Visteon has struggled with the dramatic fall-off in vehicle sales, which have prompted its automaker customers to slash production.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:07 AM under Business , Featured , Ford , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
German Government: Sweeten Your Offers, Opel Suitors
BERLIN -- The German government is pressing the bidders for Opel to add last-minute
sweeteners to their offers before officials select the preferred partner for General Motors' German subsidiary.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's administration has been considering offers from Italy's Fiat, Canadian auto parts supplier Magna International and Belgium-based industrial holding RHJ International.
(Read more...)
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Chrysler Bankruptcy End Near; Trial Run for GM's
Chrysler is close to emerging from bankruptcy, well ahead of the 30 to 60 days the U.S.
government had promised when it entered April 30.
Chrysler was widely seen as the trial run for the even bigger and more complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by General Motors, likely to come within days, if not hours.
A major step forward toward the end of Chrysler's bankruptcy comes Wednesday when federal bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez in New York considers a motion to sell most of Chrysler's assets to a new Chrysler under the control of Italy's Fiat.
The judge's expected approval would result in one of the biggest and fastest bankruptcy proceedings of its kind. Of course, Chrysler's bankruptcy -- as would be GM's -- would be unprecedented because of the intense involvement of the U.S. government, which has been criticized by business and some bankruptcy experts.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:04 AM under Chrysler , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
The Only Question: What Day Will GM File for Chapter 11?
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- About the only question regarding a General Motors Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that remains is what day it'll be filed.
GM announced Wednesday morning that bondholders, who had until midnight, to trade $27.2 billion in debt for a 10 percent stake in the restructured GM, had rejected the automaker's offer. GM confirmed that the number of bondholders who agreed to the deal "was substantially less" than the amount required by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:42 AM under Commentary , Featured , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Bondholders Reject Offer; Bankruptcy Filing Imminent
General Motors has failed to persuade enough bondholders to accept a debt-for-equity swap, setting the stage for the largest-ever U.S. industrial bankruptcy by the end of this month, Reuters reports.
GM failed to gain anywhere near the 90 percent of bondholder support needed, sources told the newswire Tuesday. Bondholders have until midnight to make their final decision on the tender. As of midday Tuesday, the company had only "low-single-digit" interest from bondholders, one source said.
Reuters' sources said GM will likely file for bankruptcy some time after midnight Tuesday, but before June 1.
GM's bondholders are balking at the automaker's offer to reduce its $27 billion debt in exchange for a 10-percent stake in the restructured company, a stake smaller than that being given to the United Auto Workers union.
Indeed, the UAW told its representatives gathering in Detroit Tuesday that the union, through its retired employee health-care fund, would own 17.5 percent of GM. The union would receive the company stake in lieu of the full $20 billion GM owes the fund, though GM would still make some cash payments.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:36 AM under GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
DaimlerChrysler Loses Appeal of $13.4 Million Case
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from DaimlerChrysler AG to overturn a $13.4
million punitive damages verdict for a family whose child died in a 2001 car accident in Tennessee.
The family sued DaimlerChrysler, which at the time owned Chrysler, alleging the automaker installed a faulty seat design in their Dodge Caravan, leading to the death of their son when the minivan was rear-ended by another vehicle.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:55 AM under Chrysler , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Faces Decisions This Week as Bankruptcy Deadline Looms
General Motors could file for bankruptcy as early as this week even while it faces significant decisions by its unions, its bondholders and the German government involving its restructuring.
GM has until June 1 to reach concessions with its stakeholders and rid itself of some assets, under its agreement with the U.S. Treasury Department as part of its loan package.
(Read more...)
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Fiat Dangles Opel Carrot: Fewer German Job Losses
By Bill Visnic
Evidently seeking to up the ante in its gambit to take over General Motors Corp.'s Adam Opel AG, Fiat S.p.A. Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said over the weekend that job losses from the takeover would be far fewer than press accounts have speculated, reported the Associated Press.
Marchionne told the AP that Fiat's plan for restructuring Opel and integrating it and most of GM's European operations into a mega-automaker consisting of Fiat, Opel and Chrysler (the assets of which Fiat expects to acquire through Chrysler's Chapter 11 bankruptcy) would mean less than 10,000 job losses in Europe - not the 18,000 some reports have suggested.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:57 AM under Business , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
UAW to GM: Will Deal on VEBA, More Wage Givebacks
By Bill Visnic
The United Auto Workers Union (UAW), under pressure to make concessions to General Motors Corp. as the company approaches a June 1 restructuring deadline, said today it will propose to its rank-and-file members key givebacks to help GM's long-term future, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The union reportedly has agreed to allow GM to fund its remaining $20 billion obligation to a retiree health care plan with about $10 billion in cash and a 39 percent stake in the company -- whatever "company" may mean after June 1, when many industry experts and financial-community analysts expect GM still will declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy, despite the proposed concessions from the UAW.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:44 AM under GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Volkswagen Breaks Off Talks With Porsche
Volkswagen broke off merger talks with Porsche. Volkswagen said it did not see Porsche, the smaller of the two with a heavy debt load but still VW's major shareholder, as ready for a merger.
The two companies had planned to meet Monday to develop merger plans after the financial crisis scrapped Porsche's plan to raise its stake in VW to
75 percent.
"We recognized at the end of the week that Porsche is lacking several fundamental conditions for the discussions," a VW spokesman told Reuters on Sunday. Porsche does not have a strategy for a possible integration of the two companies and has to sort out internally where it is headed, VW said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:31 AM under Companies , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Bangers for Cash Goes Into Effect in the U.K.
LONDON -- As Cash for Clunkers legislation slowly works its way through the U.S. Congress, a similar scheme known as "Bangers for Cash" went into effect in the United Kingdom Monday, and already media reports indicate increased activity in dealer showrooms.
Intended to stimulate new car sales that are off 25 percent from last year, the British deal offers cash incentives to buyers of new cars who scrap their old model, known as bangers. The government and car manufacturers are sharing the cost of giving a discount of 2,000 pounds ($3,000) to qualified motorists.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:16 AM under Companies , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler Closing Nation's Oldest Jeep Dealer
By Bill Visnic
The names are many and varied on the list of 789 dealers with whom Chrysler announced yesterday it will seek to terminate franchise agreements in its bankruptcy proceedings and prospective restructuring.
Dealerships large and small across the nation are earmarked for closure, but one of the more historically significant is Corwin Jeep Sales and Service Inc. in Hickory, Pennsylvania. Corwin long has laid claim to being the nation's oldest Jeep dealer.
(Read more...)
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Nissan Vows To Fix Itself; "Not on the Offensive"
By Bill Visnic
Announcing this week a 2008 fiscal-year net loss of $2.32 billion, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. President and CEO Carlos Ghosn said the company expects to lose about three-quarters that much again in fiscal 2009 -- so don't look for the Nissan-Renault alliance to get involved in the global auto industry's realignment of players and power.
"You will not see the (Nissan-Renault) alliance on the offensive," said Ghosn at a press conference in Japan to report Nissan's 2008 financial performance. He said Nissan's emphasis will be to return to positive cashflow, not pursue new partnerships with other automakers.
(Read more...)
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Fiat: We Just Want the Money, Not the Rules
By Bill Visnic
Let the "loopholing" begin.
Fiat S.p.A. made it clear it wouldn't go through with its no-investment alliance with now-bankrupt Chrysler unless the American automaker was guaranteed to be the recipient of $6 billion (and probably more) in federal loan guarantees.
Now that Fiat is all but assured of favored-bidder status in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy auctioning of Chrysler's assets and the subsequent Fiat-Chrysler alliance is on track -- as are the federal billions earmarked for the "new" Chrysler -- Fiat's revealed some intriguing new financial sleight-of-hand: an end-run around executive-compensation limits imposed on companies that accept government handouts.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:24 PM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Cash for Clunkers Legislation Eyed for Tuneup
By Bill Visnic
The U.S.'s "cash for clunkers" legislation earmarked to both prop up the auto industry and improve the environment is sputtering along without resolution, hampered by compromises forced by trying to attain two worthy but dissimilar goals.
The proposed used-vehicle scrappage legislation, it is hoped, will incentivize Americans to trade in older, less-efficient (and higher-polluting) models for a new vehicle, both stimulating the auto industry and the economy and also helping air quality. But muddy details, dual policy goals and squabbling constituencies have turned what seems like a good idea into a political quagmire.
"Because this program aims to achieve both environmental and industry goals, it falls short in both directions," said Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:52 PM under Business , Featured , In the Media , News | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Readies New Stock Offering
By Bill Visnic
In a move signaling Ford Motor Co. is seeking new liquidity -- and further positioning itself apart from its Detroit competitors -- the company announced late Monday a new public offering of 300 million shares of common stock.
Ford made a point to say it will use some of the proceeds to pay cash into the United Auto Workers union retiree health-benefits fund, rather than the stock General Motors Corp. and Chrysler hope to use as the lion's share of their payments to the fund.
"Net proceeds to Ford from the offering are expected to be used for general corporate purposes, including to fund with cash, instead of stock, a portion of the payments the company is required to make to the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) retiree health care trust with the United Auto Workers," Ford said in a statement.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 6:15 AM under Business , Ford , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Henderson: Bankruptcy More Probable
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- With a June 1 government-imposed deadline for a new viability plan looming, General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson said, as he has before, that bankruptcy is more probable than it was.
"Given the objectives set out, it's more probable that we would need to accomplish this in bankruptcy," Henderson said in a conference call to update media on GM's restructuring progress. "The task we have in front of us is large. But there's still an opportunity to do this outside of court."
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:29 AM under GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Tata Comes Up With Another Big Idea For Its Little Nano
By Bill Visnic
Tata Motors already wins the auto-sector's buzz-of-the-year award for the $2,000 Nano basicar. But the company's onto another good idea: variable delivery charges for its every-penny-counts personal-mobility revolution.
Automotive Business Review says Tata will charge a variable delivery charge based on where the vehicle is ordered in relation to the Nano's assembly plant in the northern-India town of Pantnagar. The report says a Nano delivered to Mumbai has a delivery charge 11 percent higher than a Nano delivered to New Delhi.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:42 AM under Business , Companies , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Posts First Loss in Decades; Red Ink To Continue
By Michelle Krebs
Toyota, still the world's largest automaker and once the world's most profitable one, posted a quarterly loss heftier than what analysts had forecasted and even bigger than the one beleaguered General Motors reported Thursday. The fourth-quarter red ink pulled Toyota's full-year results into negative territory.
For the fourth quarter ended March 31, Toyota lost the equivalent of about $7 billion, one of the biggest quarterly losses recorded by a Japanese manufacturer and more than the $6 billion GM lost in the same quarter.
The fourth quarter pushed Toyota's full-year results to a loss of about $8.6 billion, its first loss in about six decades.
And Toyota, scrambling to cut costs and boost revenue, revealed Friday it expects an even larger loss in the current fiscal year because of another 1 million drop in sales for the year. Toyota's anticipated loss is bigger than analysts predicted.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:49 AM under Business , Featured , News , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Loses $6 Billion in First Quarter
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- With a June 1 deadline for a finalized restructuring plan or bankruptcy filing looming, General Motors posted a $6-billion loss in the first quarter of 2009, about double what it lost in the same quarter a year ago but smaller than what analysts had forecasted.
Revenues this year were about half of last year's, reflecting the global economic downturn. GM spent $10.2 billion more than it earned.
"Our first-quarter results underscore the importance of executing GM's revised viability plan, which goes further and faster to lower our breakeven point," GM CEO and President Fritz Henderson said in the company's press statement issued Thursday morning.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:08 AM under Business , Featured , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler: A Whirlwind of Bankruptcy Court Activity
By Michelle Krebs
Who knows if Chrysler really can emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the 30 to 60 days it hopes for, but the activity around the court proceedings have ratcheted up to warp speed.
On Friday, a day after Chrysler officially filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, photographers, like paparazzi snapping celebrities, shot pictures of lawyers and their assistants carrying document-loaded boxes through Manhattan streets to New York's Southern District court.
There, Judge Arthur Gonzalez, who oversaw the giant Enron and WorldCom bankruptcies, apparently cleared his docket for Chrysler's bankruptcy, the nation's fifth-largest ever bankruptcy.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:25 AM under Chrysler , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Tata Nano: 200,000 Orders and a Waiting List Through 2011
By Nick Kurczewski
MUMBAI -- Get ready to wait if you want to buy a Tata Nano, the Indian-built $2,000 four-door billed as "the world's cheapest car."
The Nano might be bargain-basement priced, but the waiting list to buy one is worthy of top-notch luxury nameplates like Ferrari, Aston Martin and Lamborghini. Expect delivery no sooner than early 2011 if you haven't already put your name down to buy one.
According to figures released by Tata Motors, up to 203,000 people have placed orders for a Nano. Deliveries begin in July, with the first allotment of 100,000 customers due to receive their car no later than the last quarter of 2010.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:58 AM under Companies , Featured , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler's LaSorda Will Retire; Nardelli Returns to Cerberus
By Michelle Krebs
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Former Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda, most recently vice chairman and president, said Thursday in a conference call that he will retire. He gave no effective date for his retirement but said he will not stick around through Chrysler's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Current Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli said he, too, would be leaving Chrysler after it emerges from bankruptcy to return as an advisor to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which owned Chrysler before Thursday's deal with Italy's Fiat was announced.
Chrysler President and Vice Chairman Jim Press said he has had no discussions regarding his employment status.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:18 AM under Chrysler , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler Plants Shut Down Until Bankruptcy Over; CEO Nardelli Out
By Bill Visnic
Less than an hour after confirming it filed a petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Chrysler LLC issued a press release with initial details of its proposed alliance with Italy's Fiat S.p.A.
Most intriguing is a statement (near the bottom of the release) saying most Chrysler manufacturing operations will shut down starting Monday -- and, although the language is vague, presumably not restart until the restructured company emerges from bankruptcy.
Also, Chief Executive Office Robert Nardelli will leave the company "following the emergence of the new [Chrysler] company from Chapter 11 and the completion of the alliance with Fiat."
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:05 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , In the Media , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler Files for Bankruptcy and Combines With Fiat
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- President Obama announced Thursday that Chrysler will combine with Italy's Fiat but is filing for Chapter 11 reorganization to get the job done.
In a White House press conference Thursday, President Obama chastised the banks and hedge funds that refused a government-sweetened deal to reduce Chrysler's debt owed to them.
Obama called them "speculators" who refused to make sacrifices when the workers, plant communities, major lenders and dealers did. As a result of debtholders holding out, the president said, Chrysler is filing for bankruptcy to "clear away remaining obligations so the company can get back on its feet onto a path of success."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:47 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler Clears More Hurdles but to What End?
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- Chrysler has cleared another hurdle for getting a deal done with Italy's Fiat with the U.S. Treasury Department's announcement that an agreement had been reached with Chrysler's main creditors and Daimler AG had cut loose its stake in the automaker.
However, the creditors' agreement along with the necessary union contracts, also settled in recent days, does not mean Chrysler will avoid Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:15 AM under Chrysler , Featured , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Good-Bye Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, Hummer
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- General Motors will eliminate or dispose of the Saturn, Saab and Hummer brands by the end of 2009 and Pontiac by no later than the end of 2010, under the automaker's most recent viability plan unveiled on Monday.
Eliminating the Pontiac division was a tough decision and "an intensely personal one" for many at the auto company because of its heritage, GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in a press conference Monday. "But it is one that needed to be taken."
Under the original plan, GM was to make Pontiac a niche brand as the marque is generally sold alongside Buick and GMC vehicles. "We concluded that we didn't have a strategy that would allow us to win with the Pontiac brand," said Henderson. "We didn't have the resources in the form of product or marketing muscle behind the brand."
He said GM will discontinue production of Pontiac vehicles "no later than 2010."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:48 AM under GM , News | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's New Viability Plan: An Opportunity To Restructure GM -- "And Do It Once"
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson, calling this a "defining moment" for the automaker, laid out his "go faster, go deeper" restructuring plan that includes more cuts in jobs, plants, dealers and products, including elimination of the Pontiac brand.
The revised viability plan also includes a debt-for-equity swap for bondholders, the union retiree health-care fund and the U.S. taxpayer.
"We have an opportunity to restructure GM, and we're going to do it once," Henderson said in a press conference Monday morning.
Henderson said GM still prefers to restructure out of court but will do it in bankruptcy court if necessary -- a strong signal to unions, dealers and bondholders that they'd better get on board with the new plan. Henderson said the chances of filing bankruptcy are higher today than they were earlier largely because of the bondholder exchange.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:42 AM under Featured , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
UAW Reaches Deal With Chrysler; CAW Ratifies Contract
DETROIT -- The United Auto Workers (UAW) said Sunday night that the union had reached an agreement with Chrysler, Italy's Fiat and the U.S. government on concessions to its 2007 contract and health care trust, Reuters reported.
Also on Sunday night, members of the Canadian Auto Workers union ratified a concessionary contract they reached with Chrysler over the weekend.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:11 PM under Chrysler , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM To Give Update on Plans Monday Morning
DETROIT -- General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson will host a media briefing at 9 a.m. Monday
to provide an update on the automaker's revised viability plan, the company said Sunday night.
Though GM is not providing detail about what he will say, Henderson is expected to announce more cuts, including the elimination of the Pontiac brand. Other moves could include permanent plant closings and job cuts. Initiatives to reduce the number of dealers and obtain a debt-for-equity swap from bondholders likely will be addressed. And the shakiness of parts supplier Delphi Corp. may be on the agenda as well.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:15 PM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Edmunds: GM To Hit the Kill Switch on Pontiac
Pressured on all fronts to right-size its business in order to stave off a bankruptcy that's likely to happen anyway, General Motors Corp. next week is likely to announce the latest casualty in its crash-dive restructuring: its lost-in-yesteryear Pontiac division.
Edmunds.com's Inside Line
, like AutoObserver
a part of the Edmunds.com organization, reported yesterday that a source at GM indicated the company is likely to announce on Monday that it will fold Pontiac, a name that has been part of the GM empire since 1926.
Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg today also reported GM will shelve Pontiac, which achieved its true prominence in the 1960s when it introduced the GTO in 1964, a car widely credited with beginning one of Detroit's most beloved marketing and engineering phases -- its muscle-car era.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:51 AM under Business , GM , News | Comments (7) | digg this | del.icio.us
U.S. Preparing A Chrysler Chapter 11, The New York Times Says
DETROIT -- The U.S. Treasury Department is preparing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for
Chrysler that could come as soon as next week, The New York Times
is reporting.
The paper, quoting unnamed sources, says the Treasury has an agreement in principle with the United Automobile Workers union, whose members' pensions and retiree health care benefits would be protected as a condition of the bankruptcy filing.
The Times further says Italy's Fiat would complete its alliance with Chrysler while the company is under bankruptcy protection.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:42 PM under Chrysler , GM , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Names 13 Plants For Shutdowns; Cuts 190,000 Vehicles From Production Schedule
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT - General Motors announced late Thursday it is scheduling multiple weeks of down time at 13 assembly plants in North America to reduce dealer inventories of unsold new vehicles, eliminating 190,000 vehicles from the production schedule for the second and early third quarters.
"We are pursuing an aggressive inventory strategy so we can get our dealers and ourselves ready for a clean and quick start to 2010 model year and capitalize on upturn when it occurs," Troy Clarke, GM's North America President, told reporters in a conference call Thursday afternoon.
Clarke said another reason for the production cuts was possible parts shortages caused by "the complicated and difficult negotiations" with auto supplier Delphi Corp., which has been in bankruptcy since October 2005, and "its debtor in possession lenders." He would not elaborate.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:16 PM under Featured , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Edmunds.com Jumps on the Earth Day Band Wagon With Tire-Check Marathon
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- On Earth Day, drive into a Santa Monica automotive business and get your tire pressure checked. The city is seeking the Guinness World Record for number of tires checked and properly filled in a day, and attempting to educate local residents about the importance of this simple task.
"Our studies show that a driver wastes $800 per year on fuel when driving on a severely under-inflated tire," reported Edmunds.com Senior Editor and "Green Team" committee member Joanne Helperin. "With approximately 250 million vehicles on the road in the United States, and a government estimate that the average vehicle tire is under-inflated by 26 percent, there is remarkable potential for saving billions of dollars and tons of fuel."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:04 AM under News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Peapod NEV Opens for Orders Beginning Today - Earth Day
By Dale Buss
At least for today, Chrysler will be able to hold its new keepers in the Obama administration at bay. Because on Earth Day in New York City, Chrysler's Peapod unit has begun taking orders for the company's new Peapod Neighborhood Electric Vehicle
.
There's nothing more "green" -- especially for a company that has notably lacked in environmental orientation -- than an all-electric vehicle that operates at low speeds with no emissions. Peapod is designed to jump-start interest in an NEV segment that always has been the dowdy province of true Earth Firsters; residents of planned communities such as Celebration, Florida; and older folks who live around golf courses.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:30 AM under Chrysler , In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
2010 Toyota Prius Priced Above 2010 Honda Insight
TORRANCE, California -- Toyota announced pricing on its 2010 Toyota Prius that puts it
higher than the 2010 Honda Insight.
The 2010 Toyota Prius will start at $22,750, including a $750 destination charge, when it goes on sale in late May, putting it higher than the 2010 Honda Insight, which starts at $20,470 and went on sale March 24.
However, Toyota's pricing strategy includes the rollout later this year of the 2010 Toyota Prius I, a stripped-down base model that will start at $21,750 -- still more expensive than the cheapest Insight.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:16 AM under News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Obama Administration Loans Chrysler, GM More Money
The Obama administration, as promised, is providing more funds for Chrysler and General
Motors as working capital to keep them afloat as they try to meet the government-imposed deadlines.
Chrysler received about $500 million to get it through the end of April. The Obama administration has set an April 30 deadline for Chrysler to negotiate a final deal with Italy's Fiat in order to be granted $6 billion more in government funds or face bankruptcy. And the government will end its support of Chrysler if it goes into
bankruptcy.
GM is receiving $5 billion through May to help it meet its June 1 deadline to return to the Obama administration with a viable restructuring plan or it faces bankruptcy, during which the government will provide funding.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:16 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM May Unload Opel for a Song
By Bill Visnic
Hustling to clean up its balance sheet and deal with some atrophied tentacles of its overseas operations prior to a June 1 deadline from the Obama administration, General Motors Corp. could be preparing a deal to offload -- for a paltry sum -- its cash-poor Adam Opel AG European operations, the Financial Times reported today.
The paper says GM wants an investor to pay the equivalent of about $650 million for Opel/Vauxhall. But GM would then invest the money in the new company formed by its European operations, becoming one of, if not the largest, of the new company's shareholders.
Moreover, given the complexity of GM's current financial situation and the compressed time frame for GM to right its ship lest the Obama administration's Automotive Task Force decree GM should be taken through bankruptcy, GM wants this Opel proposal to proceed in a matter of weeks, the Financial Times story said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:49 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Good and Bad Ideas From Massachusetts
By Bill Visnic
There are all manner of schemes being proposed to address the needs of dwindling state and federal coffers, many of which often focus on hitting the wallets of the driving public.
But rare is the state that has two driving-taxation plans as simultaneously enlightened and enraging as the state of Massachusetts. Both have been promoted by Gov. Deval Patrick.
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GM's Henderson: Four-Brand, Not Two-Brand, Strategy Remains the Plan
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson, in a Friday morning conference call, brought the media up to date on the progress of the automaker's latest "go deeper, go faster" plan required by the U.S. government and tried to dispel some reports that have been circulating.
Henderson reiterated bankruptcy still is not GM's preference, but it remains a possibility and is more probable as time marches on. He said GM is planning two tracks -- one for restructuring out of court and another within the bankruptcy court. Should bankruptcy be required, Henderson said, the plan in the works is to do it quickly, something many experts doubt can happen.
On other topics, he said: potential buyers and investors are lined up for a look at Saab, Saturn and Opel; more job cuts are coming; and no other brands, namely Pontiac and GMC, have been targeted for elimination as of now.
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Investor Group Interested in Saturn, Journal Reports
DETROIT -- An investor group that includes a number of Saturn dealers said it has
approached General Motors to acquire and operate the principal assets of Saturn, the
Wall Street Journal
reports.
The investors say Saturn would benefit as an independent entity. If successful, the new company would outsource Saturn production, initially to GM, and eventually sell "smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles" from a range of companies.
GM said in its February 17 viability plan submitted to the federal government that it would phase out Saturn by 2011, when most of its models reach the end of their life cycle, unless a new arrangement could be made.
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Fiat's Marchionne: Union Concessions or We Walk Away
By Michelle Krebs
TORONTO -- Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne told a Toronto newspaper that a Fiat-Chrysler
partnership had only a 50-50 chance of success because of lack of progress in talks with union leaders, especially those in Canada. He said that the Italian automaker is prepared to walk away from the proposed alliance with Chrysler, which must be completed in two weeks, if the union doesn't cut costs. That likely would leave Chrysler headed to bankruptcy court.
"Absolutely we are prepared to walk. There is no doubt in my mind," Marchionne said in an interview with Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper. Instead, he said, Fiat would find another international partner.
Nomura analyst Michael Tyndall told Reuters Marchionne was probably not bluffing in talking tough with the unions. "He's playing hardball," he told the newswire, adding that the unions' position would make the deal too costly for Fiat. "We want them [Fiat] to walk away...I don't see any benefits in this deal."
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Smallest Cars Perform Poorly in Crashes With Bigger Cars, IIHS Confirms
WASHINGTON -- Turns out, auto engineers have been right all along: size matters and you
can't defy physics in crashes.
The latest report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that even the best small cars do poorly in head-on collisions even with only somewhat bigger midsize sedans from the same manufacturer.
"Minicars as a group do a comparatively poor job of protecting people in crashes, simply because they're smaller and lighter," Adrian Lund, president of the insurance industry-funded group, said in a statement. "In collisions with bigger vehicles, the forces acting on the smaller ones are higher."
The IIHS notes that frontal crashes are the most dangerous traffic accidents, causing about 15,000 out of roughly 40,000 U.S. traffic deaths annually.
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GM Recalls 1.5 Million Cars
Just what General Motors needs right now -- a massive recall -- as it struggles to convince wary American consumers that it builds quality vehicles and it will survive its current financial crisis.
But that's what GM has. The automaker is recalling 1.5 million vehicles because of potential engine fires.
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Global News: UK Electric Car Subsidy Criticized; Nissan, Renault Do Electric Cars in China; Tesla Opens EU Stores; Australian Sales Fall
In global news, the auto industry criticized Prime Minister Gordon Brown's subsidy for electric cars, Nissan and Renault announced plans to supply China with electric cars by 2011; U.S.-based Tesla is expanding to Europe; and vehicle sales in Australia tumbled in the first quarter.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:38 AM under Companies , Ford , GM , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota, Mississippi Officials Sued for Racism
A black-owned construction company has filed a federal civil lawsuit against Toyota,
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and the Mississippi Development Authority claiming racial discrimination in the construction of Toyota's new plant in northeast Mississippi.
The owners of Fish & Fisher, Jacqueline Williams and Renna Fisher, say Barbour, MDA and the car company acted in concert to bar them from participating in what they claim was a whites-only bid process for site preparation.
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Studies: Throttle Back on Highway Privatization
By Bill Visnic
Two new studies released by pubic-interest organizations are putting up the orange cones on the growing trend toward privatization of public roadways.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports this week that the wide-ranging U.S. Public Interest Research Group warns of "big potential downsides for the public" in road privatization schemes.
The Post-Gazette also quoted the PIRG-developed "Private Roads, Public Costs" report as saying, "Road privatization offers a hard-to-resist 'quick fix' for state budget and transportation challenges. But there are hidden costs to privatization."
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Economy Takes a Toll on Auto Dealers Ranks
In the first quarter this year, 271 auto dealers in the U.S. went out of business, according to
the National Automobile Dealers Association.
NADA reports at the end of the first quarter, the U.S. had 19,738 auto dealers, down from 20,009 year-end 2008.
The trade group predicts about 1,200 dealers, mostly representing General Motors, Chrysler and Ford brands, to go out of business this year, about 20 percent more than last year.
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Japan Adopts Scrappage Program in Its Economic Stimulus Plan
Following the lead of European countries, Japan is including a scrappage program -- known in
the U.S. as a cash for clunker plan -- in its massive just-announced economic stimulus package.
Car buyers in Japan would be paid up to 250,000 Yen (roughly $2,500) to trade in vehicles 13 years old or more for new, more modern ones. The government has budgeted $3.7 billion for the program. On April 1, the Japanese government announced a tax break on gasoline-electric hybrids and other ultra-low emission vehicles.
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Auto Suppliers Get $5 Billion
The U.S. Treasury Department will start releasing $5 billion in government funds to auto suppliers next week. The Supplier Support Program will funnel the money through General Motors and Chrysler, which have loans from the government, to their shakiest and most vital suppliers.
Chrysler plans to use $1.5 billion; GM expects to use $2 billion. The remaining $1.5 billion would be available at the request of GM or Chrysler.
Ford has declined to participate as it has with government loans for itself. Instead, Ford is lending money to its suppliers.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:13 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Ford , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fiat Managers Held Hostage by Employees
Three managers of Italy's Fiat are being held against their will by employees in the company's Brussels commercial headquarters, an official told Bloomberg News. The managers were discussing job cuts for the facility that employs about 90 people.
Holding executives hostage is becoming increasingly more commonplace in Europe as the stress of the economy and job losses loom.
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Global News: More Drop-outs From Shanghai Show; Canada Backs GM, Chrysler Warranties; SsangYong Slashes Jobs; and Supplier Schaeffler Struggles With Debt
In Global News, China's upcoming auto show in Shanghai has more no-shows as a result of the ailing global economy, Canada's government is backing General Motors and Chrysler warranties as the U.S. is, and South Korea's troubled SsangYong axed more than a third of its workforce.
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Volkswagen Golf Named 2009 World Car Of The Year
NEW YORK - The Volkswagen Golf was named the 2009 World Car of the Year Thursday
morning at the New York auto show. A jury of 59 international automotive journalists from 25 countries made the selection.
"It is a tremendous honor for Volkswagen to have its global best selling model, the Golf, named the 2009 World Car of the Year," said Stefan Jacoby, President/CEO, Volkswagen of America, Inc. "This is a great way to kick-off the new Golf here in America. We're excited for the arrival of the sixth generation Golf, which will be in Volkswagen showrooms later this year. Simply put, we believe this is the best Golf ever."
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Fiat's Marchionne Back In the USA; Hurdles In Chrysler Deal Remain
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne reportedly is back in the U.S. to continue hammering out an
alliance with Chrysler.
Marchionne and Alfredo Altavilla, Fiat's head of business development and chief executive of its powertrains division, reportedly are dividing their time between negotiations in Detroit with Chrysler and the UAW and meetings in Washington with U.S. Treasury officials.
President Obama has given Chrysler until the end of this month to
finalize a definitive agreement with Fiat. And that's "ample time," said Chrysler President Jim Press Wednesday at the New York auto show, where he was driven onto the stage in a Fiat 500.
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Treasury Team Parked At GM For Next Two Weeks
A team from the U.S. Treasury Department is in Detroit this week and next helping General
Motor devise a plan to save the company from a potential June 1 bankruptcy.
The Treasury Department's Harry J. Wilson, a former partner in Silver Point Capital LP, and about 14 other people including advisers from Boston Consulting Group and Rothschild Group are part of the group, Josh Earnest, a White House deputy press secretary, told Bloomberg News. Earnest added that the team will work to speed existing cuts and identify new savings.
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GM Has Three Bids For Hummer, Reports Say
Three bidders with offers from $100 million to $200 million are interested in General Motors' Hummer brand, media outlets are reporting.
None are automakers, one is from the U.S. and two are from overseas, Reuters reported Thursday.
In addition to paying GM cash, the buyer would assume GM's liabilities for its 125 Hummer dealers in the U.S. and commit further investment to engineering, marketing and sales, Reuters reported.
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Famed German Coachbuilder Karmann Files for Bankruptcy
Legendary coachbuilder Wilhelm Karmann GmbH, which makes convertibles for
Audi and Daimler, has filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors in Germany. The company said "crashing" car markets and contract cancellations have left it unable to pay its bills and its workers.
Karmann said on its Web site that it plans to continue production and maintain as many jobs as possible, while keeping creditors at bay through the courts.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:19 AM under Business , Companies , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
New York Auto Show: VW's Jacoby Sees Little Recovery Until 2010
NEW YORK -- U.S. car and truck sales may come in at under 10 million units this year and may not rebound until next year, said the head of Volkswagen's North American operations.
"We may not see a recovery until the end of this year, or even into next year," Stefan Jacoby, president of Volkswagen of America, said in a speech Wednesday at the New York auto show.
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Global News: Citroen Launches Scrappage Plan; GMAC Adds UK Payment Protection; Japan's Import Sales Plummet as Government Announces Stimulus
In Global News Monday, French automaker Citroen launched a scrappage program of its own in the U.K., General Motors' financing unit GMAC added payment protection to its loans, Japan's import sales plummeted as the government announced a massive economic stimulus plan, and Maruti Suzuki's Alto reigns supreme in India.
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Chrysler Selects A123Systems as Battery Supplier
By Bill Visnic
With barely three weeks to concoct a workable alliance with Fiat S.p.A lest the Feds roll out the bankruptcy carpet, Chrysler LLC had enough extra time on its hands this week to announce its latest team-up: a strategic alliance with Massachusetts-based battery developer A123Systems.
Chrysler said in a press release that the deal "reinforces both companies'" commitment to expand battery manufacturing technology in the United States, reducing dependency on foreign sources of energy and greenhouse gas emissions."
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Saab Tells Court It Will Be Sold by End of June
Swedish automaker Saab told a court in its homeland Monday that it has 20 "active" suitors
and expects to be sold by the end of June. The automaker hasn't named those potential buyers. However, some indications are that Chinese and Swedish suitors are among them.
A Swedish court granted Saab an extension of the period it is protected from creditors to give it more time to restructure and find a buyer. Guy Lofalk, the lawyer in charge of Saab's restructuring, said the sale of Saab is a "crucial prerequisite for a successful reconstruction."
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:33 AM under Companies , GM , News | Comments (1) |