GM unveils its restructuring plan
By Yoann Besnard on 5 June 2008 | 
(0) Comments | Permalink
GM has announced its plan to close four factories and maybe lay off 10,000 people in an attempt to restructure its business.
See also : General Motors | Industry News
Future BMW X1 SUV to be produced in Germany
By Yoann Besnard on 3 June 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
BMW has announced it will build the future X1 in Germany.
See also : BMW | Industry News
Mercedes moves into its new design studio
By Yoann Besnard on 3 June 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Mercedes has strong ambition on the American market and its recent acquisition of the Chrysler Pacifica Advanced Product Design Center proves that carmaker isn’t ready to leave the market to Lexus, Audi or even Hyundai.
See also : Industry News | Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz sells 300,000th new C-Class
By Yoann Besnard on 3 June 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The 300,000th C-Class has rolled off the production line since it has been launched on the market.
See also : Industry News | Mercedes
New British Sportscar to be unveiled on June 9th
By Yoann Besnard on 3 June 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
A small British carmaker Breckland will unveil an all-new sports car, called Beira, at the London’s Canary Wharf motor show. The future model tries to reinvent what British small carmakers are doing for years, building a sports car based on high-volume models.
See also : Industry News
Honda number 3 in the US
By Yoann Besnard on 30 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
After being overtaken by Toyota, Ford leaves the Top 3 on the American market as Honda has sold more cars than Ford.
See also : Honda | Industry News
Karmann won't build the future VW Golf Cabriolet
By Yoann Besnard on 28 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
For the German coachbuilder, the future looks rather gloomy. After the end of the Chrysler Crossfire last year and the planned termination of the Audi A4 at the end of the year and the Mercedes-Benz CLK convertible next year, Volkswagen has decided to keep in-house the production of the next Golf convertible.
See also : Industry News | VW
Toyota Camry to take over the F-150?
By Yoann Besnard on 20 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
This might be the worst nightmare for the American carmaker. Will the Camry take over the F-150?
See also : Industry News | Toyota
PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi set up a joint venture in Russia
By Yoann Besnard on 20 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi have signed a joint venture agreement to produce vehicles for 3 brands, Peugeot, Citroën and Mitsubishi in Russia.
See also : Citroen | Industry News | Mitsubishi | Peugeot
Chrysler kills rebadge of Dodge Journey to work on small car
By Yoann Besnard on 14 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
As Petrol-Head reported in a previous post, Chryler is reshuffling its portfolio in an attempt to distinguish its brand from each other. The Dodge Journey won’t sport the Chrysler label.
See also : Chrysler | Industry News
Nissan to sell 200000 vehicles in India by 2012
By Yoann Besnard on 14 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Nissan has announced its ambition to sell 200,000 vehicles in India by 2012 relying on local expertise.
See also : Industry News | Nissan
Spyker teams up with Lotus
By Yoann Besnard on 14 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The troubled Dutch carmaker has announced it has reached an agreement with Lotus to reduce costs by sharing technology.
See also : Industry News | Lotus
Tata Nano in the US
By Yoann Besnard on 14 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Tata wants to take over the world with the future Nano and has confirmed that the cheapest car might be sold in the US.
See also : Industry News | Tata
GM buys Detroit headquarters for £313 million
By Yoann Besnard on 13 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
GM has announced it has bought the headquarters it currently rents in Detroit for an amount of £313 million.
See also : General Motors | Industry News
Renault-Nissan annouces their £1,250 car
By Yoann Besnard on 13 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Renault-Nissan has given the green light to the future Nano competitor due to be launched by 2011.
See also : Industry News | Nissan | Renault | Tata
VW to choose its US factory in July
By Yoann Besnard on 13 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Volkswagen's CEO has finally announced that the company will choose its US factory in July before the company's mid-July meeting.
See also : Industry News | VW
Daimler to increase component sharing
By Yoann Besnard on 13 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Mercedes-Benz wants to increase the component sharing between its models.
See also : Industry News | Mercedes
Fiat interested in Mexico for a plant
By Yoann Besnard on 12 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
In addition to discussing with Chrysler to build Alfa Romeo models in the US, Fiat is also considering building an all-new factory in Mexico.
See also : Alfa Romeo | Fiat | Industry News
Piero Ferrari and two others to invest in Pininfarina
By Yoann Besnard on 30 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
After Tata, Piero Ferrari has announced it will buy a stake in the Italian coachbuilder.
See also : Industry News
Lada unveils the 2116
By Yoann Besnard on 30 April 2008 | (1) Comments | Permalink
Lada has unveiled an all-new model, the 2116, due to be launched this year in Russia and in Europe by 2010.
See also : Industry News
Bertone ensures its future through design
By Yoann Besnard on 29 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Placed under administration after filing for bankruptcy protection, Bertone suffered from a strong disagreement between family members preventing the situation from improving. Since then, things got better and a new business plan was decided.
See also : Industry News
Pininfarina to open design centre in India
By Yoann Besnard on 29 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Pininfarina has announced it will open a design centre in India.
See also : Industry News
Fuel supply not under threat say petrol retailers
By Yoann Besnard on 26 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Petrol retailers says there will be no shortage of fuel supply when refinery workers at Grangemouth refinery will go on strike.
See also : Industry News
Foreign carmakers to compete on upper market segments in India
By Yoann Besnard on 26 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Despite a slowdown and a growing inflation rate in India, car makers are planning to move their lineup upmarket in an attempt to build their brand image in the future and to meet demand for larger models from Indian customers.
See also : Industry News
Ssangyong plans twenty new models in five years
By Yoann Besnard on 21 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The Korean carmaker has announced plans for an unprecedented raft of new models due for production over the next few years.
See also : Industry News
London Mayor plans 20mph speed limit if re-elected
By Yoann Besnard on 8 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Ken Livingstone has announced he will try to reduce speed limits in London to just 20mph if he’s re-elected to a third term office.
See also : Industry News
Tatras might come back as retro cars
By Yoann Besnard on 5 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Tatra's main shareholder and CEO, Ronald Adams has announced that the company might bring back Tatras of the past as retro automobiles.
See also : Industry News
First Superb rolled off and will be built in India
By Yoann Besnard on 5 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The production line of the new Superb started rolling on Wednesday in Kvasiny, Czech Republic. The first model is a ‘Rosso Brunnelo’ 2.0 TDI.
See also : Industry News | Skoda
Land Rover to build the LRX
By Yoann Besnard on 5 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Tata has given the green light to Land Rover to produce the LRX concept car which is expected to hit the showrooms by 2011.
See also : 4x4 | Industry News | Land Rover
Three million holes in roads
By Yoann Besnard on 3 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Drivers are having to dodge more than 3 million holes in the road.
See also : Industry News
Ferrari to debut in India by 2010
By Yoann Besnard on 3 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
With its 83,000 millionaire, the Indian market can not be ignored by Ferrari which has announced it will debut sales there by 2010.
See also : Ferrari | Industry News
Proton to boost export
By Yoann Besnard on 2 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The Malaysian carmaker is currently working on a new engine range that includes diesel units as part of a plan to increase its global sales.
See also : Industry News
Virago's mission impossible
By Yoann Besnard on 22 March 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
A small British carmaker plans to unveil the Virago coupé at the Top Marque motor show at the end of next month.
See also : Industry News
New York Auto Show unveilings
By Yoann Besnard on 18 March 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The New York Auto Show looks rather far for us in the UK but the motor show gets more and more attention from carmakers which like the idea to have another American show with a national coverage, but still focused on American market while Detroit became the show of German carmakers in the past years.
See also : Industry News
Mahindra & Mahindra interested in buying Bertone
By Yoann Besnard on 18 March 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Mahindra & Mahindra is reported to be interested in buying the troubled coachbuilder Bertone. The final winner will be announced within three months.
See also : Industry News
More details about the Morgan LIFEcar
By Yoann Besnard on 3 March 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Morgan has unveiled more details of the upcoming LIFEcar concept car that will be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show.
See also : Industry News
Nissan and Mitsubishi to expand their alliance
By Yoann Besnard on 29 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Nissan and Mitsubishi have announced that they have agreed to expand their minicar production alliance. Mitsubishi will supply another Kei car to Nissan at the end of this year and both companies are currently studying other opportunities.
See also : Industry News | Mitsubishi | Nissan
Brits to choose 4x4 over more fuel efficient cars in 2008
By Yoann Besnard on 29 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Direct Line Car Insurance has commissioned a survey that reveals that Britons are four times more likely to buy a less fuel efficient vehicle than the more environmentally friendly hybrid cars this year.
See also : Industry News
BMW to eliminate 8,100 jobs
By Yoann Besnard on 28 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
BMW has announced it will cut 8100 jobs, 7.5% of its workforce, as part of the part of a plan announced last year to increase its profitability.
See also : BMW | Industry News
Pininfarina unveils the Sintesi
By Yoann Besnard on 28 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
After a few teasers, Pininfarina finally takes the wraps off its latest concept car, the Sintesi, which will be on display at Geneva next week.
See also : Industry News
Honda to boost sales in India
By Yoann Besnard on 27 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Honda has announced it plans to increase its sales to 90,000 units in 2008/09 at first and 160,000 by 2010 with the help of the new expanded production facility.
See also : Honda | Industry News
Loremo to work on an electric LS
By Yoann Besnard on 27 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Loremo is currently working on an electric version of its LS model unveiled last year at the Geneva Motor Show. The company is so busy that it won’t attend the show this year.
See also : Industry News
Berton won't attend Geneva
By Yoann Besnard on 26 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The troubled Italian coachbuilder, Bertone, won’t attend the Geneva Motor Show next week and the BAT-11 might never be seen under the spotlights.
See also : Industry News
Top 10 in China in January
By Yoann Besnard on 26 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Petrol-Head reported the sales data for the month of January on the Chinese market. This time, here is the list of the top 10 sellers in China.
See also : Chinese manufacturers | Industry News
Italian Fioravanti to unveil the Hidra coupé at Geneva
By Yoann Besnard on 22 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The Italian designer Fioravanti, famous for its roof featured on the Ferrari 575M Super America, will unveil a new concept car at the Geneva Motor Show. The concept car will be a five-door coupé called Hidra.
See also : Industry News
Top 10 European best sellers
By Yoann Besnard on 21 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
After the global sales result for the European market, here are the top 10 European best sellers for the month of January of this year.
See also : Industry News
46,126 crushed cars in the UK in 2007
By Yoann Besnard on 19 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The astonishing figure of crushed vehicles has been revealed by the Financial Times: 46,126 vehicles were crushed last year, a 34% increase over 2006.
See also : Industry News
Chinese car luxury market boom
By Yoann Besnard on 19 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Bentley has sold 338 cars in China and Hong Kong last year, a 93 percent increase over 2006 while Rolls Royce sold 106 vehicles on the Chinese market.
See also : Bentley | Industry News | Rolls Royce
Saudi Arabia to build its first car factory
By Yoann Besnard on 19 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Saudi Arabia will build its first car factory in the eastern city of Dammam. The facility is expected to have a production capacity of 300,000 vehicles.
See also : Industry News
Beijing to be stricter with pollution
By Yoann Besnard on 19 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Beijing which will organise the next Olympic Games this summer has announced a new emission regulation called “China IV”, inspired from the “Euro IV”.
See also : Chinese manufacturers | Industry News
Tesla to raise £125 million
By Yoann Besnard on 19 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Tesla chairman Elon Musk, who has just been delivered the first car, said in an interview with the Financial Times that the start up plans to raise £125 million to build the upcoming WhiteStar electric saloon model.
See also : Industry News
Webasto to unveil a concept car with an innovative heating and folding roof systems
By Yoann Besnard on 18 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The German parts supplier will unveil a concept car at the Geneva Motor Show called Light Concept.
See also : Industry News
Pagani Zonda R won’t be shown at Geneva
By Yoann Besnard on 18 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Pagani has announced it won’t launch the Zonda R at Geneva as it’s still waiting to sell the 10 planned cars.
See also : Industry News
Nissan to invest £465 million in IT
By Yoann Besnard on 18 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Nissan will increase its IT investments over the next three years to cut cost in its design and sales operations.
See also : Industry News | Nissan
Will Bertone come to Geneva?
By Yoann Besnard on 17 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The troubled Italian coachbuilder hasn’t confirmed wether he would attend the Geneva Motor Show or not. However if it does come, it will bring a concept car rumoured to be called BAT 11.
See also : Industry News
V8 demand falls in the US
By Yoann Besnard on 17 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
A study conducted by Edmunds shows that demand for V8 engines has fallen in almost every segment. Only the pickup segment escaped the trend.
See also : Industry News
Morgan to unveil the LifeCar at Geneva
By Yoann Besnard on 14 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Morgan will unveil the LifeCar at the Geneva Motor Show. The prototype is a fuel cell hybrid sports car based on the company’s Aero 8 roadster.
See also : Industry News
CAW president: "I have a dream. Banning imported cars in North America"
By Yoann Besnard on 14 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove is the kind of guy you’re not sure you want to to have as a friend as you get the feeling he would blame you for all the problems occurring in his life.. Indeed He wants the Canadian prime minister to make a public statement saying Canada will no longer allow car imports from Japan and South Korea unless they open their markets to North American vehicles. Why don’t American car maker make proper car for a try that people want to buy for once?
See also : Industry News
GM to recall 180,000 Chevrolet HHR
By Yoann Besnard on 14 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
General Motors has announced the recall of 181,516 units of the HHR model due to a head injury risk. The problem occurs only with vehicles not equipped with the optional head curtain side air bags.
See also : Chevrolet | General Motors | Industry News
New markets to count for half of car sales in 2012
By Yoann Besnard on 14 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
George Magliano, Insight's North American automotive research director, said at the NADA that emerging markets such as India and China will count for half of all car sales by 2012.
See also : Industry News
Hillary Clinton promising green-collar jobs and green vehicle bonds
By Yoann Besnard on 13 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Hillary Clinton yesterday toured a plant in Maryland that builds transmissions for GM's full-size hybrid vehicles. The presidential candidate immediately began promoting her plan to create five million "green-collar" jobs.
See also : Industry News
"Cars that can't crash " unveiled by Thatcham
By Yoann Besnard on 12 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
It sounds like a sci-fi fantasy – cars that can’t crash! But the fictional notion is about to become reality thanks to new technologies being fitted to vehicles driven in Britain – that in time could save more than 125,000 injuries each year.
See also : Industry News
London to vote on the £25 congestion charge this week
By Yoann Besnard on 12 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
This week London will vote for the £25 congestion charge that will be applied to “gas-guzzling” cars. The purpose of the new tax is to help cutting the city’s carbon emissions by 60 percent by 2025.
See also : Industry News
Pininfarina Sintesi to offer 700bhp
By Yoann Besnard on 12 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Until now, the size of the engine and transmission to a major extent determines the shape of a car, but Pininfarina might perform a little revolution by unveiling the Sintesi concept car at Geneva.
See also : Industry News
Caparo to help Tata to build the Nano
By Yoann Besnard on 12 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Caparo likes the opposites. After building the supercar T1, the British company will build the body structure for the cheapest car in the world, the Tata Nano.
See also : Industry News
Reva to expand its lineup
By Yoann Besnard on 11 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Reva has announced its plan to expand its line up by launching a new model every year from 2009.
See also : Industry News
Fisker to build a Karma convertible
By Yoann Besnard on 11 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
At a J.D. Power event, Fisker founder Henrik Fisker has revealed the photo of a Karma convertible. The photo was marked with the label “top secret”.
See also : Industry News
West European market down by 0.9% in January
By Yoann Besnard on 10 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The West European car market dropped by 0.9% over the same period last year. France, Italy and Spain recorded the strongest fall.
See also : Industry News
Diesel registrations jumped a further 10 per cent in the UK
By Yoann Besnard on 8 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
If January sales for the British market fell by 2.1%, diesel registration increased by 10% over the same period last year, bringing the oil burner market share to 44.9%. This is the second highest-ever share.
See also : Industry News
New Zealand sales hits a new record
By Yoann Besnard on 8 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
New Zealand domestic market registered 9,399 vehicles over the same period last year. Toyota lead the market followed by Holden and Ford.
See also : Industry News
IHI to build the smallest turbocharger in the world
By Yoann Besnard on 7 February 2008 | (2) Comments | Permalink
Japanese IHI has announced that it has developed the world’s smallest turbocharger for use in cars.
See also : Industry News
More information on the Sintesi Concept by Pininfarina
By Yoann Besnard on 6 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
As reported in a previous post, Pininfarina will unveil a concept car called Sintesi Concept at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Until now, details remained scarce but information is emerging as we’re getting closer to the show.
See also : Industry News
AvoVaz might cancel its contarct with Magna
By Yoann Besnard on 6 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
AvtoVAZ might cancel its agreement with the Canadian Magna as Renault bought a 25% stake in the Russian car maker.
See also : Industry News | Renault
Tesla delivered its first car
By Yoann Besnard on 4 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Tesla delivered its first production car on Friday to the company’s chairman, Elon Musk.
See also : Industry News
Spanish car market in the doldrums
By Yoann Besnard on 4 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The registration of passenger cars in January decreased by 12.7% over the same period last year, reaching a volume of 101,630 vehicles. This decrease has two basic reasons.
See also : Industry News
BMW to overtake Mercedes in India by 2009
By Yoann Besnard on 1 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
BMW wants to overtake Mercedes on the fast growing Indian luxury car market in the coming few years. “As we get closer to Mercedes, you can imagine we have in our sight that we want to overtake Mercedes, whether we do it in 2009 or 2010 we will have to see,” said BMW Director Region Asia Pacific David Panton.
See also : BMW | Industry News
Revamped Romanian first registration car tax to hurt Dacia
By Yoann Besnard on 29 January 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Dacia deputy chairman, Constantin Stroe, is fighting the Romanian government and the EU over the method used to calculate first registration tax. As a result of the future car tax, he is expecting the growth of the Romanian market to slow in 2008 and therefore foresees personnel cuts at Dacia.
See also : Industry News
Peugeot-Citroen to build a factory in Russia
By Yoann Besnard on 29 January 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Peugeot-Citroen has signed a contract with the Kaluga region’s government to build a factory which will produce 75,000 cars a year in 2010.
See also : Industry News | Peugeot
Lutz compared tthe Volt to the moon shot
By Yoann Besnard on 28 January 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
In an interview with Wired, the tanned straight talker Bob Lutz likened the Chevrolet Volt project to the moon shot that happened almost forty years ago.
See also : General Motors | Industry News
BMW plans to sell 400,000 cars in the U.S. in the future
By Yoann Besnard on 28 January 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
BMW wants to increase its sales on the American market from 336,000 units last year to 400,000 vehicles per year in the medium term. The German car maker plans to introduce new models in order to expand its lineup. The new X6 officially unveiled at Detroit will be the first SUV coupé to be introduced in the U.S. this year.
See also : BMW | Industry News
Top 10 engines in the US
By Yoann Besnard on 15 January 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Ward's Auto World has released the list of the 10 best engines of 2007. There is only one diesel engine as the magazine is published in the US. To enter the contest, the engine had to be featured in a vehicle whose price tag is less than £27,500/$54,000.
See also : Industry News
By Yoann Besnard on 15 January 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The largest Russian car maker, AvtoVaz has announced that it will open a new factory in Chechnya. The company expects to employ 8,000 people.
See also : Industry News
Third generation G-Wiz i on sale
By Yoann Besnard on 10 January 2008 | (2) Comments | Permalink
GoinGreen has unveiled the third generation of its ugly iconic vehicle, the G-Wiz i. This time, the little electric car comes with a new safety package and increases its top speed from 45mph to 50mph.
See also : Industry News
Mahindra has bought the Italian designer GRD
By Yoann Besnard on 10 January 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The Indian car maker Mahindra has been in the spotlight of the media recently. After the failed bid over Jaguar and Land Rover sale, the company has bought the Italian designer GRD.
See also : Industry News
Toyota overtook Ford on the US market last year
By Yoann Besnard on 7 January 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
For the first time in 75 years, Ford lost its second rank on the US market as the company has been supplanted by Toyota last year. With a 2.7% increase to 2.62 million delivered vehicles, Toyota overtook Ford which sold 2.57 million vehicles last year, which is a 12% drop from the previous year over the same period.
See also : Ford | Industry News | Toyota
Hyundai has strong ambitions for 2008
By Yoann Besnard on 7 January 2008 | (1) Comments | Permalink
Hyundai CEO, Chung Mong-koo has announced in a speech to mark the new year that the car maker wants to increase its global sales by 20% for this year. The Korean company expects to sell 4.8 million vehicles compared with 3.96 million over the same period last year.
See also : Hyundai | Industry News | Kia
Tata to lead the Jaguar and Land rover bid
By Yoann Besnard on 7 January 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
It wasn't a real secret but Ford has confirmed that Tata was leading the bid over the Jaguar and Land Rover sale. Lewis Booth, executive vice president – Ford of Europe and PAG, has declared that “Ford is committed to focused negotiations at a more detailed level with Tata Motors concerning the potential sale of the combined Jaguar Land Rover business.”
See also : Ford | Industry News | Jaguar | Land Rover
2007 sales analysis for the French market
By Yoann Besnard on 6 January 2008 | (1) Comments | Permalink
The French market increased it sales by 3.2% for the year 2007 with 2 064 633 sold vehicles compared to 2,00,549 units over the same period in 2006. The performance is slightly worse than 2005 when 2,067,789 were sold. Despite its planned replacement due to appear next year, the Renault Megane model topped the sales chart with 155,336 vehicles.
See also : Industry News
BMW to eliminate 8,000 jobs and put pressure on suppliers
By Yoann Besnard on 24 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
With the goal to increase its profit margin to between 8% and 10% by 2012, BMW double its efforts to move up from a current level of 5.5%. First it put pressure on suppliers and secondly plans a big layoff.
See also : BMW | Industry News
Pininfarina to build electric cars for Bollore
By Yoann Besnard on 23 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The troubled Pininfarina has signed a €150 million/£108 million contract with the French company Bollore to develop and build the future electric the French company plans to launch in the future.
See also : Industry News
Another sluggish for the Japanese market in 2008
By Yoann Besnard on 21 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
2008 will be another gloomy year for the Japanese automative market as the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association has forecasted a 1.2% decrease. The market will likely record its 26-year low with 5,383,700 vehicles.
See also : Industry News
Tata to pay £1.05 billion for Jaguar and Land Rover
By Yoann Besnard on 20 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
According to PTI, Indian news agency, Tata has offered $2.05 billion/ £1,02 billion to Ford for both British brands while Mahinda & Mahindar has offered a smaller amount of $1.9 billion/££950 million. There is no mention of the third bidder OneEquity, but it is rumoured that Ford prefers an automotive company to take over the iconic British brands.
See also : Industry News | Jaguar | Land Rover
Tata to unveil its low cost car in January
By Yoann Besnard on 20 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
While bidding for Jaguar and Land Rover, the Indian car maker is working hard to finish its low cost car. In the case of Tata, a normal model costs £5-6,000 so its budget car will be offered for less than £1,300.
See also : Industry News
Audi and BMW to snob BIMS
By Yoann Besnard on 19 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Last week I wrote that the British International Motor Show wants to grow next year and European carmakers will likely make some big announcements. Unfortunately, Audi and BMW have decided to snob the show according to Autocar.
See also : Industry News
Record sales for Honda in China in November
By Yoann Besnard on 19 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Honda has announced it has increased its sales by 36.4% in China in November over the same period last year. This is good news for the Japanese car maker as Chinese market recorded a good month too.
See also : Chinese manufacturers | Honda | Industry News
German market slows EU market down
By Yoann Besnard on 18 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
While October was a good month, sales have been sluggish in November especially in Germany which badly impacted the whole European statistics. Overall the European market recorded 1,25 million vehicles, a 1.1% decrease over the same period last year.
See also : Industry News
Hyundai to build a factory in Russia by 2009
By Yoann Besnard on 18 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Hyundai has announced that it had signed a memorandum with St. Petersburg to build a new factory in the Russian city. It will invest £200 million to build the plant in order to have a annual production capacity of 100,000 cars.
See also : Hyundai | Industry News
Strong sales result for Volkswagen in November
By Yoann Besnard on 18 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Volkswagen has increased its global sales by 10.3% in November over the same period last year. A total of 324,000 vehicles were delivered to customers.
See also : Industry News | VW
Renault has recorded a 15.5% increase in November
By Yoann Besnard on 18 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
French car maker's global sales have recorded a 15.5% increase in November over the same period last year thanks to the new models and the Logan. Since the beginning of this year, Renault recorded a 1.3% increase.
See also : Industry News | Renault
Pininfarina to unveil the Sintesi concept car at the Geneva Motor Show
By Yoann Besnard on 18 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The troubled Pininfarina has announced it will release a concept car named Sintesi at the next Geneva Motor Show.
See also : Industry News
Iran_Khodro's global car to be launched in 2011
By Yoann Besnard on 13 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
In an interview with Reuters, Iran_Khodro's CEO Manouchehr Manteghi said that the car will be finance by Muslim countries and built in three countries, Iran of course, but also Malaysia and Turkey, the only two other Muslim markets to have decent automotive industries.
See also : Industry News
Next British International Motor Show plans to welcome 550,000 visitors
By Yoann Besnard on 13 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The first British International Motor Show in 2006 was a milestone for the UK as it was the first time that a British show has had a worldwide stature for a long time. Thanks to the launch of the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa, the show got a good press coverage and succeeded in attracting 415,000 visitors.
See also : Industry News
November sales for the French market
By Yoann Besnard on 12 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Once again the 207 topped the French chart for November with 10,307 vehicles delivered. The Renault Clio III ranks second while the Citroen C4 Picasso finished third. Renault delivered 8,915 vehicles. The detailed statistics reveals that the 207 alone scored 7,858 but once the SW and the CC models added, the small French car's sales increase by 31%. When the Renault Clio III estate hits the showroom, the overall range will likely overtake the 207. The third position is very good news for Citroen as the compact MPV overtakes the ubiquitous Renault Scenic for the first time with 8,577 vehicles for the former and 6,725 for the latter.
See also : Industry News
Toyota wants to save £1.3 billion annually
By Yoann Besnard on 12 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Volkswagen wants to catch up with Toyota in 2018, but the Japanese is determined to rest on his laurels. Toyota CEO Katsuaki Watanabe wants the company to save £300 billion/£1.3 billion annually.
See also : Industry News | Toyota
First Tesla showroom to open soon
By Yoann Besnard on 12 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Despite hectic news, Tesla Motors is moving ahead as it will open soon its first showroom located on the Santa Monica Boulevard.
See also : Industry News
Europe might become the largest automotive market
By Yoann Besnard on 11 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
We regularly talk about the booming Indian and Chinese markets, but without hype Europe might become the world's largest car market by the end of the year. The first rank is traditionally taken by the US.
December sales will be crucial for the two markets as the US leads with 13,583,559 vehicles and Europe follows with 13,572,669 vehicles. Over the same period last year there was a gap of 740,000 vehicles.
See also : Industry News
German battery could jump-start electric cars
By Yoann Besnard on 11 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
A German company might have found the solution to the biggest problem encountered by current batteries: too large, overheating and limited power. Indeed, Li-Tec unveiled new batteries which “take up 30% less volume than those from Toyota“ and “allow you to go three times further for the same weight than French models, “ according to Li Tec director Tim Schaefer.
See also : Industry News | VW
Martin Winterkorn plans to stay CEO until 2018
By Yoann Besnard on 11 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
In a recent interview Volkswagen group CEO Martin Winterkorn said that he planned to stay until the 2018 goal has been reached. In other words, he will leave his position only if Volkswagen catches up with Toyota or if the board fires him. He also said that he wants VW in 2010 to be where Toyota is today. It means that the group will have to sell 3.3 million more cars by 2010. Quite a challenge for the group!
See also : Audi | Industry News | Seat | Skoda | VW
Ford F-150 tops the chart in the US while exclusive cars bite the dust
By Yoann Besnard on 10 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The American magazine Forbes unveiled the list of the Best- and Worst-Selling Vehicles of 2007 over the first ten months. Once again, the Ford F-150 tops despite a sales slump of 12.5% due to high gas prices. The Forbes list also emphasizes the hold of Japanese car makers which have six cars in the list. The humiliation is even stronger for the American car makers as five Japanese models increased their sales.
Among the worst sellers, you will find, of course, exclusive cars such as the Cadillac XLR but also cars at the end of their lifecycle like the Jaguar S-Type. Almost all listed cars recorded a sales slump due to the debt crisis occurring in the US.
See also : Industry News
Honda Fit/Jazz takes tops the sales chart in Japan
By Yoann Besnard on 10 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
After a successful launch, the new Honda Fit/Jazz shakes up the November sales chart in Japan by taking the first rank in front of the ubiquitous Toyota Corolla.
See also : Honda | Industry News
American car makers to stop building large pick-up models
By Yoann Besnard on 9 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Due to a big sales slump in November, Chrysler, Ford and GM have announced they will stop producing temporarily the large pick-ups in order to avoid having a whole stock of them.
See also : Chrysler | Ford | General Motors | Industry News
Mercedes-Benz to produce its own turbochargers
By Yoann Besnard on 4 December 2007 | (1) Comments | Permalink
With 600,000 turbocharged engines to be built this year, an increase by 20% over the same period last year, Mercedes-Benz dependency on turbocharger becomes a strategic problem, especially when 50% of them are provided by one company, IHI. The German car maker has decided to stop outsourcing the turbocharger production in order to save cost but also control the manufacturing process.
See also : Industry News | Mercedes
Bertone fills for bankruptcy protection
By Yoann Besnard on 30 November 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Italian coachbuilders are in the doldrums. After Pininfarini, which is looking for more manufacturing contracts, Bertone announced that it was asking for a 'concardo preventivo' equivalent to a bankruptcy protection and the Italian government to pay its 1,300 employees.
See also : Industry News
VW Group to develop four new platforms
By Yoann Besnard on 27 November 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
In an interview given to Automotive News Europe, VW brand board member for development, Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg revealed that Volkswagen group will release four new platforms in the coming years in order to achieve the 2018 target. With those new platforms, the German carmaker expects to reduce its cost by 40% thanks to components shared between the platforms and development times by one year.
The most important platform will be the MQB which will underpin up to 6 million vehicles every year. The platform will be flexible enough to equip a large range of vehicles from small cars to upper-premium models. According to some insiders, the MQB platform will be used as in many as 20 different models.
See also : Audi | Bentley | Industry News | Lamborghini | Seat | Skoda | VW
Japanese market grows for the first time in 28 months
By Yoann Besnard on 8 November 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The Japanese market has recorded its first growth for the first time in 28 months. Do not expect this to be a new trend, however. As the Jada director Takeshi Fushimi explained, the good figures are due to the recent launch of new models and to more open days. A total of 269,221 vehicles were sold, representing a 2% increase over the same period last year.
See also : Industry News
French Automobile Market rose by 1.1 % in August
By Yoann Besnard on 5 September 2007 | (1) Comments | Permalink
After a spectacular recovery of the French automobile market in July thanks to a 21% increase, the month of August stabilised with 139,640 registrations recorded. This 1.1% more than the previous year over the same period.
See also : Industry News
Car of the Year 2008 selection
By Yoann Besnard on 4 September 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The Car of the Year contest is a bit of a joke. Every year a group of 58 car journalists from 22 different countries meet together to select the best car of the year. Every year, German journalists tend to favour German cars, French the French cars. The vote makes a little more sense in countries where the automotive industry is not a national industry. However, if we add the fact that sometimes carmakers try to cheat by providing the 'experts' with slightly improved cars, the contest becomes even more of a joke. At the end the winning carmaker has the right to put a shiny sticker on the car, adding an extra selling point to the new model.
See also : Industry News
560 orders for Tesla
By Yoann Besnard on 28 July 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Tesla Motors has received 560 orders since it went on sale. If we consider the £49,000/€73,000/$100,000 price tag, this is a very good news.
See also : Industry News
BMW wins ambiguous victory in court battle over the letter 'M'
By Yoann Besnard on 25 July 2007 | (1) Comments | Permalink
BMW and Nissan are at war over the use of the 'M' badge. The disagreement started in the nineties when Nissan decided to use the letter M for models sold on the American market under its luxury brand Infinity. BMW was extremely unimpressed by the idea. The German carmaker has been using the letter M to distinguish its high performance models from the standard models since 1979. Nissan people certainly have a lot of nerve. The carmaker even released a sport package called M6, which for BMW is a powerful sports coupé. This was too much for BMW, which decided to sue the Japanese carmaker.
See also : BMW | Industry News | Nissan
First Phantom Drophead Coupés leave Rolls-Royce factory
By Yoann Besnard on 24 July 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The five first Phantom Drophead Coupés left the company's head office last Friday. Despite the £260,000/$407,000/€370,000 price tag, all five customers chose the optional steel bonnet and the rear teak deck.
See also : Industry News | Rolls Royce
Chinese government bans 444 vehicles
By Yoann Besnard on 24 July 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
While the U.S. are still reluctant to reduce their car emissions, the Chinese government wants to improve its status in the world and nowadays the best way to do this is by reducing its carbon footprint. Beijing has therefore decided to forbid the sale of 444 vehicles because they do not meet current energy saving regulations.
See also : Industry News
Earthquake damages Japanese carmakers' production system
By Yoann Besnard on 20 July 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The Japanese automotive industry is famous for its just-in-time production system, so effective that carmakers all over the world have emulated it. Unfortunately, despite Japan's efforts to plan for every eventuality, preparing for an earthquake is almost impossible.
See also : Industry News
BMW buys Sauber
By Stéphane Schlesinger on 24 June 2005 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Peter Sauber and Le Crédit Suisse, a swiss bank, will sell the majority of their shares to BMW. Early 2006, BMW will the take over the reins of Sauber and create a new team called BMW. Peter Sauber should work as a counselor, as will no longer rule the team. The Hinwill factory will continue to be a swiss company anyway but it’ll be a sattelite of BMW, which will increase the number of its employees.
The transfer of share will be made in two times, BMW first buying the majority of those held by Peter Sauber, then, in 2008, purchasing those of the swiss bank.
Peter Sauber, 61, considers the purchase of his team by BMW as a good thing, since it’s become very hard for teams like his to keep up with top teams in terms of performance. Since the arrival of important car makers like Renault, Toyota or Mercedes, raising funds has become harder and harder for independant private teams. Max Mosley wants to prevent independant teams from leaving the F1 by setting new rules imposing to cut the costs by 90% in 2008. By this time, those teams won’t have left, chances are they’ll have been bought by carmakers. Too late, Max…
See also : Industry News
Uk new car sales drop slows down
By Stéphane Schlesinger on 7 June 2005 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Car sales were still decreasing in May, but on a slower pace. The total number of registrations amounted to 187,900, but its 3.4% fall is the smallest so far in 2005. The loss of Rover and the rise of interest rates partly account for this fall. Chances are that this trend should be inverted in June.
The fleet market share was up from 48.6% a year ago, reaching 49.9% now. The corollary of this was a 5.3% drop of the private sector volume, with a 45.4% share. Business sales dropped by 11.5%, representing 4.7% of the market.
As for the diesels, they accounted for 36.8% of the market, the highest rate this year. The convertibles followed the same trend, and reached a record 6%
With the fall of Rover, the share of imported cars grew up to 83.3% of the market.
Top 10 registrations for May 2005.
- 1 : Ford Focus – 12,373
- 2 : Vauxhall Astra – 10,663
- 3 : Vauxhall Corsa – 7,872
- 4 : Renault Mégane – 7,229
- 5 : VW Golf – 5,972
- 6 : Ford Mondeo – 5,965
- 7 : Ford Fiesta – 5,473
- 8 : Peugeot 206 – 5,361
- 9 : Peugeot 307 – 4,641
- 10 : Renault Clio – 4,058
Top 10 carmakers.
- 1 : Ford – 28,529
- 2 : Vauxhall – 26,513
- 3 : Renault – 13,548
- 4 : VW – 12,938
- 5 : Peugeot – 12,324
- 6 : Toyota – 10,303
- 7 : BMW – 8,919
- 8 : Citroën – 7,662
- 9 : Nissan – 7,568
- 10 : Audi – 6,259
Source : SMMT
See also : Industry News
DTI investigates on MG-Rover
By Stéphane Schlesinger on 3 June 2005 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The British Department of Trade and Industry has launched an inquiry into the accounts of Phoenix Venture Holdings, which owned MG-Rover.
Secretary of Trade and Industry Alan Johnson wants to know exactly what happened to the group since the appointment of Administrators on April 8 was lethal shock on the employees as well as the suppliers.
Phoenix Venture Holdings is suspected of having traded while being insolvent, which is punishable with prison. Nevertheless, it’s legal to trade if there are good chances of recovery. In other words, Alan Johnson wants to make sure that SAIC was really willing to buy MG-Rover as it was claimed.
Phoenix Venture Holdings had obtained a lot of money from BMW and the sale of assets around the world. What have they done with it?
See also : Industry News
