Welcome to CAR Magazine’s news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour
Monday 28 February
• Porsche aligned its financial year with the calendar year on 1 January 2010, and in the short financial year from August 1 to December 31 2010 the company has posted significantly increased sales. Versus the same period in 2009, global sales grew 57 per cent to 40,446 vehicles; Cayenne sales doubled to 20,770 units, the Panamera was up 44% to 9385 vehicles, the 911 range notched up a 13% increase (6255 units), and Boxster/Cayman sales were up 19%. European sales were up 62% to 13,893 vehicles, US sales were up 51% to 11,862 units, and sales in China were up 78% to 6830 units (Porsche)
• Kia has signed a deal with Vodafone to ‘explore business opportunities in telematics services in Europe’. The initial agreement will focus on boosting Kia’s in-car telematics (Kia)
• The BMW Group and PSA Peugeot Citroen have signed a new joint venture worth €100m. The tie-up will see the two companies develop hybrid technology under the ‘BMW Peugeot Citroen Electrification’ titles, with the new hybrid parts destined for cars on sale from 2014 onwards (BMW and PSA)
Friday 25 February
• Volvo confirms its China strategy, including a plan to open a new plant in Chengdu in 2013 for Volvo production, at a capacity of 100 000 units per year (Volvo)
• Volkswagen Group posts profit of £6.1bn on revenues of £108bn for 2010, the best year in VW’s history (Volkswagen Group)
• The US Government plans to divest its shares in GM quickly, rather than wait in hopes of maximising the potential investment return (Detroit News)
• Toyota UK states that no UK-market Toyota or Lexus models are involved in yesterday’s global recall of 2.17 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles to remedy floor mat issues (Toyota)
• Aston Martin’s Kuwaiti co-owner, Investment Dar plans asset sales of $1.7 billion (£1.05bn) as part of debt restructuring. Investment Dar has no plans to divest stake in Aston Martin (Automotive News Europe)
• Vauxhall/Opel announced a new convertible based on the Astra platform will be produced from 2013 in Poland (Vauxhall)
Thursday 24 February
• GM has posted an annual profit of $4.6bn (£2.84bn), in spite of $1.76bn (£1.1bn) loss in Europe (Automotive News)
• Infiniti confirms price of £46,840 for the M35h hybrid executive saloon (Infiniti)
• VW merger with Porsche delayed by legal and financial issues (Automotive News Europe)
• Pininfarina have appointed Fabio Filippini as design director & chief creative officer. Filippini joins Pininfarina from Renault, where he was vice-president of interior design (Pininfarina)
• Dutch sports car brand Spyker to be sold to CPP Global Holdings, the Coventry-based coachbuilder & supplier that has been producing Spykers since 2010 (CPP)
• Major shifts in supplier contracts following Auto Windscreens (the UK’s No. 2 automotive glass supplier) going into administration last week (Business Car)
Wednesday 23 February
• Euro NCAP is now testing plug-in electric vehicles; the Mitsubishi i-MiEV battery car is the first car to be crash tested and it scored four stars (Euro NCAP)
• SAIC aims to triple MG and Roewe brand vehicle sales to 700,000 by 2015 (Automotive News Europe)
• Ford issues a recall for 155,000 F150 trucks to fix potential problems with the passenger side airbag (Detroit News)
• More Russia joint-venture news: GM is in further talks with Avtotor about expanding production there (Automotive News)
• Ford CEO Alan Mulally passes on next week’s Geneva motor show to give a keynote speech at the CeBIT consumer electronics expo in Hannover (Reuters)
Tuesday 22 February
• VW close to signing a deal with GAZ to assemble Skodas in Russia. GAZ has existing deals with GM for the Chevrolet Aveo and Mercedes-Benz for commercial vehicles (Automotive News)
• North American Dealer Association (NADA) conference in San Francisco raises issue of inventory shortfalls, with manufacturers unable to ramp-up production of key models fast enough to meet recovering demand (Automotive News)
Monday 21 February 2011
• Toyota has announced the results of its ‘Prius Goes Plural’ online campaign – the winning term for multiple examples of the pious hybrid is ‘Prii’. So now we know (Toyota)
• Mazda considers options for its under-utilised US joint venture plant (Detroit News)
• Mitsubishi announces plans to reduce losses in US and European markets (Reuters)
Friday 18 February 2011
• BMW to announce the name of their ‘Project i’ sub-brand & the 2013 Mega City Vehicle in a press conference next Monday (BMW)
• The Australian government contributes AU$3.5m to a consortium developing an EV based on the Holden Commodore (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Toyota opens new manufacturing plant in Tohoku region of Japan. Its first new domestic plant in 18 years will commence producing Corollas for the domestic and US market (Japan times)
• Ford seeks a joint venture in Russia with Sollers OJSC, the No.2 domestic manufacturer, after Fiat withdrew from talks with the same firm (Automotive News)
• GM announces MyLink in-car infotainment system to rival Ford Sync system in the US (Automotive News)
• US Congress votes to end the ‘Car Czar’ role overseeing the US industry during its turnaround (Detroit News)
• Dutch sat-nav maker TomTom’s profits are down by one third (BBC News)
• Jaguar Land Rover has received more than 6500 applications for 280 graduate recruitment places this year (JLR)
• Russia could become the world’s sixth biggest car market by 2020 selling 4m cars a year, a new survey by Boston Consulting Group suggests. It currently stands at tenth in the world rankings (Automotive News Europe)
Thursday 17 February 2011
• Smart’s US distributor Penske Automotive posted a 53% rise in quarterly profits. The turnaround came through sales of luxury vehicles, making up for the Smart car’s 76% drop from 2008 (Automotive News)
• Cadillac is recalling 44,000 CTS sedans for a flaw that could cause one of the rear wheels to become unstable (Automotive News)
• Italian supercar specialist Pagani plans to start selling the $1.1million Huayra supercar in the US later this year (Detroit News)
Wednesday 16 February 2011
• Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has played down fears he may move the new HQ for a merged Fiat-Chrysler to the US. He said an alliance was vital for the survival of the group (it currently owns 20% of Chrysler) and told the Italian parliament that it would retain a strong presence in Italy (Automotive News)
• The European Parliament has voted in new cleaner emissions targets for vans. All CVs sold in Europe will have to produce less than 175g/km of CO2 in the short term and 147g/km CO2 long term (SMMT)
• GM veteran Bob Lutz – who supposedly retired last year – is still advising GM and is likely to take up a formal consultancy role, according to local media (Detroit News)
• Saab has built its first 9-4X crossover at the Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico (Saab)
• Michelin is returning to rallying and announces it will compete in the World Rally Championship (Michelin)
Tuesday 15 February 2011
• MG today announced a new branding strategy with a redrawn badge and a plan to recruit 50 dealers for its 2011 relaunch. The new 6 hatch goes on sale this April (MG)
• A company working on hydrogen-powered fuel cell cars – Acal Energy of Belgium – has secured a £1m investment in the project. Acal is currently working with an unnamed Japanese car manufacturer on producing a zero emissions car by 2015. (ft.com)
• Toyota will show an EV prototype iQ at the Geneva motor show in March. The city car will house a ‘hybrid synergy drive system’ giving the teeny tot a range of 65 miles on a single charge. Toyota is also working with Tesla motors to create an electric version of the RAV4 SUV for 2012. (Autonews.com)
• Porsche’s second SUV – the Cajun due in 2015 – will create at least 500 new jobs. Porsche will spend an additional 500m euros to develop future products between 2011 and 2015 (Autonews.com)
• Mercedes-Benz is bringing in-house US distribution of the Smart from supplier Penske, in a bid to grow Smart sales and reduce Mercedes’ average fleet fuel economy. (Autonews.com)
• The Obama administration will not renew 2010’s $80 million investment in clean diesel vehicles, channeling funds into electric cars instead. (Autonews.com)
Monday 14 February 2011
• Toyota Motor Corporation is tipped to be streamlining its board of directors in a bid to speed up its decision making processes. AN reports that 10 of the 27 directors could be trimmed (Automotive News)
• California will become America’s biggest market for EVs and plug-in hybrids, a new study has revealed. It’ll take more than the next five states combined, according to the Center for Automotive Research (Detroit News)
Friday 11 February 2011
• Jaguar Land Rover made £275m profit after tax in the third quarter of 2010, owner Tata Motors said today. Net revenues for Tata Motors grew 22% in the same period compared with 2009 (Tata)
• Ferrari announces its annual results for 2010. Revenues rose 8% to €1.9bn – enough for a trading profit of €303m, up 27% on 2009. A record 6573 cars were sold (Ferrari)
• Nissan today began building its lithium-ion battery plant in Cacia, Portugal. It’ll fuel the electric vehicles produced by Renault-Nissan Alliance in Europe (Nissan)
• Ford is suing Ferrari over its F1 car’s name, claiming the F150 was too close to its F-150 pick-up truck brand. Ferrari responds by renaming the racer F150th Italia, to mark the anniversary of Italy’s unification (BBC News)
• Meanwhile, Ford is reducing its debts by $3 billion, as it plans to redeem or convert its preferred securities in a move to cut debt to around $16bn. At the end of 2009, it had debts of nearly $34bn (Automotive News)
Thursday 10 February 2011
• Nurburgring Automotive GmbH and the collective Industriepool group formed by car manufacturers have agreed a new contract to continue testing at the German race track.
• The use of the famed circuit was in doubt after the new management team at the ‘Ring attemped to increase prices to help pay off its debts following the development of new leisure facilities. The contracts will be signed in the next two weeks and will set aside 15 test weeks per year until the end of 2013 (Nürburgring Automotive GmbH)
• Renault announces a major six-year strategy document. Check out CAR’s full guide here
Wednesday 9 February 2011
• Suzuki Motor Corporation announces a jump in sales and profits for the last nine months of 2010. Revenues hit 1,927.7 billion yen, despite a drop in US and European sales. Overall, it shifted 1.94m cars worldwide (Suzuki)
• Renault will announce its 2010 financial results tomorrow morning – alongside a new strategic plan (Renault)
• Nissan announces 80bn yen income in the third quarter of the 2010 tax year (Nissan)
• High-speed acceleration faults affecting some Toyota models is confirmed by US government safety officials as being caused by a mechanical, not an electronic fault (Detroit News)
• Nissan ramps up production of the Leaf to fulfil preorders by the end of September (Detroit News)
• GM’s 2012 Buick Regal will receive eAssist upgrade, increasing the four-cylinder engine car’s fuel economy by 25%. GM’s eAssist mates the engine with an electric motor, increasing the mpg in the city and on the motorway (Detroit News)
• New two-door coupe the Hyundai Elantra will go on sale in the US this spring, with a redesigned Azera Sedan following by January 2012 (Automotive News)
Tuesday 8 February 2011