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Ford to Expand in India, Planning a Small Car and an Engine Plant

Ford Motor plans to more than double its investment in India to produce a small car for the fast-growing local market and to build an engine manufacturing plant there.

The company is expected to announce on Tuesday that it will increase spending in India by $500 million, raising its total investment to $875 million, as it focuses on making the country a regional hub for small-car manufacturing.

Car sales in India are growing by more than 20 percent a year, compared with 3 percent globally, and first-time buyers there are eager for cheap compact cars.

Several local and international automakers have recently announced plans to make a small car specifically for India, inspired in part by Tata Motors’ impending introduction of a $2,500 car.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 1:22 PM to Ford | Permalink | Comments 0

Four Wheels for the Masses: The $2,500 Car

MUMBAI, India — What does it take to build the world’s cheapest car?

For Tata Motors of India, which will introduce its ultra-cheap car on Thursday, the better question was, what could it take out, according to a fascinating story in the New York Times that includes a graphic and a pic of Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata.

The company has kept its new vehicle under wraps, but interviews with suppliers and others involved in its construction reveal some of its cost-cutting engineering secrets — including a hollowed out steering-wheel shaft, a trunk with space for a briefcase and a rear-mounted engine not much more powerful than a high-end riding mower.

The upside is a car expected to retail for as little as the equivalent of $2,500, or about the price of the optional DVD player on the Lexus LX 470 sport utility vehicle.

The downside is a car that would most likely fail emission and safety standards on any Western road, and, perhaps, in India in a few years, when the country imposes tougher environmental standards.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 1:18 PM to Design | Permalink | Comments 0

Downturn nearing an end, auto report says

The global automotive industry is nearing the end of a massive restructuring period and now will become more focused on growth, profits and environmentally friendly vehicles, according to the annual Auto Executive Survey by KPMG LLC, to be released today, according to the Detroit Free Press.

This year's survey, based on interviews late last year with 113 senior executives at vehicle manufacturers and suppliers worldwide, found executives much more confident than in the recent past about the outlook for the near term.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 1:17 PM to Auto industry | Permalink | Comments 0

Carmakers Trying to Avoid Incentives

Faced with talk of recession and the fallout from a meltdown in the housing market, automakers are still hoping to avoid major incentives despite some sluggish sales, according to thecarconnection.com

Mark LaNeve, General Motors' vice president in charge of vehicle sales, said last week there was no doubt sales will be slow through the first quarter of 2008. Toyota also scaled back its forecast for higher sales in 2008 in the face of the deteriorating economic conditions in the U.S. At best, Toyota now expects its sales to improve only between one and two percent, Toyota officials said.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 1:08 PM to Sales | Permalink | Comments 0

Gas prices jump to an average $3.11 a gallon

WASHINGTON — The average U.S. retail price for gasoline jumped 5.6 cents to $3.11 a gallon over the past week, the government said on Monday, reflecting record high oil costs that topped $100 a barrel last week, according to Reuters and reported in USA Today.

The national price for regular gasoline rose to the highest level in two months and was 80 cents above a year ago, the Energy Information Administration said in a weekly survey of service stations.

Rising pump prices are the result of expensive crude oil, which reached $100.09 a barrel last Thursday and now accounts for about two-thirds of the cost of making gasoline. Oil prices have retreated since then and settled at just over $95 a barrel on Monday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 1:02 PM to Gas prices | Permalink | Comments 0