June 28, 2007
The auto industry is naming paint colors after foods, according to a report in the New York Times. Brown is now about coffee and chocolate, said Chris Webb, exterior color trend designer at General Motors, which has the colors Dark Mocha and Cocoa. Other G.M. colors are Black Licorice, Cappuccino Frost and Salsa Red.
Other companies are also using the palate to name their palettes: Chrysler offers Cool Vanilla, Honda has Root Beer and Volvo once offered Saffron (a coppery yellow). Volkswagen has the unsubtle Lemon Yellow and Candy White. (Is that the white of the candy after you have licked off the red stripes from the candy cane?) Hyundai borrows a French menu word for the purple eggplant and calls it aubergine.
Posted by 
at 2:04 PM | Permalink
June 21, 2007
General Motors may be devolved from its empire of alliances, but it's still looking laterally to make money. This time, the automaker is looking in its own backyard, as it sets out to develop condos on the Detroit riverfront, according to thecarconnection.com
GM says it will develop six acres just to the east of the GM headquarters building, the Renaissance Center . The complex will be mostly residential, with waterfront lots and river views.
Posted by at 12:18 PM | Permalink
With higher government fuel economy requirements looming and gasoline prices around $3 a gallon, Chrysler Group on Thursday announced several measures to boost the fuel mileage of its cars and trucks, according to USA Today.
During an event to showcase its 2008 models, the company said its new family of V-6 engines will have the ability to drop to three cylinders when less power is needed, raising V-6 fuel economy 6% to 8%.
The company also plans to place its new two-mode hybrid powertrain in more vehicles, put a clean diesel engine in the 2009 Jeep Cherokee sport-utility vehicle, and upgrade its 5.7-liter Hemi and 4.7-liter V-8 engines to get better gas mileage.
Posted by at 12:13 PM | Permalink
June 20, 2007
Since it came on the scene five years ago, Scion has made a point of doing things differently. Toyota’s youth brand can brag of having the lowest average age, about 30, among its owners and of strong customer loyalty.
However, the Scion xB is now arriving at dealers and suggests Scion is growing up, according to the New York Times. The original xB was a small boxy car with attitude. The new one is bigger — a full foot longer than the last xB, 3 inches wider, about 35 percent roomier, 600 pounds heavier, 55 horsepower stronger and about 10 percent more expensive.
It is also less fuel efficient. Fuel economy has declined to 22 city and 28 highway, from 26 city and 30 highway.
Posted by at 11:16 AM | Permalink
June 19, 2007
General Motors has clearly been hurt by consumers who simply refuse to buy an American brand of vehicle. But the automaker has decided to use its heritage as a competitive advantage rather than a weakness, since it is one adjective that competitors like Toyota and Honda cannot use, according to the New York Times.
“Buy American” has always been an undercurrent in G.M.’s advertising, but the theme has been showing up more forcefully of late. This spring General Motors has run three marketing campaigns centered on its American roots.
Posted by at 2:42 PM | Permalink
Federal antitrust regulators have cleared Cerberus Capital Management's $7 billion purchase of Chrysler, according to people close to the deal, the Associated Press reports.
The Federal Trade Commission made its decision before the end of a standard 30-day review, according to two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Early termination of an FTC review typically signifies there will be no conditions placed on the deal.
Posted by at 2:25 PM | Permalink
June 18, 2007
United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said the union must offer health care concessions to Chrysler similar to those it gave Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. in 2005, according to the Associated Press.
"We've been talking to Chrysler quite frequently - we do need to find a way to fix the problem there now that Chrysler is in a downward mode," Gettelfinger said in an interview on WJR-AM in Detroit. The UAW two years ago gave health care concessions to Ford and GM that saved the companies billions of dollars, but refused to grant the same deal to Chrysler because of its stronger financial condition at the time.
Posted by at 10:05 AM | Permalink
June 15, 2007
Ford says about 27,000 U.S. hourly workers have left the company under buyout or early retirement offers, according to USA Today.
Ford offered the packages last year to reduce its workforce to match lower demand for its cars and trucks.
Initially about 37,000 workers signed up for the offers, but not all have left the company, it said. Ford has until September to phase in the departures as it closes plants under a restructuring plan, and some of the workers could change their minds and stay with the company.
Posted by at 1:16 PM | Permalink
Motor home manufacturer Winnebago Industries Inc. reported its earnings fell 14.4 percent in the third quarter as higher materials and labor costs hurt its profit margins, according to the Associated Press.
The Des Moines, Iowa-based company's shares fell 2 percent in afternoon trading. Winnebago earned $11.3 million, or 35 cents a share, in the three months ended May 26 versus $13.2 million, or 40 cents a share, a year ago.
Posted by at 1:09 PM | Permalink
June 13, 2007
BioFuel Energy Corp., a development-stage ethanol producer, said it plans to sell 5.25 million shares at $10.50 a share in an initial public offering, below its expected IPO pricing range of $13 to $14 a share, according to Reuters.
In a regulatory filing, BioFuel said it will also sell 4.25 million shares in a private placement directly to affiliates of Greenlight Capital Inc., Third Point LLC and its chairman, Thomas Edelman.
The Denver, Colorado-based company expects to receive about $93 million in net proceeds, after deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses.
BioFuel plans to use the net proceeds to fund the equity portion of the construction costs of its Alta plant and repay or defer debt.
Posted by at 10:12 AM | Permalink
Gibbs Technologies, founded by Britain 's Neil Jenkins and Alan Gibbs, is expected to announce a new deal to produce a military version of its prototype Aquada, a car-like vehicle that can operate on land or water, according to thecarconnection.com.
Specifics are expected to outlined today, but a prototype is expected to allow for a range of military operations, including the ability to deliver special forces troops and material at remote locations, or to provide flexible patrols along waterfronts.
According to Jenkins, the company's High Speed Amphibian technology would allow for fast travel off-shore, but unlike a traditional boat, the vehicles could quickly move onto dry land to pursue an enemy.
Posted by at 10:05 AM | Permalink
Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corp. says it's reached a deal with Healey Automobile Consultants Ltd., to bring back the Healey and Austin Healey nameplates, according to thecarconnection.com
The Chinese company, the new owner of the MG Rover brands and their Longbridge, U.K., factory, and the Healey group, said "they were delighted to announce their intention to collaborate with each other on the future development of the Healey and Austin Healey brands and sports cars bearing their name," according to a news release.
Posted by at 10:01 AM | Permalink
Top Chrysler Group dealers emerged from their first face-to-face meeting with Cerberus Capital Management impressed with the investor's plan to make Chrysler "a great American car company" again, according to the Detoit Free Press.
Cerberus Chief Executive Officer Steve Feinberg sat at a table Thursday with 16 of the 20 members of the dealer council that represents about 3,700 Chrysler Group dealerships around the country.
The meeting was held at Cerberus' offices in New York City.
Feinberg, whose private equity firm is set to acquire the automaker, spoke about Cerberus' commitment to the U.S. auto industry, dealers at the table said.
Posted by at 9:59 AM | Permalink
French automaker Renault said vehicle sales slipped 4.2 percent in May from a year earlier to 214,358 amid competition from Asian brands and an older product lineup, according to the Associated Press.
Renault is hoping the launch of new and updated models in the second half of this year will arrest the slide and bolster prospects in 2008.
It is about to launch its latest version of the Twingo subcompact.
Posted by at 9:41 AM | Permalink
June 12, 2007
After taking a decade to sell its first 1 million gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles worldwide, Toyota now says it plans to sell 1 million a year within a few years, according to USA Today.
At the same time, the big automaker appears to be backing away from a pledge made a few years ago that hybrid powertrains would be available as options on nearly every one of its U.S. vehicles by 2010.
Posted by at 10:30 AM | Permalink
Ford said it was reviewing its position on its Jaguar and Land Rover businesses, and union officials pressed for more information amid reports that the two brands were up for sale, according to the Associated Press.
John Gardiner, a spokesman for Ford's Premier Automotive Group, told Dow Jones Newswires that the company continued to review all of its global operations and all options were still on the table.
"I can confirm we're working with our financial advisers to determine the best way forward for Jaguar and Land Rover," Gardiner said.
Posted by at 9:53 AM | Permalink
June 8, 2007
The chairman and chief executive of General Motors, Rick Wagoner, faced more than two hours of criticism from shareholders at the annual meeting Tuesday, but he countered that the company had made major progress in turning around its fortunes last year, and he urged patience for the long term, the New York Times reports.
Posted by at 12:57 PM | Permalink
A decade after the first Prius went on sale, Toyota's global sales of hybrid vehicles have hit 1 million, underlining the Japanese automaker's lead in "green" technology, according to USA Today.
Toyota says it has sold 577,311 gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in the USA from mid-2000, when it launched the Prius here, through May.
Toyota's worldwide sales of gas-and-electric-powered vehicles totaled 1.047 million as of the end of May. Nearly 345,000 of those were sold in Japan.
Posted by at 12:53 PM | Permalink
June 6, 2007
After a failed attempt at forming an alliance with GM last year, French-Japanese automaker Renault-Nissan will look at new partnership possibilities in 2009, possibly with including newly independent Chrysler or even Ford, CEO Carlos Ghosn told the French newspaper Le Parisien, according to leftlanenews.com.
Posted by at 10:24 AM | Permalink
General Motors is making progress in its turnaround effort, CEO Rick Wagoner said Tuesday at its annual meeting, where 10 shareholder proposals were rejected, according to USA Today.
GM cut structural costs by $6.8 billion in 2006, and Wagoner told shareholders the automaker is on track to reach its target of an additional $2.2 billion in cuts this year.
He said this year's priorities include finishing a deal to let former parts subsidiary Delphi exit bankruptcy and cutting its own health care costs, which he said were "a staggering $4.8 billion" in 2006.
GM's shares, which lost 50% of their value in 2005, rose 58% last year, the biggest rise of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average. Investors gained confidence in GM's turnaround as its annual net loss narrowed to $2 billion from $10.4 billion in 2005.
Posted by at 10:09 AM | Permalink
General Motors has awarded two contracts to companies that will help speed up development of its plug-in hybrid car called the Chevrolet Volt, GM Chairman Rick Wagoner said Tuesday, according to USA Today.
Wagoner, speaking at the company's annual shareholders meeting, also said GM would introduce four new hybrid models this year.
Posted by at 9:48 AM | Permalink
The heads of the domestic auto industry are pressing congressional leaders to revisit a plan to increase fuel efficiency standards that automakers say could hurt their industry, according to the Associated Press.
Leaders of General Motors, Ford and the Chrysler Group on Wednesday were to discuss the impact of health care, trade and energy policies on their companies, and urge congressional leaders in private meetings to consider an alternative to a proposed overhaul of Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for vehicles.
Posted by at 9:40 AM | Permalink
June 5, 2007
Honda says it will discontinue the hybrid version of its Accord sedans, according to USA Today.
Honda will continue to make gas-and-electric models of its Civic sedan, but stop offering the hybrid Accord with the new model expected to go on sale later this year, company spokesman Yoshiyuki Kuroda said in Tokyo.
The Accord hybrid, sold only in North America, was a dud, selling just 25,000 since going on sale in 2004. It sold just 6,100 last year.
Posted by at 9:20 AM | Permalink
Hyundai eads in five categories in the annual vehicle quality study released Monday by Strategic Vision Inc., a San Diego-based market research company and consultant to automakers, according to a report in the Associated Press.
Hyundai's rise in the rankings is only the latest sign of the improved overall quality and declining number of defects in today's cars and trucks, said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.
"They're coming together to a point where the differences are almost meaningless," Cole said.
He said that means buyers will pay increasing attention to dealer service, new technology, fashion features, price and fuel economy, AP reports.
Posted by at 9:15 AM | Permalink
June 4, 2007
Like the mythical Monty Python castle built on a swamp, which sank three times only to be rebuilt three times, TVR, one of Britain’s last sports car makers has risen again after several near-death experiences and ownership changes, according to a report in the New York Times.
TVR would fit neatly in the comedic Python world, where cheese shops have no cheese to sell and hyper-litigious businessmen accidentally sue themselves. Consider its recent history: its third owner since 1981 was a 20-something Russian who actually owned the company twice in three years.
The latest owners are two Florida men, Adam Burdette and Jean-Michel Santacreu, who took control in February.
Posted by at 10:30 AM | Permalink
Toyota's U.S. vehicle sales jumped 14.1% in May to its best monthly level ever and General Motors' sales rose 9.7% as both automakers credited in part the appeal of their more fuel-efficient offerings as gas prices remained high, according to USA Today.For the month, Toyota outsold Ford, which saw sales fall 6.9% as it continued to cut low-profit sales to rental companies. Nissan's sales gained 7.4% and DaimlerChrysler's sales rose 3.9% with help from a 20% jump in its Jeep brand.
Posted by at 10:24 AM | Permalink
June 1, 2007
Toyota said its U.S. vehicle sales jumped 14.1 percent in May as double-digit percentage gains in both passenger cars and light trucks helped the automaker to its best monthly sales ever, AP reports.
For the month, Toyota outsold Ford, which saw sales fall 6.9 percent as it continued to cut low-profit sales to rental companies. Nissan's sales gained 7.4 percent and DaimlerChrysler's sales rose 3.9 percent with help from a 20 percent jump in its Jeep brand.
Posted by at 2:10 PM | Permalink
May 31, 2007
Toyota said earlier this week that it has found in a handful of its much-hyped new Tundra pickups a defect that caused the engines to fail, according to USA Today.
Toyota has reports of camshafts breaking in the 5.7-liter V-8 engines of about 20 Tundras so far. The flaw was due to a manufacturing defect by a subcontractor. All of the engines are being replaced.
Posted by at 10:51 AM | Permalink
May 29, 2007
AS Daimler and Chrysler negotiate their separation, the sedan widely regarded as the best design to come from their marriage, the Chrysler 300, might imagine itself in a movie moment, The New York Times reports.
In a bittersweet scene, the divorcing mom and dad are ruefully proud of their lovely daughter: “At least our marriage produced her!”
Posted by at 9:05 AM | Permalink
May 24, 2007
General Motors said says U.S. securities regulators have requested documents relating to its accounting for financial hedges and adds that a parallel inquiry at its former finance arm could force it to restate past results again, Reuters reports.
GM also said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had set its estimated exposure to bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi Corp at $7 billion and could take a $1 billion charge this quarter related to the restructuring of its former subsidiary, Reuters says.
The SEC's request for information marked the latest accounting setback for GM, which pledged to tighten its financial controls after twice restating results and delaying its fourth-quarter report.
Posted by at 11:32 AM | Permalink
Cars are getting to take over the driving, according to USA Today.
For example, using radar technology developed for military aircraft, an experimental BMW on a test track senses when it's about to crash and simultaneously flashes a red light on the dash, primes the brakes, pushes back on the gas pedal, closes the windows and sunroof, moves the seat upright, cinches the seat belt and adjusts the air bag deployment.
If the driver doesn't hit the brakes fast or hard enough, it will do that, too.
Posted by at 11:23 AM | Permalink
May 23, 2007
The selling of Chrysler is not a done deal -- yet, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Cerberus Capital Management will spend the next few weeks -- if not months -- finalizing the deal, conducting further double-checking and settling details before signing on the dotted line to acquire the Chrysler Group from DaimlerChrysler AG.
Posted by at 12:17 PM | Permalink
May 21, 2007
Chrysler's new owners, Cerberus Capital Management LP, will need concessions from the UAW to trim costs and become competitive with Japanese automakers, industry experts say, but labor cuts alone will not turn Chrysler into a success, according to Detroit Free Press business writer Joe Guy Collier.
Chrysler estimates that Japanese automakers, such as Toyota Motor Corp., have a $30-an-hour labor cost advantage, counting benefits and special provisions, and the gap could grow to $45 an hour by 2009 without changes to the UAW contract, Collier reports. Chrysler, Ford and GM begin contract talks this summer with the UAW, presenting an opportunity to rework labor costs for all three automakers.
Posted by at 10:24 AM | Permalink
1957 was a Golden Era for automobile design, but a fleeting one that would end before the year was out, according to a fascinating feature in The New York Times.
“I think 1957 was a high-water mark for Ford design; Chrysler as well,” said Greg Wallace, manager of General Motors’ Heritage Center in Sterling Heights, Mich.
The enduring popularity, not to mention collectibility, of Chevrolet’s 1957 cars “speaks for itself,” he said, adding, “The ’57 Chevy was quite simply the best-looking car of the entire postwar era.”
Posted by at 10:11 AM | Permalink
Speaking at a taping of “Wait Wait ...Don’t Tell Me!” the quiz program on National Public Radio, Robert A. Lutz, vice chairman at General Motors, declared Thursday night that the Chevrolet Volt, the hybrid-electric concept car that G.M. unveiled at this year’s Detroit auto show, may be among the most important vehicles that G.M. has ever developed, The New York Times reports.
Lutz has long been considered one of Detroit’s ultimate “car guys,” for whom no vehicle could be big enough, powerful enough or fast enough. He is the father of the V-10 Dodge Viper and has championed automobiles like the 1,000-horsepower Cadillac Sixteen.
Lutz said he was more excited about the Volt that he was about the Dodge Viper. “I think this can bring about the revolution and really make us independent of foreign oil and solve all the other problems," he said.
Posted by at 10:03 AM | Permalink
May 17, 2007
Toyota's commitment to hybrid automobiles was on full display today when it unveiled in Tokyo its most expensive gasoline-electric vehicle yet - the $124,000 luxury Lexus LS sedan, according to the Associated Press.
Executives at Japan's No. 1 automaker are fully convinced that hybrid cars are the way of the future. And they're betting that growing consumer concern about the environment - and higher gas prices - will lure even wealthy buyers to the new model, which went on sale Thursday in Japan and will arrive later elsewhere.
Posted by at 9:44 AM | Permalink
May 16, 2007
Check out this timeline of the history of Chrysler from asap's Stephanie Hoo and Peter Hamlin who trace the roller coaster ride of the venerated brand. Be sure to click on the interactive section.
Posted by at 10:45 AM | Permalink
General Motors claims to have the first electrically driven fuel-cell vehicle capable of going 300 miles on a single tank of hydrogen - on public roads, according to thecarconnection.com.
Sequel's 300-mile route acrossNew York State began at GM's Fuel Cell Activity Center in Honeoye Falls, near Rochester, and finished in Tarrytown, just north of New York City, where a GM assembly facility was closed more than a decade ago.
Posted by at 10:35 AM | Permalink
DaimlerChrysler's supervisory board today formally cleared the way for the sale of most of the company's money-losing U.S. unit, Chrysler Group, to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, according to the Associated Press.
Posted by at 10:32 AM | Permalink
May 15, 2007
In the last year, private equity firms have broken the mold over and over again. They have bought technology and finance companies, previously thought unsuitable for buyouts. The deals have gotten bigger; the financing more creative.
But with an agreement to take control of Chrysler, private equity is venturing into virtually uncharted territory, according to The New York Times.
While private equity firms have bought troubled industrial companies in the past and dealt with unionized work forces, no one has tried to grapple with a company with the problems the size of Chrysler’s and with a union as powerful as the United Automobile Workers.
Posted by at 10:12 AM | Permalink
Nine years after they exchanged vows at a huge, lavishly choreographed news conference in London, Daimler and Chrysler signed their divorce papers Monday at a sparsely attended briefing in an auditorium at an aging Mercedes-Benz factory here.
As bookends, the two news conferences vividly illustrated the dashed dreams of the Daimler-Chrysler marriage, according to The New York Times' Mark Landler
Posted by at 10:08 AM | Permalink
Can private equity investors fix Chrysler for good, and can they avoid a confrontation with the United Automobile Workers union, Micheline Maynard asks in an analysis in The New York Times.
These are the most pressing questions to arise from the deal announced Monday for Cerberus Capital Management, which specializes in restructuring troubled companies, to pay a total of $7.4 billion to take control of Chrysler, with most of that money to be invested in the newly independent company.
Posted by at 10:03 AM | Permalink
DaimlerChrysler's first-quarter profit rose even as the loss widened at the Chrysler Group it has agreed to sell to a private equity firm, the Associated Press reports.
The German-American automaker earned $2.67 billion in the January-March period. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a profit of $1.88 billion.
The Chrysler Group, which is being sold to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management in a $7.45 billion deal announced yesterday, lost $1.98 billion before interest and taxes, compared with a profit of $857 million a year earlier. The loss was the result of a $1.2 billion in restructuring charges.
Posted by at 9:44 AM | Permalink
May 14, 2007
The 2007 Acura MDX sport utility vehicle and the 2008 Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable passenger cars received top scores in new crash tests released Monday by the insurance industry, according to the Associated Press.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave its highest score of "good" in frontal, side and rear-impact testing for the vehicles, built by Honda Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co.
Posted by at 10:22 AM | Permalink
German-based DaimlerChrysler will sell almost all of money-losing Chrysler to a private equity firm for $7.4 billion, backing out of a troubled 1998 takeover aimed at creating a global automotive powerhouse, the Associated Press reports.
Eighty percent of Chrysler Group, burdened by high pension and health costs and declining market share in the United States, will be sold to Cerberus Capital Management, which is taking a huge risk by agreeing to take on billions of dollars in pension and retiree health care costs at Chrysler, AP said.
Chaired by former U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, Cerberus has steadily been building strength in the automobile business. It led a consortium that bought a majority stake last year in General Motors Acceptance Corp., the financial arm of GM, and plans to invest in ailing auto parts giant Delphi, AP said.
Posted by at 10:18 AM | Permalink
May 11, 2007
Magna International, the Canadian auto parts maker believed to be the leading bidder to buy the Chrysler Group, announced a $1.54-billion Russian financing deal yesterday that gave a new twist to possibilities for the struggling automaker, according to the Detroit Free Press.
By the end of the day, Magna chairman Frank Stronach was speculating about building Jeeps in Russia.
Posted by at 10:52 AM | Permalink
Honda says it will put a sleek hydrogen fuel-cell sedan into limited production next year and also will sell a unique mass-market hybrid in the USA within two years, priced less than the $25,000 Civic hybrid, according to USA Today.
The automaker announced the vehicles yesterday at a demonstration of prototypes of the FCX fuel-cell sedans it will offer in the USA next year.
Posted by at 9:50 AM | Permalink
May 9, 2007
General Motors yesterday became the first automaker to join the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a group whose goals include reducing greenhouse gases by at least 60% by 2050 and creating economic opportunity for its member organizations, according to The Detroit Free Press.
GM was one of 14 organizations that joined the 3-month-old partnership, known as USCAP, this week. Others included Midland-based Dow Chemical Co., Johnson & Johnson and Shell.
Posted by at 10:48 AM | Permalink
Toyota Motors' first-quarter profit quarter climbed 9% as the automaker marked its seventh straight fiscal year of record sales amid robust demand for its Corolla, Camry and Lexus models, according to USA Today.
Toyota, which topped General Motors in worldwide vehicle production and sales in the first quarter for the first time ever, reported a quarterly group profit of $3.67 billion.
Posted by at 10:23 AM | Permalink
May 7, 2007
The price for the Chrysler Group might not matter as much to DaimlerChrysler AG officials as shedding the division's huge pension and health care liabilities does, according to the Detroit Free Press.
If the German company can get a deal where those liabilities -- which have been estimated to be in the $16.5-billion to $19-billion range -- are eliminated from its balance sheet, it might accept a sale price that on its own would seem low, the Free Press has learned.
Posted by at 10:46 AM | Permalink
Certified used cars have become popular over the last five years, favored by consumers worried about getting a lemon when they buy used. A guarantee from an automaker that the car checks out is peace of mind for which an increasing number of people are willing to pay extra, sometimes $2,000 or more. But some consumers are finding that certified does not protect them, according to The New York Times.
Posted by at 10:25 AM | Permalink
Ford said it will close its casting plant in Brook Park, Ohio, outside of Cleveland, in 2009. The plant employs 1,218 hourly and salaried workers, according to the Associated Press.
The company also will shutter Cleveland Engine Plant 1 in Brook Park for at least a year starting in two weeks. It employs 577 workers, AP said. A second engine plant at the complex just west of Cleveland will remain open.
Posted by at 10:17 AM | Permalink
While everyone at Toyota was happy when it is was announced last week that it had sold more cars and trucks than General Motors, the news was also music to another group, according to USA Today.
That group is the industry of experts and consultants who sell the no-waste business regimen known as lean manufacturing, a regimen that is popular due almost entirely to Toyota's success.
Posted by at 10:05 AM | Permalink
May 4, 2007
General Motors' core automotive business showed renewed signs of improvement Thursday even as big losses in its residential mortgage unit caused the automaker's first-quarter earnings to plunge, according to USA Today.
GM narrowed its loss in its critical North American automotive operations through cost cutting while continuing to see strong growth in overseas sales, especially in emerging markets.
Posted by at 11:44 AM | Permalink
Automaker DaimlerChrysler's car sales at its Chrysler Group rose considerably last month outside the North American market, according to USA Today.
Sales in April rose 17% with 18,289 cars sold, the German-American automaker said, while sales from January-April rose 14% from the same time a year ago with 780,859 cars sold. The increase was evident in its key markets — Europe and South America — but the company said sales were also strong in emerging markets, particularly the Middle East.
Posted by at 11:42 AM | Permalink
May 3, 2007
What's the opposite of painfully shy?
How about Herb Chambers.
Projo photograper Steve Szydlowski and I went to Chambers' local Cadillac dealership yesterday to interview New England's biggest auto dealer and the next thing we know we are floating over the city in his private helicopter on our way up to his new Lexus dealership in Sharon, Mass.
The dealership, which is scheduled to open June 1, is a $30 million extravanganza which Chambers himself calls "the craziest thing I've ever done."
Certainly it's on a scale that boggles the mind. Apart from the money, consider the sheer size - 110,000 square feet with a showroom with 50-foot windows that is capable of holding 40 cars. And behind that, 50 service bays immaculately laid out in a light, spacious hall.
Upstairs, the customer waiting area is equipped with a coffee bar, flat screen TVs, a fireplace and children's play area. The bathrooms look like they belong in a five-star hotel and even the staircase is extra wide to give the sense of space and luxury.
Chambers has clearly gone over the top with this building - but that is a relative term when talking about a man with 38 dealerships who is currently having a yacht built in Germany that will be 257 feet long and have a crew of 22.
Chambers is larger than life, and you can read my report and see Steve's photographs in the projoCars section of this Saturday's Providence Journal.
Posted by at 11:17 AM | Permalink
BMW said Thursday its first-quarter profit dropped 38 percent as it spent more money on launching new models and because last year's figure included a one-time gain, according to the Associated Press.
Posted by at 9:58 AM | Permalink
General Motors' first-quarter profit fell 90 percent compared with a year ago, according to the Associated Press.
The company cited losses in the home lending operations of its former financial arm.
It was the second consecutive quarterly profit for the nation's largest automaker, which said in Thursday's report it had record vehicle sales worldwide and improvements in its automotive operations in the latest quarter.
But the profit of $62 million, or 11 cents a share, for the January-March period was down from $602 million, or $1.06 per share, a year ago.
Posted by at 9:55 AM | Permalink
May 2, 2007
Check out business writer Sarah Webster's analysis of the dip in car sales last month in the Detroit Free Press.
"U.S. consumers, whose confidence is being sapped by a sluggish housing market and rising fuel prices, purchased just 1.3 million new vehicles last month, she writes. "That's a decline of 7.6%, or 110,000, compared with sales a year ago -- the worst monthly sales drop this year....
"Automakers told the Free Press that when confidential fleet sales to rental car companies and other businesses are excluded, consumer purchases in dealer showrooms were even worse."
Posted by at 12:24 PM | Permalink
May 1, 2007
April auto sales were so slow that even Toyota reported a decrease from the same month last year. General Motors and Ford also reported decreases in U.S. sales while Chrysler had a small increase, according to the Associated Press.
Most analysts expected that U.S. sales would be down due largely to the slumping housing market, rising consumer debt, no pent-up demand for vehicles and gasooine prices at or near $3 per gallon.
Posted by at 3:43 PM | Permalink
A recent report finds sales of DaimlerChrysler's Maybach ultra uxury limo continue to be disappointing and having inspected one at the recent New York Auto Show, it doesn't surprise me. I mean, who are they making these things for?
For those of you who haven't seen one, the Mercedes-Benz Maybach is a giganto limo - the Maybach 62 is so long its rear seats can fully recline - that costs in the neighborhood of $300,000 to $450,000.
But those rear seats look to me so plush as to be almost claustophobic. Sure, they can be raised lowered, heated and some even have magic massage fingers. And they are surrounded by a bevy of conveniences - TV, wi-fi, refrigerator, writing table, etc etc. The roof can be programmed to be clear or opaque and black curtains can be drawn all round the rear compartment to allow for a complete snooze. (I was going to say privacy, but that might imply hanky-panky and it's hard to imagine that being much fun in such a cluttered environment.)
No, the Mercedes-Benz Maybach seems to be built for a passive lifetyle, for the kind of rich old codger or haughty dowager of a bygone age. By contrast, we live in an age dominated by the notion of an active lifestyle.
For example, it may be sour grapes, but I don't think most baby boomers are attracted to the eternal holiday style of retirement. To be sure, many of us will keep working because we need to. But many of us, from all walks of life, want to keep involved.
And that goes for wealthy moguls. Sure it's fun to be driven around, but not in a cocoon of luxury. Wealth today buys the active lifestyle for old and and young and to many it's more prestigious to be seen driving, or being driven in, a luxury power monster BMW or Bentley than to be seen lolling in the back seat of a luxury limo.
I may be wrong - I usually am - but somehow I don't see Kirk Kerkorian (89) looking passively out from behind the curtains of a Mercedes-Benz Maybach.
Posted by at 9:47 AM | Permalink
Susan Cischke Cischke, Ford's new senior vice president for sustainability, environment and safety engineering, admits that her vision is a little fuzzy when she looks more than two decades into the future, but she still sees an internal combustion engine, albeit one smaller, lighter and more fuel-efficient than the engines of today, according to the Associated Press.
Posted by at 9:22 AM | Permalink
April 30, 2007
Toyota is actively trying to isolate Scion messages from the tragically unhip by relaunching the xB without any advertising on television or in mainstream publications.
Auto industry executives say such a move is highly unusual, according to USA Today. The only other recent example was in 2000 when Volvo tried an online-only approach to launch a sedan at the height of dotcom mania, the paper writes.
Posted by at 10:15 AM | Permalink
April 26, 2007
So GM has lost the top spot to Toyota, which sold 2.35 million cars and trucks worldwide in the first quarter; that was about 109,000 more than GM.
It was a long time coming, but was there any doubt it was coming?
Hell's bells, the late David Halberstam pretty much predicted it in his book 'The Reckoning,' which was published in 1986.
For decades, Detroit's Big Three - GM, Ford and Chrysler - have been blinded by short term sales and profits and have ignored the bigger forces at work. While the rest of the world pays astonomical prices for gasoline - $7 a gallon in Europe, for example - Americans pay next to nothing thanks in large part to the anti-gasoline tax lobby promulgated by the Big Three.
And while the Big Three kept on ignoring those signs, it opened the door for Asian manufacturers to start nibbling at the lower end of the food chain. Sure the small, fuel efficient cars were less profitable but once oil prices lost their moorings with the first OPEC crisis of 1973, Americans starting turning to the smaller cars and have never looked back.
I can think of another company that became incredibly successful by building market share while flying under the radar (excuse the pun): Southwest Airlines. Birthed in the shadow of American Airlines and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Southwest started operating as a puddle jumper from Dallas' Love Field Airport. Slowly it nibbled away until it is now one of the largest and most successful airlines in America.
How did it do it? Good management was one essential key, and the same applies to the Asian auto makers. If you're going to lead, know where you're going!
The management running the Big Three have proved themselves clueless time and time again. They tried every trick in the book including persuading Congress to implement import quotas against Japanese auto makers in 1981. They responded by moving up the food chain and building bigger and more expensive cars. And so it went on, with the Asian manufacturers gaining one segment after another and not giving it back.
Talk about being hoisted by your own petard.
In this sense, the recent introduction of Toyota's Tundra full-size pickup truck represents the final step to the top of the food chain just as its worldwide sales finally moved ahead of the heretofore iconic GM.
Posted by at 12:52 PM | Permalink
Ford posted a first-quarter net loss of $282 million, a vast improvement over the $1.4 billion it lost in the first quarter of 2006, according to the Associated Press. It was the company's seventh consecutive quarter of losses, but the automaker said the smaller deficit reflected its restructuring efforts aimed at cutting costs in the face of fierce competition from Asian automakers.
AP said that despite the improvement, Ford is still having trouble in its core business in North America, where the company said it had a pretax loss on automotive operations of $614 million for the quarter, wider than the $442 million it lost in the first quarter of last year. Ford also posted a pretax loss in its Asia Pacific and Africa operations, but it made a pretax profit in Europe and South America, and in its financial services sector.
Posted by at 12:07 PM | Permalink
April 24, 2007
Hoping to redeem itself among environmentalists and portray itself as a car company worth keeping around, Ford said yesterday that it had given its environmental chief a broader job and bigger title, according to USA Today.
Saying he's convinced that global warming is a real threat and is man-made, Ford CEO Alan Mulally elevated industry veteran Sue Cischke to senior vice president for sustainability, environment and safety engineering. Cischke, previously vice president for environment and safety engineering, reports directly to Mulally. "Green is good business," Mulally said. "Companies that make the products and services people want … (using) the least resources" will stay in business and profit
Posted by at 9:32 AM | Permalink
TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. became the world's top auto seller in the first three months of the year, passing rival General Motors for the first time, the Japanese automaker said today, according to the Associated Press.
Toyota sold 2.35 million vehicles worldwide in the January-March quarter, the company said, surpassing the 2.26 million vehicles that GM said it sold during the same period. The results mark the first time Toyota has beat GM in global sales on a quarterly basis.
Posted by at 9:30 AM | Permalink
April 23, 2007
Will Nanjing Auto be coming to Oklahoma to assemble its new line of MG cars?There is some question about the deal, according to thecarconnection.com
The Chinese auto maker made plenty of headlines when it acquired the remains of the bankrupt British automaker, Rover. But it topped that act, last year, when the company announced plans to produce a new version of Rover's classic-reborn MGF sports car - at a plant in Oklahoma.
Since then, there've been a series of conflicting reports suggesting Nanjing/Rover has scuttled the deal. But reports of the death of the American MG have been greatly exaggerated - well, at least maybe, according to MG CEO Zhang Xin.
Posted by at 8:53 AM | Permalink
April 20, 2007
Following up on the high-profile launch of its plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt concept, at January's Detroit Auto Show, General Motors returns with an alternate take on the show car at the Shanghai Motor Show, according to thecarconnection.com. This Volt version uses a downsized battery paired with a hydrogen-powered fuel cell.
Posted by at 10:10 AM | Permalink
DaimlerChrysler wrap up a sale of its ailing U.S. arm Chrysler as early as next month, a source familiar with the situation said yesterday, according to Reuters.
Corporate strategy chief Ruediger Grube was in New York for talks with potential buyers, the source told Reuters, adding that a deal in May was likely but not definite.
The source said the talks would not produce a deal in time to present it to the carmaker's supervisory board this month. "This will take some time. There are a lot of aspects to take into account," he said.
Posted by at 9:34 AM | Permalink
April 19, 2007
General Motors said it sold 2.26 million cars and trucks – a record – across the globe during the first quarter of 2007, according to preliminary figures released by the company today, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The world’s largest automaker said worldwide sales for the first three months of the year were up by 67,000 vehicles, or about 3%, compared with the 2.19 million cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles sold during the same period in 2006
Posted by at 9:29 AM | Permalink
April 18, 2007
Nissan plans to sell a diesel-powered Maxima sedan in the USA in 2010, Nissan Motor CEO Carlos Ghosn said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington Wednesday, according to USA Today.
Ghosn said the diesel vehicle is "basically a bet that regulations will get stricter and fuel prices will get higher." He said the diesel-powered Maxima should get "up to 30% greater" mileage than a similar-size gasoline engine. And because it burns less fuel, it will produce less carbon-dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
Nissan is the second Japanese automaker to announce a diesel car for the U.S. market. Honda said last year that it will sell a diesel car in the U.S. in 2009.
Posted by at 10:26 AM | Permalink
April 17, 2007
Magna International Inc., a Canadian auto parts maker, is in advanced talks with DaimlerChrysler AG about a possible purchase of the money-losing Chrysler unit, according to an AP report in the Detroit Free Press. AP cited German newspaper The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for the news.
The paper reported that the Aurora, Ontario-based company is in continuing talks with the German-American automaker about acquiring a majority stake in the Chrysler Group, but the paper did not name its sources. The paper said DaimlerChrysler would keep a minority stake in the U.S. division.
Posted by at 11:46 AM | Permalink
The negotiations over the possible sale of the Chrysler Group are likely to drag on for several more weeks, despite some brave talk by DaimlerChrysler executives of making some kind of a decision by the end of the month, according to thecarconnection.com.
For one thing, it is now apparent that any deal will require at least some semblance of approval from both the United Auto Workers and the Canadian Auto Workers, which are both showing increasing signs of resistance to any deal that turns the company over to a private equity group, the Web site said.
Posted by at 10:46 AM | Permalink
General Motors plans to ramp up production and sales in India, one of the world's fastest-growing auto markets, according to USA Today which cited Chairman Rick Wagoner as he introduced a mini car to Indian customers with a competitive price tag yesterday.
GM also is scaling up procurement of low-cost auto components from India in a move that will help keep costs low at plants in other parts of the world, Wagoner said.
Posted by at 10:44 AM | Permalink
April 16, 2007
Could the electric vehicle be poised for a comeback? A new joint venture between Nissan Motor Co., NEC Corporation, and its subsidiary, NEC TOKIN Corporation, could pave the way for a new generation of battery cars, including super-high-efficiency hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and pure electric vehicles with far more range than the EVs California consumers snubbed in the 1990s, according to thecarconnection.com.
Posted by at 12:33 PM | Permalink
April 13, 2007
General Motors is considering at least three proposals to shed most of its $64 billion in costs for retiree health-care benefits in an attempt to return to profitability, according to people with knowledge of the plans, according to bloomberg.com
GM, the world's largest automaker and biggest private provider of medical coverage, is developing the options even as union leaders suggest any comprehensive health-care fix will be rejected, the Web site says. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said in January the automaker must reduce health-care obligations for U.S. retirees after losing more than $12 billion the last two years.
Posted by at 10:24 AM | Permalink
April 12, 2007
DaimlerChrysler AG said German bank WestLB “temporarily” boosted its stake in the company to 14%, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The paper's Web site says the world’s fifth-largest automaker and parent company of the embattled Auburn Hills-based Chrysler Group, announced this morning that WestLB increased its stake on April 4, the same day as the DaimlerChrysler annual shareholder meeting in Berlin. DaimlerChrysler also said WestLB’s holdings will be cut to less than 3% “in the foreseeable future.”
WestLB, the third-largest state bank in Germany, is now the largest share owner of DaimlerChrysler stock,
Posted by at 12:54 PM | Permalink
April 11, 2007
Ford said it was recalling 527,000 Escape sport utility vehicles after receiving reports of engine fires linked to the anti-lock brake connectors, according to Reuters.
The vehicles involved in the recall were from the model years 2001 to 2004, Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said. The automaker is recalling 444,000 in the United States. The rest of the SUVs were sold in Europe, Mexico and Canada.
The recall does not affect hybrid versions of the SUV, Kinley said
Posted by at 12:15 PM | Permalink
April 10, 2007
Norwood, Mass.-based Boch Toyota is suing Bob's Discount Store for using its catch phrase "Come on down," according to Boston Business Journal.
But hang on a second - wasn't that Bob Barker's catch phrase on CBS hit "The Price is Right?" Indeed it was. The show with Barker as host hit the airwaves in 1972 and is still running although Barker retires this year. The 35-year run makes it one of the longest-running games shows in history.
President Ernie Boch Jr. told me he does not want to comment on the lawsuit other than to say that he is negotiating with Robert "Bob" Kaufman and hopes to work it out. But if he can't, he said he is prepared to go ahead with the case.
A spokeswoman with Bob's Discount was not immediately available to comment.
Posted by at 10:59 AM | Permalink
April 9, 2007
More than 4,300 hourly employees of DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group have accepted early retirement and buyout packages offered as part of the automaker's recovery plan, the company said last week, according to USA Today.
In the United States and Canada, 4,312 hourly workers have accepted the packages offered as part of the company's plans to reduce its workforce by 13,000 people in three years. The goal for 2007 is 5,875 hourly employees; some employees are still eligible to accept the offers.
Posted by at 9:24 AM | Permalink
April 6, 2007
Two years ago, General Motors promised dealers it would do whatever it took to reverse falling sales in the American cities that set the industry's trends, but the slump has only worsened, according to Bloomberg.com
Toyota outsells GM two-to-one in Los Angeles and by a slightly smaller margin in Miami, according to U.S. data compiled by R.L. Polk & Co. In the New York City metropolitan area, where GM had a 4.5 percentage point lead in market share five years ago, Toyota has surged to a four-point advantage.
Posted by at 9:37 AM | Permalink
April 5, 2007
Kirk Kerkorian, once Chrysler's biggest shareholder, has sent a letter to DaimlerChrysler offering to buy the struggling automaker back for $4.5 billion, according to CNN.
Kerkorian is proposing to take the automaker private, and his bid is contingent upon reaching a deal on a new labor agreement with the United Auto Workers union, CNN says.
Posted by at 2:43 PM | Permalink
CNN reports that Ford, which posted a record $12.7 billion net loss in 2006, gave its new CEO Alan Mulally $28 million for four months on the job, according to the company's proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday.
The pay package comes on top of the $7.4 million that aerospace company Boeing had previously reported paying him for his eight months running that company's commercial aircraft unit before he made the move to Ford at the beginning of September.
Posted by at 2:39 PM | Permalink
Ford won't cut more jobs or close more factories in North America beyond those already announced, CEO Alan Mulally said yesterday at the New York International Auto Show, according to USA Today.
Mulally acknowledged that some analysts have speculated that Ford will need to get even smaller. "There's a lot of work we need to do over the next three years (of the restructuring plan), but we're just about right," he said.
Posted by at 10:58 AM | Permalink
April 4, 2007
Pix of the three Chevrolet concept cars that GM is unveiling at the NY Auto Show are available on Leftlanenews.com
The Beat, Groove and Trax are all small runabouts and all three look gonky in a way that has been common in Europe for years. Maybe Detroit is finally getting it - but then gas is still basically free over here compared to Europe - so it's hard to blame Detroit for riding the monsters as long as it has.
Posted by at 12:09 PM | Permalink
Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally, said today that the automaker's sweeping turnaround remained on track, according to USA Today.
"This is a massive, massive restructuring of Ford and generally it's going, it's going pretty well," Mulally said in a speech at the New York International Auto Show.
Ford, which has announced plans to shutter 16 plants, lost $12.7 billion last year and mortgaged its factories, brand names and other items to secure a $23.4 billion line of credit to pay for its restructuring plan and cover losses expected until 2009, the paper said.
Posted by at 11:51 AM | Permalink
March sales were released today by automakers, and Detroit's automakers continued to see sales dip while Toyota and Honda watched their totals rise, according to thecarconnection.com
GM registered 349,867 vehicle sales and deliveries in March, down 7.7 percent from a year ago while Toyota reported its best month ever in the U.S., selling 242,675 vehicles, 7.7 percent more than in March 2006.
Ford sales totaled 264,975, down nine percent compared with the same period a year ago. Chrysler sales declined 4.4 percent to 537,249 units. Mercedes sales rose 0.9 percent, while the brand hit a record for the first quarter in the U.S.
Honda posted its fifth-best month ever as it sold 143,392 Hondas and Acuras. Sales rose 7.3 percent over 2006.
Nissan reported sales of 111,119 units in March, up 3.9 percent. Nissan Division rose by 2.8 percent, while Infiniti sales grew by 12.6 percent. Mazda sales zoomed 47.9 percent over March 2006 as the brand marked its best March since 1994.
Volkswagen of America, Inc. says it had March 2007 sales of 17,355 units, a decrease of 16.3 percent from March 2006 sales of 20,730 vehicles.
Posted by at 11:44 AM | Permalink
Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of DaimlerChrysler, has confirmed for the first time that discussions have taken place with interested parties regarding future options for the Chrysler Group, according to PR Newswire.
"In this context, I can confirm that we are talking with some of the potential partners who have shown a clear interest," Zetsche is quoted as saying in the text of the speech he will deliver at the Annual Meeting 2007 in Berlin today. However, Zetsche continued, "But it is also true that we need to keep all options open, and that I cannot disclose any details, because we need to have the maximum scope for maneuver."
Posted by at 11:35 AM | Permalink
April 2, 2007
Ford says it will show off a trio of specialty vehicles at the New York International Auto Show next week, meant to lure enthusiasts who influence the opinions of other buyers and to boost troubled Ford's image, according to USAToday.
Each of the three, which were unveiled in Dearborn, Mich., late last week, will be a high-price, limited-production model co-designed with an automotive celebrity, according to the USAToday:
The 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR is a 540 hp Mustang modified by Carroll Shelby. KR stands for "king of the road," a designation used on a now-classic 1968 Mustang.
The 2008 F-150 Foose Edition has huge wheels, a lowered stance and dramatic racing stripes mark the specialty truck styled by Chip Foose. Foose is a car customizer, known for a cable-TV show called Overhaulin' on TLC. Ford says the supercharged V-8 engine will be rated 450 horsepower and 500 pounds-feet of torque.
The 2008 Expedition Funkmaster Flex Edition comes with wild paint and a jazzy interior. Funkmaster Flex is a hip-hop music disc jockey and auto enthusiast who has designed vehicles for celebrities.
Posted by at 10:13 AM | Permalink
General Motors will introduce its 1-liter Chevrolet Trax concept car at the New York Auto Show later this week, according to thecarconnection.com
The Trax is one of three Chevrolet minicar concepts featuring an array of powertrain options, starting with the 1.0-liter gasoline engine under the hood of the Trax, that will be unveiled at the show, thecarconnection says. The concepts will
Fuel economy is clearly part of the goal for GM in developing these all-new minicar concepts, but the automaker says it has put an equal emphasis on value and, notably, on design.
Posted by at 10:02 AM | Permalink
March 30, 2007
Having fostered a reputation for building fuel-efficient vehicles over the last 35 years, Honda now wants to join Volvo as an automaker best known for safety, according to the New York Times.
The company is offering front and side-curtain air bags and antilock brakes on most of its offerings, from the smallest cars to trucks, emphasizing that buyers need not pay top dollar for such protection.
Posted by at 9:52 AM | Permalink
March 29, 2007
Audi has priced its new R8 sportscar starting at $109,000, making it the brand's most expensive car ever sold in theU.S, according to thecarconnection.com
The R8 comes with a manual transmission, a 420-hp V-8 engine, 19-inch wheels, and Sirius satellite radio. A version with the six-speed R-tronic automatic has a base price of $118,000.
Audi promises a 0-60 mph time of 4.4 seconds for the new sportscar, and a top speed of 187 mph. Audi says its rear-biased setup for its quattro all-wheel-drive system gives the R8 the balance "expected of a mid-engine sports car."
Posted by at 11:56 AM | Permalink
General Motors says it will not be paying cash bonuses to its top executives for the second consecutive year, according to the New Yorks Times. The company boosted its financial performance in 2006 yet did not earn a profit.
The paper noted such bonuses would undoubtedly have rankled members of the United Automobile Workers union ahead of this summer’s contract talks, although a G.M. spokeswoman, Renee Rashid-Merem, declined to say whether the pending negotiations were a factor
Posted by at 11:36 AM | Permalink
March 28, 2007
Even if DaimlerChrysler AG sells its Chrysler unit to a labor-friendly private equity buyer, it may still cut 25,000 jobs, a leading brokerage told the Detroit Free Press.
Chrysler Group, which lost $1.5 billion last year, already has announced plans to cut 13,000 jobs in the next three years in hopes of returning to profitability.
Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson said that number could grow to 25,000 and the plan could include health care concessions from U.S. autoworkers.
Posted by at 10:56 AM | Permalink
Toyota continues to close in on General Motors as the world’s biggest vehicle maker as its global production climbed in February for the 28th straight month, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Toyota reported worldwide output totaled 680,968 vehicles in February, up 0.9 percent from the same month last year. Last year, Toyota’s global output surged 10% to 9.018 million vehicles, bringing it closer to Detroit-based GM, which produced 9.18 million vehicles worldwide in 2006.
Honda, Japan’s second-largest automaker, said its global production rose 5.6% to 301,897 units in February.
Posted by at 10:50 AM | Permalink
March 27, 2007
It's not as simple as it seems - Porsche's apparent takeover bid of VW, that is, according to Forbes.com
Having just increased its stake in Volkswagen to 30.9 percent, Porsche is now going through the rigmarole of bidding for the whole company, as required by German law, says Forbes.com. But it has made the minimum offering legally allowed - $145.60 for each common share and $84 for each preferred share - so that few, if any, investors will want to sell.
"We don't think many shares will be offered to us," Porsche spokesman Frank Gaube told Forbes.com, which says the oveall plan is designed to protect VW from any hostile takeover by ensuring that Porsch and the German state of Lower Saxony effectively control just over 50 percent of the company.
Posted by at 3:08 PM | Permalink
Nanjing Auto unveiled its first made-in-China MG sports cars and sedans Tuesday, the first step in a plan to use the iconic British brand as a platform for global expansion, according to China Daily.
China's oldest automaker introduced the 1.8 liter MGTF roadster and the MG 7295 and 7275 sedans at its $450 million plant near eastern Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.
The brand, renamed "Ming Jue" or "Modern Gentleman", will go on sale in China in the second half of the year, priced between $23,000 and $52,000.
Posted by at 11:23 AM | Permalink
March 26, 2007
Canadian auto parts supplier Magna International and a private-equity partner have offered to buy Chrysler for $4.7 billion, according to leftlanenews.com which cites a report by KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brett Hoselton.
Hoselton says the bid is low but no one seems to know what the company is worth. Estimates range between $0 and $13 billion.
Posted by at 1:02 PM | Permalink
Porsche plans to increase its stake in Volkswagen to 31 percent, according to a report in leftlanenews.com. The move will force the famed sports car maker into making a formal bid to acquire all of VW, the Web site says, as German law requires Porsch to make a takeover bid if its stake in VW exceeds 30 percent.
Posted by at 12:57 PM | Permalink
Toyota cars are finally getting some respect from collectors, according to The New York Times. Even the much ridiculed Toyopet Crown which the company introduced into the United States in 1957 is looking desirable now. Check out the photo of a 1961 model.
Posted by at 12:34 PM | Permalink
March 23, 2007
Federal prosecutors have forced a retired Ford Motor Co. manager to hand over nearly $660,000 he amassed in what they called a kickback scheme with trucking companies that generated millions over several years, according to the Associated Press.No criminal charges have been filed against John K. Perry, former manager of material planning and logistics at Ford's assembly plant in St. Louis, but a civil lawsuit U.S. Attorney Steven M. Biskupic filed this week in Milwaukee federal court says authorities seized about $660,000 Perry had in a brokerage account, the AP said.
Posted by at 10:31 AM | Permalink
General Motors is planning to introduce six never-before-seen production cars and one concept car at the New York Auto Show which opens April 6, according to leftlanenews.com
Some of vehicles are expected, such as two new Buick super models, but GM says the concept is a "closely guarded world concept," according to leftlanenews.
Posted by at 10:06 AM | Permalink
Ford will introduce the Ford Flex, its new crossover vehicle which is based on the Fairlane concept, first shown two years ago and recently on display at the Providence Auto Show, according to leftlanenews.com
The report says Ford could be aiming for sales of about 100,000 a year.
Posted by at 10:00 AM | Permalink
March 19, 2007
The New York Times' advertising columnist Stuart Elliott reports on Nissan's campaign to promote a push-button ignition system on its 2007 Altima sedan by deliberately losing 20,000 key rings in bars, concert halls, sports arenas and other public places in seven large markets. The campaign begins is this week and continues through March 30.
Each ring will have a key that resembles a car key and two others that look as if they could fit the locks on house or office doors. One tag declares, “If found, please do not return,” because the Altima “has Intelligent Key with push-button ignition, and I no longer need these,” a reference to the technology that allows an Altima owner to start the car by pressing a button on the dash rather than inserting a key.
The same tag invites the finder to learn more about the ignition system by visiting a section of the Nissan Web site (nissanusa.com/altima)."
Posted by at 12:13 PM | Permalink
March 14, 2007
Nanjing Automobile Corporation of China is scheduled to start production of a convertible MG sports car this month, according to The New York Times.
"The rebirth of MG is the latest and most splashy example of how China’s growing economic might is reaching carefully into foreign markets, buying up troubled companies with established brands and using them to build bridgeheads for some of the hundreds of billions of dollars that the country has to invest overseas," writes NYT correspondent Craig S. Smith. Nanjing acquired the legendary MG marque last year.
Posted by at 12:20 PM | Permalink
Check out venerable auto columnist Jerry Flint's suggestion that a group of wealthy Americans buy up Chrysler and put it back together. Flint sees billions of dollars to be made and suggests starting by recruiting proven leaders - such as Dieter Zetsche f- or the job.
"(Zetsche) should be happy to quit that pain-in-the-neck job as chief executive of Daimler and join a bigger company, American Chrysler," Flint writes. "If Zetsche could offer Wolfgang Bernhard the No. 2 position, it would be perfect."
Then focus on product, the company's biggest challenge, he writes. Read Flint's wide ranging analysis, Dreaming of a new Chrysler, on leftlanenews.com.
Posted by at 12:06 PM | Permalink
March 9, 2007
Ford is expected to sell Aston Martin, the iconic luxury brand, to iconsortium of business interests from America and the Middle East, headed by Prodrive founder and world rally championship owner David Richards, according to Britain's Daily Telegraph.
The deal is estimated to be worth $900 million. According to its Web site, Prodrive is is one of the world’s leading motorsport and automotive technology businesses, employing more than 1000 people at operations in the UK, USA, Germany, Thailand and Australia.
Posted by at 11:33 AM | Permalink
March 8, 2007
Starting next week, Ford will be recalling nearly 110,000 2003-2005 Crown Victoria police cars because possible wheel cracks could cause rapid air loss in tires during high-speed pursuits, according to an Associated Press report in USA Today. The cracks have been reported in only a small percentage of the wheels.
Posted by at 12:23 PM | Permalink
March 7, 2007
Toyota introduced its Hybrid X concept car at the Geneva Motor show Wednesday which the auto giant says represents the future of its successful Prius. It's a 4-door conventional family car with a radical futuristic design that can be viewed at leftlanenews.com
Posted by at 11:35 AM | Permalink
March 6, 2007
leftlanenews.com reports Chrysler's workers at its assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario, rejected a company proposal that asked them to give up $115 a week in exchange for a contract to build known as Product X, but which has been identified by WardsAuto as the Chrysler Imperial.
Posted by at 10:15 AM | Permalink
Reuters reports that U.S. buyout firm Blackstone Group is showing an interest in Chrysler which effectively went up on the blocks after DaimlerChrysler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche announced last month ago that "all options were open."
Reuters today cited a a person familiar with the situation as saying said the private equity group has approached Chrysler and been granted access to its books in preparation for a possible bid.
But Reuters said he source said there was no guarantee that the firm, already an investor in Germany's Deutsche Telekom, would make an offer for Chrysler.
Blackstone, which is majority owner of TRW Automotive and formerly an investor in American Axle and Manufacturing declined to comment. And Zetsche gave reporters at the auto show in Geneva no details on the status of the Chrysler's status.
Posted by at 10:05 AM | Permalink
March 1, 2007
General Motors is shutting the production of its Monte Carlo coupe at its Oshawa plant in Canada in June, according to leftlanenews.com. Despite a model update and a new V8 and a slight uptick in sale in 2006, sales have fallen 60 percent early this year. In addition, Chevrolet expect sales of its 2008 Malibu to cut into potential Monte Carlo sales further.
Posted by at 1:45 PM | Permalink
February 21, 2007
Volkswagen said Tuesday its profit jumped to $3.61 billion in 2006 from $1.12 billion in 2005. The company, Europe's biggest automaker, said its earnings were boosted by the sale last March of Europe's largest car rental company, Europcar, to Eurazeo for $1.5 billion, according to a report in The New York Times.
Posted by at 1:53 PM | Permalink
