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AUTOS' WORLD COMMENTS & OPINIONS
* Auto woes cross borders - Like the U.S., Europe faces job cuts, Asian onslaughtDetroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Christine Tierney -26 Feb 2006: -- The models and brands are different, and so are the languages. But the litany of problems sounds the same... As Wolfgang Bernhard enumerated the challenges he's tackling at Volkswagen AG, he could have been describing the difficulties he faced as the former No. 2 at DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group: Bloated costs, vehicle quality that isn't up to snuff, excess production capacity, rigid work rules and relentless Japanese and South Korean rivals... Across western Europe, car manufacturers are under the same pressure as Detroit's automakers to overhaul operations, shift production to low-wage regions and cut jobs to better compete against Asian carmakers... Just as General Motors Corp.'s downsizing plans cast a pall over the North American International Auto Show last month, the looming restructurings in Europe will be a dominant theme at the Geneva motor show this week... (Photo: Output at DaimlerChrysler's Smart plant in Hambach, France is falling well below capacity, contributing to the unit's financial troubles.)
* E85 fuel has big appeal, but do numbers add up?
Detroit,Mich,USA - The Detroit News, by Daniel Howes -Feb 26, 2006: -- Detroit's automakers have a new religion. Its colors are maize, as in corn, and good ol' environmental green... Turbo-charged by the Bush administration's self-evident declaration that "America is addicted to oil," Motown is using newspaper ads, CEO speeches and production plans to build consensus around a new fuel that's not so new... E85 contains 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol that can be manufactured right here at home -- as soon as (if?) more people can be persuaded to invest in the infrastructure to make and sell the stuff... E85 has to be as much as 30 percent cheaper than gasoline to be viable. That's easy if instability and demand keep oil expensive, but less so if prices ebb because global turmoil subsides or ethanol production ramps up in the United States... Two things here: First, if reducing national dependence on Middle East oil is a goal, increasing taxes on gasoline isn't the only way to get there. Gas-electric hybrid vehicles are an option; clean diesel engines are an option; ethanol and bio-fuels distilled from grass to vegetable oil are an option -- and all of them deserve scrutiny... Second, as much as Detroit rightly sees forces aligning in favor of E85, there's equally powerful evidence suggesting the hometown automakers are making it tougher for themselves to be heard in Washington... A new report by JPMorgan says plant closings and job cuts by GM, Ford and Chrysler have "weakened" their "ability to shape political outcomes."... By 2008, only eight states could be home to major Detroit-based plants. As many as six states -- and their 12 senators -- could see Detroit-owned plants disappear...
* Nader Rebukes Domestic Auto Industry for Failure to Innovate, Says Solution to Industry Quagmire is in Safety, Fuel Economy Engineering
WASHINGTON,DC,USA -U.S. Newswire -Feb. 27, 2006: -- Today Ralph Nader issued a stinging indictment of the domestic auto industry's failure to stimulate innovation, "Innovation and Stagnation in Automotive Safety and Fuel Efficiency."... The report details glaring oversights by the auto industry, identifying specific missed opportunities in the areas of safety and fuel economy, and provides a blueprint to jolt the domestic industry out of its downward slide... Nader, a longtime auto safety pioneer, is issuing the report now to call on automakers to reverse decades-long trends of putting marketing hype before engineering quality-ignoring advanced product designs and stifling innovation from parts suppliers. "General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler have always preferred to squeeze their suppliers on price rather than seek technological improvements. It's a short-term, bully's approach to a business relationship that should be collaborative, cooperative, and dynamic. Even as some Japanese and European manufacturers prove that advanced technology sells -- especially in safety and fuel efficiency -- the market-shrinking domestic auto industry thinks that the only path to profitability is penny pinching on parts."... The report also underscores the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's foot-dragging on new safety and fuel economy technologies. "NHTSA schedules the standardization of safety technology that's already commercially available -- it doesn't challenge manufacturers to deliver innovative solutions," Nader said...
* Georgia Gets Kia Nod?
USA -THe Car Connection, by Peter Chang and Marty Padgett -27 Feb 2006: -- South Korea's second-largest automaker, Kia Motors, is considering building its planned U.S. plant in the state of Georgia, not in Mississippi, a local report from the latter state said... If Georgia does win the battle of state incentives, it will be out of keen economic need. The state is faced with the loss of about 5000 jobs in the next two years as Ford closes the Hapeville plant that builds the Taurus and the Doraville plant that builds GM minivans. Both plants are in the metro Atlanta area, while the site of the new Kia plant would likely be a Greenfield location on the I-85 corridor linking Atlanta and Montgomery, Ala., the site of Kia sister company Hyundai's new assembly plant. Georgia is also facing the bankruptcy of Delta Airlines and the loss of a huge military base within the city, Fort McPherson..
posted by Unknown @ 5:07 PM
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