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AUTOS' WORLD NEWS
* Test runs for setting a new land speed record in excess of 800 mph.
Cal,USA -PRNewswire -17 Feb 2006: To push the limits of engineering, daring Californian Ed Shadle plans to become the fastest man on the ground to date. Shadle's mission, along with partner and co-owner Keith Zanghi, is to shatter the world's land speed record with North American Eagle (NAE) - a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter/land vehicle conversion presently undergoing the test runs for setting a new land speed record in excess of 800 mph...
* Cerberus group takes lead in GMAC talks, report says
New York,NY,USA -Reuters/Automotive News -Feb 16, 2006: A group led by hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management and a unit of Citigroup has taken the lead in negotiating a potential purchase of General Motors' finance arm, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said a second group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Wachovia Corp. had not backed away from the bidding...
* Output halts at GM venture in Russia
FRANKFURT,Germany -Reuters/Automotive News -Feb 17, 2006: Output at General Motors' joint venture in Russia has halted since Monday, Feb. 13, the world's biggest carmaker by volume said on Friday... The news follows AvtoVaz's announcement this month that it will build a new state-funded car plant and may close the joint venture with GM... The major strategy shift comes as Russia seeks to create an auto industry champion to meet the challenge of foreign competitors whose sales of imported and locally assembled cars are booming... It follows a change in control over AvtoVaz, which has long struggled to lift sales of its cheap but clunky Lada models, and is under new management installed by state arms exporter Rosoboronexport... Sales in Russia of the Chevy Niva and Viva models fell by 14 percent last year to 46,000, industry figures show...
* VW's Spanish unit Seat posts loss for 2005
Barcelona,Spain -magazine Der Spiegel /Reuters/Automotive News -Feb 16, 2006: Spanish carmaker Seat, part of the Volkswagen group, reported a net loss of $74.3 million (62.5 million euros) for 2005 on Thursday... Seat's Spanish plant at Martorell near Barcelona produced 385,000 units during the year compared with 416,000 units in 2004... Speculation that the German carmaker could sell Seat or could shut down its Martorell plant flourished after an unsourced report in German magazine Der Spiegel late last year, which said the brand had been given a deadline for improvements in sales and earnings to secure further investments...
* DC Profits $3.4B in 2005
USA -The Car Connection -17 Feb 2006: DaimlerChrysler earned $3.4 billion in 2005 with the Chrysler Group accounting for $1.8 billion of the profit, the company announced on Thursday... The Mercedes Benz Group posted an operating profit of $1 million in the fourth quarter, and finished the year with a $600 million loss, but DaimlerChrysler AG executives insist the group is finally moving in the right direction...
* Bridgestone fiscal year profit up; rubber costs to hurt '06 results
Tokyo,Japan -Reuters -17 Feb 2006: Top Japanese tire maker Bridgestone Corp. on Friday reported an 8.2 percent rise in annual operating profit in 2005 as it boosted sales and product prices, but forecast a drop this year due to soaring raw materials prices...
* Denway/Honda Chinese joint venture January sales up 56 percent
HONG KONG,China -Reuters -17 Feb 2006: The Chinese car-making joint venture between Japan's Honda Motor Co. and Denway Motors Ltd. said on Friday it sold 18,498 cars in January, up 55.7 percent from the same month last year...
* Sales Inch Up, but Goodyear Sees 4Q Loss
Akron, Ohio,USA -AP, by M.R. Kropko -Feb 16, 2006: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said Thursday it lost $51 million in the fourth quarter as higher raw materials costs, production delays linked to hurricanes and expenses from the sale of its farm tire business took the gleam off improved sales for the nation's biggest tire maker. Shares fell nearly 4 percent in morning trading...
* China auto output up 52 percent on-year in January
SHANGHAI, China -Associated Press/Xinhua News Agency -Feb 16, 2006: China's passenger car production rose 52 percent in January from a year earlier to 391,600 units, while sales surged 73 percent to 418,900 units...
* Mazda Begins Leasing Hydrogen Rotaries
Japan -Reuters -16 Feb 2006: Mazda says it will begin leasing a version of the RX-8 in Japan that can be powered by gasoline or hydrogen... The RX-8 Hydrogen RE, is based on the sportscar of the same name, and can be run on either fuel at the flick of a switch. The theoretical range of the vehicle is 62 miles under hydrogen power and 41 miles with gasoline power... The vehicles are being leased to a Japanese oil company for about $3500 a month...
* Ford of Canada Confirms It's Building Hybrids
Canada -TheCarConnection (USA), by Paul A. Eisenstein -16 Feb 2006: Ford of Canada says its production facilities will build the new Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX hybrid crossovers due by the end of the decade. The new vehicles will be assembled at Ford's plant in Oakville, Ont., where the standard gas-engined versions of the models are to be built this year for sale as 2007 models. The hybrid versions are expected to be on sale by 2010. Ford has committed to building 250,000 hybrids a year by that date...
* Peugeot Plans Diesel Hybrid for 2010
Paris,France -The Car Connection -16 Feb 2006: French company PSA Peugeot Citroen plans to use its leading position in diesel technology to produce a small car that will achieve an average fuel economy figure of 69 miles per US gallon while producing just 90 grams of CO2 per kilometer. PSA claims that these figures are 25% better than a comparable gasoline-engined hybrid, with a gain of up to 17 mpg over a combination of urban and freeway driving...
* Renault Betting on Brazil
Paris,France -The Car Connection -16 Feb 2006: The goals are production increases of 600,000 units yearly focused in operations outside Europe, increasing the operational margin to 6 percent and a competitive, top of the line model. As expected, he did not set plans for China, currently with excess capacity, and to the U.S. either, by classifying competition as brutal. For Brazil, he talked about five new models in less than three years: a Mégane II sedan and station wagon; Logan sedan, station wagon and an unnamed compact SUV. Following the trend, he said a development center at the State of Paraná plant will be set up to make better use of low technical capacity costs in the country and even to export designs...
* BMW revs up India output; Asia targets on track
Singapore,China -- Reuters/Automotive News / Feb 16, 2006: BMW expects to produce up to 2,000 vehicles in the first year after the launch of its Indian plant, and is on track to hit its target of selling 150,000 cars in Asia by 2008...
* Sticker safety rating to come standard in next year
WASHINGTON,DC,USA -The Washington Post, by Cindy Skrzycki -15 Feb 2006: Browsers will be able to check the window sticker to see how the vehicle did in federal crash tests... New car buyers will be seeing stars -- safety-rating stars -- in the not-too-distant future... Starting in September 2007, browsers on showroom floors will be able to check the window sticker to see how the vehicle did in federal crash tests, along with the more typical information already listed, such as price, fuel economy and equipment...
posted by Unknown @ 12:07 PM
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