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AUTOS' NEWS WORLDWIDE
* Russian auto plants are 'Detroit North'ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -The Detroit News (Detroit,Mi,USA), by John McCormick-14 June 2006: -- With new $115 million assembly site, General Motors will join Ford, Nissan and Toyota... General Motors Corp. will spend $115 million to build its first assembly plant in Russia to bolster its presence in an auto market showing signs of vast growth potential... General Motors hopes to capture 10 percent of the Russian car market with vehicles to be built in a new plant in Shushary... Russians and their cars according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Russia has about 157 cars per 1,000 people -- on par with Argentina but far below the Polish figure of 250... (Photo right: Cars to be made in Russian plants)
* Canada - Oshawa plan could save thousands of GM jobs
Canada - Globe and Mail, by GREG KEENAN -June 15, 2006: -- General Motors Corp. is close to approving a massive revamp of its Oshawa, Ont., operations that could save thousands of jobs and make it the key source of rear-wheel-drive vehicles for several of its divisions... The $400-million GM investment would transform its two Oshawa car plants into one leading-edge flexible plant...
* USA - Ford's real plan
DEARBORN.Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Bryce G. Hoffman -June 15, 2006: -- Mexican factory will produce a subcompact b-cars; high-efficiency southern facility will build c-car sedans.. Ford Motor Co. has struck a deal with the Mexican government to build a factory south of the border, according to sources familiar with the plan, but the automaker also is planning to build a super-efficient and flexible plant in the southern United States in cooperation with the United Auto Workers union...
* Ford investigates leak to press
DEARBORN.Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Bryce G. Hoffman -June 15, 2006: -- Officials say internal report on Mexico venture was released to humiliate Fields and Gettelfinger... Ford Motor Co. is investigating how an internal document outlining a proposal for investment in Mexico was leaked to a newspaper this week, according to people familiar with the situation... Company insiders and outside observers said the document appears to have been timed to embarrass Mark Fields, president of Ford's Americas group, and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger... "The drama here is really amazing," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor...
* Ford reforms go faster than expected
WASHINGTON,DC,USA -USA Today -14 June 2006: -- Ford Motor is making faster-than-expected progress in reducing its hourly workforce as part of a restructuring, a senior company official said... With U.S. automakers losing market share mainly to Asian rivals, Ford announced a North American restructuring in November that includes plans to idle 14 plants and cut up to 30,000 jobs... Mark Fields, Ford's president for the Americas and the executive overseeing the auto giant's North American restructuring said, Ford has completed its 10% reduction in costs for salaried workers and is moving "faster than expected" on hourly reductions... Ford hopes to save at least $6 billion and end a loss in U.S. market share to foreign rivals. Ford's year-to-date market share at the end of May stood at 17.5%, off 3.1% compared with last year...
* St. Paul Ford plant to close for all of July
St.Paul MI,USA -Star Tribune, by Dee DePass -June 14, 2006: -- Ford changes plans for St. Paul layoffs. Move postponed by plant will be idle in July... The 182 Ford workers who expected to be permanently laid off next month from the St. Paul plant were tossed a curveball Wednesday... Ford Motor Co. said it would postpone the layoffs and close the plant for all of July, affecting all 1,739 union members...
* UK - Lotus develops heavy duty diesel engine
UK -Auto Industry -14 June 2006: -- New Group Lotus chief executive Michael Kimberley says Lotus Cars expects to sell something over 4,200 cars this year, having built 5,053 last year and 3,212 in 2003... Besides strengthening its dealer networks and marketing activity in key export markets including the US and Germany, Kimberley is pursuing growth through third-party contracts for Lotus Engineering – including a truck diesel engine featuring a function whereby cylinders not needed for direct power can serve as compressors for a turbo...
* USA - J.D. Power Quality Survey: Tech Takes a Beating
USA -Techno Ride, by Bill Howard -June 8, 2006: -- And the almost-last shall be first: Porsche jumped from thirty-second to first place, in the annual J.D. Power & Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS)... This is the 20th iteration of the study, which measures problems in the first 90 days of car ownership. This year, it also measures new-owner concerns with practical design touches—not whether the car looks good, but whether the cupholders are in the right place and whether the CD changer is hard to reach... Unfortunately, some cars with mega-doses of new technology didn't fare so well. Most notably, although BMW was close to the best in a less-published breakout covering physical defects per 100 cars built, the poster child for cockpit controllers gone awry plummeted from third to thirty-second, because of apparent concerns with cockpit controls. Some automakers whose cars we named to the recent Digital Drive Award top ten, finished in these slots: 4 (Toyota), 6 (Honda), 7 (Cadillac), 10 (Acura), 18 (Audi), 20 (Pontiac), 25 (Mercedes-Benz), and 28 (BMW). Lexus also is tech-heavy, though, and it finished second this year, after a string of first-place finishes...
UK -just-auto.com -15 June 2006: -- A senior executive of global corporate advisory firm AlixPartners has said that no less than 38% of all automotive suppliers in North America are in "fiscal danger," meaning that they could face insolvency within 24 months or less unless they take urgent counteractive measures...
* USA - MB & DaimlerChrysler Sued for World's Most Expensive 'Broken' Production Car
LOS ANGELES,CAL,USA -PRNewswire/Auto News -June 14, 2006: -- When Los Angeles car dealer Mark Johnston forked over $1.7 million to buy one of only five special Mercedes Benz roadsters produced in the world, he could not have predicted the ongoing struggle just to get the car to work. Indeed, he and his brother couldn't get it to travel more than ten blocks. Frustrated with his failed efforts to obtain customer satisfaction, Mr. Johnston has filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking a full refund from the manufacturer and its affiliates... The defendants named in the suit are DaimlerChrysler AG, along with Mercedes-Benz USA, Mercedes-AMG GmbH and H.W.A. GmbH. Mercedes-Benz USA and Mercedes-AMG are subsidiaries of DaimlerChrysler; H.W.A. has been affiliated with DaimlerChrysler in the design and production of rare automobiles for many years... Mr. Johnston's suit, accuses the defendants of breaching their contractual and warranty obligations to provide a defect-free car, in this case a Mercedes AMG CLK-GTR Limited Edition Roadster, which Mr. Johnston intended to sell through his dealership. The complaint also alleges negligent misrepresentation and breach of the implied warranty of good faith and fair dealing. Mr. Johnston seeks full reimbursement of the vehicle's purchase price, along with the other costs incurred as a result of attempts to repair it...
* USA - Quantum Delivers Hydrogen Hybrid Vehicles to Santa Monica
IRVINE, Calif.,USA -PRNewswire/Auto News -June 15, 2006: -- Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc., today announced the delivery of five hydrogen-fueled Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles to the City of Santa Monica, California... This is part of the South Coast Air Quality Management District's (AQMD) program to develop and demonstrate 30 hydrogen hybrid vehicles in Southern California fleets. The formal delivery will take place during a ceremony to be held today at Santa Monica's City Yards, the location of the newest hydrogen station in the AQMD's hydrogen infrastructure demonstration program...
* Japan - Toyota goes for hybrid motor
United Arab Emirates -UPI/ameinfo -15 June 2006: -- Japan's Toyota Motor Corp is developing a low-cost gas-electric hybrid system for small cars... The system will be capable of being recharged from a household power source and will be simpler, smaller and less expensive than current hybrid motors...
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