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AUTOS' WORLD NEWS
* USA - Buyouts may top 40,000
Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Brett Clanton -June 24, 2006: -- In final day, more GM, Delphi workers come forward to take separation deals... Massive job-cutting efforts at General Motors Corp. and bankrupt Delphi Corp. got an eleventh-hour boost Friday thanks to a last-minute rush for the exits by workers signing up for cash buyouts or early retirement... The surge may have pushed the final tally at GM and Delphi higher than 40,000 workers, capping with a bang one of the biggest one-time downsizing events in the history of the U.S. auto industry...
* USA - The Fallout of Automotive Buyouts
To tens of thousands of workers, it's a wrenching decision. To their employers, it's much-needed cost-cutting. To their already depleted union, it's an exodus.
Washington,DC,USA -The Washington Post, by Sholnn Freeman -June 23, 2006: -- Baltimore autoworker Don Burks has made his decision. He plans to let today's buyout deadline pass and not take a $35,000 lump sum from General Motors Corp. in exchange for leaving his job for retirement after almost 38 years. Then again, nothing is definite...
* USA - Big Three rebuffed third time by Bush
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -22 June 2006: -- Mich. officials believe Republicans don't care about automakers after meeting delayed again... President Bush's planned meeting with the Big Three has been postponed a third time -- this time until July -- which may add to the perception Detroit's automakers are struggling to get their message heard by the White House... The automakers have been trying to meet with Bush to discuss soaring health-care costs, energy and trade issues. The Big Three have been waiting to follow the summit with an announcement about their commitment to producing more flexible fuel vehicles...
* USA - Nissan recalling Altima, Sentra sedans
WASHINGTON,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by Ken Thomas -June 22, 2006: -- Nissan North America Inc. said Thursday that it was recalling 97,000 Altima and Sentra vehicles after reports of excessive oil consumption and engine fires led the automaker to stop selling the vehicles... Nissan said some 2006 sedans with 2.5 liter engines could quickly consume oil, potentially damaging the engine and leading to engine fires...
* USA - Does Driving Green = Saving Green? Used hybrids holding their value - for now
USA -AutoWeek, by ARLENA SAWYERS -21 June 2006: -- May wholesale used-vehicle prices indicate that 2005 hybrids hold more of their value than their 2005 gasoline-powered twins, according to price data from Black Book, a wholesale price guide... Black Book Editor Ricky Beggs says the prices of hybrids are holding up well but notes that most of the vehicles are still fairly new... Automotive Lease Guide, of Santa Barbara, Calif., which sets residual standards for the industry, does not release residual information on hybrids...
* Japan - Trade surplus surges 35%, fueled by car exports to U.S.
Tokyo,Japan -The Japan Times On Line -June 23, 2006: -- Japan's trade surplus jumped 35.2 percent in May from a year ago to 384.9 billion yen, marking the first jump in 17 months on brisk auto exports to the United States, the Finance Ministry said Thursday...
* Portugal - GM to shut plant by Oct. 31 if no cuts
LISBOA,Portugal -Reuters -June 23, 2006: -- General Motors will shut its assembly plant in Portugal by Oct. 31 if talks with workers and the government do not lead to lower production costs... Workers at the Azambuja plant, which assembles Combo delivery vans, and the government convinced GM last week to wait five more weeks before making a decision to close the factory...
* USA - GM temporarily shuts Lordstown plant
USA -Automotive News(UK), by Robert Sherefkin -June 23, 2006: -- General Motors temporarily shut its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant Friday afternoon, citing a parts shortage -- the first time a GM assembly plant has closed for this reason in nearly four years...
* UK - Land Rover begins layoffs at Solihull by idling 500
UK -Automotive News, by Greg Migliore -June 23, 2006: -- About 500 employees at Land Rover's Solihull, England, plant were given their walking papers this week. The plant expects to lay off 1,290 employees this year... The Solihull plant is losing assembly of the redesigned Freelander to the Halewood plant near Liverpool. The vehicle is expected to be renamed the LR2 this fall. It will be built alongside the slow-selling Jaguar X-Type...
* France - Faurecia to cut 690 jobs
PARIS,France -Reuters -June 23, 2006: -- French car part maker Faurecia said on Friday it would cut 690 jobs in 2007-08 under a restructuring plan for its automotive seat frames division, which is facing a fall in volumes... Faurecia is majority-owned by PSA/Peugeot-Citroen...
* Germany - Karmann to open Poland plant
OSNABRUECK, Germany -Reuters -June 23, 2006: -- German coach builder Karmann will open a roof-assembly plant in Poland to save on labor costs, it said on Friday... CEO Bernd Lieberoth-Leden said, noting staff costs in Poland were around 80 percent lower than in Germany...
* China - Not the only solution to cut supply-chain costs
High logistics costs often rule out purchase of Chinese parts
VIENNA, Austria, on "Automotive News Europe Congress" -Automotive News, by Tony Lewin -June 22, 2006: -- China is not the only answer to reducing purchasing costs, said Bo Andersson, General Motors vice president in charge of global purchasing... Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union countries such as Ukraine also were also options for low-cost sourcing of parts... Ukraine is very good -- we've moved more business there than we have to China... Burma, Pakistan, Vietnam and Cambodia were also promising as potential countries for low-cost sourcing, Andersson told a panel on cost control in the industry...
* Europe - VW boss: automakers are burdened by regulation
VIENNA, Austria, on "Automotive News Europe Congress" -Automotive News, by Tony Lewin -June 22, 2006: -- Pischetsrieder says reluctance to change rules is an 'obstacle to business'... Volkswagen group Chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder said European automakers struggle to compete globally because they are burdened by too much regulation at home. Unreasonable regulations cause this lack of competitiveness...
* Japan - DaimlerChrysler to pay Mitsubishi $300 million for Smart pullout
TOKYO,Japan -Reuters/The Nihon Keizai daily -June 21, 2006: -- DaimlerChrysler AG will pay Mitsubishi Motors Corp. about $305 million (35 billion yen) as part of compensation for dropping production of the Smart four-seat model at the Japanese carmaker's Dutch plant... A Mitsubishi Motors spokesman said the partners were in the final stages of negotiating the deal, adding no concrete figures had been reached...
* China - Skoda to produce Superb, Fabia models in
SHANGHAI,China -Reuters -June 21, 2006: -- Czech car maker Skoda Auto, which expects to roll out its first model in China next year, will later add two new models, its parent said on Wednesday... Skoda will start making the popular Octavia sedan at Volkswagen AG's venture in Shanghai next year, the German automaker said in a statement... Two more models, the Superb and the Fabia, would subsequently also be produced at the same facility...
* China - DaimlerChrysler recalls 1,011 minivans in
SHANGHAI,China -Reuters -June 20, 2006: -- DaimlerChrysler AG will recall 1,011 imported minivans in China due to potential defects with oil pipes, China's quality watchdog said on Tuesday... The Mercedes-Benz Viano and Vito were produced between October 2003 and November 2005, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on its Web site...
* USA - Fire risk prompts Mercedes to recall SLR McLaren sports car
USA -Automotive News, by Dale Jewett -June 19, 2006: -- High underhood temperatures that could damage the alternator and cause a fire have prompted Mercedes-Benz USA LLC to recall SLR McLaren sports cars from the 2005 and 2006 model years... Mercedes-Benz said the recall covers 433 vehicles in the United States...
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