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AUTOS' NEWS WORLDWIDE
* USA - Ford, Ghosn Chatting Up Alliance? - Bill Ford calls Carlos Ghosn, says sick brands and family control are in play
USA -TCC/Wall Street Journal/BusinessWeek Online -23 Aug 2006: -- A report Wednesday quoting anonymous sources said that Ford CEO Bill Ford recently called Renault/Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn to initiate talks about a possible alliance with the French-Japanese automaker... But in an interview with , CEO Ford didn't address the alleged phone call head on, but said: "We are no stranger to alliances, but I wouldn't want to comment on anything in the future..."
* France - Renault mum on report of Ford call to Ghosn
PARIS,France -Reuters/Wall Street Journal Europe -24 August 2006: -- Renault had no comment today on a report that Bill Ford had called its CEO Carlos Ghosn to explore possible cooperation... said Ford told Ghosn that if the Renault-Nissan alliance decided not to continue alliance talks with GM, Ghosn should talk to Ford Motor Co...
* USA - Ford Thinking of Going Private?
USA -TCC/USA Today-23 Aug 2006: -- Whether Ford will take itself private is another question entirely, one raised again on Tuesday... Some analysts have suggested the Ford family might be interested in taking the company private by buying out shareholders, in an effort to reduce the focus on the company's business dealings and financials... A source inside the company that said the Ford family was "willing to look at anything" to speed the company's restructuring along, which could include going private in a deal that could cost as little as $14 billion...
* USA - Ford in talks to sell luxury brands to Nasser-led group
Detroit,Mich,USA -Bloomberg News/The Detroit Free Press -August 25, 2006: -- Ford Motor Co. is in talks to sell some luxury-auto brands to an investment group led by former CEO Jacques Nasser, four people familiar with the discussions told... The discussions focus on Jaguar and Land Rover, said one of the people, who didn't want to be identified because the negotiations are private... The talks are with JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s One Equity Partners LLC, where Nasser is senior partner for mergers and acquisition...
* USA - Toyota Cutting New Products?
USA -TCC/ Wall Street Journal -23 Aug 2006: -- Toyota may be slowing down the number of new products it is developing in response to an increased number of recalls... The report says the slowdown might only equal six months or so in the company's product cycle, but would be a major acknowledgement that even the world's richest car company may be expanding too fast... The paper cites several major, recent recalls including those on Tundra pickups and the Prius hybrid as influencing the discussion at Toyota . Vehicle lines that could be affected include the Sienna minivan, Avalon sedan and Camry Solara coupe... Last year, Toyota recalled 2.38 million vehicles in the U.S. , or about 120,000 more than it sold in the year...
* UK - JCB interested in buying Jaguar
LONDON,UK -Reuters/Financial Times -23 Aug 2006: -- British construction machinery group JCB said today that it was interested in buying carmaker Jaguar from U.S. owner Ford Motor Co... A JCB spokeswoman confirmed a report in which said JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford would only want to buy Jaguar if Ford was prepared to split the loss-making carmaker from Land Rover...
* France - Renault sales drop in first seven months
PARIS,France -Reuters/La Tribune newspaper -23 Aug 2006: -- Car sales by French Renault dropped in the first seven months in main European markets, according to the La Tribune newspaper today...
* Russia - Peugeot-Citroen to build Russia car plant
MOSCOW,Russia -Reuters/Vedomosti newspaper -24 Aug 2006: -- French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen has decided to build a 200 million euro ($255 million) assembly plant in Russia because of booming demand for foreign cars, said today...
* Mexico - VW Mexico union agrees to end strike
MEXICO CITY,MEX -Reuters -24 Aug 2006: -- The union at Volkswagen's Mexico plant, which makes the popular New Beetle cars, has accepted a 5.5 percent pay and benefits package increase to end a strike that began last week, the Labor Ministry said today...
* Germany - Volkswagen in talks to sell casting plant
FRANKFURT/HANOVER,Germany -Reuters -24 Aug 2006: -- Volkswagen may sell a German casting plant, as part of a wider effort to cut costs, but no decision had been taken yet, the world's fourth-biggest carmaker said today...
* Germany - DaimlerChrysler to give execs only three-year terms
STUTTGART,Germany -Reuters -25 Aug 2006: -- DaimlerChrysler will in future give top executives only three-year contract extensions rather than its standard five-year deals, the German-American carmaker said today...
* Japan - Nissan may build plant in North America in 2008-09
TOKYO,Japan -Reuters/daily Nihon Keizai -25 Aug 2006: -- Nissan Motor Co. is considering building a factory in North America in 2008-09 or later, Japanese business daily reported today, citing an interview with the automaker's co-chairman Itaru Koeda. He said Nissan has not decided if it would set up a plant in the United States or Mexico...
* France - Renault, Peugeot H1 output in France fell
PARIS,France -Reuters -25 Aug 2006: -- French carmakers PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault suffered a slump in car production during the first half of the year, France's car industry association CCFA said that PSA Peugeot Citroen's total group production in France fell 14.5 percent... Renault's production fell 9.8 percent with the total output in France declining by 12.7 percent...
* Turkey - Tofas H1 profit hit by delayed tax
ISTANBUL,Turkey -Reuters -25 Aug 206: -- Turkish carmaker Tofas's first half net profit fell 65.9 percent year-on-year to 27.35 million lira ($18.5 million) due to delayed tax payments, the company said on Friday... Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a more modest 40 percent fall in net profit due to high interest and exchange rates...
* China - Toyota to recall 20,069 cars in
SHANGHAI,China -Reuters -25 Aug 2006: -- Toyota Motor Corp. will recall 20,069 locally made cars in China due to a faulty rubber seal used to fix the windscreen, China's quality watchdog said...
* China - SAIC agrees to buy Rover brand rights
SHANGHAI,China -Reuters -25 Aug 2006: -- Top Chinese carmaker SAIC Motor Corp. has reached agreement to buy the rights to the Rover brand from Germany's BMW, state media said today... The deal, reportedly worth 11 million pounds ($20.76 million), is subject to a decision by Ford Motor Co...
* Holland - Strong demand for Spyker super cars drives sales
AMSTERDAM,Holland -Reuters -25 Aug 2006: -- Loss-making Dutch sports car maker Spyker said it was cash-flow positive for the first time since its launch in 2000 on strong demand for its tailor-made super cars...
* USA - DCX factory plans stall - Automaker wants to close Van Horn Road in Trenton for plant that would create 700 jobs
Trenton, New Jersey,USA -The Detroit News (Detroit,Mich), by Doug Guthrie -August 26, 2006: -- New demands by DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group have delayed by at least two weeks a decision on where to locate an $800 million engine factory, prompting further negotiations on a $165 million tax incentive package and giving opponents more time to organize... City officials hoped to learn this week they'd landed a 1 million-square-foot V-6 engine factory that would create nearly 700 jobs next to the Trenton Engine plant, whose products will phase out around 2010...
* Japan - Toyota's 'human brain' detects rear collisions - President Katsuaki Watanabe said the company is working on several sophisticated computer-based safety systems
OYAMA, Japan -Associated Press -26 Aug 206: -- Cars equipped with the latest safety technology already warn drivers about oncoming cars... Now Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. says it has developed the world's first system for detecting rear-end collisions before they happen... A radar device is installed in the rear bumper to detect a vehicle approaching from behind... Sensors in the front headrests detect the position of the driver's and front passenger's heads, and shift the headrests' position to reduce the risk of whiplash injury, it said. Hazard lights also start flashing to warn the driver of a possible crash from behind... Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said Friday that a sophisticated computer like "a human brain" will be installed in the Lexus LS luxury model going on sale in Japan in September. It will control the latest safety features such as the rear-end pre-crash system...
* USA - Suzuki Ups Ad Budget; Aims for Sales Milestone - Still Trails Giants but Expects U.S. Units to Reach 100,000
DETROIT,Mich,USA -AdAge.com, by Jean Halliday -August 23, 2006: -- American Suzuki Motor Corp. is about to reach a milestone. For the first time since arriving on these shores in 1985, the automaker expects to sell 100,000 vehicles this year... Suzuki had been unable to reach even 50,000 in annual U.S. vehicle sales from 1989 through 1999. This year, though, it sold nearly 65,000 units through July, up 32% from last year...
* USA - 2009? GM Announces Future Clean Diesel for Trucks and SUVs
Detroit,Mich,USA -Edmunds.com/Inside Line (Santa Monica,CA) -25 Aug 2006: -- General Motors said it has developed a new "clean" turbodiesel for its future pickups and utility vehicles that will boost fuel economy by 25 percent... More importantly, the engine will also meet the tough new federal emissions standards that will be phased in starting in 2010... GM released few details on the new engine, a twin-cam V8 that will use a high-pressure common-rail fuel system, as well as a NOx after-treatment system with a diesel particulate filter to meet the emission-level regulations in all 50 U.S. states...
posted by Unknown @ 12:09 PM
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