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Oct 4, 2012

CARMAKERS NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Michigan / USA - Small cars fuel big sales gains in September. Industry on track for best year since 2007

Detroit,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Melissa Burden and Karl Henkel -October 3, 2012: -- The auto industry is on course to have its best U.S. car sales year since 2007... In the first nine months of the year, automakers sold 10.9 million vehicles in the U.S...  Industry analysts expect 2012 sales of around 14.4 million... September sales were up 12.8 percent from the same month a year ago, as buyers continued to snap up small cars... September sales were strongly dominated by demand for fuel-efficient cars as gas prices last month spiked above $4 a gallon in some areas of the country... GM, whose 210,245 sales marked its best September since 2008, said passenger car sales jumped 29 percent from the same month a year ago; sales of mini cars, small cars and compacts shot up a combined 97 percent... Ford's small cars posted their best sales total in a decade and were up 73 percent compared to last year... Chrysler, which posted its best September in five years, said its 200 midsize sedan set a September sales record, with sales up 13.5 percent. Its 300 flagship had its best September in five years, with sales jumping 7.1 percent...


* Australia - Sales of New Vehicle Acquisitions Up in September by 9%

Sydney,NSW,Australia -Internatinal Business Times, by Esther Tanquintic-Misa -October 4, 2012: -- Sales of newly purchased vehicles in Australia jumped 9 per cent in September, an indication that consumers prefer to spend their money on high-ticket yet essential items compared to lower-priced yet unnecessary items such as probably those sold in retail sales... Sales in sports utility and commercial vehicles led the latest figures released on Thursday by the VFACTS report of the Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. A total of 94,627 vehicle units were sold in September, compared to the 86,819 vehicle units sold in August... This marked the second month that Australia's automotive car industry recorded robust sales... Year on year, the report showed that sales of sport utility vehicles jumped 20.7 per cent. Sales of light commercial as well as heavy truck vehicles both enjoyed improved numbers, at 10.7 per cent and 12.4 per cent, respectively, compared to a year ago, on solid business investment scenario in Australia... Overall, new vehicle acquisition sales in Australia for the nine months of 2012 improved 9.4 per cent from a year ago, with running sales placed at 822,674 units...


* Germany - Mercedes-Benz Posts Sales Records in September And Q3 2012 

Stuttgart,Germany -Daimler (PR) -October 04, 2012: -- Mercedes-Benz has achieved a new sales record, both for the month of September and for the third quarter. The 123,358 units delivered during the month topped the September 2011 record by 2.0%... In total, the company sold 312,001 units in the third quarter (+1.1%). At 964,926 vehicles (+5%) delivered, sales of the brand were likewise at a new record high for the year to date... Sales are up again in Western Europe; strong growth particularly in UK... Mercedes-Benz is the premium brand with the highest number of new vehicle registrations in the U.S. and Germany in 2012... New models in high demand: B-Class, M-Class and GLK all post record sales in September...


* Germany - Luxury push targets GM, Toyota

(Photo by Remy de la Mauviniere / Associated Press: Volkswagen is counting on Porsche profits to fuel investment of vehicle development and factory upgrades to overtake Toyota and GM in sales) 
Wolfsburg,Germany -Bloomberg News/The Detroit News, by Christian Wuestner -October 4, 2012: -- Volkswagen AG's name translates as "People's Car" and the company traces its roots to a push by the Nazis to mobilize the masses. Today, it's counting on profit from cars for the world's elite to gain an edge in its pursuit of General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp... With the completion of its purchase of Porsche in August, VW controls an unrivaled slate of high-margin luxury nameplates including Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti. If Porsche profit, which started flowing into VW's books this quarter, had been included in the first half, luxury brands would have accounted for 54 percent of VW's earnings, up from 39 percent in 2007...


* California / USA - Toyota on Ford's heels in U.S. sales
Torrance,CAL,USA -The Detroit News, by Karl Henkel -October 4, 2012: -- Toyota Motor Co.'s is closing the gap between itself and Ford Motor Co. — the No. 2 automaker in U.S. sales — as it continues to rebound following last year's earthquake and tsunami... Ford edged Toyota in total sales in September by 3,066 units, the second-smallest monthly margin of victory for the Dearborn automaker over Toyota since Ford regained its No. 2 ranking in April 2010, according to data from TrueCar.com. However, Ford still holds a substantial edge over Toyota in total sales through September...



* Germany - Volkswagen cuts European sales target by 140,000 vehicles, report says

Frankfurt,Germany -Reuters/Autonews (UK) -5 Oct 2012: -- Volkswagen has cut its internal 2012 sales target for western Europe by up to 140,000 vehicles, a German daily said, citing the group's works council head... The estimate is lower than the 250,000 figure reported last month by Handelsblatt, which the company had denied. Handelsblatt said the company was also slashing its planned production capacity this year... Citing a copy of a VW internal capacity planning report, the daily said management board member Michael Macht, in charge of production, had estimated up to 9.4 million vehicles would be built this year, down from the previous estimate of 9.7 million vehicles... The figure includes those made by truck units MAN and Scania...


* Colorado / USA - Gov: States ready to buy 10,000 CNG cars 
Denver,COL,USA -The Detroit News, by By David Shepardson -4 Oct 2012:  --  Colorado Gov., John Hickenlooper said he expects a coalition of 22 states will agree to buy as many 10,000 vehicles annually that run on compressed natural gas — if U.S. automakers build them... He said 22 States have agreed to make a joint bid to buy CNG vehicles in order to spur production... And by building them at the assembly plant — not converting existing vehicles — the costs can be cut...


* Russia - Renault-Nissan to lift stake in AvtoVAZ to 50%

(Photo: The Renault-Nissan alliance and Russian Technologies state corporation will set up a joint venture company which will have a 74.5 percent stake in Russia's largest car maker AvtoVAZ) Moscow,Russia -Ria Novosti, by Colin Whitbread -September 28, 2012: -- Russian Technologies and Renault-Nissan have form a joint venture...Renault-Nissan and state corporation Russian Technologies announced they are to sign an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in AvtoVAZ and accelerate product launches and technology transfer to AutoVAZ, Russia's largest carmaker... Renault-Nissan will invest about US$750 million, and Russian Technologies will favorably restructure debt as they form the joint venture...  Renault-Nissan will get a majority stake in the joint venture, which will control AutoVAZ; transaction is expected to be complete in 2014...

* Brazil - Unveils fresh auto industry incentives

(Photo: A view of a Toyota plant in Indaiatuba, some 120 km northwest of Sao Paulo, in 2011)
Brasilia,Brazil-Agence France Presse/Yahoo News -4 Oct 2012: -- The Brazilian government on Thursday announced fresh tax incentives to spur carmakers to invest in innovative technology and more fuel efficient models...  The plan sets a 2016 target of 17.2 kilometers (11 miles) to the liter for gasoline and 11.9 kilometers to the liter for ethanol, a 12 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, Industry and Trade Minister, said...  Home to 194 million people, Brazil currently ranks as the world's fourth largest car market behind the United States, China and Japan...


 * Argentine - Total car sales down 10.8% 
Buenos Aires,Argentine -ADEFA (PR) -October 3, 2012: -- Automotive production in Argentine, in September, with three fewer working days, reached 68,726 units, representing a reduction of 13.7% compared to August... Total sales reached 65,661 units, down 10.8%. Exports totaled 39,982 vehicles, representing an increase of 11.5% compared to the previous month... 


 * Germany - Volkswagen may build new Golf in Mexico

(Photo: Mexican production of the new Golf, shown, could be central to VW's plans for growth in the U.S.) 
Wolfsburg,Germany -Automobilwoche, by Henning Krogh -October 4, 2012: -- Volkswagen favors using its factory in Puebla, Mexico, as another production site for the new Golf, CEO Martin Winterkorn said... The company will deal with the question of additional Golf production "in a matter of just a few weeks," Winterkorn told Automobilwoche... The seventh-generation Golf is expected to go on sale in the United States in 2014...

 
- STRIKES -

* South Africa - Auto Workers Win Raise 

(Photo from Agence France-Presse/Getty Images: Truck drivers strike in Cape Town on Thursday) 
Johannesburg,SA -The WSJ (USA), by Devon Maylie and Patrick Mcgrarty -October 4, 2012: -- Toyota Motor Corp.  agreed to raise wages at its South African plant following a three-day illegal strike, a move that ends a costly disruption for the Japanese auto maker and signals that walkouts are paying off for workers in the continent's largest economy... The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, which represents auto workers, said Toyota agreed on Thursday to increase hourly wages by 5.7% at its plant in Durban, where the company makes cars, trucks and minibuses...  Toyota said an agreement was reached to end the strike... The company said employees would return to work on Friday, and that it had lost 2,428 vehicles worth of production, about 14% of its monthly average, during the wildcat strike, which started Monday... The strike marked the first big work stoppage in South Africa's manufacturing sector...



  - AUTOS' RECALLS - 

* DC / USA - Recall Alert: 2012 Nissan Frontier, Pathfinder, Xterra 
Washington,DC,USA -The Car Connection, by Suzanne Kane -2 Oct 2012: -- Nissan is conducting a voluntary safety recall of certain 2012 model year Frontier, Pathfinder and Xterra two-wheel-drive vehicles for an issue with front-wheel hubs... A notice on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) site puts the number of vehicles potentially affected at 2,417. Affected vehicles were built at Nissan’s Smyrna, Tennessee, plant from June 19, 2012 through July 12, 2012...

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