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Jul 4, 2013

* AUTOS RECALLS: Chrysler do it with more vehicles

* Michigan / USA - Chrysler issues five recalls for 840,000 vehicles

(Photo from Chrysler: The 2012 Chrysler 200) 
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -July 3, 2013: -- Chrysler Group LLC said Wednesday it is issuing five new recall campaigns covering about 840,000 vehicles, including 490,000 cars and SUVs worldwide to fix defective electronics in head restraints... Those latest announcements raise the total number of separate recall campaigns to 12 — involving nearly 3.3 million vehicles — that the Auburn Hills automaker has issued since early June, when it mounted a public fight with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over fire risks in older Jeep SUVs. By contrast, Chrysler recalled 1.3 million vehicles in 13 campaigns for all of 2012... Four of the recalls cover electronic issues... The largest addresses problems with active head restraints, which are designed to reduce or prevent neck injuries by automatically moving forward during certain rear-impact collisions. Potentially faulty microcontrollers in some vehicles may prevent the systems from functioning properly. The automaker has eight reports of problems...


* Ottawa / Canada - Chrysler fixing 230,000 Jeep SUVs in

(Photo: 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee)
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -July 2, 2013: -- Chrysler Group LLC has agreed to extend its fix of older Jeep SUVs, to mitigate fire risks, to its customers around the world... The Auburn Hills automaker said it will install trailer assembly hitches on up to 167,318 1992-1998 Jeep Grand Cherokees and 2002-07 Jeep Libertys in Canada. A related customer service campaign in Canada is being extended to 62,760 1999-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees SUVs, according to documents posted on Transport Canada, the Canadian government auto safety arm... American safety regulators say the SUVs are prone to fire risks caused by gas tanks that can rupture and catch fire in rear-end collisions. The U.S. government blames such collisions for the deaths of at least 51 people driving Jeep SUVs...


* DC / USA - Advocates want feds to crash-test Jeeps

(Photo by Molly Riley/AP: Clarence Ditlow, head of the Center for Automotive Safety, describes part of the fuel system of a Jeep used in a crash test) Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -July 1, 2013: -- An Indiana woman who was badly burned when her 2000 Jeep Cherokee was rear-ended made a tearful plea on Monday to top auto safety officials to do more to prevent gas tank fires in older Jeep SUVs... Ana Maria Pina, 37, was driving on a highway near Valparaiso, Ind., in January 2012 behind a funeral procession. When it slowed, her SUV was struck from behind at high speed. Gasoline leaking from the Jeep caught fire. Pina suffered severe burns to nearly 40 percent of her body and still has disfiguring scars and lasting pain. Her twin 6-year-olds were in the SUV at the time of the crash; one was burned and hospitalized for about a month... Pina was in a coma for three months. She lost custody of her children to her ex-husband in Florida during her hospital stay. Pina was a waitress who wanted to be a chef. Now she is permanently disabled; her house is set to be sold at a sheriff’s sale July 18, said her attorney Ines Murphy... Pina, along with former NHTSA Administrator, Joan Claybrook, and Center for Auto Safety head, Clarence Ditlow, were among those who met Monday with NHTSA Administrator, David Strickland, and a half-dozen senior officials. They urged the safety agency to insist that Chrysler do more than install trailer hitch assemblies on some older SUVs in order to protect the gas tank, which is located behind the rear axle. They want the vehicles crash-tested with the protective trailer hitches... NHTSA says the gas tank can rupture and catch fire when the Jeeps are hit from behind. NHTSA cites reports of 51 deaths in rear-end accidents in which older Jeep gas tanks leaked and caught fire...
* DC / USA - U.S. investigating 343,000 Honda minivans for brake problems 
(Photo: 2007 Honda Odyssey EX) 
Washington, DC,USa -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -June 29, 2013: -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is opening an investigation into nearly 350,000 Honda minivans over reports the vehicles have suddenly applied the brakes by itself while being driven -- causing speeds to drop as much as 30 miles per hour... NHTSA said it is opening a preliminary investigation into 343,993 2007-2008 Honda Odyssey minivans after it received 22 complaints of incidents of unexpected braking. Some complaints allege that the vehicle suddenly applies the brakes by itself while the accelerator was being applied, causing the vehicle speed to drop by as much as 30 mph in a very brief amount of time... NHTSA said five complaints reported that the repairing dealer found a trouble code indicating a problem with the steering angle sensor. Ten complaints report that the dealer was unable to find a trouble code or to diagnose the problem. There are no reports of crashes or injuries related to the issue...


* Japan - Toyota recalling 185,000 vehicles globally

(Photo) 
Tolyo,Japan -Associated Press/The Detroit News (USA) -July 3, 2013: -- Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 185,000 vehicles globally, mostly in Japan and Europe, for a glitch in the power steering. No accidents have been reported related to this problem... Toyota spokesman, Brian Lyons, says the recall reported Wednesday covers 123,000 vehicles in Japan, including the Vitz compact, and 46,000 vehicles in Europe, including the Yaris, all produced between August 2010 and March 2012... It also covers 11,000 Subaru Trezia vehicles produced under an OEM deal, all in Japan, he said... The problem can short circuit the power steering, causing a warning lamp go on and a buzzer to go off. It can also suspend power-steering assistance, so the driver needs to work harder to steer, according to Toyota...


* South Korea - Hyundai ordered to pay $14 million for airbag flaw: Are you at risk?

(Photo: 2008 Hyundai Tiburon) 
-The Car Connection, by Richard Read -Jul 2, 2013: -- For the second time in a year, South Korean automaker Hyundai has been accused of using flawed airbag systems. Last fall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the 2011-2013 Elantra after a driver suffered severe lacerations when a dodgy side airbag deployed. And yesterday, a jury awarded a Virginia man $14 million after determining that the side airbag system in his 2008 Hyundai Tiburon was defective...

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posted by Unknown @ 4:44 AM  0 comments

Mar 20, 2012

AUTOMAKERS NEWS * WORLDWIDE

OPINION * UK - We need to re-charge the electric car market

(Photo from Inhabitat: Solar Powered Blue Car, designer Pininfarina and French battery manufacturer Bolloré)
Nuremberg,Germany -GfK Automotive/AutomotiveWorld, by Francisco Lopez -March 19, 2012: -- 2011, the year of the electric car that never was. It started so promisingly: Denmark offered tax exclusions for EVs, while governments in the UK, Spain and Sweden offered subsidies. Across the continent, brands spent heavily on marketing, promoting their green credentials as well as their vehicles. And then... nothing... In the first half of last year - the last period for which figures are available - just 5,222 electric cars were sold in Europe. And in the UK, just over 1,000 EVs were sold by the year's end - a tiny fraction of a parc of almost 30 million vehicles. As a consequence, all involved have begun to revisit sales forecasts and significantly downgrade EV production plans. So is the EV a write-off before it's even charged up? ... The factors preventing the average Briton from replacing the family car with an EV will come as little surprise - price, range of travel, scarcity of charging stations and so on. Interesting, however, was the significant lack of awareness and misguided understanding among consumers - many underestimate the cost, for example, placing it as equal to, or less than that of a petrol car, when in reality it's quite the opposite. Many also misjudge the charging time and the range of travel on a single charge... Worryingly for manufacturers, at present, it is the consumers with the least realistic expectations of EVs who said they'd be most likely to buy one... Our key conclusion from this research is that the mass market approach taken by the government and manufacturers to date simply isn't going to work, nor is trying to instil the belief that an electric vehicle can completely take the place of a petrol car any time soon... Affluent Greens account for 10% of all UK motorists. Targeting this group could lead to a quadrupling of EV sales in the short term...


* China - Dongfeng Honda recalls cars with faulty horns
- Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co. will recall nearly 460,000 multi-purpose passenger cars and sedans due to horn defects, China's top quality watchdog said Wednesday... The joint-venture company will start the recall on April 30, according to a statement posted on the website of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine... The statement said that the defects may cause horns not to sound properly when used, which could affect driving safety, the news agency reported... Read more

* Italy - Fiat output in Italy at a halt over lorry strike
- All five of Fiat's car factories in Italy are shut and are likely to remain so over the weekend due to a lorry driver strike which threatens heavy losses, a company spokesman told AFP... Lorry drivers walked out repeatedly in January and February and Fiat's factories ground to a halt on January 24 as a result of nationwide strike action launched by drivers against a new government tax that has increased fuel prices... Read more

* Kia Motors says to suspend U.S. plant; shares drop
- Kia Motors Corporation said on Monday that it would suspend production at its U.S. plant on Monday and Tuesday, after media reported said a fire broke out at a parts supplier... Read more

* China - Great Wall Motor net profit raises
- Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. reported a net profit of CNY 3.43 billion for 2011, a 26.8% year-on-year increase; its operating income was CNY 30.08 billion (U$S 4,75 M), a 30.9% year-on-year increase... Read more

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posted by Unknown @ 6:41 AM  0 comments

Mar 16, 2012

AUTOMAKERS NEWS * USA

* Obama rips Republicans for 'liking gas guzzlers'
- President Obama argues Thursday that the long-term solution to higher gas prices is more gasoline production and more fuel-efficient vehicles. He said his Republican opponents support fuel-hogging SUVs — and ridiculed their opposition to boosting fuel efficiency standards. Obama said the long-term solution includes more gasoline production and more fuel-efficient vehicles... Read more

* Biden denounces GOP opposition to auto bailout
- Vice President ,Joe Biden, offered the Obama administration's toughest critique of Republican opposition to the $85 billion auto bailout, saying Thursday GOP rivals were willing to turn their backs on hundreds of thousands of workers. Biden forcefully rebutted two arguments advanced by opponents of the bailouts that saved General Motors and Chrysler — that it was a giveaway to the UAW and that the private sector could have saved the companies... Read more

* Ford: 1,700 workers take early retirement offer
- About 1,700 Ford Motor Co's workers accepted early retirement offers and most of them will leave the No. 2 U.S. automaker by June 1. Ford offered $50,000 to eligible production workers who retired by March 31, 2012. The company also offered a $100,000 bonus for skilled trade workers who retired by that date. By reducing the number of older workers on their payroll, Ford, General Motors Co and Chrysler Group LLC is creating room to hire new workers at lower wages... Read more

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posted by Unknown @ 5:43 PM  0 comments

Mar 14, 2012

AUTO & TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* France - Peugeot Sevelnord jobs 'not assured' amid GM deal

Paris,France -AFP/Vietnam Investment Review -Mar 06, 2012: -- French auto manufacturer Peugeot has no guarantees on jobs at its Sevelnord plant after announcing an alliance with US giant General Motors, Industry Minister, Eric Besson, said on Monday... Besson told in an interview that during discussions with the head of PSA Peugeot Citroen, Philippe Varin, Varin had underscored the group's intention to reaffirm its industrial base in France... Besson subsequently told AFP he was speaking specifically about the Sevelnord auto plant near Valenciennes, northern France, and not about PSA plants in general...


* USA - Lexus Again Tops J.D. Power And Associates Customer Service Index

Thousand Oaks,CAL,USA -The Car Connection, by Kurt Ernst -Mar 14, 2012: -- For the fourth consecutive year, Lexus (the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Toyota), has topped all other luxury brands on the the J.D. Power and Associates Customer Service Index (CSI) survey, achieving an overall score of 861 on a 1,000 point scale. Not only is that well above the segment average, but it reflects the highest score in the survey, across all industry segments... The 2012 CSI study compiles data from both owners and lessees of 2007 to 2011 model year vehicles, to determine their overall satisfaction with the dealer service experience. Among luxury brands, Lexus out-performed second-place Cadillac (who scored 852) and easily beat the luxury segment average of 835 points...




* China February Auto Sales Up 24.5%
- China Association of Automobile Manufacturers declared Friday, March 9th March that China auto sales rose 24.5% year-on-year to reach 1.57 million units in February this year. February saw total sales of 1.21 million sedans, sport utility vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles sold in China... Read more

* Electric Vehicles 

* First production Coda Sedan rolls off the line
- Just days, after receiving its official EPA numbers the first Sedan from Coda Automotive has rolled off the line at the company's facility in Benicia, CA. The first Sedans will come with a 31-kWh battery pack and are priced (before rebates) at $37,250, a figure that Coda says makes it the least expensive electric vehicle per mile of range available today... Read more

* AMP Electric Vehicles Qualify for Federal Tax Credit
- AMP joins list of plug-in electric drive motor vehicle manufacturers, including Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, Tesla, Toyota, and 13 EV manufacturers in all, qualifying purchasers for $7,500 tax credit when purchasing an AMP Electric Vehicle... Read more

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posted by Unknown @ 5:50 AM  0 comments

Mar 13, 2012

AUTO & TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Sweden - Volvo V40 Comes With An Airbag For Pedestrians

(Video from Youtube, by mashable -8 March 2012: Volvo has invented a new type of airbag that is not meant for the driver. Instead, it rests under the hood and deploys when the car comes in contact with a pedestrian)
Gothenburg,Sweden -The Car Connection, by Richard Read -Mar 12, 2012:   -- The Volvo V40 that just debuted at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show won't be coming to America, but one of its technology components might make the trip... The snazzy five-door hatch will arrive in Europe with a special airbag just for pedestrians. Perhaps more than any other automaker, Volvo has worked to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries... When the V40's bumper detects that a pedestrian has been hit, the pedestrian airbag deploys from beneath the hood of the car, covering a substantial portion of the windshield. The device is constructed in a U-shape so the driver can maintain sight of the road and bring the vehicle to a complete stop...

* Briefing News

* VW Chairman Piech nominated for new term
- Ferdinand Piëch, the supervisory board chairman of Volkswagen AG, has been nominated for a third five-year term, and his wife Ursula also has been proposed as a candidate for a board seat, the company said Monday. Read more

* Audi in Talks to Buy Ducati
- Audi AG, Volkswagen AG's luxury unit, is in talks to buy Ducati Motor Holding SpA, the storied Italian motorbike company from its private equity owner, Investindustrial Holdings Ltd., London. Ingoldstadt, Germany-based Audi and Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen hope to challenge against arch competitor BMW in the superbike category, and one strategy would be to purchase Ducati... Read more

* Volkswagen and DRB-HICOM officially start vehicle production in Malaysia
- The Volkswagen Group officially started production of the Volkswagen Passat on a SKD basis in Pekan. Volkswagen and DRB-HICOM also laid the foundation stone for a new production hall on the plant in Pekan. In the second stage, two additional models, the Volkswagen Jetta and Polo, are to be produced here on a CKD basis for the Malaysian market... Read more

* JLR add 1,000 jobs at Evoque plant (UK)
- Final checks on an export LHD Evoque; the new entry-level Range Rover's success is behind the workforce expansion. Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is adding 1,000 jobs at its Freelander and Evoque factory at Halewood, near Liverpool in England... Read more

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posted by Unknown @ 5:35 AM  0 comments

Mar 12, 2012

AUTO & TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA

* Automakers roll out in-car app technology to attract younger customers

(Photo by Elizabeth Conley/The Detroit News: -- Matt Highstrom, a designer, explains the CUE system to journalist during media preview dayof the 2012 North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center in Detroit)
Geneva,Swiss —The Detroit News/Associated Press, by Frank Jordans -March 11, 2012: -- Forget texting at the wheel: Automakers want you to be able to check Facebook, listen to Internet radio and book a table online, while live traffic information displays the least congested route to your destination...  Envious of the booming market for mobile phone applications, manufacturers such as Ford and Mercedes used the Geneva Motor Show to unveil their latest efforts to attract younger customers for whom smartphones are more appealing than Smart cars...  Ford is rolling out its SYNC system to European drivers this year, starting with the new B-Max family car. SYNC — already available in North America — lets drivers control their phone with voice commands, have a computer read out text and Twitter messages, or stream music through the car speakers...

* Briefing News

* Trenton Chrysler workers back fixed shifts
- UAW local at Chrysler plant eliminates rotating day-night schedules. Hourly workers at Chrysler Group LLC's Trenton Engine Plant voted Sunday to change a controversial rotating shift schedule that some workers complained had left them exhausted and that sent at least one worker to the hospital. The plant currently runs what's called a "3/2/120" rotation, in which three crews work two shifts for a total of 120 hours a week. Workers have been assigned to day shifts one week and nights the next, and a mix of days and nights the following week... Read more

* RECALLS - Feds investigate 360,000 Ford Taurus vehicles
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Sunday said it's opening a preliminary investigation into 360,000 2005-2006 Ford Taurus sedans over complaints of stuck throttles because of cruise control cable detachment. NHTSA said it is has received 14 complaints from Taurus owners that said the engine revved as high as 4,000 RPMs after shifting into park or neutral... Read more

* Carmakers to feds: Target all electronic devices
- Automakers told federal regulators they should crack down on electronic devices, such as smartphones, that are brought into cars. They say that focusing on vehicles alone won’t solve the problem. Read more

* Visteon sells automotive lighting unit for $92 million
- Auto parts maker Visteon Corp. is selling its automotive lighting business to Indian automotive parts supplier Varroc Group for $92 million. Read more

* NHTSA closes safety probes into VW Passat, GM medium-duty trucks
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is closing two investigations, including one into more than 325,000 Volkswagen Passat sedans over fire risks. Read more

* Ford Ranger History
- You're looking at the definition of tenacity: years after many folks in the auto industry predicted its demise, the Ford Ranger soldiered on in the company's truck lineup, the junior partner to Ford's massively popular F-150 lineup. It's finally gone--maybe--but not without a fight. Ford ended production of the Ranger with the 2011 model year. A replacement for other world markets is coming, but plans for a new U.S. Ranger haven't been confirmed... Read more

* Electric Vehicles International Wins GSA Approval to Supply US Government and Military- Electric Vehicles International (EVI) announced today it has been awarded a U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule, making it possible for federal agencies and military forces to purchase the company's vehicles. Under solicitation, four EVI models of medium-duty all-electric trucks and vans have been approved for government purchase, giving EVI the most comprehensive GSA-approved portfolio of all-electric, medium-duty vehicles. Read more

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posted by Unknown @ 5:41 AM  0 comments

Jun 20, 2009

AUTOMAKERS' WORLDWIDE * Germany: Rumor Of The Day ...

... Or Not: Daimler To Buy Porsche To Buy VW

Sttugart,Germany -Manager Magazin, by Bertel Schmitt -June 20, 2009: -- On Friday evening, a wild rumor whirred via the wires. It started at Germany’s usually well informed Manager Magazin, then spread to Reuters and Bloomberg: Daimler may be taking a stake in its Stuttgart neighbor Porsche. Through Porsche, Daimler would own a part of Volkswagen... According to Manager Magazin, Daimler’s Zetsche and Porsche’s Wiedeking had negotiations since May. Not surprisingly so. In the same May, it had become very apparent that Porsche was unable to finalize the Volkswagen takeover... The matter turned into a billion Euro soap opera. Wiedeking talked to anybody who may have money, the Sheikh of Qatar, and why not Daimler, they live next door... Anyway, “an industry source told Reuters that the report should be taken seriously”... Didn’t someone say that the industry has to consolidate? Sell Opel to Russia (or if all fails, to China,) create a Volksporschedaimler (owned by Austrians and Saudis,) and if BMW doesn’t come on board, NSFW them. Sounds boring and benign compared to what else is happening in the car world. Anyway, Porsche and Daimler go a long ways back. About 100 years... (Picture courtesy flickr.com: Austro Daimler revisited? )

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posted by Unknown @ 2:13 PM  0 comments

May 16, 2007

AUTOMAKERS' NEWS * USA - After Pact to Shed Chrysler, DaimlerTurns Focus to Other Challenges

After nearly a decade of trying to be both German and American, DaimlerChrysler AG is going back to its roots, starting with its new name: Daimler AG

New York,NY,USA -The New York Times, by STEPHEN POWER -May 15, 2007: -- With its decision to reduce its stake in Chrysler to just under 20%, the Stuttgart, Germany, company is giving up its ambitions of being a car maker present in every segment of the market. DaimlerChrysler sells 4.7 million vehicles a year, making it the world's fifth-biggest car maker in sales volume. Without Chrysler, Daimler's sales will fall to around 2.1 million, less than those of France's Renault SA -- the world's No. 10 auto maker in terms of vehicle sales... A leaner Daimler will aim to emulate the success of its smaller, longtime rival BMW AG -- a feat many industry analysts think is achievable given the strength of Daimler's premium Mercedes brand. BMW has posted strong results since selling its mass-market Rover car unit in 2000 and concentrating on its premium-car business, including the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands... "With Chrysler leaving the group, the risk profile of this entire company is going to be much more favorable," says Michael Raab, an analyst with Sal. Oppenheim in Frankfurt... Not all industry analysts are equally enthusiastic about Daimler's prospects without Chrysler. Mark Warnsman of Prudential Equity Group LLC in New York says the company should follow Toyota's model for success with its premium Lexus brand. Lexus's design and manufacturing operations are tightly integrated with those of Toyota's mass-market car business, allowing both sides to save money and develop products more quickly... "As painful as it may be for the Mercedes purists to accept, Mercedes is going to need Chrysler," Mr. Warnsman said in a research note earlier this year...

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posted by Unknown @ 11:42 AM  0 comments

May 14, 2007

AUTOMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Cerberus wins bid for Chrysler

Announcement of deal could come today

Auburn Hills,Mich,USA -The Detroit News (Detroits,Mich), by Bill Vlasic & Josee Valcourt -14 May 2007: -- Cerberus Capital Management has won an intense bidding war to buy DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group in what would be a landmark acquisition of a major automaker by a private-equity firm, according to people close to the sale process... DaimlerChrysler is said to have chosen Cerberus over bids by rival private-equity giant Blackstone Group and Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc... The sale agreement with Cerberus is expected to be contingent on final terms to be negotiated with DaimlerChrysler...

What we know
* The deal: Terms were not clear Sunday, but DCX is expected to retain a stake in Chrysler and transfer responsibility for its huge health care and pension costs to the new, privately owned Chrysler.

* The key players:

- Dieter Zetsche: The former Chrysler CEO stunned the auto industry in February when he said all options were on the table for Chrysler, including a sale.


- Tom LaSorda: After more than 20 years at GM, LaSorda moved to Chrysler in 2000 and replaced Zetsche as CEO in September 2005. He is expected to remain Chrysler's top executive.

- Wolfgang Bernhard: Chrysler's former chief operating officer is expected to get a senior board position in Chrysler's new corporate structure.

- Ron Gettelfinger: Cerberus is likely to face strong opposition from the UAW president, who has criticized private equity firms for "stripping and flipping" the assets of troubled companies.


No sale price was immediately known... (Photo by Bill Pugliano / Getty Images -The Chrysler Group headquarters in Auburn Hills soon could belong to Cerberus Capital Management. DaimlerChrysler is said to have chosen the private-equity firm over bids by rivals Blackstone Group and Magna International)
* Germany - The new Daimler AG
Germany -just-auto.com (UK -subscription) -14 May 2007: -- Following the sale of Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler has announced that the name of DaimlerChrysler AG is to be changed to Daimler AG... A decision on this is to be taken by the shareholders at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting probably in autumn 2007...

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posted by Unknown @ 1:54 PM  0 comments

May 10, 2007

AUTOMAKERS' NEWS * Canada - Magna Chairman Confirms an Offer for Chrysler

Ottawa,CAN -The NY Times (NY,USA), by IAN AUSTEN -May 10, 2007: -- Frank Stronach, the chairman of the auto parts maker Magna International, confirmed Wednesday that his company and Onex, a Canadian investment company, have made a bid for Chrysler, the struggling American unit of DaimlerChrysler... Speaking to reporters after the meeting of a horse racing and gambling company that he indirectly controls, Mr. Stronach said: “Financially, we have a very viable concept. We have major banks lined up”... He did not say how much the partnership’s bid was worth, but whatever its value, it would not require Magna to take on debt...

* Canada - Russian industrial firm to buy $1.5 billion stake in Magna
Toronto,ONT,CAN -AP/The Detroit News (Detroit,Mich,USA) -May 10, 2007- A Russian industrial conglomerate will invest $1.54 billion in Canadian auto parts supplier Magna International Inc., raising speculation that the company is generating cash for a bid to buy Chrysler Group... Magna, just hours before the start of its annual shareholders meeting, said that Russian Machines, a unit of privately held Russian industrial conglomerate Basic Element, would make the investment by indirectly acquiring 20 million Class A Subordinate Voting Shares of Magna... Magna said it will use the investment to boost its efforts in Russian and other automotive markets... But Rich Morrow, an analyst with Jennings Capital Inc. in Toronto who follows Aurora, Ontario-based Magna, said it's likely the company is raising money for its bid to buy the struggling U.S. arm of DaimlerChrysler AG...

* USA - Ford, Dow and Magna hold annual meetings today
Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News -May 10, 2007: -- Two major Michigan companies and a Canadian auto supplier bidding for a stake in Chrysler Group will separately hold their annual meetings with shareholders today...
*Ford Motor Co.'s meeting, held in Wilmington, Del., begins at 8:30 a.m. It's the first mass encounter with shareholders for new CEO Alan Morally, who joined the automaker in September.
*Dow Chemical Co. will host shareholders at the Midland Center for the Arts in Midland, beginning at 10 a.m.
*Aurora, Ont.-based Magna International Inc., which is in talks about purchasing a large stake in DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, also meets at 10 a.m., in Toronto...

* USA - Bill Ford to shareholders: Mulally's 'off to a great start'
Wilmington, Del,USA -The Detroit News (Detroit,Mich) -May 10, 2007: -- Ford Motor Co.'s annual meeting of shareholders got underway promptly this morning in a ballroom of the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Del... Chairman Bill Ford Jr., opened the meeting with a statement of support for CEO Alan Mulally, who joined the auto maker in September... "He's off to a great start," Bill Ford said. "He's exactly who we need to lead us through this turnaround"...

* USA - Ford family unity tested - Heirs reject hiring Wall Street adviser at tense meeting over what to do about ailing automaker's future
Dearborn,Mich,USA -The Detroit News (Detroit,Mich), by Bill Vlasic and Bryce G. Hoffman -May 08, 2007: -- With the Ford Motor Co. mired in a dangerous decline, Ford family members gathered April 21 for a critical meeting on the company's future and their role as controlling shareholders of one of America's last great industrial dynasties... But this gathering, held at Greenfield Village not far from Ford's world headquarters, was quite different from previous family summits because of the presence of two of Wall Street's hottest dealmakers, Joseph Perella and Peter Weinberg... The Detroit News has learned that Ford family members invited Perella and Weinberg and considered hiring them to advise the family about its huge stock holdings in Ford Motor -- a clear sign of growing concern about the automaker's long-term prospects...

* Canada - Magna International posts record first-quarter sales of $6.4 billion
Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News -May 10, 2007: -- Magna International Inc. said today it posted first-quarter profits of $218 million, up from $212 million in the first three months of 2006... Revenue at the Aurora, Ont.-based automotive supplier was $6.4 billion, up from $6.0 billion a year ago... The company said first-quarter sales were at record levels, despite a reduction in tooling, engineering and other sales. Magna said production and vehicle assembly sales were up in North America, Europe and elsewhere...

* Germany - DaimlerChrysler to build plant in India
Franckfurt,Germany -Bloomberg News/The Detroit News (Detroit,Mich,USA) -May 10, 2007: -- DaimlerChrysler AG , the world's second-largest luxury carmaker, will invest $67 million to build a factory in India, where an expanding economy and rising disposable incomes have spawned a set of high-spending customers, reported today... The factory, to be located at Chakan in the western state of Maharashtra, will employ 350 people initially, Joachim Schmidt, chairman of DaimlerChrysler India Pvt., said...

* USA - Ford to shut Ohio plant - Casting factory is latest targeted for closing; 25,000 workers have already left company.
Detroit,Mich,USA -Bloomberg News/The Detroit News, by Bill Koenig -May 08, 2007: -- Ford Motor Co. said 25,000 U.S. hourly workers have left the company since it offered buyouts and early retirements in September to shrink excess capacity and cut record losses... As many as 12,000 more workers may leave the automaker by the end of the year, and new offers will be made to about 1,600 hourly workers in Ohio after Ford said Monday it will close a casting factory and suspend work at an engine plant for about a year...

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posted by Unknown @ 10:40 AM  0 comments

Apr 23, 2007

AUTOMAKERS' NEWS

* USA - Employees consider Buying Chrysler
NY,USA -Land Line Magazin/Wall Street Journale -April 20, 2007: -- The United Auto Workers Union is reportedly considering a bid to buy 70-percent control of the ailing Chrysler division of automaker DaimlerChrysler... UAW workers don’t want a group of private investors to take over the company. The UAW thinks it might be able to finance the takeover through cuts in health care benefits and other concessions... Meanwhile, Chrysler – despite losing money and being on the auction block – says it will invest nearly $2 billion in building two new plants in Michigan and refurbishing several others...

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posted by Unknown @ 11:07 AM  0 comments

Apr 12, 2007

AUTOMAKERS' NEWS

* Japan - Toyota Names 1st Non-Japanese to Board
Tokyo,Japan -The Washington Post/The Associated Press, by YURI KAGEYAMA -April 12, 2007: -- Toyota named the first non-Japanese to its board of directors Thursday, appointing American James Press, the automaker's president of North American operations, amid growing fears of a political backlash for its booming U.S. sales... The move is the latest step in Toyota Motor Corp.'s efforts to bolster its international standing. It also comes at a time when Toyota is boosting sales in North America, grabbing market share away from Detroit automakers... Press, 60, president of Toyota Motor North America Inc. since May 2006, has been responsible for overseeing Toyota's tremendous growth in the U.S. He was president of Toyota Motor Sales since 2005...

* China - Toyota says first quarter China sales up 66 percent
Shanghai,China -Reuters -April 5, 2007: -- Toyota Motor Corp. sold 66 percent more vehicles in mainland China and Hong Kong in the first quarter than a year earlier, helped largely by brisk demand for locally made Camry sedans... Toyota sold 103,000 vehicles in the market during the three-month period, including 2,700 units in Hong Kong, a company official told today...

* France - Nissan will sell Logans in Mexico - Japanese partner will rebrand Renault's popular low-cost sedan
Paris,France -Automotive World (UK) -12 April 2007: -- Nissan will sell alliance partner Renault's low-cost Logan sedan in Mexico under its own brand... "It makes sense for Nissan to badge the Logan in Mexico, where Nissan – unlike Renault – is very well-established," a Renault source told...

* China - Ford first quarter China retail vehicle sales up 16.4 percent
Shanghai,China -Reuters -April 11, 2007: -- Ford Motor Co. said today its China retail vehicle sales rose 16.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, lagging the overall market's 22.2 percent growth according to industry figures... Total sales in China came to 42,746 units during the period, with sales of Ford brand vehicles, both locally produced and imported, reaching 38,576 units, up 15.1 percent from the year-ago level... Sales of its luxury brands including Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover grew 29.8 percent to 4,061 units, it said in a statement...

* China - DaimlerChrysler says Q1 northeast Asia car sales up 13 percent
Shanghai,China -Reuters –April 12, 2007: -- DaimlerChrysler said today it sold 13 percent more cars in northeast Asia in the first quarter than a year earlier... The automaker sold 12,861 cars in the three-month period compared with 11,390 a year earlier, it said in a statement... DaimlerChrysler's northeast Asian region comprises mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and South Korea...

* Japan - Nissan to supply Europe from Mexico
Nashville,Ten,USA -Automotive News (UK), by Lindsay Chappell -April 9, 2007: -- Nissan Motor Co. will begin using its Mexican operations to supply cars to 18 European countries... The automaker today began loading its first shipment of Tiida cars -- which sell in the United States as the entry-level Versa -- from its factory in Cuernavaca, Mexico... The company will export 12,000 Tiidas to Europe this year. It expects to increase the number to 30,000 annually...

* China - Sales of chinese-built cars rise 22% in Q1
Beijing,China -Reuters /Xinhua news agency -10 April 2007: -- China's domestically made light-vehicle sales surged 22 percent year on year to nearly 1.54 million units in the first quarter of 2007, state media reported on Sunday... Car sales jumped 30 percent to 1.12 million units, multi-purpose vehicles were up 15 percent at 53,300 and sport utility sales rose 16 percent to 71,600, said citing the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers...

* Germany - Bank boosts DaimlerChrysler stake to 14 percent
Berlin,Germany -The Detroit News (Detroit,Mich,USA) -12 April 2007: -- DaimlerChrysler AG said today it has been informed by West LB that the German bank has increased its holding in the automaker to 14 percent, an unexpected announcement that heightened speculation surrounding the shares...

* Japan - Nissan recalls minivans in Japan
Tokyo,Japan -Associated Press/The Detroit News (Detroit,Mich,USA) -12 April 2007: -- Nissan Motor Co. said Thursday it is recalling about 113,000 minivans in Japan over an exhaust pipe problem... Nissan is recalling Serena minivans produced between April 2005 and August 2006, according to a company report sent to Japan's Transport Ministry and posted on the ministry's Web site... Welded parts of the model's exhaust pipe could corrode, and in worst cases the pipe could fall off, Nissan said in its report. There were 46 reported cases of problems but no accidents, it said...

* USA - Ford Motor Co. recalls Escape SUVs
Washington,DC,USA -Associated Press, by KEN THOMAS -11 April 2007: -- Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it was recalling more than 500,000 Ford Escape sport utility vehicles after receiving reports of engine fires linked to corrosion on antilock brake connectors... Ford said the recall involved 444,880 Escapes from the 2001-2004 model years in the United States, and about 75,000 Escapes in Canada, Mexico and Europe. The recall does not affect hybrid versions of the SUV, the automaker said... Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford said there have been about 50 engine fires connected to the problems, which had been under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration...

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