Not surprisingly, the decision to close Antwerp is not sitting too well with Opel’s European Works Council. Their reply: Forget the wage concessions you wanted from us, and which are so critical for Opel’s survival.
Management at Opel wanted employees to contribute €265m annually to the cause. The unions were ready to deal, but wanted shares. Reilly reneged on the shares, which raised union hackles. Now, the offer is off the table. And with it, an essential piece of Opel’s future. (Read More…)
Toyota plans to roughly double its global production of hybrid vehicles to 1 million units in 2011. On the surface, this plan doesn’t sound too ambitious. Hybrids are flying off dealer’s lots in Japan. About 350,000 hybrids were sold in Japan last year, accounting for 11.9 percent of total sales. Toyota’s Prius took the lion’s share with 209,000 units sold. Honda’s Insight made up for another 94,000 units. Less that 50,000 were “others.”
And herein lies problem number one for Japanese hybrids: (Read More…)
Osamu Suzuki said today he would probably refuse advances by Volkswagen if they would want to get deeper in bed with their new Japanese bride.
“When Suzuki becomes a bigger and more successful company, Volkswagen will probably want to buy more of our shares,” Suzuki said. “If that happens, Suzuki will probably respond by saying, ‘Let’s continue as we are.'”
We’ll see.
Belgium’s Antwerp can focus on its core competencies as a hub of the diamond trade. Opel will close their plant in the port city of Belgium within the next months, reports Das Autohaus, citing an announcement by Opel. The plant will be closed “to safeguard the future of the company quickly and sustainably.”
Nick Reilly expressed his supposedly sincere condolences: (Read More…)
In September 2009, incoming President Barak Obama slapped a 35 percent punitive tariff on Chinese car and light truck tires exported to the USA. That, in addition to an existing 4 percent duty. No American tire manufacturer had requested the boneheaded move. It was a thank-you to the steelworkers union. Cooper tires openly opposed the action. Ironically, US tire companies were hardest hit by the measure, because they had moved most if not all of their budget segment tire production to low labor cost overseas sites. No job was created in the US. Many were lost. Low cost tire manufacturing simply moved to other overseas countries, which were the only beneficiaries of the useless war.
TTAC warned of a trade war, predicted that China will drag the USA in front of the WTO, and that China would take tit-for-tat measures. All of it became true. (Read More…)
In November last year, we reported about rumors in the Chinese press that Volkswagen might introduce the SEAT brand to the Middle Kingdom. We didn’t put much credence in the rumor, due to some inconsistencies in the reports. The Guangzhou auto show, at which the news was supposed to be announced, came and went with no announcement. Another Chinese rumor.
Now, the matter is back on the ticker. (Read More…)
Japanese car manufacturers, reeling from a doubly whammy at home (down 9.3 percent) and in the U.S.A. (down 21.2 percent) are looking increasingly to growth markets such as China (up 45 percent) and India (up 18.7 percent.) Large players like Nissan, Honda and Toyota in China, and Suzuki in India, have been there for years. Now there is a virtual stampede. A collection of news from today’s Nikkei [sub]: (Read More…)
Today’s Nikkei [sub] clarified the Japanese position on US cars qualifying for Nipponese cash fur clunkers money. The program offers up to 250,000 yen ($2,800) in subsidies to buyers of cars that meet Japanese fuel efficiency standards.
According to the Nikkei, about 30 percent of U.S. imports to Japan enter the country through the “Preferential Handling Procedure,” that does not require them to pass Japanese fuel efficiency tests. These cars, which had been excluded from the program, will now be considered – based on mileage data collected in the U.S. Good luck with that. (Read More…)
Remember how GM brags that they are the largest auto manufacturer in China? CAAM, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers says otherwise (via Gasgoo.) Here is the official CAAM list of the 10 largest passenger vehicle manufacturers in China, and their units sold in 2009:
Taken into account that VW makes their Chinese cars with two joint ventures, SVW and FAW-VW, Volkswagen’s combined total rises to 1,377,300. The imported VWs bring the number well above 1.4m . (Read More…)
The Opel negotiations are stuck – again. By the end of January, GM wants to present its final plan for the restructuring of Opel. An important part: The workers. Opel workers are supposed to forego €265m a year as a contribution to the cause. The unions want a share of the Opel business in return. Suddenly, GM balks at it. (Read More…)
U.S. auto makers need to find something else to kvetch about. The Japanese Trade Ministry said kankei nai ne (who cares, or more polite words to the same effect) and changed the Nipponese cash for clunkers program. If you trade in your clunker for a car imported from the United States, you now qualify for a government handout. According to Reuters, clunker cash will be given to buyers of “suitable cars imported under the “Preferential Handling Procedure,” a deal agreed with the United States in 1986 to speed the import of models that sell less than 2,000 units a year.” Under this program, cars are not properly homologated in Japan, and receive no official mpg rating. The lack of that rating excluded them from Japanese clunker largess. (Read More…)
Everybody is denying that Mazda’s Chinese joint venture with Ford is quickly coming to an end. The Nikkei is unfazed by the chorus of contradiction. Today’s edition of the Japanese paper sheds more light on the impending divorce in China: Mazda wants “to give itself more latitude to navigate the growing market as it sees fit.” That’s putting it mildly. (Read More…)
Last night, our U.K. correspondent Cammy Corrigan reported that Toyota is seriously in trouble in Europe. The findings were based on a report in just-auto.com that carried the news that in Europe, sales of Toyota branded vehicles had dropped 20 percent in 2009, while Lexus branded vehicles dropped 40 percent.
Alarming news.
Just a few days ago, Bloomberg reported: “Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Daimler AG, the world’s top luxury-car makers, fell behind Toyota Motor Corp. in European deliveries in 2009 as government incentives failed to boost demand for their vehicles. BMW and Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz, dropped to eighth and ninth place in Europe, while Toyota, including the Lexus brand, rose to seventh, according to figures released today by the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.” Eh? Or more polite: Mou ichido ossyatte kudasai. Excuse me? Say what? (Read More…)
China’s Geely has joined other manufacturers such as Chevrolet, Ford, Hyundai, Renault, Kia, and Toyota, and launched a production line in Russia. Geely opened a plant in Russia’s Caucasus republic of Karachay-Cherkessia, China’s state news agency Xinhua reports. (Read More…)
There has been a lot of, well, criticism, of Honda on these pages lately, including allegations that Honda had lost it. So far, more that fifty of the Best & Brightest offered advice on how to save the company from certain annihilation.
Today’s Nikkei says “domo arigato gozaimashita” for all the support, and runs a different story: “Honda Motor Co. has emerged from the economic turmoil at the head of the pack, thanks in good part to a nimble production network that can meet the latest consumer preferences at relatively low cost.” Here is why. (Read More…)
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