What’s that up in the sky? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the blue oval! Yes, everyone favorite car company is flying high. Fresh off the news that it made $1.7 billion between July and September and that they paid off some more of their big debts, people are talking big of Ford. “They’re in the best shape that they’ve been in for years,” said Shelly Lombard of Gimme Credit (I checked it out, they have their own website) via TMCnet.com. But Ford, through whatever reason, but I reckon it’s fiscal prudence, is staying cautious. (Read More…)
The Financial Times reports that Anti-trust officials in Switzerland are investigating the Bavarian car maker due to allegations made by a Swiss consumer TV show. The TV show sent undercover reporters to BMW dealerships in Germany (Swiss and Germany share a border, you know) to try and buy a car. The show claims to have found that BMW is blocking its dealerships in European countries from selling their cars to Swiss residents.
What makes this particularly egregious is that although Switzerland isn’t a member of the European Union (they like to stay neutral), it does have Bilateral trade agreements which guarantee free trade with its neighbors. Restricting trade? Under a free trade agreement? Uh oh…
As the Japanese Yen reaches new highs against the US Dollar, so does the anxiety in Japanese boardrooms. How does an export-heavy country like Japan cope with an ever appreciating currency? That’s the topic of conversation at Nissan HQ. The Wall Street Journal reports that Nissan’s COO, Toshiyuki Shiga, is concerned. Extremely concerned.
About a year Editor-in Chief, Ed Niedermeyer, reported that GM and SAIC were discussions about co-operating in the Indian market. Then, in May, our overseas editor, Bertel Schmitt, reported how GM China was going to raid their Chinese line up and sell it in India. I dismissed the developments as the first step in GM being “China-centric”. But today Automotive World reports that Zhang Baolin, President of Chongqing Changan Automobile is having talks with Ford (their western partner in China) about extending their partnership from China to, you guessed it, India. “We have discuss with Ford to use their network to expand overseas, but have not yet come to an agreement yet,” said Zhang Baolin, via Bloomberg News. On the topics’ list are things like whose brand to use and what vehicles will be sold in India.
It’s been some time since since we had a “Trade War Watch” on mounting trade tensions in the auto industry, and thank goodness for that. In this economic climate of cuts, currency swings and bankruptcies, what we need are things which will make the situation worse, right? In May I reported about how the EU put a 20.6 percent tariff on aluminium wheels from China. The EU did this in response to complaints from domestic manufacturers. Naturally, this left a sour taste in China’s mouth. Well, over 5 months later, you’d think that the EU would have calmed down and this nasty business would be swept under the carpet, right? Erm, not quite….
Despite government witch hunts (recently cancelled, supposedly) and subsidized competitors, Toyota is holding its own. Just. But like Toyota said, they’re going on the offensive. They’ve upped the incentives (but are still below industry average) and launching new warranties to confirm their commitment to their products. But they’re also pushing into new markets to offset their reliance on the North American market (and also to make more money). Now one of those markets is India. The formula is very simple there. Cheap, reliable, safe, and cheap. And that’s what Toyota is trying to do. About time. Suzuki is eating everybody’s lunch in India.(Read More…)
The Freep reports that Ford is allocating an extra 250 workers to its Dearborn plant in Michigan. Why? Well, because the Dearborn plant makes the F-150 and because sales are rising. Ford can’t make them fast enough. According to Autodata, Ford’s share of the pick-up market has risen 4.2 percent this year. This is great news, Ford is getting more Americans back into work, right? Not quite. (Read More…)
The world of business all has their fair share of career bullshitters, and the car industry is no different. So this week’s Weekend Head Scratcher is this: Who do you think was the worst car executive ever? (Read More…)
It’s easy to see why Sergio is feeling mighty pleased with himself. Fiat is predicted to turn a €400 million profit this year (that’s about $556m) and Fiat is expanding in Brazil, a huge car market. So can some of this good fortune rub off onto Chrysler? Possibly 35 percent of it can, if Sergio has his way.
The Freep reports that Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat and Chrysler, has told analysts that Fiat is planning to raise its stake in Chrysler from 20 percent to 35 percent by the end of next year “barring unforeseen circumstances”. A big vote of confidence, indeed. When Fiat took its initial stake in Chrysler, it was given the option to increase its stake by 5 percent tranches, provided it could meet certain goals. (Read More…)
Welcome to Tinfoil Time. A public service for paranoids and their enemies. When the NHTSA went after Toyota for their runaway cars, some people (me, included) saw this as a transparent attempt to undermine Toyota in order to make GM and Chrysler (A.K.A new arms of the US government) more attractive both in terms of purchasing their products and the IPO’s. But now that the circus is leaving town, is the NHTSA looking for a new victim? Whilst searching the net, I saw (part of) an article (sub) which mentions how Ford’s North American market share is on the rise. Sure, Toyota’s market share in the U.S. dropped by 1.5 percent compared to September 2009. But GM did not pick up those sales. They lost 2.8 percent. The winners were Ford (+ 1.4 percent), and Chrysler (+2.1 percent).I also remember a poll that was taken which claimed that how 54 percent of people were less likely to buy a GM car because of their bailout. Rising sales at Ford and bad will towards GM? I’ve seen this scenario before! The next stage is now the NHTSA will tell us to stop driving our Fords. Trouble is, Ford doesn’t have any recalls of recent. So what can the NHTSA do? You recycle a recall. (Read More…)
GM is the market leader in the United States. Volkswagen has Europe. Toyota has Australia and Japan. Fiat has…. Brazil? That’s right. Fiat is the number one in Brazil. Brazilians do love a good Fiat. But with Volkswagen’s global ambitions, that number one position in Brazil isn’t safe for Fiat. Volkswagen is number 2 there and if it one thing Volkswagen doesn’t like, it’s playing second fiddle. This is why Fiat is going on the offensive. (Read More…)
A few days ago I wrote about Ralph Nader asking Toyota to break down their somewhat suspect figure of “$1,000,000 every hour” on safety. Well, quite surprisingly, Toyota answered back. (Read More…)
This weekend sees the first ever South Korean Formula 1 Grand Prix. This is a push into new markets for Formula 1. This is why they are trying to push into North America and the Middle East. But it seems that it’s receiving a cool reception from the very people whom they are trying to woo. Namely, the car business. (Read More…)
Whilst doing my usual scan of today’s news I saw an article which made me do a double take. And I mean a proper “Whaaaaaaaaat?!” I saw a couple of interesting things in it, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Then I saw who published it. The Tehran Times. So, treat this story with a pinch of salt. (Read More…)
China isn’t the only big economy coming to play (sorry to burst your bubble, Herr Schmitt). [ED:No bubble. India is 10-15 years behind China, but they will definitely be next. China and India added will be a monster.] Just across the border, India is rising up and quickly, too. Car makers are desperately scrambling to get a foothold in the Indian market. And like the Chinese market, everyone is enjoying record growth in India. Well, almost everybody. (Read More…)
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