Fiat is determined to drag their Italian operations into the 21st century, says The New York Times. Lacksadaisical attitudes produced some novel ways of shirking work. Some examples include calling sick at Fiat (remember, you get paid in full even if you call sick) and using that time to work another job or faking a doctor’s note. The latter is particularly used when a local football team is playing. Well, no more, according to Marchionne. He wants to impose foreign style work standards to encourage more pride in Italian workers’ jobs and improve the competitiveness of Italian factories. Some have an opposite view. Read More >
The ACEA has released their European new car statistics for the month of June. One look at the picture tells you what is happening: With the cash for clunkers effects slowly working their way out of the system, Europe is settling into a new normal. In June, the market was down 6.9 percent, but for the first six months, with 7,285,487 new cars registered, the market in the EU27 is pretty much what it was in the same period last year. Compared with the first six months of 2008, the market decreased by 10.3 percent, but those were the good old pre-carmageddon days. Read More >
Smart’s current plan for reviving its fading sales is a Tesla-powered EV version of its Smart ForTwo, which the Daimler-owned firm hopes will keep its city cars moving until a new platform is jointly developed with Renault. Further down the road though, it seems that Smart is moving to expand out of cars, as Autocar reports that the brand is developing a plug-in electric scooter. A senior Mercedes-Benz source tells the British magazine that
Smart was originally established to tackle the need for improved mobility, especially in congested city environments. Up to now we have concentrated our efforts on four-wheel solutions. The next stage is to looking at how to expand beyond this with other environmentally friendly vehicles
Ford has once again snagged aid from a European government, as The Wall Street Journal [sub] reports that the British government has approved a £360m ($543m) guarantee on a £450 ($676.4m) European Investment Bank loan to The Blue Oval. The money will be used to fund a £1.5b ($2.25b) investment in four British Ford manufacturing sites. In an official statement, British Business Minister Mark Prisk said
[Ford’s] investment of GBP1.5 billion over the next five years is a great opportunity to take the lead in developing low-carbon manufacturing. This backing from the government will help to ensure the long-term success of manufacturing in the U.K. and make sure we are at the forefront of new technologies
Two news items are unnerving Japan today: The ruling DPJ party seems to be heading towards a solid defeat at the upper house elections. And Volkswagen has lost all respect for the Japanese competition. The enemy Volkswagen now fears most is – dou shiyou – Read More >
Many of you don’t know this, but during my days at university, I supplemented my meager grant money (in the days when European governments gave grant money to students) by gambling said grant. The extra money came in useful for text books, science equipment, drinking lager till my head span, etc. The fruit machines and betting on horses was fun enough, but where I really excelled was poker. Texas Hold ’em, to be more accurate. I learnt many of life’s lessons that way, but the one which stuck in my mind the most was this little nugget: “When you play a bluff, be prepared to have that bluff called.” Words which certain Italian unions should have heeded. Read More >
Volkswagen, Daimler, Audi, BMW: Despite tanking sales in Europe, they all report record numbers. Why? Exports and a weak Euro. It’s not just a German thing. Same across the Rhine: Agence France Press (via Google News) reports that Renault is very bullish on the back of strong sales in the first half of 2010. Renault is up an amazing 21.6 percent to 1.35 million vehicles. Growth of 21.6 percent is good in Renault’s eyes as they claimed that the global market grew 16 percent. Meaning: Renault gained global market share. Read More >
Audi is apparently cashing in on the universal paranoia of having your car at the dealer as well as the distinctly British love of video surveillance, by offering AudiDirect Reception, which allows owners to watch their car go through maintenance. According to a press release [via WCF], the new program makes Audi technicians wear video cameras and two-way communication systems, allowing owners to constantly watch over their shoulders and interrupt their work. Or, as Audi puts it
Candid cameras will soon be focused on all Audi Centre service areas as part of a new Direct Reception initiative being rolled out across the network that will enable Audi customers to view in ‘real time’, and communicate with, technicians as they carry out diagnosis and repair work.
Italian supercar upstarts Pagani started with one car, the Zonda, and have maintained a laser-like focus on that single nameplate ever since. Former supercar heavyweight McLaren is re-entering the road car arena with its V8-powered Ferrari Italia-fighter, the MP4-12C, but is fast-tracking the development of its range-topping supercar, pitched as a neo-McLaren F1 and aimed at the Zonda and its hypercar ilk. Recession? What Recession?
The Volkswagen group sold more than 3.5m units worldwide in the first six months of 2010, besting the pretty darn good numbers of the same period in 2009 by about 15 percent, Martin Winterkorn said to Reuters. He predicts (and that’s an easy call based on the half year results) that the Volkswagen group will see record car sales in 2010. What’s driving the new Wirtschaftswunder?The weak Euro, of course. And the strong position of Volkswagen in boom markets such as China.
Nevertheless, VW doesn’t want to rely on the vagaries of the foreign exchange. Read More >
Now we know why Daimler’s Zetsche said that “2010 could become the best year in the history of the automobile.” Daimler is celebrating record numbers. Never in recorded history had Mercedes-Benz sold more cars in a June than in the last June, says DPA (via Ad Hoc News.) Due to high demand in China and the U.S., Daimler sold 122,900 passenger vehicles this June, that’s 10.6 percent more than in June 2009. Read More >
In June 2010, new car sales in Germany were down 28.7 percent from June 2009, reports the German Kraftfahrtbundesamt, the German government agency that is responsible for all things rolling on Germany’s roads. That may sound like a horrible number, but the graph tells a different story. June 2009 was the absolute peak of the Abwrackprämien-orgy (red line), and Germany seems to slowly get back to 2008 levels (blue line.) Once we are through the seasonally low July/August months, sales may actually exceed 2008 levels. It won’t be until next year before Germany will report real growth. Read More >
Auto Express reports that GM is going to sell the Chevy Chevrolet Camaro in the United Kingdom by May 2011, with a convertible version later that year. It will only be available in the top level Gestapo SS trim, and will have the 6.2 litre, 426bhp V8 engine. Unfortunately, GM couldn’t be bothered to respect local driving customs and will sell the car in left-hand drive only. That’s right. Pricing is yet to be confirmed as exchange rates are sensitive at the moment, but GM is aiming to keep the pricing in line (I thought it was a V8?) with the Nissan 370Z, which starts at £28,345. Now while there are many American-philes (probably located in the North of England) who are doing a “dosey-doe” around their living rooms at this news, there are a few of problems (and here comes the pessimistic part). Read More >
Sergio Marchionne’s turnaround of Fiat was a weird one. He turned around a company, which most people thought had died already. Sergio’s turnaround was helped by GM’s unwitting “re-capitalization” of Fiat, too. Recently, worker relations in Italy have been strained, to say the least. If you thought the situation with the UAW in the United States was bad enough, in Italy, things are spicier than Mamma’s Arrabbiata sauce. The Financial Times UK reports that Sergio Marchionne has finally lost patience with unionized Italian workers and has threatened them to change their mindsets or else be out of a job. The end of September is their deadline. Mr Marchionne wants Italy to help drag Fiat (and Chrysler) into one of the top five car companies in the world. But to do that, he needs concessions from his Italian workers. Big ones. Read More >
Alfa’s been talking about selling an SUV for years now, as the brand has thrashed around looking for a rescue line. Now, a long-rumored ute named Kamal (after an Alfa SUV concept) has finally materialized at Alfa’s 100-year anniversary, looking an awful lot like a BMW X1. In fact, it is a BMW X1 with tacked-on Alfa cues. If this is a sign that Alfa fans are desperate for an SUV, their dreams will come true. Automotive News [sub] reports that SUVs are a crucial component of Alfa’s plan to sell half a million cars per year by 2014, up from just over 100k last year. A small SUV, to be built by Chrysler and imported to Europe, will start sales in 2012, with another, larger ute (based on the next Jeep Libery) planned for 2014. In other words, look for rebadged Chryslers to rescue Alfa’s SUV dreams rather than a taped-off BMW. No wonder analysts are so skeptical of Alfa’s turnaround plans, telling AN [sub]
The potential of the (Alfa) brand is huge, but to multiply sales fivefold in five years they probably also will need to sell cars on the Moon and on Mars
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