Think of it as a merger of the equally sick: PSA’s automotive division (Peugeot Citroen) and Opel could be put into one company, a joint venture between GM and PSA, La Tribune reports with Reuters providing the translation. (Read More…)
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Tag: Europe
As part of a cost-cutting measure, workers at the Opel/Vauxhall plant at Ellsemere Port, UK, will switch to a four-day week from the current five-day setup.
Bad European car sales are about to get worse. French September car registrations dropped 18 percent year-on-year, while Spain’s plunged 37 percent, Reuters reports. (Read More…)
GM’s Susan Docherty, who is in charge of Chevrolet Europe, is shocked by GM alliance partner PSA Peugeot Citroen. PSA, along with Fiat, are producing “very scary numbers” with discounts of as much as 30 percent off gross sale prices, Docherty told Bloomberg. Opel’s numbers can be even scarier. (Read More…)
“What he invests on research and development in a year is not enough for us to even make part of a mudguard. He should stop bugging us,”
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne responds to the unsolicited advice of Tod’s founder Diego Della Valle. It’s been a busy week for Sergio, whose homecoming in Italy was met with endless chirping from various corners of society.
With Accord sales tanking in Europe, Honda says it has no plans to bring a next-generation model to Europe, despite introducing variants for North America, Asia and Russia.
Call it synchronicity or call it conspiracy: 2015 is drawing closer, the year when several large global automakers will begin full-scale launches of hydrogen-powered automobiles. Developing new powertrains being costly with unassured payback, automakers form alliances to share the cost. And alliance of Daimler, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota to jointly promote hydrogen use would be surprising, they usually are otherwise engaged. However, the four join hands, forces and cars for a grand hydrogen tour through Europe. (Read More…)
Today, we’re trying something new. Alex is doing his review in video-only format. Let us know how you like it.
People in Europe had a lot of time to think about their troubled future during their long vacation. Coming back to work, they are “ready to shut plants and lay off staff,” as Reuters observes. Executives and union leaders are said to be in rare agreement over who to emulate: Obama, the UAW, and Detroit. Europeans want their bailout too. Some do, at least. (Read More…)
Like the broader debt crisis in Europe, Volkswagen’s weak link has its origins in Spain. According to Reuters, Seat has incurred losses of $1 billion since 2008, and has been profitable only once over the past decade.
Opel, the sick man of Europe, just can’t catch a break. Even Isuzu wants out of its current arrangements with the ailing German automaker.
Just-Auto and the Nikkei are reporting that Isuzu will halt engine building activities for Opel (including the Meriva, above), and will end a joint-venture with General Motors. It was unclear how Isuzu would get rid of its 40 percent stake in the Poland-based diesel engine operation. Isuzu denied that it would pull out of the venture, or cut its workforce in Europe.
The most successful brands in our industry don’t have much meaning to them.
Toyota, Chevrolet, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, all of these are names that wouldn’t evoke much of any imagery had their manufacturers never existed.
Mercury and Saturn are popular planets that make you think of space and the futuristic pursuit of those faraway places. Acura should be quite accurate and precise. Rams are tough. Infiniti pays homage to the outer limits of capability and performance.
Yet all of these names experienced failure, or ultimately failed, due to the key essential ingredient within any brand’s reputation.
Product.
We decided to take a family vacation this summer in Italy, starting in Florence and driving into rural Tuscany to spend a mellow week in a rental villa near some friends. I reserved a “Ford Focus or equivalent” with Hertz and, after a thoroughly unpleasant hour in the queue (“not exactly” indeed), they handed me the keys to an Alfa Romeo Giulietta with a manual transmission, two liter turbo diesel. Forza Italia! I now had one week with the sort of car that American TTAC readers often like to grouse about their inability to buy at home.
Ford announced a second-quarter net profit of $1 billion, which was better than analysts expected. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Ford expects to lose more than $1 billion in Europe this year. Earlier this year, Ford forecast an annual loss of between $500 million and $600 million, Reuters says. (Read More…)
“Should Opel, Chevy coexist in Europe?” This is what Automotive News [sub] asks today without offering a real answer. Let’s have a look. Then, cast your vote. (Read More…)
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