Author: yoann besnard

BMW to unveil green concept car in Geneva

According to InsideLine, BMW will reveal a green concept car at the next Geneva Motor Show. At this stage, information remains scarce and one does not know if the concept car will be a production ready concept or a pure concept car.
Indeed, BMW is getting used to unveil production ready concept cars such as the X6 at the latest Frankfurt Motor Show in September before unveiling the production model at Detroit a few weeks ago. This time, the Geneva Motor Show might be an opportunity for the car maker to display the eagerly-awaited Progressive Active Sedan.
The green concept car might also be a real concept car intended to show where the car maker is heading in terms of innovation and design in the future. The concept car might also announce a change in design. This is pure speculation and the next weeks will likely reveal more information about this concept car.
February 4, 2008
Spanish car market in the doldrums

The registration of passenger cars in January decreased by 12.7% over the same period last year, reaching a volume of 101,630 vehicles. This decrease has two basic reasons.
The first is “cyclical” generated by the advancement of operations for the purchase of vehicles from the highest segments, which occurred in December, as a result of changing tax levied from January 1 this year with a tax rate exceeding vehicles emitting more CO2.
The second cause is more “structural” and responds to a decline in private consumption and the overall performance of the economy.
The evolution of demand from individuals and companies in January showed a decrease of 16.2% while buying rental market increased by 39.6% over the same period.
February 4, 2008
200,000th Cayenne Leaves Porsche Factory

Porsche has announced that the 200,000th Cayenne had rolled off the production line. The 200,00th Cayenne is a red GTS model powered by a V8 petrol engine. This is a significant milestone for the German car maker which doubled its global sales thanks to the SUV.
This is also an opportunity for Porsche to prove that car maker can build other models than sports cars. Some predicted a shadowed future for the Porsche Cayenne at its launch, but its annual sales went beyond expectation. Indeed, the company originally planned to deliver 20,000 SUVs per year. Actually, Porsche delivers roughly 40,000 vehicles per year. According to Porsche, thirty-percent of Cayennes are sold in the US, the vehicle’s largest market. Will the next-generation meet the same success?
February 4, 2008
Hyundai to build a Tata Nano rival

Hyundai has announced it has plans to build a rival to the recently unveiled Tata Nano. The car would be sold at a price tag of £1,800.
With a potential market estimated a few million customers, the Tata Nano segment starts to whet other car maker’s appetite. Hyundai is India’s second largest automaker after Maruti, ahead of Tata Motors in third.
According to a Hyundai executive, the car would be launched in 2011 and would be produced locally in its Indian factory.
February 1, 2008
Nissan to recruit 800 new staff to build more Qashqai

Thanks to the success of the Qashqai model, Nissan will recruit 800 additional staff by creating a third shift at its plant in Sunderland.
Since its launch last March, the Qashqai found 130,000 owners obliging Nissan to boost production by 20% last June. This contributed to the plant achieving a record annual production volume of 353,000 units of Qashqai, Note, Micra and Micra C+C. Trevor Mann, Senior Vice President for Manufacturing & Supply Chain Management, Nissan Europe, said: “Currently on two shifts, we can produce 200,000 Qashqais per year. However, the car is proving so popular we now need to significantly increase our volume.”
With orders still above forecast and a customer order bank of 60,000 units, Nissan has no other choice than creating a third shift. By December 2008, 800 new persons will be recruited. Of these, 400 will be permanent positions, with the remainder temporary contracts.
February 1, 2008
BMW to overtake Mercedes in India by 2009

BMW wants to overtake Mercedes on the fast growing Indian luxury car market in the coming few years. “As we get closer to Mercedes, you can imagine we have in our sight that we want to overtake Mercedes, whether we do it in 2009 or 2010 we will have to see,” said BMW Director Region Asia Pacific David Panton.
Last year, the German car maker sold 1,387 vehicles while it planned to sell 1,000 units. In india since the mid 90’s, Mercedes sold last year 2,491 cars. This year BMW plans to sell 2,000 vehicles built in its factory located in Chennai. Mercedes expects to deliver 3,000 vehicles this year.
David Panton said the Indian customers have accepted the BMW as a luxury brand and he considers the Indian market to be more stable and reliable than the Chinese market.
BMW has invested £15 million in the Chennai factory and plans to open a design center which will give the company the ability of better customization for the emerging market. BMW may also outsource a portion of Rolls Royce design and R&D to India.
February 1, 2008
Maserati might build a 911 competitor

According to insiders, Maserati executives are seriously considering to develop a small coupé set to compete with the Porsche 911.
This doesn’t come as a surprise as the company planned to expand its lineup. Some observers suggested that Maserati would join the SUV fight but his CEO Roberto Ronchi ruled it out in an interview with Reuters because the segment growth is suffering from record-high gas prices and is over crowded. “An SUV model has been ruled out because the segment is declining and is already too crowded,” said Roberto Ronchi.
Instead of a SUV, Maserati plans to make a sports car. Maserati CEO said that “We [Maserati] want to target Porsche with a sports car priced around €80,000 to €90,000,”. A decision will be taken in the first quarter of this year. If given the green light, the small Maserati would be launched 18 to 36 months later. At this early stage, details remain scarce but some observers believe that the small coupé would feature a detuned Maserati 4.2-litre V8 engine limited to 350bhp.
February 1, 2008
Strong third trimester for Suzuki

Suzuki has recorded a strong growth over the period october-december and has posted a better-than-expected 23% jump in quarterly profit thanks to its small models such as the Swift and the SX4 which don’t suffer from the record-high fuel prices.
Suzuki realised an operating profit of £178 million when analysts expected the company to book £168 million. Net profit for the third quarter raised by 20% to £98 million, on a 12% increase in revenue to £5.3 billion.
Suzuki suffered less from the high gas prices than other car makers, but was also helped by its Indian venture with Maruti which recorded 24% rising net profit. On the third trimester, Suzuki increased its global production by 9.9% to 680,000 vehicles. Japan recorded a slow 6.1% increase while overseas sales jumped by 18%.
February 1, 2008
Spyshots: VW Routan

Here are the first spyshots of the VW Routan which will be unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show. With this minivan, Volkswagen aims at expanding its lineup in the US in order to increase its sales there.
The VW Routan will share its inner structure with the current Chrysler Voyager as former DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen teamed up to reduce production cost. However, the Routan will feature unique exterior and interior styling, and powertrains.
The Routan will be built on the same production line as the Voyager in Canada, so expect Volkswagen to promote this new minivan as its sales won’t suffer from a weak dollar.
Click here to see the whole spyshot
February 1, 2008
Hummer and Holden models to be powered by diesel engines

The Holden Commodore will soon be powered by a diesel engine as GM as agreed to install the 2.9-litre VMM unit in the saloon. This news doesn’t really come as a surprise. Indeed, the Australian CTS will feature this engine when the car hits the showrooms. The surprise comes from the announcement that the Australian Hummer H3 model will also be available with this engine.
The 2.9-litre V6 diesel engine has been co-developed with VM Motori which laos provides engines for Chrysler. It has an output of 250bhp and a torque of 406 lb-ft thanks to a turbocharger. The first diesel-powered Commodore will go on sale within 18 months.
The diesel Commodore and the H3 won’t reach our shores, but the 2.9-litre engine might be featured in the next-generation Saab 9-5 as the Swedish company is part of GM. if there is a more powerful variant of this engine, the next premium saloon might be able to compete with the German clique.
February 1, 2008