Author: yoann besnard

Revamped Romanian first registration car tax to hurt Dacia

Dacia deputy chairman, Constantin Stroe, is fighting the Romanian government and the EU over the method used to calculate first registration tax. As a result of the future car tax, he is expecting the growth of the Romanian market to slow in 2008 and therefore foresees personnel cuts at Dacia.
The Romanian government is currently handling talks with the European Union over the calculation method used for first registration tax. The tax was introduced as a means for the government to stop the inflow of used cars onto the Romanian market expected when the country joined the European Union last year. However, the EU pointed out that the tax is discriminatory and decided to start procedures regarding the infringement of the European Union Treaty.
The Romanian government made some modifications to the calculation method in April 2007. According to these modifications the amount of the tax will fall with the growth of the age of the car, but European Union experts still considered the tax to be discriminatory, especially in regard to the taxation of imported and domestic second-hand cars. Last November, the European Union launched the second stage of the infringement procedure and Romania now has two months to comply with EU requirements.
The current tax is applied the first time a car – either new or used – is registered in Romania. The amount levied is calculated based on the car’s age, engine capacity and emission output. Older, more polluting cars pay more. In the final variant due to be established at the end of January, the registration tax will be reduced by half for non-Euro vehicles over 20 years old, with a capacity of 1,600ccm, while for a car of 3001ccm, 15-16 years old, the tax will be reduced over three times. The tax remains unchanged for new Euro 4 compliant vehicles with a capacity of between 1,400 and 3,000ccm.
Dacia is likely to be damaged by the revamped tax as it holds a market share of around 30% on the Romanian market. According to Dacia vice president Constantin Stroe, the tripling of the tax imposed on new cars and the decrease by up to ten times on taxes on non-Euro compliant cars may leave the doors of the Romanian market wide open to all the non-functional cars in Europe. He said in an interview for BBC that the number of old cars arriving in Romania after the new tax comes into force may reach 500,000 units, compared to 125,000 in 2007.
This year, Automobile Dacia will hire 3,000 people at its assembly plant and 600 university graduates in its administrative departments in order to hit its production target of 400,000 cars in 2009. Should the tax be adopted and Dacia sales go down, the number of new employees will shrink in the following years.
January 29, 2008
Peugeot-Citroen to build a factory in Russia

Peugeot-Citroen has signed a contract with the Kaluga region’s government to build a factory which will produce 75,000 cars a year in 2010.
The future factory will produce the Peugeot 207 and the Citroen C4 models. The company will invest £223 million for the construction of the plant and will create 2,600 jobs.
The French group will join other car makers in the area such as Volkswagen and Mitsubishi. Due to be finished in 2009, the Volkswagen factory will produce the Passat, Touareg and Polo models at 115,000 units per year. Mitsubishi has also announced its intent to build an assembly plan in Kaluga with the initial annual production capacity of 50,000 cars.
January 29, 2008
Revamped Nissan Tiida unveiled

Nissan has unveiled a facelifted Tiida four years after its first debut. The compact model features minor changes and includes a few technical updates.

The exterior styling includes new grilles, front bumpers and headlights at the front, and new taillights and a rear bumper at the rear end. Although better than the outgoing model, the Tiida still looks a little tame.
Inside the car evolves more significantly with a revamped centre stack which features redesigned automatic air-conditioner controls similar to the Qashqai’s, and new illumination scheme, as well as new metallic-finish panels. There is also a new instrument cluster design which features new illumination colours changed to an orange hue and a fuel consumption display function.

The Tiida is available with two engines, a 109bhp 1.5-litre petrol engine and a 128bhp 1.8-litre unit which are hooked up to a four-speed automatic gearbox as standard. From now on, the 1.8-litre engine can be associated with a six-speed manual gearbox while fuel economy has been improved on the in-house continuously variable transmission.

Like every Japanese models on sale on its domestic markets, the range is quite complicated and the revamped Tiida offers no less than 22 versions.

The entry model starts at ¥1,459,500/£6,900 and is powered by the 1.5 litre engine hooked up to the four-speed automatic transmission while the topping version, of course, powered by the 1.8-litre unit with the CVT transmission will cost ¥2,291,100/£10,800.
January 29, 2008
Nissan to launch a facelifted 350Z at the Paris Motor Show

Nissan will likely unveil a revised 350Z at the next Paris Motor Show which will feature the 3.7-litre petrol unit already seen on the Infiniti G37. The revamped Z would be called 370Z.
The news doesn’t come as a surprise. Indeed, the two cars share the same platform and engine until this year when the Infiniti coupé was facelifted at 2007 New York International Auto Show.
In the current 350Z, the V6 engine dubbed VQ35HR, has an output of 313bhp while the 3.7-litre unit pumps out 329bhp. The VQ37VHR has a higher compression ratio (11.0:1) than the VQ35HR and gains 2 ft·lbf (2.7 N·m) of torque at peak. Coming with the Nissan’s VVEL (Variable Valve Event and Lift) system, the 3.7-litre unit offers a more flattened torque curve all around by as much as 15%.
January 29, 2008
Lutz compared tthe Volt to the moon shot

In an interview with Wired, the tanned straight talker Bob Lutz likened the Chevrolet Volt project to the moon shot that happened almost forty years ago.
Due to be unveiled in November 2010, the Chevrolet Volt will be the first plug-in hybrid in the world but its development is not without stumbling blocks. Indeed, engineers struggle with aerodynamics and battery technologies. However, GM’s VP for Global Program Management John Lauckner declared that latest battery prototypes were “very encouraging.” Regarding the aerodynamics problems, Bob Lutz said that they had been resolved thanks to the new design.
Nevertheless, some observers remain sceptical concerning the announced launch date. GM’s engineers have less than three years to solve current problems as well as the likely future difficulties involved in the production of such a new vehicle. The success of the future car also remains in doubt as Bob Lutz has recognized that the announced price of $30,000/£15,200 won’t be achievable. The first Chevrolet Volt may come closer to $40,000/£20,250. Indeed, the usual cost minimization won’t be made due to the close launch date.
January 28, 2008
BMW plans to sell 400,000 cars in the U.S. in the future

BMW wants to increase its sales on the American market from 336,000 units last year to 400,000 vehicles per year in the medium term. The German car maker plans to introduce new models in order to expand its lineup. The new X6 officially unveiled at Detroit will be the first SUV coupé to be introduced in the U.S. this year.
BMW’s head of sales and marketing, Stefan Krause said to Auto Motor und Sport that “Today Europe is still our main market with a share of around 60 percent followed by North America with 24 percent and Asia with 11 percent,” but “looking at countries, the United States with 336,000 units overtook Germany as our main market already a few years ago. And is there that we see the absolutely strongest growth worldwide.”
January 28, 2008
Volkswagen to build engines and transmissions in North America

In an interview with Automobilwoche, Volkswagen of America CEO, Stefan Jacoby, said that the German car maker has plans to produce engine and transmissions in North America in order to reduce its exposure to the weak U.S. dollar.
Stefan Jacoby said that “We [Volkswagen] will not be competitive unless we [Volkswagen] produce these components locally.“
At this early stage, he didn’t reveal where the new plant would be located, in the U.S., Canada or Mexico.
January 28, 2008
Top 10 engines in the US

Ward’s Auto World has released the list of the 10 best engines of 2007. There is only one diesel engine as the magazine is published in the US. To enter the contest, the engine had to be featured in a vehicle whose price tag is less than £27,500/$54,000.
Unsurprisingly, there are five V6 units and two V8 engines among the winners.
– Audi : turbocharged FSI 2.0-litre inline-4 featured in the Audi A3.

– BMW : turbocharged 3.0-litre inline-6 from the 335I

– Mercedes : turbodiesel 3.0-litre V6 featured in the Mercedes E320 CDI

– Ford : 4.6-litre V8 from the Mustang Shelby GT/Bullitt

– General Motors: 3.6-litre V6 featured in the Cadillac CTS

– General Motors: 6.0-litre V8 Hybrid from the GMC Yukon Hybrid

– Honda : 3.5-litre V6 featured in the Accord Coupe

– Mazda : turbocharged 2.3-litre Inline-4 from the Mazdaspeed3

– Nissan : 3.7-litre V6 featured in the Infiniti G37

– Toyota : 3.5-litreV6 from the Lexus IS 350

January 16, 2008
Face-lifted Mazda MPV in Japan

Mazda has unveiled a face-lifted MPV in Japan, two years after hitting the showrooms. The main changes concern a new front fascia, a new five speed automatic gearbox and equipment upgrades.

Despite being only two year old, the current MPV seemed to belong to the old generation due to its overall design. As it’s still too soon to replace it, Mazda revamped the exterior styling by featuring the new corporate DNA: new upper and lower grilles, and bumper. At the rear end, it comes with new lights with integrated red lenses while the 18-inch alloy wheels have been redesigned with gentle curves. The freshened MPV looks more aggressive. Fve new colors have been added: Metropolitan Grey Mica, Diamond Grey Metallic, Lilac Silver Metallic, Maroon Red Mica and Sparkling Black Mica.

On the inside, the main visual change is the central console which gets a new wide silver panel. The very cool optional second row Super Relax Seats has been improved as it now provides more legroom by extending the front/back seat slide range rearward by 80 mm.

Under the bonnet, the MPV keeps the ubiquitous 2.3-litre turbocharged engine in either naturally aspirated or turbocharged versions, but hooked it up to a new five-speed automatic gearbox. Chassis has laso been refined for comfort.
January 15, 2008
The largest Russian car maker, AvtoVaz has announced that it will open a new factory in Chechnya. The company expects to employ 8,000 people.
In the meantime, the Avtovaz also announced it had recorded a strong 2007 year in its domestic market. The sales totalled 663,500 vehicles, an increase of 6.2% over the same period in 2006. The best-seller is the outdated Lada Samara. Globally, the company sold 770,000 vehicles last year.
If this year follows the December sales trend, 2008 might a very good year for the company and for Renault which recently bought 25% of it. Indeed, its December car sales in the Russian market totalled 62,800 units, up 26.4 percent year-on-year.
Source: Reuters
January 15, 2008