Author: yoann besnard

Record sales for Honda in China in November

Honda has announced it has increased its sales by 36.4% in China in November over the same period last year. This is good news for the Japanese car maker as Chinese market recorded a good month too.
Honda sales reached 46,226 cars and for the first eleven months of this year, it delivered 378,602 vehicles. Another December month like November and Honda will sell more cars than expected this year. Indeed, it planned to sell 400,000 vehicles.
Honda owns two joint ventures in China, one with Guangzhou Automobile Group and another venture with Dongfeng Motor. The former recorded a 23.4% increase to 32,400 vehicles while the latter recorded a strong 81.3% increase to 13,826 units. The larger increase recorded by the Dongfeng venture as Honda controls 55% of the joint venture. Honda is the only automotive joint-venture in China that has a majority of non-Chinese ownership.
Source: Reuters
December 19, 2007
German market slows EU market down

While October was a good month, sales have been sluggish in November especially in Germany which badly impacted the whole European statistics. Overall the European market recorded 1,25 million vehicles, a 1.1% decrease over the same period last year.
German market has been gloomy for month because of a tax increase in January and has decreased by -12.9% in November. Large markets which performed well like France with a 7.2% increase, United Kingdom with a 2.2% increase and Italy with a 1% increase haven’t had enough weight against the German market’s trend. Romania recorded an impressive 27% jump to 29,230 vehicles while Poland’s sales have increased by 15% to 24,546 units.
Among the car makers the winners are Dacia with a 63% increase followed by Mini with +54%. Nissan recorded a strong 18% increase. BMW’s sales have increased by 10.9% to 60,600 vehicles. Renault recorded a 5.1% increase, followed by Fiat with a 4% increase and Citroen with +2.7%. The biggest loser is Opel which recorded a 6.8% decrease. Peugeot is close behind Opel with -5.9% and Ford’s deliveries have decreased by 2.4%.
December 19, 2007
Alfa Romeo 169 to share platform

In an interview Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has said that the future Alfa Romeo will share its platform with another car maker to cut cost. Fiat is in talks with several manufacturers and a decision will be taken in next January.
Due to go on sale in late 2009, the future 169 was originally thought to be based on the Maserati Quattroporte’s platform, but high manufacturing costs likely obliged the company’s executive to reconsider an alternative. As Marchionne has already said in a previous interview, Fait was interested in Jaguar and Land Rover for their American dealer network but also for the Jaguar platforms. Indeed, the platforms would have enabled the 169 to get a rear-wheel drive platform with front longitudinal engines while sharing costs. But Fiat’s situation prevent it to enter the bid.
However as a adviser to Tata which is likely to win the bid, the Italian group might be in a very good position to get the Jaguar’s platform and the future 169 might be derived from the XF saloon.
Source image: alfasport
December 19, 2007
Next-generation XC90 cancelled?

It is not recommended to be a gas guzzler at this moment. The XC90 might become a new victim of global warming as it is rumoured that Volvo cancelled the next-generation.
According to the Swedish magazine Auto Motor & Sport, Volvo has decided to axe the next-generation due to costs generated by new emission regulations and new environmentally-concerned customers. The XC90 is not a huge gas guzzler but its petrol engines are from being economical and Volvo would be obliged to develop new environmentally-friendly units in order to satisfy demand. Unfortunately, Volvo and its parent company Ford can’t afford such an engine. Another way would be to focus on losing weight but higher prices for lightweight components compromise the profitability. Added to the fact that marketing forecasts expect the SUV segment to be gloomy in the future, the XC90 is condemned to disappear as it doesn’t have much to offer to counter-attack.
For Volvo, this is bad news. Indeed, the XC90 is a best seller in the US, the largest market for the Swedish carmaker.
December 18, 2007
Cayenne Hybrid gives headaches to Porsche

At the last Los Angeles Motor Show, Porsche had announced that its engineers were working hard on a hybrid Cayenne, a top priority for the German car maker. Since then, the company has changed its mind and and sounds rather sceptical.
First the market doesn’t look so promising as first surveys have revealed that only 5% of Porsche customers were ready to buy a hybrid Cayenne. “The most optimistic forecast still only calls for a market share of 5 percent” said Porsche’s head of distribution, Klaus Bering in a recent interview given to Automobilwoche.
Secondly, Porsche’s progress on the hybrid system aren’t as good as it claimed it was at the last Los Angeles Motor Show. Indeed, executive said that the Cayenne Hybrid was able to run at 75mph on battery but it is rumoured that the hybrid model can only top 50mph. Moreover, Porsche is seriously concerned by the cost generated by the technology. The company is not sure about the potential profitability and not everybody is ready to lose money on hybrid cars like Toyota did. Unlike the Japanese giant, Porsche doesn’t need to build a brand image which is among the strongest in the world. In other words, the Cayenne Hybrid is still considered but its production version won’t be available before the next-generation due to appear in 2010.
December 18, 2007
Hyundai to build a factory in Russia by 2009

Hyundai has announced that it had signed a memorandum with St. Petersburg to build a new factory in the Russian city. It will invest £200 million to build the plant in order to have a annual production capacity of 100,000 cars.
The construction will start next year and the Hyundai’s sixth overseas facility will be complete by 2009. It will enable Hyundai to compete on one of the fastest growing market in the world. The Russian market will grow from 2 million units last year to 3.85 million vehicles next year and to 3.5 million vehicles in 2011.
Source image: Times
December 18, 2007
Nissan might axe the Titan

The Nissan Titan has been a failure as sales has picked to 60,691 vehicles for the first eleven months of this year while its direct competitor, Toyota Tundra, has been sold at 177,336 units over the same period. With such low figures, Titan’s profitability has been compromised and Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn is seriously considering killing the pickup.
The pickup market has been sluggish in recent years and there is a fierce struggle on for a pie. Added to forecasted higher gas prices, the Titan’s future looks shadowed. Axing the product would be the last solution as Carlos Ghosn would prefer a partnership with another car maker. Last Friday it was rumoured that Nissan was in talks with Chrysler on a possible partnership. For Chrysler, it would be an opportunity to reduce costs at a time when the American brand struggles financially to survive.
December 18, 2007
Future Mini Crossover to be called Crossman

Mini CEO Kay Segler has given more details about the future Mini crossover in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport. It will be christened Crossman and will be available with a choice of FWD and AWD versions.
It was originally thought that the Mini Crossover will be called Colorado but that is the codename for the project. Crossman features the family characteristic by starting with a ‘c’ and starting by ‘man’. Due to appear in 2010, it will be built at 45,000 units per year while earlier rumours reported a 65,000 target.
The Crossman will be manufactured by Magna in its Austrian factory, formerly owned by Steyr Puch.
December 18, 2007
Strong sales result for Volkswagen in November

Volkswagen has increased its global sales by 10.3% in November over the same period last year. A total of 324,000 vehicles were delivered to customers.
On the first eleven months of this year, the German brand has recorded a strong 8.8% increase with 3.37 million delivered vehicles.
China remains the largest market with 726,000 delivered vehicles, an increase of 28% over the same period last year, but is not the fastest growing market anymore. Indeed, Brazil has recorded a 34.7% increase on the first eleven month with 448,000 vehicles.
Unfortunately, sales were down by 7.8% in Europe, but the German brand has strong expectations for this market next year as it will launch the eagerly-awaited Scirocco coupé, the Passat coupé, while the BlueMotion models sales will increase their current market share from 7 to 10%.
December 18, 2007
Spyshots: Fiat 500 Abarth

The car you see here is the Fiat 500 Abarth which will likely be one of the hottest small car of 2008. The 500 Abarth will feature bold design and powerful engines and will revive the famous former 500 Abarth.
While Fiat has been shy with the Grand Punto Abarth, it will go wild with the Abarth like it did with the normal model. The main changes will be a huge front bumper with large air intakes, a rear fender and dual exhaust pipes. On the pictures, the rear bumper seems to look like the normal version’s but expect a bold design too like the front fascia.
The baby Abarth will be powered by a 1.4-litre petrol engine which will has an output of 155bhp. If you think it will just enough to move the announced 1088kg of the car, it is rumoured that a 180bhp version will be available as an option. If true, the 500 Abarth might become the hottest small car of the market and a nightmare for the 197bhp Clio Renaultsport.
The 500 Abarth will be officially unveiled at the next Geneva Motor Show.
Source: autoblog.it
December 18, 2007