Once again GM shows its right hand doesn't know what the Lutz hand is doing. Last week, Car Czar to the Stars Bob Lutz spoke about their plans for the Volt's eventual introduction: "In the first year… we'll do about 10,000 units, and keep them fairly close to home so we can deal with any issues before we really crank up for high volumes." But Reuters reported yesterday that GM's VP for global program management has a different idea. Jon Lauckner told a forum at the Competitive Enterprise Institute that GM's  planning a "healthy roll-out" for their plug-in electric – gas hybrid  In fact, Lauckner said "we're talking about large numbers — in the tens of thousands." However, Lauckner didn't seem to share Lutz' confidence that the Volt would be a smash hit; he urged Congress to "approve tax incentives to help spark demand." Your tax money hard at work.

Reuters »

Source: www.thetruthaboutcars.com

The U.S. automotive industry's '07 retail sales stats are in, and the Detroit Free Press pronounces Ford the biggest loser. The Blue Oval Boyz' share of the American new car market sank from 15.1 percent in 2006 to 14.2 percent last year. As the Freep's Sarah H. Webster points out, that's better than the '06 decline: a two percentage point drop. But she also notes (further down in the piece) that "Ford's decline, though, is also noteworthy as Ford's incentives, as estimated by Autodata Corp., a private firm in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., remain among the highest in the industry. Ford offered an average of $4,001 in discounts on its cars and trucks last year." Absent from Webster's analysis: privately-held Chrysler's '07 market share. But we do learn that GM's market share held steady, Toyota lost a fraction of a percentage point and the Big 2.8's combined share of the U.S. market dropped a full percentage point. Heading into a down market, it remains to be seen if the truck-heavy domestics can hold the line. 

Detroit Free Press »

Source: www.thetruthaboutcars.com

Well, they would, wouldn't they? But wait. In what Spiegel Online calls a "remarkable change of trends," ADAC (the German equivalent of  the AAA) says their car-breakdown statistics (2m call-outs per year) indicate that VW, BMW and Mercedes are no longer guaranteed to… let you down. For the past 10 years, Japanese brands have led the ADAC reliability index. In 2003, for example, nine out of ten of the most reliable cars  in Germany were Japanese. But in the 2008 ranking, for example, no Toyota is included in the top ten of least-likely-to-break-down. In  fact, the best-ranking Japanese model, the Mazda3, takes fifth, and the Mitsubishi Space Star is the only other Japanese model in the top ten (10th place). ADAC attributes Toyota's fall from grace toToMoCo's  rapid growth. But basically, German car maker's attention to "quality as reliability" (as opposed to "quality as tight panel  gaps") has dramatically improved. BMW for example started in 2003 an  expensive program to improve the reliability of new models. Odd then,  that such improvements are as of yet hardly to be found in the  brand's U.S. statistics. Here's the rundown…

1 – BMW X3
2 – Audi A2
3 – BMW 1-Series
4 – BMW MINI
5 – Mazda 3
6 – Mercedes CLK
7 – Audi A4
8 – BMW 3-Series
9 – Mercedes SLK
10 – Mitsubishi Space Star

Speigel Online »

Source: www.thetruthaboutcars.com

1st Febuary 2008

The vocational training contractor Carter & Carter Group plc yesterday posted a circular to its shareholders convening an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on 15th February, at which a resolution will be proposed to waive the borrowing restriction contained in the company’s articles of association.

As announced on 30 November, the company has been working with its auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, to complete the audit of its results for the year ended 31 July 2007, but the work is not yet completed, and the directors believe that, due to the financial performance for the year ended 31 July 2007, it is likely that the finalisation of the audit will result in a substantial write-down of goodwill, and that the company’s and its subsidiaries’ indebtedness was likely to be higher than the performance of the business was able to support.

The Group’s net indebtedness has increased from £86m a year ago to £129m as at 17th January and is forecast to rise further to £173m by the end of July this year, which with the anticipated substantial reduction in goodwill, will result in borrowings exceeding the limit stipulated by the company’s articles.

The Carter & Carter board says it remains in active discussions with lenders, and if these negotiations are successful, the company expects to announce full details of a restructuring in later this month.

The company’s financial and accounting difficulties became apparent after its chairman Philip Carter died last year in a helicopter crash. Carter & Carter has a large share of government-funded apprentice training schemes under its management, and has long specialised in the automotive repair training.

Source: www.autoindustry.co.uk

1st Febuary 2008

The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell again in 2006, by 0.5% year on year, putting the UK in an even stronger position to exceed its Kyoto Protocol commitment, according to new figures from Defra.

Carbon dioxide (CO2), which makes up about 85% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions, stayed virtually the level (a 0.1% fall). The economy grew another 2.9% in 2006, meaning that the UK is continuing to break the historic link between economic growth and growth in emissions.

The biggest decrease in CO2 emissions was in the residential sector, with a fall of 4% on 2005 levels, along with a decrease of 1.6% in the business sector. Other sectors increased, including energy supply (up by 1.5%) and transport (up by 1.3%).

The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are now 16.4% lower than 1990 levels. When the effect of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme included, the overall reduction is 20.7%.

Source: www.autoindustry.co.uk

1st Febuary 2008

The Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions joint venture has announced the official opening of its new lithium-ion automotive battery manufacturing facility in Nersac, France, yesterday, dedicated to batteries for hybrid, plug-in, fuel cell and electric vehicles and the first of its kind in the world.

Johnson Controls-Saft initially invested €15 million in the facility, which has been built to be scaleable, so that as demand increases it can increase capacity. The joint venture has just one a supply contract with an unnamed European OEM, the second contract so far won by the business.

Source: www.autoindustry.co.uk

The image you are seeing comes from the Washington auto show. A facelifted Mitsubishi Galant has been making the rounds at several of the regional auto shows, and a dealer has even confirmed having a few in stock. But this freshened Galant is not on Mitsubishi's consumer website, press website or any of the press picture databases. A call to the Mitsubishi News Bureau has not been returned (they are probably not in the Berkowitz fan club after my review of the Lancer). As you can see from the horrendous blurry cameraphone picture, the rear end is in fact different and less ugly than before. Unfortunately, the car underneath is likely the same pedestrian and generic machine Americans have been ignoring for the past several years. Mitsubishi has had record sales in 2007, but they have yet to crack serious sales numbers in the Altima-Accord-Camry territory in which they used to be very competitive. So two lessons here. First, when you launch a car, launch the damn car properly. Second… well we'll have to wait until we can see the thing, won't we.

Chris Woody’s camera phone »

Source: www.thetruthaboutcars.com

1st Febuary 2008

ThyssenKrupp Steel and Japan’s second-biggest steel producer JFE Steel Corporation have jointly developed a new multi-phase steel for automotive applications. It has a minimum strength of 780 megapascals (MPa), similar to that of the advanced ultra high-strength steels CP-W 800 from ThyssenKrupp Steel, and NANO 780 from JFE, but up to 40% higher elongation compared with conventional 780MPa high-strength steel, hence significantly improved forming properties are claimed for it.

The two companies have jointly filed a patent on the new material, which is designated TP-N 68/78.

ThyssenKrupp Steel and JFE have been working together on high performance steels for automotive customers since 2002 under a cooperation agreement. Results so far include the definition of common specifications for high-strength automotive steels and the conclusion of a cross-licensing agreement for the steel grades CP (complex phase) from ThyssenKrupp Steel and NANO HITEN™ from JFE. Under the agreement, both companies can produce the other partner’s material.

The strength and formability of the new 780MPa high-strength steel are attributable to a bainitic-ferritic microstructure with embedded retained austenite in combination with nanometer-sized precipitations. During forming, the austenite content is transformed into hard martensite, which means that the steel only reaches its final strength during fabrication to the finished part.

To achieve these specific properties, the materials developers at ThyssenKrupp Steel and JFE developed a new alloying concept and also employed new temperature control methods during hot rolling and cooling.

The newly developed steel is available as hot-rolled coil, on request, also coated. Typical applications include crash-relevant automotive body structural parts.

(www.thyssenkrupp.com)

Source: www.autoindustry.co.uk

1st Febuary 2008

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars today announced that Graham Lenden (41) will join the company as the new Head of Marketing. He will assume his position at Rolls-Royce later this month, replacing Paul Ferraiolo, who was recently appointed President of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars North America.

Lenden will be responsible for all Rolls-Royce worldwide marketing activities. He will be based at the company’s head office and manufacturing plant at Goodwood.

Lenden was previously Head of Operations at Aston Martin, managing the sales, marketing and aftersales functions for the UK and Asia Pacific regions.

Source: www.autoindustry.co.uk

1st Febuary 2008

The Freight Transport Association is concerned that as many as 10,000 vehicles working in and around London may not yet be compliant with the new Transport for London Low Emission Zone scheme, which comes into force next Monday, 4th February. Vehicles which do not meet the required low emission levels face the prospect of paying a £200 per day charge or a penalty of £1,000.

The scheme initially requires vehicles of over 12 tonnes to meet Euro 3 emission standards for particulate matter in order to operate freely within the area bordered by the M25. It is estimated that each day some 50,000 vehicles are used to deliver goods and services to businesses and consumers within the Greater London area.

However, the FTA says it is possible that as many as 10,000 vehicles and their operators either do not meet the required standard or, despite efforts from the transport industry and from Transport for London, are still not aware of the scheme.

Operators of vehicles between 3.5 and 12 tonnes still have until 8 July to become compliant. There are a number of options available, including applying for a Low Emission Certificate, modifying the vehicle with a particulate filter or buying a compliant vehicle. Operators who do not take their vehicles into London are nonetheless recommended to check the Eligible Engines List (to get a Low Emission Certificate) as it may entitle operators to a reduction in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).

The FTA’s Head of Policy for London, Gordon Telling said, “Londoners are entitled to cleaner air and all of us operating vehicles, whether they are cars, buses, taxis, or commercial vehicles, should do all we can to reduce emissions. However, this scheme achieves very little that would not have been achieved anyway as the result of enhanced EU engine standards. This means that Londoners, and lorry operators, are having to pay an enormous price – around a quarter of a billion pounds – £100 million of operator costs and £130 million of London taxpayers’ money – for a trivial improvement in air quality. The biggest pollution from traffic in London comes from cars and the scheme does not apply to them.

“This money could have been far better spent on grants or other incentives for the introduction of vehicles and equipment which actually would make a worthwhile improvement.”

Details of the Low Emission Certificate and the Eligible Engines List are available at www.fta.co.uk/lez

Source: www.autoindustry.co.uk