GM Europe sales fall 20%

GM European unit said its second-quarter sales fell 20 per cent – faster than the overall market – even as Germany’s scrapping incentives boosted Opel’s sales to an eight-year high.

 

China car sales surge in June

China’s passenger car sales rose 48 per cent in June on the same month last year. The rise consolidates a remarkable recovery that has catapulted China to the top position in the world vehicle market so far this year.

The strength of China’s vehicle sales – total vehicles sales rose 18 per cent for the first half year to 6.1m from the same period last year – has surprised car market analysts, government officials and even the country’s carmakers, many of whom are scrambling to produce enough vehicles to meet demand.

 Some car dealerships have reported shortages of vehicles and western carmakers such as Volkswagen and GM have had to increase production sharply at their Chinese joint ventures to meet local demand. 

High Bank lending is believed to have spurred demand. China on Wednesday announced that new lending in the first half was Rmb7,400bn ($1,084bn), up 201 per cent year-on-year and equal to 150 per cent of full-year lending in 2008.

By contrast, sales in India rose an annual 7.8 per cent in June, while sales in Russia shrank 56 per cent year-on-year.

Total US light vehicle sales for the first half of this year were 4.8m, according to JD Power.

The strength of the Chinese market is one small ray of hope for Western Manufacturers who already have a presence in their.

 

Honda kills off FR-V

Honda has decided to kill off the FR-V once production rolls to an end in August.
Tom Gardner, head of marketing cars for Honda (UK), said: “The FR-V has been very successful in its niche market, but the MPV sector is a very mature one and downsizing has become the dominant trend more recently.

“With cars like Jazz and Insight, we can serve this emerging market very well.”

13,531 FR-V’s have been sold in the UK since its introduction in 2004

 

Hyundai is offering £5,035 off its 2.0-litre Coupe.

The offer stands for non-scrappage customers, but if customers want to trade in their 10 year old car, Hyundai will cut another £1,000 off the price using the Government’s discount scheme.
The top of the range TSIII version of the Coupe is also available with a discount of £5,220, putting the list price down to £14,295.
A spokesman for Hyundai said: “Coupe has always been popular in the UK and it’s the biggest market for Europe.
“We bought the last 1,500 cars off the production line in Korea knowing that we could find homes for them, especially if they were at ‘beneficial’ rates. The factory did us a deal and we are happy to pass that on to the customers.”

Seems strange, if you Hyundai can find a home for them as easily as they suggest then why discount so much?

 

Lear file for Chapter 11 protection

The Lear Corporation which makes car seats, electrical and electronic systems for car makers such as Ford and GM has filed for chapter 11 protection in the US after missing a $38m dollar interesr payment on its bonds last week.

The company, based in Southfield, Michigan, near Detroit, reported net sales of $13.6bn in 2008 and employs 80,000 employees in 36 countries. Its filing covers Lear’s US and Canadian businesses but its subsidiaries outside the US will be unaffected.

Car makers anxious to protect their supply have stepped in with limited financial aid or more lenient payment terms.

 

KEN BLOCK SUBARU – AWESOME

Ignore the ads at the beginning just look at this for some awesome driving.

 

Gordon Brown and the Phoenix Four

The Phonix Four have turned on Gordon Brown accusing him of pulling the plug on MG Rover in 2005. The Directors have claimed in a dossier released by public relations company Media House that Brown went against the wishes of then Prime Minister Tony Blair who wanted to save the company.

The Phoenix Four have tried to get information from the government on the actions of ministers under the Freedom of Information Act. Thirty individual requetst have all been rejected.

If their claims are true it explains why Lord Mandelson is further delaying the release of the report by referring it to the SFO. 

The inquiry has cost £16m so far. Knowing the way the SFO operate expect this to double.

 

Shutdowns possible at Jaguar Land Rover

The boss of Jaguar Land Rover’s parent company, Tata Motors, has warned lengthy shutdowns of its factories cannot be ruled out. 

Jaguar Land Rover, which launches its important new XJ model this week, has so far avoided the kind of lengthy shutdowns introduced by other carmakers in the UK, notably Honda. 

The company continues to be in talks with the Government about loan guarantees to help it through the worst of the current slump in car sales.

 

Fiat in a JV with Guangzhou Automobile Group.

Guangzhou Automobile Group which already has partnerships with Honda and Toyota has agreed to a joint venture with Fiat of Italy. 

The two manufacturers will invest more than 400 million euros in the venture, which is due to start production for China’s market in 2011. 

Formery Fiat had a partnership with Nanjing Automobile Corporation until 2007 when Nanjing pulled out of the venture amid plunging sales.

The Italian manufacturer then agreed a deal with Chery, China’s largest carmaker, but that was put on hold earlier this year by the global financial crisis.

 

Untaxed cars to be auctioned off

More than 100,000 untaxed vehicles are seized every year and held at impounds for up to 14 days. Until now, vehicles not claimed within that time have been sent to the crusher, regardless of value. 

Now after an eight-month trial, a South Wales auction house, has won a nationwide contract to save the most valuable vehicles from the scrap heap. 

Newport Auctions say that it has access to all makes and models, and the majority of stock is clean, tidy and less than eight years old. Each vehicle is fully valeted and supplied with a V5 document. The majority will also be supplied with a new set of keys. 

The auction is also be available online and visitors to the site can view multiple photographs and review the information in full before placing an on-line bid. 

I would be interested to find out where any profit from this scheme goes, certainly not into road maintenance which is where it should be spent.