plus 4, Detroit Auto Show hears call for new Cash-for-Clunkers program - San Francisco Examiner |
- Detroit Auto Show hears call for new Cash-for-Clunkers program - San Francisco Examiner
- Nissan planning two sub-$10,000 models for U.S. - Leftlane
- AUTOSHOW-GM China exec says uncertain on Hummer deal - CNN Money
- Chrysler CEO: World supply of cars outpaces demand - Yahoo Finance
- Automotive X-PRIZE Competition Announcement at Detroit Auto Show - Tree Hugger
| Detroit Auto Show hears call for new Cash-for-Clunkers program - San Francisco Examiner Posted: 13 Jan 2010 02:16 PM PST
By: Mark Tapscott
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| Nissan planning two sub-$10,000 models for U.S. - Leftlane Posted: 13 Jan 2010 11:02 AM PST Nissan has announced it is planning two new small cars for the United States market. Set to be based on Nissan's new global V platform, both models are expected to carry a price tag below $10,000 and slot beneath the Nissan Versa. Nissan is developing its new V platform to replace the current Nissan Micra – a vehicle sold outside of the United States. Nissan will build three vehicles atop the V platform, with two of those vehicles destined for the U.S. market. Nissan is targeting a retail price below $10,000 for both models, which would make them some of the most affordable vehicles on the market. Nissan currently sells a version of its Versa small car for less than $10,000. The base model Versa comes equipped with roll-up windows and a radio-delete, but Tavares failed to reveal if the new models would come better equipped. "It is too early to tell you the (standard) equipment in those cars," he said. "The only thing that we can tell you is that we will hold that price point." No word on when the new vehicle might hit the market, but look for both cars to be produced in Mexico. It remains possible that one of the two vehicles could be a version of the Nissan Juke. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| AUTOSHOW-GM China exec says uncertain on Hummer deal - CNN Money Posted: 13 Jan 2010 12:00 PM PST * GM in process to win China approval for Hummer sale * GM China head says uncertain of outcome DETROIT (Reuters) - The head of General Motors Co's China operations said Wednesday that GM is still awaiting Beijing's approval for a deal to sell Hummer and that he is uncertain of the outcome. The U.S. automaker reached a tentative deal in June to sell the Hummer SUV brand to China's Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery. "We're involved in the government approval process," GM China Group President and Managing Director Kevin Wale said at the Automotive News Congress in Detroit. Asked if he expected the Chinese government to allow the sale to close, Wale said: "Still to be decided. I don't know what the outcome is going to be." "We're hopeful it will be decided in the very near future but we don't know"." GM Chief Executive Ed Whitacre said last week the company aimed to close the sale by the end of January. GM had initially planned to close the deal at the end of 2009. If the sale fails, it would mark the fourth sale that was not completed after earlier deals to sell Saturn, Saab and Opel units collapsed last year. In September, Penske Automotive Group pulled out of an agreement to buy Saturn the day before it was expected to close. In November, GM's board reversed a decision to sell a 55 percent stake in Germany-based Opel to a group led by Magna International, opting to keep the European unit instead. GM is also proceeding with the wind-down of Saab and has said none of the bidders for the money-losing brand had presented financially viable plans yet. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Chrysler CEO: World supply of cars outpaces demand - Yahoo Finance Posted: 13 Jan 2010 07:02 PM PST DETROIT (AP) -- Chrysler Group LLC's sales will continue to slump until around June when compared with last year's numbers because the company used big incentives early in 2009 to move cars and trucks as it headed toward bankruptcy protection, the company's CEO said Wednesday night. But Sergio Marchionne, who also is CEO of Italy's Fiat Group SpA, said Chrysler will survive until its product lineup is refreshed with new designs because it has $5 billion to $6 billion in cash reserves and is being frugal. "You know the concept of hibernation Canadian bears use?" he asked when fielding a question about how the company will make it through a sales slump with no new products coming in the immediate future. Chrysler sales were down 36 percent last year as consumers shunned its aging model lineup that was not updated by the previous owners, Cerberus Capital Management LP. Marchionne said Chrysler used heavy incentives to drive up sales during the first four or five months of last year around its April bankruptcy protection filing, and until it cycles past those numbers, it will not show a year-over-year monthly sales increase. He also predicted sales will start to rise as soon as the new Jeep Grand Cherokee hits the market, which is scheduled for sometime during the second quarter. Marchionne conceded that the only new thing Chrysler is displaying at the Detroit auto show is a new interior in the Dodge Caliber compact. But he said the Fiat 500 minicar will be in Chrysler's U.S. showrooms in December. Fiat was granted a 20 percent stake in the company by the U.S. government and could get more depending on whether it hits goals such as producing fuel-efficient vehicles. Chrysler lost $8 billion in 2008 and has received about $15.5 billion in U.S. government aid, but Marchionne has said it will be profitable on an operating basis this year and will have a net profit in 2011. Speaking to the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, Marchionne said the global auto industry must reduce factory capacity in order to survive, especially in Europe. World automakers can build 94 million cars and trucks a year, but that's 30 million more than it can sell, he said. Bankruptcies and economic struggles have forced cuts in North America, but European manufacturers have not closed plants, often because they are paid by governments not to, he said. He predicted further consolidation in the global auto business, with five or six people running the industry. Marchionne's speech was interrupted twice by protesters. One man yelled "Shame!" in Italian, and Marchionne later said the man was protesting Fiat's plan to close a factory in Sicily. Another said her mother was killed by a defective Chrysler product. Both were escorted out of the room. Other protesters unveiled a banner that said the Fiat Chrysler tieup was damaged when delivered. The banner rose to the ceiling attached to white helium balloons. Marchionne said Fiat loses money on every car built at the Termini Imerese plant in Sicily, because costs at the plant are too high due to lack of infrastructure in the area. He said Fiat is willing to work with the government and unions to find another use for the plant. Production will cease at the end of 2011. Marchionne did not respond to the woman's statement. Consumer groups and crash victims have protested a provision in the Chrysler sale agreement to Fiat that releases Fiat from product-related liability for vehicles sold before the company entered bankruptcy protection. Marchionne also said Chrysler has not decided if it will challenge Congress' decision to require arbitration for 789 dealers whose franchises were revoked during the company's passage through bankruptcy protection. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Automotive X-PRIZE Competition Announcement at Detroit Auto Show - Tree Hugger Posted: 13 Jan 2010 03:13 PM PST The 51 vehicles that qualified must achieve the goal of 100 MPGe (miles per gallon or energy equivalent) for range, emissions, and performance. The contest seeks to develop real, production-capable cars for consumers - not science projects or concept cars. This latest effort of the X Prize Foundation hopes to inspire a new generation of viable, fuel-efficient vehicles (guess not that silver one pictured above). Musician Neil Young hoped to join the race with his retro Linc Volt, but pulled out.
Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of The X PRIZE Foundation said at the venue announcement: "As the birthplace of the American automotive industry, Michigan has the knowledge base, the talent, and the facilities to support the innovation central to achieving the goals of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE and the future of the automotive industry." Other X Prize efforts include Paul Allen's private spaceflight, human genome research, and Google's Lunar X Prize for getting a robot on the moon. The foundation creates prizes for entrepreneurial breakthroughs in technology for the benefit of humanity, driving innovation in the life sciences, exploration, education, global development, energy and the environment. The Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize will pit these super fuel-efficient vehicles in a series of scored evaluations for the efficiency, safety and performance of each vehicle under real world conditions. The challenges will be closed door events at the Michigan International Speedway. The public gets up-close views of the vehicles on select days, including the opening event April 29 at the State Capitol in Lansing. The timeline for the closed-door competitions follow: The Shakedown Stage Knockout Qualifying Stage Finals Validation Stage A free one-day "show-and-tell" will include DASH+, the educational part of the X PRIZE, funded by the US Department of Energy, involving a contest of national high school displays about fuel-efficiency and reduced emissions innovations. The award ceremony for winners sharing the $10 million purse is scheduled in Washington, DC in September. More on the Automotive X PRIZE: Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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