UK Automotive Industry News from just-auto.com

Thursday 15th May 2008

  • EMERGING MARKETS ANALYSIS: Charging toward a Better Place
    • Rapidly rising oil prices have brought battery-electric power back into play as an alternative to gasoline. Is Project Better Place the breakthrough programme that allows EVs to flourish at last? Carlos Ghosn seems to think so. Mark Bursa investigates

  • US/CANADA: GM makes some headway in union disputes
    • Breakthroughs - of a sort - were achieved on Thursday in two disputes affecting General Motors operations in the US while a new deal has been agreed with a key Canadian union.

  • JAPAN: Toyota breaks 1m Prius barrier
    • Toyota on Thursday said it had sold more than 1m Prius hybrid cars since launch in the Japanese domestic market in 1997.

  • US: GM's Volt on schedule - report
    • General Motors has test driven its Volt petrol-electric car for the first time on public roads and is meeting the target of 40 miles on pure electric power, according to a US report.

  • Q&A with ZF
    • Continuing just-auto's series of Q&As with automotive component manufacturers, Matthew Beecham talked with Martin Sattler, general manager of ZF Sachs’ electric drives business about the company’s integrated starter-alternator technology.

  • GERMANY: BMW considers solar energy and heat recovery in vehicles
    • BMW has presented a range of new technologies to help improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions from its vehicles.

  • CHINA: China Automotive Systems net profit up 169%
    • Power steering specialist China Automotive Systems has increased 2008 first quarter net profit net income by 169% year on year to US$4.4m.

  • CHINA: Shenyang BMW Plant No.2 planned
    • Huachen/Brilliance BMW is planning a second plant that will start operations in Dadong District of Liaoning Province's Shenyang City at the end of 2009, according to a Chinese media report.

  • GERMANY: Volkswagen to step up eco-driver training
    • To help combat rising gasoline and diesel prices, Volkswagen will promote fuel efficient driver training.

  • JAPAN: Ghosn predicts price hikes in Japan
    • Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has indicated that Japanese carmakers will have to raise vehicle prices in response to soaring materials costs.

  • US: GM recalling Ohio SUV workers
    • General Motors is recalling about 1,200 workers back to its sport utility plant in Dayton, Ohio, from next Monday.

  • RUSSIA: Renault confirms Sandero for Avtoframos
    • Renault plans to start producing Renault Sandero hatchbacks at its Moscow-based Avtoframos plant at the end of 2009, the company has said.

  • INDIA: Toyota may split India operations
    • Toyota may split its Indian operations into two units - one solely handling manufacturing and the other focused on marketing, distribution and sales.

  • UK: Inchcape pre-tax profit up 5.7% in Q1
    • UK-based car distributor and retailer Inchcape has posted Q1 pre-tax profit up 5.7% on the same period of last year on sterling sales up 6.5%

  • SOUTH KOREA/GERMANY: Kia and Mazda enjoy double-digit rises in April
    • Mazda Motor Europe and Kia Motors (which once built Mazda-derived cars under licence before being absorbed by Hyundai Motor Corporation) have both announced double-digit sales increases for April.

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