News watch April 2011: today's auto industry news

Come to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour

Friday 28 April 2011
• Due to UK royal wedding national public holidays, CAR Online news coverage will be reduced until CAR reopens on Tuesday 3 May (CAR)
• The Saab financial situation continues to develop. Both the Swedish National Debt Office and General Motors are said to have given their approval for the proposed lease-back sale of Saab property to investor Vladimir Antonov. Meanwhile, Victor Muller has announced that Saab is now unlikely to meet its 2011 sales target of 80,000 vehicles as the plant at Trollhattan remains idle. Saab parent Spyker Cars N.V is pursuing several avenues to raise required funds, both from existing shareholders and through other means (Reuters)
• Toyota and Mercedes-Benz production in the US has been disrupted by tornadoes and severe storms which have struck Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee (Automotive News)
• Renault has reached a settlement with the three executives wrongly accused and dismissed for involvement in industrial espionage during the EV spy scandal (Automotive News Europe)
• Further details have emerged of Chrysler's plans to refinance its debt and pay off US and Canadian government loans secured as part of its 2009 bankruptcy reorganisation. Chrysler plans to have repaid its government loans using newly-secured private credit at more favourable interest rates by June 2011, the second anniversary of its reorganisation. The original loan plan called for repayment in installments, with the final payment due in 2017 (Detroit News)

Thursday 28 April 2011
• Hyundai profits for the 2011 first quarter have risen 46% with sales rises in china, Europe and the US. Hyundai attributes its performance to increased overall sales, and a trend towards sales of higher-priced models in the Hyundai range (Automotive News)
• Honda have suffered a 38% drop in profits and a 2.9% decline in sales for the first quarter of 2011. Despite rising or steady sales in the US and Asia, honda's Japan sales tumbled 22% in Japan and production output in Japan fell 63% in March (Automotive News)
• Spyker Cars N.V, the Dutch firm which owns Saab, has issued a statement confirming reports that the Swedish National Debt Office has allowed Russian banker Vladimir Antonov to become a shareholder of Saab (Spyker Cars N.V)
• Confirming reports from earlier today, Chrysler has issued an official statement of its intention to pay back its remaining US and Canadian government loans using a new line of credit secured from the private sector. Chrysler's intention is to have the government loans repaid in full during the next financial quarter (Chrysler)
• Polaris Industries, maker of all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles, has announced its intention to buy Global Electric Motors (GEM), a US maker of low-speed electric vehicles such as golf carts or similar small utility vehicles from parent company Chrysler (Automotive News) 
• General Motors, Ford and Chrysler-Fiat will not be exhibiting at the 2011 Tokyo motor show, continuing their withdrawal from the 2009 show. PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault, BMW, Mini, Volkswagen, Porsche and Jaguar Land Rover are among the 19 companies and 22 overseas brands returning to the Tokyo show, which saw a near-absence of foreign manufacturers due to the financial crisis of 2009. (Automotive News, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association JAMA)
• Porsche first quarter profits were up and sales rose 10% over the same period in 2010. (Bloomberg)
• US Federal Reserve chairman Timothy Geithner will be meeting Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne at a visit and tour of Chrysler's Jefferson North factory in Detroit. Reports speculate that more details on Fiat's refinancing and acquisition plans for Chrysler may emerge during the visit. Geithner will also visit Ford and GM facilities while in Detroit (Detroit News)
• Ford has overcome its shortages in certain shades of red and black paint by working with its suppliers to offer alternatives. However, the ongoing lack of Xirallic paint pigment (sourced from a supplier whose plant remains closed due to proximity to the damaged nuclear powerplants in Fukushima prefecture, Japan) means that Ford will be forced to alter its colour palette for most models as stocks of Xirallic-based paints run out. (Automotive News)

Wednesday 27 April 2011
• UK sports car maker Caterham Cars has been bought by Team Lotus Enterprise (CAR)
• Volkswagen Group countinues the run of positive earnings results for the first quarter of 2011. VW group revenue rose 31% to £33.3bn and profit exceeded market expectations, increasing to 1.5bn, tripling profits compared with the same period in 2010. Audi and VW sales growth, particularly in China were cited as key contributors to the strong financial performance. (VW Group)
• Not all of VW Group's brands are performing as well as VW and Audi. Bentley and Seat posted losses, albeit significantly reduced on their 2010 performance (Automotive News)
• Toyota's VP for production, Atsushi Niimi, has said that Toyota's continuing parts shortages have been traced to 150 small components, mostly small electronics, rubber parts and paint ingredients where major 'tier 1' suppliers received sub-components from a sole tier 3 or tier 4 subcontractor source. Toyota believes it will be more effective to help existing suppliers return to production, than attempt to source alternate sub-contracters (Detroit News)
• Following the IIHS test results for the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt alternative-fuel vehicles, the US National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed it was in the process of testing the two vehicles for its five-star crash test rating system (Detroit News)
• Saab talks with the European Investment Bank (EIB) continue over approval for its refinancing plan. The EIB claimed the deal required GM approval, which Spyker Cars N.V and investor Vladimir Antonov claim they have already received. Spyker Cars N.V and Antonov also claim that the terms the EIB is offering connected with the plan are not viable (Reuters)

Tuesday 26 April 2011
• Renault has beat market expectations in posting a 15% rise in first quarter revenues to £9.27bn. Renault's global vehicle sales rose 5.8% to 692,607 units, largely due to growth in developing markets. (Renault)
• Ford has posted a first quarter profit of £1,6bn. Operating profit for Ford of Europe tripled to £178m, compared with a £31m loss for the same period last year. Ford Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth says Ford will have a better financial performance both in terms of profitability and cashflow in 2011, in spite of production disruptions, rising fuel prices and other external factors (Automotive News)
 • Audi has introduced the 'Audi Ultra' sub-brand on its R18 TDI Le Mans racing car. Ultra covers lightweight technology, joining Quattro four-wheel drive E-Tron EV/hybrid technology in the Audi brand lexicon (Audi)
• Ford has brought forward planned shutdowns at plants in Taiwan, China and South Africa in order to manage component shortages following the March 11 earthquake in Japan. This follows a similar move to bring forward a one-week scheduled shutdown at the Ford plant in Genk, Belgium earlier in April (Automotive News)
• Honda says that plant capacity in Japan will remain at 50% through to June, and overseas plant capacity will be set on a case-by-case basis as the firm seeks to manage shortages in components and return production to normal levels by the end of 2011 (Automotive News)
• Analysts voice concern over the effects of a leadership vacuum in operations on Renault, as the company seeks to replace Patrick Pelata following his resignation after the industrial espionage and fraud scandal (Bloomberg)
• Saab's financing issues continue this week, as concerns are expressed over the terms attached to the EIB's conditional approval of its lease-back asset sale to investor Vladimir Antonov (Reuters)
• Nissan has issued a recall in Canada and 20 US 'cold weather states' for 271,000 Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX4 SUVs, due to a potential steering-related fault created by cumulative exposure to winter road salt material (Automotive News)
• The Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf have gained top ratings in the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) crash test programme. The two alternative-fuel vehicles have yet to be tested in the government's National Highway Transport Safety Administration (NHTSA) five-star crash test rating programme. (Detroit News)
• GM Europe chairman Nick Reilly believe the future of UK car manufacture is at risk due to the lack of a larger local supplier base (BBC News)
• Jaguar Land Rover are investigating potential sites for a new engine plant, with a potential gain of 1000 jobs. Sites in Wolverhampton, South Wales and an undisclosed location in India are being considered as JLR seeks to gain more control over engine production to support growing sales (Sunday Telegraph)

Monday 25 April 2011
• Due to the Easter national public holidays in the UK, CAR Online news coverage will be reduced until CAR reopens on Tuesday 26 April 2011 (CAR)
• Toyota's production output in March 2011 has fallen 63% compared to 2010 due to parts shortages in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan (BBC news)
• 'Revenge of the Electric Car', a documentary by 'Who Killed the Electric Car?' director Chris Paine, has opened at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. The film focuses on the development of the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf, and Tesla Roadster (Detroit News)
• VW is evaluating whether to create a new brand with joint venture partner First Auto Works for entry-level car buyers in the Chinese market (Automotive News Europe)
• Honda President Takanobu Ito says that Honda is working on a replacement for the cancelled NSX replacement, which eventually appeared as the HSV-010 Super GT racing car. The car will likely have a hybrid powertrain and sit above the CR-Z in Honda's lineup. Readers are advised from past experience with NSX replacement announcements that holding their breath until it happens may prove fatal (Automotive News)
• Lexus is likely to lose US market luxury sales leadership due to production disruptions after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan (Automotive News)
• Volvo has denied claims in a Dutch newspaper that the Geely-owned carmaker has been approached by the Swedish government about a takeover of Saab (Reuters)

Friday 22 April 2011
• Due to the Easter national public holidays in the UK, CAR Online news coverage will be reduced until CAR reopens on Tuesday 26 April 2011 (CAR)
• Production cuts at Toyota plants worldwide are likely to last until the end of 2011 due to parts shortages following the March 11 Earthquake and Tsunami. Plants in Japan will return to regular levels in July, with overseas Toyota factories beginning to raise production levels from August (BBC News)
• The Swedish National Debt Office has approved Saab's refinancing proposal involving the sale and lease-back of land and buildings to investor Vladimir Antonov. The deal now requires European Investment Bank approval to proceed (Reuters)
• Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is expecting to double its second quarter sales, largely due to the popularity of the Rolls-Royce Ghost (Automotive News Europe)
• Toyota is recalling 308,000 of its 2007-2008 model year RAV4 and Highlander SUVs in the US to repair airbag sensor problems (Detroit News)

Thursday 21 April 2011
• Bernie Ecclestone dismissed reports that Formula 1 was being sold to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. "We would not sell to a media company because it would restrict the ability to negotiate with other broadcasters," he said. (BBC News)
• Fiat's first quarter 2011 profits were up 9.1%, largely due to healthy Fiat sales in Brazil and high profitability at Ferrari (Automotive News Europe)
• Saab owner Victor Muller says that EIB approval of the investment proposal by Vladimir Antonov is in the final stages of approval. He estimates that Saab has lost approximately 3000 units of production through the production shutdown, but that this could be recovered later in the year. (Reuters)
• Fiat Auto has issued a statement in Italy disclosing its intention to buy a further 16% stake in Chrysler, investing $1.27bn to raise their stake to 46% (Detroit News)
• PSA Peugeot Citroen sales in the first quarter of 2011 are up 10%, beating analysts' estimates. Peugeot cited the introduction of new vehicles such as the Citroen DS3, and greater sales in South America as the reasons for the rise in sales (Bloomberg)

Wednesday 20 April 2011
• Great Wall Motor Co., China's largest manufacturer of light commercial vehicles, plans to enter the US market by 2015 (Automotive News)
• Industry CEOs chose the Shanghai motor show over New York in 2011, with leaders from Mercedes-Benz, VW Group, Renault/Nissan and Toyota amongst others attending the 2011 Shanghai motor show (Bloomberg)
• GM and VW China sales are growing in spite of a slowing rate of market growth. Both are out-performing Toyota in the China market (Bloomberg)
• The US government is working with Google to provide information on EV charging points via Google maps, and other GPS mapping solutions (Detroit News)
• China is expected to become Lamborghini's largest market in 2011, surpassing the US (Automotive News Europe)
• Toyota plans to produce hybrid vehicles in China as carmakers seek to offer low-emissions vehicles (BBC News)

Tuesday 19 April 2011
• BMW and Mercedes-Benz sales in China grew at 76% in 2010 versus an overall market growth of 8.1%. in spite of government moves to clamp-down on 'hedonism' (Bloomberg)
• Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn was a victim of the industrial espionage scandal, says the head of the internal investigation into the case (Reuters)
• Sales of the Tata Nano, launched two years ago, have failed to meet industry expectations. Rapidly rising consumer tastes and poor marketing are cited as factors in the failure of the 'world's cheapest car' to capture greater market share in India (BBC News Video)
• Mazda has launched contingency plans to minimise parts shortages following the natural disasters in Japan last month, having identified several thousand components in limited supply and switching to alternate suppliers or redesigned parts (Automotive News)
• Kevin Wale, head of GM China, says that GM plans to double its sales in China to 5 million units by 2015 (Automotive News)


Monday 18 April 2011
• Mazda have confirmed the production version of the Minagi crossover concept will be called CX-5. The new Mazda CX-5 will debut at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show. (Mazda)
• Nissan plans a software update for its Nissan Leaf electric car after owner reports of difficulty restarting the vehicle. 5,300 of the EV hatchback are involved (Detroit News)
• Toyota and Nissan have warned their dealers in the US that supplies of vehicles may not return to normal until July or even September as manufacturers struggle to recover from the disruption caused by the March 11 earthquake (Automotive News)
• The Swedish government has given conditional approval for the National Debt Office to negotiate a deal with Saab that allows the carmaker to sell its real estate assets to Russian investor Vladimir Antonov in a lease-back deal. This would provide Saab with much-needed funds and reduce the government-guaranteed European Investment Bank (EIB) loan amount to €280 million (Reuters)
• Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is under pressure from the finance sector to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) of Ferrari shares. The IPO of the supercar manufacturer and Fiat's most profitable business unit would enable Fiat to reduce debt levels and improve their credit rating (Bloomberg) 

By Mark Hamilton