News watch February 2012: today's auto industry news

Welcome 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

Wednesday 29 February 2012
• Following on from yesterday's news of a cross-holding between PSA and GM, it now appears that Peugeot Citroen would offer a €1bn rights issue to create cash and strip back jobs as part of its proposed alliance with GM (Automotive News Europe) 
• The Bloomberg Riskless Return Ranking, a survey of investor performance, suggests that Kia has outperformed all 22 other car makers with a risk-adjusted return of 9.2% in the past five years. Second highest was Hyundai, whose shares rose 4.8% in the same period (Bloomberg)
• Fisker has a new chief executive officer, as founder Henrik Fisker moves to executive chairman. The new boss is Tom LaSorda, the former top man at Chrysler pre-bankruptcy (Fisker)

Tuesday 28 February 2012
• General Motors is in talks to buy a 5% to 7% stake in PSA Peugeot Citroen, according to reports by news agencies Bloomberg and Reuters. The deal, which would reinforce planned alliance on car building, would be worth around $240 million (Automotive News Europe)

Monday 27 February 2012
• Volkswagen is close to finalising the deal to buy the remaining 50.1% of Porsche that it does not yet own. The takeover has been fraught with legal, financial and other hurdles, delaying the completion (Bloomberg)
• Nissan plans to double the use of common and shared components in its next-generation vehicles. The increased commonality is part of a bid to improve profitability by 30% (Automotive News Europe)
• Bentley forecasts annual sales of its SUV of around 25,000 units a year, according to Wolfgang Durheimer, CEO of Bentley Motors (Automotive News Europe)
• Chinese car makers are benefiting after the government banned overseas models from the choice lists of official vehicle fleets (Bloomberg)

Friday 24 February 2012
• Volkswagen is set to announce a doubling of profit after tax in 2011, according to German reports. Wolfsburg is tipped to announce a huge increase in profits to €16 billion on 12 March. In 2011, VW posted profits after tax of €7.2bn (Automotive News Europe) 
• General Motors says it has restarted production of the Chevrolet Volt range-extender at its Detroit-Hamtramck factory after a pause for recall activity. GM has however cut its annual forecast from 45,000 vehicles and says it will match supply to demand (Detroit News) 
• Artega is preparing to show a new convertible at the Geneva motor show, according to web reports. It's rumoured to be a roadster version of the existing GT coupe (Autoblog)

Thursday 23 February 2012
• Ford has increased pay for board members by 25%, the Blue Oval has confirmed. They will receive $250,000 as a retainer, up from $200,000; Edsel Ford, the grandson of Henry and a director, gets $650,000 a year as a consultant (Bloomberg)
• Nissan has announced a recall of around 250,000 Micras, Jukes and Infiniti M models over a direct injection rail glitch which could in extreme circumstances lead to a leak (Automotive News Europe)
• PSA chief executive Philippe Varin has confirmed that GM and Peugeot Citroen are in talks over a possible cooperation. The talks revolve around a plan to reduce losses in Europe and over possible joint ventures, rather than a capital exchange (Automotive News Europe)
• Volvo plans a joint venture in China with its parent company Geely to manufacture cars locally. Full 'concrete' details will be announced within two months, according to Michael Ning, a spokesman in Beijing (Automotive News Europe)

Wednesday 22 February 2012
• Daimler has cut the executive pay to CEO Dieter Zetsche despite record profits at Merc's parent company. His pay has fallen to an estimated €8,650,000, down from €8.69m in 2010 (Automotive News Europe)
• Shares in Peugeot jump 15% as the company says it is in talks about 'possible cooperations and alliances'. A French government minister claimed Peugeot was talking to GM, but the company said it routinely spoke to other car makers (BBC News)
• In a brief statement, PSA confirmed: 'In the context of its globalisation strategy and improving its operational performance, PSA Peugeot Citroen looks at potential cooperations and alliances. Discussions are taking place and there can be no certainty at this stage that these discussions will result in any agreement' (Peugeot)
• Chinese car maker Great Wall has opened its first European car factory in Bulgaria. It will build up to 50,000 Hover 4x4, Steed truck and Voleex minis by 2013 (Automotive News Europe)
• Jaguar Land Rover parent Tata Motors says it will double investment at its British premium offshoot to £1.5 billion a year. Tata has beneifted from JLR's profits in recent years, so plans to double the £700m-800m the company previously invested in capital expenditure and product development (Automotive News Europe)
• Mazda, Japan's least profitable car maker, is looking to raise $2.9 billion through selling stock and a loan from banks. It comes as Mazda prepares to announce the worst losses in 11 years, expected to top 100 billion yen (Bloomberg)

Tuesday 21 February 2012
• A tumbleweed day in the CAR office. Apologies!

Monday 20 February 2012
• Ferrari delivered 7195 cars in 2011, an increase of 9.5%, while its revenues exceeded €2bn for the first time ever. Trading profit was also up by 3.2%, to €312m, while net profit was up slightly on 2010 to €209m (Ferrari)
• From 1 July 2012 all drivers in France (both French and visiting drivers) will need to carry a breathalyser kit in their cars, with €11 fines being introduced from November 2012 if drivers fail to comply with this rule (Institue of Advanced Motorists)

Friday 17 February 2012
• Audi has announced UK prices for the limited edition A1 Quattro. Just 333 units of this 252bhp four-wheel drive hot hatch are being built, and just 19 are destined for Britain. Each will cost £41,020, and Audi says 'the vast majority' are already sold (Audi UK)
• BMW has opened its bigger ever showroom, in Abu Dhabi. Accomodating BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce and BMW motorcycles, the 35,000sqm showroom has taken three years to build and costs BMW's importer Abu Dhabi Motors €62m (BMW)
• The Volkswagen Group delivered 652,500 cars in January 2012, a 1.3% increase of the 644,200 vehicles delivered in the same period in 2011 (Volkswagen) 

Thursday 16 February 2012
• Porsche has named its new sub-Cayenne SUV. It’ll be called Macan, and it’ll go on sale in spring 2013 – full story here (Porsche)
• Bristol Cars has appointed a new general manager and a new senior advisor. Julian Ramshaw is the new GM, joining Bristol from the Sytner Group where he was business manager, and the company has also signed up Sir George White, whose late father founded the Bristol Car Company in 1945 (Bristol)
• Korean tyre company Kumho has appointed Kim Chang-kyu as its new president and CEO, with immediate effect (Kumho)
• UK car manufacturing has hit a 16-month high, with 127,382 vehicles produced in January 2012, a rise of 15.6% over the same period in 2011. UK engine production was up 5% to 227,161, and UK commercial vehicles fell by 1.2% to 9844 units (Society of Motor Manufactuers and Traders)

Wednesday 15 February 2012
• Lexus has announced UK prices for the new GS. The 2.5-litre V6 GS250 SE starts at £32,995, while the cheapest GS450h is £44,995, with the Premier and F Sport models topping the range at £50,995 (Lexus)
• Chevrolet’s Camaro will cost from £34,995 when UK sales start in March 2012. The Convertible is £39,995, and both feature a 426bhp 6.2-litre V8, while the £1500 auto’ option reduces power to 399bhp (Chevrolet)
• VW delivered 419,200 vehicles to customers worldwide in January 2012, a 0.1% increase over the 418,600 cars in the same period in 2011 (Volkswagen)
• Strong Jaguar Land Rover profits in the third quarter of 2011 (£440m, up 57% over the same period in 2010) thanks to increase sales in China and Russia have helped parent company Tata Motors offset weakness in its home market and report better-than-expect third-quarter profits (Financial Times, subscription required) 
• Britain’s trade deficit in cars is at its lowest level since 1976, with high demand for models from Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley and Mini, and helped by the relatively week demand for imports as 2011 UK registrations dropped 4% to 1.94m (Financial Times, subscription required)  
• PSA Peugeot Citroen plans to sell €1.5bn worth of assets, after reporting sharply lower earning in 2011. Net profit in 2011 was €588m, down from €1.13bn in 2010, figures that PSA chief executive Philippe Varin described as ‘disappointing’ (Financial Times, subscription required)

By Tim Pollard and Ben Pulman