The Light Is Green

Toyota enters Nano Wars

India's premier carmaker, Tata Motors, rocked the automotive world when they finally released their anticipated Nano, alternatively known as the "People's Car", "One-Lakh Car" and "$2,500 Car".

Kudos to Tata for building up expectations over the past five years (they announced this project back in 2003) and then coming through on their promise.

The initial reply from other major manufacturers such as GM and Toyota was that the Nano could not be profitable (Tata says it is), and that the car could not meet safety and emissions standards (it currently does in lax India which is Tata's first intended market).

Now both GM and Toyota are scrambling to reply with product.

Basically what What Tata did was signal their intention of dominating the entry-level segment in India, where a potentially huge emerging middle class looks to buy their first automobile.

Toyota has announced plans to begin building small cars in India, for the local and export markets. They will build a second plant to be ready by 2010, at a cost of $350 million dollars and with an output of 100,000 units per year,  through their joint-venture in Bangalore.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe has been quoted by the Times of India as saying, "There is a huge market for low-cost/price vehicles," but at the same time has expressed concern about Toyota's ability to maintain a high level of quality.

At the same time, GM is manufacturing a $3,500 mini-car in China.

Tags: Toyota, Toyota India, GM, GM India, Katsuaki Watanabe, Nano, People's Car, One Lakh Car, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, India, India auto industry

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China plans: GM

General Motors is looking at increasing its stake in their current joint venture with local automakers Shanghai Automotive and Wuling Automobile, called SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. Ltd., as part of its strategy to start focusing on small cars that can compete with Tata's Nano, a.k.a. the People's Car. GM owns 34% of this venture.

The SGMW joint venture currently produces minivans and other small commercial vehicles under the Wuling brand, and as such they are China's largest minivan manufacturer (they sold 550,000 units in 2007). They also make one GM branded model, the low-cost Chevrolet Spark minivan. GM is trying to lower production costs on the Spark.

A noteworthy offering from the SGMW joint venture is the tiny Xingwang (a Wuling brand model), the smallest, cheapest offering from SGMW. The Xingwang may in fact soon carry the GM brand name.

Shanghai General Motors is also pushing a green philosophy in its marketing message. They unveiled two hybrid vehicles at the Beijing International Auto Show, the LaCrosse Eco-Hybrid (to be sold in June 2008) and the Cadillac Escalade 2-Mode Hybrid (2009).

Tags: GM, General Motors, GM Spark, Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp, SAIC, SAIC Motor, Shanghai Automotive, Shanghai General Motors, Shanghai GM, Wuling Automobile, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Chinese automotive industry, alternative energy, hybrids

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Nano Wars begin

Hot on the tail of Tata Motors' announcement of their much-anticipated $2,500 "People's Car", officially known as the Nano, several manufacturers are rushing to get their own ultra-low cost cars to market.

Chery Automobile, one of China's top automakers, announced the imminent launch of their Faira ("five dolls") car. The presentation will be made at the 2008 Beijing International Auto Show.

The Faira has five variants: the BB, HH, JJ, NN and YY models, with the BB being the lowest cost model. All are powered by a 1.3-liter gasoline engine.

GM, meanwhile, is looking to leverage their existing ties with Chinese carmaker Wuling Automobile with whom they currently manufacture the Chevrolet Spark, a $5,680 small car.

On the one hand, GM wants to try to lower the cost of the Spark. But at the same time, knowing that halving the Spark's price is virtually impossible, they are said to be "undertaking research into the development of an extremely low cost ultra-compact vehicle for expanding world markets", according to Motor Trend.

Tags: Chery, Chery Automobile, Chery Faira, GM, Chevrolet Spark, Wuling, Wuling Automobile, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Chinese automotive industry

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China’s BYD to beat Toyota and GM?

General Motors and Toyota are working to launch plug-in hybrid cars by 2010.

But China’s BYD Auto has just announced that they’ll be the first automaker to commercially release a plug-in hybrid, the F6DM, and they’ll do it by mid 2008.

They’re showing their F6 Dual Model plug-in hybrid at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

BYD also plans to launch two more two electric cars, the F3e and F6e, in two or three years.

The F6DM will have a top speed of 62 miles per hour (100 km/h), travel 60 miles (100 kms.) on electric power alone (250 miles on five gallons of gas), will need nine hours for a full recharge by home power mains (10 minutes for a 50% recharge with a special power station), and will have a price tag of around $27,000 dollars.

Tags: automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, alternative energy, sustainable energy, electric cars, hybrids, flex-fuel, BYD Auto, BYD F6, BYD F6DM, BYD F6 Dual Model, BYD F3e, BYD F6e, BYD, Detroit Auto Show, GM, Toyota

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GM to reduce dealerships

General Motors wants to create big superstores (they’ll call them "GM Collections") in major U.S. cities with a dual goal: collect all their brands under one roof, and reduce the number of dealerships in certain regions.

GM will announce all this at the annual NADA convention in San Francisco next February.

GM sells 1 million in China

General Motors sold 1 million vehicles in China in 2007, meeting their projected goal. They are the first foreign automaker to reach this milestone.

GM has two joint ventures in China:

• Shanghai General Motors Corp., a 50-50 joint venture with local automaker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC).
• SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., with local car manufacturers SAIC and Wuling Automobile Co., through which they build mini-vehicles. GM holds 34 percent of this JV, Wuling 15.9 percent, and SAIC 50.1 percent.

Tags: Shanghai General Motors Corp., Shanghai GM, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., SAIC, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., Wuling Automobile Co., Wuling, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Chinese automotive industry, General Motors, GM

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Green Car of the Year finalists

The L.A. Auto Show has named its five finalists for the Green Car of the Year Award established by Green Car Journal:

• Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid
• Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid
• Mazda Tribute Hybrid
• Nissan Altima Hybrid
• Saturn Aura Hybrid

"The fact that all five Green Car of the Year nominees are hybrids this year is a clear indication that the auto industry's significant investment of time and resources into gasoline-electric hybrid technology is paying off," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal.

"Hybrids were not a specific focus during our nomination process. There are many pathways to achieving efficiency and emissions goals, and hybrids, while popular, represent just one of these."

Among the jurors: Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club; Christopher Flavin, president of Worldwatch Institute; Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of Ocean Futures Society; and Jonathan Lash, President of the World Resources Institute.

Tags: automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, alternative energy, hybrids, sustainable energy, Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Mazda Tribute Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid, Saturn Aura Hybrid

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Top automakers in China

Who are the top automakers in China?

As you may know, all of the major manufacturers have joint ventures with local Chinese car companies, with varying results.

Currently, the big winners are Volkswagen on the foreign side, and Shanghai Auto on the local side. Both have stakes in two of the top three performers in China. Of note is Chery, the only Chinese car company to make the list as an independent automaker, i.e. without a joint venture.

Here are the top eight, based on August 2007 passenger car sales as reported by the National Passenger Cars Association:

1. Shanghai Volkswagen, 42,518 units
2. FAW-Volkswagen, 42,460 units (FAW is First Auto Works)
3. Shanghai General Motors, 39,662 units
4. FAW Toyota, 27,500 units
5. Chery Automobile, 26,446 units
6. Dongfeng Nissan, 24,712 units
7. Guangzhou Honda, 20,626 units
8. Beijing Hyundai, 17,414 units

The top three are on track to become the top sellers for the entire year, all reaching the 400,000 to 500,000 mark.

Tags: Shanghai Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, First Auto Works, Shanghai General Motors, Shanghai GM, FAW Toyota, Chery Automobile, Chery, Dongfeng Nissan, Guangzhou Honda, Beijing Hyundai, auto industry, Chinese auto industry

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Electric car update (Part 5): GM Volt

News and rumors regarding electric cars have been increasing in these past few months, so I thought I'd do a little reading up on the most notable models being talked about.

Today we'll cover General Motors' much anticipated electric car, the....

GM Volt

• Launch date: 2010 (?)
• Price: Not announced, but maybe under $30,000 if production run goes as estimated. Obviously 2010 is too far off to make any certain predictions...
• Top speed: 120 mph (190 km/h)
• Autonomy: 40 miles (64 kms) between charges
• Battery life: Not announced
• Battery charge time: 6 hours
• 0-60 MPH (0-100 km/h): 8.5 seconds
• Chassis design: GM Global Design
• Technology partners: A123 (batteries)

• Company HQ: Detroit
• CEO: Rick Wagoner
• Sales estimates: They say 60,000 in the first year
• Website: http://www.gm-volt.com

The latest news

General Motors showed off a great-looking Volt concept car at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit this past January.

According to GM, the Volt will be powered by a next-generation battery pack that can be recharged by the car's small gasoline-powered, one-liter, three-cylinder engine. This gas engine is a supplement to the electric power system; it can up the Volt's range to 640 miles (1,000 kms).

GM says the battery pack is critical for a mass release, and that the necessary technology won’t be available until 2010-12.

Curious fact

GM pioneered electric vehicles back in 1996 with their EV1, which they later discontinued as noted in the 2006 documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?". GM says they EV1 just wasn't ready for the market: limited range, little interior space, the small engine could barely handle hills or the A/C, and the car had no alternative power source when the battery ran low.

Insightful quote

GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz says that 50 percent of Americans live within twenty miles of their jobs, so they could theoretically go to work and come back on a single Volt charge. “In that case, you might never burn a drop of gas in the life of the car.”

More news

• Article at MSNBC
• Photo gallery
• Article at Bloomberg

Related posts

• Electric car update (Part 1): Miles XS 500

• Electric car update (Part 2): Tesla Roadster

• Electric car update (Part 3): Phoenix Motorcars SUT

• Electric car update (Part 4): Think City

Tags: GM, GM Volt, Volt, EV1, Rick Wagoner, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Chinese automotive industry, alternative energy, electric cars

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GM invests in Argentina

Rick Wagoner, General Motors CEO, will travel to Argentina in a few days to announce a $350 million dollar investment, for building a new model at the plant they have on the outskirts of Rosario.

Currently, the plant has an output of 95,000 units per year. GM builds the Chevrolet Corsa and the Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV, for the internal market and for exportation.

The new GM model is a mystery. Argentine news site On24 believes it will be a small or medium size model.

Argentina was chosen for its strong growth in the automotive industry, the cost factor, and because of the tax incentives the government gives to new investment projects.

Tags: GM, General Motors, Argentina, Rick Wagoner, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry

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