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.
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:
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
Powered by Qumana
The L.A. Auto Show has named its five finalists for the Green Car of the Year Award established by Green Car Journal:
"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
Powered by Qumana
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:
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
Powered by Qumana
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....
Launch date: 2010 (?)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
Related posts
Tags: GM, GM Volt, Volt, EV1, Rick Wagoner, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Chinese automotive industry, alternative energy, electric cars
Powered by Qumana
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
Powered by Qumana
A must-read article at The Sunday Times on Fiat's incredible turnaround at the hands of Sergio Marchionne.
Favorite quote from the piece:
"Unlike some of his counterparts in the industry, Marchionne is not a 'car guy' (even if he does own a Ferrari Enzo). Asked what he would do if he were asked to start a car company from scratch, he said: Lie down until the feeling passes.”
Most salient item:
"...the key to the revival of Fiat Auto was Marchionne’s renegotiation of a deal done with General Motors back in 2000.
"The then-prosperous GM had taken a 20% shareholding in Fiat’s car business... and, crucially, agreed that if Fiat so wished, at a later date it would buy 100% of Fiat Auto. In February 2005, when Fiat was at its lowest ebb, Marchionne flew to Detroit to see GM chairman Rick Wagoner. His objective: to get GM to buy itself out of Fiat....
"This was risky; GM might have decided to exercise its right and Fiat would have been over. But GM’s fortunes had also fallen since it had made the deal and Marchionne guessed it might be keen to get out of it. The result: GM agreed to hand back its Fiat shares and to pay €1.5 billion to be free from an arrangement it could no longer afford.
"... Marchionne needed the €1.5 billion to keep Fiat afloat."
Tags: Fiat, GM, Sergio Marchionne
Powered by Qumana
Toyota was the world leader in car sales for 2006, dethroning 76-year reigning champion GM... at least that's what Automotive News is saying.
The report subtracts 420,000 vehicles from GM's figures because they were sold in China under the Wuling brand by SAIC-GM-Wuling Automotive Co. Ltd., a joint venture between GM, Shanghai Auto and Wuling Automobile, in which GM owns 34 percent.
So the final figures would look like this: Toyota 8.81 million, GM 8.68 million (9.09 before the cut).
"We only credit companies with sales from operations that are at least 50 percent owned or where the product is clearly sold with a company's brand and design," said Anne Wright Curtis from Automotive News.
The tale of the tape: Toyota has a stock market value of $224 billion, GM's is $18 billion. Toyota posted net income of $14 billion in its last fiscal year, while GM had a loss of $1.98 billion.
Tags: automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Chinese automotive industry, Toyota, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automotive Co. Ltd., Shanghai Automotive, Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp, SAIC, SAIC Motor, Wuling
Powered by Qumana
As a provider of dealer management systems to vehicle dealerships in several emerging markets, we closely follow what is happening in the auto industry in key regions around the world. I thought it might be interesting to share some of that information.
In Part 1 of this series of posts about the promising future of the automotive industry in India, both as a consumer market and as a manufacturing hub, we talked about the great demand that is expected in that market over the next five years, mainly due to the huge and growing middle class, and their ultra-low vehicle per capita ratio of 7 per thousand (the US's is 450).
As a result, all of the major manufacturers have plans in motion, either through the installation of new plants, or via joint ventures with existing Indian automakers. Let's take a look at what each major is doing in India.
There's a handful of very important GM goings on in India. They just launched the Spark mini-car. They're expanding capacity at their existing plant, plus building a new one. And they have formally announced plans to heavily source components from India.
General Motors saw its sales decline by 25% in 2005 when they stopped selling the Adam Opel AG range of cars. They then introduced the Chevrolet Aveo sedan as a replacement for the Opel Corsa sedan. But now they are addressing the most important car segment in India with the...
Chevrolet Spark
GM recently made a big splash when they launched their eagerly anticipated Chevrolet Spark, a low-cost, low-maintenance mini-car. They had announced the Spark back in May 2006. This is their entry into the mini-car segment in India and they hope to soon be number one. The Spark is GM's most successful model globally.
The Chevrolet Spark will cost between $8,000 and 10,000 dollars, putting it a little on the high side of the mini-car spectrum that is currently owned by the Maruti 800, a model that ranks well in reliability, customer satisfaction and mileage. Other strong models in this segment are the Maruti Suzuki Zen and WagonR, and the Hyundai Santro.
The Spark will have a small, very fuel-efficient 1 liter gas engine, and not many features, as you'd expect from a car in this lower-end segment. The Spark has its own website (nice though annoyingly noisy).
Investments in plants
To increase production, GM recently ramped up capacity at their Halol plant by almost 50%, from 60,000 to 85,000 units per year. However, GM will initially produce only 2,000 Sparks a month. It looks like they want to sort of test the waters by introducing the car only in the northern and western part of India, and then proceed accordingly.
GM just began construction of their second Indian plant, in the city of Talegaon, near Pune, at a cost of $300 million dollars. Production of the Spark will shift to this location in the first quarter of 2008. GM will also use the plant to build small cars for other markets.
GM will also be investing in a new power train plant (diesel and petrol engines).
GM models in India
With the Spark, GM now offers seven models in India. The other six are the Optra (their top-seller), Aveo, Tavera, SRV, Aveo U-VA and the Forester (which looks to now have been discontinued).
GM will also soon release these models in India:
GM's Nick Reilly, President of their Asia Pacific division, says that GM is looking for a 10% share of the Indian market by 2010.
Sourcing of components
And finally, Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors, recently announced that GM will source components from India worth around $1 billion annually over the next 4-5 years. To this effect, Mr. Wagoner said:
"We are focusing on leveraging the emerging high quality, low-cost supply base in India. We are not only increasing our local sourcing for local usage but also looking to source more auto components out of India for our global operations."
Posts in this series:
Tags: India, auto industry, automotive industry, General Motors, GM India, GM, Rick Wagoner, Maruti, Maruti Suzuki, Maruti 800
Powered by Qumana
As a provider of dealer management systems to vehicle dealerships in several emerging markets, we closely follow what is happening in the auto industry in key regions around the world. I thought it might be interesting to share some of that information.
When pondering where the main opportunities lie in the automotive industry, we automatically think of China.
However, India is also a huge market that presents an incredibly promising scenario.
The Indian internal market will be the fastest growing among auto producing nations over the next five years, and the second fastest among all nations (behind China). The main growth in India will be in light vehicles: vans, small trucks and compact cars.
In India, seven people per 1,000 own a car. Compare that to 450 in the U.S. and 500 in Western Europe and you get an idea of the market potential. And the demand is there. India's middle class continues to grow, currently standing at 216 million. About half of India's 1.1 billion people will be between the ages of 15 to 49 at the end of the decade.
Car sales in 2006 were up 22 percent, reaching 1.076 million units, helped by interest rates that have fallen by 50 percent in the past five years. And sales are expected to grow at least 10% annually until 2010.
Exports are also expected to grow significantly. In 2006 only 200,000 were exported, but that number is expected to reach one million by 2010. Hyundai, the second-biggest carmaker in India, leads the way here.
Mini-cars represent around 70% of the auto market in India, roughly 1 million cars. This is where the main push looks to be coming from most manufacturers.
Until 15 years ago, and after decades of protectionism, there were only a handful of auto manufacturers in India: 
That changed in 1991, and now, of course, all of the major manufacturers are vying for entry.
GM, Honda, Volkswagen, and a half dozen other auto companies have announced investments of over $6 billion on new factories. Fiat, Nissan, and Renault are also in the game, but their strategy is to link with local manufacturers.
More on the India strategy of each manufacturer in upcoming posts.
Posts in this series:
Tags: India, auto industry, automotive industry, GM, Renault, Nissan, Volkswagen, Honda, Maruti, Fiat, Hindustan Motors, Tata Motors, Premier Automobiles
Powered by Qumana
