English Press / Presse anglaise

Japan sees an urgency in overhauling policies that favor domestic industries such as automakers as it seeks to revive the economy and join talks on a Pacific-region trade deal, the government's ambassador to the United States said.

Japan sees an urgency in overhauling policies that favor domestic industries such automakers as it seeks to revive the economy and join talks on a Pacific-region trade deal, the government's ambassador to the United States said.

Federal safety regulators say they have opened an investigation into problems on two models of Suzuki vehicles for potentially malfunctioning warning lights for front passenger seats.

May figures mark return to gloom for troubled manufacturers, though UK continues to buck the trend with 11% growth in registrations

European car sales fell to a 20-year low in May as rising joblessness caused by a recession in the euro region reduced demand. Registrations dropped 6 percent to 1.08 million vehicles with all volume automakers reporting sales declines.

GM's Holden unit and its labor unions will begin talks to reduce costs enough to keep its Australian plants viable, a month after Ford said it will stop making cars locally.

Toyota will use Twitter to show how it builds the Auris hybrid at its UK factory. The company aims to reach new customers in what it says is a world-first social media project.

Four new videos joined our top 10 list of most viral auto brand videos this week, including a spooky ride in a Hyundai, the New Wave stylings of a new dad in a Fiat and Chevy's Tetris win. But a double-fake test drive in a Toyota took top honors.

Chery are set to refocus their attention on a core range of products after a disastrous expansion into a range of sub brands which did not resonate well with consumers in China. The new plan will see Chery focus on four core brands within its range: Arrizo, Fulwin, Tiggo and QQ.

The Arrizo range of vehicles has not yet launched although it was aired at the Shanghai Auto Show last month under the aplha nameplate

The Fulwin range is currently made up of just the Fulwin 2, although that is eventually expected to be expanded to include other A0 A-segment vehicles.

The Tiggo range is currently made up of just the Tiggo3 sedan although that is expected to be expanded to include the Tiggo 5 which is currently known as the Beta SUV which was aired at the Shanghai Auto Show last month.

The QQ range is currently made up of the new QQ hatchback which is aiming to be a low cost fashionable city vehicle.

BMW are planning to bring the wagon variant of the current 3-Series sedan to the Chinese market very soon according to spy pictures along with leaked model information. The 3-Series Wagon wont see Chinese production immediately but will rather be imported into China along with the short wheel base 3-Series which is sold alongside the stretched 3-Series which is made locally. The Wagon will likely use the same 2.0T power train that is offered in both low and high output in the Chinese market, a smaller 1.6T Chinese made 3-Series is likely to launch soon as well.

The 3-Series GT has already arrived at BMW dealerships in China although pricing has yet to be announced, the official launch of the GT will happen on June 26th.

GAC’s latest addition to its Trumpchi range, the GA3, will launch in early July according to Chinese media reports. The GA3 will be the cheapest model in the range with prices starting at a rumored 80,000RMB, the GA3 has already been shown at the Shanghai Auto Show and will be available for consumers to buy from early July onwards.

The GA3 is thought to be based on the Alfa Romeo 166 platform that is shared with the larger GAC models, some Alfa styling is also noted on the rear door handles. Power will initially come from a 1.6L engine although a 1.3T option is also in the pipeline.

In addition to the GA3, GAC are also planning for a new large SUV and large MPV for the Trumpchi range. A new GS7 SUV to sit above the current GS5 and an all new GA7 MPV for business orientated users will be arriving soon, in particular the MPV will make use of a 1.8T engine

At a recent Honda China event, Honda announced that they plan to introduce 12 models into the Chinese market by 2015 including the introduction of locally made hybrid models.

The new model range includes both new generations of vehicles and facelift vehicles. Honda will introduce new engines for the Chinese market including 1.5L i-DCD and a 2.0L i-MMD with both mid size hybrid vehicles. Honda also plan to introduce the Honda Link system, a system similar to GM’s OnStar system which will allow for inter-vehicle technologies.

The Honda C-Rider model has already been introduced at the Shanghai Auto Show and will launch on June 26th. The C-Rider will be produced by Guangzhou Honda.

Reuters top China automotive journalist, Norihiko Shirouzu, brings the background story on Fisker’s mercy trip to China where he was tasked with finding a suitor – the only issue being is that Fisker favored another partner over Geely’s deep pockets.

Read the rest at Reuters.

n late January, consultant Joel Ewanick arrived at Geely’s headquarters in eastern China to deliver an impassioned pitch on behalf of Fisker Automotive, the California-based boutique green-car maker that was running out of cash and sliding toward bankruptcy.

Ewanick, a former General Motors Co and Hyundai marketing executive, walked Geely Chairman Li Shufu through the pros and cons of taking a majority stake in Fisker. He suggested Geely could take control for as little as $250 million, about an eighth of Fisker’s self-estimated value in late 2011.

“Chairman Li’s eyes got big, and it was as if, ‘that’s all!?’” according to one of the people who attended the meeting.

The deal ultimately fell apart for many reasons, including hard-to-meet terms of Fisker’s U.S. government loan. But the outcome was also the result of missteps by Fisker’s top managers, including openly appearing to favor a rival Chinese automaker early on, according to eight individuals with direct knowledge of the effort over the past year.

By betting on the wrong company as its potential white knight, Fisker may have bungled an opportunity to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. Fisker’s board sent out at least two search teams, but proceeded without a clear roadmap or coordination between the teams, those knowledgeable individuals told Reuters.

The events show how Fisker’s last-ditch bid for survival has been just as messy as the mismanagement that led the company to burn through more than $1.4 billion in public and private funds in less than six years.

JMC are planning a new compact SUV according to these pictures leaked to the Chinese media, the new SUV is called the N330 and will be powered by a 2.0T engine that is also shared with JMC’s foreign partner Ford. The N330 appears to be a compact SUV in a similar vein to the current Forda Kuga (Escape in North America), the front is overly sporty but rakes back into a wider design that seems to be similar to the Infiniti FX range of SUVs.

Apparently the new SUV will be launched in early 2014 with pricing estimates currently from 130,000RMB and rising.

Johnson Controls is speaking to private equity firms about selling its roughly $1 billion automotive electronics unit, after buyout interest from several rival auto parts suppliers faltered, according to several people familiar with the matter.

Bill Ludwig, CEO at longtime Detroit ad agency Campbell Ewald, is stepping down after more than 30 years at the company, executives familiar with the matter said. The agency is expected to tap an internal successor in a matter of weeks.

Advertising agency Doner has regrouped since losing a $150 million Mazda account in June 2010 to a consortium of WPP Group agencies in California.

Automakers are coming under increasing pressure to sell zero-emission vehicles to consumers in the United States who haven't shown much interest in them, with more states following California's lead in setting sales targets.

Nissan's take-no-prisoners approach to gaining U.S. market share has the auto industry worried that a price war is brewing that will erode the profit progress made since the recession ravaged auto sales.

GM has named a longtime labor relations and manufacturing executive to run its North American factories during one of its busiest-ever vehicle launch periods.