Global auto news this week（2007.05.28-2007.06.02）
Honda pays more attention to localizatin in the China market while BMW accelerates in the Idian market. The lossy Malaysian Proton brake up with VW on the alliance talks. Ford cleared the rumors of possible sale of Volve to BMW.
Hereunder are the details:
Honda to raise local content rate in China to 90 pct From:AFX News May 28 2007
Honda Motor Co Ltd plans to boost its local procurement rate for parts and components in China to 90 pct from the current 70 pct by the end of 2008 in a bid to reduce costs, the Nikkei reported, without citing sources.
The carmaker aims to step up local purchasing in time for the start of production of a new model of its flagship Accord next year, the business daily said.
In addition to hiking the procurement rate from the initially planned level of 80 pct, Honda also moved up the target date by several years, the Nikkei said.
Ford Denies Volvo Sale Rumors From:Forbes May 30 2007
About 0.02 percent of Volkswagen's outstanding stock had been tendered to Porsche as of 1300 GMT on Friday, May 25, Porsche said in a statement today.
The Stuttgart-based luxury sports carmaker, which launched a mandatory takeover bid for Volkswagen but offered the legal minimum as it had no intention of acquiring a majority stake through the bid, said investors had tendered 42,722 ordinary shares and 20,567 preference shares to Porsche.
It is offering just 100.92 euros per ordinary share and 65.54 euros per preference share – each price roughly 10 percent below current market rates.
The offer was triggered after Porsche raised its voting stake in Volkswagen above 30 percent, and the tender expires at 2200 GMT today.
Despite Porsche publicly stating it has no intention of acquiring a majority in Volkswagen through the bid and expects little acceptance, traders have said investors had repeatedly driven shares in VW higher due to expectation that Porsche would raise its offer.
BMW decides to outsource its ancillaries from India From: India News May 31 2007
In yet another instance reflecting India’s emergence as a major sourcing hub for automobile components, German auto major BMW today announced that it will set up an International Purchasing Office (IPO) in Delhi by August.
The office will cater to its worldwide ancillaries requirement for its production capacities across 23 manufacturing sites and will be headed by an expatriat. “The purchasing office will be directly reporting to our global head-quarters in Munich though there will be co-operation between us,” said BMW India president Peter Kronschnabl.
BMW currently has a purchase unit for its manufacturing unit in Chennai and the two offices may approach vendors together. Currently, BMW sources some IT components from India but the new office will see a drastic increase in the volume and value of sourcing. Kronschnabl however did not divulge the quantum of sourcing expected to be generated from India.
"Once the sourcing team comes to India, they will study what kind of components to be sourced from here," he said. With the office here BMW joins the list of global manufacturers like Renault, Volkawagen and Daimler Chrysler. DC has been sourcing components out of India for its global operations in Japan, US and Germany and its quantum of sourcing has been increasing by 20 per cent year on year.
BMW India has also lined up the launch of a slurry of models this year starting with the 5 series next month followed by SUVs X3 and X5, homologation tests for which is on.
Proton Falls on Loss; Volkswagen Alliance Talks End From:Bloomberg June 01 2007
Shares of Proton Holdings Bhd., Malaysia's biggest automaker, fell after the government said Volkswagen AG dropped plans to buy a stake and the Southeast Asian carmaker posted its first annual loss in at least 17 years.
Proton stock, down 20 percent this year, fell as much as 3.7 percent in Kuala Lumpur today after the state-run automaker yesterday reported a loss of 591.4 million ringgit ($174 million) for the 12 months ended March 31. Volkswagen, Europe's biggest automaker, no longer wants a stake in Proton, Malaysia's Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop told reporters today.
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