Several American and Japanese automakers make headlines this week. They are---Ford, Chrysler, GM, Toyota, Honda and Nissan.
Ford hires KPMG to examine the finance of Jaguar and Land Rover, the two primary brands of Ford; General Motors, the No. 1 automaker will sell its Allison Transmission unit that makes automatic gearboxesto private equity investors for 5.6 billion dollars; Ford and Chrysler join the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of environmental, corporate and business groups campaigning for mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, after GM joined back in May.
Toyota eyes to introduce its second hybird car after its Prius as a hit and it has bolstered the cross-shareholding relation with its battery business partner Matsushita Electric Industrial Co..; Nissan, who plans to source more autoparts in China and India, under the pressure of cost-cutting; Honda enlarges its Turkey facitlity in order to expand the Russian market; Mazda plans to introduce 8 model during 3 years into China;
For more details, please check the following news:
Report: Ford hires KPMG to eye Jaguar books
From:Reuters June 25 2007
LONDON (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co. has hired accountant group KPMG to examine the books at Jaguar and Land Rover ahead of their expected sale later this year, the Sunday Times reported today.
KPMG is reported to have been given a mandate to revamp the companies' accounts so that they are in a proper form to be examined by would-be buyers.
"KPMG's main task will be giving a clear picture of Jaguar and Land Rover's performance as businesses separate from the influence of Ford," the paper said, adding that the accounting firm has been asked to examine the companies' pension liabilities.
Earlier this month, Ford said it was working with financial advisers on the best options for Jaguar and Land Rover as it continues a strategic review of its global operations. Ford had hired investment banks -- including Goldman Sachs, HSBC Holdings Plc and Morgan Stanley -- to help the automaker explore the sale of the two brands.
Toyota planning to launch new hybrid automobile in 2009
From:Nikkei News June 25 2007
Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. plans to begin selling a second dedicated brand of hybrid automobiles in 2009, following up on its market-dominating Prius hybrid, a news report said Sunday.
Japan's No. 1 auto maker plans to sell around 100,000 of the as-yet-unnamed hybrid annually around the world at the outset, Japan's business daily The Nikkei said in an unsourced story.
The auto would be Toyota's second hybrid-only brand following the Prius, the paper said. Toyota offers several other hybrid models, including the hybrid Camry and hybrid Lexus models.
The new vehicle is expected to play a driving role in Toyota's plans to increase hybrid sales to one million vehicles a year after 2010 in response to efforts to tighten emissions regulations in Japan, the U.S. and Europe, the Nikkei said.
Toyota, Matsushita in cross-shareholdings
From:Reuters June 26 2007
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research) have bolstered their cross-shareholding relationship in conjunction with their collaboration in the battery business, the Nikkei business daily said on Tuesday.
Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, took a 0.84 percent stake in consumer electronics maker Matsushita for 40 billion yen ($320 million) in the year ended in March, the paper said.
Matsushita, which had a 0.57 percent stake in Toyota in the year ended in March 2006, has raised that holding by investing tens of billions of yen, it said, without specifying the size of the new stake.
The two firms together own Panasonic EV Energy Co., a maker of batteries for Toyota's hybrid vehicles.
Nissan to buy cheap parts from China, India
From:Bloomberg June 26 2007
Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third-largest carmaker, will buy more components from China and India after profit fell for the first time since the company's record loss in 2000.
The automaker will raise global component purchases from low-cost countries to as much as 24 percent of the total, from as much as 14 percent now, said Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's chief executive officer, in an interview in Singapore.
Buying parts made in countries where wages are 5 percent of those of Japan would help Nissan's profit margins, which lag behind Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Exports of Indian-made parts may rise almost six-fold to $40 billion by 2015 from about $6.7 billion in 2003 because of demand from automakers including General Motors Corp., according to McKinsey & Co.
GM expects to buy Indian automobile parts worth $1 billion a year within four or five years, said Nick Reilly, the carmaker's president in charge of the Asia Pacific region, in an interview April 17. Auto parts cost half as much in India as in Europe, he said.
Tokyo-based Nissan expects net income will rise to 480 billion yen ($3.9 billion) in the 12 months ending March 31, from 460.8 billion yen a year earlier. Sales will probably fall 1.6 percent to 10.3 trillion yen. The carmaker expects to sell 3.7 million vehicles this business year.
Honda to make Turkey its base
From:Turkish Daily June 27 2007
Following the footsteps of Ford, Fiat, Renault and Hyundai, the Japanese automotive giant Honda, which has been providing small-scale production for internal market, has plans to make Turkey its base in Europe.
When the plans materialize and take effect, Honda Turkey, one of two Honda factories in Europe, will have an important mission to accomplish, because Honda has a supply deficit of 250,000 units, and has plans to meet that deficit via its Turkey factory, reported Hürriyet Daily.
"Despite the fact that is a European Union member, the United Kingdom is still not using the euro. Therefore our UK factory looses advantage in production. That factory will continue its production but we will not make any more investments on that facility. We decided to invest on a new facility in Turkey," said Honda Chairman Takeo Fukuki.
With $100 million investment, Honda Turkey factory will increase its production capacity from 30,000 to 50,000 units by October 2007. Honda has more than 1 million unit supply deficit in total, said ümit Karaaslan, Honda Turkey Assistant General Manager.
Based on the results of 50,000 production units, production capacity of the plant could increase to 100,000 by 2009, Karaaslan added. "Depending on the supply deficit in Europe we can always increase our production capacity. After reaching production capacity of 100,000 units we are planning to move our head office, motorcycle unit and replacement parts department to another building. We can then increase our production capacity to 140,000 units," said Karaaslan.
Honda Turkey is about to launch the production of a new car model after the capacity of Gebze factory has increased to 100,000 units.
Mazda to introduce 8 models by 2008
From:China Daily June 28 2007
Mazda recently released its medium-term plan. In it, Mazda will have eight models in the Chinese auto market by 2008, and projects to lift its annual sales to 300,000 cars in 2010 from 126,000 last year. This means the Japanese automaker will have an annual increase of 30 percent.
It is confirmed that the Mazda 2 will enter into large-scale production at Changan Ford Mazada?ˉs Nanjing plant this year. Mazda 2 is 3.88 meters in length, 1.69 meters in width, and 1.5 meters in height, with a wheelbase of 2.5 meters.
There are three alternative engines for the Mazda 2: 1.3-liter 55 kW, 1.3-liter 63 kW, and 1.5-liter 76 kW. The made-in-China Mazda 2 will be priced at 100,000 yuan (US$13,120), competing with the Polo and Fit.
Ford, Chrysler Join Climate Action Group
From: Car Connection June 28 2007
Ford Motor Co. and the Chrysler Group are joining the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of environmental, corporate and business groups campaigning for mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, which are at the center of the controversy over climate change.
The announcements from Ford and Chrysler come just as the automobile industry in general is fighting an increasingly desperate battle to hold off a major increase in corporate average fuel economy standards (CAFE).
Industry leaders maintain the CAFE system is badly flawed but a CAFE to a 35-mpg fleet average easily cleared the U.S. Senate last week and are expected to be adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives soon.
In January, USCAP laid out a blueprint for an economy-wide, market driven cap-and-trade program. A cap and trade program would recognize the importance of technical solutions and allow companies to store up credits for adopting new technology or conserving energy that could be traded for cash to other companies needing credits to meet the carbon-dioxide-reduction targets.
GM to sell transmission unit for 5.6 billion dollars
From:Agence France Presse June 29 2007
General Motors will sell its Allison Transmission unit that makes automatic gearboxes for commercial vehicles to private equity investors for 5.6 billion dollars, the parties said Thursday.
The Carlyle Group and Canadian-based Onex Corporation agreed to buy "substantially all" of Allison, including seven manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis, Indiana, and its worldwide distribution network and sales offices, a joint statement said.
GM will keep a production facility in Baltimore, Maryland, for conventional and hybrid transmissions used in GM's retail pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.
Delphi UAW vote mixed, so far
From:Automotive News June 29 2007
Delphi Corp. workers in Lockport, N.Y., have turned down a concessionary contract with the parts supplier, and workers at another UAW local in Flint, Mich., have approved it, according to local union officials.
Bloomberg News reported today that Lockport workers rejected the deep pay and benefit cuts by a 1,107 to 274 vote. The report quoted UAW Local 686 President Paul Siejak.
"They were furious about making wage reductions," Siejak told Bloomberg. "Sure we have future work guarantees and that is good, but people have bills to pay, kids to feed, and they were focusing on wages."
In Flint, UAW Local 651 President Art Reyes said this afternoon that workers at the Delphi Flint East plant approved the deal. Although the votes were not scheduled to be counted until Thursday evening, he said he felt comfortable that the deal passed overwhelmingly. "We're looking solid," Reyes said. He said 1,200 workers were eligible to vote in Flint.
Delphi says it needs labor cost cuts to emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization. The tentative agreement with the UAW and General Motors called for 10 Delphi plants to close, four to remain open, four to be sold and another three plants to be taken over by GM if they can't be sold.
Top production wages would fall from $27 an hour today to $18.50 under the agreement. All but about 4,000 of the 17,000 workers voting on the agreement are new hires who replaced the more than 20,000 UAW-represented workers who took a buyout of early retirement last year in anticipation of the plant closings and pay cuts.
If the contract fails, Delphi could return to negotiations with the UAW or ask the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to void its labor contracts with the union. The latter action would likely trigger a strike that would shut Delphi's biggest customer, GM, within a few days.
