10-05-2012 08:00
+++ An insider has revealed some new details about several possible additions to BMW 's lineup. The Germans are considering an X7 crossover which could compete with the Land Rover Range Rover. Little is known about the model, but it could have car-like styling and use a variety of components from the X5 and 7-Series. The company could also launch a re-imagined version of the CS concept. Designed to bridge the gap between BMW and Rolls-Royce, the model would slot above the 7-Series and could use a carbon fiber body and structure. There are also two other models which are considered less likely for production. The first is a China exclusive extra-long wheelbase 7-Series, while the other is an X8 crossover. The latter model would be a "four-door coupe" version of the X7, but it could also be re-invented as an i6. +++ Although it has yet to hit the market, the upcoming CADILLAC XTS has already taken flak from critics who believe that its front-wheel-drive Epsilon underpinnings, which are shared with the Buick LaCrosse and next-gen Chevrolet Impala, are too plebian for a range-topping Caddy. However, Car and Driver reports that GM is working on a new rear-wheel-drive, full-size sedan that will supplant (and eventually replace) the XTS at the apex of the Cadillac model lineup. Forming the basis the big sedan will be an all-new, Cadillac-specific 'Omega' platform that will be larger than the General’s new Alpha architecture yet flexible enough to serve as the basis for a vehicle the size of a 5-Series, a long-wheelbase 7-Series, or anything in between. While details are scarce on the new Cadillac sedan, it is expected to debut by 2015 and be offered in standard and long-wheelbase form. The base engine will likely be a 3.6-liter V6, while the optional mill could be either a torque-biased, twin-turbo version of the V6 or one of GM’s next-gen pushrod V8s. The Omega architecture is also reportedly being engineered to accommodate hybrid powertrains, so the sedan may get a variant of GM’s dual-mode hybrid system with an 8-speed automatic in place of the current four-cog unit. Looking further into the future, the long-rumored 'flagship' Cadillac model could eventually be spawned from the Omega platform; whether it will take the form of a oversized sedan like the Sixteen concept car, a convertible along the lines of the Ciel concept, or a full-size coupe is currently unknown. +++ The partnership between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and DAIMLER reached a milestone today when Tennessee officials joined Nissan leadership to break ground on a new manufacturing facility in Decherd. The new facility (located at the existing Nissan powertrain assembly complex) will produce Mercedes-Benz 4-cyl. gasoline engines for Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz models. Senior Vice President Research & Development, Nissan Americas Carla Bailo and Vice President Production Engineering and Component Facilities Mark Swenson joined local officials to mark the start of construction on this significant project. "Today, we begin an exciting new chapter for the Renault-Nissan Alliance and our continued investment in the United States", Swenson said. "Today's groundbreaking marks the latest move in our collaboration with Daimler to localize production capacity and enhance our competitiveness in the global market". Production of the new engines will begin in 2014 with installed capacity of 250,000 units per year. At maximum capacity, the new facility is expected to create up to 400 jobs and will be the first location Mercedes-Benz manufactures engines in the North America Free Trade region. The Tennessee plant's strategic location will ensure a direct supply of engines for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, to be built at Daimler's vehicle plant in Tuscaloosa (as of 2014). Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance first announced their strategic collaboration in April 2010 and are extending their reach into the United States as part of both companies' growth strategy. The companies are also moving forward with a vehicle platform sharing initiative between Infiniti and Mercedes, and development of zero-emission vehicles. The decision to begin jointly producing engines in the U.S. marks the 2 organizations' collaborative effort's largest venture outside of Europe. +++ Japan should be required to reduce the size of its auto industry before being allowed into regional free trade talks with the United States and eight other countries in the Asia Pacific, a top FORD official says. “Any way you look at the Japanese market, it’s the most protected automotive market in the developed world”, Steve Biegun, Ford’s vice president for international government affairs, said in an interview. Ford strongly supports the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact but wants to make sure only “the right members are in this agreement, and it’s a good quality free trade agreement”, Biegun said. “This is an industry that is hugely overweight in Japan and can only survive on the back of enormous exports unless it restructures”, Biegun said. Ford’s strong objection to allowing Japan into the negotiation shows the high stakes for President Barack Obama. The president is expected to face a tough challenge from presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in Michigan and Ohio, two U.S. auto-producing states that could be decisive in the November election outcome. Last year, Japan made about 9.3 million cars and trucks. It exported about 4.6 million, including 1.5 million to the United States, according to the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) website. The United States has just a 2.5% tariff on cars, making it one of the most open markets in the world. Keeping that tariff is crucial to maintaining the profitability of small-car production in the United States, Biegun said. Japan’s car tariff is even lower at zero percent. But Ford contends the Japanese government maintains a number of regulatory and other “non-tariff barriers” to keep out most foreign cars and also intervenes heavily in currency markets to help its auto companies export cars. William Duncan, director of the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association’s office in Washington, called Biegun’s arguments “rather bizarre” since almost 70% of the cars that Japanese automakers sell in the United States are produced locally. “The Japanese have reduced production in Japan quite sharply over the last 10 or 20 years and increased their production overseas”, Duncan said. “Is he saying that no country should produce more cars ... than they can consume? Is that the new rule? It doesn’t make any sense”. Biegun’s complaint about Japanese currency intervention also “doesn’t wash because the yen is at a record high”, he said. Ford and other U.S. automakers offer few specifics when they complain about systemic barriers to Japan’s auto markets, Duncan said. The Japanese automobile industry “is open to discussing issues if they’re there. But Ford just says, ‘Oh, it’s closed and it needs to be restructured' ”, Duncan said. Canada and Mexico also asked to be invited into the TPP negotiations in November along with Japan. U.S. officials have not indicated when there will be decisions on any of the three applicants. They say they will be made in consultation with other current TPP members, which include Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei. The 9 countries are holding their 12th round of negotiations beginning next week in Dallas and have a goal of reaching agreement by the end of the year. Ford supports Canada and Mexico’s entry into the negotiations because “they are free traders”, Biegun said. +++ HYUNDAI and its staff labor union start annual wage talks on Thursday, with the union calling for temporary workers to get full-time jobs and for an end to overnight shift work. Eyes are on whether Hyundai, the world's fifth-biggest automaker along with Kia, will manage for a fourth consecutive year to avoid a strike during wage talks, at a time when its inventory is low because of strong demand and tight supply. "We are facing a slew of labor issues this year", a top Hyundai executive told Reuters, raising concerns about the union leadership, which was elected late last year to replace predecessors who had led the union without a strike for three consecutive years. He declined to be identified because of sensitivity of the issue. The labor union calls on Hyundai, the profit margin of which is second to only Germany's BMW, to convert temporary workers into full-timers, which the union says will increase Hyundai's annual labor costs by about 82 billion Korean won ($72.03 million). "This is not an excessive demand, considering Hyundai's (strong) business performance", the union said in its newspaper. The union said in-house subcontracted workers accounted for 24 percent of production workers as of 2008, and their monthly wage was 78 percent of what full-time employees earn. The Hyundai executive said "it does not make sense" to turn all temporary workers into staff. Temporary workers were needed to enhance labor flexibility. "It is a tricky matter. We will seek to reach an agreement through negotiation", he said. He said another thorny issue was a union demand to end overnight shift work. The union calls for an introduction of a two-shift scheme running from early morning to around midnight, from the current system of day and overnight shifts, saying overnight work poses health risks and undermines workers' quality of life. While Hyundai sees the need to scrap overnight work, it is concerned about a potential loss of production which it would like to make up elsewhere. Another union demand is a basic salary raise of 8.4 percent or 151,696 won ($133) and bonuses equivalent to 30 percent of Hyundai\'s 2011 net profit to be paid to workers. Hyundai's net profit jumped 35 percent 8.1 trillion won last year. Last year, Hyundai and the staff labor union agreed a 93,000 Korean won rise in basic salaries, a performance bonus equivalent to three months' salary plus a 7 million won payment, and 35 company shares per employee. +++ INFINITI 's next-generation G range will not only ride of a Mercedes-Benz-sourced platform, but will also borrow powerplants from the German automaker, a new report finds. It was revealed last month that Infiniti’s 3-Series-fighter will be switching from Nissan’s FM platform to a Mercedes-Benz architecture for the 2014 model year, but a new Autocar report indicates that G will also lean on Mercedes for engine technology. The 2014 G, which should hit the market sometime next year, will reportedly launch with four-cylinder diesel and gas engines from Mercedes-Benz. “We’ll make sure the right engines are in the car right from the start”, Tony Lewis, Infiniti’s regional director for northern Europe, told. The G is currently only available with a thirsty 3.7L V6 in Europe, which has put a damper on sales. Most vehicles in the G’s class are ordered with a more efficient diesel engines, which explains why just 500 units were sold in the UK market last year. In addition to the new diesel, the next G is expected to be available with the same turbocharged four-cylinder currently found under the hood of the C-Class. It remains to be seen if the diesel-powered G will be offered in the U.S., but the turbo four should replace the current G25. +++ General Motors' loss-making European brand OPEL is confident it can gain market share going forward thanks to new models like the Korean-built Mokka subcompact SUV, Opel chief Karl-Friedrich Stracke told reporters on Thursday. He also said that the brand enjoyed a strong April relative to recent months, but conceded that the overall market would not likely see meaningful growth for the next 2 years. "Next year will be pretty flat, and we will see whether the recovery starts in 2014-2016", he said. According to industry data from the ACEA, Opel's share of the European market dropped to 6.6 percent in the first quarter from 7.3 percent in the previous year. Stracke said there was a continued "high urgency" concerning the ongoing restructuring talks with European labour leaders, expecting it would take another two or three more months before they were concluded. "We are not addressing any plant closures before 2014", he added, referring to speculation that the Bochum and Ellesmere Port factories could be shuttered. Opel labour leader Wolfgang Schaefer-Klug said a deal with management over the restructuring of General Motors' loss-making European brand could be achieved in two to three months, paving the way for a return to profitability. "It is necessary and realistic", he told reporters in front of Opel's factory in Rüsselsheim, after a demonstration in which 4,000 workers, according to Opel estimates, downed tools for two hours as part of countrywide strikes. German union IG Metall, which put the number of staff on strike at 8,000, is staging temporary walkouts to underline its demands for 6.5 percent higher pay for the 3.64 million workers in the manufacturing industry, arguing a salary increase would boost domestic demand and spur economic growth. "There is probably no single company in Germany that has a greater interest in higher wages in Germany and Europe than Opel", IG Metall regional boss Armin Schild told the company's striking workers. Chief Executive Karl-Friedrich Stracke said in March restructuring talks might take 2 to 3 months, only to tell reporters last week it would take another couple of months before he could present the details. The GM brand's troubles are inextricably linked to the ongoing euro zone malaise. Opel is almost entirely dependent on a European mass car market that is expected to tumble to a fresh decade low this year as austerity programmes lessen demand and send unemployment soaring in countries such as Spain, where one in four is out of work. On average, Opel lost $628 for each of the 1.19 million cars it made last year, since its fixed costs are geared towards selling an additional 500,000 vehicles; the equivalent of 2 major manufacturing plants. Rivals Fiat, Peugeot and Renault are also suffering from a production base that is heavily concentrated in high-wage countries in western Europe. +++ TOYOTA, the biggest seller of hybrid vehicles, wants to boost supplies of its four-model Prius line as demand for the fuel-saving cars is outpacing the company's initial U.S. target of more than 220,000 this year. "We're tracking well ahead of that", Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice president of U.S. sales, said in an interview this week in Los Angeles. "I've ordered additional production. I'm confident we'll get additional production, but globally we're seeing high demand, particularly in Japan". Sales of the Prius, including the main liftback model and new V wagon, C subcompact and plug-in version, through April jumped 56 percent from a year ago to 86,027 units. Were that rate to continue, annual deliveries would top 250,000 units, based on a Bloomberg calculation. Rising U.S. demand for the Prius, the world's best-selling gasoline-electric vehicle, comes this year as a result of gasoline prices approaching $4 a gallon nationally and Toyota's ability to supply a variety of models bearing the name. Prius sales peaked in 2007 at 181,221, and hovered around 140,000 during the past 3 years as a result of a recession and recalls that curbed demand and natural disasters last year that cut supply. Including the Prius, Toyota sold 114,331 hybrids in the year's first four months, 17 percent of the 665,328 Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles delivered in the U.S. during that period. In April, Prius sales alone were 55 percent of all hybrids purchased in the U.S., Carter said. Demand for Prius models is also surging in Japan because of new incentives for the purchase of fuel-efficient autos, Carter said. As a result, the company's U.S. unit may not get as many of the cars as it wants. "It's too early to project any of those types of numbers", he said. "We don't have production confirmed at this time". Toyota sold 215,458 Prius cars in Japan this year through April, up from 57,399, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association figures released Tuesday. Toyota sold 178,044 light vehicles in the U.S. last month. +++ Barkia Africa is meant to be (and, indeed, is) the first "100% TUNESIAN car". Its much-awaited official debut is due to take place tomorrow in Sfax, where the prototype preview will take place. The occasion is the Automobile Exhibition, which became a must both for connaisseurs (at least 30,000 of them are expected to visit the four-day exhibition) and exhibitors, who will take part in the event in large amounts (40% of them are Tunisians, the rest will come from abroad). However, at least as for local automobile connaisseurs are concerned, all eyes will be on Barkia Africa, the result of a project which was carried out with perseverance, whose aim is to export most of the 100,000 cars that will come out of the factory each year. The reason why exports (especially toward other African countries) are a priority is probably due to the saturation of the market (nearly a monopoly) by French brands, which has lasted for decades now and left other foreign producers with nearly empty hands. The will, the passion, and especially the money needed for the project were provided by a businessman from Sfax whose name is, meaningfully, Mohamed Barkia. The project's ambitious nature resides not only in making investments in an extremely complex and scarcely permeable industry, but also in the fact that Mohamed Barkia involved only Tunisian capitals in the project, probably in order to reiterate that 'Africa' is a car thought, designed and made by Tunisians for Tunisians, although not only for them. When it is fully functioning , the factory (built in Sfax) will produce 100,000 cars per year, thus generating 1,000 direct jobs; more jobs will be created in the industries allied to car manufacturing, which always play a significant role in the automotive sector. According to its creator, Barkia Africa will be a people's car, even if its exact price has not been determined yet. If the new car is to be meant for the Tunisian people, its price should be kept low, not exceeding 20-22,000 dinars (approximately EUR 11,000). However, the exact price range is quite difficult to determine. Although the technical features will be officially disclosed tomorrow, some of them are already known. Barkia Africa (the capital 'A' stands for Africa is in the brand's logo) is a five-seater, spacious, with a large trunk, a feature which is much appreciated by Tunisian car-drivers and, in general, in North Africa. Its weight is 1 tonne and 370 kg, its engine is 1.6 cubic cm, its maximum speed is 180 km/h and its consumption is 6.3 litres of fuel for 100 km. +++
