+++ ASTON MARTIN wants to take on arch-rival Ferrari on the racetrack. The British brand is considering joining the Formula One field as an engine supplier when new powertrain rules come into effect in 2021. F1 rule makers are reportedly shaping the next generation rules to focus on cheaper, less complex hybrid engines than the current 1.6-litre V6 turbo petrol-electric hybrids. Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer was present at the most recent meeting around the new rules and has spoken about his interest in expanding the brand’s current involvement. At present it is a sponsor of the Red Bull Racing team and the 2 companies are working together on the Aston Martin Valkyrie road car project. The Valkyrie has been designed in part by Red Bull’s technical boss Adrian Newey alongside the Aston Martin team and implements several F1 techniques. The engine for the Valkyrie is a naturally-aspirated 6.0-litre V12 built by racing specialists Cosworth. That has led to speculation that Aston Martin, Red Bull and Cosworth could form a partnership to build an engine for 2021 and beyond. Palmer acknowledged Aston Martin’s interest in joining F1 as an engine supplier under the right circumstances. “We sit on the periphery of F1, with the Valkyrie, and with Red Bull”, Palmer said. “There’s always that question, would you want to enter as a team? Our major competitor is Ferrari, so in that sense there’s a rationale in being involved in some way. But for a company that’s only just moved to making a profit we don’t have the 350-400 million a year that you have to spend on F1. If, and it really is the big if, there is a cap put on the number of people or the amount of money that you can spend on developing a new engine, and it’s at a reasonable level, we have a good reason to study it. At the moment there are lots of opinions, and it’s still morphing into whatever the final idea will be”. Cosworth is the second most successful engine supplier in the history of F1, winning 176 races between 1967 and 2003 in partnership with Ford. Despite the connections to Cosowrth Palmer didn’t rule out working with a different partner, with both Ilmor (another former F1 engine builder), Ricardo (which is building the gearbox for the Valkyrie) and Zytek also present at the recent rules debate. Representatives from Volkswagen Group were also present amid speculation that Audi or Porsche could finally enter the sport when the new rules begin. +++
+++ German luxury-car maker DAIMLER said net profit rose slightly in the 3 months ended June 30, helped by a record quarter for global car and commercial-vehicle sales. The maker of Mercedes-Benz cars said second-quarter net profit rose to 2.44 billion euros, up from 2.43 euro billion a year ago. Revenue increased by 7% to 41.2 billion euro, the company said. The auto maker said earnings growth at its cars division was supported by new-model sales and favorable base effects. However, earnings at its trucks division fell, Daimler said. The company confirmed its 2017 guidance, assuming revenue will increase significantly this year. +++
+++ The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) has started proceedings against FORD in the Federal Court of Australia, over long-running concerns regarding the company’s PowerShift automatic transmission fitted to variants of the Focus, Fiesta and EcoSport sold between 2011 and 2016. In a statement released today, the ACCC alleges Ford has engaged in “unconscionable and misleading or deceptive conduct, and made false or misleading representations in its response to customer complaints”. The ACCC alleges that Ford refused to provide refunds or replacement vehicles to owners whose vehicles had undergone multiple repairs, despite obligations made clear in the Australian Consumer Law. The statement goes on to say that in cases where replacement vehicles were offered, Ford had allegedly only done so on the condition that consumers made a “significant payment” toward the vehicle as part of its “PowerShift Ownership Loyalty Program”. The ACCC alleges the payment required was, on average, $7000. The ACCC’s Federal Court Notice of Filing alleges that, as of July 2016, more than 800 customers had paid amounts totalling “more than $6.5 million”. “As a result, customers who could not afford to make these payments felt that they had no option but to continue to use their vehicles”, the statement reads. It is also alleged that vehicles surrendered to Ford as part of that replacement were on-sold to wholesalers and customers, “without disclosing the systemic or specific issues experienced with those vehicles”. The ACCC is seeking declarations, injunctions, pecuniary penalties, consumer redress orders, corrective advertising, and compliance program obligations. What shape these penalties may take is still to be confirmed, although the Australian Consumer Law allows for a maximum penalty of $1.1 million for corporations. Ford released a response today that it “strongly refutes” the allegations, listing the steps it has taken to address the matter with owners. The company says it has worked with owners wherever the issue has been identified, working “with customers to implement manufacturing and repair solutions”. “Ford has also been proactively reaching out to the most affected customers to provide them with the latest specification clutch free of charge. A total of over 12,000 customers’ vehicles have already been upgraded”, the statement reads. The company’s president and CEO in Australia, Graeme Whickman expressed regret at the experiences of affected customers, but stressed every action has been taken to resolve each matter. “We acknowledge that some customers had a poor experience when the clutch shudder issues on the PowerShift transmission first came to light and we are sorry for this”, Whickman said. “We’ve continued to improve our response times to customers and have been repairing vehicles, compensating customers, and depending on the circumstances, providing full refunds and providing replacement vehicles”. “Repairs are available for all PowerShift transmission issues and all new vehicles on sale today are built with the latest updates”. Whickman said that while the company strongly refutes the ACCC’s allegations, “we will work with them wherever needed to help provide certainty about the application of Australian Consumer Law for our industry”. In a briefing, Whickman said: “This is not a safety issue. The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, the regulator responsible for safety issues in the automotive space in Australia, have investigated this issue and have no safety concerns”. Last year, a class action was launched against Ford by Bannister Law on behalf of affected owners. The suit alleges the PowerShift system “slips, bucks, jerks, and harshly engages when driven”. +++
+++ GENERAL MOTORS ‘ second-quarter net income plunged 58% on losses related to the sale of its European business and one-time charges linked to the company’s exit from some Asian markets. GM reported net income of $1.7 billion for the April-to-June period, down from $2.9 billion a year earlier. The result included about $1.3 billion in special items and losses stemming from the discontinued operations of the European unit. The United States’ largest auto maker by sales posted first-quarter operating profit of $1.89 per share, breezing past Wall Street expectations of $1.69 per share. The per-share figure excludes results from GM’s Opel business in Europe, which is slated to be sold to French car maker Peugeot by year-end. The company’s operating income dipped 4%, to $3.7 billion, hurt by production cuts of passenger cars in North America. North America continues to fuel the vast majority of GM’s bottom line as a growing proportion of its sales in the region come from higher-margin light trucks, including pickups, sport-utility vehicles and crossover wagons. Momentum in those segments offset deep production cuts at several U.S. passenger-car factories during the quarter amid souring demand for sedans across the industry. +++
+++ Sales of new petrol and diesel-powered cars and vans will be banned in GREAT BRITAIN by 2040, environment minister Michael Gove said, as part of long-term measures to cut pollution and improve dangerously high levels of harmful pollutants in emissions hot-spots. The UK air quality plan will make electrification mandatory for all new models, and may even go as far as to outlaw the internal combustion engine entirely, meaning even plug-in hybrid cars will not eligible for sale. A government spokesman said the plans would help tackle poor air quality in Britain, particularly in major cities such as London, which has broken EU limits on pollution levels (particularly amounts of nitrogen oxides, or NOx, in the atmosphere) for years. The EU set a deadline for the government to outline how it will tackle the issue: today’s announcement aims to do that with just days to spare. The new diesel and petrol sales ban by 2040 will be a key part of a comprehensive, multi-billion-pound air quality plan, which will also force local councils to take steps to improve air quality. It will encourage them to remove restrictions such as speed humps and roundabouts, so cars don’t have to slow down and speed up again. Existing petrol and diesel cars already in use will, however, not be banned. The government will gradually encourage green car uptake in coming years instead: it is speculated, for example, a scrappage scheme for the oldest and most polluting cars may follow in the autumn Budget. The announcement by the British government follows a similar one made by France a few weeks ago. Volvo also recently made the bold statement it will only sell electrified new cars from 2019. +++
+++ After 3 years, MERCEDES-AMG is letting MV Agusta ride off into the sunset with a new partner. Mercedes-Benz’s performance division has officially sold its stake in the Italian motorcycle company. MV Agusta announced Mercedes-AMG’s 25 percent stake in the company has been bought by ComSar Invest, which is owned by Russian oil and gas magnate Timur Sardarov. Sardarov believes the purchase lays the foundation for a prosperous future and promised continued investment into the MV Agusta sales and service network, technology fields, and marketing presence to expand the Italian marque’s presence. Mercedes-AMG purchased the 25 percent stake in MV Agusta in 2014 after the brand’s flirtation with Ducati was spoiled by Audi’s 2012 purchase of that motorcycle brand. Fast forward to 2017 and Audi’s parent automaker, Volkswagen Group, is preparing to sell off Ducati after it had to dish out billions of dollars following its diesel scandal. The most recent report pegs Harley-Davidson as the top contender to purchase Ducati. MV Agusta reports it returned to profitability in 2016. The high-end motorcycle maker is confident in its new direction. The brand’s president, Giovanni Castiglioni, heralded the deal as a new chapter. “Our main objective is the reinforcement of MV Agusta core business: the production of high-performance, high-end motorcycles”, he said. +++
+++ An electric MINI 3-door hatchback will be the brand’s first production electric model when manufacturing begins in 2019. The electric Mini be put together at the company’s in Oxford, UK, from 2019, although the electric drivetrain will be constructed at BMW’s facilities in Dingolfing and Landshut in Germany. Specifics about the electric drivetrain have yet to be announced, so we don’t know how much power and torque the car’s electric motor or motors will generate. Nor do have any idea about the car’s battery capacity and its estimated driving range. The new electric Mini hatch will be a variant of the regular 3-door hatch, and will be sold alongside the volume-selling turbocharged petrol and diesel versions. When the electric Mini hatchback goes on sale, it will be the brand’s second car with a partially or fully electric drivetrain, following on from the Countryman Cooper S E All4 plug-in hybrid. According to BMW, “additional electrified models will be brought to market in the coming years and beyond 2020, and the company’s next generation vehicle architecture will enable further fully-electric vehicles”. BMW expects by 2025 between 15 and 25 percent of the company’s sales will feature an electrified drivetrain of some description, and it hopes to sell 100,000 electrified cars this year. Electrified models already confirmed for production include 2018’s BMW i8 Roadster, the 2020 electric BMW X3, and the BMW iNext in 2021. +++
+++ PEUGEOT said profit rose 4.1% in the first half as the French car maker continued to cut costs and hold the line on prices as it offset a drop in vehicle sales in its principal markets. Net income for the six months to the end of June rose to 1.26 billion euro compared with 1.21 billion euro in the same period last year. Revenue advanced 5% to 29.17 billion euro from 27.78 billion euro. The increase in revenue came even as vehicle sales dropped slightly in Europe and plunged by almost half in China and southeast Asia. The rise in revenue in the first half was double the increase in global vehicle sales and Peugeot posted a 6.6% operating profit margin, among the highest among European carmakers. Over the past several years Peugeot, which will soon close on its 2 billion dollar acquisition of General Motors’ European unit Opel, has forgone bigger gains in volume to protect its profit margin. Peugeot, officially known as Groupe PSA, confirmed its financial targets that call for an average recurring operating margin of more than 4.5% from 2016 to 2018. The margin is expected to exceed 6% in 2021. Revenue in 2018 is seen 10% higher than in 2015. The company sees the car market growing about 3% in Europe in 2017 and 5% in both China and Russia. +++
+++ TOYOTA is fitting a special app to Yaris Hybrid dealer demonstrators to show customers how often the engine is turned off while driving – and the results are already proving surprising. The new tech device measures fuel economy, driving time and how long the car runs purely under electric power. Early results are showing an average engine off time of more than 50 percent, despite the fact it’s the first time most of the testers have driven a hybrid. So impressed are bosses by the results, they are now publishing the figures from every hybrid test drive on the Toyota GB website. Toyota’s rolled out the technology to showcase the potential of its hybrid tech to cut inner city emissions. The Toyota hybrid system allows the car to drive under battery electric power alone at slow speeds, using regenerated energy that’s harvested under braking. With practice, drivers can extend the electric range significantly – that those new to the technology are still able to drive with the engine off for so long proves hybrid’s credentials, reckons the firm. And unlike plug-in hybrids, conventional hybrids don’t need to be recharged to top up the batteries, meaning they’re more convenient. They’re cheaper to buy, too: Yaris Hybrid prices start from 16,195 British pound; the cheapest Prius Plug-in Hybrid is 31,695 British pound. Toyota offers hybrid versions of the Auris, C-HR and RAV4; and all are soon to get the new ‘engine off’ test drive monitor. “This is proving a very useful tool for giving customers a clear, real-world snapshot of what our petrol-electric hybrids are capable of,” said Toyota GB marketing director Andrew Cullis. “People are focused on the real-world cost of running their car and are also increasingly concerned about air quality, issues that Toyota addresses head-on with cars like Yaris Hybrid that use intelligent technology to deliver the best possible fuel economy and lowest emissions”. Cullis also highlighted another advantage of Toyota’s petrol-electric hybrids, while also not missing an opportunity to take a swipe at full EVs: “Unlike all-electric vehicles, there are no issues around how far you can travel or the need to schedule stops for recharging”. Toyota has yet to launch a fully-electric car. +++