12-07-2012 11:00
+++ General Motors' decision to make CHEVROLET a global player much in the likes of the Ford brand is paying off, at least in terms of sales. The bowtie brand delivered close to 1.3 million vehicles globally in the second quarter of 2012, up 2.3 percent over last year, marking the best quarter ever for Chevrolet and the seventh consecutive quarter of record-breaking sales. The Detroit-based company said that it posted significant sales increases over the second quarter of last year in four of its top five markets including the U.S. with 513,538 units (+5.2%), China with 141,758 (+2.3%), Russia with 57,286 vehicles (+13.4%) and Mexico with 41,435 units (+11.7 %). In Brazil, however, Chevrolet's second biggest market, sales were down 4.2 percent at 153,759 units. Chevrolet fared well in Europe, despite the financial crisis, selling 61,865 vehicles, up 13.6 percent in a market that was down 6.9 percent. The automaker's bestselling nameplate worldwide was the Cruze with more than 350,000 sold so far this year and more than 1.65 million sold since its launch. "Seven consecutive quarters of record sales is solid proof that Chevrolet is delivering the high quality products, easy-to-use technologies and expressive designs that people around the world are demanding", said Chris Perry, vice president of global marketing for Chevrolet. "With even more great new products on the way, we look forward to a strong second half of 2012", he added. Upcoming Chevrolet models include the Spark and Malibu sedan in the United States; the Trailblazer mid-size SUV and Colorado mid-size truck in Thailand and other markets; the Spin small MPV in Brazil, the Cruze stationwagon in Europe and the new Trax small cross-over which is a sister model to the Buick Encore and Opel/Vauxhall Mokka. +++ FIAT will extend the summer break at its Pomigliano plant near Naples, which makes the Panda, by 2 weeks to adjust output to rapidly falling demand in Europe. The European car market shrank 6.3 percent to 6.89 million in the first half of 2012, with Italian new-car sales plummeting 19.7 percent to 814,179, according to data from European industry association ACEA. "The sales crisis does not appear to stop", Fiat said on Wednesday. "The Italian market, which is now back at levels last seen in 1979, is penalizing Fiat, especially in the city car segment where the group owns 60 percent of the market with its Panda and 500 models". +++ HONDA plans to boost capacity 25 percent or 50,000 units at its American plant and launch production of the Civic Hybrid there early next year. The $40 million investment will create 300 new jobs by the end of the year, the company said. The factory, which opened in October 2008 to produce Civic sedans, will be able to produce 250,000 vehicles a year. It began assembling the Acura ILX and ILX Hybrid this spring. The Acura ILX hybrid is the first hybrid produced by Honda in North America. The plant launched a second production shift last fall and now employs about 2,000 people, Honda said. +++ Tata Motors said June sales of its JAGUAR brand declined while Land Rover deliveries rose, driven by strong demand for the Range Rover Evoque. Jaguar deliveries fell 5 percent to 3,829 units, while Land Rover sales gained 49 percent to 24,386, the automaker said. Total deliveries at the Jaguar Land Rover unit, which counts sales of both brands, climbed 39 percent last month from a year earlier to 28,215 units, India-based Tata Motors said in a statement. +++ Although it has yet to be given the green light, the new Urus cross-over would become the cheapest LAMBORGHINI in the range. The Lambo 4x4 was first shown in Bejing at the 2012 Chinese motor show; signalling Sant'Agata's intent to take on Range Rover et al with a sporting luxury SUV. The target price for the new Lamborghini SUV is in the area of 225,000 euro in The Netherlands. That's about 30,000 euro less than the new Gallardo should command. According to senior sources, the potential annual sales volume is pegged at 3,000 units, which means that the Urus would instantly triple the brand's presence in the marketplace. Obviously influenced by the much acclaimed four-door Estoque design exercise, the sporty four-door crossover is based on the same new high-floor MLBevo architecture as the next Audi Q7, Cayenne/Touareg III and Bentley Falcon. It's likely to be launched in late 2016, although the VW board is still crunching the numbers. The aluminium-intensive Urus should comfortably undercut the two-tonne weight threshold. Although a hybrid drivetrain codeveloped with Porsche and Audi is a distinct possibility, the mainstay engine will be a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 rated at 600 hp and 650 Nm. If everything goes to plan, the relatively compact Lamborghini SUV (which harks back to the chunky LM002 of which only 301 pieces were built) should be sufficiently profitable to fund a fourth model range. +++ LOTUS has chosen not to showcase its model range at the Paris motor show this September. Instead, the Norfolk-based brand is concentrating its efforts to ensure that its recent DRB-HICOM investment is used in the “most productive and cost-effective way”, according to a Lotus spokesperson. “Our parent company DRB-HICOM has invested new funds and it is my job to make sure that investment is used in a way that can drive the company forward. We are working on a number of new developments which require funding and that must be the priority”, added the source. At the last Paris motor show, Lotus unveiled 6 full-size models, which, if successful, would have moved the company’s image and prices into Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche territory. +++ General Motors' OPEL unit hired Michael Lohscheller, who helped turn around Volkswagen's loss-making U.S. operations, to be its chief financial officer. German national Lohscheller, 43, will join Opel after four years in the United States at VW where he was CFO of the national sales operation, the company said. He will take up the position on Sept. 1, replacing Mark James. The move comes a day after GM appointed Thomas Sedran, a restructuring specialist, as interim CEO of Opel, and said it would redouble efforts to return the ailing European brand to profitability. +++ PORSCHE is deciding whether to add a second supercar and a BMW 5-series rivaling sedan to create an eighth and ninth model line. A company source told that the VW-controlled firm is considering whether to build Project 960, a Ferrari-fighting, two-seat, mid-engine coupe with a V8 biturbo and more than 600 hp. Also in discussion is a smaller version of the Panamera sedan, known internally as the Pajun. The sixth model line will be the 918 Spyder, due to launch in September 2013. According to Porsche, the plug-in hybrid supercar combines a 4.6-liter V8 engine with twin electric motors to give 770 hp but with fuel consumption of 3 liters per 100 km. The seventh is the Macan compact SUV. It was developed under the working name Cajun and starts production in 2014. But Project 551, a small roadster, has been postponed. Its debut was envisioned for 2014. "It may take another generation of customers before a small roadster fits in with Porsche", CEO Matthias Müller said. A redesigned Boxster roadster was unveiled at the Geneva auto show in March, while the new Cayman hardtop version will follow at the Los Angeles auto show in November. Porsche's expansion started in the mid-1990s when it faced what the company has described as a "threatening crisis". Executives decided that its lineup needed more than the venerable 911, and the Boxster arrived in 1996, followed by the Cayenne SUV, the Cayman and most recently the Panamera sport sedan. Under its Strategy 2018 plan Porsche aims to sell 200,000 cars a year by 2018. Last year company sold 117,000, a rise of 18 percent on 2010 figures. +++
