This morning: Toyota to Texas, VW profits, GM fall-out, more
- QandA: Toyota’s Lentz on what triggered the move, and the upheaval ahead – Automotive News: In the wake of Toyota’s announcement that it is centralizing its U.S. operations in Plano, Texas, Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz spoke exclusively with Automotive News West Coast Editor Mark Rechtin.
- Toyota to shift North American HQ to Texas, add jobs in Michigan – DetN: Toyota said it will move its North American headquarters from California to Texas — and shift 250 jobs to its technical center near Ann Arbor.
- Toyota to consolidate most U.S. operations in Texas – Automotive News: Toyota will consolidate its far-flung operations in the United States into a single campus in Plano, Texas, with a targeted move-in completion date of late 2017, the automaker said today.
- Toyota Will Shift 4,000 to New Offices in Texas – NY Times: The Japanese automaker said the move to new headquarters near Dallas in about three years would affect employees in California, Kentucky and New York.
- Toyota move to Texas is latest blow to Southern California – Reuters: Toyota Motor Corp. said it will move its U.S. sales headquarters from southern California to suburban Dallas, delivering the latest blow to California in a fight for jobs with arch-rival Texas, whose Governor Rick Perry has been actively poaching businesses from the Golden State.
- Senators Ramping Up Pressure on GM – thedetroitbureau.com: Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey continue to beat the drum to force General Motors to ask owners of the 2.6 million small cars it recalled to stop driving them immediately. The pair sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx asking him to issue a “park-it-now” advisory for the vehicles.
- Two senators want feds to force GM to warn recall owners – DetN: Two U.S. senators want the NHTSA to force General Motors to warn owners of its 2.6 million recalled cars to stop driving them until the defective ignition switches are repaired.
- VW profit jumps as Audi, Porsche sales hit record – Reuters: German carmaker Volkswagen posted a quarterly jump in operating profit as Europe’s fledgling economic recovery lifted sales of Audi and Porsche luxury models to record levels.
- VW first-quarter profit jumps 22%, boosted by Audi, Porsche – Automotive News: Volkswagen Group’s first-quarter operating profit rose 22 percent, as earnings from the Porsche and Audi brands helped to offset falling profitability at the automaker’s core VW brand.
- Volkswagen profits rise by a quarter to $3.42B – DetN: German automaker Volkswagen is reporting a 26.8 percent rise in net profits despite a slump in earnings for its namesake brand.
- BYD hailed in California as Toyota exits to Texas – Automotive News: BYD, the Chinese automaker partly owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, rolled out the first two electric buses from its California factory as it pushes into the U.S. and Canadian markets.
- Report – Skoda 7-seat SUV ‘A-Plus’ to launch in 2016-17 – Indian Autos Blog: Rumors have been doing rounds that Skoda will introduce a new flagship product taking shape of a 7-seat, three-row SUV. Speculatively called the Skoda Snowman, Design RM presents a rendering of the upcoming SUV. Skoda India’s head, Sudhir Rao, said in a recent interview that the brand is indeed considering an SUV larger than the Yeti. […]
- MALAYSIA: Volkswagen launches locally assembled Jetta – Just-auto: Volkswagen is stepping up its expansion into the Malaysian auto market with the launch of the locally assembled Jetta sedan this week.
- UK: BMW welcomes ULEV funding, i8 is already sold out – Just-auto: BMW UK – in the midst of launching a new range of i sub-brand electrified vehicles – said it welcomed the UK government’s announcement of GBP500m in additional funding between 2015 and 2020 to accelerate the shift to Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs).
- New Vehicle Incentives – March 2014 – Automotive Digest: Incentives rose to $2,725 per unit in March and was up 5.9% over the previous year Spending increased year-over-year for 14th consecutive month But incentives growth in March was actually lowest since September 2013 The Article New Vehicle Incentives – March 2014 appeared first on Automotive Digest.
- UK: Government to offer another GBP500m for low emission vehicles – Just-auto: The UK government will later today (29 April) announce a further GBP500m will be available to boost the sale and use of electric and hybrid vehicles.
- UK: Changan eyes West Midlands R&D facility – reports – Just-auto: Chinese carmaker Changan is reportedly planning to set up a research and development operation in the English West Midlands.
- Electric car grant extended to 2017 thanks to new funding – Autocar: Drivers choosing electric cars will benefit from a £500 million investment, which extends the government’s £5000 EV incentive scheme for three more years.
- JAPAN: Honda to lift Fit output – Just-auto: Honda will start manufacturing its Fit (Jazz) model at all three of its Japanese domestic assembly sites, increasing daily output by some 20% to 1,200 units, as it reports strong orders for the recently renewed third generation model.
- VW Q1 profit jumps 21 pct as Audi, Porsche sales hit record – Reuters: Volkswagen posted higher first-quarter operating profit, helped by technical factors, as the European recovery lifted sales of Audi and Porsche luxury models to record levels.
- Subaru BRZ price slashed by £2500 – Autocar: Rear-drive BRZ gets price cut to attempt to lift sales after improvement in pound/yen exchange rate.
- Optimism as Detroit Makes Pacts on Finances – NY Times: While many issues remain, a deal with representatives of current city workers is one of a number of agreements the city is making to climb out of bankruptcy.
- Google self-driving car project makes progress – DetN: Google said today it has made major progress in its self-driving car project, as the search engine giant has focused its efforts on making its autonomous test cars operate safely in urban environments.