Despite technical difficulties due to our momentary presence in China, we bring you the daily fare of car news leads. Do not count on it for tomorrow …
- JLR opens a new chapter with its engine manufacturing plant – Autocar: It’s a day that most of us thought might never come – but following a £500 million investment Jaguar Land Rover is ready to start making its new Ingenium range of engines. Interesting day today. I went to an event that even five years ago would have seemed highly unlikely: the official opening of JLR’s new engine plant in Wolverhampton. And the ribbon cutting was carried out by the Queen no less. Even five years ago, the likes of me were regularly writing stories casting doubt on whether such an…
- Airbag investigators focus on metal shards sprayed at crashes – Automotive News: More details are emerging about accidents involving Takata airbags — and the horrific injuries and subsequent lawsuits that resulted from them.
- World Vehicle Sales Up 2.7% in September – Wards: Solid gains were witnessed by nearly every region in the month, with North America posting the largest year-over-year growth.
- Volkswagen Profit Rises – WSJ: Volkswagen reported a sharply higher profit and steady sales growth in the three months to the end of September, reaffirming that Europe’s biggest automotive group is on track reach its target of 10 million vehicles sales this year—four years earlier than expected.
- N. American Q3 Capacity Utilization at Post-Recession High; Q4 to Decline – Wards:WardsAuto forecasts North American manufacturers for entire-2014 will post their highest capacity utilization in several decades.
- Chinese Auto Maker SAIC Sees Profit Grow 5% – WSJ: SAIC, China’s largest auto maker by sales, said its third-quarter net profit rose 5% on solid sales gains at its joint ventures with Volkswagen and GM.
- UPDATE 2-Hyundai ad arm Innocean readies IPO in push for global business – Reuters: Innocean Worldwide Inc, the in-house advertising agency for Hyundai Motor Group, chose bankers on Thursday to manage an initial public offering that it hopes enables it to emerge from the shadows of the conglomerate and better compete for global clients.
- China: FAW-Volkswagen Automobile to recall 270635 Audi cars – Via Google News: China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has said that FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co. Ltd. will recall …
- Car Maker Woos Diplomats As Beijing Buys Local – Via Google News: As China cracks down on luxury foreign rides for officials, Chinese car … procurement list, opening access to the nation’s influential automobile fleet.
- GERMANY: Volkswagen Group posts nine-month profit up 55% to EUR2.8bn – Just-auto: Volkswagen has booked profit up 55% to EUR2.8bn (US$3.5bn) with sales revenue rising 1.4% to EUR147.7bn for the first nine months of this year.
- Kia plans new Toyota Prius rival – Autocar:Korean manufacturer confirms new dedicated hybrid model will arrive before 2017, known internally as “DE”. Kia will launch it’s own Toyota Prius-rivalling dedicated hybrid model “within the next two years,” officials have confirmed.The new model is know internally as ‘DE’ and is based on a bespoke platform and new-generation hybrid transmission with a 1.6-litre petrol engine and electric motor. No technical details of the upcoming model have yet emerged, but the launch model will be a…
- VW Group Q3 profit jumps on record Audi, Porsche sales – Automotive News: VW Group posted higher-than-expected operating profit in the third quarter, boosted by strong demand for Audi and Porsche models in Europe and China. Earnings rose 16 percent to 3.23 billion euros ($4.07 billion), VW said.
- LA DEBUTS: BMW X5 M & X6 M – Just-auto: BMW has now confirmed the world premieres of the X5 M and X6 M for November’s LA international auto show.
- NHTSA steps up inquiry into defective Takata airbags – Automotive News: More than 18 months after Honda and other automakers announced recalls to fix exploding airbags, U.S. regulators are now asking the companies to speed up repairs.
- Faulty Takata air bags may not be replaced for months – Reuters: U.S. safety regulators do not expect Japanese auto parts maker Takata Corp to be able to fully supply replacement parts for millions of defective air bags until January or later, and urged Takata and the automakers it supplies to seek additional parts from other companies.
- Electric Range Rover to challenge Tesla – Autocar: A new all-electric Range Rover model is in the mix as the company looks to emulate the success of Tesla in the luxury EV sector. Land Rover is considering a new battery-powered Range Rover model to counter the increasing success of Tesla in the luxury car sector, Autocar understands. The electric Range Rover would probably be more of a low-roofed crossover-style model than a battery-powered version of the current Range Rover.Jaguar Land Rover group engineering director Wolfgang Ziebart recently hinted at the…
- Reliability and robustness of electronic systems in electrical cars – Via Google News: Cars take on continuously more tasks: They communicate with each other, … Also, they help to report the results to the automobile manufacturer.
- Automobile exports from India on a constant decline – Via Google News: Exports of automobiles from India have been falling and September has been a particularly bad month with most auto makers posting …
- BMW reveals new X5 M and X6 M ahead of LA motor show – Autocar: Second-generation performance SUVs will make their world debut in LA next month, and will arrive in the UK in April next year. BMW’s M division has upped the stakes in the performance SUV ranks with the unveiling of its rapid second-generation X5 M and X6 M.Set to make their public debut at the upcoming LA motor show prior to the start of UK sales in April next year, the new SUV pairing receive the same twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre direct injection petrol engine used by the M5 and M6.That means both models…
- Millennials like bikes and walking more than cars – Via Google News: Cook, 26, is like a lot her contemporaries, the generation of millennials who are not as enamored with the automobile as their elders ? who flocked to …
- Lawmakers ask GAO to review NHTSA actions – Automotive News: Bipartisan leaders of a key House committee have asked Congress’ independent watchdog arm for a review of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration amid escalating concern over the agency’s handling of the General Motors ignition switch and…
- Freshened 2016 Ford Explorer to debut in L.A. – Automotive News: Ford will reveal the 2016 Ford Explorer at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 19. The latest version of the Explorer will go on sale next year in North America, Ford said in a statement today.
- Mitsubishi’s net rises 8 percent as U.S. sales soar – Automotive News: Mitsubishi Motors said net income rose 8 percent in the latest quarter, aided by results in North America.
- Dodge Restarting Viper Production in November – thedetroitbureau.com: Viper fans take heart! Chrysler Group announced plans to begin production of the company’s halo sports beast next month with full production coming mid-November. When the Conner Avenue plant in Detroit begins production again, it will only be building the base model Viper SRT and the new Viper GT.
- Ferrari spin-off is Marchionne’s ‘biggest step’ – FT: Fiat Chrysler chief plans 50% increase in global sales by volume
- October Sales Expected to Defy Economic Uncertainty – thedetroitbureau.com: Recent big swings in the stock market and dire headlines about an economic downturn haven’t put a dent in U.S. auto sales, analysts are predicting October sales will be up between 5.4 and 6.0% when numbers are totaled up next week. Overall sales for October are expected to hit 1.27 million. For more, go to TheDetroitBureau.com.
- FRANCE: Renault books Q3 revenue up 6.7% to EUR8.53bn – Just-auto: Renault has posted third quarter Group revenue up 6.7% to EUR8.53bn.
- Fiat Chrysler/Ferrari: Divide and rule – FT: FCA is already driven at the financial equivalent of 200mph; spinning off Ferrari is just as well
- Wheelies: The Watching the Watchers Edition – NY Times: Ford announces technology that allows police departments to monitor the driving behavior of their officers; Twitter ads account for $716 million in auto sales.
- Maserati beats Ferrari in Q3 profit on Montezemolo exit – Automotive News: Maserati’s quarterly profit topped Ferrari’s for the first time since it became part of Fiat Group more than 25 years ago. The main reason was that Ferrari took a big financial hit to part ways with Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.
- SOUTH KOREA: Hybrids set to take over from diesel – Kia – Just-auto: Kia will significantly increase its range of hybrid cars in the next few years to meet ever more stringent fuel economy and emissions regulations around the world.
- BRAZIL: Tata Jaguar Land Rover confirms new Disco Sport for Brazil facility – Just-auto: Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed, at the Sao Paulo International Motor Show, that its Land Rover Discovery Sport will be one of the first models to be built at its new R$750m local manufacturing facility in Itatiaia, Brazil.
- JLR faces first pay dispute for a decade – FT: Trouble brews as carmaker opens new Wolverhampton engine plant