- JAPAN: Suzuki warns on minicars as profits slump – Just-auto: Suzuki, Japan’s fourth largest carmaker and a dominant player in the minicar sector, saw its operating profits fall by 14% in the July-September quarter.
- GERMANY: Record October sales for Mercedes-Benz – Just-auto: Mercedes-Benz sold a record 140,941 vehicles in October, an increase of 11.5% on the same month last year.
- BMW develops street lights with electric car-charging sockets – Reuters: BMW has developed street lights equipped with sockets to charge electric cars, it said on Friday, and will run a pilot project in Munich next year that uses existing local authority lighting networks.
- OPEC Thinks Elon Musk’s Tesla Revolution Is A Pipe Dream, And Has Published This Chart To … – Via Google News: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has dismissed the impact electric cars will have on the automobile market. In its latest …
- Nissan Brings Spain-Built e-NV200 to Japanese Market – Wards: Julian Ryall Executive Vice President Takao Katagiri believes there is an “increasingly favorable environment” for electric vehicles and the e-NV200 will benefit from the ground broken by the Leaf EV.
- US: Takata found and hid airbag inflator risk in 2004 – paper – Just-auto: Alarmed by a report a decade ago that one of its airbags had ruptured and spewed metal debris at a driver in Alabama, Japanese supplier Takata secretly conducted tests on 50 airbags it retrieved from scrapyards, two former employees involved in the tests, one of whom was a senior member of its testing lab, told the New York Times.
- US: Honda, under added scrutiny, strengthens Takata airbag recall – Just-auto: Honda, facing a US safety probe, has strengthened its recall of US cars to replace potentially defective Takata air bags linked to several deaths.
- ITALY: Former Ferrari head to chair merged airlines – report – Just-auto: Former Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo will become chairman of Italian airline Alitalia with Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan as his deputy in the new company that will be formed when the Italian airline ties up with the Abu Dhabi-based carrier, two sources close to the matter told the Reuters news agency.
- Ford’s Farley to lead Europe operations in job swap – Automotive News: Ford global marketing chief Jim Farley will move to Germany to steer Ford of Europe and swap jobs with European boss Stephen Odell, two people familiar with the plan said.
- China Auto Sales Accelerate in October on Discounts – Via Google News: Retail deliveries of cars, multipurpose and sport utility vehicles climbed 9.3 … The state-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers is …
- Withdraw Datsun Go from India: crash test agency – Via Google News: Two days after Japanese car major Nissan’s sub-brand Datsun’s entry-level … the model in India as it dents the global car major’s safety credentials. … to the UN’s legitimate expectation that automobile safety should be improved.?.
- Facing U.S. safety probe, Honda expands air bag recall – Reuters: Honda Motor Co, facing a U.S. safety probe, strengthened its recall of U.S. cars to replace potentially defective Takata Corp air bags linked to several deaths.
- Car Dealer’s GPS Used to Track Kidnapping Suspect – Via Google News: A tracking device likely used on many cars in San Diego helped … David Cavano, manager of the Automobile Club of Southern California’s car buying …
- Takata execs ordered technicians to erase airbag test results, report says – Automotive News: Takata, the Japanese supplier at the center of a global vehicle recall, ordered its technicians to destroy results of tests on some of its airbags after finding cracks in inflators, The New York Times reported.
- Honda upgrades recall of cars with faulty Takata air bags – Reuters: Honda Motor Co said it will recall an undisclosed number of U.S. cars from model years 2001 to 2006 to replace potentially defective Takata Corp air bags.
- Volvo V60 Cross Country to go on sale in early 2015 – Automotive News: Volvo isn’t giving up ground in the all-wheel-drive wagon market to Subaru, as has just about every other automaker. The Swedish brand will introduce the Volvo V60 Cross Country at the Los Angeles Auto Show in just a few weeks.
- Exclusive: Struggling in India, Toyota asks Daihatsu minicar unit to help – sources – Reuters: Toyota Motor Corp is struggling to crack the affordable end of India’s car market and has called on mini-car affiliate Daihatsu for help – a tacit admission that the Japanese autos giant doesn’t always get it right in emerging markets.
- Elon Musk Isn’t Bullish On Car Sharing – Via Google News: “[I]n a world of completely automated driving going a bit out in the future here, what do you think will define a successful automobile company?” Jonas …
- PSA’s Spanish Van Plant Pushes for Wage Cuts – Wards: Management at the Vigo facility is demanding drastic pay cuts in exchange for a commitment to build revamped Berlingo/Partner vans. But labor unions don’t appear to be taking the threat to move production seriously.
- GM’s first safety-defect trial set for January 2016 – Automotive News: A federal judge in Manhattan has set Jan. 11, 2016, for the first trial in consolidated litigation against GM over a series of safety issues, including a faulty ignition switch, that have prompted millions of recalls this year.
- When is a Profit a Loss? – thedetroitbureau.com: It’s easy to get caught up in the wave of euphoria that is Tesla Motors, especially when they’re bucking the odds by producing EVS and making money while doing it. One can forget, ahem…to look a little closer at what’s being reported. In this case, a small profit instead of a decent-sized loss.
- Lincoln Opens First China Stores – Wards: The first Lincoln stores in China will first offer the all-new Lincoln MKC CUV and the MKZ midsize sedan.
- Glut of Saudi Oil Causing Price Drop at Pumps – thedetroitbureau.com: The price of gasoline is expected to continue to fall over the next several weeks as something like an old fashioned price war not seen in nearly 50 years breaks out in the global petroleum markets. The average price for a gallon of gasoline is now $2.955 cents per gallon and last month, it was $3.289.
- Small fire at Takata plant in San Antonio forces evacuation – Automotive News: Over 70 Takata employees temporarily evacuated the supplier’s San Antonio seatbelt production plant after a small fire broke out early this morning, officials said. Employees were back at work shortly after the fire.
- Honda Canada to invest $750 million in Ontario plants – Automotive News: Honda’s Canadian unit said today it plans to invest C$857 million ($750 million) over three years to upgrade manufacturing plants in Alliston, Ontario, which will be the global lead for production of the next-generation Honda Civic.
- UK: Car sales in Western Europe up 5.5% in October – Just-auto: Car sales in Western Europe grew by 5.5% in October according to data released by LMC Automotive.
- NHTSA Hits Honda with Second Demand for Takata Info – thedetroitbureau.com: Federal regulators continue to demonstrate their renewed commitment to enforcement by demanding Honda produce more information about its use and knowledge of Takata Corp.’s defective airbags. NHTSA believes the automaker may be concealing information about the airbag problem.
- Ford offers year-end incentives for dealers to meet sales targets – Automotive News: Ford, seeking to hit year-end sales goals, rolled out a bonus program that offers dealers a cash bounty for meeting sales targets that some retailers criticize for cheapening the brand.
- CANADA: Alliston to be lead plant for next Honda Civic – Just-auto: Honda of Canada Manufacturing (HCM), a division of Honda Canada, said it would spend C$857m over three years to add new technology and processes at its three plants in Alliston, Ontario, ahead of one becoming the global lead factory for the next generation Civic, the best-selling passenger car in the country for the past 16 years.
- Ex-Ferrari boss Montezemolo picked to be chairman of Italy’s Alitalia, report says – Automotive News: Alitalia has lined up former Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo as chairman and Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan as his deputy in the new company that will be formed when the Italian airline ties up with the Abu Dhabi-based carrier, two sources…
- Visteon posts Q3 loss on one-time items, but revenue rises 33% – Automotive News: Visteon said today it posted a $21 million net loss for the third quarter because of charges from discontinued operations, but revenue surged 33 percent, helped by its acquisition of Johnson Controls’ electronics business.
- GERMANY: Ford Europe’s Odell to move – report – Just-auto: A report in a Swiss business magazine says that Ford of Europe CEO Stephen Odell is to move to a new position within the company under a reorganisation.
- McLaren Sports Series range announced – Autocar: New Porsche 911-rivalling P13 line-up to be known as the Sports Series; set to be revealed in the second quarter of 2015McLaren has announced a new ‘Sports Series’ range, which will consist of sub-650S models that will rival the Porsche 911, Audi R8 and Ferrari California T.
- THAILAND: Mazda to construct engine plant in Chonburi Province – Just-auto: Mazda plans to construct an engine plant in the Chonburi province of Thailand. Operations are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2015 with assembly of the Skyactiv-D 1.5 diesel engine for the Mazda 2 sold locally.
- Hyundai, Kia aim to raise fuel economy by 25% by 2020 – Automotive News: Hyundai and its affiliate Kia said today they aim to raise the average fuel economy of their vehicles by 25 percent by 2020 to meet emissions regulations in South Korea, the United States and Europe.
- Ford will replace its Europe chief, report says – Automotive News: Ford declined to comment on a report that it will move Stephen Odell, the head of its money-losing European operations, to a new role within the automaker.
- GM asks bankruptcy judge to bar $10 billion ignition claims – Automotive News: General Motors asked a judge to knock out lawsuits demanding $10 billion for the lost value of millions of cars recalled this year for ignition-switch fixes and other repairs.