- Mercedes-Benz to revive Maybach brand for top end S-Class – Reuters: Daimler on Tuesday said it will launch new top end versions of its Mercedes-Benz S-Class, including a sports utility vehicle and a high-end luxury limousine adorned with the Maybach brand.
- US: Ford starts 2015 F-150 build at the Rouge – Just-auto: Ford built the first production redesigned 2015 F-150 truck at its Rouge Center on Tuesday.
- GM December switch order shows failure to disclose under Barra – Automotive News: The disclosure of December e-mails by General Motors shows that even after Mary Barra took over as CEO, the automaker failed to disclose key information about its ignition-switch recall — raising more questions about what she knew and how quickly…
- Mercedes introduces new names for its vehicles to avoid customer confusion – Automotive News: Mercedes-Benz, hoping to overcome consumer confusion as its product lineup expands, is overhauling the nomenclature used to identify its cars and light trucks.
- BMW sees popularity of sports cars waning as customer tastes change – Automotive News: BMW says sports car sales may never reach pre-recession levels again as changing tastes among rich customers in China and other emerging markets hits demand.
- VW brand sales fall on Latin America, Russia – Automotive News: Volkswagen said sales of its core passenger-car brand slipped 0.4 percent in October to 517,400 vehicles, weighed down by declines in Latin America and Russia.
- BMW Group deliveries rise 11% on China demand – Automotive News: BMW Group vehicle sales increased by 11 percent in October on strong demand from China, which helped 10-month deliveries rise 7 percent to 1.71 million, keeping the automaker on course to reach 2 million sales this year.
- GERMANY: Porsche Automobil Holding nine-month profit up – Just-auto: Porsche Automobil Holding SE boosted group profit to EUR2.49bn euro in the nine months to 30 September 2014 compared with EUR1.99bn the previous year.
- BMW Group October Global Sales Up 11% – WSJ: German car maker BMW said group sales jumped in October, driven by demand in Europe, Asia and North America.
- Hyundai, Kia unveil share buybacks after anger over property purchase – Reuters: Hyundai Motor Co and affiliate Kia Motors unveiled share buybacks worth a combined 670 billion won ($615 million), in an apparent bid to appease investors angered by the sky-high price paid for property to house new headquarters.
- Mercedes explains tweaks to its model naming system – Autocar: The German manufacturer’s GLK, ML, GL and SLK models are to be renamed, among other designation changes. Mercedes-Benz has formally announced sweeping changes to the naming of models in its line-up. Already reported by Autocar, the German car maker has tweaked its current naming system to place greater emphasis and identity on its five core model lines: A-, B-, C-, E- and S-class. This results in the renaming of four key models and the creation of other new model designations.
- Mercedes confirms return of the Maybach name on plush S-class – Autocar: Mercedes-Maybach S600 fills a void in German company’s range and is planned to compete with the Bentley Flying Spur and Rolls-Royce Ghost. Mercedes-Benz has officially confirmed it will bring back the Maybach name on a new V12-powered extra long wheelbase version of the S-class. The plush upper luxury class saloon, which is planned to make its world debut at the upcoming Guangzhou and Los Angeles motor shows in China and the US, goes under the name Mercedes-Maybach S600 and is planned to compete in a…
- Iraq’s Kurds Drive an Obama, Not a Chrysler – WSJ: Brand names like Toyota, Chrysler and BMW can be a mouthful, so Iraq’s Kurds prefer to drive an Obama or Monica.
- Aluminum-intensive Ford F-150 truck on sale in December – Reuters: Ford Motor Co on Tuesday is scheduled to begin production of its redesigned, aluminum-intensive F-150 full-size pickup truck, a key profit generator for the No. 2 U.S. automaker that will go on sale next month.
- Ford to begin output of redesigned 2015 F-150 today – Automotive News: The first production version of the aluminum-body 2015 Ford F-150 pickup rolls off the line today at a Ford plant in Michigan after years of preparation.
- Hyundai and Kia announce $616m buyback – FT: S Korean carmakers’ latest effort to soothe investor fury over $10bn land purchase
- Wonkblog: The Hummer is back. Thank falling oil prices. – Washington Post: The military-style Hummer H1, more tank than truck, disappeared from the new car lots long ago, killed off by General Motors for the sin of guzzling a gallon of gas every 10 to 12 miles. And as the cost of gas hung above $3.50 for four years, even used Hummers languished on used lots, too. Read full article >>
- UK: German brands can’t be beaten – Lexus Europe boss – Just-auto: Alain Uyttenhoven, the head of Brussels-based Lexus Europe, has told just-auto that it is “impossible to catch the German three, worldwide” but that the brand is determined to be “number four”.
- Volkswagen reveals new 268bhp diesel engine – Autocar: Electric turbocharging and high pressure common rail injection boost power and efficiency of Wolfsburg’s four-pot oilburner. Volkswagen has showcased an advanced 268bhp version of its turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engine in a technical presentation at its Wolfsburg headquarters in Germany. The power plant is expected to play an integral role in Volkswagen’s efforts to meet tough CO2 emission targets that form part of new EU regulations set to come into force in 2020.The new engine,…
- GM recall controversy could eclipse Ford-Firestone, PR guru Vines says – Via Google News: When it comes to public relations crises in the automobile … Crisis PR in Cars, Computers and Christianity (Waldorf Publishing), Vines …
- Shades of Watergate: What Did GM Know and When Did it Know it? – thedetroitbureau.com: Raising a specter of the old Watergate question – what did the President know and when – internal General Motors documents reveal that the maker ordered 500,000 replacement parts months before alerting federal regulators about a faulty ignition switch now linked to at least 32 deaths.
- GM touts 13,000 vehicles sold under Shop-Click-Drive – Automotive News: General Motors has sold more than 13,000 new vehicles via its online shopping tool Shop-Click-Drive since it debuted for use on dealership websites a year ago, the automaker said today.
- Korea-China FTA signed with record speed – Via Google News: And as the trade pact excluded categories considered sensitive in both countries – including rice and automobiles – questions immediately rose as to …
- Chinese car import deal draws U.S. litigation – Automotive News: Julie Brown, the embattled former CEO of Plastech Engineered Products, is back in court six years after her company was liquidated under bankruptcy.
- Takata Accused in Suit of Burying Bad Air Bag Test Result – Via Google News: Takata Corp., the maker of automobile air bags with a potentially lethal defect that prompted the recall of almost 8 million cars, was accused in a …
- Honda CEO says company will prioritize with quality over sales – Automotive News: Honda CEO Takanobu Ito said he would prioritize quality improvements over the company’s target of selling 6 million cars in the year starting April 2016, as the automaker recalls millions of cars to fix potentially defective airbags.
- Takata air bag problem grows with more Nissans recalled, new lawsuit – Via Google News: The problem is thought to affect close to 8 million vehicles in the U.S. … in which the automobile restraint systems exploded and hurled metal shrapnel …
- GM switch fund approves 2 more death, 4 injury claims – Automotive News: A program to compensate the victims of a faulty ignition switch in GM vehicles found last week that the part was linked to two additional deaths and four injuries, bringing the total number of eligible claims to 67, according to a report on Monday.
- Volvo Adds XC60 Into Mix at Chengdu Plant – Wards: Volvo says XC60 sales rose 20.4% worldwide to 98,309 units in the first nine months of 2014, while sales in China during the period jumped 32.3% to 24,940.
- Lexus may be reaching a turning point in Europe – Autocar: With dramatically styled new models, and a range of hybrids, Lexus could be about to take off in Europe. It’s almost 25 years to the day that Lexus first came to the UK, with a LS400 being shown at the 1989 London Motor Show in Earls Court. And that very same model went on sale here a few weeks later at the start of 1990. It’s hard to quite recall the impact that car made. In 1983 the then boss of Toyota decided to make the world’s finest luxury car. Some 1400 engineers and millions of dollars later the…