Just-in-time auto industry news and analysis
Polishing his resume: Simon Sproule at his last Nissan quarterly results conference in Yokohama
Simon Sproule’s departure from Nissan to Tesla is still sending seismic waves around the world, with people speculating what Sproule might be up to in Palo Alto, and who will replace him in Yokohama. We can’t add much more to the former, but a little to the latter. [ There is more … ]
[Want more news? The Daily Kanban Newsbot works for you 24/7.] Note: Ed Niedermeyer and Bertel Schmitt will go to the land of the kanban, Japan, over the weekend, and will be there all next week. This will impact the cadence of reporting a bit. Rob Otter will hold the fort.
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Looking good
It’s an annual tradition: Each year around this time, there is breathless reporting of wild swings in auto sales in the world’s largest car market, China. Old China hands wait until the numbers for both January and February are in to make an assessment. The reason: China’s biggest annual holiday, Chinese New Year , follows the lunar calendar and is at different dates each year. The holidays affect both the numbers of hard selling days as well as the general buying behavior. To get a clear picture and a firm base for a comparison, seasoned industry watchers look at the total of both months. The total looks good. [ There is more … ]
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Brampton: Southbound and Down? (Courtesy: canadianmetalworking.com)
When Chrysler Group LLC announced that it was withdrawing requests for Canadian Government aid earlier this week, my immediate reaction was to think: “there goes another piece of Canada’s auto industry.” Having just months ago watched GM close its Australian operations when it became clear the government there wouldn’t continue to subsidize the industry, it seemed clear that Chrysler would move at least one of its Canadian products to the waiting Toluca, Mexico plant. I was not alone in guessing that Windsor’s minivan plant would be on the block, but in its carefully-worded statement Chrysler indicated it would move ahead with the tool-up for a new generation of minivans there. Chrysler even committed to investing in “substantial product interventions” for Brampton’s Lx platform vehicles (300, Charger, Challenger), which are supposed to hit markets later this year.
So did FCA’s CEO Sergio Marchionne break the political math tying government support to new product investments? Not exactly. He still has plenty of room to maneuver, and lots of possible asks. And the likelihood that a Canada plant will end up losing a Chrysler plant to Mexico remains very high.
