- Honda profits hit by airbag recalls – FT: Carmaker warns of delays in launching vehicle models
- Honda Cuts Earnings View – WSJ: Even before the full cost of recalling millions of vehicles for potentially defective air bags hits home, Honda Motor Co. is running into financial speed bumps.
- CHINA: Protests grow against VW recall action – Just-auto: Volkswagen has been the subject of protests across in China this week because of its handling of a car recall due to defective rear suspension parts.
- Car Shoppers Increasingly Use Mobile Devices at Dealerships – Wards: Some dealership salespeople are OK with customers brandishing smartphones, some aren’t, according to a J.D. Power study.
- JAPAN: Honda posts -4.1% decline to operating income in fiscal Q2 – Just-auto: Honda has posted a 4.1% decline to operating income in the quarter through to September 30 citing softer demand in North America and Japan as factors that weighed down on profitability.
- Nissan showcases new crossover for Brazil with Kicks concept – Autocar: Japanese firm offers a thinly veiled look at its new compact crossover that’s destined for South America. Nissan has unveiled its new Kicks concept car at the Sao Paulo motor show in Brazil. The Kicks offers a thinly veiled look at a new production compact crossover model, which will go on sale in the Brazilian market, and follows on from the Extrem concept that made its debut in 2012Nissan says the Kicks is targeted towards “today’s fast-moving Brazilian professionals,” and offers “a…
- Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) Tops Automobile Sales – Via Google News: It sold 9.98 million cars the previous year and is projected to sell at least 10.2 million cars for this year, which will be a new record in the automobile …
- Rogue May Be Light at End of Tunnel for Korea’s Samsung Motors – Wards: Launch of the Nissan CUV is helping Samsung better utilize its Busan assembly plant and push global sales up by double-digit rates.
- Mazda confirms new CX-3 crossover for LA motor show – Autocar: Mazda to take on the Nissan Juke with new compact crossover in 2015; features Kodo design language and SkyActiv technology. Mazda has revealed the first official design sketches of its new compact crossover, the CX-3, ahead of its public debut at the Los Angeles motor show next month.
- Self-driving cars to be ‘reality’ – Via Google News: Gartner says, over the next six years, self-aware vehicles will emerge that are … act and communicate with other automobiles, infrastructures, businesses, … “At the same time, self-driving vehicles will enable radically new digital …
- Honda cuts sales guidance as recalls bite, roll-outs delayed – Reuters: Honda Motor Co Ltd cut its sales forecasts for this year citing competition in Japan and China as well as the impact of recalls on new model launches, but said a weak yen will help it stick to its operating profit estimate at 770 billion yen.
- 2014 Forbes China 400: China’s 15 Richest Auto Entrepreneurs – Via Google News: China’s ascent as the world’s biggest auto market has enriched multinationals … Yang chairs Baoxin Auto Group, an automobile distributor of Ferrari, …
- GM to build more Chevy Volt parts in Michigan – Reuters: General Motors Co will shift production of the transmission on the 2016 Chevrolet Volt from Mexico to Michigan, the automaker said.
- Carmakers slowing on innovation – FT: Cost-cutting and shaky sales hit industry spending on research and innovation
- GM to Make Volt Component in Michigan – WSJ: General Motors—trying to stir some buzz around the next generation Chevrolet Volt plug-in—said Tuesday it will move production of the vehicle’s electric drive unit to its home state of Michigan from Mexico.
- Michigan to Become GM’s Global Electric Vehicle Center – thedetroitbureau.com: While GM isn’t expected to reveal its next-generation Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid until next January, the automaker will offer up a few select details during a speech by CEO Mary Barra later today.
- More air bag recalls could test automakers’ Takata ties – Reuters: Japan’s Takata Corp , whose potentially defective car air bags have been linked to four deaths in the United States, is unlikely to be dumped by its automaker customers given the cost and disruption of such a move – for now.
- Tesla Unveils New Lease Plan – WSJ: Electric car maker Tesla Motors offered a pair of incentives on its Model S sedan, promising to lower its lease price by 25% and give buyers 90 days to return a vehicle if they are unhappy with it.
- Hot new Peugeot 308 GTI to get 266bhp – Autocar: Peugeot plans new range-topping 308 variant to launch next year, as part of its anniversary celebrations for the 205 GTI. Peugeot is planning a 150mph, £25,000 GTI range-topper for its Car of the Year-winning 308 range. The GTI will be powered by the storming 266bhp 1.6-litre THP turbo four from the RCZ-R sports coupé. The car’s confirmation comes during the 30th anniversary of the famous Peugeot 205 GTI.
- Obama administration eyes leadership change at auto safety agency -source – Via Google News: The House panel’s staff this week is also expected to begin a series of meetings with automobile manufacturers affected by the air bag recalls.
- Hyundai Santro and Chevrolet Spark to hit end of the road – Via Google News: If the Maruti 800 started the automobile revolution in India in the 1980s, industry experts … Santro was the first car to make its global launch in India.
- Technology to make driving safer by paving way for driverless cars – Via Google News: Now in its infancy, ADAS is rapidly developing into a powerful tool that will drive automobile safety over the decade, ultimately resulting in driverless …
- Self-Driving Cars Could Undermine British $80 Billion Rail Project – Via Google News: Autonomous cars, if and when they finally arrive, could spell doom for … cars will transform the 21st century, just as the mass-produced automobile …
- Administration Will Review Auto Safety Regulator – NY Times: The inquiry into the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration comes during a record year for recalls, in which the agency’s role has been scrutinized by Congress.
- Life After Ford: Volvo Turnaround Gains Speed Under Chinese Billionaire Owner – Via Google News: Auto parts and auto sales have been better turf for entrepreneurs. But Li’s Geely Automobile Holdings Geely Automobile Holdings has thrived as …
- Tesla Announces a New Leasing Package for Its Electric Cars – NY Times: The automaker is offering lower-cost leases through an arrangement with U.S. Bank, and a three-month trial period.
- Driverless Car Bill Cruises Through NJ Senate Panel – Via Google News: We need to create the rules by which autonomous vehicles could be … Just about every major automobile manufacturer has an automated vehicle in …
- GM, Ford Could Take Profit Hit From China’s Decelerating Auto Industry – Via Google News: The secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, recently said that he expects the Chinese auto industry to grow just 7% …
- Sieren’s China: Used cars on the rise – Via Google News: Car sales are booming in China. As well as new cars, sales of used cars are picking up speed – the next big step for the country’s automobile market, …
- Infotainment Systems are the Plague of the Auto Industry, Says Consumer Reports – thedetroitbureau.com: The quality of the cars sold on the U.S. market has hit a plateaus, and we can blame new technologies – especially increasingly common infotainment systems, according to a new study by Consumer Reports. TheDetroitBureau.com has more on the magazine’s annual Automotive Reliability Study.
- New 2015 Chrysler 200 Ads Take Aim at Japanese, German Cars – Via Google News: A new ad campaign for the 2015 Chrysler 200 attempts to break automotive stereotypes by suggesting that this Michigan-built midsize sedan is fully …
- This Lego BMW Isetta is so damn cute – Via Google News: Of Steve Urkel fame, the Isetta has to be one of the most recognizable cars in … This is a weird car and this model done by ming1903 captures the odd … a quirky old cross manufacturer automobile that happened to sell like crazy.
- FRANCE: Michelin posts Q3 net sales down 4.6% to EUR4.9bn – Just-auto: Michelin Group has posted third quarter net sales down 4.6% to EUR4.9bn (US$6.2bn).
- US: Under new Ford CEO, new life beckons for famous Lincoln brand – Just-auto: Ford’s new chief executive, Mark Fields, reportedly is giving the Lincoln brand a little love and a lot of cash.
- Limited “Geographic Recalls” Could Put Millions of Motorists at Risk – thedetroitbureau.com: When NHTSA recalled 7.8 million vehicles due to faulty Takata airbags, it focused on vehicles sold in Florida and other humid regions. Other recent recalls have focused on Snowbelt states prone to excess vehicle corrosion. But critics contend these “geographic recalls” may put millions of motorists at risk in other parts of the country.
- Complaints About In-Car Electronic Systems on Rise, Consumer Reports Says – NY Times: The magazine’s latest auto reliability report, which covered 1.1 million new vehicles, found that dashboard electronic systems caused many problems.
- Gas Prices Continue to Slide in US – thedetroitbureau.com: The ongoing drop of gas prices in the U.S. is confounding experts, delighting consumers and being ignored by U.S. fracking companies, which are helping to push U.S. oil production to record levels. The average price at the pump dropped 18 cents in the past two weeks and are now at their lowest level in nearly four years.