Top News
- Hyundai beats VW, Buick as China’s top-ranked mass-market auto brand – Automotive News: Hyundai Motor beat Volkswagen and Buick to be the top-ranked mass-market auto brand in China in a state-backed survey, even as the South Korean automaker’s deliveries there fell in the first quarter.
- INDIA: Fiscal year passenger car sales rise 5% – Just-auto: Sales of passenger cars in India rose by almost 5% to 1.87m in fiscal 2014-15 (year ended 31 March, 2015) after a decline in the previous two years.
- AUSTRALIA: ‘Very strong’ March sales up 8% – Just-auto: Australia’s new car market was very strong in March 2015, local trade group FCAI said, with sales up 8% year on year. The 105,054 unit tally for March was a record for the month.
- VW’s Audi sales up 4.4 pct in March to record 177950 cars – Reuters: Volkswagen’s Audi luxury division said on Monday sales increased 4.4 percent in March to 177,950 cars and sport-utility…
- Japan, US aim for Pacific trade pact progress before summit – Reuters: Discussions are expected to focus on remaining gaps over agriculture and the auto industry. “We think it would be good if the two leaders could…
- CHINA: Passenger vehicle sales up 9.4% in March – Just-auto: Sales of new light passenger vehicles in mainland China rose by 9.4% to 1.87m units in March, based on wholesale delivery data collected by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
- VW’s Skoda Auto Q1 sales rise 7 percent to record 265100 vehicles – Reuters: Car sales at Volkswagen’s Skoda Auto rose 7.2 percent to a record 265,100 vehicles in the first quarter, the Czech car…
- VW Faces Fight Over Leadership – WSJ: The Porsche and Piech families that control Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest automotive group, are battling over the future leadership of the company as CEO Martin Winterkorn vowed to resist efforts to oust him.
- More Vroom From Vans for Peugeot, Renault – WSJ: Volkswagen’s operating margin for VW commercial vehicles was 5.3% last year and 4.8% in 2013, around double the 2.5% and 2.9% profit margin for…
- Jifeng Auto’s Wang Becomes Billionaire as Shares Rise to Record – Bloomberg: Wang Yiping, Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts Co.’s chairman, became a billionaire as the maker of parts for car seats and other vehicle components climbed…
- Ram owners’ suit spins on missing $50 option – Automotive News: A South Carolina Ram owner’s lawsuit filed against Fiat Chrysler last week can be summed up in an everyday question: What’s the diff?
- Ford’s stair-step workout for dealers – Automotive News: As its U.S. market share slides, Ford Motor Co. has dug up one of the old-school, sales-boosting tricks it had seemingly buried: stair-step incentives.
- Japan electronic giants embrace autos after consumer-goods struggles – Automotive News: Japan’s storied electronics companies are struggling in the cutthroat consumer goods market amid cheaper, and often more innovative, rivals from South Korea and China.
- Kia’s new bosses have a tough act to follow – Automotive News: The departure of Kia’s top U.S. executive, Byung Mo Ahn, marks a pivotal moment for a brand that has enjoyed unprecedented growth and stability.
- Online startups offer dealers faster, cheaper ways to wholesale vehicles – Automotive News: Years ago, dealers who wanted to get rid of aged used cars and unwanted trade-ins had to take them to a local auction. But now auctions are being challenged by start-ups that offer alternative ways to wholesale used vehicles.
- Blue sky surges for German luxury brands – Automotive News: The values for German luxury brand dealerships in the United States are in the stratosphere, while some other brands are such poor prospects that the buy-sell market cannot even assign them a multiple.
- Nuclear deal may unleash big, pent-up Iran market – Automotive News: The prospective nuclear agreement among Iran, the U.S. and four other nations could have major ramifications for the auto industry by opening up a new and significant emerging market.
- Nissan is looking for more fleet business – Automotive News: Honda’s complaint that bigger fleet sales are driving Nissan’s sales growth is erroneous, says Nissan Chairman Munoz. But while Nissan has cut back on rental-fleet sales, Munoz wants to sell more Nissans into lucrative commercial fleets.
Other news, rumors and, gossip
- Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) Faces a Hard Time Selling P85D Supercar – Wallstreet: Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), the world’s one of the best electric automakers isn’t able to discover sufficient clients for its…
- Takata Air Bag on Honda Civic Linked to Florida Injury – Autoworldnews: In March, a 2003 Honda Civic’s air bag exploded and a piece of metal shot out from the bag and dug into the driver’s neck, according to Reuters, citing…
- Update: Short Interest of Tesla Motors, Inc. Increases by 5% – Tricitystate: Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), According to the latest information the short interest in Tesla Motors, Inc. shot up by 5% or 1,231,401 shares.
- Power struggle at Volkswagen dents shares (VLKAY) – Seekingalpha: Volkswagen (OTCQX:VLKAY) Chairman Ferdinance Piech is facing criticism from within the company for a verbal attack on CEO Martin Winterkorn.
- Upcoming, Low-Cost Renault XBA Hatchback Spied Again – Motoroids: Post the impressive Lodgy MPV, leading Renault India’s siege for 2015 will be the explosive, low-cost, Alto 800 rivaling hatchback. A prototype of the…
- China: auto brands survey sees Hyundai leader, passing Volkswagen – Inautonews: Volkswagen AG is the top foreign automaker in terms of sales in China, the world’s largest automaker, but the latest research revealed it was not the…
- What does a Tesla service center have in common with an F1 pit? – Ecomento: While it’s unlikely that cars will be in and out of the service bays in under a minute, as in most race series, Tesla Motors is apparently trying to imbue its…
- Nissan Powering To On-Track And Off-Track Success – Paddocktalk: Nissan made a promise to racing fans in the UK when it announced that the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO would debut at Le Mans in June and sit out the…
- Qoros scales up with ‘2 SUV’ concept heading to Shanghai – Autoexpress: News 13 Apr, 2015 Qoros has released a teaser sketch previewing the ‘2 SUV’ crossover concept set to star at the Shanghai Motor Show 2015
- Can Ohio’s largess maintain Jeep Wranglers in Toledo? – Thepicayuneleader: They’re gambling that hundreds of tens of millions of pounds really worth of incentives will convince Fiat Chrysler Motors (FCA) to locate its new Jeep…
- Workers urge Volkswagen to end bitter leadership battle – Businessinsider: Employees at German auto giant Volkswagen urged management Monday to settle a bitter power struggle and focus instead on running…
- China: Luxury cars wrecked in ‘Fast and Furious’ collision – CNN: The car veered to the side, tearing off chunks of wall paneling before … Both drivers were found to belong to the same automobile club, Xinhua news…
- Nissan offers Mercedes a pick me up – Timeslive: For example, the cheerful Renault Kangoo van-derived MPV can also be bought in certain countries, including the UK, as the Mercedes Citan instead.
- uction – Overdrive: Five minutes into my first ride on the Unicorn 160 and it was clear what a big step the bike has taken over its siblings. Honda has kept the identity of the…
- Can Nissan’s all-electric van boost the appeal of commercial EV fleets? – Greenbiz: The Nissan e-NV200, officially launched in June, is targeting the breakthrough that the nascent electric van sector has been waiting for. The largest of…
- Piech’s Volkswagen CEO comment doesn’t reflect family view: spokesman – Gnom: STUTTGART, Germany (NEWS.GNOM.ES) – Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech’s criticism of Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn does not reflect…
- Nissan to Launch An Affordable Datsun Small Car in 2016 – Ndtv: Datsun, Nissan’s low-cost car brand, is planning to launch yet another small car in the country next year. This announcement came at the first…
- Spied: Fiat Punto Evo with a reported 135PS 1.4-litre T-Jet engine in India – Overdrive: For a nation starved of performance hatchbacks, the new Fiat Punto Evo T-Jet might just serve as the satiator. The 1.4-litre mill in this iteration of the…
- Delhi: National Green Tribunal old diesel vehicles ban woes, used car market suffers – Motoroids: India has always had a healthy used car market and many buyers in this segment tend to pick fuel-efficient cars for their day to day use. Even though…
- Datsun Cars India: Nissan owned Datsun plans to launch new entry level car in India in 2016 – Oncars: Nissan owned Datsun has announced its plans to launch a third entry level car in the country next year. This is yet another attempt by the Japanese…
- Efforts continue to get more new energy cars on the road in China – Ecns: Earlier this month, Beijing authorities announced that pure electric vehicles would not be affected by the new round of rotating car number plate bans…
- Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) Brings 70D with New Deliveries – Wallstreet: After shares fell as low as $185 toward the end of March, Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock kept bouncing back not long from now, increasing…
- Tesla: It’s Time To Accelerate (TSLA) – Seekingalpha: Last week was a pleasant one for investors in Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA). Shares of the electric vehicle maker rallied more than 10.4% after the…