carscoop: Reports

Showing posts with label Reports. Show all posts

Carscoop’s A to Z Guide to the 2012 Paris Motor Show

The European car market may be in trouble because of the financial crisis that’s been dragging on for a long time now, but carmakers are gearing up to display their latest models in the City of Light.

From September 29 until October 14, the Paris Expo at the Porte de Versailles will host some of this year’s most important world premieres.

The French automakers have chosen the 2012 Paris Auto Show to launch models like the all-new Renault Clio, the Peugeot 208 GTi and the Citroen DS3 Cabrio.

GM China’s SAIC-GM-Wuling Joint Venture Reaches 1 Million Sales

While General Motor's SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW) joint venture in China has sold more than 1 million vehicles before, reaching this milestone at this time of year is a first for the company. In 2011, SGMW sold its 1 millionth vehicle in October.

The automaker said it delivered an average of 3,500 vehicles every day through the first eight months of the year 2012, up 15.2 percent from the same period last year.

BMW Confirmed as One of the Parties Interested in Buying the De Tomaso Brand

The BMW Group is eyeing the now defunct De Tomaso sportscar brand, after the latter went bankrupt earlier this year and passed into the hands of the Italian government, which is trying to sell the company.

A report from Reuters said that Italy's Industry Ministry confirmed that among the interested parties is the BMW Group adding that talks with the Germans and other companies continue.

All-New 2013 Range Rover Revealed in the States, Prices Start at $83,500 [w/Video]

Loyal Land Rover customers were invited to witness the U.S. launch of the all-new Range Rover at an exclusive reception that took place last night at the 30,000 square-foot Stone Mansion in the Alpine suburb of New Jersey in NYC.

In between “first class catering and cocktails” and having undoubtedly marveled at the 4,000-bottle wine cellar, they got to see the fourth generation of the iconic luxury SUV, which is also the first with an all-aluminum structure, from up close.

CAW Makes Some Concessions Over New Contract with Detroit 3, Carmakers Still Undecided

Three days before the expiration of the ultimatum that the Canadian Auto workers’ union (CAW) has issued to GM, Ford and Chrysler, the union has made some concessions over the new contract in order to avert a simultaneous strike at all three carmakers' Canadian plants as it has threatened.

The CAW is proposing a lower starting wage for newly hired workers and a longer time for them to reach the top of the pay scale. Moreover, unlike current workers, new employees will contribute to their pensions but will still be entitled to a defined-benefit, not a defined-contribution pension.

Soaring Yen May Bring Nissan Murano Crossover Production to U.S. Plant in Tennessee

With the yen rising to new heights, Japanese car manufacturers are, naturally, willing to move production of some of their models to their plants in other countries in order to make them more cost-effective.

According to a report from Japan’s Nikkan Kogyo daily newspaper, Nissan is currently considering shifting production of its Murano mid-size crossover to its Smyrna, Tennesee US plant which currently assembles the Altima and Maxima sedans.

2011 World Auto Production Sets New Records, Global “Fleet” Could Top 1 Billion by Year’s End

The Worldwatch Institute reports that global production of passenger vehicles, i.e. cars and light commercial trucks, set a new record in 2011 with 76.8 million units compared to 74.4 million in 2010.

This means that at the end of 2011 a total of 691 million passenger cars were on roads all over the world, rising to 979 million if we include light- and heavy-duty trucks.

NHTSA to Test 54 Vehicles from 2013MY Under its New, Tougher Safety Regulations

The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released on Thursday a list of new cars that it will test as part of its new, tougher five-star safety ratings program.

The list includes 54 models from the 2013MY including, 33 passenger cars, 16 SUVs, one van and four pickups. The agency says that the crash tests will provide information on almost 85 percent of vehicles sold in the US and its rollover tests will cover an impressive 92 percent of 2013 models.

Jeep Driver Uses Sidewalk to Bypass School Bus Only to Find a Cop on the Other Side…

We guess you could say justice was served in the case of 32-year-old Shena Hardin, of Cleveland, who reportedly had the bad habit of using the sidewalk whenever she saw a school bus to avoid waiting for the children to exit or enter the vehicle.

After seeing the same thing happening over and over again, a Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) bus driver decided to take matters in his own hands by calling the police to capture the woman red handed.

Sure enough, Hardin appeared with her silver-colored Jeep Compass and jumped on the sidewalk to go around the bus. Only this time, a patrol car was waiting for her just around the corner…

CAW-Detroit Big 3 Negotiations Continue but Still No Deal Reached, Triple Strike Looms

With only four days remaining until the end of the current contract between the Canadian Auto Workers’ union (CAW) and the Detroit's Big Three, the union announced on Wednesday that meetings between the two parties are becoming more frequent, yet they “have not yielded many results”, which is bringing the event of a triple strike even closer.

September 17 has been set as a deadline from CAW. Unless a deal is reached by midnight, then the union members have voted almost unanimously to strike at GM, Ford and Chrysler, all at the same time.

GM Reportedly Plans to Reduce Opel’s Administrative Staff by 30 Percent or 1,000 Positions

Despite analysts’ advice that getting rid of Opel/Vauxhall and retaining Chevrolet as its sole European mass-marker brand is in GM’s best interest, the Detroit carmaker is determined to hold on to the German brand.

Doing so, though, involves restructuring the whole operation and making it more cost-effective to stop bleeding massive amounts of cash.

This has already been announced in the “Drive Opel 2022” 10-year plan that is the subject of GM’s negotiations with the workers’ unions.

Cop Drags 77-year Old Woman from Car After She Refused to Give ID Before She Went to the Toilet…

Something tells us that 77-year-old Lynn Bedford wasn't expecting to be yanked out of her car when she was pulled over by a cop for speeding 16 mph (26km/h) over the 50 mph (80km/h) posted limit on Highway 67 near the city of Keene in Texas on August 19.

Video footage from both the officer's outfit and patrol car cameras recorded the entire incident starting from when Sgt. Gene Geheb approached the woman's SUV and told her why he stopped her.

Before Geheb could ask her for her driver's license and insurance, the woman told the officer, "All right, let's hurry up. I've got to go the bathroom." The cop asked her again for her ID only to be told, "I have a bladder infection."

BMW Announces New 1.5-Liter Turbo'd 3-Cylinder Petrol and Diesel Engines with up to 222HP

In 2007, BMW introduced the Efficient Dynamics strategy to its new vehicles, which encompasses fuel efficient petrol and diesel engines, highly efficient transmissions, “intelligent” management of ancillary systems and advanced aerodynamics.

Despite investing heavily on hybrid and EV technology, as is evident with the ActiveHybrid models and the new “i” sub-brand, BMW also believes that the internal combustion engine has potential for improvement and will continue to power the bulk of its existing and future models.

To that end, it is introducing a new lineup of TwinPower turbocharged engines in both gasoline and diesel forms, starting with the 1.5-liter three-cylinder units.

Porsche Increases First-Year Sales Projection of Macan Compact SUV by Two-Thirds to 75,000 Units

Capitalizing on the success of the Cayenne as well as increased demand for smaller SUVs, Porsche is developing a new compact model, which it has already announced that it will be called Macan with sales to start sometime in 2013.

The company's initial sales projection for the Macan's first year of the market was 45,000 units annually.

Luc Donckerwolke Takes Over Bentley's Design Division

Luc Donckerwolke, the man responsible for the styling of many Lamborghini models of recent times such as the Gallardo and Murcielago as well as plenty of Seat vehicles including the IBE and Tribu studies, has been named new Director of Design at Bentley replacing Dirk van Braeckel who moves to Volkswagen Group design directed by Walter de Silva.

The 47-year old designer from Belgium joins Bentley from his role as Head of Advanced Design for Volkswagen Group where he was appointed just last year.

Toyota Says Prius Plug-in Hybrid U.S. Sales Top 6,000 Units, Beats Volt and Leaf...or Did it?

A Toyota press release bragging about the achievements of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid variant since it went arrived in U.S. showrooms at the end of February states that the EPA-rated 95 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) Japanese hatchback has delivered 6,061 units in its first six months (March through August) on sale.

However, that's not what caught our attention; this is what did and we quote Toyota's press statement:

"This sales figure represents sales momentum that has propelled the Prius Plug-in to a stronger first full six-months sales pace (6,061 units) than Chevrolet Volt Plug-in (2,745 units) and the all-electric Nissan Leaf (3,875 units)."

GM Refutes Reuters’ Claim That Each Volt Costs $89,000 to Build, Though it’s Still Losing Money

Despite a rather high US$39,995 sticker price for the base edition of the Volt, Chevrolet’s range-extended hybrid has sold a record 2,831 units in August. So all is well for GM?

In the case of the Volt, the answer is a bit complicated since it’s not your run-of-the-mill gasoline- or diesel-powered car. It’s a problem shared by every hybrid and all-electric vehicle manufacturer: the development costs, the tooling, the battery packs and the powertrain, when added up, simply make for a very high price.

Porsche Worldwide Sales Up 20.8% in August, Confirms New Model for Paris Motor Show

Porsche came out today with its global sales numbers for the month of August and together confirmed the unveiling of a new model at the rapidly approaching 2012 Paris Motor Show.

In August, the German carmaker delivered a total of 10,912 vehicles to customers around the world, up 20.8 percent over the same month of last year, while from the beginning of 2012, Porsche has sold 92,474 vehicles, which translates to an increase of 15.0 compared to the same period in 2011.

New Infographic Takes a Look at Eight Generations of the Honda Accord

On the occasion of the announcement of pricing for its 2013 Accord Sedan and Coupe models earlier today, Honda is taking a ride back to the future with an infographic that puts the spotlight on each generation of the mid-size model since the company began producing the car in the States in 1982.

The infographic includes a handful of interesting data such as the base model's curb weight, wheelbase length, entry-level engine, starting price in USD, and the highlights of each of the eight generations of the U.S.-built Accord, which you can then compare.

For example, we see that the 1982 Accord was fitted with a 75hp 1.8-liter engine and tipped the scales at 2,184 pounds (990 kg) while priced from $8,245.

French Stock Exchange Removes PSA Peugeot Citroen from CAC 40 Due to Tumbling Share Value

Peugeot shares were first listed in Paris in 1925 and have traded since then. NYSE Euronext’s decision to remove PSA Peugeot Citroen, Europe’s second largest automotive group after VW, from its CAC 40 index and replace it with chemical and plastics maker Solvay SA on September 24, is therefore bound surprise the industry.

The seven-member NYSE Euronext scientific board reviews companies’ number of shares available as well as market capitalization and revenue trends every quarter.