Only a week after Geely's Emgrand EC7 became the first Chinese vehicle to receive a respectable four out of five star safety rating under the Euro NCAP crash tests, and the owner of Volvo Cars announced that it is getting ready to enter the UK’s new car market with the first models to arrive at the end of 2012. .
It’s been almost a week now since we last heard from Saab and as time goes by without a viable solution, the situation for the Swedish carmaker becomes more critical every day.
On Monday, Saab owner Swedish Automobile (SWAN.AS) announced that it is currently in discussions with Youngman Automobile and an unnamed bank in China about a potential investment in Saab.
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Following a June 2011 agreement between Daimler and Chinese joint venture partner BAIC to further expand their collaboration in China with additional projects, Mercedes-Benz announced on Monday that the first locally produced GLK SUV left the production line at the Beijing plant of Beijing Benz Automotive Co. (BBAC). .
A day without Saab news is a day wasted. On Monday, Saab's owner, Swan NV, said that after GM’s rejection of the Pang Da and Youngman deal, it was readying another plan, involving Youngman and a Chinese bank.
Unfortunately for Saab, this latest plan, which put Pang Da out of the picture, didn’t make the cut with General Motors either. On Tuesday, GM spokesman James Cain issued the following statement: “We have reviewed Saab’s proposed changes regarding the sale of the company. Nothing in the proposal changes GM’s position. We are unable to support the transaction.”
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Less than 24 hours after General Motors stated once again, that it will veto any plan that includes a Chinese company acquiring a stake in Saab, the Swedish carmaker received more bad news.
Guy Lofalk, the court-appointed administrator who oversees Saab’s restructuring, announced that he will apply for a termination of the voluntary reorganization of Saab Automobile and its two subsidiaries with the Vanersborg District Court in Sweden.
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Mazda isn't the only automaker to use its name as a designation for its model series. Taiwan's aspiring new automotive brand Luxgen has adopted the same nomenclature for its range of models that has now been expanded with its first ever four-door sedan, the Luxgen5 that joins the Luxgen7 MPV and Luxgen7 SUV.
The newly revealed Luxgen5 is the production version of the Neora EV concept study that was exhibited at the Auto Shanghai 2011 in China earlier this year.
The Taiwanese automaker says it is targeting the medium-large sedan market with the new Luxgen5 that will make its world premiere at the 2012 Taipei Auto Show next April.
According to Luxgen, the four-door model has been created for global markets in mind since its inception. The chassis has been designed with the support of US engineering analysts Altair, while the car was tested by UK safety organization Mira to meet the chassis configuration requirements of local and overseas markets.
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Last month, General Motors posted a third-quarter profit of $1.7 billion US. Not bad for a company that, only just two years ago, was almost bankrupt and was saved thanks to a massive government bailout.
Yet its aim is to reduce costs and increase profits even more. GM representative Jay Cooney told the Detroit News: “GM is continually seeking ways to improve our operating performance and reduce complexity to deliver a world-class cost structure and profit margins.”
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Chinese regulators may have had little affection for the Hummer brand when they shunned the deal between General Motors and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd. in early 2010, but there's at least one man in the world's most populous country that has a lot love left for the maker of the H1.
His name is Qu Zhibo and he is from the city of Zhigong in China's Hainan province. For three years, Zhibo worked on a special project to develop the most eco-friendly Hummer you will ever lay eyes upon.
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It's been a good year for the Volkswagen brand with the German automaker reporting global sales of 4.69 million passenger cars from January to November 2011, a 12.4 percent increase over the same prior-year period (4.18 million).
For the month of November, the VW brand saw its passenger car sales grow 14.5 percent to 452,900 vehicles.
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It’s true that this month is probably the worst in a really bad year for Saab. Its 9-5 ended last in Consumer Reports’ luxury sedan test, GM repeatedly vetoed any sale deal involving the Chinese, and the court-appointed administrator has asked for the restructuring process to be terminated.
Today, though, a ray of light shined in Trollhättan as Saab received a first payment from China's Youngman Lotus Automobile, ahead of the court meeting that will decide its future next week.
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Another chapter in the tense relationship between the world’s two biggest economies, those of the United States and China, has opened today with the announcement by Chinese authorities of new duties on U.S.-made cars that are imported into the country.
Reuters reported that the Commerce ministry of China said on its website that the measure, which imposes “anti-dumping” and “countervailing” duties on cars with an engine capacity of 2.5-liters and above, is effective tomorrow, December 15, and will last for two years.
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Another chapter in the tense relationship between the world’s two biggest economies, those of the United States and China, has opened today with the announcement by Chinese authorities of new duties on U.S.-made cars that are imported into the country. Reuters reported that the Commerce ministry of China said on its website that the measure, which imposes “anti-dumping” and “countervailing” duties on cars with an engine capacity of 2.5-liters and above, is effective tomorrow, December 15, and will last for two years.
The reason cited is that U.S.-based manufacturers have been, according to the statement, “dumping cars into the China market, causing damage to China’s domestic industry”.
It’s not just American carmakers but also foreign manufacturers that build cars in the U.S. that will be affected by this new tax.
GM, which has sold more than 2 million vehicles in China for the second year in a row, will have to face duties ranging from 8.9 to 12.9 percent. Chrysler’s duties range from 6.2 to 8.8 percent, while BMW and Mercedes-Benz will be hit with 2 and 2.7 percent respectively.
This movement is considered a retaliation against the U.S. government filing 12 trade cases against China since the latter joined the World Trade Organization on December 11, 2001.
China's Commerce Minister Chen Deming had said in late November that his country would fight back if other countries resort to trade protectionism.
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Europe may be facing troubles, but its luxury carmakers seem to be doing better than ever. Mercedes-Benz, for example, announced that it's on its way to produce more than 1.25 million vehicles in 2011, beating last year’s best-ever sales record and setting a new all-time high in its 125-year history.
“Mercedes-Benz is going on the attack”, said Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, member of the Daimler Board of Management. “We are securing our path to the top by extensively investing in the expansion of our high-performance production network.”
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Yesterday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that a new tax is imposed on U.S.-made vehicles with a motor capacity of 2.5-liters and above, effective today, December 15.
The so-called “anti-dumping” duties imposed not just on U.S. carmakers, but all companies that manufacture cars in the United States, were imposed because the Chinese authorities felt that U.S. imports were “damaging the local car industry”.
Most analysts, on the other hand, agree that this is China’s response to the World Trade Organization rejecting its appeal on U.S. duties on imported tires three months earlier.
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The ongoing story that is the future of Saab looks set to have more episodes than The Young and the Restless – and the CBS TV soap opera has been running since 1973…
Guy Lofalk, the court-appointed administrator who oversaw the restructuring of Saab and last Tuesday proposed that the process be terminated, quit his post.
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Demand for its models may have dropped significantly in Northern European countries such as Spain and Greece due to the financial crisis, yet Porsche is still set to achieve its best-ever year in terms of sales.
From January until November, the Stuttgart-based carmaker has delivered 109,709 units of the 911, Boxster/Cayman, Cayenne and Panamera models, a 24.6 percent increase over the same period in 2010.
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It is sad news for the automotive world to learn of the demise of a company. Unfortunately, Monday December 19, will mark the end of the road for Swedish carmaker Saab – and this time it looks like it is final.
Earlier this morning, Swedish Automotive N.V. (Swan) announced that Saab Automobile, Saab Automobile Tools and Saab Powertrain filed for bankruptcy with the District Court in Vanersborg, Sweden.
This comes after Youngman, the Chinese company which last week promised to pay for the carmaker’s restructuring, informed Saab that it cannot provide the funding necessary for the continuation of the process.
Therefore, Swan concluded that, with GM vetoing any proposed plan until now, and without the essential funding, it would be insolvent. Thus, it was better for its creditors to file for bankruptcy.
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As expected, the District Court of Vanersborg accepted Saab’s request the same day, Monday December 19, and declared the Swedish carmaker bankrupt.
The company's CEO, Victor Muller, blamed General Motors for blocking every rescue attempt that involved the Chinese company Youngman Lotus Automobile, including its latest offer of a US$5 million funding to continue the restructuring process.
“That, basically, was the last nail in the coffin of this beautiful company”, said Muller only hours after requesting that Saab be declared bankrupt.
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The Chrysler Group's Mopar division is expanding its operations to support growth in international markets with the opening of two new parts distribution centers in Shanghai in China and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). .
Despite being the world’s biggest car market, China ranks third in the luxury segment, trailing both the U.S. and Germany. Analysts, however, predict that this is about to change soon; in fact, it could even happen at the end of 2011.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Jenny Gu, an analyst at research company LMC Automotive, estimated that the number of luxury cars sold in China in 2011 may reach 939,000 units, surpassing Germany’s estimate of 914,000 sales.
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