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Tag: automaker

  • Ford to scrap $1.6 billion plant in Mexico as Trump targets General Motors

    Ford to scrap $1.6 billion plant in Mexico as Trump targets General Motors

    Ford has said it will cancel plans for a new plant in Mexico and instead expand a facility in the US. Hours earlier, President-elect Donald Trump threatened General Motors with a tax for importing cars from Mexico.Ford Motor Company said Tuesday it is canceling plans for a new $1.6 billion (1.54 billion euro) plant in Mexico, but said the production of its small Focus models would still take place in Mexico.

    Instead of the new plant in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, the second-biggest US automaker said it would invest $700 million to expand an existing facility in the US state of Michigan to make electric, hybrid and self-driving vehicles. The investment, the company said, would create 700 jobs in the US.

    Mexico’s Economy Ministry said it regretted Ford’s decision in a statement, but said it obtained assurances that the automaker would pay the state of San Luis Potosi for any costs associated with the scrapped investment.

    Ford’s chief executive Mark Fields said market forces had swayed Ford’s decision to not build the San Luis Potosi plant, with low gas prices and low interest rates hampering small car sales.

    Fields also noted President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to make the US more competitive by lowering taxes and easing regulations.

    “We believe these tax and regulatory reforms are necessary to boost US competitiveness,” Fields said, speaking in Flat Rock, Michigan, where the assembly plant is located.

    During his presidential campaign, Trump said that if elected, he would not allow Ford to open its plant in Mexico and threatened to add tariffs to any vehicles Ford imported from the US’ southern neighbor.

    Trump targets GM

    The announcement came hours after the president-elect criticized General Motors (GM), the largest US automaker, over the company’s imports from Mexico.

    In a tweet, Trump said the Cruze model small cars GM makes in Mexico and imports to US dealers could face “a big border tax!”

    GM responded to the tweet with a statement emphasizing that the majority of Cruze cars sold in the US are made at a plant in Ohio, while just a small percentage are imported from a plant in Mexico.

    “All Chevrolet Cruze sedans sold in the US are built in GM’s assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio,” the car giant said.

    “GM builds the Chevrolet Cruze hatchback for global markets in Mexico, with a small number sold in the US.”

    Mexico’s free trade deals with several countries and its proximity to the US market have made the country a top destination for international automakers, who also take advantage of comparatively low labor costs.

    rs/cmk (AP, AFP, dpa)

  • Nissan to face charges over emissions?

    Nissan to face charges over emissions?

    South Korea has said it wants Japanese carmaker Nissan to face criminal charges for allegedly falsifying emissions data on a popular sports utility vehicle. The automaker itself insisted the accusations were unfounded.
    The South Korean government on Tuesday called for Japanese car producer Nissan to face criminal charges, saying it had rigged emissions data.

    The Environment Ministry in Seoul called on state prosecutors to probe the Japanese carmaker, adding tests had shown an emission defeat system on the Qashqai model that made it appear to be less polluting than it really was.

    Last month, Japan’s No. 2 automaker was already hit with a $280,000 (246,300 euro) fine, with Seoul insisting on recalling affected vehicles.

    VW knock-on effect

    “Dealers are working closely and transparently with the Korean government concerning real-world NOx emissions of the Qashqai,” Nissan said in a statement.

    But it hastened to add that it had always “complied with all existing regulations and did not use an ‘unjustified arbitrary setup’ or an illegal defeat device in the vehicle.”

    South Korea’s push for criminal charges came after an investigation into 20 diesel-powered cars that was launched after German carmaker Volkswagen had admitted having installed devices aimed at cheating emissions tests in 11 million vehicles globally.

    hg/cjc (AFP, Lusa)

  • Mercedes sales jump 13 percent

    Mercedes sales jump 13 percent

    The popular German automaker said it sold 170,625 vehicles in May, more than it moved one month ago. With the rise, Mercedes has kept up a momentum that has been building since the beginning of the year.
    Mercedes said on Monday that it had sold 12.9 percent more vehicles in May than in April, further growing sales volumes that have been doing well since the start of 2016.

    The rise was due to strong demand for SUVs and a revamped luxury model known as the E-Class. Sales did best in China, the largest market for Mercedes’ parent company, Daimler. There, sales have increased by more than a third within five months, the company said.

    But Mercedes was also able to move more vehicles due to high demand in Great Britain, Italy and Spain, where sales increased by around 14 percent.

    Since the beginning of the year, Mercedes has sold close to 818,000 new cars, according to the company, representing a jump of 12.3 percent compared to the same period last year.

    cjc/kd (Reuters, dpa)

  • Toyota profits surge on weak yen

    Toyota profits surge on weak yen

    The world’s top automaker was able to log higher net profits in the first half of its fiscal year even as car sales declined in most regions. A weak yen has made Toyota more competitive abroad.
    Toyota said Thursday its net profit had risen nearly 12 percent to 1.258 trillion yen (9.47 billion euros) in the fiscal first half through September, buoyed by a weaker yen.

    At 4.97 million units, the Japanese car maker sold slightly fewer cars globally from a year ago. It also trimmed its full-year sales target. Sales in Japan and Southeast Asia in particular have been declining for several months.

    North America stood out as the one key region where demand for Toyota vehicles was strong. Rivals Honda and Nissan also said sales on the continent helped offset a sluggish Japanese market, where consumer spending is still reeling from a sales tax rise last year.

    Japanese automakers have benefited from healthy growth in the US market that has resulted from low interest rates, although the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise rates, possibly in December, could dent consumers’ appetite for new cars.

    Meanwhile, the weaker yen has made Toyota and its Japanese competitors more competitive overseas and inflated the value of repatriated overseas profits.

    “The steady performance in North America is offsetting stagnant sales in emerging economies in Asia, especially Indonesia and Thailand,” said Yasuo Imanaka, analyst at Rakuten Securities.

    In Thailand, the automaker’s sales declined 7 per cent in the second quarter, while in Indonesia sales plummeted 26 percent in the same period.

    Japanese car makers taking advantage of VW crisis?

    Toyota is locked in a neck-and-neck race with crisis-hit Volkswagen to again claim title of world’s biggest automaker – a crown it has held for several years.

    The Japanese firm took a slight lead in the first nine months of 2015, as its German rival battles a huge emissions cheating scandal.

    “Volkswagen is in a serious situation – Japanese automakers can take advantage of the slump by trying to win VW customers,” Imanaka said.

    Toyota has been focusing on squeezing out productivity gains and better using existing plants – it put on hold building new factories for several years. The company began operating a new Thai plant in 2013, but then halted investment as the global car market struggled with oversupply and weak demand.

    In April, the company announced it was ending the construction freeze on new plants as it unveiled plans for a $1 billion (915 billion euro) plant in Mexico, while it is overhauling its operations in China.

    The company is also overhauling its production methods, vowing to slash development costs to try to offset any downturn in the market.

    tko/cjc (AFP, dpa)

  • Daimler raises money to keep refugees warm

    Daimler raises money to keep refugees warm

    German automaker Daimler has donated more than 600,000 euros ($667,000) to help the German Red Cross find suitable housing for the hundreds of thousands of refugees who have poured into the country before winter sets in.
    The company said Friday that employees across Germany had chipped in 300,666 euros during a month-long donation drive and that it would match that sum euro-for-euro, doubling it.

    The money would go toward the construction of new dormitories for incoming refugees, of which Germany expects around 800,000 to arrive by the end of the year.

    Germany is scramblind to find an alternative to the thin-walled tents that are currently housing some 42,000 refugees across the country, according to estimates by German daily Die Welt.

    Municipal governments have been frantically requisitioning halls and sports gyms and filling them with bunks to protect migrants from the cold.

    “With this money, we’ll be able to help people quickly and directly,” Dr. Rudolf Seiters, president of the German Red Cross, was quoted as saying in a press release from Daimler.

    The automaker lauded what it called the “exemplary generosity” of its employees and trumpeted a number of its own programs aimed at helping asylum seekers get vocational training and find work.

    Next month for instance, Daimler is planning to begin a traineeship program for 40 refugees who will work at its Mercedes Benz plant in Stuttgart, Germany.

  • Toyota recalls 6.5 million vehicles worldwide over power window glitch

    Toyota recalls 6.5 million vehicles worldwide over power window glitch

    Japan’s automaker has announced another mass recall, in a move that could further damage the company’s image. Toyota had already recalled millions of vehicles over an airbag defect.
    Toyota, the world’s largest car company, announced on Wednesday it was recalling 6.5 millions vehicles around the world after discovering a problem with the power windows.

    Around 2.7 million vehicles in North America and 1.2 million vehicles in Europe are impacted by the problem, a defect with the master’s side power switch that presents a fire risk. Among the recalled models are the Yaris, Corolla, Camry and RAV4 made between 2005 and 2010, the AFP news agency reported.

    The most recent recall is just one in a string of bumps in the road the auto giant has faced over the past year. Despite record profits in the fiscal year 2014/2015, Toyota has also been forced to issue a series of mass recalls over the past several months, raising questions about the quality of its products.

    Earlier this year, the company recalled around 10 million vehicles after several deaths caused by defective airbags produced by the company Takata, the largest auto recall in US history.

    In July, Toyota also recalled 625,000 cars over a software glitch that caused its Prius V models to come to a sudden stop.

    The company said it has not received reports of any deaths or injuries related to the power-window defect so far.

    blc/rg (AFP, Reuters, dpa)

  • Germany orders mass recall of VW cars

    Germany orders mass recall of VW cars

    Germany’s transport authority will order Volkswagen to recall 2.4 million diesel vehicles that have been outfitted with software designed to cheat on emissions tests. The recalls will be mandatory.
    German regulator KBA, the country’s automotive watchdog, said Thursday it would not sign off on a plan by Europe’s largest automaker to remove deceptive software from affected cars on a voluntary basis.

    “We are ordering the recall,” a KBA spokesman said.

    In early October, VW had submitted its suggestions for rectifying the company’s worst-ever scandal. The automaker has made a number of other strategic decisions as well, including slashing its annual investment budget by 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion).

    cjc/sms (Reuters, dpa)

  • VW CEO Winterkorn likely to stay until end of 2018

    VW CEO Winterkorn likely to stay until end of 2018

    Directors at Germany’s Volkswagen have thrown their weight behind extending the contract of CEO Martin Winterkorn. They said he should not leave the post before the end of 2018, hoping for more successful years.
    German carmaker Volkswagen said Wednesday that key members of its supervisory board hoped to extend the contract of CEO Martin Winterkorn until the end of 2018.

    The six-member steering committee voted anonymously in favor of offering a new contract until December 31, 2018, the group said in a statement. The proposal looks set to be approved by the full board during a meeting scheduled for September 25.

    “We will continue along the road of success of the past years with Martin Winterkorn at the head,” Supervisory Board Chairman Berthold Huber said.

    Big challenges ahead

    Winterkorn has been at the helm of the company since 2007, and earlier this year emerged as winner in a headline-making leadership battle with VW patriarch Ferdinand Piech over the carmaker’s difficulties in making substantial inroads into the US market and the waning attractiveness of the group’s core VW brand.

    Volkswagen also faces slackening demand in China, a key source of profits. In addition, it’s been buffeted by headwinds in economically troubled Brazil and China.

    Nonetheless, the company is profitable and recently achieved its goal of blowing past Toyota to become the world’s largest automaker in terms of sales.

    VW is currently implementing a new modular assembly technique that will enable it to cut costs and implement more flexible manufacturing.

    hg/sgb (dpa, AP, AFP)