GENEVA, Switzerland – Cadillac, GM’s luxury division, unveiled its new ATS small car at the car show today, and bragged that it could compete against the world’s best. “We are challenging stereotypes with the ATS which we think can compete against the best in Europe,” Susan Docherty, General Manager, Chevrolet Europe, told a press conference at […]
But VW Set To Weather Europe’s Economic Storm Detailed Numbers Scheduled For March 12 Volkswagen reported record earnings for 2011, in its preliminary report, and investors are confident the company is set fair for 2012. Despite the record year – net earnings jumped to €15.4 billion in 2011 from €6.8 billion the previous year – […]
Renault Said To Be Almost “German, But Not German Enough” Renault managed to stay in the black in 2011 and some investors were impressed with the way the company has organised its finances to weather coming economic storms. One investment bank said Renault’s performance was so good it was almost “German”. In 2011 Renault earnings […]
Asset Sales, Increase In Cost Cutting Show Lack Of Auto Confidence Peugeot-Citroen’s dalliance with GM Europe diverted attention from its poor results for 2011 and dire outlook for 2012. Peugeot-Citroen’s auto division lost about €497 million in the last half of 2011, while net debt nearly tripled to €3.38 billion. Peugeot-Citroen announced asset sales to […]
Share Sales And Bank Loan Total Nearly $3 billion “Mazda’s dating again: anybody wanna snuggle” Mazda’s financial woes have suddenly made it the centre of takeover talk. After Mazda announced it would make a net loss of $1.29 billion in the financial year ending March 31, that it planned a $2 billion offering of shares […]
Peugeot Link With Mazda, Maruti or Suzuki favoured At Least Talks Show Peugeot-Citroen Knows It Has A Problem GM Might Take Small Stake In Peugeot Almost as soon as news hit that Peugeot-Citroen and Opel Vauxhall might form some kind of an alliance, the nay-sayers broke cover saying it wasn’t a smart to link two […]
Talks Of Alliances And Cooperation Fudges The Issue Without Pain, There Will Be No Gain Whoever invented the idea that if you ignore a problem for long enough it will eventually go away, might have been thinking about the European auto business. As manufacturers gather for the Europe’s first big automotive gathering of the year, […]
A3 Debut In Geneva Has Wide Implications For VW British politicians talk about the “squeezed middle” to the confusion of many, but it’s very clear what it means at this year’s Geneva Car Show; traditional mass car manufacturers are being attacked from above by premium cars getting smaller, more affordable and fuel efficient, and from […]
Can Koreans Really Prosper While Others Flounder? While European mass car makers batten down the hatches and prepare for an uphill struggle in 2012, Kia of Korea expects E.U. sales to zoom 23 per cent higher. In 2011, Kia sales rose in Europe by 11.8 per cent to 294,000, according to ACEA. This year Kia […]
IHS says Chevrolet could replace Vauxhall’s and Opels GM Europe might have to shut two plants or dump the Vauxhall and Opel brands and replace them with Chevrolet, according to published reports. The Wall Street Journal Europe reported that because of big losses, GM Europe might consider closing factories in Bochum, Germany, where it employs […]
