Spending On CO2 Mandates Hit Earnings. “We think BMW continues to do just great. BMW remains slap bang in the middle of its target 8-10 per cent margin range” BMW’s profits have taken a bit of a hit in the short-term because of the huge spend on research and development, but investors expect this to […]
Archive | Industry Analysis 2013
Another VW Recall Reminds Investors Of Scale Dangers
Grinding Down Costs With Increasing Volume Has A Darker Side. Just when investors had convinced themselves that Volkswagen’s new MQB investment was set to pay off big, the news broke that VW was recalling at least 2.6 million vehicles to fix electronic and gearbox flaws. The recall was for vehicles made before VW put into […]
Tesla Share Surge Hits Wall After Fires, Loss
Could Crashes Be Linked To Nature Of New Electric Car Buyers? Electrifying Model S Performance Might Spook A Prius Driver. The shine has gone off Tesla Motor’s shares as the company reported a loss in the third quarter, and news of a third fire in a Model S battery car hit the headlines. But there […]
Europe’s Economic Prospects Bode Ill For Strong Sales Rally
LMC Raises 2014 Sales Estimate, But Warns About Economic Fragility. Europe’s flagging car market may have hit bottom, but the latest economic data still suggest years of profit-less stagnation for troubled mass car manufacturers. The possibility that a rising tide of economic growth might rescue flailing loss-makers seems a distant hope. Latest statistics from the […]
Nissan’s Ghosn? He Once Demanded “Join Single Currency”
Now Ghosn Wants Us To Stay In The E.U., Or Else. “If you make inflammatory remarks about our E.U. future, demonstrators will show up at dealerships and sales will fall off a cliff” All you need to know about Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan-Renault, is that 10 years ago he was demanding that Britain join […]
BMW’s i3 Leads March To Foil Tightening CO2 Rules
Audi Next With Plug-In A3, Mercedes With A Battery Powered B Class. But Electrification Threatens Future Of Europe’s Luxury Car Makers. German luxury car manufacturer BMW’s new little i3 electric vehicle is likely to lose a substantial amount of money in the short term for the company, but the techniques involved in building the car […]
Mercedes Profits Boosted By Attractive New CLA, E Class
Investors See Similar Boost from New S Class, GLA, C-Class. But Shares Look Over-Valued Compared With BMW, VW. Mercedes plan to introduce flashy new models and produce them much more efficiently than it managed with the old worthy dullards is starting to pay off big. In the third quarter, Mercedes parent company Daimler reported profit […]
Ford Europe May Break-Even A Year Earlier Than Expected
“Europe losses have shrunk significantly excluding restructuring, raising the possibility of a near-breakeven result in 2014” Some investors are lauding Ford Europe’s latest results as a sign that the worst is over for the continent’s loss-making mass car manufacturers, and that it might beat projections and break-even by 2015. It’s true that the slump in […]
Renault Automotive May Slip Into The Red By Year’s End
Strong Third World Position Undermined By Currency Movements. Renault, alone among non-German European mass car makers to keep in the black, could be reporting red numbers for the year as the life-saving contribution from the third world Dacia brand is stifled by foreign exchange turmoil. Renault said its third quarter revenues fell 3.2 per cent […]
Tesla Aims To Sell 10,000 Cars A Year In Germany By 2015
How Will Model S Handle High-Speed Germany? Tesla Offers Special Autobahn Tune-up, But Doesn’t Offer Details. Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors of California has big plans to expand sales in Germany, and is adding super-charger points and more service centres. Tesla Motors is also offering a special tune-up so that its Model S cars can […]