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Toyota eyes India
Toyota is forging a joint venture with DaFa, a Chinese auto manufacturer, to set up a plant in the southern Indian city of Bangalore. The $1 billion investment will bare fruit in 2007 when it begins production on the compact Passo at a pace of 100,000 units/year.
Having overtaken Ford as the world's #2 car company, Toyota now has only GM in its way towards global domination and establishing market share in developing countries is a key strategy. India is the next untapped mega-market after China and it is estimated India's auto market will double by 2010, reaching annual sales of 2 million units.
Toyota already has a joint venture with India's Kirloska Group to produce cars and sold a record high 48,000 units in 2004 -- but its initial investment can no longer satisfy the growing demand, hence, the new JV with DaFa. Interestingly, Suzuki, who entered India in the early 90's, commands over 50% of the market.
see:
ChinaCars
Mean Bug
Subaru launched a sporty version of its ultra-compact R1 in Japan -- R1 i.
Unlike the R1, which is marketed as this cute and lovable ladybug (no joke, just check out the
website); the R1 i is a rather mean-looking bug. Backing up the aggressive exterior enhancements is a 600cc (c'mon, try not to laugh) 4 cylinder SOHC engine rather than the standard issue DOHC. It also gets 14"(dammmmmmm) alloy rims...ok, ok, who are we kidding? nobody's gonna be intimated by this bug -- and that's probably why Subaru has no plans of bringing it to the States.
Sadly, this is actually best looking Subaru since they started wearing the goofy new corporate face.
see:
Subaru R1 i (japan)
Swedes like Cheap Chinese...
Cars, that is.
According to a market research released by a Swedish automotive consulting firm, most domestic Swedish car dealerships are interested in importing Chinese compact cars that cost less than 50,000 krona ($6,400 U.S.) -- with 64% of the dealers already having begun importing plans.
Currently, many Chinese cars do not meet Europe's safety and emission standards, but experts believe that shouldn't be a problem given the number of joint venture manufacturing plants in China with the world's top car companies.
Source:
ChinaCars
It's Official...
Today, Acura announced that 2005 will be the last production year of the current NSX. The replacement is widely believed to be based on the HSC concept debuted in 2004.
As Japan's first supercar, the NSX was Honda's technological and performance showcase when it hit the showroom floors 15 years ago. It's a hand-built mid-engine sports car in the purest sense, with an all-aluminum body and a transversely mounted DOHC VTEC V6 engine. It's so good that MotorTrend held it as the "the best sports car ever built" at one point. But as time went on, the aged design lost its luster as its competitors stole the spotlight with more attractive, modern offerings -- a whopping 235 units sold last year tells the story bluntly.
If the HSC concept is a good indication of what's on the way (which, it appears to be), then the new NSX will be every bit as good, if not better. It features a striking and emotional exterior that will be made out of aluminum and carbon fiber; power comes from a mid-mounted V6 producing 300+ hp; and of course, a steering wheel mounted F1 style paddle shift.
Time to start working on the "oh, my old NSX is in the shop...thought I'd take the new one for a spin" routine...
see:
Acura NSX to Retire, Replacement in Development [MotorTrend]
Just as good as E-Class?
This fall, Brilliance Auto, a Chinese auto manufacturer who's been building cars in a joint venture with BMW, will be sending the first shipment of 2000 Zhonghua's (pictured above) to Germany.
The word "Zhonghua" simply means China and is a word often used to conjure up a sense of national pride -- and that is exactly the aim of this car. Designed by Italian legend Giugiaro, and with engineering help from Porsche, Zhonghua represents China's finest effort in building a quality car.
The E-class caliber sedan got a positive reception at the automobile trade fair in Leipzig earlier this year as it fulfills European needs at a much lower price of a mere 20,000 euros without sacrificing luxury and comfort features. Having seen the Zhonghua in person during my last trip to China, I must say I'm quite impressed with the design but not as impressed with the interior material used -- but then again, for less than $24,000, it's a more compelling offering than the American alternatives...well, before you throw in the everybody-gets-it employee discount, at least.
see:
Chinese Cars To Hit European Market
Lexus Price Hike
You know that old saying "you get what you pay for"? Lexus is making sure the prices its customers are paying matches up to their unparalleled quality (see
Lexus' Eleven) by announcing price increases for their 2006 models:
- LS430 is going up $300 to $57,175
- GS models are getting $250 price increases -- GS300 FWD now $43,800; GS300 AWD now $45,750; and GS430 to $52,050.
Prices are effective as of 8/1.
So if you are in the market for a new Lexus, get yours now to save yourself a couple hundred bucks...not that the Lexus owners will really blink an eye at this chump change anyway.
Lexus' Eleven
For the
11th straight year, Lexus is #1 in long-term quality in J.D. Power and Associates' Vehicle Dependability Study. The study is based on surveys conducted with owners of '02 model year cars and scored based on number of problems per 100 vehicles.
Some interesting stats:
- Lexus scored 139 -- 14% improvement from last year
- Lexus LS 430 scored 90 -- the 1st time EVER a model had less than one problem/vehicle
- Porsche showed a 38% year-over-year improvement, moving up from 10th to 2nd place
- Kia finished last with 397 while Land Rover a close-to-bottom 395
GM Design Europe
On June 24th, GM announced its plans of opening a new European Design Center in Rüsselsheim, Germany in January 2006. The state-of-the-art Rüsselsheim design center will be the 12th design center that GM's Global Design operates around the world.
One day earlier on the other side of the Pacific, GM's CEO Rick Wagoner confirmed at a news conference in Shanghai, that the auto maker's plans to invest $250MM in a design center with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC).
By announcing 2 major design initiatives in 2 days, GM is trying to demonstrate their commitment to design and product as the key to their turn-around (it worked for Nissan), rather than incentives (although the "Employee Discount for Everyone" is working so well that they are considering to extend it)
... if nothing else, having really cool design centers might help attract some design talent.
Related:
The rise of Shanghai [internal]
Honda gets stars
Remember back in the 4th grade, when you had done something extraordinarily good like helping the teacher find her glasses, you'd get a bright shiny gold star next to your name on the wall and you'd have a grin on your face that lasted for weeks during which you'd check the wall every morning to make sure that nobody stole your star... ok, maybe it was just me.
Today, American Honda Motor Co. showed its intention to be the best of best kids in the auto industry by voluntarily putting the government crash test ratings (see the stars in the photo) on all of their 2006 cars' window stickers. This makes Honda the first company to display the star ratings awarded under the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's (NHTSA), New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) for frontal, side and rollover crash safety test ratings.
OK, OK, Honda you can get a gold star for doing this....sheeesh
Source:
Honda News
