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TRUCKS STILL RULE SALES
FORD ANNOUNCES HYBRID-ELECTRIC ESCAPE
FIAT
STILL COVETS DAEWOO, WON’T COMMENT ON VOLVO
ROVER SOON
TO BE IN TUG-OF-WAR
VW BUYS SCANIA STAKE
IT’S ALL ABOUT MONEY—RENAULT, SAMSUNG
FORD HOPES JOINT VENTURES WILL BOOST EUROPEAN BUSINESS
TOYOTA TO BUILD RX300 IN CANADA
SEBRING’S CHIPS FLY
ENERGY DEPARTMENT
LOWERS ITS SUMMER FUEL FORECAST
U.S. HIGHWAY DEATH TOLL
DROPS
GM TO BUILD NEW FACTORY
GM EXEC MOVES TO LOCKHEED
TRUCKS STILL RULE SALES As sales
figures for March roll in, light trucks and SUVs are still the fastest movers
off dealer’s lots and are providing overall sales boosts to many automakers. The
biggest of the major automakers, General Motors, saw a 16.2 percent increase in
light trucks, amounting to an increase in total overall sales of 1.1 percent.
Number two automaker, Ford, saw a five percent increase in truck sales and a
19.5 percent jump in car sales, including Jaguar and Volvo. DaimlerChrysler saw
a modest 1.2 percent increase in trucks, while logging a 4.3 percent rise for
its American-branded cars. Other U.S. sales of note include Toyota, up 16
percent; Honda, up 20.3 percent; Nissan, up 23.4 percent; Mitsubishi, up 25.4
percent and Volkswagen, up 19.6 percent. The two biggest gainers were Audi and
Hyundai with 54.4 percent and 83.8 percent increases respectively. The
following are the Top 20 selling vehicles in the U.S. for 2000 thus far and the
sales units for each vehicle, as compiled from wire reports.
FORD ANNOUNCES HYBRID-ELECTRIC ESCAPE Ford
announced it plans to build a hybrid-electric powered Escape to debut in 2003.
The vehicle, expected to be the most fuel efficient SUV available when
introduced, will be able to travel over 500 miles on a tank of gasoline and gets
about 40 miles per gallon during city driving. With an electric drivetrain as
well as a four-cylinder gasoline engine, Ford expects the Escape HEV to offer
similar performance to the gasoline-only V-6 version. Separately, the Wall
Street Journal reported that Toyota and General Motors, who are jointly
developing an electric-gasoline hybrid, may build a factory in North America to
produce the vehicle. FIAT STILL COVETS DAEWOO, WON’T COMMENT ON VOLVO After a
news report that Fiat had dropped out of the running for Daewoo, official word
from Fiat came that the Italian automaker was still very interested in the
Korean company. Although the company wouldn’t comment on its interest in AB
Volvo, analysts said a takeover looked promising. Separately, industry experts
say the Swedish truckmaker is once again in talks with Renault since the
European Union had vetoed the proposed merger between Volvo and Scania. ROVER SOON TO BE IN TUG-OF-WAR U.K. newspaper the
Guardian reported that another bidder has received financial backing from
the British government and will soon be making a bid to purchase BMW’s Rover
unit. The group is said to be led by John Towers, a former exec at Rover, as
well as several wealthy Rover dealers and a trade union group. It has reportedly
been talking with current Rover head Werner Saemann for the last several days
and could present a formal proposal as early as today. BMW agreed to sell the
Rover car unit to venture capital firm Alchemy Partners last month. VW BUYS SCANIA STAKE Volkswagen’s supervisory board
approved an 18.7 percent stake in Scania for $1.6 billion in a meeting on
Sunday. The stake, equal to 34 percent of the votes, will be purchased from
Investor AB. First announced last week, the deal will allow the largest car
manufacturer in Europe to gain a presence in the heavy truck market. IT’S ALL ABOUT MONEY—RENAULT, SAMSUNG Money, or more
specifically the lack of it, appears to be at the heart of the talks between
Renault and Samsung. Unnamed sources told Reuters that Samsung had issues with
"hidden debt" and that Renault had made a new offer that is closer to Samsung’s
requirements, but doesn’t include any of the company’s $4 billion debt. The two
parties, who had earlier set a three-month deadline that ended March 31, have
agreed to extend their exclusive negotiations until April 21. FORD HOPES JOINT VENTURES WILL BOOST EUROPEAN BUSINESS
As earnings in Ford’s European business unit continue to slide, the
automaker is considering shifting some of its European business to joint
projects without manufacturers. Ford Europe Chairman Nick Scheele told the
Wall Street Journal that transmissions were one area where producing the
items for Ford as well as others would be relatively easy and generate increased
earnings. Ford is also contemplating building Mazdas, which it owns a
controlling stake in, at its European factories according to David Thursfield,
Ford Europe’s President. TOYOTA TO BUILD RX300 IN CANADA Toyota announced that
it will expand its Cambridge, Ontario factory in order to build the Lexus RX300
there. By the year 2003, Toyota expects production at this plant to consist of
60,000 RX300s and 160,000 Corollas. The Solara, which is currently produced in
Cambridge, will be moved to Georgetown, Kentucky. The decision to expand is part
of Toyota’s efforts to expand their share of the SUV market in North
America. SEBRING’S CHIPS FLY The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating why the decorative plastic panels
on the lower part of the Chrysler Sebring’s doors are coming loose or falling
off. Automotive News reported that NHTSA sees a potential safety issue if
drivers following behind these vehicles swerve to avoid a falling panel and have
a collision. Only the Chrysler Sebring coupes, not convertibles, are
affected. ENERGY DEPARTMENT LOWERS ITS SUMMER FUEL FORECAST Now
that the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) increased its oil
production, the U.S. Department of Energy dropped its forecast on summer prices
at the pump. The agency said prices should be at an average of $1.46 per gallon
this summer, with a steady decline beginning in May. It projected that the
average U.S. price after Labor Day would be $1.39 per gallon. The projected
summer price is still 25 percent higher than last year.
U.S. HIGHWAY DEATH TOLL DROPS Although the number of
drivers on U.S. roads has increased, the amount of Americans dying on the
highways has decreased. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater said that there
were 1.5 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles driven in 1999, a drop from
1.6 in 1998. This is a record low and a dramatic drop over the last two decades,
with 5.5 per 100 million vehicle miles in 1966.
GM TO BUILD NEW FACTORY General Motors has begun
the process to replace its aging factory in Lansing, Michigan, according to the
Wall Street Journal. The proposed facility, which has not yet been
approved by GM’s board, will be where the next generation of mid-size GM cars
are built, which are currently code-named Epsilon, said WSJ citing
unnamed sources. A GM spokesperson said it was possible construction on the new
plant could begin as early as this summer.
GM EXEC MOVES TO LOCKHEED Louis Hughes, executive VP
for new business strategies at General Motors, will move to Lockheed Martin as
its new president and COO. Hughes, 51, began his career at GM in 1966, holding a
multitude of positions including as exec VP of GM and head of its international
operations before the company reorganized in 1998. Hughes will begin his new
position on April 27.
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