Industry

Exchange rates against the American dollar have been rising sharply for the last five years and are now starting to seriously affect automotive imports. Volkswagen has usually sold its vehicles in the US for less than they were available even in European countries, but the recent rise of the Euro...

In what appears to be more of a demotion rather than an advancement, the chief designer at Ford of Europe, Phil Simmons, will head over to Land Rover as the SUV company's first-ever studio director responsible specifically for the iconic Range Rover. Simmons joins the Land Rover design team on the...

Audi has sold just over a half a million cars in the first half of the year, a 9.8% increase over last year and a new record for the luxury brand. Having sold approximately 509,000 units this year, Audi could even reach its 2008 target of selling a million vehicles twelve months early, avowed Audi...

Update: Mercedes has denied they have had talks with BMW but say there is still hope for such a deal. BMW is currently in negotiations with Mercedes-Benz over a possible deal to build a new subcompact car based on the same platform used for BMW’s Mini. The two carmakers are expected to make a...

China’s Brilliance Auto has announced that it’s targeting a sharp increase in revenues by expanding its production and possibly launching in the US. The goal is to double turnover by 2010 to roughly 80 billion yuan per annum, which would mean sales levels would have to leap to 500,000...

The owners of MG and Rover, the Nanjing and Shanghai auto corporations, are reported to be in talks over a possible deal to create a new MG-Rover group based in China. The deal is said to be backed by the Chinese government, which is hoping to increase the number of export vehicles. Shanghai Auto...

Chrysler has been negotiating with China’s Chery Auto for more than a year over a deal to source Chinese built vehicles for sale in the US. The deal was close to being pulled earlier this year when DaimlerChrysler announced that it was spinning off the American division but latest reports...

A wealthy Swedish family is rumored to be the latest bidder interested in buying a carmaker from Ford’s Premier Auto Group (PAG). After previously being considered for purchase by BMW, Volvo is once again tipped to be on sale, this time to the Wallenberg family. The Swedish family has control...

Sales of new cars, trucks and buses in Japan have dropped another 9.4% in June, the 14th straight month of decline. Industry giant Nissan saw its 21st month of declining sales and Subaru, which fared the worst, saw its sales drop for the 23rd month in a row. Even global powerhouse Toyota saw a...

The maker of some of our favorite performance wheels, BBS, has been sold to Belgian holding company Punch International. Though full details of the acquisition are yet to be finalized, some employees will be losing their jobs in an effort to turnaround the rim manufacturer’s poor financial...

Honda has topped this year’s J.D. Power and Associates' APEAL study, taking out the most best-in-segment awards of any carmaker. The yearly Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study rates consumer opinion on car design, content, layout and performance and ranks cars based on...

European Council members met yesterday at a meeting in Luxembourg and have voted unanimously in favor of cutting fleet average carbon-dioxide emission levels for cars sold in Europe to 120g/km by 2012. "This sends a clear message to the car industry that current efforts to reduce emissions must...

Volvo won’t be dropped from Ford’s Premier Auto Group (PAG) despite reports that other carmakers included BMW were interested in its acquisition. The same can’t be said for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, which are likely to be sold off in an effort to raise funds for...

European politicians will be debating whether or not to ban high-powered sports cars from Europe as part of a goal to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. Members of the EU will meet in Brussels on Tuesday to decide the fate of performance cars in the region, however, Germany won’t be affected by...

Skoda has set a goal of increasing its sales by 50% by the end of the decade, with the focus now set on expanding its foreign operations into emerging markets such as India and China. Production numbers for this year stand at 580,000 cars but is expected to be lifted to around 616,000 units...

In the latest twist of the imminent Jaguar and Land Rover sale, Ford has hired accounting firm KPMG to examine the financials of the two premium British carmakers. The move is necessary to prepare the reports in a format suitable for would-be buyers, reports the Sunday Times. "KPMG's main task will...

In a move that’s sure to upset shareholders, Saab has reduced its annual sales targets and is aiming at just breaking even this year. The news comes from parent company General Motors’ European boss Carl-Peter Forster, who spoke with reporters from Automotive News. "There is a natural...

The US Senate has approved a bill that calls for all new cars and trucks to meet a corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) rating of 35mpg by 2020, up 40% from the CAFE levels of today’s fleets. The bill will now proceed to the House of Reps, which is expected to vote along the same lines. The...

Light-weight alloy wheels may one day be replaced by even lighter plastic wheels or advanced composite versions. A new testing system has been developed that will allow manufacturers to simulate tests for the wheels in the hope that they’ll one day feature on production cars. The benefits of...

AB Volvo is the second largest truck manufacturer in the world and is the former of owner of Volvo cars before selling it to Ford back in 1999. According to Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri, the truck company may join Renault in a potential buy-out of Volvo from Ford’s Premier Auto Group...