Industry

The Chrysler Group has revealed its three-year Recovery and Transformation Plan that it will use to return to profitability and to create new business models. Importantly, Chrysler expects to be profitable again as early as next year despite the company losing $1.4 billion dollars for the third...

Audi has appointed the former head of design at Alfa Romeo as its new design chief. Wolfgang Egger takes over from Walter de’Silva, who was promoted to Head of Design at the Volkswagen Group on the first of this month. de'Silva has been one of the most successful designers in recent times and...

BMW has bought the John Cooper Works (JCW) label from the from the Cooper family, the maker of tuning kits and accessories for the Mini line of cars. Autoweek is reporting that the move will allow BMW to release its own Cooper branded performance parts to be sold on future Minis. Mike Cooper, who...

Toyota is weary of the image it’s presenting by being so successful, and is now preparing itself for a possible political and consumer backlash caused by its rapid growth in the US. Until now, executives have dismissed predictions that Toyota would surpass General Motors and take the number...

Volkswagen Group’s new boss has made the bold claim that he wants the brand to become better than Toyota in the profit stakes. CEO Martin Winterkorn made the statement during an interview with German newspaper Süddeutschen Zeitung, where he also mentioned that there’ll be no more job...

Carmakers and industry analysts are predicting that it’ll be decades before we’ll see a significant drop in global automotive fuel consumption. Despite the introduction of highly efficient diesel and electric-hybrid technology, the AFP is reporting that consumers are not adopting them...

Renault’s chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, has said that the next-generation Logan will be sold for less than $5000 in emerging markets around the world. Renault will be competing with the likes of Toyota, Tata, and Hyundai, all of which have stated their intentions to enter the ultra-low cost...

A recent drop in world oil prices has made motorists in the US less concerned about buying ultra fuel-efficient vehicles. So much so that carmakers have started to offer incentives on some electric-hybrid models, including Toyota’s own Prius, for the first time. Some of the deals are similar...

Top engine designer Al Melling has placed a bid for sports carmaker TVR's trademark, with an estimated £10 million on offer. Melling is the man behind the original AJP engine that was used for a number of TVR models over the past decade. He most recently made headlines with the introduction of the...

We reported earlier that China’s Nanjing Automobile Group was restarting production of the born-again TF roadster at MG’s original plant in Longbridge, England. The first pre-production models have come off the line but union officials in the UK aren’t happy because only 250...

Average vehicle weights across the industry have increased significantly over the past twenty years, increasing the burden of tires and brakes and of course reducing fuel economy. Automotive News reports that Nissan wants its suppliers to reduce the weight of the next generation of components...

Changes to Japan’s antitrust laws has leaves the path open for industry giant Toyota to take over Fuji Heavy Industries, the parent company of Subaru. Toyota has owned an 8.7% stake of Fuji Heavy since October 2005 but according to analysts, the company always wanted a controlling stake but...

Volkswagen group’s new CEO Martin Winterkorn is instilling a new strategy that will see the VW brand shift away from being a volume seller towards becoming a more up-market niche manufacturer. Automotive News reports the new positioning of the company, combined with delays from the redesign...

The proposed carbon-dioxide emissions target put forward by the European Commission has been criticized by Germany’s three largest automakers including BMW, DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen. The CEO’s of all three companies say the target to reduce average carbon dioxide emissions to...

Ford has fallen out of the US big three automakers group, being beaten in the sales race by General Motors, Toyota and DaimlerChrysler for the first time in the company’s history. The Blue Oval managed to retain 15.2% of the US market for January, with GM taking 22.4%, Toyota on 16.1% and...

China’s Chery Auto is already reported to be in a deal with DaimlerChrysler to build a new small car for export under the Dodge brand, as well as a previous deal with Italy’s Fiat to supply a range of engines, but now the company is reported to be at the negotiating table once again...

The US is by far the largest car market in the world, meaning it’s the one place carmakers around the globe are constantly vying for. From Mazda to Maserati, BMW to Bugatti, the US is the number one place to be for car manufacturers, so it’s interesting to see which models actually came...

DaimlerChrysler’s troubled smart subsidiary may make a profit this year according to Ulrich Walker, boss of the brand. Speaking to the press at the launch of the recently revealed smart Fortwo, Walker said that the new model would enable the company to enter new and emerging markets such as...

The bidding process for the sale of Aston Martin is set to close within hours, with final offers for the luxury marque due by the end of today UK time. The auction is being handled by investment bank UBS on behalf of Ford. The remaining bidders include a well-financed consortium led by Australia's...

Despite running at a loss for the past three years in a row, totaling some $1.15 billion, Ford CFO Don Leclair is confident the company’s Premier Automotive Group will return to profit in 2007 telling Automotive News “we expect PAG to be profitable this year.” The key is to offset...