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Tata Motors Ltd has been known for its’ low end cars. That’s what made the company the sales volume leader in India. But the company is hoping to change that with its’ acquisition of the Land Rover and Jaguar lines from Ford Motor. Ford Motor sold the famous luxury brands to Tata Motors in February for a cool $2.3 billion.
The North American auto market, which is the world’s largest, is under a lot of pressure these days. Consumers are paying $4.00 per gallon for gas, and are not feeling optimistic about their economic security. This is never the type of climate where auto makers do well, so it should come as no surprise that Toyota is expecting lower sales.
Katsuaki Watanabe, Toyota’s president, told the Financial Times newspaper that he was “not sure” that increased sales of smaller cars, such as its Yaris and Corolla models and the Prius hybrid, would make up for the decline in sales of sports utility vehicles and pick-up trucks.
“As of now we haven’t changed our original annual plan yet, but we may have to scale back,” Watanabe told FT, adding that Toyota would revisit its U.S. forecast at a midyear business review later this month.
Toyota sales in the U.S. are already down 3.3% for the year. Still, the company has done better than the auto industry at large, which experience an 8.9% decline during the same period.
Tough times in the U.S. auto market have affected all major manufactures in 2008.
Honda is aiming at Japanese consumers who love their dogs with a new website called Honda Dog.”
There’s definitely a need there that wasn’t being met,” said Teruhiro Murai, an Internet marketer at Honda who came up with the idea seven years ago to fulfill his own needs as the owner of a golden retriever and miniature dachshund.
Honda may be on to something.
Thanks to a recent pet boom and a declining birthrate, Japanese now have more dogs and cats than they do children under 15. Detecting a trend, Honda came up with the W.O.W. concept car at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show designed especially for dogs: detachable, easy-to-clean seats, wooden floors and a netted, built-in pup-crate in the dashboard.
The website teaches consumers how Honda products are canine-friendly, all the while subtly marketing to them.
It’s a sign of the times. GM is probably going to cut production on SUVs and Trucks as Americans balk at paying $4.00 per gallon for gasoline.
“We probably need to trim back some truck and SUV capacity,” Mark LaNeve said. “We need to add on the cars and crossovers and we need to continue to fine-tune our overall truck output.”
GM and Ford have been reluctant to cut production of Trucks, largely because the vehicles are such a huge profit center for the companies. Ford and GM both make more profit on a truck or SUV than a car.
But now they don’t have much choice.
General Motors has lost a staggering $54 billion since 2004.
Hyundai has announced pricing for their new Genesis model, which will be the first luxury car the company has sold in the United States. The United States is the world’s largest luxury car market, and Hyundai will face stiff competition. The company has set the base price for the Genesis at $33,000.
The U.S. market for luxury cars is currently in decline, but Hyundai expects the pricing of the Genesis might help move units. For $5,000 more the car can be upgraded to a V-8 engine.
Look for the cars to be sold at Hyundai dealerships starting in July of this year.
The Kia Rio and Kio Rio5 have been named to the “Top 10 Best Small Cars” list by Gayot.com.
“Rio and Rio5 are the vehicles of choice in today’s car-buying market as fuel prices hit record highs and budgets become increasingly tighter,” said Tom Loveless, vice president, sales of Kia Motors America (KMA). “However fuel efficiency does not mean style and substance need to be sacrificed, as Kia’s sub-compact offerings prove by providing consumers with a sporty, stylish option packed with standard features, an extensive warranty and budget-minded starting price.”
The Rio series starts at $10,890.
“This Korean-built sedan may be inexpensive, but it doesn’t skimp on protecting its passengers,” according to the GAYOT.com review. “For a starter vehicle in urban settings, this vehicle is a bargain.”
For more information: Kia
The nearly constant GM labor woes might be at an end as GM settles with labor at the last remaining plant to be on strike against them.
United Auto Workers union local 31 said on its website that picketing would continue until “all votes had been counted” by workers at a Kansas plant which produces one of GM’s hottest-selling cars, the Chevrolet Malibu.
The deal reached late Tuesday comes just days after the UAW reached a tentative agreement with key supplier and former GM subsidiary American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc.
GM’s production has been cut by more than 300,000 vehicles since the American Axle strike began February 26.
The first five weeks of the nearly three month-long strike cost the automaker 800 million dollars, GM said in securities filings. It has not released more recent cost estimates.
The company resolved a similar strike last week in Michigan.
Jerry Flint seems to think that GM doesn’t have much interest in running Saturn anymore. According to him, the company has never really cared for doing business the Saturn Way, and might even be ready to starve the brand to death.
Over the past few years, Saturn received an entire new lineup. It just introduced the Astra, a sleek, small car, which it currently imports from Europe. Given the weak dollar, GM cannot be making money on the current Astra, which is why it plans to build the next generation model in Mexico. Last year Saturn launched the Aura, a family-sized sedan that it builds in the U.S., though it is closely based on a European design. Saturn also has other new U.S.-built vehicles: the Sky two-seat roadster, an under-the-skin twin of the Pontiac Solstice; the Outlook, a big crossover SUV; and the new Vue, a small SUV based on a German design.
Saturn now has the best lineup in its history, but sales have been anemic.
It’s been a tough year so far for all auto makers, but Flint thinks the trouble for Saturn is much deeper.
GM for their part has given no indication of any such plans to discontinue the brand.
Toyota has sold over one million of their popular Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles. Toyota started offering the Prius ten years ago, and the move was considered risky because “green” cars hadn’t take off yet. The fact they’ve now sold one million of the vehicles seems to validate their belief that customers would want to drive and environmentally friendly car.
A cumulative 1.028 million Prius vehicles have been sold globally as of the end of April, Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday.
Toyota, Japan’s top automaker, sells other hybrid models, but the Prius has been by far the most popular model. Toyota has said it plans to sell a million hybrids annually sometime in the few years after 2010.
When including the other hybrid models, Toyota’s cumulative overall sales of gas-electric vehicles total 1.46 million, according to Toyota, which also makes the Camry sedan and Lexus luxury cars.
Toyota also recently announced plans for a 2009 Toyota Prius that is reasonably priced and comes with a number of unique “green features.”
Chrysler has been luring in new customers with promises of locking in their gas prices at $2.99 a gallon. Chrysler’s auto sales have been down 17% in 2008, but the company says the recent “Let’s Refuel America” initiative is driving new car sales.
The Chrysler incentive, introduced two weeks ago, gives new vehicle buyers the option of taking a prepaid card that can be used to cap fuel prices at $2.99 a gallon for three years.
The prepaid gas card is good for regular, diesel and E85 — an ethanol blend fuel — and can be used at participating gas stations nationwide. The $2.99 offer excludes mid-grade and premium unleaded fuel. Chrysler’s performance cars like the Dodge Viper and the Challenger, along with the Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Sprinter work truck, are excluded from the offer.
Chrysler is extending the incentive by one month.
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