While America Slept. Thursday, January 8, 2009

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt
An overview of what happened in other parts of the world while you were in bed. TTAC provides round-the-clock coverage of everything that has wheels. Or has its wheels coming off. WAS is being filed from Beijing this week, from Berlin next week,

Mitsubishi electrifies PSA: Mitsubishi will supply France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen with electric cars beginning as early as next year, the Nikkei (sub) reports. The French government is providing subsidies of up to 5K Euros, and tax breaks for consumers who purchase electric cars. “With the U.K. and Germany offering incentives as well, Europe is expected to soon become a leading electric-car market,” says the Nikkei. Mitsubishi Motors will provide its iMiEV passenger car on an OEM basis. This plug-in electric vehicle, which is powered by a high-performance lithium ion battery, is slated to debut in Japan this summer. It runs 160km on a single charge. The iMiEV is expected to be priced competitive with conventional gasoline-powered cars in France once the subsidies are taken into account.Mitsubishi Motors Corp shares jumped 5 percent” on the news, Reuters reports.

Mazda saves cash in cats: Japan’s Mazda said on Thursday it would introduce technology that would slash the amount of precious metals used in catalytic converters by 70 percent in the new Mazda3 model, due for sales globally this year, Reuters says. Mazda said it would be the world’s first application of the single-nanocatalyst technology. The technology will be rolled out globally on certain models. Nissan last year introduced nanotechnology that would halve the amount of precious metals used in the new Cube.


Toyota slows down further: Toyota will suspend production for 10 days over the course of January at its Ovar plant in Portugal, the Nikkei (sub) reports. A Toyota Caetano spokeswoman said no further production suspensions are scheduled for the rest of year, but the situation may change as more information on demand becomes available.

More Mitsubishi layoffs: Mitsubishi plans to cut an additional 1,000 temporary jobs in fiscal 2008, the Nikkei (sub) says. Japan’s fiscal year ends March 31. In addition, some full-time workers are to be dispatched to affiliated dealerships where they are helping sell cars.

Mitsubishi parts ways with Chrysler: Mitsubishi Motors said it will end in 2010 its sales of the Raider pickup truck, which is supplied by Chrysler under an OEM arrangement. This will end Mitsubishi’s OEM agreement with Chrysler, writes the Nikkei (sub.)

Suzuki Hungary out of gas: The cutoff of natural gas supplies from Russia via Ukraine forced Suzuki to halt operations at its plant in Hungary. In light of the stoppage, the Hungarian government decided Wednesday morning to restrict gas delivery to industrial customers, and the Suzuki factory was left unable to operate, the Nikkei (sub) writes.

Triumph of the Fittest: Honda’s Fit was the best-selling car in Japan in 2008, claiming the top spot for the first time in six years, according to data released Thursday by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. Japanese sales of the subcompact jumped 50 percent to 174,910 units last year, the Nikkei (sub) writes. In Japan, Toyota’s Prius hybrid climbed to fifth place on the back of higher gasoline prices early in the year. Its sales jumped 25 percent to 73,110 units, enabling the car to crack the top 10 for the first time.

GM China’s sales slow: GM’s China vehicle sales rose 6.1 percent in 2008, down sharply from 18.5 percent growth the previous year, Gasgoo reports. Sales at the Buick car venture with SAIC Motor Corp fell 7.03 percent to 445,709 units last year. GM’s totals were improved by sales at its commercial vehicle venture, which rose 17.9 percent to 647,296 units. The Wuling Sunshine minivan is popular in smaller cities and rural areas.

China wants to hit 10m in 2009: The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAMM) is determined that the Chinese auto industry will make and sell 10m vehicles in 2009, come hell or low worldwide demand. China’s auto industry will give priority to the development of own-brand products. China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced in a recent report that 10 million vehicles would be the lowest target for the auto industry in 2009, Gasgoo writes. China had the same goal for 2008, but missed it.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • PeteMoran PeteMoran on Jan 08, 2009

    @ Bertel China wants to hit 10m in 2009 Is there any information on the average selling price for 2008? Is there any reason to believe such vehicle sales are high margin? What margin would you guess at? (Sorry for the barrage).

  • Bertel Schmitt Bertel Schmitt on Jan 08, 2009

    @Pete: Don't have any info on average selling price, never seen one. And with prices ranging from $4K for a QQ to sky's the limit for a luxury import, averages are for the birds. Typically, Chinese margins are very tight, especially at the low end. I learned to be careful with Chinese numbers anyway. Not that they are intentionally making them up, numbers gathering is not as advanced as in the west, it's a big country, and 100 or so manufacturers don't make the job easier.

  • Varezhka Of all the countries to complain about WTO rules violation, especially that related to battery business…
  • Carson D At 1:24 AM, the voyage data recorder (VDR) stopped recording the vessel’s system data, but it was able to continue taping audio. At 1:26 AM, the VDR resumed recording vessel system data. Three minutes later, the Dali collided with the bridge. Nothing suspicious at all. Let's go get some booster shots!
  • Darren Mertz Where's the heater control? Where's the Radio control? Where the bloody speedometer?? In a menu I suppose. How safe is that??? Volvo....
  • Lorenzo Are they calling it a K4? That's a mountain in the Himalayas! Stick with names!
  • MaintenanceCosts It's going to have to go downmarket a bit not to step on the Land Cruiser's toes.
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