While America Slept. Wednesday, March 4th 2009

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. This column will be filed from Berlin until further notice – if & when time allows.

Forster plays the—usual—jobs card: Opel will have to slim down its workforce, says GM Europe chief Carl-Peter Forster, “hopefully not more than 3,500 jobs.” That according to Automobilwoche [sub]. How many and where exactly is unclear—and will depend on how much money which government will fork over. Forster said in Geneva that Opel has surplus capacities of 30 percent.

Sumimasen, can you spare some billions? Japanese automakers are keeping up with the Joneses, or make that Tanakas: Japanese automakers are turning to government lending to secure operational funds, the Nikkei [sub] writes. Honda is considering borrowing from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Toyota is negotiating a five-year loan of about 200 billion yen, also from JBIC. Mitsubishi Motors has applied for a low-interest loan from the Development Bank of Japan. Honda intends to seek tens of billions of yen in dollar-denominated loans from JBIC for its US financing arm, American Honda Finance Corp. The carmaker aims to build up more cash for auto loans and leases. Toyota Financial Services Corp. has also approached JBIC to procure funds for its US financing unit, Toyota Motor Credit Corp. Nissan is double dipping—at the very least. They applied for a roughly 50 billion yen loan with the DBJ as well as a low-interest loan from the US government. It is also considering tapping JBIC loans.

Nissan sets targets lower: Nissan has set its global auto production target for April-September at roughly 1.29 million units, down 27 percent from a year earlier and the lowest level in eight years, the Nikkei [sub] learned. Nissan did not reveal plans for the second half of fiscal 2009. And then the moment of Zen: “Anticipating a tough year, Nissan has urged autoparts makers to cut funds outflows and ensure that they have sufficient funds.”

EU Nano next year: India’s Tata will roll out its low-price Nano car in Europe as early as 2010, the Indian firm announced at the Geneva Motor Show. The Nano will be released in India later this month at a price of about 100,000 rupees (around 200,000 yen) the Nikkei [sub] writes. The Nano Europe will also be made in low-cost India, but is expected to be priced a bit higher. Even so, it will likely be the cheapest car on the European market. The Nano’s higher European price will be partly due to meeting local safety standards, and partly due to such differences as its three-cylinder 1,000cc engine. The Indian model will have a two-cylinder 630cc engine.

The return of Renault: Renault, one of the few larger brands without a Chinese presence, will restart its auto import strategy to the Middle Kingdom. They will do so with the mid-sized Laguna, Gasgoo reports. Renault is scheduled to bring to China 14 auto types in the coming three years.