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Category: Automotive

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Auto and Car news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Chinese demand for supercars races ahead at full-speed

    Chinese demand for supercars races ahead at full-speed

    Chinese demand has helped boost supercar sales around the globe to double-digit growth, according to a new report by automotive market research company Jato. While the United States remains the largest market for ultra-luxury car sales, China is close behind at number three, with demand last year jumping 54 percent to about 4,400 units. To compare, the second biggest market, the UK, only saw a 15.6 percent growth.

    Jato cites Forbes’s swelling billionaire list as evidence for the increasing demand for ultra-luxury automobiles around the globe—overall, supercar sales are up by 16 percent in 2016 from the previous year. China added 65 billionaires for a total of 400 to the list last year, the most of any country on the list, and its role in the supercar market reflects this.

    Supercars, which include brands like Aston Martin, McLaren, Bentley, and Ferrari, have long been valued by Chinese consumers for boosting their status quo, but the report notes that supercar brands are increasingly innovating to respond to changing consumer needs. For example, many of the automakers have recently introduced luxury SUVs to their lineup, of which have witnessed a major market in China as families are getting larger. There is also more demand for sustainable vehicles, especially in China, where environmental concerns like pollution are rampant. Luxury car brands have been quick to respond—out of the 10 brands featured in Jato’s report, nine of them have announced plans for releasing electric or hybrid automobiles.

    While supercar brands are no doubt having good luck with the Chinese consumer in general, many are also now having to consider how the emerging affluent in China are getting younger and more digitally savvy. Maserati, an ultra-luxury brand that wasn’t on Jato’s list, made an effort to reach this market by opening a Tmall store, but others have room to grow when it comes to bridging their online presence with call to actions to bring customers into their showrooms. And with surging demand, the opportunity to reach China’s digital natives is likely only growing wider.

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  • VW’s JV in China to recall nearly 600,000 vehicles over fuse fault

    VW’s JV in China to recall nearly 600,000 vehicles over fuse fault

    Volkswagen AG’s joint venture in China, FAW-Volkswagen Automobile, will recall 577,590 Golf and Sagitar cars because of a headlight fuse defect that may lead to safety risks, the quality watchdog said.

    The recall covers 416,364 Golfs produced between September 2009 and May 2014, and 161,226 Sagitars produced between July 2010 and March 2012, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

    The watchdog said the defects could cause headlight failure.

    FAW-Volkswagen, majority owned by state-owned China FAW Group, could not be immediately reached for comment. Volkswagen China declined to comment.

    In March, Volkswagen recalled over 1 million Audi vehicles due to potential leaks and coolant pumps faults.

    The German carmaker delivered nearly 4 million vehicles in China last year, two fifth of its global sales.

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  • Daicel, Toyota affiliate plan capital tie-up to expand air bag businesses

    Daicel, Toyota affiliate plan capital tie-up to expand air bag businesses

    Japanese chemicals maker Daicel and auto parts maker Toyoda Gosei Co said on Friday they will invest 1 billion yen ($8.98 million) in each other’s equity, deepening ties as both companies expand their global air bag businesses.

    Daicel, which produces inflators used in air bags, along with polymer and plastic products, and Toyoda Gosei, which makes air bag modules, steering wheels and other auto components, have been growing their air bag-related businesses since a global recall of inflators made by Takata Corp has snowballed since 2013.

    The companies would take a stake of about 0.3 percent in each other and discuss research and development opportunities that would enable them to further expand globally.

    Headquartered in Japan’s automaking heartland of Aichi Prefecture, Toyoda Gosei is a group company of Toyota Motor Corp , which owns a 43 percent stake in the firm. Toyota also owns a 4.3 percent stake in Daicel.

    Osaka-based Daicel supplies inflators to Takata, which has become its biggest customer as the embattled Japanese air bag maker struggles to produce enough replacement inflators in the global auto industry’s biggest ever recall.

    Daicel also sells inflators to Key Safety Systems, the Chinese-owned, U.S.-based components maker which is in talks with Takata about a financial rescue.

    Air bags and other safety-related products accounted for 28 percent of Toyoda Gosei’s annual revenue last year, up from 27 percent the previous year.

    It has been increasing air bag sales to Toyota, Honda Motor Co and other automakers in the last few years, as an increasing number of automakers shift away from Takata.

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  • BlackBerry working with automakers on anti-hack tool

    BlackBerry working with automakers on anti-hack tool

    BlackBerry is working with at least two automakers to develop a security service that would remotely scan vehicles for computer viruses and tell drivers to pull over if they were in critical danger, according to a financial analyst.

    The service, which would also be able to install security patches to an idle car, is being tested by luxury automakers Aston Martin and Range Rover, Macquarie analyst Gus Papageorgiou said in a note to clients sent late on Monday.

    Auto security is among several areas that BlackBerry is betting will boost its revenue after the Canadian company lost its dominance of the smartphone market to Apple Inc and others over the past decade.

    John Wall, the head of BlackBerry’s QNX division, and company spokeswoman Sarah McKinney both declined to comment.

    Matthew Clarke, a spokesman for Aston Martin, said in an email he was not aware of the company testing such a product. Representatives with Range Rover’s parent company, Jaguar Land Rover, could not be reached for comment.

    The service could be launched as early as next year, generating about $10 a month per vehicle for BlackBerry, according to Papageorgiou, who has followed BlackBerry for more than 15 years.

    Vehicles increasingly rely on dozens of computers that connect to each other as well as the internet, mobile networks and Bluetooth communications systems that make them vulnerable to remote hacks.

    “Although a connected, more software-centric automobile offers tremendous advantages to consumers, it also opens the doors to hackers,” Papageorgiou wrote in his note.

    Automaker interest in cyber security has risen dramatically since 2015, when two hacking experts uncovered vulnerabilities in Fiat Chrysler vehicles that led to a U.S. recall of 1.4 million autos.

    BlackBerry shares rose 5.3 percent to close at C$13.84 after touching C$14.15, the highest since March 2015.

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  • Ford Motor to slash workforce by about 10 percent

    Ford Motor to slash workforce by about 10 percent

    Ford Motor is set to cut about 10 percent of its global employee headcount in an effort to boost profit and its sliding stock price.

    The job cuts, expected to be revealed as early as this week, would largely target salaried employees, said on Monday.

    The automaker is targeting $3 billion in cost cuts for 2017 in a bid to improve profitability in 2018, the journal said.

  • BMW 2 Series Coupe and Convertible updated for 2017

    BMW 2 Series Coupe and Convertible updated for 2017

    Baby sports car and open-top counterpart receive mid-life styling tweaks and optional all-wheel-drive in higher-end models. In the typical fashion of facelifted BMWs, changes in the new 2-series Coupe and Convertible are microscopic and would probably only be noticed by eagle-eyed enthusiasts.

    The front end, for one, has changed the most with bigger kidney grilles, restyled air vents and bi-LED lights made standard. While the M Sport trim sees more aggressive-looking bumper design, the lesser Luxury and Sport Lines get more subtle air intakes.
    Like in the recent facelift of the 4-series Coupe and Convertible, both 2-series models get more premium finish inside as well as a newly-designed instrument panel and central touchscreen.

    As the 2-series has no direct rival from Audi, Lexus or Mercedes-Benz – three other premium brands that make compact hatchbacks with front-wheel-drive – BMW is still keen in touting the 2-series as a genuine sports car for driving fans.
    However, the decision to offer xDrive all-wheel-drive in some potent models could be seen as an effort in broadening the appeal of the 2-series to another set of buyers wanting more driving security on slippery roads as well as more predictable manners under hard acceleration.

    The M240i, for one, has 340hp 3.0-litre turbocharged inline-six with eight-speed automatic transmission with optional xDrive system. Likewise, the other petrol and diesel engine variances remain unchanged all the way down to the 218i, featuring 136hp 1.5-litre three-pot turbo motor.

    For the past few years, BMW has tried to lower the price point of the 2-series Coupe as much as possible by merely offering the 218i M Sport in Thai showrooms at 2.599 million baht apiece. However, it is claimed that that the 4-series Coupe is still the favoured choice among Thais. As the pre-facelift 420d Coupe M Sport went for 3.999 million baht, customers thought it might be just better to go for a bigger car with a four-cylinder engine. After all, luxury imports like these aren’t aimed at budget-minded punters.

    The revised 2-series goes on sale in world markets from July, although the Thai BMW office would concentrate more on the facelifted 4-series later this year due to the aforementioned reasons.

  • Mercedes-Benz ditches E220d in favour of E350e in Thailand

    Mercedes-Benz ditches E220d in favour of E350e in Thailand

    Sales of the diesel-powered executive saloon cease as the German automaker wants plug-in hybrids to account for 30% of total annual sales.

    Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) has launched its fourth plug-in hybrid vehicle: the E350e which follows the C350e, S500e and GLE500e.

    Like the C350e, the E350e uses a 2.0-litre petrol-turbo engine in conjunction with an electric motor, whose power from the lithium-ion battery can also be revitalised from the wall socket. The S500e and GLE500e employ a bigger 3.0-litre V6 petrol motor.

    Combined outputs in the E350e are rated at 286hp and 550Nm, while the maximum all-electric driving range is claimed at 33km. As the E350e spews out 44g/km of CO2 on the combined cycle, it is eligible for the new 5% excise tax imposed on locally made plug-in hybrids producing no more than 50g/km.

    There are three trims for the E350e: Avantgarde 3.49 million baht, Exclusive 3.79 million baht and AMG Dynamic 4.09 million baht.

    The similarly priced E220d has been dropped from the Thai E-class model lineup as Mercedes-Benz wants to promote plug-in hybrids in the country.

    Mercedes-Benz hopes that plug-in hybrids will account for 30% of total annual sales which is why diesel versions and other pure petrol derivatives aren’t available anymore. The same has happened in the C, S and GLE model ranges.

    BMW, meanwhile, is gearing up to launch the 530e in Thailand at the end of this year to rival the E350e. Volvo is also said to be preparing the introduction of the S90 T8.

    Unlike Mercedes-Benz, BMW is still selling diesel versions of the X5, 3 and 7-series as it wants to offer Thai customers with two distinct types of propulsion. BMW hopes that plug-in hybrids will account for 15% of annual sales this year.

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  • Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.25 million trucks over software error

    Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.25 million trucks over software error

    Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said on Friday it would recall more than 1.25 million pickup trucks worldwide to address a software error linked to reports of one crash death and two injuries.

    The erroneous code could temporarily disable the side air bag and deployment seat of belt pretensioners – which reduce seat belt slack during impacts – during a vehicle rollover spurred by a significant underbody impact, such as striking onroad debris or driving off-road, the Italian-American automaker said.

    The company will reprogram computer modules in the affected vehicles to address this error.

    An FCA spokesman said the likelihood of an incident was very low because a sequence of events was needed to cause an incident.

    There is no definitive proof the error was involved in two accidents, one of which resulted in a fatality, but the automaker was conducting the recall proactively, he said.

    The spokesman declined to say whether the code was produced inhouse or by an FCA supplier, saying “we do not discuss supplier relationships.”

    Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said on Friday it would recall more than 1.25 million pickup trucks worldwide to address a software error linked to reports of one crash death and two injuries.

    The erroneous code could temporarily disable the side air bag and deployment seat of belt pretensioners – which reduce seat belt slack during impacts – during a vehicle rollover spurred by a significant underbody impact, such as striking onroad debris or driving off-road, the Italian-American automaker said.

    The company will reprogram computer modules in the affected vehicles to address this error.

    An FCA spokesman said the likelihood of an incident was very low because a sequence of events was needed to cause an incident.

    There is no definitive proof the error was involved in two accidents, one of which resulted in a fatality, but the automaker was conducting the recall proactively, he said.

    The spokesman declined to say whether the code was produced inhouse or by an FCA supplier, saying “we do not discuss supplier relationships.”

    Fiat Chrysler has been working to move faster to address vehicle issues after being fined twice in 2015 by the NHTSA.

    In December 2015, the company was fined $70 million for failing to report vehicle crash deaths and injuries since 2003.

    In July 2015, Fiat Chrysler agreed to a $105 million settlement with NHTSA for mishandling nearly two dozen recall campaigns involving 11 million vehicles.

    It agreed to a three-year consent agreement and monitoring by former Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater.

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  • Dacia halts production after global cyber attack

    Dacia halts production after global cyber attack

    Romanian carmaker Dacia, owned by France’s Renault, said on Saturday some of its production had been hit by what appeared to be the global ransomware cyber attack that has infected computers in nearly 100 countries.

    Renault stopped production at several sites earlier on Saturday to prevent the spread of the cyber attack.

    “Part of Dacia’s production in Mioveni has been affected by disfunctionalities of IT systems and some employees were sent back home,” Dacia said in a statement. “The measure was taken to prevent extending the disfunctions, which at first glance are a consequence of the global cyber attack.”

  • Nvidia says Toyota will use its AI technology for self-driving cars

    Nvidia says Toyota will use its AI technology for self-driving cars

    Nvidia announced a partnership with Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday, saying the Japanese car maker would use Nvidia’s artificial intelligence technology to develop self-driving vehicle systems planned for the next few years.

    Toyota will use Nvidia’s Drive PX artificial intelligence platform for its autonomous vehicles planned for market introduction, Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said in his opening keynote at the company’s GPU Technology Conference in San Jose.

    Nvidia came to prominence in the gaming industry for designing graphics processing chips, but in recent years has been a key player in the automotive sector for providing the so-called “brain” of the autonomous vehicle.

    Nvidia, which also has partnerships with Audi and Mercedes, is among the more popular technology partners in the self-driving car race. Its partnership with Toyota is the latest in a string of alliances between tech companies, automakers and suppliers in the fast-growing sector.

    Nvidia’s Drive PX supercomputer fuses incoming data from the car’s hardware such as cameras and radar and uses artificial intelligence to help the car understand and react to its environment.

    “We’re talking about not just development now but the introduction of vehicles into the market,” said Danny Shapiro, Nvidia’s senior director of automotive. “Now we have the biggest (automaker) in Japan using our Drive PX platform.”

    In January, Nvidia and Audi (VOWG_p.DE) said the German automaker would use the Drive PX to help it put autonomous vehicle on the road starting in 2020. Nvidia is also co-developing with Mercedes a project to come to market within the next 12 months, both companies said in January.

    Toyota, which last year set up a U.S.-based Toyota Research Institute (TRI) to focus on AI and robotics, envisions a dual-track development of autonomous technology. It is simultaneously developing full self-driving cars while also working on what it calls “guardian angel” partially autonomous technology that may still require involvement from drivers.

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  • Toyota’s new SUV C-HR becomes best-selling model in Japan

    Toyota’s new SUV C-HR becomes best-selling model in Japan

    Toyota Motor’s newly launched C-HR crossover sports utility vehicle grabbed the top spot in monthly domestic sales in April, becoming the first SUV to top the list in Japan since at least 2007, data from industry bodies showed on Tuesday.

    The country’s largest carmaker by volume sold 13,168 units of the C-HR subcompact crossover in the reporting month. The Japan Automobile Dealers Association and the Japan Light Motor Vehicle and Motorcycle Association said the model rolled out last December is the first SUV to become the best-selling model since they began compiling data in 1968 and 2007 respectively.

    The C-HR, which uses the same platform as its popular gasoline-electric hybrid car Prius, attracts fuel-cost sensitive customers with its fuel-efficiency. Its hybrid model runs 30.2 kilometres per liter of gasoline, among the best in the segment. Toyota plans to market the model in over 100 countries on the back of growing demand for compact SUVs worldwide.

    Honda Motor’s minicar N-Box came in second with 12,265, up 4.9% from the same month last year, ceding the crown to the C-HR after maintaining the No. l position for four consecutive months through March. The Move minicar of Daihatsu Motor  — Toyota’s subsidiary — was third, as sales of the minicar model more than doubled to 12,004 units in the month.

    Five minivehicle models with engines no larger than 660 cc made it into the top 10 ranking, according to the two associations, as they continue to entice customers with a relatively low tax levied on them and their fuel-economy.

    Daihatsu’s Tanto minivehicle ranked fourth with 11,926 units, up 8.5%, followed by Toyota’s Prius hybrid, the best seller in 2016, with 9,920 units, down 52.2%.

  • BMW to raise production capacity to 3 million cars by 2020

    BMW to raise production capacity to 3 million cars by 2020

    German luxury carmaker BMW Group will raise its annual production capacity to 3 million cars by 2020 and plans to build its X5 offroader in China, citing company sources familiar with the plans.

    BMW Group, which includes the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, and built 2.37 million cars last year, plans to double its production capacity in China to 600,000 cars.

    In North America and Mexico, production capacity will be increased to 750,000 vehicles from 410,000, the paper said, adding that BMW brand wants to overtake rival Mercedes-Benz, which is owned by Daimler, to reclaim the volume sales crown for premium carmakers.

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  • Daimler drops bid to win approval to sell U.S. 2017 Mercedes diesels

    Daimler drops bid to win approval to sell U.S. 2017 Mercedes diesels

    German automaker Daimler said on Tuesday it had dropped plans to seek U.S. approval to sell 2017 Mercedes-Benz U.S. diesel models, but had not decided whether to exit the American passenger diesel market.

    “We constantly review our portfolio offerings and make adjustments to meet immediate customer need,” Mercedes-Benz USA spokesman Rob Moran said in an email. “Combined with the increased effort to certify diesel engines in the U.S., we have put the certification process for diesel passenger cars on hold.”

    There has been growing scrutiny of diesel vehicles in the United States since Volkswagen AG admitted in September 2015 to installing secret software on 580,000 U.S. vehicles that allowed them to emit up to 40 times legally allowable emissions.

    VW was sentenced in April after pleading guilty in the emissions scandal. In total, VW has agreed to spend up to $25 billion in the United States to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers and offered to buy back about 500,000 polluting U.S. vehicles.

    Last month, Daimler said investigations by authorities of diesel emissions and auxiliary emission control devices could lead to significant penalties and recalls.

    The U.S. Justice Department, EPA, California Air Resources Board and a prosecutor in Stuttgart, Germany, are investigating emissions of Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles.

    In March, the Stuttgart prosecutor launched an investigation against Daimler employees on suspicion of fraud and misleading advertising tied to vehicle emissions.

    The company told in October that it planned to seek approval to sell four U.S. Mercedes diesel models for the 2017 model year. Last year, Mercedes-Benz offered four U.S. diesel models.

    In April, Dietmar Exler, president and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz USA, told reporters the company had not made a decision “one way or the other” on the future of U.S. diesel sales.

    Moran said diesel vehicles in the U.S. in 2016 accounted for less than 1 percent of U.S. sales and the company could still opt to seek 2017 certification at a later date. The company is “leaving the door open to offer diesels as a potential option in our passenger cars and SUVs.”

    Daimler won approval in late April to sell U.S. diesel Sprinter commercial vans after months of talks with regulators.

    In January, the EPA and CARB accused Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV of illegally using software to allow excess diesel emissions from 104,000 U.S. trucks and SUVs. Regulators have refused to grant Fiat Chrysler approval to sell 2017 U.S. diesel models.

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  • Nissan Motor begins mass production of new Navara pickup truck in China

    Nissan Motor begins mass production of new Navara pickup truck in China

    Nissan Motor’s manufacturing joint venture Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile began production of its new Navara pickup truck Monday, in China.

    Nissan Motor’s manufacturing JV, Zhengzhou Nissan, plans to begin sales of the Navara in June, but has not released price or sales target.

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  • Subaru sees flat profit this year on higher costs, below expectations

    Subaru sees flat profit this year on higher costs, below expectations

    Subaru on Tuesday forecast a flat operating profit this year, undershooting market estimates and sending its share price lower, as the Japanese automaker expects rising incentive-related costs and research expenses to offset higher sales.

    Subaru, which changed its name from Fuji Heavy Industries in April, said it expected operating profit to ease 0.2 percent to 410.0 billion yen ($3.62 billion) in the year to March. That was below a mean estimate of 538.5 billion yen from 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    Shares in Japan’s No. 7 automaker fell 4.2 percent after the announcement, hitting their lowest in nearly two weeks.

    Subaru posted an operating profit of 410.8 billion yen in the year ended March, down 27.4 percent on the year, as higher costs from the recall of Takata Corp’s air bags and a stronger currency offset a jump in sales.

    Subaru said it expected net profit of 285.0 billion yen this year, up 0.9 percent from last year.

    It expects to sell around 1.11 million vehicles globally this year, a record high and up from around 1.07 million in the year just ended. The automaker sees a 3 percent rise in sales in the United States, where the automaker has carved out a niche in family cars.

    The maker of the Outback SUV crossover and the Legacy and Impreza sedans has ramped up production of its cars in the United States, where it sells around 60 percent of its global production.

    Subaru is assuming an average dollar rate of 110 yen for the current year, anticipating a stronger yen over the year compared with the currency pair’s trading rate of around 113 yen on Tuesday.

    While the automaker has been increasing localised production in the United States, it continues to produce the majority of its vehicles in Japan, making it vulnerable to currency swings.

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