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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.

  • Mazda Motor Seeks $2.8 Billion In Loans To Ride Out Pandemic

    Mazda Motor Seeks $2.8 Billion In Loans To Ride Out Pandemic

    Mazda Motor Corp has sought loans totaling about 300 billion yen ($2.8 billion) from Japan’s three megabanks and other lenders to ride out the coronavirus epidemic, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Saturday. The megabanks – Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group – along with the Development Bank of Japan, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings and others are set to agree, with some already having extended the loans, the person said, declining to be identified because the information is not public.

    All three megabanks declined to comment on the loan request, which was reported by the Nikkei business daily earlier. Mazda did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Mazda, like most other automakers, has reduced or halted production at factories around the world for the past few months as governments try to limit the spread of the new coronavirus.

    Mazda’s car sales and balance sheet had been weak even before the virus slammed the brakes on demand, with its interest-bearing debt of 650 billion yen far exceeding its cash and cash equivalents, according to the Nikkei. Mazda is scheduled to announce its financial results for the year ended in March on Thursday.

  • Ferrari Restarts Production At Maranello & Modena Plants In Full Capacity

    Ferrari Restarts Production At Maranello & Modena Plants In Full Capacity

    Ferrari, on Friday, officially announced the resumption of operations at its Maranello and Modena plants at full capacity, which in-line with its ‘Back on Track’ program. The first car to roll out from the Special Series lines was Ferrari Monza SP2 with a black and grey livery. The operations at the facility were suspended just a few hours before its completion due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Over the next few days, the company successfully rolled out the 812 GTS spider in Grigio GTS and an F8 Tributo in Rosso Corsa from the 12 and 8 cylinder lines. The new cars are ready to be delivered to the customers in Australia, Germany & USA.

    The sports car manufacturer introduced a new ‘Back on Track’ program, which majorly focuses on several practices and preventive guidelines aimed at the safety and wellbeing of the employees. The facilities in Maranello and Modena are subjected to follow these new rules and guidelines very strictly. These measures are taken specifically for common areas. The company has also reorganized the work area in order to ensure social distancing is maintained at the workplace.

    Additionally, Ferrari has also carried out a new training session for its staff wherein demonstrating the new guidelines and steps needs to be taken as precautionary measures while at work. Last month, the company came forward in support of health workers treating coronavirus patients wherein it started producing respirator valves and fittings for protective masks at its Maranello plant as one of its initiatives undertaken by Ferrari.

    The company can commence the manufacturing of the F8 Tribute and Spider, Roma, Portofino, GTC4Lusso, and GTC4Lusso T, SF90 Stradale, and the flagship hybrid hypercar along with the limited edition sports cars at the Maranello and Modena plants.

  • Maruti Suzuki To Resume Operations At Its Manesar Plant From May 12

    Maruti Suzuki To Resume Operations At Its Manesar Plant From May 12

    In a notification to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest car manufacturer by volumes has said that it will resume operations at its Manesar plant from May 12, 2020. The same will be carried out with the necessary standards of hygiene and social distancing. There is no clarity on when operations at the company’s plants in Gurugram, Haryana and Hansalpur, Gujarat will be resumed. Maruti has already begun working on getting things back to normal as it issued a set of comprehensive safety guidelines for its dealerships to restart operations.

    The SOP says that social distancing will be maintained in the best possible manner and employees are instructed to avoid physical contact as much as possible. Customers will be entertained one at a time and they will be given prior appointments. All people entering the showroom will be screened at entry gates for temperature. As far as test drives are concerned, that shall be provided only if customers ask for it and the vehicle will be sanitized after every round of a test drive.

    The dealerships will especially sanitize the surfaces that are frequently touched like the steering wheel, gear knob, hand brake lever, switches, touchscreen and stereo system among others. The seats will also be covered with disposable covers which will have to be replaced after every test drive. All dealerships employees and their health will be monitored via an app, which works in conjunction with the Aarogya Setu app.

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  • Volkswagen Passenger Cars India Appoints Abbey Thomas As Head of Marketin

    Volkswagen Passenger Cars India Appoints Abbey Thomas As Head of Marketin

    Volkswagen Passenger Cars India has announced the appointment of Abbey Thomas as Head of Marketing effective immediately. He will spearhead the company’s marketing strategy in India. Abbey Thomas replaces Bishwajeet Samal, who embarks on a new assignment at Volkswagen’s headquarters in Germany. Abbey has over 25 years of automotive industry experience and has previously worked with Audi India as Head of Planning (Product & Sales).

    He joined the Group in 2011 and has ranked up by leading various Marketing and Product functions. Steffen Knapp, Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India said, “At Volkswagen, our philosophy is to nurture our in-house talent and create a growth journey for our employees within the Group. We are extremely delighted to have Abbey on-board with us, whose extensive experience will strengthen our brand salience across our stakeholders in the automotive ecosystem.”

    Abbey Thomas will be reported to Steffen Knapp in his new role as Head of Marketing. Volkswagen India has already charted its course in the country by focusing on SUVs for the market and now with the ‘SUVW’ strategy in place, there’s a lot to look forward to in terms of cars. While we already know that the company’s next launch is the Taigun next year, the Tiguan AllSpace and the T-Roc are already in the market and we wait to see how the cars will do in terms of sales.

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  • Fiat Chrysler Plunges To Loss

    Fiat Chrysler Plunges To Loss

    Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) plunged to a first-quarter loss of $1.8 billion and warned of a “significant” loss this quarter, even as it prepares to reopen its most profitable North American truck plants on May 18 as coronavirus lockdowns ease.

    The Italian-American company, which has struck a binding merger deal with France’s PSA Group to create the world’s fourth-largest carmaker, said on Tuesday that work on the tie-up was “progressing incredibly well.”

    On a conference call, Chief Executive Michael Manley said “the terms of the deal have not changed” and FCA remained “committed to completing the transaction by the end of this year or early 2021.”

    Car sales across the world have slumped as measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic forced production lines to shut and showrooms to close, leaving manufacturers scrambling to try to conserve cash.

    Manley said a planned 1.1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) dividend was under review, as part of FCA’s efforts. The company also scrapped its full-year earnings forecast.

    FCA has begun reopening plants in China and Europe, and said most of its North American ones were expected to reopen on May 18.

    In the United States, UAW president Rory Gamble responded to the planned restart by saying automakers must “implement and follow the guidelines” for worker safety that the union had worked out with them. The union had objected to automakers’ original plans to reopen in early May.

    Peugeot-maker PSA is braced for a slump in demand but says it has the funds to cope without government help.

    Much of FCA’s revenue and profit come from North America, where quarterly sales of its Ram truck brand were up 7% from the previous year and its share of the full-size pickup market rose to 24%.

    Capital expenditure (capex) was up in the quarter, driven by spending on the new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, and redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee models. But executives said full-year capex estimates would be trimmed by 1 billion euros as key program launches had been delayed by an average three months.

    FCA said it made a net loss from continuing operations of 1.69 billion euros ($1.83 billion) in the quarter. That compared with a 508 million euro net profit a year earlier.

    “The pandemic has had, and continues to have, a significant impact on our operations,” the company said in a statement.

    However, FCA still made an operating profit, albeit 95% lower than a year earlier. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) amounted to 52 million euros.

    FCA’s Milan-listed shares extended their gains after the results were released and were up 2.2% at 1355 GMT.

    The automaker said that due to the continued uncertainty related to the pandemic, it had withdrawn its full-year guidance and would update it when it had better visibility of the overall impact of the crisis.

    In February, the group guided for an increase in adjusted EBIT to more than 7 billion euros this year and industrial free cash flow of over 2 billion euros.

    In the first quarter, industrial free cash flow was around minus 5 billion euros. But FCA said it had available liquidity of 18.6 billion euros as of March 31, including a 6.25 billion revolving credit facility which was fully drawn down in April.

    Liquidity was further strengthened last month with a new 3.5 billion euro incremental bridge credit facility, which remains fully undrawn.

    “We continue to assess all funding options,” FCA said.

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  • BMW Cuts Margin Outlook For Cars Division

    BMW Cuts Margin Outlook For Cars Division

    BMW on Tuesday lowered the outlook for the profitability of its automotive and motorcycles divisions, citing worse-than-expected demand which has been hit by measures to contain the coronavirus.

    BMW said it expects the earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin for the automotive segment to fall within a range between 0% and 3% this year, adjusting its outlook from a previously expected margin range of between 2% and 4%.

    “The decisive factor for the adjustment is that the measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic are lasting longer in several markets and are thus leading to a broader negative impact than was foreseeable in mid-March,” BMW said.

    Delivery volumes in these markets will not rebound within a few weeks as BMW had assumed, with the highest negative impact now expected in the second quarter of 2020, the carmaker said, cautioning that matters could still get worse.

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    “The updated guidance does not, in particular, include, a longer and deeper recession in major markets, a more severe economic slowdown in China as a result of recessions in other parts of the world,” BMW added.

    Further margin pressure could come from market distortions caused by an even stronger competitive environment or from the second wave of infections and associated containment measures.

    The Munich-based group further said it now expects deliveries of motorcycles to be down significantly from 2019 levels.

    The EBIT margin in the motorcycles segment will now be within a range of between 3% and 5%, rather than 6% and 8%, BMW said.

    Last month BMW warned it was expecting a further decline in global demand even after a 20.6% drop in first-quarter sales to 477,111 vehicles.

    BMW said in March that its pre-tax profit and vehicle deliveries would drop significantly this year as the coronavirus spreads, and that this – combined with higher research and development spending – would lower the profit margin in its automotive segment.

    BMW is due to publish first-quarter earnings on May 6.

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  • Honda Retrofits 10 Minivans To Transport Detroiters For Virus Tests

    Honda Retrofits 10 Minivans To Transport Detroiters For Virus Tests

    Honda Motor Co said on Tuesday it has delivered 10 modified Odyssey minivans to the city of Detroit to safely transport healthcare workers and people potentially infected with COVID-19 for testing in one of the U.S. cities that has been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

    The minivans have been retrofitted with a plastic barrier behind the front seating area and a modified ventilation system to maintain an air pressure differential between the front and rear seating areas to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission.

    Detroit has been especially hard hit by the outbreak, reporting 9,394 cases to date and 1,097 deaths through Monday, or 26% of all COVID-19 fatalities in Michigan.

    The Japanese automaker in April said it had remodeled 50 minivans to transport COVID-19 patients to hospitals and quarantine facilities in Japan, sealing off the rear section of the vehicles to keep drivers safe from infection.

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    After reading news reports, officials from the state of Michigan and city of Detroit approached Honda about the possibility of acquiring similar vehicles.

    A team of volunteers at Honda’s R&D center in Ohio conceived and designed a method to quickly modify the U.S. Odyssey. The minivans have a sealed clear polycarbonate panel between the front seat compartment and rear two-row seating area, while the ventilation system software was rewritten to ensure different pressure levels between the front and rear compartments.

    Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan noted the city has tested over 20,000 residents and employees for COVID-19. Many people in the city lack access to personal transportation.

    “Transportation is a critical component of ensuring every Detroiter has access to a test. We are very appreciative of Honda for choosing Detroit to deploy these newly modified vehicles,” Duggan said in a statement.

    Honda engineers and other employees in Ohio took the project from the initial concept to completion in less than two weeks.

    “We’re very proud of the efforts made by Honda engineers in Ohio to quickly devise a plan and modify a small fleet of Honda Odyssey minivans to support the people of Detroit in the face of this unprecedented global pandemic,” said Rick Schostek, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co.

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  • Skoda Auto Braces For Second-Quarter Hit After Earnings Drop Globally

    Skoda Auto Braces For Second-Quarter Hit After Earnings Drop Globally

    Czech carmaker Skoda Auto, part of the Volkswagen Group, reported a 25% drop in first-quarter operating profit on Monday, but said the biggest hit from the coronavirus outbreak would come in the second quarter.

    Skoda, the Czech Republic’s largest exporter which counts China as its biggest individual market, started feeling the impact of the coronavirus crisis during the first three months of the year as its global sales fell by a quarter and it shut its domestic factories for 39 days beginning in March.

    However, the company said the biggest impact from the pandemic was still to come and it had started measures to reduce costs and spending in the short term.

    “We expect the greatest impact of the current crisis to be in the second quarter, followed by a gradual recovery in the third quarter and a possible return to the previous year’s level in the fourth quarter,” board member Klaus-Dieter Schurmann said.

    Hyundai Creta Bookings, Skoda Karoq Details, Datsun redi-Go

    The top automotive stories of the day – Hyundai Creta receives 20,000 bookings. Skoda Karoq details out. Datsun redi-GO photos leaked.

    First-quarter revenue fell 1.4% to 4.85 billion euros, while worldwide deliveries tumbled 24% to 232,900 vehicles. Not including China, deliveries fell 16%.

    Skoda has boosted annual deliveries above 1 million in recent years but like other carmakers has been hit hard the virus outbreak, which started in China around the turn of the year before hitting Europe in force in March.

    Skoda relaunched production at a reduced pace on April 27 and the entire car sector in the central European country faces a shaky restart, with officials expecting the sector to run below capacity this year.

    Skoda Chief Executive Bernhard Maier said the shutdown meant a loss in the production of 100,000 cars. He said it was still difficult to forecast global car sales in the coming months but that the company was well-positioned.

    “We are fighting for every car, because our order backlog is still high,” he said, adding Skoda was sticking to its medium and long-term development plans.

  • Ferrari Slowed By Coronavirus, But Not Driven Off Course

    Ferrari Slowed By Coronavirus, But Not Driven Off Course

    Luxury sports car maker Ferrari still expects to make more than $1 billion in core profit this year, providing a relative beacon of stability in an auto industry ravaged by the coronavirus crisis.

    The company, known for its red Formula One racing cars and its prancing horse logo, cut its 2020 core earnings forecast on Monday, blaming a hit to motorsport revenues among other pressures, and warning of an extremely tough second quarter.

    But the Italian firm said it still expected to generate free cash flow this year, and its guidance contrasted with others in the industry – including U.S. electric carmaker Tesla, Germany’s Daimler and Porsche-owner Volkswagen – which have all suspended forecasting.

    “This extraordinary level of stability in an economic crisis takes top place at the podium,” Morgan Stanley analysts said.

    Ferrari shares closed up 1.5% at 154.50 euros, having fallen over 5% immediately after news of the downgrade. By contrast, Europe’s auto index closed down 4.4%.

    Car sales across the world have slumped as measures to contain the virus pandemic forced production lines to shut and showrooms to close. Data on Monday showed the biggest ever drop in business morale in Germany’s auto sector.

    Ferrari, which on Monday restarted operations at its plants in Maranello and Modena, predicted a “harsh” reduction of revenues linked to Formula One, where races have been suspended, as well as reduced turnover from brand projects and lower engine shipments to Maserati.

    “Second quarter will be very weak,” Chief Executive Louis Camilleri told analysts, as the company said it now expected adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) this year to edge down from 2019 levels to 1.05-1.20 billion euros ($1.15-$1.31 billion).

    In February, Ferrari had projected an increase in 2020 EBITDA to 1.38-1.43 billion euros.

    “While the Formula One hit to revenues and earnings is not an easy matter to digest, the good news is that the significant losses incurred should be short-lived and contained to 2020,” Camilleri said.

    The CEO said projections relied on Ferrari’s ability to retain a “very strong” order book, adding that as of now it had not received any “abnormal or untoward” cancellations.

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    Ferrari, whose origins date back to 1929, said it now expected industrial free cash flow of 100-200 million euros this year, compared with 400 million euros or more previously.

    The company, which like its former parent Fiat Chrysler is controlled by the Exor holding company of the Agnelli family, cautioned its new guidance did not include a potential second wave of COVID-19 infections.

    In the first quarter of this year, adjusted EBITDA rose 1.9% to 317 million euros, broadly in line with a 322 million euro forecast in an analyst poll compiled by Reuters.

    Ferrari’s two plants, both located in Italy’s northern Emilia Romagna region, had been closed since mid March.

    Volumes rose despite delivery suspensions due to the virus outbreak, driven by 488 Pista and 488 Pista Spider models, along with the ramp up of the F8 Tributo, the company said.

    The margin on adjusted EBITDA came in at 34% in the first quarter, up from 33.1% a year earlier.

    Ferrari said its total available liquidity at the end of March was 1.23 billion euros. Last month, it secured additional committed credit lines worth 350 million euros, with maturities up to 24 months, taking total committed, available and undrawn credit lines to 700 million euros, it said.

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  • Volvo Cars India Launches Contactless Program For Sales And Service Bookings

    Volvo Cars India Launches Contactless Program For Sales And Service Bookings

    Following the footsteps of many of its rivals in India, Swedish luxury carmaker, Volvo, has introduced an online program for selling its cars as well as for service bookings. The company that has always been known to come out with path-breaking safety innovations has introduced the ‘Volvo Contactless Program’ for its customers and also for prospective buyers. This new initiative enables Volvo owners to book their car services online with their nearest dealership location and also provides an interactive online buying process to an interested buyer.

    The company is promising a safe and secure test drive process (post relaxation of norms), digitized finance offers, online documentation & finally an online channel to buy the car and get a contactless delivery. Charles Frump, MD, Volvo Cars India said “I am confident that the Indian economy will spring back to its pace very soon with the measures taken by authorities. Our Volvo Contactless Program emphasizes the need for businesses to adapt to the current environment with an assurance of safety.”

    As part of another initiative called #SafestPlaceToBe, all Volvo dealer facilities are being disinfected and personnel working at the nationwide dealerships are provided with PPEs and sanitizers. Cars at dealerships as well as the demonstration cars are being disinfected in partnership with 3M which is using expert solutions for the safety of all stakeholders. This includes the Interior GermKleen which eliminates 99% microbes in a car from interior surfaces including plastics and upholstery. AC Vent disinfectants and Air Refresher are also being used to reduce microbial infections by 99%.

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  • Ford Expects $5 Billion Loss In Current Quarter As Coronavirus Hits Demand

    Ford Expects $5 Billion Loss In Current Quarter As Coronavirus Hits Demand

    Ford Motor said on Tuesday its second-quarter loss would more than double to over $5 billion from $2 billion in the first quarter due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but added it had enough money despite the crisis to last the rest of 2020.

    “We believe the company’s cash is sufficient to take us through the end of the year, even with no additional vehicle wholesales or financing actions,” Chief Financial Officer Tim Stone said in a statement.

    But he called the current economic environment “too ambiguous” for the No. 2 U.S. automaker to give a full-year 2020 earnings forecast.

    “There’s no denying the negative economic consequences of a pandemic,” Chief Executive Jim Hackett said on a conference call with analysts.

    The Dearborn, Michigan-based company has slashed costs during the COVID-19 outbreak to weather the shutdown, including cutting salaries of executives and white-collar employees.

    Hundreds of workers at General Motors and other auto companies have gone back to work to make face shields, surgical masks, and ventilators in a wartime-like effort to stem shortages of protective gear and equipment.

    Ford also moved to cut spending on projects, saying on Tuesday it was pushing back its commercial autonomous vehicle services by a year to 2022 and that it had decided not to develop a previously announced luxury electric Lincoln sport utility vehicle in partnership with electric vehicle maker Rivian.

    Ford shares were down more than 4.6% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after closing the regular session at $5.38.

    Ford’s market value of $20.6 billion is now less than the $35 billion in cash it had on hand as of last Friday, an indication that investors expect the company to burn through significant amounts of cash before a recovery takes hold.

    Ford had preannounced the pandemic-fueled first-quarter loss earlier this month. That warning came the same day the company raised $8 billion from corporate debt investors.

    Last month, Ford moved to hoard cash on its balance sheet, drawing down $15.4 billion from two credit lines and suspending its dividend, in a move to bolster reserves to ride out damage to its business.

    Virtually all U.S. automotive production ground to a halt in March as the number of COVID-19 infections grew rapidly. But with President Donald Trump pushing for Americans to get back to work and several U.S. states beginning to reopen their economies, the focus in the auto sector has shifted to when production can be restarted.

    In an earlier conference call with reporters, Stone, the CFO, said the company would restart U.S. production “as soon as practicable,” but did not give a timeline.

    Ford’s captive finance arm posted $30 million in first-quarter pretax earnings, down $771 million from a year ago. That included $600 million in additional-loss reserves, plus higher depreciation of former lease vehicle sales and expected lease defaults – in preparation for the estimated future impact of the coronavirus on the finance unit’s performance.

    Ford, General Motors Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) are aiming to resume production sometime in May, and are negotiating with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which represents their U.S. hourly workers, about how to safely resume vehicle production. FCA and GM are scheduled to report quarterly results on May 5 and 6, respectively.

    Last week, the UAW said it was “too soon and too risky” to reopen auto plants in early May.

    Ford, whose credit rating has been downgraded to “junk” status by Standard & Poor’s, said previously it hoped to resume production in April at plants that make its most profitable vehicles but subsequently backed off those plans.

    Ford said on Tuesday it would restart most of its European manufacturing starting next Monday. It has already resumed operations in China, where the pandemic began and where sales fell 35% in the first quarter. U.S. sales fell 12.5%.

    Once North American production resumes, the question will be how fast U.S. demand bounces back.

    Ford said it expected to spend $700 million to $1.2 billion on its global restructuring this year, but executives said the automaker was looking at additional actions.

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  • BMW Begins Online Sales For New & Used Cars Amidst Lockdown In India

    BMW Begins Online Sales For New & Used Cars Amidst Lockdown In India

    Joining the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Honda, and Volkswagen, BMW India has announced its new online platform for the sale of new and used cars. The new BMW Contactless Experience takes the car buying process virtual and enables customers to explore and buy not just new vehicles but pre-owned cars as well. In addition, the Contactless Experience allows customers to book vehicle service and make payments online, all from the safety of their homes. The BMW Contactless Experience was introduced on April 2, 2020, in the country. The new initiative is a part of several measures taken by the automaker for customers during the lockdown.

    Speaking on the new initiative, Arlindo Teixeira, Acting President, BMW Group India said, “At BMW, customers are at the core of everything we do. Amidst the current pandemic situation, we have successfully transformed our business processes and put in place various measures to effectively and efficiently serve our existing customers and prospects by leveraging new-age digital technologies. An industry-first comprehensive initiative, the BMW Contactless Experience offers consumers an all-new way to explore and experience the world of BMW while being in the comfort of their homes. Since its launch in April 2020, we have seen a tremendous increase in customer engagement, configuration requests, and virtual product presentations on this platform. As business dynamics evolve post the current COVID -19 pandemic, the BMW Contactless Experience will play a crucial role in offering seamless sales and aftersales services to our existing and new customers. We will bring joy to our customers no matter where they are.”

    The BMW Contactless Experience not only allows customers to learn about their vehicle online but also personalize their preferred car, finance options, and service packages. A dealer representative online will be interacting with the customer online in real-time to guide the same. Customers can also have a 360-degree view of the vehicle on their phones, tablets of personal devices, and interact with the sales consultant. BMW Financial Services will also help procure finance for the vehicles with customized financial solutions, depending on the customer.

    For existing BMW customers, the Contactless Experience extends to booking a service appointment online, type of service required, and the pick-up and drop details. The service cost estimates and details of the service are sent for customer approval using BMW Smart Video. The serviced vehicles are also fully sanitized before being delivered to customers. The deliveries and servicing, however, will be done adhering to the local government directives post the lockdown. Ensuring the safety of the customers, BMW will sanitize the cars before delivering it to the customer with all the physical documents in a sanitized envelope.

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  • Honda and Yamaha Prepare To Resume Operations In India

    Honda and Yamaha Prepare To Resume Operations In India

    Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) and India Yamaha Motor are keen to resume manufacturing operations at their respective plants after the lockdown is lifted. India has been under a complete lockdown since March 24, 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak which has crippled industry around the world. India’s automakers, including two-wheeler manufacturers in the world’s largest two-wheeler market, have been suffering heavy losses during this time, with plants and dealerships shut down across the country as India tries to prevent the highly contagious COVID-19 virus from spreading further.

    According to reports, HMSI has already sought permission to open its plants, and Yamaha is keen to start production in compliance with new protocols laid down by the government. However, both India Yamaha and HMSI will likely take some time to kickstart operations with many component suppliers also shut in the current lockdown. At the same time, it may take some time for workers to return from their native places, without public transport, including railways, in-land and air travel being resumed. While May 3, 2020 is till when the lockdown will be in force, it is generally expected that the countrywide lockdown will be extended, with some specific relaxations with guidelines announced in the next few weeks for a few sectors, including manufacturing.

    HMSI has four manufacturing plants at Manesar in Haryana, Tapukara in Rajasthan, Narsapura in Karnataka, and Vithalapur in Gujarat, with a total installed production capacity of 64 lakh units per annum. India Yamaha has three manufacturing plants at Faridabad in Haryana, Surajpur, in Uttar Pradesh, and Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu.

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  • Daimler Says China Business Picks Up Again

    Daimler Says China Business Picks Up Again

    Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler has seen business stabilize in China after the country ended coronavirus lockdowns, a senior manager at the German carmaker told a newspaper on Sunday. Mercedes-Benz delivered a total of approximately 477,400 passenger cars worldwide between January and March. The report did not say how many of those went to customers in China, who bought 694,200 Mercedes-Benz cars last year, 29% of total sales. China is the largest market for the S-Class built in Sindelfingen. Normally several hundred vehicles roll off the assembly line in Sindelfingen every day.

    Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler has seen business stabilize in China after the country ended coronavirus lockdown

    “In China alone, we sold around 50,000 vehicles again in March. That makes us confident,”, said Markus Schaefer, a managing board member for production, told Bild am Sonntag newspaper. Starting Monday, cars are set to roll off Daimler’s assembly line again in Germany. The Sindelfingen and Bremen passenger-car plants will start production of E- and S-Class vehicles.”We won’t reach this number right away when production starts next week,” said Schaefer.

    Daimler reported a plunge of nearly 70% in first-quarter operating profit on Thursday due to the pandemic and warned that the cash flow it uses to pay dividends would fall this year.

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  • European Carmakers Restart Production As Coronavirus Lockdowns Ease

    European Carmakers Restart Production As Coronavirus Lockdowns Ease

    Volkswagen will restart production at its Wolfsburg factory in Germany on Monday, the latest of a fleet of European carmakers to take advantage of eased coronavirus lockdown rules to resume manufacturing. VW, the world’s largest car manufacturer, is celebrating the reopening of its biggest plant, in Wolfsburg, by projecting a cartoon of a VW logo squashing coronaviruses.

    Encouraged by a fall in infection rates, Germany has allowed small retail stores to reopen, provided they adhere to strict distancing and hygiene rules. Now large corporations are following suit.

    BMW, Daimler and VW are banking on Germany’s ability to trace and contain the new coronavirus, and a healthcare system capable of extensive testing to identify possible carriers of the disease.

    This stands in stark contrast to the United States, where the head of the United Auto Workers union said on Thursday it was “too soon and too risky” to reopen auto plants in early May, citing insufficient coronavirus testing. German carmakers like BMW, Daimler and VW are banking on Germany’s ability to trace and contain the new coronavirus. European factories have changed work patterns, to incorporate more rigorous hygiene and cleaning intervals as well as more generous spacing between workers.

    As part of Volkswagen’s cartoon, the VW logo celebrates with a “thumbs-up” after defeating the virus.

    “On Monday, the German auto industry is back. We at Volkswagen have used the five-week pause to prepare ourselves for restarting production,” said VW works council chief Bernd Osterloh.

    BMW says it is cranking up engine manufacturing starting this Monday. BMW wants to reopen its British plant in Goodwood and its Spartanburg, South Carolina on May 4, followed by Dingolfing, Germany and San Luis Potosi in Mexico on May 11, depending on market demand, the carmaker said.

    Other plants in Leipzig, Regensburg, and Rosslyn South Africa will open after May 18, starting with a one-shift system the carmaker said. BMW’s factory in Shenyang, China has been producing since Feb. 17.

    Little relief for Europe’s carmakers Monday as BMW says sales have plunged and Peugeot-owner PSA says it’s raising new funds to help it see out the crisis.

    Workers need to wear masks and keep a distance to one another. The seating order on BMW factory buses has been changed, as has the process for entering and exiting the bus.

    Workers need to come to the plant already wearing their factory clothes, to avoid time stuck in changing rooms, and designated pathways in the plant have been altered to ensure there is “one-way” traffic only, BMW said.

    European factories have changed work patterns, to incorporate more rigorous hygiene and cleaning intervals

    Mercedes-Benz plants in Sindelfingen and Bremen are also making preparations to ramp up production.

    Unlike Italy and Spain, Germany never banned car production, though factories came to a standstill after authorities restricted the movement of people and ordered the closure of car dealerships, hitting demand.

    FiatChrysler will open its Sevel plant in central Italy on Monday, with plans to resume production at a rate of between 70%-80%.

    In France, Toyota this week restarted an assembly plant in Valenciennes and Renault began producing engines at its factory in Cleon, west of Paris. It will be followed by Renault’s Flins plant, west of Paris, where only 25% of the workforce is due to resume work.

    Sweden’s Volvo Cars reopened its Torslanda factory this week after overhauling its production processes.

    “The economy has come to a halt in Europe. A vaccine will take a long long time. It is important to restart in a safe way. Hopefully we can contribute to a normalization,” Volvo cars Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson told Reuters.

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