Japanese automaker Toyota said on Wednesday its car sales in China, the world’s biggest auto market, fell 70.2% in February due to the coronavirus epidemic which has killed more than 2,900 people. Toyota, which is the first major global automaker to report its February sales in China, said it sold 23,800 Toyota and premium Lexus cars.
According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), China’s overall passenger car sales dropped 89% in the first 23 days of February.
Renault India has announced special offers for women customers this week starting on March 2, leading up to International Women’s Day on March 8, 2020. The offers extend to all women car owners and include a free vehicle check-up, 10 percent discount on labor, spare parts and several value-added services. Those opting for Renault Secure or extended warranty, as well as roadside assistance this week, can also avail of a 10 percent discount. The offers can be availed at any of the company’s dealerships across the country.
Renault is offering a free car pick-up and drop facility during this period. In addition, the automaker has also planned engagement activities at the dealers for its female customers and assured gifts as well. Renault says the week-long celebration is to acknowledge women and their contribution to society. The initiative will also hold special training sessions on vehicle maintenance and necessary checks with the objective of making women more self-reliant and independent.
Renault India has over 370 sales outlets across the country with 450 service touchpoints that include 257 service workshops and 215 workshop-on-wheels. With respect to new launches, the automaker has the Renault Duster 1.3-litre TCe turbo petrol version lined-up for launch by around April this year, while the Triber AMT is scheduled to arrive in the second half of 2020. As part of its new strategy for the Indian market, the French automaker has dropped the diesel engines from its line-up.
Bentley Mulliner has revealed the all-new Bacalar. The Grand Tourer marks a return to coachbuilding by Bentley Mulliner – the oldest coachbuilder in the world. Just 12 examples of the Bacalar will be made and each model will be handcrafted in Bentley Mulliner’s workshop in Crewe, according to the individual customer’s personal tastes. It is named after Laguna Bacalar in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, a lake renowned for its breath-taking natural beauty, continuing Bentley’s strategy of naming cars after remarkable landmarks which started with Bentayga in 2015.
It draws on design DNA from the beautifully sculpted, award-winning EXP 100 GT. The dramatic, tapered cowls at the rear hark back to the Barchetta sports cars of old. The distinctive, wraparound cockpit flows from a new, steeply angled center console seamlessly into the dashboard and doors.
These then wrap rearwards towards the semi-enclosed luggage compartment behind the two seats. The rear clamshell and top deck of the Bacalar are crafted from lightweight aluminum, while the doors and wings are carbon fibre. Combined with the use of three-dimensional printing, it has allowed designers to create an even more distinctive car.
The Bacalar sits on extended haunches, with the rear track 20 mm wider than a Continental GT, to provide a more muscular, sporting stance. They house bespoke, 22-inch tri-finish wheels with dramatic depth and contour on the road. The unique front and rear horizontal lights add the distinctive, dynamic character that was first seen on the EXP 100 GT.
The Bacalar features an enhanced version of Bentley’s peerless 6.0-litre, W12 TSI engine. The most advanced 12-cylinder engine which produces 650 bhp and 900 Nm of torque. An advanced Active All-Wheel-Drive System varies the torque split between front and rear wheels. It allows the Bacalar to use rear-wheel drive as much as possible during normal driving for optimum efficiency and dynamic performance.
New electric models will help BMW and Daimler cut emissions from the cars they sell by an average of 20% this year, the German automakers predicted on Tuesday, as they strive to meet tough new European pollution rules.
In a live-streamed event, following the cancellation of this week’s Geneva motor show due to the coronavirus epidemic, BMW presented the i4 four-door coupe with a driving range of up to 600 kilometers, one of a number of new electric models it hopes will stimulate demand for battery-driven cars.
In a separate webcast, Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler was also bullish about prospects for its growing range of electric cars.
The European Union set automakers a target to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 40% between 2007 and 2021, and has demanded a further 37.5% reduction by 2030.
But pollution levels from cars have been rising as customers increasingly chose to buy gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles (SUV), meaning automakers need to ramp up sales of electric cars if they are to avoid hefty fines from 2021.
They have a mountain to climb. Average fleet emissions for cars in Europe rose for the third year in a row in 2019, with electric vehicles making up only 6% of overall registrations, analysts at JATO Dynamics said on Tuesday.
BMW already has 500,000 electric and hybrid cars on the road and plans to double that number by the end of next year, including through the launch of the i4 and an iX3 SUV as well as an electric version of its Mini.
Sales of battery-electric and hybrid vehicles are already up by 43% so far this year, BMW Chief Executive Oliver Zipse said.
“We believe that we can keep the impact on profits under control,” he added, pledging that every car sold would be profitable.
BMW stuck to its outlook even as second-quarter earnings fell 20%, hit by currency headwinds and the rising cost of manufacturing electric and hybrid cars to help the carmaker meet stricter emissions limits.
Electric cars are generally more expensive to build than petrol or diesel-powered vehicles. But BMW said it was saving money, including by delaying the development of a next-generation Mini, to free up resources for the electric campaign.
“If a vehicle architecture does not need to be renewed, then we do not do it,” Zipse said, adding the Mini was being renewed constantly by updating the powertrain and infotainment options. Around 7,000 electric Mini’s have been ordered so far, he added.
Daimler, meanwhile, is promoting hybrid cars including a new CLA Shooting Brake, as well as the Mercedes-Benz EQC electric SUV and an electric van, the V-class, as part of its drive to reduce emissions by 20% this year.
“We are within striking distance of meeting the target,” Chief Executive Ola Kaellenius said. Mercedes-Benz plans to build 50,000 EQC vehicles this year.
Kaellenius declined to comment on the profitability of electric vehicles. “We don’t communicate individual margins. Electrification is a headwind,” he said.
Separately, Volkswagen announced the launch of the ID4, a fully electric SUV with an operating range of up to 500 kilometres, which will go on sale in Europe, China and the United States, and start production this year.
General Motors Co executives on Wednesday will tackle one of their toughest tasks: Persuading investors that a Detroit automaker can catch up with Elon Musk and Tesla Inc as vehicles go electric.
Even as global markets reel from coronavirus fears, Tesla’s valuation is outpacing that of GM and most other legacy automakers. On Tuesday, Tesla’s market cap hovered around $144 billion, more than three times GM’s $45 billion.
GM is by far the larger manufacturer by volume and generates more cash and profits. But in the electric vehicle market, Tesla is the leader.
Carmakers unveil new models online as part of a digital press day after the cancellation of the Geneva motor show, due to the new coronavirus outbreak. Ciara Lee reports
Last year, Tesla sold 367,500 electric vehicles globally, including 223,000 in the United States. GM sold just 16,400 Chevrolet Bolt EVs to U.S. buyers and 60,000 Baojun E-Series models in China with joint venture partner SAIC Motor.
GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra and President Mark Reuss have ramped up electric vehicle development over the past three years, focusing on a proprietary battery, a low-cost flexible vehicle design and a blueprint for high-volume production, mainly in China.
The company has revealed its electric vehicle strategy in incremental steps – announcing the Hummer brand will be reborn as an electric pickup and partnering with Korean battery maker LG Chem to build a $2.3 billion battery plant near a shuttered GM car plant in Lordstown, Ohio. GM is now trying to put the broader picture into focus for investors.
GM has said it aims to reduce the cost of battery cells – the single greatest expense in electric vehicles – to less than $100 per kilowatt-hour. That in turn could slash the cost of battery packs for electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Bolt EV by up to 45%, experts say.
GM is also developing an advanced battery, in partnership with LG Chem and Japan’s Honda Motor Co, that will be smaller than current EV batteries, can be charged more quickly and will provide more energy.
Musk has told investors that Tesla has battery cost and range breakthroughs in the works that it will describe at a “Battery Day” in April.
Barra has said GM plans to spend more on electric vehicles than on gasoline-powered cars over the next five years. But it has not put a figure on how much it will invest in its efforts to rival Tesla and traditional competitors such as Volkswagen AG or Ford Motor Co as the electric vehicle market develops.
Barra has, however, promised that GM will make money on electric cars by 2021.
OCBC customers can now apply and get approval for car loans within 60 seconds, following similar moves made by two other local banks.
The faster approval process is made possible due to leveraging Singapore’s national data repository, MyInfo, and the bank’s real-time KYC (know your customer) and credit assessment system. The lender said its latest digital solution will cut the hassle of filling up hard-copy forms, simplifying a process that traditionally takes a few working days.
Not only is the (conventional) car loan application process time-consuming, but customers also have to share sensitive personal information such as income details with the sales representative. On top of that, approval by the financier may take a day or even a few days on a case-to-case basis, the bank said in a statement.
In the automotive industry, around 95 percent of car purchases and car loans are completed with the help of car sales representatives, and these representatives along with their customers typically need to complete a considerable amount of paperwork.
With the new process, customers need not share sensitive personal details with a third party under OCBC’s new car loan approval process. Instead, they will key in their personal details online using their own devices.
In July 2018, United Overseas Bank (UOB) launched what it says is the fastest digital loan solution for car buyers in Singapore, and announced a tie-up with Carousell, an online classified ads marketplace. Similarly, DBS also leverages on MyInfo to simplify the process of applying for car loans on their website.
Shares of Tesla Inc fell as much as 14% on Thursday on concerns about the impact of the coronavirus on the electric-car maker’s vehicle registrations in China. Data from LMC Automotive showed that 3,563 Tesla vehicles were registered in China in January, up from 853 vehicles a year earlier, but down from the 6,613 vehicles registered in December. Tesla registrations fluctuate significantly from month to month, LMC data showed. The automaker typically delivers many more vehicles in the final month of a quarter than in the first month. In October 2019, Tesla owners registered just 763 vehicles, LMC data showed.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. The selloff in Tesla shares highlights the growing concern about the health of the Chinese auto market as the government and companies contend with the disruption of the coronavirus outbreak.
China Association of Automobile Manufacturers had earlier said that overall vehicle sales fell by almost a fifth in January, hurt by Lunar New Year holidays that started earlier than last year and by the coronavirus disruptions.
The electric-car maker said earlier this month that the outbreak would delay deliveries of its Model 3 cars in China.
While the virus originated in China’s Wuhan province late last year, local governments began imposing travel curbs and warning residents to avoid public spaces in the last two weeks of January. Tesla shares were trading down at $685 and were set for their fourth consecutive session of losses. Tesla’s stock has, however, jumped about 60% so far this year.
“The company has also placed colleagues who came in close contact with the infected employee in self-quarantine and taken steps to have them tested for possible infection,” Hyundai Motor said in a news release. The company added that it was disinfecting the factory.
Ulsan is less than an hour from Daegu, the epicenter of the outbreak in Korea.
Hyundai operates five car factories in Ulsan, which has an annual production capacity of 1.4 million vehicles, or nearly 30% of Hyundai’s global production. Hyundai employs 34,000 workers there in the world’s biggest car complex.
The factory that was shut down produces sport utility vehicles such as Palisade, Tucson, Santa Fe and Genesis GV80.
A factory run by Hyundai supplier Seojin Industrial had been closed after the death of a virus-infected worker there. It reopened Wednesday.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s top carrier, Korean Air Lines Co Ltd, said on Friday it would cut the number of flights to the United States in March.
It plans to check temperatures of passengers traveling to the United States before boarding and said it would not allow anyone with a temperature higher than 37.5 Celsius to fly.
It said it would expand these procedures to other routes.
One of its flight attendants who served the Incheon to LA route has tested positive for virus.
Audi Vietnam is recalling 618 Q5 SUVs to fix loose rear wheel fender trims that could be a road hazard if they detach.
The affected Q5 vehicles were manufactured between January 2017 and August 2019 in Mexico, according to Audi Vietnam’s filing with Vietnam Register, the vehicle registration, inspection and quality control agency of the Ministry of Transport.
Due to errors in the assembly process, a piece of the rear wheel fender trim may loosen during use and eventually detach from the SUV, and could become a hazard to other vehicles on the road, Audi Vietnam said in its filing.
Audi Vietnam said it has so far not recorded cases of the piece falling off, but urged customers to take their vehicles to Audi Vietnam’s authorized dealers as soon as possible, who will secure the trim piece free of charge. This would take about 30 minutes, the company said.
The recall program will take place from February 25, 2020 to February 25, 2023. Audi Vietnam said it will also service cars that were not officially imported but brought into the country individually (like diplomatic vehicles, for instance), upon receiving approval from the parent company.
Audi opened its first dealership in Saigon in 2008, and now possesses three dealerships, the other two in Hanoi and Da Nang. It does not publish official sales figures in Vietnam.
The 5th generation Honda City is all set to be launched in India in the next couple of months. We can now tell you that Honda Cars India will officially take the wraps off the new Honda City on March 16, 2020, and probably begin taking bookings for the new car the same day onwards. The launch date of the new Honda City is yet to be confirmed. The all-new Honda City will be quite similar to the Thailand-spec model, which was unveiled in Thailand, late last year. The car will have some India-specific changes incorporated into it, of course.
he new Honda City gets a sharper design and the front end too wears a fresh new look. There is a thick chrome bar on the grille and the headlamp cluster has been completely redesigned, having a jewel eye design. The front bumper gets a redesign as well and so do the tail lamps, carrying a signature u-shaped element.
The 2020 Honda City has grown in size as well and is now over 100 mm longer, while the width has increased by 53 mm. The height though is now lowered by a good 28 mm, making it look a bit sportier. Honda has shortened the wheelbase on the new City by 11 mm, despite the overall increase in length.
There will be 1.5-liter mild-hybrid petrol engine along with a 1.5-liter diesel unit and they will be BS6 compliant, right from day 1. Expect Honda to offer manual and automatic gearbox options as well!
The Honda City will go up against its traditional rivals, which are the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Hyundai Verna, Skoda Rapid, and the Volkswagen Vento.
Bentley took the wraps off the Continental GT Mulliner and will be showcasing it at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show as well. It will be a limited edition model and it will also be the flagship of Continental GT range. We all know Bentley for making uber-luxurious cars, but the Continental GT Mulliner is the next level, as far as comfort and exclusivity is concerned. Bentley says that this car is made for those who want an “even greater focus on beautiful details”. The new Continental GT Mulliner gets a new double-diamond grille, which looks gorgeous and is complemented by ‘Mulliner’ branded side vents with the silver-on-black diamond scheme.
Apart from that, the interior too gets the typical Bentley diamond-on-diamond quilting on the seats, door panels, and the tonneau cover as well. The threads are of different colors so as to accentuate the stitching. Each diamond gets exactly 712 stitches. There will be eight three-color combinations, all of which are custom made. The center-piece is the Breitling timepiece on the dashboard, which is finished in brushed silver and gets a quartet of chrome bullseyes offering a lovely bejeweled look. Other features include 7 different themes for mood-lighting along with illuminated tread plates and LED welcome lamps that project the Bentley logo on the ground as you step inside.
Each Continental GT Mulliner gets a ‘Naim for Bentley’ premium audio system which includes 18 speakers and two active bass transducers, driven by a 2,200 watt, 20-channel amplifier and also gets eight DSP sound modes with an active bass.
The Bentley Continental GT Mulliner can be specified with either the V8 or the W12 powertrains. The 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 motor enables the car to do a 0-100 kmph sprint in 3.8 seconds and reach a top speed of 333 kmph. The 4.0-liter Twin-turbo V8 Mulliner model does the 0-100 kmph sprint in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed of 318 kmph.
French car giant Renault said Monday it was filing a civil claim for damages against former CEO Carlos Ghosn over alleged financial misconduct.
“Renault has filed a legal action to assert its rights” the company said in a statement, adding that it reserved the right “to solicit damages with interest” from an investigation into numerous claims of financial misconduct in France.
On December 29, former Nissan, Renault boss Carlos Ghosn, who was under house arrest facing charges of diverting millions in company funds for his personal use, walked out of his house in Tokyo wearing a hat and a surgical mask.
Lawyers for Brazilian-born Ghosn, who jumped Japanese bail in December and is now in his native Lebanon, on Friday delayed a lawsuit seeking a hefty retirement payout for their client from Renault, saying the company had not given them enough time to prepare arguments.
Ghosn is seeking a 250,000 ($270,000) retirement payout, which Renault refuses to pay because it says he was forced to quit after his shock November 2018 arrest in Japan on multiple charges of financial wrongdoing.
The former industry titan claims he retired in due form of his own accord.
He faces a French inquiry into two parties he threw at the Palace of Versailles, including his opulent 2016 wedding, allegedly financed in part by Renault funds.
A party for his 60th birthday two years earlier, replete with musicians, a top chef, period costumes for attendees and a firework display ostensibly to mark 15 years of the Reault-Nissan alliance allegedly cost 530,000 euros.
Ghosn is also under investigation by France’s tax fraud office over suspicious financial transactions between Renault and its distributor in the Gulf state of Oman, and over contracts signed by Renault and Nissan’s Dutch subsidiary RNBV, the public prosecutor said last week.
In Japan, he still faces multiple charges including a claim he under-reported millions of dollars in salary as chairman of Nissan.
He has denied all the charges but fled while on bail before he could face trial.
Vietnam has scrapped the requirement for vehicle type approval certificates for car imports and eased customs clearance procedures.
On February 5 the government amended provisions of Decree 116, which had imposed stringent conditions on the assembly, import and maintenance of automobiles since 2018.
Importers no longer need to produce vehicle type approval certificates (VTAs) issued by authorities in the country of origin. VTAs, which confirm that production samples of a design meet specified performance standards, had been made compulsory by Decree 116.
Besides, imported cars no longer need to undergo rigorous quality tests if they are identical to previously imported vehicles that had been tested in the last 36 months.
Decree 116 had required each individual batch, without exception, to be tested at the time of import.
“Decree 116 was enacted to tighten quality control of imported cars,” the owner of a Japanese car dealership said. “But once it has fulfilled its mission to get businesses in line with Vietnam’s quality standards, VTAs and other such certificates become redundant.”
Immediately after Decree 116 came into effect on January 1, 2018, car imports plummeted 85 percent year-on-year in the first quarter as importers scrambled to procure the document.
Governments in Vietnam’s major car supplying countries such as Thailand and Indonesia, which had never issued this type of document before, had to start doing so to prevent losing exports.
According to industry insiders, Decree 116 was enacted as a non-tariff barrier to protect the domestic industry against a potential flood of car imports as a result of zero tariffs under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in 2018.
Businesses quickly adapted to the new regulations, and car imports picked up again in the second half of the year, and have been rising until now.
Unlike importers of Japanese vehicles, who took a lot of time to get VTAs, German carmakers such as Mercedes, Porsche, Truong Hai (BMW), Volkswagen, and Audi were not affected much since their country already issued the document.
However, stricter customs clearance procedures did slow down luxury car imports from Europe, and dealers had to delay delivery to customers.
“The removal of the VTA requirement and other customs procedures will not affect us too much other than reducing the time it takes to get our cars cleared by customs,” a German car dealer said.
The new regulation only applies to the import of unused cars, and Decree 116 still applies in full to second-hand imports.
According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), 4,281 completely built-up (CBU) cars worth $111 million were imported in January this year, down 35.4 percent year-on-year.
Overall car sales were down 52 percent from the previous month and 53 percent year-on-year to 15,787 units.
Tesla got approval from a German court on Thursday to continue to cut down forest near the capital Berlin to build its first European car and battery factory, in a defeat for local environmental activists.
The court said in a statement it had rejected urgent applications to stop the land being cleared of trees from several environmental groups, adding its ruling was final. It had temporarily halted the tree felling earlier this month.
The U.S. electric carmaker announced plans last November to build a Gigafactory in Gruenheide in the eastern state of Brandenburg that surrounds Berlin, a decision that was initially lauded as a vote of confidence in Germany.
However, local and national lawmakers were caught out by the strength of opposition to the Gigafactory, with hundreds of demonstrators protesting over what they say is the threat it poses to local wildlife and water supplies.
Lawmakers from Germany’s pro-business Christian Democrat and Free Democrat parties had warned that the legal battle waged against the Gigafactory would inflict serious damage on Germany’s image as a place to do business.
Great Wall Motor announced that it has signed an agreement for the purchase of General Motors’ manufacturing facility in Rayong, Thailand. This announcement is subject to government and regulatory approvals. Under a signed binding term sheet, GM Thailand and GM Powertrain Thailand legal entities, which include the Rayong vehicle assembly and powertrain facilities, will transfer to GWM. GM and GWM are targeting the end of 2020 to close the deal and hand over the site.
The acquisition of GM’s Thai Rayong plant will help the business development of Great Wall Motor in Thailand and the ASEAN market. Great Wall Motor will expand through the entire ASEAN region with Thailand as the center, and export its products to other ASEAN countries as well as Australia. Great Wall Motors’ investment will create more jobs in the local area, including direct and indirect employment and further enhance skill development in the automotive industry. GWM will also promote the development of the local supply chain, R&D and related industries, plus contribute more to the exchequer of both the local Rayong and Thailand governments.
Parker Shi, Vice President, GWM India said, “This agreement marks an important milestone in the overall scheme of things for Great Wall Motor in the ASEAN Region and is a testimony of our global expansion strategy that is now focused on South East Asia including India.”