EU-DIGEST

Labels: Car Industry, EU, Saab, Spyker, Sweden

Electric Car’s Connection to Goldman Sachs - by Jim Motavalli

Coda recently announced that it had raised $24 million, with an undisclosed portion coming from its new advisory board member, Henry M. Paulson, the former Treasury secretary, who, before that role, was the chairman and chief executive of Goldman Sachs. Coda’s chief executive, Kevin Czinger, is a former Goldman Sachs executive director, leaving in 1995. Mr. Czinger said in an interview that he brought Mr. Paulson into the company because he had “an interest in the environment and in China, plus he saw the business opportunity.”

Coda’s co-chairman, Steven Heller, is also a Goldman Sachs man. Until his retirement in 2002, he had served as the head of global mergers and acquisitions at Goldman Sachs and reported to Mr. Paulson. “He was my boss for many years, and I’ve known him for 20 years,” Mr. Heller said in an interview. “He’s a tough, rational investor who understands our business model and our strategy and wants to be part of it.”

The Coda electric car is based on the Saibao sedan from the Hafei Automobile Group in China. Coda has a joint venture agreement with its Chinese battery supplier, Tianjin Lishen Battery, but in June Coda said it would also seek federal funding to establish an American battery factory with Yardney Technical Products (which developed batteries for the B-2 bomber and NASA’s Mars exploration vehicles). Coda plans to have its car on the market (initially only in California) next year.

Labels: Alternative Energy, Car Industry, Electric Car, Goldman Sachs

Opel dealers seek 10 to 15 per-cent stake in carmaker

EU Car Industry - Opel dealers in Europe are offering to help the ailing German carmaker by investing 500 million euros (679 million dollars) in return for a 10 to 15 per-cent stake, the dealer group said Friday in Vienna. Meanwhile, there was opposition from the administration in the United States against Germany's plan to put Opel under temporary trusteeship of the state until an investor is found, according to media reports.All 25 national members of the Euroda association - except for Finland - had approved the dealers' offer at a meeting in Austria's capital, the group's chairman Jaap Timmer told reporters.'In return, we demand a fair equity share in the new company, representation in the supervisory board, and obviously, a fair financial return on our investment,' said Timmer, whose association also represents Vauxhall dealers.

Labels: Car Industry, EU

Ban petrol cars from 2015, says Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen - by Alister Doyle

A PROPOSAL to ban sales of new petrol-powered cars in Norway from 2015 could help spur struggling carmakers to shift to greener models, Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen said. "This is much more realistic than people think when they first hear about this proposal," she said, defending a plan by her Socialist Left Party to outlaw sales of cars that run solely on fossil fuels in six years' time. "The financial crisis also means that a lot of those car producers that now have big problems ... know that they have to develop their technology because we also have to solve the climate criss when this financial crisis is over," she said. "That is why we would like a ban from 2015."

Labels: Alternative Energy, Car Industry, Economy, Europe, Norway

(Reuters)The European Union has closed a loophole that would have allowed car manufacturers to continue putting climate-damaging chemicals in air conditioners of new vehicles beyond a 2011 ban, a Commission document showed. The move aimed to help the EU meet its commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto protocol, the United Nations' main tool against climate change. The EU ruling also opens up a new market for greener refrigerants, with industry giant Honeywell International (HON.N) pitching its HFO-1234yf coolant against rival carbon dioxide-based systems, such as that of Austria's Obrist Engineering.

Labels: Car Industry, Climate Change, EU

The Nano

For the complete report from the NYTimes.com click on this link

World’s Cheapest Car: Boon or Bane? - by James Kanter

For huge numbers of people in India the imminent introduction of the world’s cheapest car – the Nano – is a boon to families all over the developing world that currently speed around town on overloaded two-wheelers, often with an infant perched precariously on someone’s lap. People across India have been saving money for months with the goal of purchasing the car, made by Tata Motors, a branch of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group, and which will be priced at about euro 1,500 (US $2500). For many, it represents a leap, overnight, from the indignity of two-wheeled motor scooters to the relative luxury of four wheels and a roof.

Note EU-Digest: The specs of the Nano are: * Length: 3.1 metres* Height: 1.6 metres * Width: 1.5 metres * Engine: Rear-wheel drive, 2-cylinder, 623 cc, multi-point fuel-injection petrol engine. Engine is rear mounted. Tata said it was the first time a 2-cylinder gasoline engine was being used in a car with single balancer shaft. * Safety: Tata said the Nano has an all sheet-metal body, with safety features such as crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat-belts, strong seats and anchorages, and the rear tailgate glass bonded to the body. Tyres are tubeless. * Environment: Tata said tailpipe emission performance exceeded current regulatory requirements, and the Nano had a lower overall pollution level than two-wheelers made in India. It said high fuel efficiency (20 km/litre) ensured low carbon dioxide emissions.

Labels: Car Industry, India, Nano

BMW rocket science technology applications in future cars ?

Reuters/Engineers at the BMW's high tech experimental lab in Palo Alto, California are attempting to adapt the thermoelectric system for cars that NASA scientists employ to help power their deep space probes navigating the far reaches of the solar system, BMW's director of vehicle integration Hans Rathgeber told Reuters. Rathgeber said simple physics prevents a conventional combustion engine from ever exceeding one-third efficiency. A motor with an output of 200 kilowatts (kw) generally creates 400 kw thermal energy as a waste by-product. `Recycling this abundant energy source would require replacing the plutonium in a RTG with a non-hazardous material that conducts electricity while resisting heat, not an easy task since most metals become hot when a current is applied to them. Simply put, a charge is induced when you heat and cool two separate ends of a closed circuit. The amount of electricity generated is proportionate to the difference in temperature at the two points -- a property known as the Seebeck Effect.

"I firmly believe that when you look at this technology in 20 years, this will be the key issue that will replace everything else," said Rathgeber.

Labels: Alternative Energy, BMW, Car Industry, EU, thermo electric energy

"US Consumer - still living in a dream world" - Lower gas prices send buyers after big cars again - by Chris Woodyard

Gyrating gas prices are playing havoc on auto industry planners, who've been adding small cars to their lineups, even as customers are showing more interest again in bigger vehicles. New Chrysler small cars expected from a deal with Italy's Fiat hatched last week won't arrive for up to two years, says Chrysler President Jim Press, but even if they were showing up now, it wouldn't matter much. Press says the company's full-size Dodge Durango SUV is in the shortest supply among all the vehicles sold by Chrysler. Yet the automaker decided last year when gas prices were high to phase out the product out of fear buyers would shun it. The turnabout "shows the fickleness of the market," says Press, speaking after a J.D. Power and Associates conference here for auto dealers.

Note EU-Digest: The above report also shows that most US consumers are still living in a dream world.

Labels: Car Industry, consumers, US Economy

Portugal Commits To Huge Electric Vehicle Deal - by Alan Harten

Nissan and Renault France have signed a historic agreement with Portugal for the sale of electric vehicles, in order to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emission levels by around 20%. This would assist the country in reaching the European Unions emissions regulations by 2020. The deal calls for the two car manufacturers to begin delivery of large numbers of electric vehicles at the beginning of 2011.

As part of the agreement, Portugal will build over 300 charging stations which will be completed in 2010 before the first vehicles arrive, avoiding the chicken and egg situation that is prevalent in most other countries where electric vehicle sales are held back by a lack of places to charge the cars.

Labels: Car Industry, Emission reduction, EU, Innovation, Portugal

Crisis deepens for carmakers as forecasts are slashed in Europe - by John Reed

The crisis unfolding in car-making on both sides of the Atlantic deepened yesterday, as three of Europe's biggest producers slashed their profit forecasts for this year and General Motors and Chrysler announced more job cuts. In Europe, Daimler and Fiat warned of sharply slowing demand for cars this year. For the first time, Renault also cut its operating margin forecast, the most closely watched metric of Carlos Ghosn's three-year Commitment 2009 plan for the French carmaker as chief executive. "The crisis is here, and it is hitting the real economy," said Patrick Pelata, Renault's chief operating officer. "It is hitting automobiles, and therefore it is hitting Renault."

Labels: Car Industry, EU

Labels: Car Industry, EU

VW Twin Drive Is German for Electric car - by Chuck Squatriglia

Volkswagen is moving right along with its plan to put a plug-in hybrid on the road by 2011, road-testing a "Twin Drive" Golf that goes 30 miles on lithium-ion battery power alone. The proof-of-concept test mule roaming Berlin uses a diesel-electric drivetrain, but VW says the production model will ditch the 1.4-liter turbodiesel in favor of a 1-liter turbocharged gasoline engine. Although the VW engineers discussing Twin Drive during the debut of the sixth-generation Golf called the engine a "range extender" -- the same term GM uses for the gasoline engine in the Chevrolet Volt -- it's not.

The engine in VW's Twin Drive system actually drives the wheels, whereas the engine in the Volt only charges the battery as it approaches depletion. Be that as it may, the plug-in Golf runs on electricity alone to about 30 mph, at which point the engine takes over, according to the engineers who told Motor Trend about the system.

Labels: Almere, Car Industry, Electric Car, EU, Volkswagen

Europe Goes For Some Va-Va-Voom - Parmy Olson

Wednesday was a blowout day for European carmakers, as several big names astounded markets with stronger than expected profits and stable outlooks for the rest of the year, in seeming defiance of Western Europe's current economic malaise.

Labels: Car Industry, EU

Russia has become Europe's largest automotive market after year on year sales grew 41 percent in the first six months of 2008, according to a survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC.) In this period, 1.65 million cars were bought in Russia compared to 1.63 million in Germany, which was previously Europe's largest market. It is foreign brands that have been driving the expansion, with a 54 percent increase in the number of imports. In contrast, Russian brands only made up a quarter of all the cars sold in Russia according to the PWC report.

Labels: Car Industry, EU, Russia

Strong Demand for European Cars in Asia and Latin America

Growth in the emerging economies of Asia and Latin America helped to boost sales for Peugeot Citroen after it said the situation in Western Europe was continuing to decline. Europe's second-biggest carmaker yesterday warned of a worsening in Western European car market and forecast a four per cent decline in vehicle sales for the whole of 2008. In view of this, the French company said it was now focused on developing its growth markets - the Mercosur area in south America, China, Russia and Eastern Europe - where it still saw the potential for double-digit growth. Even so, Peugeot, second only to Volkswagen in passenger car sales in Europe, said the economic climate remained tough.

Labels: Car Industry, EU

Labels: Car Industry, EU, Volkswagen

Labels: Car Industry, EU

For the complete report from the International Herald Tribune click on this link

Czech carmaker Skoda reports almost 16 percent rise in 1Q sales

Czech carmaker Skoda Auto AS, a unit of German manufacturer Volkswagen AG, said Monday its sales in the first quarter of 2008 rose 15.7 percent on the year. Skoda Auto sold a total of 173,474 cars in the first three months of the year, the company said in a statement. "The first quarter results were also positively influenced by growing demands on the markets of eastern Europe and China," the statement said. It said it sold 27,461 units in the eastern European region, up 38.6 percent from the same period last year. Skoda Auto also delivered 16,212 cars in the period to China, where sales began in June. Skoda Auto delivered more than 27,000 cars there in 2007. Skoda Auto delivered a record 630,032 cars in 2007. It said it aims to boost annual car output to 1 million by 2010 and to 1.5 million in 10 years.

Labels: Car Industry, EU, Skoda, the Czech Republic

Strike Ends At Romania’s Renault Plant

Employees at Romania’s Renault-owned Dacia carmaker have ended their three week strike. After many rounds of negociation, Dacia`s administrators offered a rise of Lei 300 (€ 85) to be paid to workers from the period dating from 1 January 2008 and an additional Lei 60 (€ 17) to be paid from from 1 September. Every employee will get a bonus of at least Lei 900 (€ 257) annually.

Labels: Car Industry, EU, Renault, Romania

Industry Optimism at German Auto Sales

German domestic auto sales grew by 17 percent in the first two months of the year, the country's auto industry said Tuesday. Some 449,400 new vehicles were registered in Germany in January and February, according to industry group VDA. VDA chief Matthias Wissmann said the figures were a further sign the German economy is picking up this year. "If this continues, then we're out of the trough," Wissmann told journalists on the sidelines of the Geneva Auto Show.

Labels: Car Industry, EU

Italy - New Bravo engine boosts Fiat's green credentials

A new diesel engine, introduced initially for use in the Bravo range, has again demonstrated Fiat Group’s commitment to the production of increasingly environmentally-friendly cars. Fiat’s new 1.6 MultiJet 16v unit, announced just last week, promises sparkling performance, outstanding torque, increased noise suppression and lower running costs for the Bravo range. The addition also makes Bravo the first car in its category to be fitted with a Euro 5-compliant engine, well ahead of the 2009 deadline.

Labels: Car Industry, Fiat, Italy

The North Bay Nugget - EU- French Car Industry: Louis Renault - by Steven Reive

Louis Renault; Of all the brilliant people who acquired patents for inventions and built empires, he was one of the most successful, but also one of the most tragic. Born in February 1877 to a wealthy family of Paris merchants, Renault was the last of five children but the first one interested in all things mechanical. He could wrap his mind around any idea. Electricity and engines were his passion and, during a time of hectic technological change, he was on the cutting edge. He was intuitive and practical. It was obvious he was different.

Renault failed his school entrance exam but by the time he turned 20 he had converted his De Dion-Bouton tricycle into a small, four-wheeled vehicle. The "direct drive" followed, the first gearbox that instantly eliminated the transmission chains and cogs that had been used until then. A year later, on Christmas Eve, Renault was so confident his new invention would work, he bet a group of friends he could climb the 13-degree slope of the Rue Lepic on the way to Montmartre, the highest hill in Paris. He made the climb and took cash deposits for 12 orders. Within a few months, Renault had established a patent for the direct-drive system. Within a decade, every manufacturer was using it.

Labels: Car Industry, EU, France, Renault

A Slice of Europe Shows Up in Detroit - by Justin Couture

Ford's Verve sedan has just made the trip across the Atlantic and is starring at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. This is a big deal for Ford, considering the brand is one of the only major players in the industry not to cater to the subcompact segment, a field that's growing in popularity by the day. It's a big deal for other reasons too, as this B-segment car is one of the first strong signs of the amalgamation of Ford's global efforts in terms of its engineering, design and styling. What's being shown at Detroit is the version of the Verve that Ford would sell here in North America, if it decides to do so. It has the preferred body style of the North American market place – the four-door sedan – although the appearance of the car follows the European “kinetic” design philosophy, with the shape of the front and back ends looking very similar to that of the Mondeo and S-Max, two popular and critically acclaimed European products.

Labels: Car Industry, EU, US

Tata Nano: The $2500 Tata Nano, Unveiled in India

After months of rumors and tantalizing leaks -- and as we first told you earlier this week -- Indian automaker Tata Motors has finally unveiled the Tata Nano -- its already legendary $2,500 (1-lakh)car. As expected, the car that Tata claims will change the face of not only the Indian car market, but the global auto industry will be a four door, five seat hatch, powered by a 30 HP Bosch 624 cc four stroke engine mounted out back and mated to a CVT. That makes the Nano the first time a 2-cylinder gasoline engine will be used in a car with a single balancer shaft. The Nano's also expected to get 54 US miles per gallon. Yes, but will it blend?

Labels: Car Industry, India, Nano, Tata

Resistance to Europe's Emissions Plan - by Leo Cendrowiccz

"Passenger cars account for about 12% of overall E.U. carbon dioxide emissions and emissions from transport are continually increasing," said E.U. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas. "The aim of the legislation is to reduce CO2 emissions from cars in order to help fight climate change." The proposals come just days after a U.N. agreement in Bali on the next stage of global climate change negotiations after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. The E.U. executive says that if Europe is to stake a credible claim for leadership on climate change, it will have to show serious resolve in cutting car emissions, the main gas blamed for global warming.

While French and Italian carmakers cut their average emissions by 1.6 percent between 2005 and 2006, emissions from German cars actually increased by 0.6 percent. "Germany's fine automotive engineers should be focusing on making cars leaner and more fuel efficient," said T&E director Jos Dings. "Sadly, based on recent progress, they mostly seem to be intent on building ever heavier, larger and more gas-guzzling cars that simply don't belong in the 21st century." The car industry employs 2 million Europeans and indirectly supports another 10 million in related industries. Europe is clearly a key world player: of the 46 million passenger cars produced globally, 38% are made in the E.U.

Labels: Car Industry, Environment: climate change, EU

French, Italian and Japanese car manufacturers made the most environmentally friendly automobiles for sale in Europe last year, while two of Germany's biggest auto makers lagged near the bottom of the industry, according to a study commissioned by a Brussels environmental group and based on data collected by European governments.

The study, commissioned by the European Federation for Transport and Environment, and carried out using European vehicle-registration data that individual countries submitted to European Union regulators, said France's PSA Peugeot-Citroën SA had the lowest average levels of carbon dioxide emissions among car makers in 2006. The company's cars emitted an average 142 grams of CO2 per kilometer, according to the study.

Labels: Car Industry, EU, Pollution and the environment

General Motors mulls plant in Central Europe

US car maker General Motors Corp says it is considering setting up a manufacturing plant in Central and Eastern Europe. The group has launched a study that will look at seven Central and Eastern European countries including Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania.

Labels: Car Industry, EU

Can U.S. Adopt Europe's Fuel-Efficient Cars? - by Mike Spector

Whether by presidential order or congressional mandate, car makers in the foreseeable future will likely have to build fleets that average about 35 miles per gallon. But what kinds of cars and trucks will gasoline-guzzling Americans drive to achieve that average?

Vehicles in Europe meet the magic average of 35 mpg. But there are aspects of the European model that, for now, make it less likely to work easily in the U.S. For one thing, cars in Europe are more expensive, pound for pound, and typically far less powerful than the vehicles Americans have come to expect.

In the U.S. today, about 70% of car and truck sales sport six- or eight-cylinder engines. In Europe, 89% of vehicles sold have a four-cylinder or smaller engine, according to the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers.

Labels: Car Industry, EU

Chinese cars gun for European market - but are not there yet?

For the first time in its long history the Geneva International Motor Show, which opened last week, is playing host to a Chinese manufacturer. Brilliance, based in Shenyang, is looking to use the event as a springboard for cracking the Swiss and European markets. But are motorists ready to buy a Chinese car?

According to the French language version of Switzerland's Automobile Review magazine, up to 80 per cent of Chinese car models are affected by more or less serious faults within the first six months. It will probably still be another decade before the Chinese really break into the European market some say. But this still begs the question as to why they would want to do so when they are sitting on such a huge, untapped market back home.

Labels: Car Industry