For the first time in Fiat’s 111-year history, Italy is no longer the brand’s number one market. The local market has been overtaken by Brazil, purchasing 750,000 cars a year to Italy’s 722,000. If any evidence was needed as to Brazil’s “emerging” market status, the stats speak for themselves. Italy’s purchases decreased by 0.5 percent, while Brazil’s increased by 12.6 percent.

That’s a big number which has left even CEO Sergio Marchionne surprised (figures of this kind were expected for Brazil, but further down the track). What’s more, Fiat seems to be on a winning formula for this South American market, taking out the number one spot for car manufacturers, too. Volkswagen follows, selling 695,395 vehicles and General Motors trails behind a little at 610,836 sales.

The results are not due to one particular model, but a combination of Fiat’s hard work over a number of years to build their presence in the Brazilian market, providing vehicles that customers want to buy, and new car tax incentives from the Brazilian government. By comparison, the Italian car market is likely to experience a slight decrease this year, which could get very costly if the government chooses not to continue scrappage schemes.

Source | Autoblog.it

Continue reading: Brazil becomes Fiat's biggest market

Opel experienced positive sales in 2009, reaching second place in its in local German market ahead of Mercedes and BMW. The results come despite the uncertainty over its possible sale and then reverse decision by General Motors to keep the precious European brand. While helped on the way by the German government, Opel still managed a sales increase of 31 percent.

Which begs the question of why GM was so bent on selling the brand in the first place. While we ponder that, 2010 is looking like a positive year with the new Opel Astra heading for success and new business plans on the table that should hopefully prove sensible.

Moving ahead, 2011 will see just one Opel sports model available in the range, in the form of the Opel Astra coupe. The coupe will be a true sports model, and not just a reinterpretation of the five-door version, and we could even see a possible re-birth of the Opel Calindra. Currently, the Opel Tigra and Opel GT are on stand by with no promises that they will appear on the product list next year.

Source | Auto Motor und Sport

Continue reading: Opel Astra coupe only sports model for 2011

Earlier this month, there had been whisperings that Toyota would lose its crown as the biggest car producer in the world, and that Volkswagen could take the number one spot. According to latest reports, though, Volkswagen still sits at number three on podium, behind Toyota at number one and General Motors at number two.

Despite coming in third, Volkswagen is closing the gap between it and Toyota, halving the difference of number of cars produced between the two in just 12 months. I can only imagine that this puts it very close behind General Motors. The explanation is that Volkswagen has suffered less in the economic crisis, probably meaning that Toyota and General Motors have been producing less than usual.

In the first nine months of 2009, Volkswagen lost just 5.5 percent of its sales volume, while Toyota went backwards by a full 20 percent, and General Motors by 17. Still, if Volkswagen were to become the number one of the world’s car makers, this would only happen in a few years’ time, being more than a million vehicles away from Toyota’s and General Motors’ figures. We’ll see what 2010 brings with a refreshed General Motors and Volkswagen gaining even more ground in Europe. We could still see the numbers change, although the traditional rivalry looks assured.

Source | Auto Motor und Sport

Continue reading: World's biggest car manufacturer: Volkswagen behind Toyota and General Motors

The European car market is changing, with Eastern Europe enjoying larger shares of production and manufacturing. The hugely successful Fiat 500, for example, is made in Poland, and Renault is now continuing this trend of moving manufacturing elsewhere with the announcement that the electric prototype Renault Fluence, first on show at the 2009 IAA Frankfurt motor show, will be produced in the Bursa factory in Turkey.

This announcement completes the various facilities destined to produce Renault’s electric cars, with the the Zoé and Kangoo Express Z.E. being made in France, the Twizy in Spain and the Fluence in Turkey. Production will commence in the first six months of 2011.

For Renault this is merely a natural step to take, as the Fluence will be assembled at the same facilities as the fuel version, meaning a quick start to the project and easy transition to the electric assembly function. However, Renault makes the point that this is also a cost measure, ensuring that the electric Fluence makes it to market with a competitive price tag.

Renault Fluence Z.E.

Continue reading: Electric Renault Fluence production in Turkey

According to reports, the possible arrival of the Hyundai Genesis Coupe in Europe has not been wholly exluded from company plans. The new rear wheel drive had not initially been intended for the old continent, but favourable reports from the media and general market interest mean Hyundai is reconsidering.

The Genesis Coupe debuted last year and has been a huge success, particularly in North America where it has been voted Car of the Year for 2009. There’s no denying it’s a sexy little number, and Hyundai is no doubt doing its homework as to its reception in Europe.

While Hyundai may still have some hurdles to get over in terms of the reputation of the old model, it seems the new Genesis Coupe has wiped the slate clean and has been very convincing, at least elsewhere in the world.

Hyundai Genesis coupé

Source | Autoweek.nl

Continue reading: Hyundai Genesis Coupe coming to Europe?

The Ferrari board of directors has expanded to include a surprise member from Abu Dhabi in the figure of Khaldoon Al Mubarak. The Italians are a little miffed, to say the least, proclaiming a headline of “An Arab on Ferrari’s board” and saying that this is the first time this has happened.

Al Mubarak is chairman of the Mubadala financing group from Abu Dhabi, and takes his place on the board along with Alessandro Gianni Baldi from Fiat, who are replacing Jean Todt and Ferruccio Luppi.

Ferrari recently released its sales figures for this year, down on last year’s, but has put a positive spin on the situation, highlighting that 2008 was a record year for Ferrari sales. The first nine months of this year were down 6.9 percent on the same period last year, though that figure in the last three months has reduced to 4.3 percent with earnings of 396 million euros.

Source | Autoblog.it and Quattroruote

Continue reading: Ferrari board gets new member from Abu Dhabi

In very surprising and very brief news, workers on the Alfa MiTo line at Mirafiori in Italy have been laid off. According to reports from Milan daily Il Corriere, about 700 workers will be going home from the last week of October. An official statement from Fiat is expected sometime this afternoon. My only guess is that the Italian labour market and automobile market is still keenly feeling the economic crisis, or it is something to do with production at that particular plant, but more news to come. Stay tuned.

Continue reading: Alfa MiTo workers get laid off

Despite restructing plans for Toyota, the company has suffered sales losses in the European market. Sales for the first half of 2009 were down 26 percent, showing that the auto industry across the globe is still feeling the economic downturn.

The figures show some interesting facts, though, with the Yaris being the best selling model. It is still down 19 percent on last year’s sales, with 109,403 units sold. Tadashi Arashima, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe has said: “On the plus side, our sales in Western Europe have been bolstered by government stimulus packages and our ability to adjust production volumes swiftly.”

Toyota is planning new and different models for Europe, to become a niche player in hybrid players, moving away from its previous full product line offerings.

Source | Autocar

Continue reading: Toyota sales in Europe down

In what I think is quite an amazing piece of news given the cynicism of the Western world towards Indian manufacturing, the small Indian city car, Nano, has passed European crash test regulations. The tests were undertaken in Britain, where car safety laws are more stringent then in the Nano’s home country.

With the Tata Nano currently available only in India with a price tag of about 1800 pounds, this small crash success could mean we’ll see “Western” versions soon selling in the US and Europe. India is set to adop the strict NCAP testing rules in three years’ time, and Tata executives are very happy with the results.

Only time will tell whether the car will be successful in Western markets, but after Autocar’s test drive endorsement and these new results, in a world of economic crisis that may change consumer patterns, the car is well on its way to being, at the least, acceptable.

Source | Autocar

Continue reading: Tata Nano passes European crash test

Opel looks as though it will escape some of its shared fate with General Motors’ US operations as the German Government helps out, and new owners Magna International and Sberbank step in with finances.

Plenty of controversy surrounds the deal, though, as despite saving nearly 25,000 Opel jobs in Gernmany, there was political divide over selling the company to a Canadian auto parts manufacturer and a Russian bank.

Despite a new Fiat deal with Chrysler in the US, the Italian manufacturer lost its rival bid for Opel to keep the company in European hands. President of GM Europe, Carl-Peter Forster, will run the new company, which is receiving an extra 1.5 billion euros in funding from Sberbank.

Continue reading: General Motors Europe and Opel: new owners amidst controversy

We’ve had more than one example recently of the money that’s present in the Middle East, proving that it could be more than the Western World ever imagined. After Aabar Investment from Abu Dhabi bought a 9.1 percent share in Daimler AG a few weeks ago with a 1.95 billion euro investment, another possible move from the Middle East is underway.

Reports have a sheik from Qatar seeking to enter Porsche share holding, with a double figure share being sought. The money that could come from the Arab world would give Porsche some needed investment, as the company has 3.3 billion euro credit payment on the cards, and plans to increase its stake in the VW group by another 25 percent.

Only last month Porsche refinanced 10 billion euros of its debt, and is now seeking another 2.5 billion euros. Expanding its traditional sports car line to include additional (and successful) models such as the Cayenne and Panamera, has Porsche looking even more competitive. And that expansion is likely to require more funds.

Source | Autoblog.com

Continue reading: Qatar looks to Porsche stake

Despite crawling back to being down just nine percent in March, the European car market for the first quarter in 2009 hasn’t seen any vast improvements. The January to March figures show a slow down at negative 17.2 percent, with 3,439,720 cars sold in the period, compared to 4,154,778 at the same time last year.

Some secondary markets saw completely catastrophe, with Iceland down 91.3 percent, Island down 64.9, and even Eastern Europe, considered a growth market, down with Latvia -77.9, Lithuania down 70.2, Estonia -64.2 and Romania -60.7 percent.

For the bigger markets, there were still significant downturns in the market with Spain at minus 43.1 percent, Great Britain down 29.7 and in the Italian market, there was a reduction of 19.1 percent. France was down 3.9 percent, with Germany the only country actually making an increase (thanks to incentives) of 18 percent.

Continue reading: European car market suffers in economy slow-down