The Chrysler and Volkswagen brands increased sales and raised their average sales per franchise last year by about a third, even as they added franchises. Those percentage increases in sales per store — 36 percent for Chrysler and 32 percent for VW — were the largest among mainstream brands last year and were far ahead […]
Unconfirmed reports coming out of the Geneva Motor show this week suggest that Ford is planning to export its EcoSport SUV from India to supply the European and UK markets later this year. The vehicle went into production at Ford India’s Maraimalai Nagar plant near Chennai for the local market last year. A number of […]
Toyota Motor Corp. appointed former General Motors executive Mark Hogan to its board, installing the first foreigner since 2007 and the first outside director ever in an attempt to breathe fresh perspective into the mammoth Japanese carmaker. The move is part of a sweeping management overhaul that promotes Takeshi Uchiyamada to chairman, switches out more […]
The luxury car unit of Tata Motors is not only investing about £500 million in doubling the capacity of its Wolverhampton engine manufacturing plant, it’s also looking to build cars from scratch abroad.
In a move away from its previous board-controlled approach, Toyota has announced it intends to give greater autonomy and more local control to regional executives and managers so they can ‘provide superior customer-focused products and services’.
General Motors aims to cut the weight of its North American vehicles by as much as 15 percent by the 2016 model year, compared with GM’s current fleet, CEO Dan Akerson said today. GM estimates that a 10 percent reduction in curb weight cuts fuel consumption by about 6.5 percent.
Nissan Motor Co. will display a new Leaf electric car for the European market with a longer range and shorter charging time at the Geneva Motor Show. “The new LEAF has benefited from a raft of changes, including an improved range of 199 km (120 miles) and cut-in-half charging time,” Nissan said.
Volkswagen’s new Golf has been chosen Europe’s “Car of the Year 2013″ by a panel of 58 automotive journalists. “That’s a superb result, and we are very proud of it,” said Martin Winterkorn, chairman of Volkswagen’s management board. “Over 29 million customers have made the Golf into the icon that it is. The Golf will continue […]
Ford Europe CEO Stephen Odell says the uncertain Italian election results “possibly didn’t help” the European car market but he still expects some recovery this year. Europe’s recession has caused auto deliveries to plunge from 18 million in 2007 in Ford’s key 19 markets to around 13 million expected this year. Odell said Tuesday at the Geneva Motor Show […]
