Don’t look now but Lamborghini is planning to invade the luxury car industry or as reports would have it. The funny thing is that I have always looked up to the Lambo as a luxury car in itself, though on a different level. And if the Italian car manufacturer’s intent is for real, expect the big leap to give Porsche and Aston Martin to be in for some good competition for their concept luxury cars.

What will the luxury Lambo have to offer? Well here are some of the things to watch out. The luxury model will be equipped with an all wheel-drive transmission and a V10 engine. It will come in a four-door sedan based on the Estoque concept. On whether the rumor is for real or not, the idea is not far-fetched.

(Source) Auto Spies

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Many Ferrari lovers are eagerly awaiting the next release of the Italian car manufacturer and thanks to this site, we catch a glimpse of the latest Ferrari model, the F450. The Ferrari F450 is expected to replace the previous F430, promising more power and improved looks.

Official performance numbers have not been released as this car is still in the hush – hush mode but the car is rumored to have a new 4.5 liter Ferrari V8 engine that will sound like pure heaven to any motoring enthusiast.

New improved dynamics and a rear diffuser should also be fitted to the new Ferrari F450 giving it one very exotic shape.

(Source) Lux Velocity

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Toyota Motor Corp. sets the records straight. They are offering to help provide hybrid technology to General Motors but not sell it. In short, the deal means that Toyota will help them develop hybrid technology and not spill the beans on their own.

Apparently this had to be done since a lot of people were thinking that Toyota will be selling its hybrid formula to the embattled US car manufacturer. Toyota may be losing but is far from coming close to being bankrupt compared to GM.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported, without naming its sources, that Toyota would be ready to provide the technology if GM asks for it, even if the Detroit carmaker seeks bankruptcy protection.

But a Toyota official said the Japanese giant was “not considering it.”

(Source) Asia One

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Another car manufacturer seems to be picking up as far as business is concerned as they have announced that they will be hiring an additional workforce for its new Rolls Royce Ghost. The company plans to increase workforce by 50%, creating 150 new jobs that should be great news in the car industry.

The majority of the new positions have been created in the wood, leather and paint shops as well as the assembly areas. In addition there will be a number of new positions in the headquarter offices, also based at Goodwood. Rolls-Royce is keen to fill all positions within the next few months and anticipates drawing on the considerable pool of highly skilled automotive industry personnel available in the UK.

This welcome news is sure to put laid off workers and the jobless back on track. The number of laid off employees from the car industry has swelled and to date, a lot of them are still looking for a job. Apparently, Rolls Royce may be their best ticket for now so expect a lot of these jobless workers lining up to be possibly hired.

(Source) Easier.com

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GMAC, the former division from GM, is getting another shot in the arm with the injection of $7.5 billion in exchange for shares from the company. The move is expected to be good news for all Chrysler and dealers, an issue that has been plaguing the headlines due to the car manufacturer’s restructuring intent.

The Treasury has already allocated 5 billion dollars to Gmac to increase its capital and 884 million dollars to GM to acquire Gmac shares. The American Treasury announced that it will ‘’soon” convert the 884 million dollars in privileged shares in ordinary shares, making it shareholder with a 35pct stake in Gmac. The 7.5 billion dollars loaned to Gmac include 4 billion which Gmac has to loan to Chrysler clients and dealers.

It looks like this development will address issues surrounding loans and the car industry. GMAC has been in sitting in pins and needles lately and with this new stimulus-plan like assistance from the US government, keep your fingers crossed that something should come out of it unlike the previous one which seemed to produce nothing beneficial for anyone.

(Source) AGI

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It looks like the UK car scrappage theme is leading the way towards new hope for car sales. Yesterday, Mazda was the car manufacturer that was getting back on its feet and now Chevrolet unveils its own program, offering a great deal that should lure in potential buyers for their Chevrolet Epica saloon and Chevrolet Captiva.

Chevrolet is offering the Chevrolet Epica saloon under the scheme from only £10,495 on-the-road and the Chevrolet Captiva from only £13,495, subject to a customer’s vehicle qualifying for the discount. To qualify, it must have been registered before August 31st 1999, have a valid MoT certificate and been registered to the same person as the all-new car for at least 12 months prior to being traded in as scrap.

Now how is that for a great deal? If things look up, don’t be surprised if other car manufacturers devise a trade-in deal of their own soon. Soon we may see a car scrappage scheme pricing war on the horizon which should benefit consumers all the more!

(Source) Carpages

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Toyota Motors continues its nosedive sales reports and is expecting worst thing to come. With dozens of factories unused, the global downturn is making life easier for the Japan-based car manufacturer, comparing profitable years with a large loss of $6.9 billion in the final quarter.

The world’s biggest automaker reported a January-March operating loss of 682.5 billion yen ($6.9 billion), versus a 396.7 billion yen profit a year earlier but in line with a consensus estimate for a loss of 689 billion yen in a survey of 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

The global economic downturn that has battered demand for cars and pushed U.S. rival Chrysler [CBS.UL] into bankruptcy has hit Toyota badly as it went from rapid expansion to overcapacity almost overnight.

Toyota posted its first-ever consolidated operating loss last year after a record profit the year before.

(Source) Reuters

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You know this would be coming. A ban on future gas-powered cars seems likely to happen one of these days and if this proposal from Finance Minister Kirstin Halvorsen is any indication, it may soon happen right on Norway’s very own turf.

“This is much more realistic than people think when they first hear about this proposal,” she told Reuters, 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,” she said, during an exhibition in Oslo of electric and biofuel-powered cars during which she raced a red and white Mitsubishi electric car around a course against several other politicians.

The question here is, who is really in the pressure cooker? Would it be the consumers or the car manufacturer/s? The intent is good but it seems that declaring something like this needs more than just a plain proclamation.

(Source) Windsor Star

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Runna officially becomes the 3rd Iranian car to be introduced in the market as Irah Khodro Company (IKCO) officially unveiled the vehicle which is set to hit the market by March 2010. The compact car, affordable to Iranian families, has been designed and manufactured by the giant automaker.

The automaker claims the car meets Euro IV and V standards which deal with air pollution and the Pedestrian Impact safety requirement. Runna comes with an efficient 1.6-liter engine in its launch.

SRS airbags, anti-lock brakes with EBA & EBD, power steering, and power windows & side-view mirrors are some of equipment available to Runna owners. Iran’s second largest car-manufacturer, SAIPA, showcased a second all-Iranian passenger car called ‘Miniature’ in a ceremony attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday 18, 2009.

(Source) Press TV

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In another development related to the hard times most car manufacturing companies are in, Russia’s largest car manufacturer, OAO AvtoVAZ, was forced to cease operations due to lack of car parts. Apparently this comes in the light that OAO AvtoVAZ accumulated a large amount of unsettled promissory notes, which has forced its suppliers to stop car parts delivery.

Industry analysts said AvtoVAZ is piling up debt with suppliers who now want the company to pay them mostly in cash instead of the promissory notes that have been used to cover 80 per cent of invoices.

“The problem is you can’t exchange those promissory notes for anything, and at this point no one would take them as a collateral because everyone knows how deeply in debt AvtoVAZ is,” said Mikhail Pak, auto industry analyst with the Metropol investment bank.

(Source) The Canadian Press

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The relationship is synonymous to the law of demand and supply: no rentals means no new car purchases. That is the scenario at the moment as rentals are not spared from the economic plunge. With people opting to forego renting a car, car rentals seem to be finding little reason to purchase new cars.

With that, car manufacturer sales are hurting as well. A fine portion of their sales come from car rentals who invest in these cars for business. Car rental companies have seen demand for their services fall since the financial crisis erupted in September 2008, prompting businesses and consumers to cut back on travel spending.

With cars sitting idle in their lots, rental companies are much more inclined to scale back their fleets than to buy new vehicles.

(Source) AP

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While all car manufacturers are sulking from dropping sales, there is one car manufacturer that has reported an increase in sales. Rolls-Royce, a car famous for luxury and rarity has reported a 20% boom on new car sales in 2008. They had sold a record 1,212 cars for the fifth straight year, keeping in check their annual increase on car sales.

And if you think that is good news, wait until you hear the best part. With their booming success, they are going to need some workers under their fold.

Rolls-Royce is expected to need extra workers late in 2009 to cope with demand.

The success was a rare glimmer of hope for the battered UK car industry and follows Nissan’s decision to axe 1,200 jobs at its plant in Sunderland.

(Source) The Sun

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General Motors is busy working out a potential scheme that will allow them to reinvent the 2010 Buick LaCrosse in China. Apparently, China has a large demand for luxury cars, opening opportunities that can perhaps entice an aggressive approach towards matching actual car demands for the said auto line.

Buicks in China are often used to carry company executives, hence the attention to detail in the backseat in terms of comfort and accessories. Options on the LaCrosse include a rear-window power sunshade and two seatback display screens connected to a DVD system.

Supported with the proper figures, this development can be a big break for the embattled Detroit-based car manufacturer. If all goes well, then perhaps it can look forward to better days to improve their car sales.

(Source) MSNBC

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One thing that Volkswagen has to work on for its fleet of car models is the pricing scheme. Volkswagen is a familiar brand in the car industry and there is no doubt that consumers will always take a look at their models. However, when it comes to actual car deals, Volkswagen has had a knack of falling short of closing them. The reason? Pricing

The Passat CC typifies why it may not necessarily hit large sales volumes based on consumer preference. Volkswagen is just not price-friendly. Its pricing scheme competes with the luxury brands like BMW or a Mercedes Benz. So if you had a choice, it is obvious the potential car buyers would go with the familiar car brand names over a Volkswagen.

The Passat CC promises a lot of keen features. But it has to work on the pricing scheme it has come up with. From the looks of it, this model may find itself faltering in sales especially now that other car manufacturers are unveiling economical cars which carry practically the same features.

The CC is, alas, less car per dollar. A lot less. For the kind of money you could spend on a V6-powered CC, you could haggle your way into a pretty decent BMW, for instance, or drive off in a platinum-plated, mink-upholstered Cadillac CTS with enough left over to buy a Vespa.

Source

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A steering wheel issue has forced Japan car manufacturer giant Toyota to pull out approximately close to 120,000 cars for brands that was divided between new model cars Reiz, Crown sedans and Lexus Luxury models.

Cars that were manufactured back in February, 2005 until October, 2006 seems to be the ones affected, owing to a probable defect that came about in their tie up with the FAW group during this period.

Considering the number of cars being recalled, that is indeed a lot. Just some days back, Toyota was announcing that it would be incurring its first-ever annual operating loss. With this recall, this is bound to toggle the figures more to the red.

Source

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