We knew times were tough, but this takes the cake.

In a joint statement released late yesterday, Holden and Toyota announced that each will ‘gift’ their volume-selling models to the other in an arrangement that’s peculiarly reminiscent of the Holden Apollo/Toyota Lexcen debacle of the 1990s.

Holden will be sending its Commodore Toyota’s way, who will sell [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

While GM and Chrysler are no doubt pleased at the US Government’s approval of further short-term financial aid (think of it more as a stay-of-execution than anything else), Wall Street is reportedly hurting bigtime.

Concerns about the future of the US auto industry has driven share prices downward, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 199.92 [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

After posting a loss of €343 million last year and issuing a similarly grim sales forecast for this year, PSA Peugeot Citroen has announced that it has fired chief executive Christian Streiff.

Streiff’s dismissal came as no surprise to many industry commentators, as the former CEO has been accused of being unnecessarily abrasive in his dealings [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Back in the late 1990s, Nissan found itself in quite a predicament. It was suffering from declining sales, burdened by a bloated product catalogue and all but crippled by the Asian economic crisis.

Sound familiar? It should, give or take some details, Nissan was in a similar bind to that faced by America’s major automakers today.

Thankfully [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

After having spent an undoubtedly gruelling two weeks with President Obama’s automotive task force - most of it, most certainly, on ‘the rack’ - GM and Chrysler will now play host on home turf in Detroit.

The US Government task force has been sent to Detroit to get a closer, on-the-job look at the inner workings of America’s struggling giant [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday (US time) addressed a joint session of Congress for the first time since taking office, and in it he laid out his plans for the world’s largest economy, currently deep in recession.

In his address, which covered a range of critical issues confronting the troubled economy including healthcare and foreign debt, the [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

In another body-blow for the American auto industry, General Motors has announced that the new factory intended to build small-capacity powerplants for the upcoming Chevy Cruze and the 2011 Volt hybrid has been put on the backburner indefinitely.

The plant was earmarked to build the Cruze and Volt’s 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol four-cylinder motor, however cash-strapped [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

In another sign of trouble for an already crippled motor industry the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show may be cancelled. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (JAMA) reports a lack of participating car makers for this years show.

According to JAMA a number of manufacturers have missed the registration cut-off date for this years show. Although they won’t [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

The Federal Government today handed down its response to the Bracks Review of the Australian Automotive Industry at the Automotive Centre of Excellence in Melbourne. The Government’s response, ‘A New Car Plan For A Greener Future’, will provide a staggering $6.2 billion in assistance to local manufacturers over thirteen years. Of these grants, $3.4 billion [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

While GM and Chrysler are reportedly on the verge of tying the knot, the other member of the Detroit ‘Big Three’ is apparently considering going in the opposite direction.

Reports are circulating that Ford may soon sell off its controlling share in Mazda to boost its cash reserves and help insulate it from the economic [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

With the United States knee-deep in financial strife and its domestic auto industry still reeling from the impact of falling sales, a decreasing market share and the burden of rising healthcare costs for an aging worker population, it was inevitable that mumblings of a merger between some of America’s biggest automakers would crop up.

Now, according [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

The Minister for Innovation Industry Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, today released the Bracks’ Review of the Australian Automotive Industry.

Industry groups including FCAI (Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries), and peak retail industry body, VACC, have urged caution by the Federal Government in responding to the Report’s key findings.
“The automotive industry urges the Federal [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More