News digest
Complied by Clive Goldthorp
1) SAIC Motor/MG and Roewe
Report: Owners consider selling Karmann
Automotive News Europe 9th June, 2008
Karmann currently builds the Mercedes-Benz CLK Convertible, but its future looks
uncertain...
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) -- The owners of Karmann are considering
selling the company. "The family is examining all strategic options,"
a spokesman told the Handelsblatt newspaper. The German supplier has been hit
by sliding sales as it struggles to obtain assembly contracts. A shareholder's
meeting was taking place Monday morning, a spokesman said. Handelsblatt said
the owners are already in talks with possible buyers, though a decision on the
matter will likely not be made before next month.
The 107-year old Osnabrueck, Germany-based company, famous for
making the Karmann Ghia car model, last year posted sales of about 1.5 billion
euros, some 16 percent less than in 2006, according to the newspaper. While
its business with convertible roofs is flourishing, the company has struggled
to win assembly contracts, and it may have to shut its painting and assembly
operations in 2010 if its earnings situation does not recover, the newspaper
said.
Karmann, which under a contract expiring next year assembles the
Mercedes-Benz CLK convertible in Osnabrueck, has already cut 500 of its 5000
Germany-based jobs and plans to eliminate another 1000 positions.
[Editor’s Note: AROnline recalls that
representatives of SAIC Motor Corporation Limited were rumoured to have visited
Karmann’s facilities in Germany earlier this year…]
Roewe 550 - on the market
19th July
China Car Times 11th June, 2008
Roewe dealers are apparently already receiving down payments
for the Roewe 550, which was unveiled at the Beijing Car Show several months
ago.
Prices have not yet been formally announced, it is estimated
that the prices will be in the region of 120,000rmb to 160,000rmb once launched
next month, however, deposits merely secure your place in the queue of collecting
your car.
The Roewe 550 is SAICs first self developed vehicle under the
Roewe brand, and continues to use some of the parts and designs from the Rover
75, which SAIC purchased when the ailing British marque, Rover, went bankrupt
in 2005.
2) MINI
Mini's mixed results: Sales soar, quality stumbles
Automotive News 9th June, 2008
BMW's little MINI brand came up big in May, but started June with
a full-sized dose of bad news. The brand had the biggest U.S. sales increase,
on a percentage basis, of any brand in May, up 52.8 percent from May 2007. Although
that was only 6,312 sales, it's still a sign of progress.
Then came the bad news: MINI had the second-worst ranking in the
2008 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study released last week.
The study tallies problems reported by owners of new vehicles in
the first 90 days of ownership. MINI owners reported 163 problems per 100 vehicles;
only the Jeep brand was worse, with 167.
MINI wasn't included in the study last year because of a small
sample size and was well below the industry average in 2006.
3) India Watch
Nano in track for October sales
just-auto.com 11th June, 2008
It's eagerly awaited and the countdown to the Singur rollout of
Tata Nano appears underway according to a report in India's Economic Times.
While there is no official confirmation from Tata, the Tata Motors dealer network
has it that orders for the Nano will kick off by mid-September, the newspaper
said, noting that company executives are 'totally hush, hush on the issue'.
When contacted, at least a dozen Tata Motors dealers in and around
Kolkata and Delhi told ET: "Bookings are likely to start in September,
on time, so that owners can take home Nano by October." Company dealers
have been urging customers to enquire by the first week of September to get
a fix on the commencement of Nano bookings. Tata Motors had earlier said the
Rs 1-lakh Nano would be sold in October during the Durga Puja festivities.
"Contact us during the first week of September and we would
be able to provide you with the exact date of the booking," said Tata Motors
dealers in Kolkata. Earlier, Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant had said:
"The rollout of Tata Nano from the Singur factory would coincide with Durga
Puja in October." According to the proposed schedule, trial production
is slated to start in June-July and regular production after two months. Commercial
production starts in October.
But the pressure is clearly on from the retail side to take orders
for the Nano as soon as possible.