EUROPE
VIDEO
 | |||
|
| |||
German Newsletter
| Bild newspaper, ADAC, criticize proposed levy on older cars >> |
| GM missing out on compact-SUV boom in Europe >> |
| Opel targets 10 percent-plus share for Germany >> |
Asia
China
Bosch worries about 2009 after U.S. consumer slump
U.S. consumers worried about a recession will take a painful toll this year on Bosch Group, a German manufacturer of a wide range of items from car parts to washing machines and power tools. "The absolute slump in the consumer climate indicates that the second quarter in the U.S. will indeed be very weak," CEO Franz Fehrenbach told its annual news conference on Thursday. [REG] 9:45 am U.S. ET | May 8
John Elkann to be named president of IfilJohn Elkann, the grandson of legendary Fiat boss Giovanni Agnelli, will become president next Tuesday of Ifil Investments, the Agnelli family's holding company, current Ifil president Gianluigi Gabetti told the Corriere della Sera and La Stampa today. [REG] May 7 15:01 CET |
Jointly made PSA engines for BMW brandsBMW will use the four-cylinder engines it has jointly developed with French carmaker PSA in BMW brand cars, chief executive Norbert Reithofer said in a pre-release of his interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He said the future generation of the BMW 1 Series will be fitted with these four-cylinder engines. [REG] May 7 07:46 CET |
Rieter CEO says company no takeover targetRieter Holding CEO Hartmut Reuter said he does not expect the company to become a takeover target following its profit warning late last night, and subsequent plunge on the Swiss Market on Tuesday. [REG] May 7 08:02 CET |
Audi CEO signals plans to build U.S. plantVolkswagen's premium brand Audi stands to benefit "tremendously" from a U.S. production plant as the carmaker struggles to cope with stiffer external headwinds including the strong euro. "There are no signs right now of this situation letting up," CEO Rupert Stadler said in remarks to be delivered to shareholders at Audi's annual general meeting today. [REG] May 7 10:15 CET | UPDATED: 05/07/2008 10:54 CET |
Dupont to spend millions expandingDupont said Tuesday it is investing about $150 million (96.9 million euros) to expand and upgrade its plants to meet growing demand from solar cell, packaging and automotive customers. The chemical company said is expanding and upgrading facilities in Europe, the U.S. and Asia to meet strong demand. [REG] May 7 08:09 CET |
Pardus to seek 2 more Valeo board seatsA key official of investment fund Pardus said it will seek approval from Valeo shareholders for two more board seats, adding that the fund doesn't want to declare war on the auto partsmaker but feels insulted by Valeo CEO Thierry Morin. [REG] May 7 10:27 CET |
Absurd logic in U.S., cowardice in Berlin on the environment"Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing ... after they have exhausted all other possibilities." Winston Churchill, who said that some 60 years ago, apparently foresaw the Bush administration's new fuel economy rules. The mandate shows that the United States has "exhausted all other possibilities." Guido Reinking is editor of Automobilwoche. [REG] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 7 |
Volkswagen's small platform gets AWDVW's small car architecture, which today underpins the VW Polo, Seat Ibiza and Skoda Fabia, will offer the possibility of all-wheel drive for the next generation of VW group small cars. “The new small-car platform architecture includes an all-wheel drive option,” Erich Schmitt, president of Seat said. “Seat won't offer awd for its new Ibiza, but other group models could use it.” [REG] May 6 15:55 CET |
BASF to build plastics plant in India
MUMBAI (Reuters) -- Germany's BASF will build a new engineering plastics plant near Mumbai to service the rapidly growing automotive industry, an official said today. [REG] May 6 11:15 CET
Audi sales in April boosted by China, RussiaDouble-digit growth in demand from wealthy customers in China and Russia helped boost sales of Volkswagen's luxury brand Audi by 2.9 percent to 86,700 vehicles in April, the company said today. "The April figure is just a taste of the considerable sales growth that we expect will come in the second half," Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said in a statement. [REG] May 6 11:45 CET |
AvtoVAZ car sales grow 30% in AprilRussia's largest car maker, AvtoVAZ, in which Renault is acquiring a 25 percent stake, saw sales grow 30 percent year-on-year in April 2008 to 67,000 cars, the company said in a statement today. [REG] May 5 10:30 CET |
Ferrari to open first retail store in LondonItaly's Ferrari, the luxury sports car maker of Formula One fame owned by Fiat, plans to open a store in London this autumn, the latest to join a lucrative retail network that stretches the globe. Ferrari, which also reported higher results for the quarter, said in a statement last Thursday it had signed a franchising agreement with Italian retail group Percassi to open a two-level store on Regent Street. [REG] May 5 15:00 CET |
Pininfarina to set aside San Giorgio plant for electric carsPininfarina said it will convert its San Giorgio plant to produce an electric car in a joint venture with French conglomerate Bollore group. The car will be sold as a Pininfarina model in Europe, the US and Japan starting in 2010. [REG] May 5 12:23 CET |
