Daimler and Bosch to build electric motors under partnership

Daimler AG recently announced its move towards partnering with another German company, Robert Bosch GmbH, for a joint project in designing electric motors for the car manufacturer’s planned line of all-electric vehicles. Both companies have signed respective letters of intent for a joint partnership and are now in the midst of discussions aiming to create 50:50 sharing of all products and services that shall result from the project.

The companies are planning to start the project next year, and are aiming to incorporate the results into their fleet the same year. If successful, Mercedes-Benz fans can expect to see a whole new line of all-electric vehicles under design process before the end of 2012.

Daimler issued a press statement revealing that “both companies aim, by bundling their competencies, to accelerate development advances in electric motors as well as to make accordant synergies accessible.

According to their letter of intent, joint production should start in 2012.”

Meanwhile, Bosch shall be handling subsequent sales of the joint-project electric motors to other car manufacturers. The motors shall be designed, produced and tested in plants located in the greater Stuttgart and Hildesheim areas.

The statement says further that “the Bosch Group is a leading supplier of technology and services to the automotive sector. It has a high level of competence in developing and producing electric motors, which it is already manufacturing in series in Hildesheim.”

Source: Auto Evolution

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GM, Ford See U.S. Sales Recovery Undeterred by Japan Quake

DETROIT (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. said the recovery in their home market may continue in the face of Japan's disasters.

The March 11 earthquake that has shut factories of manufacturers and their suppliers may not have a "significant" impact on industry sales, Don Johnson, vice president of U.S. sales at GM, said Friday.

Ford said in a regulatory filing that while Japan could have an adverse effect on its financial condition and has led to a parts shortage, the impact on the U.S. economy will be "limited." Global automakers may have lost production of 585,000 light vehicles in March including 550,000 in Japan, according to IHS Automotive in Lexington, Mass.

The disruptions may result in a 1 million unit reduction in the industry's U.S. sales rate during the summer months, according to Rod Lache, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG who predicted a 13 million rate for March.

"The issues in Japan should be temporary," Paul Ballew, chief economist for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. in Columbus, Ohio, said in a telephone interview. "The production issues are slowly but surely going to get worked out and facilities are coming back online. There's enough slack capacity out there to make up for lost units."

GM reiterates forecast

GM continues to see industrywide U.S. auto sales rising to 13 million to 13.5 million in 2011, including medium-and heavy- duty vehicles, Johnson said. Light-vehicle sales in 2010 rose to 11.6 million from a 27-year low in 2009. Annual U.S. deliveries were 16.8 million on average from 2000 to 2007, according to New Jersey-based Autodata.

"Based on everything I see now, I just don't see a significant slowdown happening," Johnson said on the Friday conference call with analysts and reporters. "All of that's going to depend on what we learn tomorrow, the next day and what we see from our competitors next week."

Ford's truck plant in Louisville, Ky., will be closed this week, starting Monday, due to a Japan-related parts shortage, Ford sales analyst George Pipas said on a separate conference call with analysts and reporters. The factory makes F-Series pickups and the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition SUVs.

The shortage of parts, which Ford didn't identify, also will lead Ford to shut its plant in Genk, Belgium, next week, Pipas said. The factory makes the S-Max and Galaxy vans and Mondeo sedans.

'Limited' effect

The Japan crisis "should not derail the recovery in the U.S.," Jenny Lin, Ford's senior U.S. economist, said on the conference call. "The effect on the U.S. economy will be limited."

GM has also reported interruptions in output the week of March 21 at its Shreveport, La., pickup plant and factories in Zaragoza, Spain, and Eisenach, Germany.

Nissan Motor Co. and its Infiniti luxury brand both have about a 50-day supply of vehicles at the start of April, said Al Castignetti, vice president of U.S. sales for Nissan, and Ben Poore, head of North American sales of Infiniti.

"Our pipeline looks pretty good, at least where they are through May," Castignetti said in a Friday telephone interview. "Will the disruptions in Japan affect our retail ambitions? I think it will to some extent. I think the investigations that are going on are: anything we lose today, what can we get back tomorrow?"

Most vehicle production in Japan stopped after the earthquake and tsunami, which left more than 27,000 people dead or missing. Nissan said Thursday that it plans to resume all auto assembly in its home market by April 11 as suppliers restart parts deliveries.

"Production disruptions generally work themselves out because you're not fundamentally altering underlying demand," said Ballew, a former General Motors economist. "You're temporarily throwing a curve ball into availability of inventory."

GM ended March with inventory of about 574,000 vehicles, 57,000 more than a month earlier, according to a GM statement. The automaker's increased sales of the Chevrolet Cruze helped double GM's share in the compact-car segment to more than 11 percent in the first quarter, from 5.4 percent in the same period a year earlier.

Small-car 'headwind'

GM has a 73-day supply of the Cruze, said Alan Batey, vice president of Chevrolet sales, on the conference call.

Higher demand for small cars such as Ford's Fiesta and Focus "pinched" inventories, Pipas said. The Fiesta has about a 40-day supply, from 60 days at the beginning of March, and Focus inventory also declined, he said.

"Most likely, lean small car inventories will be a headwind on the industry's sales rates as we began this month," Pipas said.

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Citroen Boss Banzet Says DS Line is a Big Success

Citroen says its new DS3 sporty subcompact car is selling better than expected and is winning new customers for the French brand.

Frederic Banzet, Citroen managing director, said DS3 sales account for about a quarter of the volume for the C3 range. "This is twice as much as what we aimed for. The DS line is a huge success," he said.

Since its launch 12 months ago, the DS3, which is a sporty version of the C3 hatchback, has sold 80,000 units, compared with 300,000 for the whole C3 range, Banzet told Automotive News Europe.

He said the DS3 has a very high conquest rate and 56 percent of its buyers were new customers to the brand.

The DS line is also bringing wealthy buyers to the brand. As an example, Banzet cited the sale of a DS3 to a French couple where the husband drives a Maserati Quattroporte and his wife a Porsche. "They planned to buy a Mini, but they first tried out the DS3 and bought it instead. We would have never had appealed to these customers without the DS brand," he said.

The DS3 is the first model in Citroen's DS "distinctive series" upscale line. Citroen plans to launch the DS4, based on the C4 compact in May, followed by the DS5, based on the C5, early next year.

Banzet said the DS line "is aimed at less conventional drivers who want more emotion, more power, better quality. The DS4 and DS5 will further increase that trend," he said.

Possible softtop DS3

The DS3 will probably have new body variations such as a softtop version and special editions launched in cooperation with high-profile fashion brands to further increase the line's appeal, Banzet said.

He denied rumors that Citroen is considering launching a DS sports car that would have styling cues from the Survolt concept, which debuted at the 2010 Geneva auto show. "The DS line already has a performance car, the DS3 Racing," he said.

Citroen also may also launch a flagship DS, called the DS9, to compete with German luxury brands. The car would be a production version of the Metropolis concept unveiled at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

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BMW Names New Boss For Mini

MUNICH -- BMW AG today said veteran company executive Kay Segler will take over management of its Mini brand.

Segler, 56, previously managed Mini between 2004 and 2008. He replaces Wolfgang Armbrecht, 53, who took over Mini from Segler in 2008.

Segler has been with BMW since 1988, mainly in sales and marketing management functions. Currently, he is head of BMW's in-house M tuning division.

Armbrecht will have other as-yet unspecified duties within BMW group, German media outlets reported.

BMW said Friedrich Nitschke, 56 will take over as managing director of BMW M, effective May 1.

Nitschke is responsible for the Mini series within BMW's development division and has held various management positions in the controlling and development divisions since joining the company in 1978.

Mini's expansion

Mini is adding new models as it seeks to boost annual sales in the medium term to 300,000 from about 234,000 last year.

After launching the brand's first four-door model, the Countryman, late September, the brand plans to add a Mini roadster and coupe and the two-door, four-seat Paceman, a model that BMW calls a "sports activity coupe."

You can reach Paul McVeigh at pmcveigh@crain.com.

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Bugatti Wins Approval For Four-door Supercar

BERLIN -- Bugatti, the maker of the world's fastest production car, has won backing from parent Volkswagen AG to build the 16C Galibier sedan, adding a four-door model to its lineup, two people familiar with the matter said.

The Galibier, which premiered as a concept vehicle at the 2010 Geneva auto show, has a 1,000-hp engine and may cost about 1 million euros ($1.4 million), said the people, who declined to be named as the plans are still private.

"Four-door vehicles open up a whole new market for exotic-car makers," said Kevin Tynan, an automotive analyst for Bloomberg Industries. "It makes good sense for Bugatti to get in there. Those cars are loyal to design language and brand heritage."

Ultra-luxury nameplates are expanding their lineups to larger vehicles as the recovery from the financial crisis fuels demand.

Ferrari S.p.A. introduced the four-seat FF, the first Ferrari with four-wheel drive, in March. The first year's production of the 260,000 euro model is already sold out.

Lamborghini S.p.A., another Volkswagen unit, is considering adding a third model to its portfolio of two-seater vehicles and plans to make a decision by the end of the year, CEO Stephan Winkelmann said at the Geneva show last month. The CEO has called a four-door car "a very feasible approach."

Wolfgang Duerheimer, the former development chief at Porsche AG who took over as head of Bugatti and Bentley in February, has been pushing VW managers to approve production of the Galibier since taking charge, the two people said.

16-cylinder engine

Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen agreed to build the model, which relies on a 16-cylinder engine that can run on biofuel as well as gasoline, they said. Production will require facilities in Molsheim, France, to be refitted, which may push back deliveries until 2013 or 2014, the people said.

Volkswagen purchased the Bugatti brand in 1998 along with Lamborghini and Bentley Motors Ltd. to create a stable of high-end carmakers. Under VW's reign, the super-luxury brand, which traces its roots back to Italian-born car designer Ettore Bugatti, started production of the two-door Veyron 16.4 in 2005, limiting output to no more than 300 vehicles.

Bugatti, which makes about 50 cars a year, has introduced two derivatives of the Veyron since 2008, the Grand Sport and Super Sport models.

The Super Sport is the world's fastest production car, with a top speed of 268 mph (about 430kph). The name Galibier stems from one of France's most difficult Alpine passes featured in the Tour de France bicycle race and also served as name for an earlier four-door variant called Type 57.

Source: Bloomberg

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