Recent Comments:
Quick and painless: Ford-UAW contract ratified by rank-and-file {Autoblog}
Nov 14th 2007 1:21PM Nice to see that good sense prevails.
It is understandably painful for UAW members given the halcyon heydays of the past as previous world's best paid/most priveliged auto-workers, but we live in a very different world where Asian competitors most definitely hold the upper hand.
When the likes of South Korea's Hyundai are trying to lower labour costs to compete against the Chinese, who themselves are going through a period of 're-alignment' themselves, even discounting the possible emerging Indian players, then the issue of US-based cost structures are firmly put into focus.
So good to see Detroit's 3 restructuring with vigour and purpose, it's the only way to secure US auto interests, from VMs down to their tier 3 suppliers.
The weak dollar will help attract more foreign investment to build 'new-domestic' plants and will also greatly assist Ford, GM, Chrysler exports, so things are finally shaping-up.
Pininfarina struggling, seeks new partners {Autoblog}
Nov 14th 2007 6:15AM Some poigniant points made so far...
Remember that Ford did buy the carrozzeria 'Ghia' back in the 70s and with only Volvo left from of PAG could do with another prestige brand, but to be honest slapping Pininfarina badges on good, but mainstream cars won't have a halo effect, even Ghia trim cars only sold because of the spec, no-layman actually knew what Ghia was.
The critical problem for Pinifarina as a niche vehicle builder is the cost of platform modification modules/components and of course labour costs. I imagine that as their operating costs have risen so quality has unfortunately declined to maintain (in monthly budget estimations) some kind of profitability. But poor quality comes back to haunt if client (Ford etc) rejection/re-work costs have been written into the contract and obliged to be met (usually at bi-annual or annual points).
In truth Pinifarina's Italian niche vehicle operation needs to be down-sized and accompanied by a new plant in China to export to Europe and critically feed the massive business opportunity to Chinese/Indian/Japanese clients. They have a 'China representation' office, so imagine they are pushing hard to open business and political doors there to feed Pinifarina and their Matra sub-division.
Turan Ahmed - 'investment-auto-motives', London.
GM-powered Carnegie Mellon team take first prize at DARPA {Autoblog}
Nov 5th 2007 7:06AM Each and every year the unmanned vehicle competition gets stiffer and stiffer, both in terms of the (complexity) benchmark set and the abilities of rivals. Interesting to see exactly how this R&D will be progressed to real world defence/disaster situations; undoubtedly opening-up a realm of commercial opportunities for both the US, its allies and product/IPR sales opportunities. GM's 1950s Motorama's had the vision of unmanned cars zipping around the nation's freeways, not quite there yet but such major leaps should be applauded.
Turan Ahmed - 'investment-auto-motives'
London
Rendered Speculation: Top Gear pays for best Porsche Panamera renders yet {Autoblog}
Oct 24th 2007 4:53PM Although Ferdinand Piech's attentions have been on bigger issues (ie Porsche-VW consolidation), he knows that the 'Pan-Am' car will be a major volume and revenue earner for the Stuttgart company, assisting it's already industry leading profitability - to be assisted again via VW parts and back-office sharing. Yes the 4 door has been muted and dropped in the past, so the very fact that Cayenne lends its platform makes the business case more than viable, infact very appealing. As for the car itself, since the CLS, coupe-like 4-door GTs have become the must have - who needs a 7 series (note BMWs similar efforts) or an XJ when such sublime cars are available. Just a shame that the Pan-Am couldn't have incorporated a clap-hand door system like the RX-8 to assist shutline proportions and the glasshouse and be more Porsche-like. But ultimately a car that the many (loyal & new)buyers and Porsche will be clamouring to bring to market. Purists can debate the ethics of 'Pan-Am', but remember that a car company is both car-producer and profit-seeking company - the magic is in balancing the 2 often opposed ideologies.
Turan Ahmed - 'investment-auto-motives.com'
London, England
Tesla's co-founder says all other electric car companies are wrong, make "crap" {Autoblog Green}
Oct 16th 2007 6:42AM Eberhard is both right and wrong with his comments regards general entry marketing strategy and business models. What must be appreciated is that each business initiative is wholly dependent upon the specific macro (external) & micro (internal)economic conditions that surround it. so whilst it's easy to generalise, it's also dangerous.
In the 1960s the likes of Toyota, Honda, Nissan etc started by producing affordable, low-end cars and moved up market, as did the Japanese electronic companies so it is a viable route to market given the right economic, political & technical context (like a swelling domestic consumer-base, export drive and conventional technology.
Where as the likes of Rolls-Royce, Maybach, Cadillac etc started by targeting the luxury auto-markets for differing reasons.
There is no singular right business model, it's relative to socio-economic conditions of the market place(s).
Tesla,in its PESTEL context is right to work top-down, or more likely, simply just stay in the premium category...perhaps adapting Lotus Europa, M250 and New Esprit in due course?
He's doing what the likes of Ferdinand Porsche, Carl Abarth, John Cooper and others have done - take an off-the-shelf vehicle (ie VW, Fiat, Mini...Lotus Elise) and alter it's powertrain and style characteristics. Obviously those yesteryear examples were 'just'heavily adapted sporting variants (more of the same vehicle-experience), where as Tesla is a radical departure.
Sportscars have traditionally (for 100 years) been about gear-changes (manual or tip-tronic), revs, exhaust tones, etc...all encompassing myriad of sensual delights and absorbtions. The question is does an electric powertrain remove much of the thrill? Some will think so, others not.
Eberhard has put the right theoretical business elements together, but successful businesses are require more than textbook theories; they must include real-world understanding if they are to ultimately flourish
Turan Ahmed - 'investment-auto-motives'
All-electric BYD F6E sedan could debut in China in 2008. Maybe {Autoblog Green}
Oct 12th 2007 7:44AM BYD is simply 'window dressing'(as it's known in Wall St and The City)in preperation for what will be a bloody battle for survival amongst Chinese car companies. I am only 'guestimating' but suspect the technology is ancient and batteries takes up the boot/trunk space and more.
The west must realise that for the past 5 years or so Chinese manufactureres have simply been trying to grow their businesses by whatever means they could (eg copycat designs/features etc). Now they are looking at creating the buzz to have the global investment community take an interest and either privately (via private equity) or publicly (via Chinese stock markets). It's not about the car, it's about the business model.
More speculation of Triumph return {Autoblog}
Oct 11th 2007 1:31PM Suspect strategically that BMW is seriously condidering co-licensing that the brand rights to Triumph (and other various olde worlde British marques) to an emerging Chinese manufacturer who wants 'western/British heritage'; similar to the way Nanjing bought MG and SAIC bought Rover.
Probably to take place after the imminent consolidation of the Chinese auto-sector, such a deal could provide added BMW capacity/platform sharing for the Chinese market and Asian export markets.
Such 'PR reveals' could well be intended to whet the appetites of China's auto executives looking for their own domestic and export growth paths.
Turan Ahmed - 'investment-auto-motives' - London
