Latest automotive comment

THE WEEK THAT WAS: Ford plant for sale. Sold! To Mitsubishi 4 Apr 2014

Graeme Roberts

It's not unusual for one automaker to buy a plant from another and Mitsubishi's purchase of a Philippines plant from Ford makes perfect sense.

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COMMENT: GM CEO heads for lions' dens 1 Apr 2014

Graeme Roberts

Imagine you're the new CEO of an automaker whose recently recalled millions of vehicles, some fitted with a potentially faulty ignition switch that inadvertently shuts off engines, stops power steering and disables airbags, have, by your count, killed 13, mostly young, people so far. A victims' lawyer, suing your company, publicly requests you meet some of them. Do you go?

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COMMENT: BMW deftly tweaks its global manufacturing footprint 1 Apr 2014

Dave Leggett

BMW's biggest plant in the world is going to be the Spartanburg facility in the US. Production capacity there will be ramped up to 450,000 vehicles a year. It really is quite astonishing when you think about it: BMW's biggest manufacturing facility will be in the US and not in Germany.

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THE WEEK THAT WAS: Assembly plant week? 28 Mar 2014

Graeme Roberts

OK, OK, I admit it - just-auto.com this week is looking a bit like Assembly Plant News.com

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COMMENT: Chinese OEMs make their move on North Africa 28 Mar 2014

Glenn Brooks

China's Shanghai GM Wuling, and BYD, have caused a surprise with world premieres at Algeria's national motor show. Renault and PSA should be taking note of a battle to come for control of this strategic regional market.

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COMMENT: What's really behind Honda's European woes 26 Mar 2014

Glenn Brooks

Not for the first time, Honda Motor Europe's Swindon plant west of London is soon to suffer a production cut. The reason is not, as the company maintains, slow overall economic expansion across European markets, but something else.

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COMMENT: Rouble pressure concentrates Russia minds 26 Mar 2014

Simon Warburton

If there was only one word being shouted from the rooftops in Moscow last week at the Russian Automotive Forum (RAF), it was simply, localisation.

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COMMENT: Recall clouds darkening over GM 25 Mar 2014

Graeme Roberts

Drip, drip, drip. Daily, media report by media report, the news surrounding the ignition switch recall gets worse for General Motors.

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THE WEEK THAT WAS: BMW, Jaguar, RAF... 21 Mar 2014

Graeme Roberts

A busy week for the just-auto.com team this week as we fanned out across Europe - and beyond - to cover a series of interesting industry events.

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COMMENT: Russia pushes local as exchange rate jitters mount 21 Mar 2014

Simon Warburton

Temporary - hopefully - tensions aside - Russia still has enormous potential to grow and almost double its current predicted volume of between 2.3m and 2.4m units this year according to some estimates.

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COMMENT: Can Russia become a 4m market? 20 Mar 2014

Simon Warburton

There was a certain frisson to this year's Russian Automotive Forum (RAF) organised by Adam Smith Conferences in Moscow for the most obvious of reasons.

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COMMENT: PSA's industrial strategy augurs well for survival 17 Mar 2014

Dave Leggett

There's a reminder in the news today of the importance of product in the automotive industry. Yes, market geography accounts for a lot in this business. Being present in markets that are booming is vital, but just being present is not enough on its own.

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THE WEEK THAT WAS: Storm clouds gathering over GM 14 Mar 2014

Graeme Roberts

Due probably to the fact, the odd Opel GT roadster excepted, most of the 1.6m affected cars were sold in North America, General Motors' 'ignition switch recall' has attracted little attention here in Olde Englande. But, across the other side of the Atlantic, storm clouds are building.

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GOLDING'S TAKE: MINI's 'New Original' is bigger, faster, better 14 Mar 2014

Rob Golding

New MINI Hatch reaction has been very favourable so far.

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COMMENT: Mercedes continues Brussels defiance on refrigerant 12 Mar 2014

Simon Warburton

It's easy enough to understand a note of triumph creeping into Honeywell's "final word" reaction this week to the news of Brussels' scientific boffins backing the r1234yf refrigerant.

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THE WEEK THAT WAS: iOS (and Android) in the car 7 Mar 2014

Graeme Roberts

Perhaps not surprisingly, given our target audience, the most-read news item on just-auto this week was about a Geneva new product roll-out, but it wasn't a new car.

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COMMENT: Russian auto jitters as Sochi feel-good factor evaporates 7 Mar 2014

Simon Warburton

No sooner did the final bars of the score to this year's triumphant Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi fade into memory - accompanied by a tear-shedding bear reminiscent of the Moscow Olympics in 1980 - than all that goodwill seems to have evaporated in a puff of smoke.

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GENEVA WRAP: Europe still struggles but future is bright 6 Mar 2014

headlineauto

The sun shone eventually on the automotive industry at this week's Geneva show but there are still a lot of dark clouds hanging over Europe.

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THE WEEK THAT WAS: Musical chairs 28 Feb 2014

Graeme Roberts

Been an interesting week for auto industry executive musical chairs.

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COMMENT: No red carpet as CGT blasts Paris on PSA 26 Feb 2014

Simon Warburton

I don't know why I should be surprised, but the comments from France's Confederation Generale du Travail (CGT) union this week, were, well, breathtaking.