Automotive industry hot issues
Comprehensive coverage of the automotive industry's hottest issues through a compilation of news, analysis and comment.
Mixed fortunes for EV start-ups
21 May 2013
Tesla has just posted its first quarterly profit in ten years. Some more recent EV start-ups have come and gone. Even the established OEMs are finding the going hard and EV sales targets missed as mixed fortunes and uncertainties for the electric vehicle sector abound.
Quarterly results roll round again
24 April 2013
It's quarterly results time again. We're compiling them here for quick 'n' easy access.
Auto Shanghai 2013
19 April 2013
Auto Shanghai was this year's major Chinese motor show (it alternates annually with Beijing). Media day was 20 April. Our coverage is grouped here.
Localised Leafs launched
15 April 2013
US and UK production of Nissan's Leaf EV is now under way. Here's our coverage.
Free trade proposals come with tensions
26 March 2013
As much of Europe's auto industry struggles with a prolonged demand slump and overcapacity, negotiations on a free trade agreement between the EU and Japan have been given the green light to start. Europe's auto industry is complaining that Japan needs to do much more to open its car market so that such an agreement is fair. Similar concerns are being expressed in the US.
Geneva 2013
10 February 2013
The 83rd Geneva International Motor Show ran from 5 to 17 March, 2013. Our coverage is here.
Last quarter/full year financial results
21 January 2013
Results season continues - fourth quarter, full year, third fiscal, first fiscal - we're still compiling them here - along with our own analysts' comments - as the data rolls in.
The 2013 Detroit Motor Show (NAIAS)
15 January 2013
The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) - 'Detroit Show' - is January's big auto show and it is entering its 25th year as an international event. Coverage from our team on the ground at the Cobo is gathered together here.
New Year, Old Year
2 January 2013
New Year. Results for 2012 are tallied, forecasts for 2013 are coming out. Here's a selection.
General Motors ending Bochum vehicle assembly
10 December 2012
In a further blow to the already hard-hit Ruhr region, General Motors has now confirmed what many German workers have long feared - the end of vehicle assembly at its Bochum plant, opened in the early 1960s. Some warehouse and component making jobs will remain and the usual site redevelopment plans are taking shape but it's still another car plant gone, along with thousands of never-to-return jobs. All our coverage from the last year or so is here.
CLEPA has record Aftermarket Conference attendance
6 December 2012
CLEPA had a record attendance this year for its annual Aftermarket Conference in Brussels. ZF Friedrichshafen CEO Stefan Sommer gave a key address - apt as his company is bidding for General Motors' Strasbourg transmissions plant - and he talked to just-auto. French and Scandinavian supplier bodies, FIEV and FKG also spoke to us, as did CLEPA CEO, Jean-Marc Gales, pictured right.
LA Auto Show
28 November 2012
The Los Angeles 2012 Auto Show opened to the media on 28 November. A number of important product launches took place at what has, in recent years, become a more influential event.
just-auto Industry Intelligence Seminars
15 November 2012
Our Industry Intelligence Seminars in Birmingham in October and Swindon in November focused on challenges and opportunities faced by UK suppliers and were designed to provide attendees with invaluable information on the latest manufacturing and supplier perspectives from key industry experts and participants across the pan-European marketplace. We've rounded up news from key speakers here.
Q3 results time again!
25 October 2012
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the leaves are turning brown and the nights drawing in. September has come and gone and the auto industry accountants are hard at work drawing up the third quarter financial results. As they come in, we're stacking them up here.
Ford cuts European capacity
24 October 2012
Ford has announced that it will shutter its Genk, Belgium, car assembly plant, the Transit cab-chassis factory in Southampton, England, and tooling and stamping units at Dagenham, near London. The company is taking decisive action to address the problem of losing money in Europe. In the face of a declining west European car market, it's a big step - if a painful one - to removing overcapacity and lowering Ford's European costs.
Global markets: recovery in the US contrasts with decline in Europe
3 October 2012
Car markets across the globe continued to show a mixed picture in September. Most notably, continued recovery in the US light vehicle market (despite ongoing concerns over the US economy) contrasts with further sharp market decline and discussion of overcapacity in Europe. The latest market reports and analysis is here.
Paris Show 2012
10 September 2012
The Paris motor show began with media preview days on 27 and 28 September. For weeks earlier, we reported the models scheduled for launch. Now we've combined all our preview and press days stories together in one place. Enjoy.
RESEARCH FOCUS: Supply chain shocks and strategies
5 September 2012
The fragility of lean global supply chains in the auto industry has been laid bare after the massive disruption caused by recent natural disasters. How are companies responding and how are sourcing strategies evolving to take account of harsh lessons learned?
Moscow Motor Show
22 August 2012
The 2012 Moscow Motor Show opened to journalists on August 29. Russia's domestic makers were joined by a number of international OEM exhibitors. Among the important world debuts at Moscow was the Mazda6. We are maintaining and updating a list of the significant debuts. Check back for the latest...
Quarterly results time again
26 July 2012
Second quarter, first fiscal quarter, first half. Whatever the period, results for the last three (or six) months are rolling in. We've gathered them up for your convenience.
PSA plans to shutter Aulnay as Europe's crisis bites
12 July 2012
PSA has moved decisively to rationalise its European production capacity in the face of declining capacity utilisation and a slump in demand for small cars. Aulnay, maker of the Citroen C3, is an obvious weak point in the company's European manufacturing footprint.
General Motors grapples with Europe's problems
21 May 2012
As Europe's auto industry faces up to overcapacity in a falling car market, attention is turning to General Motors. With its European operations currently in loss, GM is looking to reshape its European manufacturing footprint and adjust plant-model mix to raise capacity utilisation. As ever, the possibility of plant closures is proving controversial.
Quarterly results season rolls around again
26 April 2012
It's quarterly results time and we've been slicing and dicing the reports to remove the bumpf, claimed 'highlights' and so on to bring you just the facts. Analysis, where applicable, courtesy of Rob Golding.
Auto China, Beijing 2012
20 April 2012
Once upon a time, few from the west would have bothered with the Beijing show. Times change. With news like three more JV plants in one week, no one ignores China any more. Press days were 23 and 24 April and our previews and coverage are here.
Are two GM Europe plants for the chop?
27 March 2012
Before General Motors axes two European plants - Opel's at Bochum, Germany and Vauxhall's in Ellesmere Port, England, or even three, if Eisenach is included - labour agreements good through 2014 have to run out. GM has signaled lots of talks before then. Our coverage is all here.
Jaguar Land Rover on a roll
23 March 2012
Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover is impressively growing volume and contributing to its parent's bottom line. It has also just struck a deal with Chery to create a manufacturing joint venture in China.
'New Saab' makes progress as former owner sues GM
23 March 2012
Just as we thought the future of what we once knew as Saab Automobile was more or less sorted, former owner Spyker Cars - headed by Victor Muller - made the stunning announcement it was suing General Motors, alleging the Detroit automaker had tried deliberately to drive the Trollhattan company into bankruptcy. GM has promised a robust defence in a Michigan court; this whole sorry saga is nowhere near an end yet.
GM-PSA alliance
8 March 2012
General Motors chairman Dan Akerson has revealed PSA Peugeot-Citroen and General Motors will begin their recently announced alliance to streamline product development and purchasing by beginning joint development of at least two passenger cars by this autumn.
Geneva 2012
31 January 2012
The 82nd Geneva International Motor Show ran from 8 to 18 March, 2012 (press days were 6 and 7 March). All our coverage is here.
Full-year results rolling in...
30 January 2012
Full-year, Q4, fiscal Q3, even fiscal Q1 (JCI), forecasts - all here for one-stop easy access.
