General Motors’ abandonment of India took another step when China’s Great Wall Motors (GWM) confirmed it had agreed to buy The General’s remaining car plant in Talegaon in the state of Maharashtra. As GM retreats (also from South Africa), the acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2020, will speed up the Chinese automaker’s entry into one of the world’s most promising automotive markets.
Analysts expect the Indian vehicle market to become the third largest after China and the US by the mid-2020s. Last year, GWM was reported to have been in negotiations to acquire the plant jointly with SAIC Motor. But SAIC decided the plant it acquired in 2017, a former GM facility located in Halol in the state of Gujurat, was sufficient for the foreseeable future given the sharp downturn last year in the Indian vehicle market. GWM and GM reportedly agreed a purchase price of US$250m-US$300m for the 160,000 units a year vehicle assembly plant. Great Wall, one of China’s largest producers of SUVs, said it would launch its Haval and electric vehicle brands in India, adding more detailed plans would be made public in February at the Delhi auto show. Western automakers such as Fiat Chrysler, Ford and GM have scaled back or exited the Indian vehicle industry altogether in recent years as they struggled to compete on price with long established companies such as Maruti Suzuki and more recent arrivals specialising in cheap cars like Hyundai Motor.
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Electric buses are making headway here in the UK – even my local country town had one on trial last week – and BYD is in the thick of it. This week’s announcement was BYD Europe and Alexander Dennis’ electric vehicle partnership delivering 11 new electric BYD ADL Enviro200EV electric buses to operator Go-Ahead London. The new 9.6m model has a shorter wheelbase to suit narrow, complex road networks such as those on Go-Ahead’s route 100. The bus has 24 seats and a 66 passenger capacity and can travel 150 miles on a single charge. The vehicle has a 330kWh electric motor and BYD iron phosphate batteries.
Musical chairs at automakers beginning with M: Maserati has named former Mitsubishi Motors Europe president and CEO Bernard Loire as chief commercial officer and Paolo Tubito as chief marketing officer. Loire will be responsible for coordinating Maserati sales worldwide. He has extensive experience in the automotive industry, beginning in 1988, first at Ford and then at Fiat. Since 2002 he has held various roles at Nissan and Mitsubishi Europe. Tubito will be coordinating all marketing functions in the regions. MME named Eric Wepierre to replace Loire as president and CEO. The French national has 30 years of automotive industry experience, heading operations both at country and at pan-European levels including, most recently, as president & managing director of Opel France.
‘Lecky buses again, this time in the US: Thomas Built Buses, the North American Daimler Trucks subsidiary, is to provide the first 50 fully electric versions of the iconic black and yellow school buses in the first step of an initiative by Virginia based power company Dominion Energy, which plans to switch 1,050 school buses in the state from diesel to electric. The subsidiary claims it has won the largest order to date for electric school buses in the US. The electric battery technology for the Jouley is the result of a cooperation with the Californian company Proterra and has total power capacity of 220kWh and an estimated range of 134 miles. Thomas Built Buses is the only school bus manufacturer to offer DC fast charging as standard equipment. The EV can be charged in about three hours with the optional Proterra 60kW fast charging system and can, when properly equipped, supply power back to the power grid using vehicle to grid (V2G) technology.
Jaguar Land Rover is cutting 500 jobs at its Halewood plant (Range Rover Evoque, Land Rover Discovery Sport) on Merseyside with workers told the losses were a result of changing shift patterns which will come into effect from April. The job losses comprise a mixture of permanent employees and agency (temporary) staff and account for over 10% of the plant’s workforce, the Unite union said. It said in a statement it had negotiated the loss of the permanent employees would be through an enhanced voluntary redundancy scheme. Describing the move as a “fresh blow to the car industry”, Unite said it “understands the job losses are a result of moving from a three shift system to a two plus shift system that will deliver flexibility efficiencies that longer term should benefit both employees and the company”. This was not really a surprise. Tata Motors owned JLR in January 2019 said it was cutting 4,500 jobs from its global workforce, with most of the reduction set for the UK workforce of 40,000. The company described cost-cutting measures as the “next phase of major transformation plan to lay foundations for long-term sustainable profitable growth”. The headcount reduction was in addition to the 1,500 who left the company during 2018. The next phase of this transformation programme would begin with a voluntary redundancy programme in the UK. JLR said the strategic review would “create a leaner, more resilient organisation with a flatter management structure”.
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By GlobalDataDaimler has announced a preliminary group EBIT of EUR5.6bn (2018: EUR11.1bn), noting “anticipated additional expenses for ongoing governmental and court proceedings and measures relating to Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles in various regions and markets” were not included. “Upon preliminary assessment, these amount to EUR1.1 to EUR1.5bn and will essentially have a negative impact at Mercedes-Benz Cars and Vans. As a result, the return on sales (RoS) of the vans division will be below the current forecast of minus 15% to minus 17%.” the automaker said in a statement. Not just VW caught up in ‘dieselgate’.
GKN Automotive and Delta Electronics are collaborating on a joint development which will enable integrated 3-in-1 eDrive systems of power classes from 80kW to 155kW. The joint development of eDrive technology will see inverters supplied by Delta Electronics integrated with GKN Automotive’s eMotor and gearbox systems in a 3-in-1 product. “The eDrive market continues to accelerate as manufacturers are required to meet increasingly stringent emissions regulations demanding technological progression and speed,” said GKN Automotive CEO, Liam Butterworth.
Have a nice weekend.
Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, just-auto.com
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