Nissan's UK plant may have been reprieved in Nissan's recent shake-up plan but it is now under threat from no deal Brexit and the union has also weighed in, saying the automaker's plans to end a defined benefits pension scheme for hundreds of workers at the Sunderland plant are "disappointing" and "opportunistic". The proposal to close the pension scheme came after Unite warned Nissan that a planned efficiency drive must not impact on members' jobs and terms and conditions. Unite said the firm had also signalled that it would not be offering industry standard lump sums which are usually provided to affected workers when their defined benefits pension schemes are closed. A Nissan spokesman responded: "We aim to provide competitive benefits to our highly valued staff, but these have to be balanced with the long term sustainability of our business. The level of company investment needed to maintain the defined benefit pension plan has grown to unsustainable levels."
Geely and Volvo Cars' experiment with the creation of Lynk & Co has bounced between convincing and worrying, sales currently falling somewhere between the two. April deliveries shot up by a third compared to the same month in 2019 and fresh vehicles aren't too far away either. Geely Automobile Holding reported total sales volume of 12,950 Lynk & Co brand vehicles during May, up 41% year on year and the highest monthly sales volume level over the last six months. There have been promises that the division will expand out of China – specifically to certain US and European cities – but for the moment, all sales are concentrated in the People's Republic. The goal of delivering half a million Lynk & Co vehicles in a single year remains, but it's certainly not going to be achieved in 2020 as had once been the target. We've some interesting analysis here, well worth a read.
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SEG Automotive, once the starter motor and generator unit of Bosch till sold to Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group in 2018, is building a second plant in Hungary as auto industry investment continues to pour into the country. The global supplier laid a foundation stone for a new plant in Szirmabesenyo, about 3km (2 miles) from the existing factory built in 2003 and next to a logistics centre constructed in 2018.
Rumours of the project to replace the Lexus IS having been cancelled have proved unfounded. A new model is to be revealed on 9 June, Toyota Motor Corporation has announced. It is unclear how TMC made the business case, particularly as there will be no return to offering the car in estate form too as some had believed. In fact, Lexus Europe will not be offering the IS in any form, dashing speculation that a wagon might be coming for countries in northern Europe such as The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Britain.
After the seized up and locked down national vehicle markets of March and April, a rebound occurred in May as lockdowns across Europe were eased and dealerships re-opened. The numbers are unsurprisingly well down on a year ago, but they nevertheless exceeded analyst expectations. For the three national markets of France, Italy and Spain, combined light vehicle sales fell sales by 55% on last year to 268,000 in May, which compares with a 75% drop in March and a staggering 93% decline in April.
A sales plunge at home in the second half of 2019 was a shock to Geely and its namesake brand. Efforts have since been redoubled to fight off not just Haval, Changan and Wuling but even the big foreign marques are in Geely's cross hairs. Lots of new models are on the way so Nissan, Honda and Toyota need to watch their backs again.
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By GlobalDataMany were the sceptics when Li Shufu became the latest owner and part owner of Lotus Cars and Proton respectively. So far, and that includes the COVID-19 crisis, progress could be rated OK and excellent. Geely's boss continues to invest in both, tasking the CEOs of these car makers to show him a pathway to sustainable profits.
ITM Power has formed the H2OzBus Project and signed a memorandum of understanding with partners for evaluation in Australia. The consortium comprises Transit Systems, part of the SeaLink Travel Group, Ballard Power Systems, BOC Limited, Palisade Investment Partners and ITM Power. The partners have signed an MoU as a further step in evaluating and demonstrating the concept of hydrogen fuel cell electric buses for use in public bus transport in Australia. Collaboration on the project will further investigate deploying an initial 100 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses in cities across Australia in Phase 1, with the intention to use this as a seed for more widespread roll-out.
Volkswagen China last week agreed to acquire a 26.5% stake in China's third largest EV battery manufacturer Hefei Guoxuan High Tech Power Energy Company, also known as Gotion, to become the company's largest shareholder. Guoxuan, based in Hefei, the capital of Anhui province, will issue 441m new shares which will be transferred to Volkswagen in a deal understood to be worth around EUR1bn. The company's management and founding shareholders, led by chairman Li Zhen, will continue to hold a combined 303m shares in the company. According to local reports, it was agreed Li Zhen would remain in his position as chairman for at least 36 months from the date of the share transfer to Volkswagen.
In the aftermath of a weeks long production shutdown, General Motors is focusing on getting customers the vehicles they want, cutting the features they don't and likely making permanent cuts to improve its cost structure. Efficiency is key for GM and other automakers now back to making vehicles after an eight week coronavirus pandemic induced shutdown that cost billions, forced temporary layoffs and pushed automakers to rethink aspects of the business. "We want to make sure we go to market with what customers want to buy," GM CEO Mary Barra said. "We think there is still significant work we can do from a complexity reduction perspective from the number of architectures we have to the complexity within a platform." Dealers have had to revamp their business, too. They've switched much of their business online and offered contactless, clean delivery options – virus-induced innovations that could prove to have staying power in an evolving marketplace.
Have a nice weekend.
Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, just-auto.com
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