BMW’s independent streak, Opel’s loan bid and extra shifts plus the effects of a certain chancellor’s ‘Austerity Budget’ on the UK autobiz drew the crowds to j-a this past week.

BMW may share the odd Mini engine with PSA but, as an analyst chatting with editor Dave Leggett pointed out this week, it is pretty independent minded and, despite cost and other challenges, looks like staying that way, the odd individual project collaboration aside.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Premium Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Business editor Simon Warburton was at the ANE Congress in Bilbao this week and brought us news of Opel chief Nick Reilly’s bafflement at critics of his recent, now canned, loan guarantee bid.

Opel – and affiliate Vauxhall – also had some good news this week: rising demand for its nice new cars – Astra and Meriva come immediately to mind – means more shifts need slotting in to the output schedule ahead of the annual summer European shutdown.

Here in the UK, we had a reality-check, post-election emergency budget. Once the smoke of the slash ‘n’ burn – pensions, benefits, government capital spending, etc – had cleared the auto industry had a look and found a sales tax hike around GBP300-400 on the average car was the main thing the consumer would notice, albeit with the benefit, if you can call it that, of bringing forward a few 2011 sales into 2010.

See Also:

Also in Bilbao, Ford’s European chief raised the thorny issue of regional over-capacity at the same time as his counterparts in Asia were announcing a new car assembly plant.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Speaking of Asia, we had an interesting report from India this week on how the components pie is sliced up, the details may surprise.

Enjoy your weekend.

Graeme Roberts
Deputy/News Editor
just-auto.com