Like any year in the auto industry, 2011 saw its fair share of company ups and downs, industrial comings and goings, and a fair old sprinkling of corporate drama. Added to the mix this year were devastating natural disasters. We covered it all on just-auto. Editor Dave Leggett sifts through the lot and picks out a few highlights from the year just gone, month by month. Part one covers the first half of the year.
January
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It livens up the return to work after the festive holiday as the year gets off to a spicy start with the ‘industrial espionage’ case at Renault. Three Renault execs are suspended amid talk of selling commercially sensitive information on electric vehicle development to interested third parties (Chinese are speculated as ultimate destinations for these ‘secrets’). It will end with an embarrassing apology to three wrongly accused Renault executives, the wrong guy falling on his sword and a fleeing the scene security guy fingered as the source of some bad intelligence. Along the way, the story gets a number of spicy infusions, including the involvement of the French secret service (DCRI) and a French government minister (Eric Besson) who talks darkly of ‘economic war’.
COMMENT: Renault quiet as secret storm brews
FRANCE: Renault battens hatches as Minister evokes “economic war”
After a phenomenal 2010 in which the vehicle market grew by a third, signs emerge that the Chinese are going to have to do something about road congestion in major urban centres. Beijing municipal authorities announce that they have introduced stringent restrictions on new vehicle registrations on 1 January in an effort to ease congestion and air pollution. Other cities in China will also follow Beijing’s lead in 2011. China’s voracious new consumers of automotive products have shown that they will endure plenty of congestion pain in order to enjoy the benefits of vehicles – but even the Chinese have their limits. What will the impact on the market be? (Actually, other things also conspired to moderate market growth in China in 2011.)
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By GlobalDataCHINA: Beijing drastically limits new vehicle registrations in 2011
In-car connectivity is something that the industry says is hot and I am sure it is. But maybe I’m unusual in that I like time at the wheel to be a kind of sanctuary from the pressures to be constantly communicating. Anyway, Ford announces in January that its SYNC system has been pretty successful.
US: Ford says SYNC now in 3m vehicles; voice control ‘on rise’
The month also sees ArvinMeritor (later to be renamed Meritor) complete the sale of its body systems business to Inteva.
US: ArvinMeritor completes sale of body systems business
The high value of the Japanese yen is going to be a recurring theme through the year. Small car maker Daihatsu decides that currency issues mean it has to walk away from selling in Europe.
JAPAN: Daihatsu will be out of Europe by 2013
Over in Detroit at NAIAS there was a curious tale involving a hospitality BMW 7 Series left with its engine running and unaccompanied for a few seconds outside a hotel. It was promptly stolen. Hey, can happen anywhere…
THE FRIDAY STORY: Thieves nick BMW Detroit show transport
In the US, there’s talk of an IPO for Delphi. A case of watch that space…oh, and ex-Delphi execs are vindicated in a case involving the booking of large warranty payments and former owner GM’s attitude to its major supplier. Curious case…
US: Pieces in place for Delphi IPO as former CEO is cleared on fraud charges
News emerges that the Nissan Leaf is off to a slow start…
JAPAN: Production process slows early Nissan Leaf deliveries
At the end of the month, Ford books some stellar looking 2010 financial results.
US: Ford books $8.3bn 2010 operating profit beating estimates
Rob Golding points out how important the Focus is for Ford’s, well, focus.
GOLDING’S TAKE: Ford has a new Focus and a new focus
Tony Pugliese lets us know that the ASEAN region has been booming.
ANALYSIS: ASEAN vehicle sales soar 32% in 2010
And I’m writing about the slowdown that looks to be coming in China.
BRIEFING (2): China slowdown coming
There’s a sign of the times as BMW announces it will offer a four-cylinder engine in the US for the first time since 1999.
US: BMW brings back I4 engines
February
The ‘Arab Spring’ that will see a number of authoritarian regimes in North Africa toppled starts to get going. Auto industry implications aren’t huge in that area, but BMW is quick to pull German nationals out of Egypt. Our get-me-a-phone-and-let’s-give-it-a-go reporter Simon Warburton gamely tries to get through to people on the ground in Egypt. The calls go largely unanswered, but he gets some payoff for his dogged persistence.
EGYPT: BMW pulls employees as violence spirals
COMMENT: Automakers hold their breath as Egypt stutters
Fiat/Chrysler supremo Sergio Marchionne sets the proverbial cat among the Italian pigeons when he makes comments about the possibility, one day, of a combined Fiat-Chrysler having its global HQ in the US rather than Italy.
ITALY: Job fears prompt government Marchionne summons to Rome
There’s also a loose use of language when Marchionne lets fly against what he sees as unfairly high-interest US government bailout loans. But he causes more than a few raised eyebrows as he describes the loans that helped Chrysler stay in business as ‘shyster loans’. And he does that thing you hear rarely from the auto industry’s many kings-of-the-mountain – he says sorry.
US: Marchionne apologises for ‘shyster’ comment
One of the year’s more unusual stories. A UXB near Renault’s Paris HQ…
FRANCE: All clear for Renault site as huge WWII bomb defused
The sharp bounce-back for many companies is exemplified by a surge in full-year 2010 profits at Daimler.
GERMANY: Daimler soars back into profit
The General also posts a positive result.
US: GM posts sparkling $4.7bn profit for 2010
In many ways, the damage has been done, but Toyota does get a high degree of exoneration in a US federal probe into the causes of ‘unintended acceleration’.
US: DoT/NASA probe exonerates Toyota electronics
Here’s an interesting story that comes out of Germany. BMW has developed a factory that is geared to the needs of older workers. It makes good economic sense. Embrace the grey revolution!
GERMANY: BMW builds factory to encourage older workers to stay
We published the results of our 2011 outlook survey. The contributors seem to have a pretty balanced view – cautious optimism for the year ahead.
just-auto’s 2011 outlook survey
This car, to be shown at Geneva, provokes some pretty positive reactions in the just-auto office.
GENEVA PREVIEW: VW reveals new Golf Cabriolet ahead of show
March
The big – and horribly tragic – story in March is the earthquake and tsunami that hit northeast Japan on March 11. After the heavy human toll comes the unfolding impact on Japan’s economy and manufacturing sector. The effects on countless manufacturing facilities will take a while to bubble up through the automotive supply chain in 2011.
JAPAN UPDATE: Carmakers halt production to assess quake damage
JAPAN: Industry faces acute component/power problems: IHS Automotive
Why did Japan’s currency actually rise – not exactly helping the stressed economy – in value after the disaster? Kind of counter-inutuitive…I looked into it…
ANALYSIS: Why the yen jump?
https://www.just-auto.com/analysis/why-the-yen-jump_id109787.aspx
Ford shows a clever small car concept at the Geneva Show.
GENEVA PREVIEW: Ford B-Max will have twin sliding rear doors
This is another of 2011’s ‘offbeat’ stories that we like to occasionally slip in on a Friday…
THE FRIDAY STORY: Petrol-sniffing spider prompts Mazda recall
Over at Opel, a German takes charge of operations.
GERMANY: Stracke succeeds Reilly as CEO of Opel/Vauxhall
Germany’s car market is off to a strong start in 2011 as its economy is on overtime to meet orders from Asia (especially China).
ANALYSIS: Germany drives the European car market up this year
GM’s UK (Luton) van plant swerves the GM cost-cutting axe.
UK: Luton immediate future secure as Vauxhall confirms Vivaro build
Before March comes to an end, news surfaces from Sweden that strikes us as worrying for Saab. It doesn’t get much more serious than cash-flow difficulties leading to suppliers not getting paid. Alarm bells are ringing…
SWEDEN: Saab production disrupted as suppliers not paid
April
The month kicks off with deputy editor Graeme Roberts giving us a nice summary of the annual April 1 ‘fools day’ pranks engaged in by car companies.
THE WEEK THAT WAS: Fooling the way into April
Rob Golding also had a bit of fun.
The so-called ‘Renault 3’ receive a public apology from Carlos Ghosn. The intriguing tale of alleged industrial espionage began in January when the three senior Renault executives were suspended amid talk of ‘economic warfare’ from a French minister, funds transferred to Swiss bank accounts and electric vehicle commercial data being passed to a mysterious third party (widely speculated as Chinese). Well, the three accused were fully vindicated after an investigation by the police. Absolutely unprecedented.
Renault COO Patrick Pelata falls on his sword, many feeling that he was a little unfairly hung out to dry.
FRANCE: Sacked Renault three receive apology from Carlos Ghosn
FRANCE: Pelata resigns COO post as Renault turns “painful leaf”
The ongoing impacts of the March 11 natural disaster in Japan spread across the world…
JAPAN: Toyota orders global overtime and weekend working ban
JAPAN ‘QUAKE: Key components supply-chain disruption to worsen – IHS Automotive
ANALYSIS: European production faces Q2 ‘Japan crisis blip’
And this has to be one of the quirkiest headlines of the year (nice one Graeme). The pigment concerned is ‘Xirallic’ – sounds like an exotic root vegetable…
JAPAN ‘QUAKE: Paint pigment paucity poses problem
The Land (Range) Rover Evoque attracts some interest.
UK: Orders pour in for Land Rover Evoque
As feared, it starts to sound worse at Saab…
SWEDEN: Saab staff sent home again as search for finance continues
Russia is bouncing back though.
ANALYSIS: Russia car industry set for investment wave as market rebounds
And the US market is also coming back nicely…
ANALYSIS: Retail momentum underpins US vehicle market growth
Launches of global models such as the Chevrolet Malibu and Citroen DS5 underline the importance of the Shanghai Show in the auto industry’s calendar.
It’s another strand to the Saab story as a Russian oligarch with a slightly controversial business record gets involved.
SWEDEN: Saab waits on imminent government nod for Russian cash
Nice line in this interview with Mr Antonov’s right-hand man: “A Russian with money makes people suspicious.”
INTERVIEW: Vladimir Antonov holding company director Lars Carlstrom on Saab
The politics of Saab certainly moves in mysterious ways at times.
SWEDEN: GM coy on holding key to Saab financing deal
April was also the month in which we launched a new research platform, Qube. Please forgive the inward facing for a moment, but a whole lot of work (plus liberal quantities of blood, sweat and tears) has gone into it.
just-auto’s new real-time intelligence platform
May
Rob Golding reminds us that VW Group has some pretty lofty ambitions and is growing sales at an impressive rate.
GOLDING’S TAKE: VW in overdrive on quest for world domination
The Q1 results season generally brings good cheer. Even Chrysler joins the ‘back in the black’ club.
US: Chrysler returns to profit
Glenn Brooks put the Chrysler product plans under the microscope…
ANALYSIS: Chrysler Group’s future holds a few product surprises
And as the Q1s continue, it becomes apparent that many Tier 1s are suddenly awash with cash as volumes pick up sharply on leaner cost bases.
US: Federal-Mogul triples Q1 net profit
JAPAN: Denso fiscal year net profit up 95%
Hawtai? To great fanfare a little known Chinese firm appears to come in for Saab. It doesn’t quite manage to follow through…
SWEDEN: New Chinese partner secures financing for Saab
Later in May, Chinese vehicle distrubutor Pang Da (no, not panda) bursts onto the Saab scene.
CHINA: Locally-made Saabs in two years – Pang Da
There have been some interesting efforts lately to make car plants ‘greener’ and/or more efficient. Renault isn’t the only maker to go for solar panels on roofs, but this is certainly one of the most ambitious of such projects.
FRANCE: Renault launches auto’s biggest solar roof project
June
Ford reveals its first three-cylinder engine. Impressive sounding achievement.
US: Ford develops its first three pot motor
The middle of the year sees some strange goings on with GM-Opel-German politicians. At the core of the chatter/rumour is US frustration with losses in Europe. And further ‘restructuring’ is always going to be a sensitive matter…
GERMANY: Merkel asks GM for Opel clarification: report
ANALYSIS: Plot thickens over supposed Opel sale
We also learn in June that Great Wall’s Bulgarian car assembly plant is not far off becoming operational. So that’s a Chinese car maker with an assembly plant inside the EU. Will certainly be interesting to see what happens to the output and how quickly it ramps up as new models are added and initial quality passes tests.
ANALYSIS: Europe’s first Chinese car plant is weeks away
One casualty of the supply-chain disruption wrought by the March earthquake in Japan is the Nissan Leaf.
US: Earthquake forces Nissan Leaf rethink
GM signs a pretty big deal to make more cars in Russia. But so have lots of other OEMs after Putin introduced an ‘industry framework’ (Decree 166) which more or less obliges you to invest, source more locally and work closely with a Russian partner if you want lower tariffs on imported parts. Clearly the Russians had taken a look at China…
RUSSIA: GM Russia shoots for 350,000 output target
In another Saab saga twist, Youngman of China says it wants to build Saab cars there for Pang Da to sell. Okay, that’s a synergy. I guess it could work, couldn’t it?
CHINA: Youngman to build cars for Saab
Part 2 of this briefing (ie a review of some highlights from the second half of the year) will be published on just-auto later this week.
