Fixing Seat is a good idea February 20, 2006
Eight years after Volkswagen group told Seat to become the Alfa Romeo of Spain, the brand is in trouble.
VW group tweaked its plan for Seat in 2003, when it made the Spanish marque part of the Audi brand group. Seat would boost its sportiness in the tradition of Alfa, but also be an entry-level brand to recruit young buyers to a later move up to Audi. It seemed like a plausible idea.
It has not worked. Seat’s annual sales tumbled 100,000 units to 420,000 between 2000 and 2005.
By the way, the brand Seat is supposed to emulate is in even deeper …
Europeans want more 7-seat Q7s
Audi has learned that Europeans want more seats in their SUVs.
Pre-launch research led the German automaker to believe that fewer than 30 percent of the potential customers for its Q7 premium SUV would ask for versions with a third row of seats.
But more than half of the 11,000 orders for the Q7 have been for variants with room for seven in a three-row configuration, said Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi’s head of concept development.
“That is something we didn’t expect,” he said at a recent press event here for the Q7.
European automakers only recently have added the option of a third row in …
Lexus.com: It’s speedy and friendly
Lexus has the most user-friendly Web site for new-vehicle shopping among auto manufacturers, according to the latest survey of automaker Web sites by J.D. Power and Associates.
Pontiac and Suzuki tied for second.
Lexus.com “scores at the top by upsetting the fewest shoppers,” said Dennis Galbraith, senior director of digital marketing for J.D. Power, of Westlake Village, Calif.
Power released its results this month. They were based on evaluations by 11,800 shoppers who indicated they would be in the market for a new vehicle within 24 months. Many manufacturers subscribe to a detailed version of the study and say that it helps them …
VW Eos convertible could be in showrooms this summer
Volkswagen’s Eos convertible won’t be delayed as long as expected, dealers learned at their make meeting.
A few weeks ago, Volkswagen of America told dealers they wouldn’t get the Passat-based hardtop convertible until September - not the best time to start selling an open-air vehicle.
Now Adrian Hallmark, executive vice president of Volkswagen of America since last fall, says the car likely will be in showrooms in June because problems with the folding roof have been solved.
The Eos adds to a busy launch year for VW. With Hallmark newly installed at the helm and important new products on the way, VW seeks …
Buick gets a ’super,’ Pontiac gets entry-level coupe
Buick-Pontiac-GMC executives continue to push General Motors’ channeling strategy by introducing targeted product for the individual brands.
Executives made several product announcements to dealers at the three-brand make meeting. Executives also set sales expectations for the brands.
Pontiac will get a new entry-level coupe, called the G5, for the 2007 model year. It will be priced just under $15,000, said John Larson, general manager of Buick-Pontiac-GMC, in an interview with Automotive News after the meeting. GM will start producing the G5 coupe this summer, he said.
“We think the coupe had a significant amount of differentiation for our small-car products,” Larson said. “We …
Hyundai, Kia aim directly at Europe’s big brands
If they haven’t heard the warning already, Europe’s traditional carmakers will receive a wake-up call at the Geneva auto show.
Hyundai and Kia will unveil ambitious plans to target Europe’s volume brands at the show.
- Hyundai likely will announce the location of its new 300,000-unit assembly plant in the Czech Republic.
- Kia will unveil a design teaser close to its future Slovak-built car.
- A Hyundai concept car will show its European design direction.
Within four years, the two carmakers will have European factories capable of building 600,000 lower-medium cars annually – including Slovak-made engines – a potentially huge challenge to Europe’s traditional volume brands, analysts …
SUV to set new trend at VW
Volkswagen isn’t just unveiling a new Golf-based SUV in Geneva. It will showcase a new business model.
VW brand Chairman Wolfgang Bernhard is shaking up VW’s high-wage German operations by cutting manufacturing costs, reducing headcount and threatening to sell or close in-house component units as VW adjusts capacity.
VW joins Renault, General Motors and Ford in attempting to make production in western Europe more profitable. (See story, page 4)
VW’s Concept A prototype, a design study for the brand’s long-awaited medium SUV, is a prime example of this restructuring. It will be built in Wolfs-burg, Germany, using the Auto 5000 model, an existing …
China Seeking Auto Industry, Piece by Piece February 17, 2006
China is pursuing a novel way to catapult its automaking into a global force: buy one of the world’s most sophisticated engine plants, take it apart, piece by piece, transport it halfway around the globe and put it back together again at home.
In the latest sign of this country’s manufacturing ambitions, a major Chinese company, hand-in-hand with the Communist Party, is bidding to buy from DaimlerChrysler and BMW a car engine plant in Brazil.
Because the plant is so sophisticated, it is far more feasible for the Chinese carmaker, the Lifan Group, to go through such an effort to move it …
VW’s Bernhard looks for help in product offensive
Volkswagen is eyeing further partnerships with rival carmakers to help advance its product offensive, VW Brand Group chief Wolfgang Bernhard said on Thursday, Feb. 16.
With Volkswagen designers working on 20 new models, Bernhard said the company was examining further cooperations to speed up the pace of new product launches.
Volkswagen recently announced a partnership with the Chrysler group, which will build a VW minivan for the North American market.
“When it comes to a product offensive you are trying to take all the opportunities that are offered to you, so we are investigating all kinds of opportunities, absolutely,” he told reporters during …
Mini engine plant’s future is unclear
The future of a plant in Brazil that manufactures the Mini Cooper’s engine is up in the air. The plant is owned by Tritec Motors Ltda., a joint venture of BMW AG and DaimlerChrysler AG.
After the joint venture expires in 2007, “there are many options,” says Jochen Schaefers, a DaimlerChrysler spokesman. “Selling is one possibility. Another is to enhance the joint venture.”
The New York Times reported that a minor Chinese automaker, the Lifan Group, is talking to Tritec about buying the engine manufacturing line. Schaefers said, “I can’t confirm that we are in talks with any Chinese business.”
Late this year, …
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