Indego automotive concept, automotive consulting, steve young Indego automotive concept, automotive consulting, steve young

Your Opinion

Has the recession affected your future car buying habits?






Results
 
Indego / IndeGo Forum

Steve's Blog

Geneva Show 2010

Wednesday, 03 March 2010 17:41

GENEVA SHOW 2010


It's that time of the year again - time for the auto industry's favourite show.  Only two main halls, right next to the airport and no domestic dominant player mean that whilst other shows struggle and even cancel their events, Geneva marches on.  The exhibitor teams were a bit smaller, and the hospitality less lavish, but the industry top brass still turned out in force, and there was plenty to see...
 

Fiat and Chrysler - Third Time Lucky?

Tuesday, 20 January 2009 16:43

The announcement that Fiat is in talks with Cerberus to form an alliance with Chrysler is a significant step towards the sort of consolidation that Sergio Marchionne said would be required back in December last year. But what are the chances of success?  Both have been in transatlantic alliances before - Fiat with GM (and almost with Ford before that), Chrysler through their acquisitions of Simca and Rootes, then as part of Daimler Chrysler.  Will this be third time lucky?
 

"I'm a carmarker - get me out of here!"

Monday, 08 December 2008 19:53

Television in in the UK currently includes a number of series which could have been made for today's global auto industry.  "Strictly Come Dancing" does not have as many twists and turns as the US Big Three have woven into their two Senate Committee hearings to date.  As one manufacturer after another has declared that they are cutting back production, jobs and investment, we realise that nobody - not even Toyota or Porsche - has the X-Factor which is what Simon Cowell is looking for in another televised contest.  And then today, we had Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat who declared at the Paris Show only six weeks ago that he saw the European market being down 2%-5% in 2009, and that he hoped "not to have to review targets in 2009" effectively put the "for sale" sign up on Fiat Group.   He could have said "I'm a carmaker - get me out of here", echoing a third popular celebrity TV series.

Read more: "I'm a carmarker - get me out of here!"

Add your comment
   

Feeding the habit?

Tuesday, 28 October 2008 19:39

I have commented before about the implications of the credit crunch on vehicle manufacturers as they have been forced to take writedowns of hundreds of millions of dollars on the loans and leases they used to prop up their sales volumes.  In this last week, we have seen the obvious solution to this (if you are as addicted to this particular fix as the world's automakers seem to be) which is to hive off those toxic loans to your friendly government so that you can start all over again!

Read more: Feeding the habit?

Add your comment
 

Future of the Auto Industry

Monday, 13 October 2008 09:28

The last few weeks have seen the credit crunch make a huge impact on the global auto industry.  Sales have continued to slow not only in mature markets, but also in the previously high growth markets of China and Russia.  Based on current stock prices, you can now theoretically buy GM or Ford for what would have seemed pocket money a couple years ago, and Cerberus looks to be in deep trouble with it's investments in GMAC and Chrysler.  Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch, has been forced to sell his 20% stake in Magna, acquired only last year, at a loss, and the agreed acquisition of Continental AG by Schaeffler Group looks to be heading for the scrapheap before it is even consummated.  What's going to happen next?

Read more: Future of the Auto Industry

Add your comment
   

Read more...

Page 1 of 4