Japan's Nissan Motor has reported a 16 per cent rise in quarterly profit, thanks to Rogue and Qashqai SUVs ( what names !) However, the company warned a weak dollar and US economic woes meant a rougher road lay ahead.
But for an accounting change, third-quarter operating profit fell 7.2 per cent but Japan's number three carmaker - 44 per cent owned by Renault - stuck to its forecast for annual operating profit to rise 3 per cent.
Nissan is enjoying powerful growth in emerging markets such as China, Russia and the Middle East, as well as a recovery in the US.
Global vehicle sales climbed 13 per cent in the quarter, with all regions posting a rise except Japan, where the car industry faces a contracting market as the population ages.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
GM in ME 2007
GM brands – Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, HUMMER and Saab -
Qatar: sales up to 7,424 units ( 42 % increase)
Oman: 3,221 (39%)
The UAE, GM’s second biggest market in the region: 18,862 (up 20%)
Bahrain: 2,478 (10%)
Total sales 128,154 in 2007 ( up 1 %)
Saudi Arabia remaining the biggest market, accounting for almost 60 per cent of the company’s regional sales. Sales for the five brands in the Kingdom were 79,168.
GM sales in Kuwait totalled 17,001 units.
Chevrolet continues to be GM’s strongest brand in terms of volume and the GCC saw its sales rise by two per cent to 88,755 units in 2007, buoyed notably by the popularity of the Tahoe and Suburban full-size SUVs.
The Premium brands - Cadillac, HUMMER and Saab - performed well with a combined rise in sales of 10 per cent to over 6,000 units. With sales of just over 33,500, GMC also remains popular with GCC car buyers.
The full-size SUVs, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, were the company’s best-sellers in the GCC, with a 29 per cent rise in the course of the year to a total of 36,210 units. Industry sources indicated that this performance gave Chevrolet and GMC a clear lead in the segment in 2007.
The Chevrolet Caprice took the title of GM’s second best seller in the GCC, with sales of around 16,500 units, followed by the Chevrolet Aveo, which saw sales rise by eight per cent to 14,713. Other strong performers included the Cadillac Escalade (up 63 per cent to 1,799), the HUMMER H2 (up 12 per cent to 463) and the new GMC Acadia with sales of 2,770.
Qatar: sales up to 7,424 units ( 42 % increase)
Oman: 3,221 (39%)
The UAE, GM’s second biggest market in the region: 18,862 (up 20%)
Bahrain: 2,478 (10%)
Total sales 128,154 in 2007 ( up 1 %)
Saudi Arabia remaining the biggest market, accounting for almost 60 per cent of the company’s regional sales. Sales for the five brands in the Kingdom were 79,168.
GM sales in Kuwait totalled 17,001 units.
Chevrolet continues to be GM’s strongest brand in terms of volume and the GCC saw its sales rise by two per cent to 88,755 units in 2007, buoyed notably by the popularity of the Tahoe and Suburban full-size SUVs.
The Premium brands - Cadillac, HUMMER and Saab - performed well with a combined rise in sales of 10 per cent to over 6,000 units. With sales of just over 33,500, GMC also remains popular with GCC car buyers.
The full-size SUVs, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, were the company’s best-sellers in the GCC, with a 29 per cent rise in the course of the year to a total of 36,210 units. Industry sources indicated that this performance gave Chevrolet and GMC a clear lead in the segment in 2007.
The Chevrolet Caprice took the title of GM’s second best seller in the GCC, with sales of around 16,500 units, followed by the Chevrolet Aveo, which saw sales rise by eight per cent to 14,713. Other strong performers included the Cadillac Escalade (up 63 per cent to 1,799), the HUMMER H2 (up 12 per cent to 463) and the new GMC Acadia with sales of 2,770.
Women may drive in KSA
this report appears in the press quite regularly these days, thus perhaps picking up the tempo. Women in KSA may get to drive cars sooner than expected if the press reports are to be believed, though speculative. The ban in place for over 75 years since 1932 when Kingdom was founded, may be lifted. A new market for the car companies and related industries...
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Carlos Ghosn was not successful in forging a deal with GM. But, here is an alternative !
Nissan and Chrysler have agreed to have Japan's number one carmaker supply cars to Chrysler for sale in South America from next year, the companies said.
The car model, based on the Nissan Versa sedan, will be supplied under OEM agreement.
That means Nissan Motor Company will supply the cars, which are also sold as Nissan models, to Chrysler so the US carmaker can sell them under its own brand.They can help cut costs and strengthen product offerings immediately.
Nissan and Chrysler have agreed to have Japan's number one carmaker supply cars to Chrysler for sale in South America from next year, the companies said.
The car model, based on the Nissan Versa sedan, will be supplied under OEM agreement.
That means Nissan Motor Company will supply the cars, which are also sold as Nissan models, to Chrysler so the US carmaker can sell them under its own brand.They can help cut costs and strengthen product offerings immediately.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Tata's NANO
Robin Sharma recently wrote in his Robins Blog about IPod. Indeed, IPod is not only an exciting innovation, but also a shining example how you can further 'innovate' !
Tata's own Nano is as exciting too. We may complain about the impact it will have on environment. But think of a family who use a two wheeler as their 'family vehicle' !
With a length of 3.1 metres, width of 1.5 metres and height of 1.6 metres, with adequate ground clearance, mono volume design, wheels at the corners and powertrain at the rear will translate to space and manouvrability... a critical need to drive around India's rural and urban landscape.
Has a rear-wheel drive, all-aluminium, two-cylinder, 623 cc, 33 PS, multi point fuel injection petrol engine. This is the first time that a two-cylinder gasoline engine is being used in a car with single balancer shaft. The lean design strategy has helped minimise weight, which helps maximise performance per unit of energy consumed and delivers high fuel efficiency. Performance is controlled by a specially designed electronic engine management system.
Tata has taken care to provide basic safety features and claims less polluting compared to two wheelers. Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto, watch out... Tata Motors have taken the fight to your territory.
Ratan Tata had dared to dream. He challenged his team and himself by voicing his plan to launch a people's car. Though Maruti Suzuki was conceived by Sanjay Gandhi to provide a people's car to India, the dominant market leader clearly failed to lead from the front. I have personally had opportunity to interact with senior members at Tata Motors at their launch of Ace, Starbus/Globus, Daewoo trucks, etc.
Kudos to Tata team. In future, people may compare this model to Ford's model T !
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Driverless car
DETROIT: Cars that drive themselves could be ready for sale within a decade, General Motors Corp executives say. GM, parts suppliers, university engineers and other automakers all are working on vehicles that could revolutionize short and long-distance travel.
And on Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas GM CEORick Wagoner will devote part of his speech to driverless vehicles. "This is not science fiction," Larry Burns, GM's V-P for R&D said. The most significant obstacles facing the vehicles could be human rather than technical: Government regulation, liability laws, privacy concerns and people's passion for the automobile and the control it gives them. Much of the technology already exists for vehicles to take the wheel: Radar-based cruise control, motion sensors, lane-change warning devices, electronic stability control and satellite-based digital mapping. And automated vehicles could dramatically improve life on the road, reducing crashes and congestion. If people are interested. "Now the question is what does society want to do with it?" Burns said. "You're looking at these issues of congestion, safety, energy and emissions. Technically there should be no reason why we can't transfer to a different world." GM plans to use an inexpensive computer chip and an antenna to link vehicles equipped with driverless technologies. The first use likely would be on highways; people would have the option to choose a driverless mode while they still would control the vehicle on local streets, Burns said. He said the company plans to test driverless car technology by 2015 and have cars on the road around 2018. Sebastian Thrun, co-leader of the Stanford University team that finished second among six teams completing a 60-mile Pentagon-sponsored race of driverless cars in November, said GM's goal is technically attainable. But he said he wasn't confident cars would appear in showrooms within a decade. "There's some very fundamental, basic regulations in the way of that vision in many countries," said Thrun, a professor of computer science and electrical engineering. The Defense Department contest, which involved 35 teams, showed the technology isn't ready for prime time. One team was eliminated after its vehicle nearly charged into a building, while another vehicle pulled into a house's carport and parked itself. Thrun said a key benefit of the technology eventually will be safer roads and reducing the roughly 42,000 US traffic deaths that occur annually 95% of which he said are caused by human mistakes.
And on Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas GM CEORick Wagoner will devote part of his speech to driverless vehicles. "This is not science fiction," Larry Burns, GM's V-P for R&D said. The most significant obstacles facing the vehicles could be human rather than technical: Government regulation, liability laws, privacy concerns and people's passion for the automobile and the control it gives them. Much of the technology already exists for vehicles to take the wheel: Radar-based cruise control, motion sensors, lane-change warning devices, electronic stability control and satellite-based digital mapping. And automated vehicles could dramatically improve life on the road, reducing crashes and congestion. If people are interested. "Now the question is what does society want to do with it?" Burns said. "You're looking at these issues of congestion, safety, energy and emissions. Technically there should be no reason why we can't transfer to a different world." GM plans to use an inexpensive computer chip and an antenna to link vehicles equipped with driverless technologies. The first use likely would be on highways; people would have the option to choose a driverless mode while they still would control the vehicle on local streets, Burns said. He said the company plans to test driverless car technology by 2015 and have cars on the road around 2018. Sebastian Thrun, co-leader of the Stanford University team that finished second among six teams completing a 60-mile Pentagon-sponsored race of driverless cars in November, said GM's goal is technically attainable. But he said he wasn't confident cars would appear in showrooms within a decade. "There's some very fundamental, basic regulations in the way of that vision in many countries," said Thrun, a professor of computer science and electrical engineering. The Defense Department contest, which involved 35 teams, showed the technology isn't ready for prime time. One team was eliminated after its vehicle nearly charged into a building, while another vehicle pulled into a house's carport and parked itself. Thrun said a key benefit of the technology eventually will be safer roads and reducing the roughly 42,000 US traffic deaths that occur annually 95% of which he said are caused by human mistakes.
Monday, January 7, 2008
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