Fresh start for cars
A California group hopes the electric vehicles of the next generation will rely on its battery-charging technology
Car industry in crisis
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Global carmakers – from the Detroit Three to Europe and Asia’s biggest marques – are struggling to emerge from the worst downturn in decades
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Carmaker backs government aid
Carlos Ghosn is a believer in support for industry: that comes from the emergency help European carmakers have received from government loans to a multi-billion euro cash-for-clunkers scheme
GM to slash capacity by 20% in Europe
The US carmaker says it plans to cut capacity by 20 to 25 per cent and headcount by 9,000-10,000 at its European bands Opel and Vauxhall, but denied it would engage in a ‘bidding war’ over jobs with European governments from which it is seeking aid
GM to begin repaying government loans
General Motors reported a further loss in its first quarter since leaving bankruptcy, but said it would begin repaying its bail-out loans to the US and Canadian governments next month
Carmaker JLR secures loan of £170m
The working capital facility is an important step for the lossmaking company as it seeks to shore up a financial position weakened by the credit crisis and falling sales
BMW to accelerate production in China
BMW and its partner, the state parent of Brilliance China Automotive, will invest Rmb5bn to expand their capacity in the world’s largest vehicle market
Peugeot aims to raise sales and cut costs
Europe’s second-largest carmaker seeks to raise sales and cut costs in a plan worth €3.3bn a year by 2012 through job cuts, the roll-out of new models and car-share services
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Comment and analysis
Car chase not enough for a good script
While a Hollywood film of the goverment bail-out of GM would have been an epic with an A-list cast, a German version of the deal supposed to have saved Opel would have more likely opted for slapstick comedy
Berlin’s wrong turn
Magna’s assurance that restructuring will be guided purely by commercial considerations is laughable when the group is accepting financing that depends on political decisions
Germany’s risky game of chicken
The greatest risk is political. It would be naïve to think that the Kremlin’s direct access to decisions affecting thousands of German jobs does not give it a lever on German politics
Japanese carmakers
Shares in the country’s carmakers, mostly lossmaking, continue to outpace the broader Tokyo stock market massively
An industry running on romance alone
Manufacturers should only show haggard motorists conveying screaming brats to school, or cursing as jams delay important meetings, writes Jonathan Guthrie
Eyes on the road
If GM and Chrysler solidify their market share and car sales revive enough, both will be able to make money again. But this depends not only on the companies’ unproven ability to compete successfully, but on general economic conditions
Russia hopes to get behind the wheel
When Barack Obama announced his decision to shepherd General Motors into bankruptcy, Vladimir Putin, Russian was conducting some car industry business of his own
How Washington blew GM’s bankruptcy
The administration took a tragic situation and turned it into an expensive mess to pay a political debt, needlessly wasting billions of dollars in the process, writes Michael Levine
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