Industry News
News for 25th April 2006
SMMT reports average new-car CO2 emissions down 10.7% in seven years
Reporting that new UK incentives for greener cars are due to be approved by European Commission this week, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said today that the average new car sold in 2005 emitted 10.7% less CO2 than models registered in 1997. The latest SMMT New Car Registrations by CO2 Performance report based on data from every new car registered last year, also shows a 1.2% year-on-year drop from 171.4 g/km in 2004 to 169.4 g/km in 2005.
SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan said, “SMMT's latest data shows the progress we are making to bring ever cleaner vehicles to the market place. We need an integrated approach if we are to keep making good progress. In addition to our technological advances, buyers need incentives to encourage them into cleaner vehicles. We hope the European Commission will soon give the go-ahead for the new Low Carbon Car Grants to help new car buyers in the UK. Following the collapse of the Powershift programme some 18 months ago, this should bring a stable long-term and technology neutral approach to grant funding.”
SMMT New Car Registrations by CO2 Performance 2006 shows that in 2005:
- The percentage of new cars with CO2 emissions of under 140 g/km has risen to 18%; a rise from 3.9% in 1997, and from 15.5% in 2004. This fall in CO2 has been matched by a 13.9% improvement in mpg levels.
- The average emission from a new car sold to private buyers has fallen 1.1%, down to 172.3g/km - its lowest ever level. This was the same improvement as the company car market.
- Over half the new car market is now under 160 g/km CO2 levels have fallen by 20.4g/km per new vehicle since 1997.
- 34.1% of the new car market falls in the lowest three VED bands; up from just 7.8 per cent in 1997.
- Despite a 15% increase in the total UK vehicle parc since 1997, total emissions from cars fell 1.0%.
- Registrations of alternative-fuelled vehicles increased 48 per cent in 2005.
The European pressure group Transport & Environment claimed last week that the car industry was “failing miserably” to meet the ACEA’s pledge of achieving an average emissions target of 140g/km of CO2 by the end of 2008, saying they would need to achieve a 4.3% annual reduction for the next three years to reach the target, compared to the 1.2% reduction reported by the SMMT.
New Conservative agenda for greener transport includes 100 g/km CO2 target for 2022
Conservative Party leader David Cameron unveiled plans yesterday in the final phase of the current local election campaign to encourage people to switch to more environmentally-friendly vehicles. Mr. Cameron unveiled a series of options - to be considered by the Party's policy group - including:
- Setting a new target to bring the average (CO2) emissions level for new cars down to 100 g/km by 2022 through an incentive programme which could include differential rates of duty, expanding the existing company car scheme, and exempting ‘greener’ cars from parking and congestion charges
- Making it easier for people to walk and cycle on short journeys
- And improving public transport.
Mentioning that Britons walk less than almost any other Western country except Greece, while the UK cycling rate is 40% below the EU average, Mr Cameron stated: "We will be developing plans to bring about a dramatic improvement in the state of public transport in the UK. We recognise the need for radical thinking to provide cleaner, greener transport in our towns and cities."
On private transport, Mr. Cameron said: "The solution is not to stop people owning and using cars, but to transform the cars we drive. I've swapped my government car for a hybrid with substantially lower emissions. It still produces too much carbon, but it's a move in the right direction.
"I want Britain to be at the forefront of international efforts to build a new generation of motor vehicles that are much less environmentally damaging. And today I'm announcing a radical Conservative agenda for green cars. Our goals are ambitious. We want to bring the average carbon emission level from cars down to 100 grammes per kilometre for new cars by 2022, and for all cars on Britain's roads by 2030."
The Conservative’s policy document on the subject, which can be downloaded in full from www.conservatives.com, shows the party’s policy is neutral concerning the benefits of different vehicle fuel technologies, but takes note of incentive-based, CO2 target-based programmes that have begun to increase the population of hybrid vehicles abroad, including the Pavley Bill in California, under which manufacturers have until the 2009 model-year to produce vehicles that will collectively emit 22% less greenhouse gases than at present by 2012, and 30% less by 2016.
Believing that setting an objective of an average emission level of 100g/km by 2022 for new cars is a "challenging but realistic" goal, the Conservatives’ intention is to develop a programme that is cost-neutral – that will alter the balance between the cost of owning a traditionally powered, less environmentally friendly vehicle and the equivalent cost of a new-generation vehicle.
SMMT publishes Motor Industry Facts - 2006 booklet
Today, the first day of the Commercial Vehicle Show at the NEC, Europe's biggest business-to-business show of its kind, SMMT has published Motor Industry Facts - 2006, the annual update of its pocket-sized guide to facts and figures for the UK automotive sector. For the first time, SMMT Facts 2006 contains data on the bus and coach industry; on motorhomes; on engine manufacturing and on the use of satellite navigation and in-car entertainment.
Among manufacturing facts included:
- Last year, UK sites produced 1.8m cars and commercial vehicles and 3.1m engines.
- During 2005, average electricity costs rose 33.9%, gas costs by 94.4% and crude oil costs by 49.9%.
- Nissan (Sunderland), Toyota (Burnaston) and BMW MINI (Cowley) were the top three car producers in 2005. GM in the UK topped the commercial vehicle producers list.
Commercial vehicle facts:
- In 2005, CV production breaks 206,000 unit level for only the second time since 1999.
- Total new CV registration stood at 385,969 units last year, up 39.5% in five years
- Registrations of new buses and coaches have risen 14.8% since 1996.
- Motorhome registrations jumped 71.8% in the last five years
- 63% of CVs produced in the UK were destined for export markets.
Car facts include:
- Total car registrations in 2005 stood at 2,439,717 units.
- The diesel new car market has increased 145% in ten years to 897,887 units.
- Fleet registrations have risen 16.4% since year 2000.
- 184,490 more new superminis left showrooms in 2005 compared to 10 years ago.
- Improved CO2 performance has been greatest among new 4x4s and people carriers.
- Combined new and used car sales totalled 10m units in 2005.
- In 2005, 2.1m in-car entertainment and satellite navigation systems were sold in the UK, a 1,860% increase in five years.
Motor Industry Facts - 2006 can be downloaded, for free, from www.smmt.co.uk.
TVR lay-offs: firm looks for new premises
After the Transport and General Workers Union said on 24 April that the Blackpool sports car manufacturer TVR had laid off 73 of its 260 staff (not 300, as reported on 21 April) and that the T&G was meeting with the company to discuss the situation, some reports suggested the plant would be closed, and a spokesman for the firm said it wanted to relocate “in the area”.
TVR, which was founded in 1947 and bought in 2004 by Nikolai Smolensky, the then 23 year-old son of Russian banker Alexander Smolensky, is said to have suffered a sizeable drop in sales last winter.
The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) said TVR had told their officials at a meeting that the present factory near Blackpool would be shut down in six months.
"They propose to keep some presence in the UK but we don't know what that is. It sounds like it may be a relocation," a TGWU spokesman said, but a TVR spokesman told the BBC the company would not be closing and that had been looking for new premises in the area, and it was "essential" that new premises are found within the next six months to avoid disrupting production.
"This has been on the cards for quite a while," he added, saying, "Ideally we would stay around here because that is where the trained people are, but we cannot guarantee it. We are investing for the future and our new owner is in it for the long term."
TGWU members at TVR are to meet on 3 May to consider what action to take.
(Reuters, BBC, other media, 24 April)
Nissan reports 2005 consolidated net profit up 1.1%
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., has announced consolidated net income of 518.1 billion yen (€3.78 billion), up 1.1% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, a record for a sixth consecutive year. Net revenues totalled 9.428 trillion yen (€68.87 billion), up 9.9%. Operating profit amounted to 871.8 billion yen (€6.37 billion), up 1.2%, while the company’s operating profit margin came to 9.2%. Ordinary profit amounted to 845.9 billion yen (€6.18 billion), down 1.1%.
Nissan sold a record 3,569,295 vehicles globally in the last financial year. In the US, sales advanced 6.1% despite no new models being launched, to 1,075,097 units. In Japan, sales fell 0.7% to 842,062 units. In Europe, where sales are reported on a calendar-year basis, sales totalled 540,945 units, down 0.6%. Sales in other export markets increased 13% to 1,111,191 units.
Nissan’s net automotive cash position stood at 372.9 billion yen (€2.72 billion) at the end of fiscal 2005.
FY05 fourth-quarter results
In the January-to-March quarter, Nissan’s net income totalled 152.4 billion yen (€1.11 billion), an increase of 9.4% compared to the same period last year. Net revenues amounted to 2.636 trillion yen (€19.25 billion), up 6.4%. Operating profit totalled 240.6 billion yen (€1.76 billion), down 3.4%, while Nissan’s operating profit margin came to 9.1%. Ordinary profit amounted to 240.4 billion yen (€1.76 billion), down 1.4%.
Nissan sold 915,662 vehicles in the fourth quarter, down 6.3% compared with last year due to lower sales in the US, Japan and Europe.
FY06 outlook
Commenting on the outlook for this fiscal year, Nissan President Carlos Ghosn said fiscal 2006 would be a year of two distinct halves for Nissan: “In the first half, growth will be hard to achieve, but in the second half we have an intensive product launch offensive that will last through the remainder of Nissan Value-Up and beyond,” he said.
Nissan will release nine all-new models during fiscal 2006, including three in the US. Nissan will also continue with the global expansion of Infiniti, with the launch of the luxury brand in Russia in September. The brand, which is currently marketed in North America, Taiwan, the Middle East and Korea, will also go on sale in China in 2007 and across Europe during 2008.
Expansion into new and emerging markets will accelerate during the remainder of Nissan Value-Up. In Russia, Nissan has just announced plans to invest US $200 million (€165.52 million) in a new manufacturing facility at St. Petersburg, which will start production in 2009, subject to the approval of a specific government agreement.
Ghosn said rising raw material costs, rising energy prices and volatile foreign exchange rates would remain among the business risks for fiscal 2006.
Based on this outlook and assuming foreign exchange rates of 110 yen/dollar and 135 yen/euro, Nissan filed the following forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, with the Tokyo Stock Exchange:
1. Consolidated net revenues of 10.075 trillion yen;
2. Operating profit of 880 billion yen;
3. Ordinary profit of 870 billion yen; and
4. Net profit of 523 billion yen.
CV Show and ATS show opens today
The CV Show and ATS opens today at the NEC, with 668 exhibitors making it Europe’s biggest show of its type, covering commercial vehicles and aftermarket parts and equipment. The two show websites, www.cvshow.com and www.atshow.com, detail the vehicles, services and support products on display in each section.
SMMT responds to TFL consultation on London Low Emission Zone
Vehicle age should be the criteria by which limits are set within the proposed London Low Emission Zone, according to the SMMT/s submission to Transport for London, which believes that this approach would present the easiest, most manageable and cost-effective solution to implementation, an approach also said by the SMMT to be supported by the Government. Claimed benefits include:
- Practical with higher levels of compliance
- Far lower costs for TFL
- Lower costs to operators
- Minimising the effect on London business
- Promotion and incentives easier to understand for operators
- System can be applied to non-UK registered vehicles
- Tried and tested approach (Sweden)
In its submission to Transport for London, SMMT suggests the criteria should vary according to vehicle type. Eight years should be applied to heavy goods vehicles, 14 years for coaches (reducing to 13 years in 2010) while ten years should be used as the cut-off criteria for vans and light commercials.
While putting in its submission, the SMMT questions the benefits of locally applied, low emission zones over wider international efforts to improve air quality. It says national air quality standards offer a cohesive and far better cost-benefit solution, by bringing incentives to operators that introduce vehicles meeting the most stringent new engine standards, regardless of location.
British investor lobbies for investigation of Porsche and Lower Saxony Government ahead of Volkswagen AGM
The Financial Times reports it has seen a letter from Hermes, the British fund manager, urging an investigation of the agreement between the group’s two biggest shareholders, Porsche and the state government of Lower Saxony, which together own over 40% of the group’s equity.
The letter to other shareholders’ representatives sets the scene for a stormy AGM next week, says the FT, which adds that representatives of DWS and Deka, two of Germany’s biggest investment funds, have tabled motions criticising the chairman of VW’s supervisory board, Ferdinand Piëch, who is separately connected with Porsche and has been accused by some shareholders of meddling with the management of VW.
Hyundai corruption investigation affects exports, delays plant construction
Yesterday as South Korean investigators summoned Hyundai Motor’s chairman to an interview following the arrests of several company officials, Hyundai has said the investigation was starting to affect its sales in the US and Europe. The company recently cut its current-year US sales target by 3.2% to 346,500 vehicles and its equivalent European target by 9.9% to 318,000, reported the Financial Times.
“Sales are not good in those markets with inventories increasing due to the probe and the stronger won. Local dealers and consumers there are watching this case with concerns,” a Hyundai spokesman told the paper.
About 50,000 staff from 1,800 of Hyundai-Kia’s South Korean component suppliers have submitted a petition to prosecutors, pleading leniency for the Hyundai executives indicted in the investigation of, inter alia, a slush fund used to bribe government officials.
Meanwhile the affair has already caused Kia to postpone work on a new assembly plant in Georgia, while Hyundai has postponed the start of construction of its new Czech plant pending the completion of the investigation in South Korea.
Growth beyond Europe drives Renault Q1 revenues up 5.8%
Renault’s first-quarter 2006 revenues totalled €10,538 million compared with €9,961 million in
first-quarter 2005. The Automobile Division generated revenues of €10,055 million, a 5.8% increase on first quarter 2005. The impact of a 2.6% decline in global sales, and a 7.1% decline in European sales, was more than offset by factors including growth in aftersales and used vehicle sales, increasing parts and vehicle sales to partners, in particular with the start of SM3 exports from Korea on behalf of Nissan, and a favourable currency effect.
In Europe, Renault’s sales contracted by 7.1% in first quarter 2006. More than half of the volume decline arose on the least profitable sales, in line with the company’s selective commercial policy, which will continue in the coming months. Clio sales rose 32%. Outside Europe, Renault recorded 12.4% sales growth across its three brands; Renault (+14.1%), Dacia (+11.6%) and Samsung (+7.5%).
Sales in the ‘Euromed’ region - Eastern Europe, Russia/CIS, Turkey, Maghreb – were up12.1% benefiting from Logan launches in Russia and Morocco. Sales in the Americas (+20%) were boosted by growth in Argentina’s buoyant market (+48.8%) as well as in Columbia (+72.3%), where the rollout of Logan under the Renault brand took place during the quarter. Sales in the Africa/Asia region (+5.3%) were driven by South Korea, where Renault Samsung Motor sales increased by 7.4%.
Renault’s new corporate structure comprising Regional Management Committees (RMC) set up within the framework of the ‘Renault Commitment 2009’ plan is now in place.
German Bundesrat approves particulates emissions vehicle labelling scheme
The German federal parliament has given final approval to a new scheme requiring cars and lorries to be labelled according to their emissions of fine particles, reported ENDS last week. The schemes aims to assist Germany's efforts to meet EU air quality standards by allowing local authorities to ban vehicles with greater emissions during high-pollution episodes.
(Sources: ENDS, www.bundesrat.de, in AEG Desktop newsletter)
Solera and GTCR complete acquisition of Audatex from ADP
Solera, Inc., a US-based service provider to the insurance sector, and GTCR Golder Rauner, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of the repair cost data and communications system supplier Audatex from Automatic Data Processing, Inc. earlier this month. In the deal, Solera acquired Audatex operating companies that employ over 2,000 people in 31 countries with over 50,000 customers.
New Delphi diagnostic data release covers 1,500 more European vehicles
Delphi has released a data update for its DS100E, DS500E and DS800E electronic diagnostic tools, which includes more than 1,500 new data entries, allowing the tools to be used for diagnosis on more than 22,000 European vehicle systems.
This is the first of three planned data updates for 2006, and as well as adding new diagnostic capabilities such as tyre pressure sensor data, it also includes information on new models from Ford, Opel, Renault, Peugeot and Citroen.
The update is available as an internet download, as well as the traditional CD-Rom format.
(www.delphi.com/media)
ATS show launches Asian diagnostic scanners to European buyers
Euro Technologies, part of the aftermarket distributor Euro Car Parts, is launching the Autoland range of diagnostic scanners on stand 1259 of the ATS show opening today. Autoland scanners have been used in various Asian automotive markets for over 14 years, and are claimed to give coverage for European and Asian brand vehicles to ‘almost dealer level’, with software updates available via the internet, according to the distributor. The Autoland D91 scanner is supplied with marque-specific software for Porsche, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Volvo and the VAG group, while its Vedis scanner is an all-makes tool.
(www.eurocarparts.com)
Goodyear Dunlop invests in aftermarket franchise development
Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Limited has announced the appointment of Peter Tye as Franchise Development Manager. His new post has been created to spearhead the firm’s recently announced move towards developing franchise opportunities in the vehicle servicing and tyre fitment market.
Goodyear Dunlop are investing in its Hi-Q retail chain, and will complement the core of company owned stores with a re-launched network of franchises. This follows the company's decision to separate the Hi-Q and Truck Force businesses into two distinct business units. In addition to developing the Hi-Q Franchise programme, Peter will lead the development of partnership opportunities for independent tyre dealers under the ‘Goodyear Dunlop Dealer Partner’ banner.
Alternative-fuel vehicles “seriously considered" by 33% of US car buyers
A Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Personal Finance Poll shows that one-third (33%) of American adults who plan to purchase or lease a new vehicle say they are most likely to seriously consider an alternative-fuel vehicle for their next purchase. Most (92%) of these adults are willing to pay more for it than a traditional, gasoline-powered version of the same vehicle. The top reasons for considering an alternative-fuel vehicle include concerns for the environment and the cost of fuel. The survey also explores how consumers plan to pay for their next new vehicle, and what financial factors are most important to them when making their next new vehicle purchase.
The online survey of 2,516 U.S. adults was conducted by Harris Interactive between April 4 and 6, 2006 for The Wall Street Journal Online's Personal Journal Edition.
Almost three in five (58%) adults plan on purchasing a new vehicle, and while 37 percent say they are most likely to seriously consider a traditional, gas vehicle, many say they will seriously consider a hybrid (25%), ethanol (7%), or diesel (2%) vehicle.
Only 8% of adults who will likely consider an alternative-fuel vehicle say they would not be willing to pay a penny more for a vehicle that runs on an alternative fuel over a traditional, gasoline-powered version of the same vehicle. Among those who are willing to pay extra, the average amount willing to be paid is $9,258.
Among those who say they would seriously consider a vehicle that runs on alternative fuel, almost half (47%) say their main reason for doing this is because it is better for the environment. Another 45% say their main motive is because their fuel costs will be lower. Substantially fewer adults cite the fact that they can take advantage of the Federal Clean-Fuel Tax Deduction (3%) and that they will be able to drive in High Occupancy Vehicle (H.O.V.) and car pool lanes (1%) as their most important reason.
Bath University shows off Clever city trike prototype
A three-wheeled two-seater city car prototype developed by a European consortium including BMW has been demonstrated at the University of Bath, reported the BBC today. The prototype Clever (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport) car is one metre wide, has a top speed of 60mph and uses an electronically controlled hydraulically-operated tilting chassis for stability control.
The prototype is the result of a three-year, £1.5m EU-funded project by researchers in nine European countries.
Ben Drew, a research officer at the University of Bath, one of the institutions involved in the project, told the BBC, "The idea is to try to marry the small size and efficiency of a motorcycle with the comfort and safety of a standard car."
While the prototype on show in Bath was shown with only its alloy space frame, the complete car has a roof and plastic body panels. It is powered by a two-cylinder spark ignition engine running on natural gas.
(bbc.co.uk)
