Porsche has been teasing the market for years with brief images of its anticipated model, the Panamera. The car therefore made a huge impact when it was previewed at 2009’s Shanghai Auto Show. Set to be launched later in 2009, the 4-door, 4-seater luxury sedan is the German automaker’s first foray into the sedan market. This marks a significant shift for Porsche, and the company expects the Panamera to bring in many new customers. In this video, sister site WatchMojo.com takes look at the Porsche Panamera:
Toyota Motor, the Japanese auto giant, said Monday that it expected its first operating loss in 70 years. That would be the company’s first annual operating loss since 1938, a year after the company was founded, and a huge reversal from the 2.3 trillion yen, or $28 billion, in operating profit earned last year.
Toyota’s numbers show that the worst recession since the worst financial crisis since the Depression is threatening not just the Big Three, but also even relatively healthy automakers in Japan, South Korea and Europe. Other companies are expected to report losses as well.
According to analysts, next year is expected to be even worse. The economy is expected to suffer until next summer.
The BMW 1 Series is relatively affordable, small, and as luxurious as ever. Check out WatchMojo.com’s profile to learn more:
A beast of a machine…
or two:
MILAN (Reuters) - Italian car maker Fiat has apologized to China over a television commercial featuring Hollywood actor Richard Gere and a reference to Tibet.
China is a huge market for car makers which, like other multinational companies, go out of their way to avoid upsetting the country’s sensibilities about certain issues out of fear of reprisals such as a boycott of their products.
Tibet has become a focal point for protests against China’s rule over the mountainous province ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August. Read more…
According to Gilles Castonguay
LONDON - A shock profit warning from Siemens put the company’s reputation under severe strain on Monday. Just over a month after it said that it was confident in its full-year outlook, Europe’s largest engineering firm warned that, following a review of three divisions, it expected its first-quarter profits to take a $1.2 billion hit.
Shares in Siemens plummeted by 12.4%, or 9.93 euros ($15.46), to 70.17 euros ($109.29), in Frankfurt on Monday morning after the company warned that delays and cancellations at three divisions would reduce earnings in the quarter ending on March 31 by around 900 million euros ($1.2 billion).
Reassurances that this represented the “largest piece of any additional financial burdens for 2008″ and that the company was on target to meet 2010 margin improvements did little to placate sentiment. It was only in January that the firm had said that it expected strong sales during the month had given it the confidence to meet its first-quarter net profit guidance of 6.5 billion euros ($10.1 billion), from 799 million euros ($1.2 billion) a year earlier. (See: “Siemens Profits From Restructuring”)
Siemens reviewed projects at three of its divisions, the first of which, within its fossil power generation division, revealed troubles at several turnkey projects. These included “challenges in the supplier markets”–on which the company did not elaborate–and delays in recruiting experienced project engineers. There were further delays in the awarding of major projects at its mobility division. Meanwhile, the British government cancelled an 85 million euro ($132.4 million) contract with IT Solutions and Services after Siemens failed to follow an agreed-upon timetable.
These developments represent a major setback for Siemens, which is in the midst of its most thoroughgoing restructuring in more than two decades, and for Peter Loescher, who took over as chief executive last year. Loescher, on whom high hopes have been pinned, has been attempting to slim down the company and improve its ability to take on the likes of General Electric. In addition to culling the management board and reorganizing the company into three divisions from 10, last month Loescher announced plans to cut 3,800 jobs at Siemens’s corporate telecom unit, which the company has been attempting to sell. (See: “Siemens Rises On Restructuring” and “Siemens Puts Division On A Diet”)
When Ratan Tata visited the home of the designer Ralph Lauren last autumn, the two auto enthusiasts spent much of their time in the garage, admiring Lauren’s extensive car collection, including the Batmobile-esque, 1955 Jaguar XKD.Now Tata, 70, is poised to take over Jaguar itself.
Tata Motors said Thursday that it was entering detailed talks with Ford Motor about the acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover, confirming what investors and analysts in India, Detroit and Britain have anticipated for months. Tata Motors said that it aimed to reach an agreement in upcoming weeks.
Read more.
Toyota Motor Corp. overtook Ford Motor Co. to become the No. 2 auto maker by U.S. sales in 2007, using new products and relentless strategy to break Ford’s 76-year lock on the position. Toyota sold 2.62 million cars and trucks in 2007, which amounted to 48,226 more than Ford, according to sales figures released Thursday. Toyota’s sales were up 3 per cent for the year, buoyed by new products like the Toyota Tundra pickup, which saw sales jump 57 per cent. Ford’s sales fell 12 per cent to 2.572 million vehicles.
General Motors Corp. remained the U.S. sales leader, selling 3.82 million vehicles in 2007. But that was down 6 per cent from the previous year as customers turned away from some large sedans and sport utility vehicles and GM cut low-profit sales to employees and rental car agencies. GM’s car sales fell 8 per cent for the year while truck sales were down 4 per cent.
Read more.
BMW is laying off 8,000 people, but says it will be “socially acceptable.”
BMW does not have any trouble selling cars. Sales of BMW Group, which includes Mini and Rolls-Royce, rose 13.2 percent in November, compared with the previous year, and are running 8.3 percent ahead of 2006 for the year to date. BMW delivered almost as many cars in the first 11 months of this year - 1.347 million vehicles - as it did in all of last year.
But BMW’s profitability has sagged as the cost of producing each vehicle has risen. At roughly 6 percent, its return on sales trails that of Mercedes, which is on track to earn more than 8 percent in 2007.
Read more.
LONDON–(Marketwire - November 20, 2007) - A new four-dour electric car design from ZAP called the Xebra has passed Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) inspection, allowing it to be driven on roads in the United Kingdom.
VOSA provides a range of licensing, testing and services enforcing the roadworthiness standards of vehicles in the UK. VOSA approval means the vehicle complies with full road traffic standards set for UK cars.
“With its congestion toll zone, London has become the world’s great proving ground for the electric car,” said ZAP CEO Steve Schneider. “Here is a unique electric vehicle that will help drivers save significantly on fuel costs as well as free passes for the daily congestion tolls and parking. We believe the Xebra is the first four-door electric vehicle to pass the VOSA test.”
Schneider noted the Xebra is also available in a truck configuration. ZAP designed the Xebra to quickly and affordably fill the demand for cars that don’t use conventional fossil fuels. ZAP calls the Xebra a “city-car,” a unique vehicle for city-speed driving up to 40 MPH (64.4 KPH). The sedan and pickup truck versions can recharge at any normal household outlet.
ZAP recently appointed UK-national and former Lotus Engineering CEO Albert Lam to its Board of Directors. Mr. Lam is the Chairman for ZAP’s new joint venture to manufacture next-generation electric and hybrid vehicles with Youngman Automotive Group, one of China’s leading bus manufacturers.
Based in Santa Rosa, California, ZAP is now expanding distribution for the Xebra and other electric vehicles worldwide. The Xebra is targeted towards government, corporate and utility fleet use as well as daily urban commuting for multi-car families and is now available at a price of just over US$10,000.
About ZAP
ZAP has been a leader in advanced transportation technologies since 1994, delivering over 100,000 vehicles to consumers in more than 75 countries. At the forefront of fuel-efficient transportation with new technologies including energy efficient gas systems, hydrogen, electric, fuel cell, ethanol, hybrid and other innovative power systems, ZAP has a joint venture to manufacture electric and hybrid vehicles with Youngman Automotive Group, one of China’s leading manufacturers of buses and trucks. ZAP is developing a high-performance crossover SUV electric car concept called ZAP-X engineered by Lotus Engineering. ZAP is also developing a new generation of vehicles using advanced nanotech batteries with Advanced Battery Technologies. The Company recently announced a strategic partnership with Dubai-based Al Yousuf Group to expand its international vehicle distribution. ZAP also makes an innovative, new portable energy technology that manages power for mobile electronics from cell phones to laptops. For product, dealer and investor information, visit http://www.zapworld.com.
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