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Canada’s Scotiabank told the French news agency Agence France-Presse yesterday that plunge of the production of automobile in North American countries is caused greatly by plant closures of some U.S.-based car companies. Moreover, the plants in emerging automobile markets already have improved assembly capacities compared to the previous years. These countries posted a decent 15 percent increase every year in half a decade. Such improvement was also because a lot of car companies opted to build bigger plants in these nations where production cost is less expensive.

“The rising car production in emerging nations is particularly troubling for the Canadian auto parts sector, because the industry remains almost exclusively focused on the domestic and US markets,” said Carlos Gomes, who is the senior economist of Scotiabank. “These two markets absorb more than 95 percent of all Canadian auto parts shipments, but are increasingly becoming a smaller piece of the global auto industry.”

Based on the study done by Scotiabank, about 90 percent of the new automobile plants have been established outside the leading car markets Japan, North America, and Western Europe for the last five years. At present, the units produced in the booming markets India, China, Brazil, and Russia has reached a whopping 20 million. This total number dethroned the 17.4 million cars manufactured in Canada and the U.S.

Vehicle sales outside the North American market have also been so strong compared to the relatively feeble sales in America. Brazil and China led the emerging car markets with 30 percent and 20 percent improvements, respectively. For the early part of this year alone, the two countries have already sold more than a million vehicles. United States, on the other hand, plummeted from the targeted yearly average sales of 15.4 million vehicles.

Source: Agence France-Presse.

Source: BBC UK.

The Type One electric car dons a very futuristic look starting with its three wheels. According to Aptera, the vehicle only needs a small amount of gasoline to function. When fully loaded, the hybrid car can go for about 131 kilometers per liter of gasoline. Another plus factor of the Aptera Type One is that it does not need any special charger of some sort as it can be directly plugged to the 100 volt outlets in homes. On a full charge, the hybrid car can go for 136 km per hour.

Like any other regular mall, the Toyota’s Tressa, which is slated to open this week, houses numerous shops and restaurants. It has a total of 220 establishments, which includes a gym, in all that is solely run by the Japanese automaker. What sets this mall apart for the regular ones is that it the models of the company, like the Toyota Camry, are the mall’s main attraction. Aside from the relatively large showrooms, the mall has car-shaped shopping carts, which is among the many automobile-inspired features of Tressa. Toyota hopes that its unusual project will work its wonder to entice drivers in Japan to patronize its products.

In Japan, younger motorists are no longer interested in cars and in turn affect the sales of Toyota. Customers are no longer satisfied with the usual showrooms and print and television advertisements to promote the vehicle models. Moreover, a huge chunk of the younger drivers tend to shell out money in other things like laptops and mobile phones, which are way cheaper, than spend big money on a cars, according to an official from Toyota.

Aside from the faux pas marketing of cars, there are several other factors that affect the resident drivers of Japan from purchasing vehicles. For starters, Japan has among the best public transportations in the world. It takes pride in its efficient trains and subways, among others. Furthermore, costly parking fees and congested streets also affect the preference of motorists.

In order to influence Japan’s motorists to want cars again, the Tressa mall, which partially opened three months ago, will serve as an avenue where people are constantly in close contact with vehicles. With the constant exposure to the models of Toyota, the leading Japanese automaker hopes that drivers would be interested in cars again.

“We need to provide opportunities for people to come in contact with cars,” Yoichiro Ichimaru, who is the senior managing director of Toyota in Japan, told the Associated Press.

Toyota’s sales in Japan for 2007 went down to 0.6 percent or 5.3 million units lower compared to the sales in 2006. Last year, the automaker posted only 2.26 million units in Japan. It is a different picture overseas, however, as Toyota’s sales rose to 7.1 million more models or 10 percent.

Source: Associated Press.

As motorists are becoming more conscious about the prices of vehicles, automobile companies have started coming out with more affordable models in the past months. Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Company for one has recently dropped the tag price of its very own small car–Hyundai Accent.

Now available in dealerships across Canada, the Hyundai Accent has a base price of $9, 995 that is actually the original value of the model more than a decade ago. The Korean automaker decided to sell the modern version of the Hyundai Accent but with a very affordable price. With its “new” price, the small car from Hyundai has just reawakened the four-figure cars in Canada.

Since the bold move of Hyundai, other automakers followed. Kia Motors, which is the subsidiary of Hyundai, followed the trend of its parent company. What Kia did was to offer cash incentives to the buyers of its Kia Rio. With the incentive, Rio now has a base price that is way lower than $10, 000. With such cheap cars, customers in Canada went even to the extent of not test driving the vehicles and just pay for them right away.

Motorists in Canada that are so keen about their budgets are now given good options by companies like Hyundai and Kia. According to Chief economist Vic Singh of the Canadian Auto Dealers Association, these budget-conscious customers are now opting for brand new yet affordable cars than the second-hand vehicles.

“Hyundai and Kia are under a lot of pressure at the moment from new entrants in the subcompact segment,’ said Richard Cooper, who is the executive director of J.D. Power & Associates in Canada. “That psychological (four digit) barrier is quite important for consumers, particularly younger consumers and those are probably the people they have in their sights right now.”

The four-figure Hyundai Accent had its first stop in the French province of Quebec and has continued to reach even more dealerships in Canada. Accent, along with other smaller cars in distributed in Canada, has posted decent sales in the past months. Toyota Yaris, Hyundai Accent, Honda Fit, Chevrolet Aveo, and Nissan Versa had combined record sales of 120, 000 units, which is a good 17 percent.

Source: Financial Post.

GM believes that the Indian car market still has a lot room for more small framed vehicles as Tata’s Nano was widely accepted by motorists in India. Because of that, the U.S.-based company plans that this South Asian country will be the launch pad for its upcoming model. With a tag price lower than GM’s current small car Chevrolet Spark, the upcoming compact vehicle will also be part of the U.S.-based company’s plan of combining of all its $300 million-worth of auto parts exported outside America.

“I think there is enough space for entry of yet another car in the small car segment,” said David N. Reilly, who is the vice-president of GM in India. “We are planning to introduce a small car in the next two years, which will first be launched in India.”

If all things go well, GM will greatly benefit from the small automobile market of India, like what my Autopartwarehouse friends would reckon. In the next couple of years, GM hopes to move up several notches to 10-percent from its current three-percent status. Once the market share of the American automobile giant improves, all of its compact vehicles, along with the medium-sized models, will all be exported to this country.

“India has the full potential of becoming a lucrative export hub for small cars and we are planning to make India for our small cars,” said Reilly, who is also GM-Asia Pacific’s president.

Penetrating wholly the small car market of India, however, will definitely not going to be a walk in the park according to Reilly. He noted that GM’s upcoming compact and affordable vehicle will likely go bumper to bumper with Tata’s Nano, which was released last January at India’s Auto Expo. Moreover, the company is also planning of launching inexpensive pickup vans and more small cars in the future. Nonetheless, General Motors is keeping a positive outlook on the matter and is even looking forward to doubling or even tripling its sales, which is currently $300 million, in the next three to four years.

“Till now we have been producing cars, which are low cost and competitive, only to meet the Chinese demand. But now we are seriously looking for introducing these outside China, including India,” said Reilly.

Source: The Hindu Online Edition.

Recent auto shows, like the Geneva Motor Show and North American International Auto Show, gave the spotlight on the environment-friendly cars that are equipped with hybrid power source, fuel efficient engine, and relatively smaller frame, among others. Steering away from the recent auto show trends is the upcoming New York International Auto Show as it promises to showcase a pool of revamped and new models as well as high-powered V-8 powetrain laden vehicles on the public display this March 21.

Automobile critics and enthusiasts can expect a big dose of muscle cars for this year’s exhibition. Pontiac, which is a marque of General Motors (GM), is all set to introduce its two new models for its G8 range. Equipped with the powerful V-8 engines, the G8 GXP and G8 Sport Truck are expected to reinstate the GM-produced Pontiac’s excellence in manufacturing performance vehicles. Aside from introducing the high-powered new models, Pontiac is also going to sponsor a truck name guessing contest where the winner can bring home his or her very own G8 Sport Truck.

Dodge, on the other hand, is still going to stick with its famous muscle car Challenger. With the 2008 model slated to hit dealerships very soon, the Chrysler-produced marque will unveil its 2009 Dodge Challenger in the New York Auto Show. The least expensive Challenger that is armed with either a 3.6-liter V-6 engine or a 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 power plant will be displayed.

Joining the debuting American brand models are the 2009 Nissan Maxima of Japanese car maker Nissan Motor Company and Hyundai Genesis of Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company. Specifications on the said models are yet to be unveiled this Wednesday, which is the scheduled press preview before its public show on the 21st of this month.

Aside from the upgraded and new vehicles, the New York-based motor show will have established tuner and former racer Steve Saleen. He is set to unveil his new brand, which is likely focused on U.S.-made muscle and performance cars, in the said event. According to Edmuns Inside Line, Saleen’s first model from his upcoming marque is the S5S Raptor. Although a sports car, the S5S Raptor, which can accelerate up to 200 mph, is targeted for streets or off-track only. It is expected to carry a hefty value of $150,000 or so.

The New York International Auto Show will run its public viewing from March 21 until 30 at the West Manhattan-based Jacob Javits Convention Center.

Source: U.S. News.

The vintage sports car, which Mussolini used until 1939, was purchased by a private bidder for £550,000 in the H&H Classic Auctions. Built more than seven decades ago, the Pescara Spyder was used by Mussolini during a procession. The video record shows Mussolini greeting the people on the street while he was comfortably standing on the passenger seat of the Italian-made sports car, which was decorated with bouquets evenly spread out on the hood.

This former car of Mussolini, which can accommodate two adult passengers, was among the limited 60 Pescara Spyders every made. Although it is considered as one the rare cars today, only a few people came to bid for the former Italian dictator’s ride. Autopartswarehouse buddies told this blog that the the highest bid did not reach the targeted £800,000. Nonetheless, this particular 1935 Pescara Spyder currently holds the highest bid for the limited range Alfa Romeo range.

Source: BBC News UK.

Last week, the upgraded Fiat 500 took home the coveted title for the Small and Compact Vehicle category of the Geneva-based award giving body composed of auto editors, writers, and specialists collectively known as the Auto Bild Europe Magazines Group. Autopartswarehouse told this blog that the Fiat 500 successfully bested its rivals for its modern and stylish look and features. This small car from the Italian car brand did not only get the nods of the Auto 1 Awards’ editors, professional race drivers, and experts as it also wowed many readers of all the magazines under the Auto Bild Europe group. A total of 26 car magazines that is sold across Europe, like the Auto Express, are part of the group. Elimination is done by each magazine and then those models that made to each list become part of the finalists. The final cars then undergo a series of judging.

The new Fiat 500, which has a base price of £7,900, is said to be a top choice for small cars enthusiasts who want to get the most from such compact vehicle. For those willing to spend some more thousands, a higher version of the Fiat 500 is available at £10,700. Autopartswarehouse informed this blog that the said version has a bigger power plant. Moreover, there are also three economical choices for the powertrains of any Fiat 500 version: 75 bhp 1.3-litre MultiJet turbodiesel, 69 bhp 1.2-litre petrol, or 100 bhp 1.4-litre petrol. All of Euro 5 standards, these engines also have three trim levels: Lounge, Sport, and Pop.

Source: Easier.