TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Toyota announced Friday a global sales target for 2009 of about 10.4 million vehicles, a number that would put the Japanese automaker ahead of world leader General Motors' record reached 30 years ago.
Analysts say Toyota Motor Corp. is likely on track to beat General Motors Corp. as the world's biggest automaker in global vehicle sales as well as production this year -- a title Detroit-based GM has held for 76 years.
Toyota gave the ambitious sales plan in a document handed out as President Katsuaki Watanabe outlined the company's growth strategy for coming years.
Watanabe said Toyota will continue to upgrade quality in its products and work on technological innovations such as luxury Lexus hybrids.
"We will win in every opportunity, reduce risks, and even turn risks into opportunities," he said at a Tokyo hotel.
The record for annual global vehicle sales ever is the 9.55 million vehicles Detroit-based GM sold in 1978.
But Toyota has been closing in on the gap, getting a big boost from the popularity of its Camry sedans, Prius gas-electric hybrid and other models reputed for good mileage that are increasingly attractive amid soaring gas prices.
General Motors, which has been forced to scale back production amid intensifying competition from Toyota and other rivals, posted its third straight quarter of profit in the April-June period at $891 million. That marked a reversal from the $3.4 billion loss GM posted the same period last year.
Toyota and its group companies sold 8.8 million vehicles worldwide last year, trailing GM at 9.1 million vehicles.
Toyota has said it plans to sell 9.34 million vehicles this year, and 9.8 million vehicles in 2008. The 2009 target shows Toyota is determined to continue on that solid growth track.
Toyota has already beaten GM in global vehicle sales for the first six months of this year, selling 4.72 million vehicles, compared to GM's 4.674 million vehicles.
Toyota still trails GM in global vehicle production for the first half, rolling out 4.71 million vehicles worldwide.
General Motors, which produced 4.75 million vehicles during that period, does not give vehicle sales or production targets
Friday, August 31, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Daimler, BMW may sue over China 'copycats'
August 29 2007: 6:01 AM EDT
SINGAPORE/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -- DaimlerChrysler and BMW are threatening legal action over Chinese-made vehicles that they claim are copies of their own models, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
DaimlerChrysler said it would consider unspecified legal action if tiny Chinese carmaker Shuanghuan Automobile showed the Noble, which it says closely resembles DaimlerChrysler's Smart Fortwo minicar, at next month's Frankfurt motor show, the FT reported, quoting a spokesman from DaimlerChrysler.
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BMW said it was considering legal action against the German importer of another Shuanghuan vehicle, the "CEO," which it claims closely resembles a previous version of its X5 sports utility vehicle that was discontinued in 2006, the paper said.
A Shuanghuan spokesman told Reuters by telephone from the company's headquarters in Shijiazhuang, in the northern province of Hebei, that he did not want to comment on the allegations.
But he added that both models were recognized as domestically developed vehicles by the Chinese government.
Shuanghuan's CEO has been sold in Southeast Asia, Italy and elsewhere, and several European dealers have expressed interest in the Noble minicar, he said, while declining to give sales figures.
The Chinese firm has not decided whether to attend the Frankfurt motor show, or whether to sell the Noble abroad, he added.
Visiting Beijing this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed for stronger protection of intellectual property rights.
"We take intellectual property protection very seriously," the Financial Times quoted the DaimlerChrysler spokesman as saying. "We decided to reserve the right to pursue legal action."
DaimlerChrysler (Charts), which following its sale of Chrysler is due to change its name to Daimler AG, has not elaborated on its legal plans, but the company is understood to have contacted Shuanghuan about the issue, the newspaper reported.
The German company last year succeeded in stopping another Chinese producer from bringing to market a different vehicle that closely resembled the Smart, the paper said.
SINGAPORE/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -- DaimlerChrysler and BMW are threatening legal action over Chinese-made vehicles that they claim are copies of their own models, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
DaimlerChrysler said it would consider unspecified legal action if tiny Chinese carmaker Shuanghuan Automobile showed the Noble, which it says closely resembles DaimlerChrysler's Smart Fortwo minicar, at next month's Frankfurt motor show, the FT reported, quoting a spokesman from DaimlerChrysler.
Video
BMW said it was considering legal action against the German importer of another Shuanghuan vehicle, the "CEO," which it claims closely resembles a previous version of its X5 sports utility vehicle that was discontinued in 2006, the paper said.
A Shuanghuan spokesman told Reuters by telephone from the company's headquarters in Shijiazhuang, in the northern province of Hebei, that he did not want to comment on the allegations.
But he added that both models were recognized as domestically developed vehicles by the Chinese government.
Shuanghuan's CEO has been sold in Southeast Asia, Italy and elsewhere, and several European dealers have expressed interest in the Noble minicar, he said, while declining to give sales figures.
The Chinese firm has not decided whether to attend the Frankfurt motor show, or whether to sell the Noble abroad, he added.
Visiting Beijing this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed for stronger protection of intellectual property rights.
"We take intellectual property protection very seriously," the Financial Times quoted the DaimlerChrysler spokesman as saying. "We decided to reserve the right to pursue legal action."
DaimlerChrysler (Charts), which following its sale of Chrysler is due to change its name to Daimler AG, has not elaborated on its legal plans, but the company is understood to have contacted Shuanghuan about the issue, the newspaper reported.
The German company last year succeeded in stopping another Chinese producer from bringing to market a different vehicle that closely resembled the Smart, the paper said.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Most Expensive Cars To Drive
Good news, Porsche lovers: Though a 911 GT3 will set you back $107,500, its estimated five-year operating costs are just $19,396.
Just?
In relative terms, yes. Even though it had the second-highest sticker price, the 911 GT3 had the lowest operating costs of the luxury cars on our list of the 10 most expensive to run.
The rankings didn't bode well for owners of the Mercedes G55, the BMW M6 Coupe and the Audi RS4. Operating costs set their owners back $26,544, $24,578 and $22,619, respectively.
"Expensive luxury cars tend to be big; they tend to have a lot of power; they have a lot of features," says David Wurster, co-founder and president of Vincentric, a Detroit-based automotive data firm that analyzes vehicle ownership expenses. "In a sense, you get more car for more money. But they're also more expensive to operate."
The Methodology Vincentric supplied five-year cost estimates for 2007 models. Its researchers looked at expected repair costs and expected scheduled maintenance costs. They also examined estimated fuel costs according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mileage ratings assuming 15,000 miles a year, using factory-recommended fuel--that is, regular, premium or diesel--at today's prices and weighted for a realistic mix between city and highway driving.
With premium gasoline in many areas topping $3 a gallon, it's no wonder cars and trucks with big, thirsty V8 engines dominate our list. What helped the 911 is Porsche's fuel-efficient, six-cylinder engine relative to the rest of this group. It gets close to 20 mpg in combined city/highway driving.
The $100,000 BMW M6 Coupe, on the other hand, has a rare V10 engine, which in five years is expected to eat up an estimated $19,229 worth of premium gasoline. This helps it land at No. 2 on the list, despite BMW's fairly comprehensive free scheduled-maintenance program for all models.
Even more expensive is gassing up the Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG sport utility, which unites two terms you don't usually hear together: "high-performance" and "SUV." Keeping the G55 AMG topped with premium gas for five years will cost an estimated $21,169, Vincentric reports.
Pros and Cons But while luxury cars tend to consume more fuel than, say, lower-priced models, they offset ownership costs in other ways.
James Bell, publisher of IntelliChoice.com, an online car-ranking service, says that depreciation is another major consideration, and an area where luxury vehicles are more likely to prove their value.
"Sometimes the car that has a sticker price that's lower by $5,000 can more than make up for it by losing more than $5,000 in value while you own it," he says. "You may actually be better off buying the car that's $5,000 more, if it retains its value better, which luxury cars tend to do."
Just?
In relative terms, yes. Even though it had the second-highest sticker price, the 911 GT3 had the lowest operating costs of the luxury cars on our list of the 10 most expensive to run.
The rankings didn't bode well for owners of the Mercedes G55, the BMW M6 Coupe and the Audi RS4. Operating costs set their owners back $26,544, $24,578 and $22,619, respectively.
"Expensive luxury cars tend to be big; they tend to have a lot of power; they have a lot of features," says David Wurster, co-founder and president of Vincentric, a Detroit-based automotive data firm that analyzes vehicle ownership expenses. "In a sense, you get more car for more money. But they're also more expensive to operate."
The Methodology Vincentric supplied five-year cost estimates for 2007 models. Its researchers looked at expected repair costs and expected scheduled maintenance costs. They also examined estimated fuel costs according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mileage ratings assuming 15,000 miles a year, using factory-recommended fuel--that is, regular, premium or diesel--at today's prices and weighted for a realistic mix between city and highway driving.
With premium gasoline in many areas topping $3 a gallon, it's no wonder cars and trucks with big, thirsty V8 engines dominate our list. What helped the 911 is Porsche's fuel-efficient, six-cylinder engine relative to the rest of this group. It gets close to 20 mpg in combined city/highway driving.
The $100,000 BMW M6 Coupe, on the other hand, has a rare V10 engine, which in five years is expected to eat up an estimated $19,229 worth of premium gasoline. This helps it land at No. 2 on the list, despite BMW's fairly comprehensive free scheduled-maintenance program for all models.
Even more expensive is gassing up the Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG sport utility, which unites two terms you don't usually hear together: "high-performance" and "SUV." Keeping the G55 AMG topped with premium gas for five years will cost an estimated $21,169, Vincentric reports.
Pros and Cons But while luxury cars tend to consume more fuel than, say, lower-priced models, they offset ownership costs in other ways.
James Bell, publisher of IntelliChoice.com, an online car-ranking service, says that depreciation is another major consideration, and an area where luxury vehicles are more likely to prove their value.
"Sometimes the car that has a sticker price that's lower by $5,000 can more than make up for it by losing more than $5,000 in value while you own it," he says. "You may actually be better off buying the car that's $5,000 more, if it retains its value better, which luxury cars tend to do."
Monday, August 20, 2007
84 Years Old and Still Driving His First Car
TO keep a car running for many years, change the oil every 3,000 miles, says Clarence Cleveland Curtiss. His advice is not new, especially for anybody who owns a 1990 Buick, a 1980 Chevy or even a 1964 Volkswagen.
But Mr. Curtiss, 84, of Shelton, has followed the advice with the first car he ever owned, a 1929 Ford Model A; it has 200,000 miles on it and still runs.
Mr. Curtiss said he was 15 in 1938 when he bought the car, which sold for $400 when new, from a Derby man for $10. It was during the Depression.
“He was out of work, and he was hungry,” Mr. Curtiss said. “I drove it for a year with no license, and the day I turned 16, I got my license with this car.”
Mr. Curtiss has made one major upgrade, installing a Hudson Terraplane engine in 1940, because, he said, “I raced kids home from high school with it, but there were a couple of cars I couldn’t beat.” That allowed it to go more than 80 miles an hour, compared with 55 m.p.h for a standard Model A. “Then I could beat them all,” he said.
Part of the car’s allure is that it has never been restored. There is a hole in one of the floorboards, cotton is coming out of the seats and some of the paint is wearing off. Mr. Curtiss has kits to restore it, but he can’t bring himself to use them. “People just love seeing it the way it is,” he said.
Mr. Curtiss also has a strong emotional attachment to the car. He met his wife, Dorothy, shortly after he bought it, when he was 17 and she was 14; they had been married 56 years when she died in 1998. The initials they carved on the steering wheel as teenagers can still be seen. “She was the first and only girl I ever kissed in the car,” he said. “It’s priceless because of that, as far as I’m concerned.”
“People say, ‘You’re probably glad that car can’t talk,’ ” he added.
Mr. Curtiss and Dorothy drove to the New York World’s Fair in Queens in 1940, and he drove to six Army camps from Massachusetts to Georgia when he served during World War II.
The Ford Motor Company made slightly more than five million Model A’s from 1928 through 1931. Chuck E. Christensen, 68, technical director of the Model A Ford Club of America, a collectors’ club based in La Habra, Calif., said there were an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 of those cars left. He said longtime owners like Mr. Curtiss were rare. “In most cases, the cars have been passed around many times over the years,” he said.
Bob Casey, curator of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., said the Model A had a better transmission and braking system and a sleeker design than its predecessor, the Model T. “The style of the Model A was very much similar to the Lincolns of the era,” he said. “The styling was overseen by Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, and he had a much better eye for the appearance of cars than his father did.”
Mr. Curtiss, who in the 1970s sold the Shelton car dealership that still bears his name, Curtiss-Ryan Honda, takes his Model A to 12 to 14 car shows a year. Signs on the doors proclaim it as his first car, and the handwritten story behind it is taped to a side window. It has won 14 trophies.
“It’s always the worst-looking car at every car show, but it always wins trophies because of the story behind it,” he said.
Mr. Curtiss said the car was not worth much because of its condition, and he planned to leave it to his family. “I’d love to keep on with the tradition of driving the car,” said his great-grandson, Mike Zenisky, 16, of Shelton. “It’s kind of a symbol of the love my great-grandfather and great-grandmother had for each other.”
The Model A is one of about 25 cars that Mr. Curtiss owns, including a 1907 Sears Auto Buggy, a 1937 Rolls-Royce, a 1949 Cadillac and a 1975 Sebring-Vanguard electric car that he still drives around town. But it’s the Model A, which carries memories of that first kiss and won all those high school races, that tugs at his heart.
“I had the first hot rod in Connecticut, as far as I know,” he said.
But Mr. Curtiss, 84, of Shelton, has followed the advice with the first car he ever owned, a 1929 Ford Model A; it has 200,000 miles on it and still runs.
Mr. Curtiss said he was 15 in 1938 when he bought the car, which sold for $400 when new, from a Derby man for $10. It was during the Depression.
“He was out of work, and he was hungry,” Mr. Curtiss said. “I drove it for a year with no license, and the day I turned 16, I got my license with this car.”
Mr. Curtiss has made one major upgrade, installing a Hudson Terraplane engine in 1940, because, he said, “I raced kids home from high school with it, but there were a couple of cars I couldn’t beat.” That allowed it to go more than 80 miles an hour, compared with 55 m.p.h for a standard Model A. “Then I could beat them all,” he said.
Part of the car’s allure is that it has never been restored. There is a hole in one of the floorboards, cotton is coming out of the seats and some of the paint is wearing off. Mr. Curtiss has kits to restore it, but he can’t bring himself to use them. “People just love seeing it the way it is,” he said.
Mr. Curtiss also has a strong emotional attachment to the car. He met his wife, Dorothy, shortly after he bought it, when he was 17 and she was 14; they had been married 56 years when she died in 1998. The initials they carved on the steering wheel as teenagers can still be seen. “She was the first and only girl I ever kissed in the car,” he said. “It’s priceless because of that, as far as I’m concerned.”
“People say, ‘You’re probably glad that car can’t talk,’ ” he added.
Mr. Curtiss and Dorothy drove to the New York World’s Fair in Queens in 1940, and he drove to six Army camps from Massachusetts to Georgia when he served during World War II.
The Ford Motor Company made slightly more than five million Model A’s from 1928 through 1931. Chuck E. Christensen, 68, technical director of the Model A Ford Club of America, a collectors’ club based in La Habra, Calif., said there were an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 of those cars left. He said longtime owners like Mr. Curtiss were rare. “In most cases, the cars have been passed around many times over the years,” he said.
Bob Casey, curator of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., said the Model A had a better transmission and braking system and a sleeker design than its predecessor, the Model T. “The style of the Model A was very much similar to the Lincolns of the era,” he said. “The styling was overseen by Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, and he had a much better eye for the appearance of cars than his father did.”
Mr. Curtiss, who in the 1970s sold the Shelton car dealership that still bears his name, Curtiss-Ryan Honda, takes his Model A to 12 to 14 car shows a year. Signs on the doors proclaim it as his first car, and the handwritten story behind it is taped to a side window. It has won 14 trophies.
“It’s always the worst-looking car at every car show, but it always wins trophies because of the story behind it,” he said.
Mr. Curtiss said the car was not worth much because of its condition, and he planned to leave it to his family. “I’d love to keep on with the tradition of driving the car,” said his great-grandson, Mike Zenisky, 16, of Shelton. “It’s kind of a symbol of the love my great-grandfather and great-grandmother had for each other.”
The Model A is one of about 25 cars that Mr. Curtiss owns, including a 1907 Sears Auto Buggy, a 1937 Rolls-Royce, a 1949 Cadillac and a 1975 Sebring-Vanguard electric car that he still drives around town. But it’s the Model A, which carries memories of that first kiss and won all those high school races, that tugs at his heart.
“I had the first hot rod in Connecticut, as far as I know,” he said.
Deals for Ford Units Seen Fairly Soon
DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 20 — Ford Motor may have chosen the new owner for Jaguar and Land Rover by the time it reports its third-quarter results in October.
Ford expects offers for the two British brands to come in by Sept. 30, and could decide on the winning bidder within 10 days to two weeks after that, a person involved in the sale process said Monday. The person asked not to be identified because of the private nature of the discussions.
That is a little later than it looked as if Ford would sell the companies a few weeks ago. But the mid-October date makes logistical sense.
Last year, Ford reported its third-quarter financial results on Oct. 23.
It has not announced a reporting date yet for this year’s third quarter, but if it reports around the same time as last year, it may have a deal in hand for Jaguar and Land Rover.
“We have simply said that while we’ve set no timetable on these discussions, that we expect to come to a resolution by the end of this year, or early next year,” a Ford spokesman, Tom Hoyt, said Monday.
Even if the winning bidder is chosen by mid-October, the deal may not close by the end of 2007, the person involved in the sale process said.
One reason is the credit squeeze that has swept capital markets recently, causing some transactions to be delayed or fall apart.
That also could push down the selling price for the two brands.
Ford said this month that it was talking to “selected parties” about Land Rover and Jaguar and that it had begun a “strategic review” of Volvo, the Swedish carmaker. That was its first public acknowledgment that it wanted to shed that unit, which it bought in 1999. It bought Jaguar in 1990 and Land Rover in 2000.
Cerberus Capital Management, which bought the Chrysler Group from DaimlerChrysler this month, has acknowledged that it is among those taking a look at Land Rover and Jaguar.
Other possible bidders include TPG, the investment group run by investors David Bonderman and Jim Coulter, according to people with knowledge of the firm’s interest.
Ford expects offers for the two British brands to come in by Sept. 30, and could decide on the winning bidder within 10 days to two weeks after that, a person involved in the sale process said Monday. The person asked not to be identified because of the private nature of the discussions.
That is a little later than it looked as if Ford would sell the companies a few weeks ago. But the mid-October date makes logistical sense.
Last year, Ford reported its third-quarter financial results on Oct. 23.
It has not announced a reporting date yet for this year’s third quarter, but if it reports around the same time as last year, it may have a deal in hand for Jaguar and Land Rover.
“We have simply said that while we’ve set no timetable on these discussions, that we expect to come to a resolution by the end of this year, or early next year,” a Ford spokesman, Tom Hoyt, said Monday.
Even if the winning bidder is chosen by mid-October, the deal may not close by the end of 2007, the person involved in the sale process said.
One reason is the credit squeeze that has swept capital markets recently, causing some transactions to be delayed or fall apart.
That also could push down the selling price for the two brands.
Ford said this month that it was talking to “selected parties” about Land Rover and Jaguar and that it had begun a “strategic review” of Volvo, the Swedish carmaker. That was its first public acknowledgment that it wanted to shed that unit, which it bought in 1999. It bought Jaguar in 1990 and Land Rover in 2000.
Cerberus Capital Management, which bought the Chrysler Group from DaimlerChrysler this month, has acknowledged that it is among those taking a look at Land Rover and Jaguar.
Other possible bidders include TPG, the investment group run by investors David Bonderman and Jim Coulter, according to people with knowledge of the firm’s interest.
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