The offices of MTI have been buzzing even more than usual these last few days. Turns out “the management” have received some sort of offer from a big player in the automotive industry. Apparently they wanted to purchase MTI outright and merge it into their own on-line operations thereby having an “off the shelf” business blog to do with as … [Read more...]
VW prepares to takeover Porsche
July 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Europe's biggest carmaker, Volkswagen (VW), plans to buy German sports car firm Porsche in stages while retaining the latter's independence. VW says its board will hold talks with Porsche "in order to reach a final concept fulfilling this goal". Both sides had earlier said they wanted to form an integrated automotive group. … [Read more...]
Ford turns a profit
July 23, 2009 By 1 Comment
Ford, the only one of the "Big Three" US carmakers not to have gone bankrupt, has reported a quarterly profit of $2.3bn (£1.4bn). However, the profit was largely due to one-off gains related to debt restructuring, with demand for new cars remaining weak. … [Read more...]
Heads roll at Porsche
July 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
German luxury car maker Porsche has said chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking and financial director Holger Haerter have resigned "with immediate effect". The news comes as the boards of Porsche and Volkswagen (VW) meet over competing plans for takeovers and new investors. … [Read more...]
Magna still favourite for Opel takeover
July 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The German government has said that after initial evaluations of the three bids for Opel, it still favours a deal with Canadian car parts maker Magna. The government supported Magna's bid in May, but on Monday General Motors confirmed that it had received three official bids for Opel. … [Read more...]
GM suffer second quarter sales slump
July 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Sales at General Motors dropped in the second quarter as the US carmaker slid into bankruptcy. GM sold 1.94 million vehicles in the April to June quarter, including brands it is planning to sell, down 15% on the same period a year earlier. The company blamed economic pressures and production cuts in the US. … [Read more...]
Big second quarter loss for Fiat
July 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Italian carmaker Fiat has said "an extremely difficult trading environment " contributed to a 179m euros ($254m; £155m) second-quarter loss. The Turin-based firm said the loss was mainly due to a steep decline in sales from the same period last year. … [Read more...]
Hyundai top the scrappage heap
July 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Hyundai has taken more than 17,000 orders since the scheme started which works out at almost 300 orders per day.Their most popular car under the scheme is the i10, taking one in 12 of all scrappage orders placed in the UK. Supply is obviously still a concern with such demand and Hyundai UK have said that extra supplies of the car have been secured … [Read more...]
No quick decision on Opel
July 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
A meeting on Wednesday between General Motors and German government officials will not yield a decision on which bidder will succeed in taking a stake in Opel, a German government source said on Tuesday. It is also unlikely that a preliminary decision will be made on Opel's future this week, said the source. … [Read more...]
VW Tiguan – The People’s Reviewer – Week two – update
July 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Congratulations to Eric, the people’s reviewer winner from Heat 1 who is now through to the final. Fresh from their Tiguan adventures the second three reviewers are ready for judging so here are the latest … [Read more...]
Three final bids for Opel
July 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
General Motors has received three final bids for its struggling Opel business, which includes Vauxhall in the UK. Canadian car parts maker Magna, Belgian-based investor RHJ International and China's Beijing Automotive Industries are the bidders. … [Read more...]
Honda top, Land Rover bottom in new reliability survey
July 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The latest Manufacturer Reliability Index carried out by Warranty Direct has discovered that five of the top six reliable cars in Britain are Japanese and of those three are manufactured in the UK. The survey, which estimates the most dependable used cars among 250 popular models, listed Honda, which has its plant in Wiltshire, as the most … [Read more...]
D-day for Vauxhall Opel
July 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Would-be buyers of General Motor's Opel business have until later on today (20.07.09) to lodge plans for the firm's future. Canadian-Austrian car parts maker Magna International is favourite to buy Opel - which includes Vauxhall in the UK. Magna, backed by Russia's Sberbank, wants to use Opel to make an aggressive push into the Russian … [Read more...]
Nissan to create 350 new jobs in North East
July 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Nissan has announced that its Wearside factory will start producing batteries for electric cars, which is expected to create 350 new jobs. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that Nissan's £200m investment "was great news for the local economy". The plant, near Sunderland, has beaten off competition from other Nissan factories in Europe for the … [Read more...]
Standoff between GM and German government over Opel
July 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment
A stalemate between General Motors and Germany could be emerging over their preferences for competing bids between RHJ International and Magna International to buy GM's European carmaker Opel. Both GM and Berlin want to see a deal signed by the end of this month, but growing divisions between the former parent and the likely financier suggest a … [Read more...]
VW to buy Porsche AG for 8 billion euros
July 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Porsche's controlling families will agree on Thursday to accept an offer by Volkswagen to buy its sports car business Porsche AG for roughly 8 billion euros ($11.28 billion), Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. … [Read more...]
US scrappage scheme gathers pace
July 18, 2009 By 6 Comments
The US version of the UK scrappage scheme seems to be finally kicking into gear as thousands of dealers have been sent federal letters telling them how to register electronically for the “cash-for-guzzlers” (aka “cash for clunkers”) program, rules for which will be issued July 24, a U.S. Transportation Department spokesman said. … [Read more...]
General Motors – the price of failure
July 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The fact that there are CEO’s all over the world that have collected fat cat bonuses and built up massive pension pots should not surprise us. What is shocking to the core, however, is that these clever people … [Read more...]
We are always looking for experienced writers who can write good original quality posts on motor-trade-insider.com. 
