During March 2020, demand for new commercial vehicles plummeted by 47.3% across the EU, as measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus lead to the closure of dealerships.
Every vehicle segment was deeply affected by the fallout of the COVID-19 outbreak. All 27 EU markets recorded substantial declines last month. The strongest drops were posted by Italy (-66.1%), Spain (-64.4%) and France (-63.1%). Continue reading
Cross follows last year’s debut of the all-new Yaris. Click to Enlarge.
Toyota Says that its new compact SUV, the Yaris Cross, originally planned to be revealed at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show, has made its virtual world debut. As a new SUV that inherits the assets of the brand’s flagship compact car -Yaris. Yaris Cross will be launched in Japan in Autumn this year, and in Europe mid- 2021. It will eventually find its way into North America. (Toyota to Launch New Model Yaris in Japan in February)
By entering one of the hottest segments in the global auto universe that was forecast for continual growth pre-COVID-19, the new Yaris Cross faces stiff, established competition. Toyota claims Cross is vehicle that can help “redefine what an urban-type compact SUV should be, sharing the same driving pleasure and feeling beyond its class as the Yaris brand.”
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For the first time ever, Ford Performance introduces a one-off Mustang Cobra Jet factory drag racer with all-electric propulsion. It has a projected quarter-mile ET in the low-8-second range at +170 mph. The battery-powered Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 prototype is purpose-built, of course, with ~1,400 horsepower and more than 1100 lb.-ft. of torque.
“Ford has always used motorsport to demonstrate innovation,” said Dave Pericak, Global Director, Ford Icons. “Electric powertrains give us a completely new kind of performance and the all-electric Cobra Jet 1400 is one example…we also have the all-electric Mustang Mach-E joining the Mustang family.” COVID-19 might push b ack the debut though. Continue reading
Daimler’s full quarterly results will be published on 29 April 29 2020.
Given the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Daimler’s Board of Management confirms in a preemptive regulatory filing that its original forecast for the financial year 2020, as disclosed in connection with annual report 2019, is no longer valid.
“The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on customer demand, supply chains and vehicle production cannot be assessed with the usual degree of detail and certainty, making the re-evaluation of the forecast for the fiscal year 2020 complex.
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Groupe PSA says that Q1 revenue is down by -15.6% at €15.2 billion compared with €17,976 million in Q1 2019. In the Automotive division[1] revenue declined -15.7% at €11.9 billion because of a sharp volume drop partially offset by a stronger product mix. Globally, consolidated worldwide sales were down -29% with a total of 627,000 cars sold.
Philippe de Rovira, Chief Financial Officer of Groupe PSA said: “Having secured its liquidity and drastically cut its costs, the group now fully focuses on preparing the rebound in a chaotic economic environment”. Continue reading
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April is Mustang’s 56th birthday with Ford now claiming two global sales crowns: world’s best-selling sports car and a fifth straight best-selling sports coupe title. Mustang, in Ford’s not Corvette’s view, is also America’s best-selling sports car of the last 50 years.
Mustang sold 102,090 units, according to the most recent new vehicle registration data from IHS Markit, making it the best-selling sports car in the world in 2019. During this period, Mustang sales in Germany increased 33%, in Poland sales rose by nearly 50%, and in France, they nearly doubled from laughably small bases.
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Almost all major vehicles markets suffered steep year-over-year declines in March. The beginning of a downward spiral of unknown duration, according to consultancy LMC with 2020 dropping to 71 million units compared to, gulp, 90 million in 2019. (After Worst Collapse Since the 1930s, The Recovery is?)
This is the best-case scenario in AutoInformed’s view. Located in Michigan, which is a major participant in the global automotive economy, we are still waiting while social distancing for April to make COVID-19 magically disappear in the national Administration’s Panglossian view. This is a reign where even Voltaire’s more amusing version of a “stable genius” could not hang onto a senior level job as court jester. (Most Say Trump Too Slow in Coronavirus Response)
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Oliver Seidl, CFO DB Schenker, Manne Lucha, Minister for Social Affairs Baden-Württemberg, Uwe-Karsten Städter, Member Executive Board for Procurement at Porsche, and Dorothea von Boxberg, COO Lufthansa Cargo ( l-r). Click to Enlarge.
Porsche, DB Schenker and Lufthansa Cargo are helping Baden-Württemberg and the Free State of Saxony with the coronavirus crisis. The automaker put together a task force with six employees from the Procurement department and is organizing supply chains of urgently needed protective equipment on behalf of German state governments.
Together with the logistics partners DB Schenker and Lufthansa Cargo, Porsche is ensuring “problem-free” transport of protective masks, goggles, and protective suits from Shanghai to Germany. Since 9 April, up to six ex-passenger aircraft a week have been flying from China for Baden-Württemberg and the Free State of Saxony. Continue reading
You can be there will be a reserve on the Mustang.
Barrett-Jackson, noteworthy for collector car auctions, will premiere an online only auction beginning on 8 May 2020. With roughly 75 premium, hand-selected collector vehicles and more than 250 pieces of automobilia, the Barrett-Jackson Online Only May 2020 Auction will be run via an online auction platform, Proxibid.
It is claimed that Proxibid provides bidders and sellers secure online transactions and an infrastructure with 99 percent uptime. Both Reserve and No Reserve options are being offered.
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IHS Markit is looking past the “horrific Q2 drop in real GDP, and a deeper recession in 2020 than in 2008-09,” to assess the shape and strength of the recovery. Ms. Sara Johnson and CBE Nariman Behravesh, Ph.D. of the consultancy write that “For many of the consumer-facing service sectors, a U- or even L-shaped recovery seems more likely, given the expected reluctance of people to engage in activities that put them in contact with groups of other people (travel, entertainment, etc.). Continue reading
No parts, no trucks. No deliveries, no truck wearouts. It’s only a question how much will commercial vehicle sales and manufacturing get hurt?
Global commercial vehicle production (GVW 4-8) volumes in 2020 compared to 2019 are forecast to be down -22% or more than 650,000 units to 2.6 million units because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the most recent analysis from IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO).
Individual regional forecasts are set to a downtrend, and supply chain impacts are being felt, as the consequences of the virus have shuttered manufacturing and supplier facilities around the world. These forecasts are informed by the latest IHS Markit global economic forecast updates, which reflect – so far – a -3.0% decline in global real GDP in 2020.
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Not a step up so to speak.
Chrysler (FCA) is recalling 2019-2020 Ram 2500 and Ram 3500 Pick-up trucks equipped with an accessory bed step. “In certain side loading conditions, the bed step may unexpectedly fail while in use,” Chrysler said in the required NHTSA filing. The remedy is to change the support brace to a different design or remove the bed step on ~40,000 Ram pickups. (New Part Number 68526144AA. Bad Part Number : 82215842AC)
On 26 February 2020, Mopar Body Engineering notified the FCA US Vehicle Safety and Regulatory Compliance (“VSRC”) organization of a potential problem with the bed step breaking when in use after a side-load is applied to the step.
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A GM-built Aerosol Box. Click to Enlarge.
GM says it is expanding the manufacturing of personal protective equipment, including latex-free face shields, protective gowns, and aerosol boxes along with ventilators and face masks that have been in production. All of these crucial supplies are being donated.
These projects are led by employee volunteers looking to apply their automotive-production skills – from 3D printing to sewing upholstery – to help those fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Initially, these projects were grassroots efforts, with employees delivering handmade samples to hospitals for feedback and tweaking prototypes based on feedback, which fed into the final designs.
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The upcoming election will be a referendum about Trump’s Leadership Qualities.
President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak – especially his response to initial reports of cases overseas – is widely criticized by Americans, with nearly two-thirds of adults saying he was too slow to take major steps to address the threat, according to Pew Research.
The American community also strikes a decidedly cautious note on easing strict limits on public activity. About twice as many Americans say their greater concern is that state governments will lift restrictions on public activity too quickly as say that governments will not do this quickly enough.
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GM Canada Plans to Make Face Masks in Oshawa
GM Warren, MI – Preproduction Prep for Level 1 Facemasks, April 2020.
To help Canada meet the urgent need for face masks for health care professionals and for other Canadians, GM Canada is preparing parts of the Oshawa plant to produce facemasks based on the GM production model already working in the U.S. (GM Expands Medical Projects, Hospital Charitable Deliveries)
“We plan to manufacture approximately one million masks per month at cost for the Canadian government with an estimate of 50 employees supporting two shifts of production. The project still requires completion of additional work with our governments and our Unifor partners and we will provide updates as we get ready to begin production,” GM Canada said in a statement.
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