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Apr 29, 2012

AUTO & TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * WORLDWIDDE

* USA- Strong April car sales forecast. Analysts point to demand for smaller cars, better economy

Detroit,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Jaclyn Trop and David Shepardson -April 28, 2012: -- April auto sales are expected to be the month's strongest since 2007, driven by consumer demand for smaller and more fuel-efficient cars, several analysts predict... Many automakers and analysts this month hiked their overall forecasts for auto sales, citing growing consumer need and a strengthening economy. Automakers will release their April sales figures on Tuesday... The industry is on pace to complete 14.6 million new car sales this year, up from 13.2 million last year, according to TrueCar. Edmunds.com forecasts 14.4 million for 2012...


* USA / Michigan - Chrysler posts $473 million profit in first quarter 

Auburn Hills,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Bryce G. Hoffman -27 April 2012: -- Chrysler plans to ship between 2.3 million and 2.4 million cars and trucks in 2012 and now estimates full-year net revenue of approximately $65 billion... Chrysler Group LLC posted a net profit of $473 million for the first three months of 2012 Thursday— more than four times as much as the company made during the same period a year ago... Net revenue for January, February and March was up 25 percent to $16.4 billion as Chrysler's global sales increased 33 percent to 523,000 units and it gained two whole points of share in the critical U.S. market...


* USA / Michigan - Ford may buy out retiree pensions. Company says 90,000 former workers qualify for lump sum offer 

Dearborn,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Jaclyn Trop -April 28, 2012: -- Ford Motor Co., which posted a $1.4 billion first-quarter profit Friday, is offering to buy out the pensions of white-collar retirees to reduce its debt... The move could put Ford closer to an investment grade credit rating that would help it reclaim the assets its mortgaged five years ago — including its Glass House headquarters in Dearborn and the iconic Blue Oval logo... The automaker said it will give 90,000 U.S. salaried retirees and salaried former employees the choice to continue receiving their monthly pension payments or take them in a lump sum. General Motors Co. said it is considering a similar plan...


* USA / Michigan - GM to chop 100 R and D positions

(Photo: The Detroit News, file: Warren Tech Center)
Detroit,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Melissa Burden -May 1, 2012: -- General Motors Co. will cut about 100 positions at its global research and development headquarters in Warren and will close a research and development facility in Bangalore, India, as part of a global restructuring, a source familiar with the plans said Monday. GM officials began giving notices to affected Warren Tech Center salaried employees after a meeting Thursday and will continue this week, according to the source. The company has 400 R&D workers at the Tech Center. The layoffs will impact about 25 percent of that work force. Scientists and other employees will have 30 days to apply for other jobs at GM and if they aren't placed in another position, layoffs will occur in early June, according to the source...


* USA / California - Google pitches self-driving cars. Firm in talks with carmakers to develop autos in near future 

Mountain View,CAL,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -April 26, 2012: -- Search-engine giant Google Inc. thinks self-driving cars can be on U.S. roads in the next few years and is in talks with automakers to roll out the cutting-edge technology... Google, is eager to see self-driving vehicles on the nation's roads, and the company could make an announcement about the technology as early as next year... The company could partner with one automaker to offer the technology or it could retrofit a small fleet of vehicles. Google is in talks with major automakers, Anthony Levandowski, Google's driver-less car project manager told reporters after his speech...


* USA - Japanese boosting car output in North America. Automakers step up vehicle launches to tap reviving demand 

Detroit,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Christine Tierney -26 April 2012: -- Japan's automakers are leading the increase this year in North American vehicle output as they rebuild their inventories and step up launches of new models to recapture business lost in 2011 when they were struck by natural disasters... The U.S. auto market's stronger-than-anticipated expansion in the first quarter also is driving up demand for Japanese vehicles... Led by Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., Japanese automakers increased their North American vehicle output by 19 percent last month from a year earlier, to 449,000 vehicles. That was more than twice the rate of the industry's 7 percent rise in overall production in the region to 1.38 million vehicles, according to an analysis by J.P. Morgan...

 
* Japan - Auto Sales Surge 

Tokyo,Japan -The WSJ/Auto Industry News, by YOSHIO TAKAHASHI -1st. May 2012: -- Japan's auto sales surged 92% in April from a year earlier, sustaining a strong upward trend as government subsidies helped accelerate the recovery in demand from the lows seen after last year's natural disasters... Japan's domestic sales of new cars, trucks and buses swelled to 208,977 vehicles from 108,824 a year earlier in April, outstripping the 78% jump in March with the eighth straight month of increase, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Tuesday. The figures don't include sales of mini cars and trucks... 


* Japan - GM, Isuzu to talk on capital tie-up: Nikkei 

Tokyo,Japan -Reuters/The Chicago Tribune (USA) -29 April 2012: -- General Motors Co will begin talks about taking an around 10 percent stake in Isuzu Motors Ltd , as the two carmakers look to jointly sell commercial vehicles in Asia and in Central and South America, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday... If realized, the deal would revive a 35-year capital alliance that was scrapped during GM's 2006 restructuring. It may also prompt Toyota Motor Corp to sell its 5.9 percent stake in the Japanese truck maker because the GM link-up would compete with its own established markets in Asia... Isuzu will end capital tie-up talks with Volkswagen, although it will continue negotiations on supplying pickup trucks to Volkswagen in Thailand, the paper said...


* India - Maruti, Mahindra Post Higher Sales 

New Delhi,India -The WSJ (USA), by NIKHIL GULATI -May 1, 2012:  --  India's car makers began the current financial year on a mixed note with some of them posting higher vehicle sales for April, benefiting from continuous demand for diesel-run models, while recent price increases dented sales at a few others... Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and Toyota Motor Co.'s local unit Tuesday reported higher sales in the past month as they cleared pending orders for some of their bestselling diesel-run models...

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