* Germany - MAN-Scania merger said to be threatened
Wolfsburg,Germany -Truck Europe (Belgium), by Claude Yvens -2 Feb 2011: -- According to German newspaper Handelsblatt, the takeover of MAN by Scania under the wing of VW, has come up against two major obstacles. On the one hand, the sale of MAN Ferrostaal (industrial solutions) to Saudi sovereign fund IPIC could be annulled in the light of procedures being taken against Ferrostaal by the Munich tribunal within the context of a vast corruption affair... According to the German newspaper, VW does not want to expose Scania to substantial risk... The other reason is said to be connected to enquiries being carried out by the European Commission since January involving an illegal agreement between manufacturers on heavy truck pricing. In both cases, if the legal decisions have to be awaited before any merger, this could take several more years, concludes the Handelsblatt...* Italy - Fiat in firestorm for floating Detroit moveMilan,Italy -The Financial Times, by Rachel Sanderson (Italy)& John Reed (UK) -February 6 2011: -- Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler, has been forced on the defensive after causing a political firestorm in Italy by suggesting he could move the Italian company’s headquarters from Turin to the US and saying Chrysler’s bail-out loans from the US government carried “shyster rates”... His comments come just a month after he won tough labour concessions at Fiat’s flagship Turin plant on a pledge that he would not move production to cheaper sites in North America or eastern Europe... (Photo from t0.gstatic)
* Italy - Fiat chief’s casual charm backfires
(On the record: Sergio Marchionne’s presentations are freewheeling, typically featuring quotes from sources as diverse as Machiavelli and Springsteen)Turin,Italy -Financial Times, by Rachel Sanderson (Italy) & John Reed (UK) -February 7, 2011: -- Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler, is a master of the throwaway line and is known for charming potential allies and confounding foes with well-turned off-the-cuff remarks... “The US government was in a bad position and he was their only option, but he waltzed away with the keys to the company at very little cost,” said Peter De Lorenzo, author of the Autoextremist blog. “To then have the gall to complain about the interest rates is reprehensible” ... Paolo Romani, minister for economic development (Italy), told the newspaper Corriere della Sera that Fiat “must remain an Italian multinational” and that “decision making and strategy” must stay in Turin... * Sweden - Volvo hit by parts glitches as truck demand soars
Stockholm,Sweden -Reuters/Daily News (Pakistan) -February 6, 2011: -- World number two truckmaker Volvo struggled to ramp up production to meet a strong rise in demand, hitting its quarterly earnings... Volvo posted a smaller-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter earnings, with high raw material costs and a strong currency also biting into its results... Volvo said it expected productivity to improve “gradually” once both the truckmaker and its suppliers had stabilised production at the higher level... Volvo, which makes heavy-duty trucks under the Renault, Mack, UD Trucks and Eicher brands, raised its forecast for 2011 truck markets in Europe and North America to about 220,000 units from 200,000, implying double-digit growth in both markets... However, the market forecasts, especially for North America where demand has shot up in recent months, are conservative compared to those of many analysts... While demand looks set to be buoyant, prospects for further improvement of margins is less obvious as truckmakers turn on the taps for new investment...(Photo from volvoclub.org.uk: The Volvo Logo. How it started)* USA - Mack Trucks reports strong sales in 2010
Greensboro, N.C.,USA -The Morning Call, by Tyrone Richardson -February 4, 2011: -- Truckmaker, which produces all rigs in Lower Macungie, reports sales were up 21 percent compared with previous year... Mack Trucks produced 21 percent more rigs in 2010 compared with 2009, which was the truckmaker's worst year in at least a decade... Mack delivered 13,465 trucks in 2010, the company reported Friday. The year's total includes 1,743 trucks sold in December, Mack's strongest single month of sales since April 2008... Mack doesn't produce trucks on speculation like automakers, so deliveries represent actual customer orders... Last year's tally was below pre-recession totals, like 18,621 in 2007... The Macungie plant employs about 875 people, which is one of the facility's strongest numbers in recent years, but lower than the more than 1,000 workers employed in 2006... (Photo from blog.lehighvalleylive: Large Mack truck bulldog)
* South Africa - UD Trucks to focus on Angola, Nigeria in African market assault
Johanesburg,S.A. -Engineering News, by Irma Venter -1 February 2011: -- UD Trucks Southern Africa (UDTSA) was implementing ambitious plans to sell more trucks in Africa... Already South Africa’s top truck exporter, recording 240 units in 2010, UDTSA said on Tuesday that it would spend the next three years gearing up for what it believed was substantial growth potential in the African truck market... Part of the truck seller’s strategy – it only gained the sub-Saharan market last year – was to cover the main transport routes on the continent, with an initial focus on two countries, Nigeria and Angola, which had a current combined new truck market of 15300 units a year... UDTSA current product plan included the introduction and support of 12 models in Angola and seven in Nigeria as it worked to snatch market share from existing players... UDTSA had dealers in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and was investigating a number of further opportunities for expansion across the region... UD Trucks Southern Africa (UDTSA) expects the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) truck market – incorporating all vehicles above 3,5 t gross vehicle mass – to grow by 14,38% in 2011, reaching a level of 28 187 units... (Photo from focus on transport)
* UK - Vauxhall promises eco-badged vans throughout the range
Liverpool,UK -Transport Engineer, by John Challen -2 Feb 2011: -- Vauxhall has announced that it will be offering an 'eco' model across its van range, with the launch of ecoFLEX commercial vehicles... Vauxhall promises eco badged vans throughout the range. The range includes two 2-litre Vivaro ecoFLEX vans, the recently-launched Corsavan ecoFLEX 1.3CDTi Start/Stop, and the Movano ecoFLEX, which is based on the 3.3-tonne L2H2 2.3-litre diesel model... Meanwhile, Astravan and Combo will see the lowest CO2 output derivatives badged as ecoFLEX... (Picture: Vauxhall Vivaro 3)* Germany - Daimler may increase stake in Russia KamAZ truck maker
Stuttgart,Germany -RIA Novosti/Steel Guru (Russia) -3 Feb 2011: -- Mr Sergei Skvortsov CEO of Troika as say that Troika Dialog a Moscow based Investment Company could offer Daimler AG up to 27% in the Russian heavy-truck producer KamAZ... He said that "Within the next several months we could initiate negotiations with Daimler on the sell-off of a 10% to 27% stake in KamAZ, adding that no negotiations were currently in progress” ... Troika which now holds a 27.26% stake in KamAZ has announced it would like to sell... Daimler AG currently owns 11% of the truck maker's shares...
* Malaysia - Chrysler, GM lead as US car sales rise
Kuala Lumpurt,Malaysia –The Malaysia Star/Earl Floyd Ford -February 2, 2011: -- The Hindu Chrysler, GM lead as US car sales rise Malaysia Star Ford and GM, the two leading pickup truck makers, both reported sales for those work-related vehicles that outstripped gains for the market as a whole… Canadian-made Chrysler vans lead to sales gains The Province GM sales start 2011 on a strong note The Keene Sentinel GM Chrysler lead as US auto sales rise...* Japan - U.S. key to Hino’s global plans
Tokyo,Japan -Fleet Owner (USA), by Jim Mele -Feb 4, 2011: -- The success of its all-new Class 4/5 COE and hybrid in the U.S. is the key to transformation of Hino Motors Ltd. into “a global brand,” according to company president Yoshio Shirai. Just as Japanese auto manufacturers changed the U.S. market by successfully introducing fuel-efficient compact cars some 40 years ago, Hino believes its new COE and existing Class 6/7 conventional can help move the American truck segment from large, heavy trucks to “minimum capacity trucks with maximum fuel efficiency,” he said. “That is the value we want to supply to the U.S market” ... Looking at the total North American market, the company expects to see Class 6/7 volumes return to 50% of the 100,000-unit peak last seen in 2006, according to Sumio Fukaya, president and CEO of the company’s American division, Hino Motor Sales USA. The following year should see volumes reach 60% to 70% of that peak, and return to the 100,000-unit level by 2013, he said during the Tokyo news conference...
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