Automotive News Europe - January 5, 2009 - 1

Automotive News Europe e Get under the Alfa Mito’s skin 3 20 Your car knows how to solve a lot of its own problems 3 18 © Crain Communications GmbH. All rights reserved Porsche’s Wiedeking is one of the bosses to watch in 2009 3 15 www.autonewseurope.com crain January 5, 2009 · Vol. 14 · No. 1 News Pininfarina to stop contract carmaking TURIN Pininfarina has approved a revised industrial plan that calls for an end to its contract carmaking operations when current production ends in 2011. The Italian company will then concentrate exclusively on building electric cars such as the Pininfarina B0 (shown). The revised plan came just before creditor banks approved a financial rescue for the company that saved it from the equivalent of a US Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Under terms of the plan, banks will take control of the company. Luca Ciferri PSA wants payback from suppliers Partsmakers that were given help to cover raw materials must make up pay more Lawrence J. Speer Automotive News Europe PARIS Suppliers who squeezed money out of PSA/Peugeot-Citroen last year to compensate for high raw material costs should expect to give some back in 2009. “Prices are nowhere near where they were back in April, so we want to recover as quickly as possible what we lost” last year, PSA Vice President of Purchasing Jean-Christophe Quemard told Automotive News Europe. The French carmaker will renegotiate supplier contracts that were changed dramatically in early 2008 “Our top priority in 2009 when aluminum, will be to take advantage copper, oil, palladium, steel and of the turnaround in raw other raw materimaterial costs.” als reached record Jean-Christophe Quemard, prices. PSA VP of purchasing “Our top priority in 2009 will be to take advantage of the turnaround in raw material that back, but he insisted that this costs,” Quemard said. year’s renegotiations would help the PSA has about 800 main suppliers. carmaker “level out the bump” from The automaker says its raw material last year’s price spike. costs have risen by more than PSA also is encouraging its compo¤1.5 billion since 2004. Quemard nent suppliers to renegotiate condoes not see the group winning all of tracts with raw material suppliers. “It is in suppliers’ interest to go out and look for raw material reductions in their own contracts,” Quemard said. Quemard, who took over PSA’s ¤30 billion purchasing division in January 2008, said that raw material prices have been one of the major stumbling blocks in his quest to reach a medium-term goal of curbing costs by 6 percent annually. The cost-cutting objective stems directly from PSA CEO Christian Streiff ’s Cap 2010 restructuring plan. The plan, launched in 2007, aimed to increase sales to 4 million units in 2010 from 3.3 million units in 2006, 3 See Page 2 Jaguar gets a bigger diesel for XF sedan Jaguar hopes that new, more powerful six-cylinder diesel engines will allow it to compete better with its German rivals. Six-cylinder diesels are the choice of more than 40 percent of Audi A6 and BMW 5-series customers. The new 3.0-liter Diesel S version of the XF sedan offers 275hp. That is up from the 204hp provided by the engine it will replace, the 2.7-liter Lion V-6 co-developed by Jaguar Land Rover and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and launched in 2004. The new engine will appear across the JLR ranges and likely go in Peugeot and Citroen models starting this summer. Tony Lewin Amid uncertainty, Detroit goes for green Record-high US fuel prices forced many Americans to give up their gas guzzlers last summer. Now, European and Japanese carmakers hope to encourage more people to permanently switch to economical cars. In a debut at the Detroit auto show January 11, Honda will launch its new Insight gasolineelectric hybrid (shown). Toyota will unveil its new Prius hybrid, and Mercedes will preview three fuel-saving technologies in a concept for its new entry-premium model range. Some automakers such as Nissan, Land Rover and Rolls-Royce have pulled out of the show, while others downsized their participation. But Volkswagen, Audi and BMW will be among companies that believe that the most important show in the world’s biggest car market should not be missed. See show preview, Page 6 Quote “We want to expand our non-automotive business.” Hans-Georg Härter, ZF CEO 3 See Page 7 Sales collapse will change the industry Mergers, factory shutdowns are expected as automakers struggle with volume decline John Revill Automotive News Europe The sales collapse that started late last year will accelerate in 2009, leading to fewer carmakers and more factory closures, industry watchers say. New-car sales in western Europe will fall by 15 percent or 2.1 million unit this year to 13.5 million, investment bankers Goldman Sachs said December 17. With an average car plant producing about 300,000 units a year, the decline is the same as the output of seven factories. Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said last month that sales will drop in 2009 at double-digit rates, similar to those seen in the final quarter of the 2008. “All of Europe and all carmakers will be impacted,” Ghosn said in a conference call. Ford of Europe’s sales and marketing head Ingvar Sviggum also said the 2009 market “may be as weak as the last quarter of 2008.” The sales collapse could lead to mergers and create a very different industry, said Walt Madeira, CSM Worldwide’s UK-based manager of European vehicle sales forecasts. Europe’s woes Forecast % declines in new-car sales for 2009 compared with 2008 Spain UK Italy Germany France Source: CSM Worldwide Industry in crisis For the latest news on the uncertainty facing the automotive industry, log on to autonewseurope.com Also, coming this month: January 11-13 News from the Detroit auto show Register for ANE’s daily newsletter and news alerts autonews.com/anenewsletter 18.2 17.2 15.4 13.7 12.7 ‘Volumes are not there’ “We will have fewer car companies. The volumes are not there to support the economies of scale the companies need,” Madeira said, IHS Global Insight’s Neil King said up to five European car plants could close in the next two to three years. “Temporary shutdowns will not be enough,” King said. Some European markets will suffer much more than others. Spain is forecast to fall below the symbolic 1 million units in 2009, with CSM Worldwide predicting sales of 950,000. The country’s economy is being severely hit by the collapse in the real estate market. The UK trade body, the SMMT, expects production in the country to fall to 1.35 million in 2009 from 1.48 million last year. SMMT CEO Paul Everitt said: “It could take three or four years to recover to the levels we were at before. The market is changing. Life is not going to be the same again.” CSM Worldwide forecasts western Europe will finish down 8.7 percent to 13.5 million units in 2008. The pain will continue in 2009 with sales down 14 percent to 11.5 million, CSM forecasts. The forecaster predicts a slight recovery to 11.9 million in 2010. But the market will not reach its previous level of 14.5 million until 2016. Lawrence J. Speer contributed Automotive News Europe, Postfach 1165, D-82230 Oberpfaffenhofen PVSt 64733 DPAG Entgelt bezahlt

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Automotive News Europe - January 5, 2009

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