Archive for July, 2011
Hyundai Quarterly Profit Dips 10%
Posted by alibabarika in Automotive Articles on July 6, 2011
The Hyundai Motor Company said that net profit declined for a fifth straight quarter as sales plummeted because of labor strikes and intense competition in China. Hyundai, a leading Korean automaker, said last Wednesday that net profit in the first quarter that ended March 31 had fallen by 10.2 percent to 307.4 billion won or $329.22 million, down from 342.39 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
Last year’s first-quarter figure was revised up from an initial 318.83 billion won due to changes in South Korean accounting regulations, said Hyundai spokesman Jake Jang. Quarterly sales declined 2.6 percent to 6.684 trillion won or $7.16 billion. The first quarter results for the world’s sixth-largest automaker was worse than anticipated. The average estimate of eleven analysts surveyed by the Dow Jones Newswires forecast that Hyundai would report a net profit of 392.70 billion won or $421 million.
Saab Restarting Car Production
Posted by alibabarika in Automotive Articles on July 6, 2011
Saab restarted its production lines Friday after a long layoff. The Swedish car company was shut down for seven weeks due to serious financial problems. These problems included a lack of money with which to pay suppliers. Many of its suppliers stopped making deliveries to the plant on April 5, 2011, which forced the automaker to shut down. Now that the Trollhatten factory is open again Saab claims to have orders for 8,000 cars.
The automobile manufacturer has long had financial problems. Production has been in serious decline for several years. In 2010 Saab produced only 32,048 cars, down from 102,915 in 2007. The car company’s line-up currently consists of variations on just three different models. These are the 9-3, the 9-4x and the 9-5. The company also has two new models in development, one of which is not due out until the fall of 2012. General Motors, which owned the brand from 2000 until 2010, almost shut down the line when it had a difficult time finding a buyer. GM still supplies Saab with engines and transmissions. It also makes the Saab 9-4x. When GM located a buyer it had to obtain a loan from the European Investment Bank to complete the deal. The Swedish government guaranteed the loan.
Global Auto Trends Heading Your Way
Posted by alibabarika in Automotive Articles on July 6, 2011
Until recently, the U.S. auto market was insulated from what took place in much of the rest of the world. Passenger vehicles built in North America, particularly in Canada and the United States, were often different from what car manufacturers built in Europe, Asia, South America and elsewhere.
Auto Trends
Strong Start for Skoda
Posted by alibabarika in Automotive Articles on July 6, 2011
In 2010, Skoda UK reported a record sales year achieving new vehicle registrations of over 41,000 units, up 10.5% when compared to the previous year whilst also achieving a record 2% market share. In January 2011 Skoda UK achieved sales of over 3,000 units, an increase on 2010, and maintained a +2% market share including sales in Skoda Nottingham.
Globally Skoda has sold 68,400 units, which when compared to January 2010 is an increase of 26.4% when 54,100 units were sold. The two most popular models were the Skoda Fabia and Skoda Superb which increased by 30% and 80% respectively. This huge increase can be partially attributed to the massive growth seen in China, India and Russia.