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General Motors have not confirmed the closure of Vauxhall’s UK Ellesmere plant. However they have also not guaranteed that it will stay open either. Signs point towards the closure of the factory after the great losses that Opel and Vauxhall have made over the previous 12 years.
Constructive dialog
Vince Cable, the UK’s Business secretary and the Vice Chairman for Corporate Strategy and Business Development, Stephen Girsky are having ongoing. As reported by us previously in the blog, Vince Cable met with Mr Girsky personally. Mr Cable was attempting to convince General Motors to invest in the UK automotive industry as it shows signs of growth. Will General Motors agree? Mr Girsky has said that there has been “constructive dialogue” between the two parties.
Other car brands to invest
BMW, MINI, Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover seem to agree and have all invested millions into the production of future models. They all seem to have faith in the UK car market.
European losses
Something certainly has to be done to preserve the future of the plant. General Motors lost a total of $747 million last year. It would make financial sense to cut down on car capacity in order to at least even this month according to General Motors. Currently in Europe there is a dramatic fall in customer confidence and demand. The Euro Zone crisis has ensured that profits are hampered for most car brands across the region.
Peugeot Citroen
In order to reduce these losses, General Motors has joined forces with Peugeot Citroen by joining forces and buying a 7 per cent stake. There are said to be some major decisions to be made, with Ellesmere right at the top of the agenda.
Astra Sports Tourer
The Ellesmere Port Plant was in for praise last year thanks to it’s great success on developing the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer.
Vauxhall’s Luton plant
Vauxhall the UK’s biggest supplier of commercial vans. The company’s Luton plant is expected to stay out of the potential cuts from General Motors.
Despite being one of the most productive factories in the UK and Europe, Vauxhall’s Ellesmere factory, which employs 2,100 staff, many believe that the factory will indeed close.
Mr Cable has now met Mr Girsky twice in a matter of weeks. Keeping the jobs and the prestigious Ellesmere Port factory will be a great achievement for Mr Cable if he does indeed manage to convince General Motors to have faith in the UK and European motor industry.
The American Chevrolet brand is hoping to expand their horizons here in the UK very soon.
Mark Terry – “20,000 sales target”
Managing Director, Mark Terry has said that 2012 could be the year where Chevrolet sales boom in the UK car market. He has very high ambitions saying “I want to see 20,000 Chevrolet sales in the UK in 2012 with the new Aveo accounting for around 25 per cent of them. The Spark city car and the Cruze five door medium sector models should also claim a similar percentage share of our overall sales but that depends on what the overall UK market buying trend is.”
“Drive forward”
He was highly confident on future sales saying “We are going to buck the trend in the market, we are going to have a great year with great vehicles, a great brand at great prices. We are just going to drive forward.”
“Fleet and retail 50/50”
Mr Terry continued to say that the fleet market is just as important as the retail market. He said ”Currently 65 to 70 per cent of our UK sales are to retail customers but with new models arriving and with more involvement from us in the fleet sector which includes business user-chooser, Motability and daily rental customers. In time our brand in the UK will have a 50/50 split between retail and the fleet sector.”
Best selling GM brand
General Motors owned Chevrolet are the company’s largest brand at present. Last year worldwide sales soared with four million cars sold in over 140 countries. The brand’s performance was fundamental is helping General Motors achieve that number one spot for car production last year. European sales itself saw Chevrolet achieve a new company record by selling 517,800 cars. This represented an increase of 8.5 % when compared to 2010.
110 dealerships eventually
Across the UK Chevrolet have 92 dealerships. As they are planning to expand business, that number will increase to 110 eventually. The locations in question for new dealers to be opened are North West London, Aldershot, Slough, Stockport and Milton Keynes.
UK sales were down last year however. Just 12,524 were sold which was a dip from 13,678 sold in 2010. Can Chevrolet really achieve high sales figures in this part of the world?
Cadillac, the General Motors owned company have confirmed that their CTS-V model will hit the UK automotive market.
It will be converted into a right hand drive vehicle when released over on these shores Cadillac have confirmed. This is a significant step as the car is only available as a right hand drive car. Cadillac are clearly making steps towards expanding their international operations, with most of their business currently in North America.
Cadillac ATS
The CTS-V is a European catered model according to Joel Ewanick, the Chief of General Motors. The Cadillac ATS saloon will be the first model from the company to hit the European market. It is expected to act as a direct rival to the BMW 3 Series. This will also be made available in right hand drive, an absolute must for any vehicle to succeed in the UK for obvious reasons.
It has been designed to meet customer demands according to General Motors. The company have changed their vision and execution since their Government bail out in 2008. Global market needs are now one of Cadillac’s main focus. At present all models are only attractive within the American region. A change in direction could be just what the American luxury car producers are looking for.
The original Cadillac CTS model has already been available in the UK for a number of months. The CTS-V, the more powerful and high performance model has been held off the UK market. We believe the car will be a success in the UK and around Europe too.
Previous efforts to make a right hand drive European based models include the Seville / STS in 1998 as well as the European based Saab BLS back in 2006.
Joel Ewanick, the General Motors Head has said that “There wasn’t a commitment to the product before and we didn’t design cars to the market demands. The Germans do this very well. There is now a full resource commitment and a vision to get this right. Bankruptcy refocused GM.”
Can Cadillac improve their European operations?
Sales for General Motors, Vauxhall’s holding company, were up in America for December of last year.
A great December all round
Compared to last year, sales were up by 5 %. Overall it was one the best ever December’s for the automotive industry. General Motors along with Ford and Chrysler reported great sales during December, showing that the car industry is experiencing growth.
Figures for General Motors
General Motors were number 1, selling 234,351 in that particular month. Ford were behind selling 210,140. Passenger cars were up by 12 % with trucks doing one better by being 13 % higher in terms of sales this year.
The Volt
The Chevrolet Volt model sold 1,500 in December, despite being tangled in a highly publicised investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NHTSA believe that faulty components within the car can cause the vehicle to catch fire. December was in fact the companies best month in terms of sales volume.
Don Johnson – quality range of cars
Don Johnson, the head of General Motors sales over in America said that the wide variety of cars that the company has to offer has greatly improved the industry. He said “GM’s balanced portfolio of fuel-efficient cars, trucks and crossovers helped us make the most of the U.S. economy’s slow but steady recovery in 2011.Importantly, we were able to grow all four of our brands and re-establish Chevrolet as a force to be reckoned with in the passenger-car business.”
Ford at the top overall
Although General Motors were number one for sales in December, Ford were top overall in terms of annual sales. Ford Marketing and Sales Chief Ken Czubay had an interesting view on the matter. His exact words were “The year finished on a high note, with industry sales momentum strengthening as the year came to a close. We saw Ford sales strengthen as well, posting our best December retail sales month since 2005 and closing the year as America’s best-selling brand.”
Ford sold 210,140 in December. This is an improvement in their own record compared to 2010 by 10 % but still not quite as good as General Motors. Sales of cars decreased by 14.9 %. Trucks saw a larger demand this year and helped the company recover a lot of that fallen car sales. Overall Ford sold 28 % more.
Next year will again be an interesting battle between General Motors and Ford.
General Motors are looking to increase their Cadillac brand’s profile in China. They want to take advantage of the current rise in luxury car demand in the world’s largest automotive market. Reports suggest that the Chinese automotive car market may rise by 7 to 10 per cent in China next year.
The Chinese car industry is expected to overtake Germany in terms of luxury car demand at the end of the year. That would place China at Number two behind America and push Germany down to number three.
BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, who are the nation’s biggest supplier at present, having been increasing production and offering discounts amongst themselves in order to take advantage of the current market conditions.
How will General Motors compete?
Raising the profile of their Cadillac brand would add a bit more interest into the luxury car battle. They will face an uphill battle to compete with the likes of the firmly established Audi. Their stake hold in China is so big that they expect the country to overtake their home country of Germany as their number one market place.
Passenger car slowdown benefits luxury cars
Apparent increasing wealth in China has driven the demand for luxury cars over standard passenger cars according to some experts. There is some proof to that theory as passenger cars in China have recently experienced a slowdown in sales.
Good performance for GM gives reason for Cadillac focus
General Motors increase in sales from January to November of 2011 has perhaps given the company reason to begin Cadillac sales in China. Sales are so high that experts are claiming General Motors will overtake Toyota for in terms of global sales. They are reportedly planning to expand their sport utility and luxury car deliveries to China by 5 million.
No better time
Cadillac production in China is expected to increase as well as the imports into the country. It will be very interesting to see how well the luxury vehicle will fare as they look to claim battle with some Germany’s elite. Can they take the fight to them? As mentioned earlier it will be difficult but now is a better time than ever considering the huge increase in luxury car demand in China.
General Motors will build the 2013 model Chevrolet Impala at their Oshawa in the Canada. This will be made possible with a $68 million investment.
$185 million in total
Altogether, $185 million has been invested into the companies Oshawa assembly. This is due to the 2013 Cadillac XTS also being built at the factory. The news also means that approximately 1,100 jobs will be retained at the factory.
The workers seem to have a lot on their hands with the new Impala. It has a brand new exterior style making the vehicle look a lot more attractive and stylish. The interior will also receive a revamp, with a more appealing design.
Details on the new Impala
The vehicle will have a 3.6 litre V6 engine with direct injection technology. It has a six speed automatic transmission with the car expected to have provide a thrilling performance. Rumours claim that other variants will contain a 2.4 or a brand new 2.5 engine with the General Motors exclusive eAssist mild hybrid system.
Kevin Williams – “High quality workforce”
Kevin Williams who holds the important role of being the President and Managing Director of General Motors Canada was keen to state how much the cars are improving. He said “With the investments for the Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS, we are taking big steps forward to ensure we maximize the flexible manufacturing facility and high-quality workforce that exist in Oshawa,”
“We are building on the recent capacity increases, product launches and shift additions at our Canadian operations to affirm that Canada will play an important role in the new GM as we continue to transform our product line-up.”
Dan Hermer – “Hard work”
Dan Hermer, the plant Manager at the busy assembly plant said that the workforces dedication and hard work is a major reason for the recent vote in confidence and investment from General Motors. He said “Our workforce has always worked hard to exceed expectations and execute exceptional product launches, and we’re happy to receive another vote of confidence with this most recent investment,”
Other models being produced at the General Motors Oshawa plant includes the Chevrolet Camaro Coupe and Convertible and the Chevrolet Equinox as well as the upcoming Cadillac XTS.
General Motors Oshawa plant is clearly a reason for the company doing so well in that particular region.
The fuel cell market is set to be taken advantage of by BMW and General Motors, who look set to sign an agreement where they will be partners.
Agreement
The agreement will have certain and specific conditions whereby BMW will be given access to General Motors’ current fuel cell technology. In return, General Motors will be supplied with funds for future research plans.
Hydrogen powered vehicles
Both companies are not new to developing hydrogen powered vehicles. They have been doing so for around two decades.
Chevrolet Equinox
General Motors developed the Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell vehicle which recorded more than 2 million miles at Project Driveway. They have now moved to another stage of the testing by recording some Fleet and Consumer testing over in Hawaii.
1 Series and 7 Series hybrid
BMW showcased their 1 Series hybrid fuel cell prototype which they have been developing for a number of years. This car is said to be a more sophisticated version of the BMW 7 Series fuel cell car that was tested globally.
Simplify and lower the cost
General Motors have spent the tremendous amount of $1.6 million on developing fuel cell technology within their vehicles.
This is could be a major reason as to why the company have decided to go into partnership with BMW, as it would reduce the development costs. Toyota believe that the general cost of the technology will dip after 2015. With the partnership of BMW and General Motors it may well do. It’s also a great way to simplify what is already a very complex piece of technology.
Toyota, Hyundai and Honda
As you may have expected, other car manufacturers have also pledged commitment to creating hydrogen fuel technology within vehicles. Hyundai, Toyota and Honda have been heard saying they intend to introduce their developments of hydrogen vehicles as soon as 2015, which is right around the corner.
Despite BMW not confirming that the partnership has been agreed yet, a lot of the press have predicted that they will indeed form an alliance. BMW earlier reported that they have entered an agreement with Toyota to develop lithium ion batteries.
General Motors couldn’t have possibly found a better partner to develop fuel cell technology. Let’s hope it doesn’t end up like Toyota and Suzuki.
General Motors, Vauxhall’s holding company is set to revive their partnership with Proton, Malaysia’s largest automotive producer.
General Motors are planning are begin a new project within the Southeast Asia region to expand their horizons. The deal had been scrapped previously due to a breakdown in negotiation back in 2007.
The worldwide car producer hopes to expand their network beyond that of Thailand where the worst flood for 70 years has occurred in the country.
Escape route out of Thailand
RHB Capital Bhd analyst Alexander Chia said that the potential deal makes complete sense for General Motors as they require the a facility for production straight away. He also mentioned that the company are currently stuck in Thailand in terms of business operations, with them needing to expand overseas and into countries nearby to avoid risks.
He said “What Proton has to offer is immediate availability of production capacity. GM has all its Southeast Asia interests in Thailand right now and could be looking to spread risk and expand into other markets.”
The deal is likely to be pushed on General Motor’s side considering what was mentioned. They seriously need to break away from the current crisis in Thailand where they do hold a major interest. The company desperately want to succeed in that part of the world and a deal Proton would enable them to gain a major head start in doing so.
Proton getting new technology
Proton, would are in need of gaining new technology, would also benefit greatly from the deal. They would have great access to General Motors technology where they would be able to make more of an impact in their export business. The negotiations did not end very well previously with a similar deal that was almost struck.
If the deal was agreed back in 2007, would General Motors have had an easier escape route from Thailand? The unfortunate floods could not have been anticipated by anyone but if the deal was secured previously, it would have been a lot easier for the company to quickly expand their business to other parts in the region where Proton hold a major interest.
