Fiat builds on its strength – minicars – to revive slumping sales

The 500L Trekking minivan (above) is part of a widening 500 range. It will be joined by the 500X next year.

Fiat aims to win back customers to its core brand with a two-pronged model strategy for the upper and lower ends of the mass-market.

The Fiat Panda and 500 model lines are likely to be expanded from a combined four minicar variants to 12 derivatives that cover the minicar, subcompact and compact segments.

BMW autos division profit falls on tech costs, Europe

BMW said operating profit at its key automotive division declined in the third quarter due to the cost of new technology and price discounts in core European markets.

Turkey’s October car sales fall 3%

Turkish automotive sales fell 3 percent in October, the Automotive Distributors’ Association said.

Delphi sees Europe stabilizing, but revises profit forecast

Delphi Automotive posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday and said although it was still cautious, it believed the European auto market was stabilizing

Ford’s design chief J Mays retires, replaced by Moray Callum

J Mays, Ford’s global design chief, is retiring from the company along with two other veteran senior executives. Moray Callum, 54, design director for Ford in North America, will replace Mays, 59.

Audi sticks to profit margin goal despite costs of growth

Audi reaffirmed a goal to achieve an operating profit margin of 8 percent to 10 percent this year despite higher spending on models, technology and factories

GM China sales up 12% in October on demand for Buick, Cadillac

General Motors said its joint ventures sold 282,054 vehicles in China in October, up 12 percent year-on-year on strong demand for its premium brands, Buick and Cadillac. Buick sales rose 15 percent last month to 69,746 units, while Cadillac sales jumped 69 percent to 4,202 units as its flagship sedan, the XTS, set a monthly sales record.

Beijing slashes vehicle sales quota in anti-pollution drive

Beijing, infamous for its thick smog and heavy traffic, will slash the city’s new-car sales quotas by nearly 40 percent next year, as it looks to curb vehicle emissions, the city government Web site said. The change in policy gives greater support for new, cleaner cars and could strengthen foreign carmakers’ determination to accelerate growth in China’s less crowded lower-tier cities.

Toyota, Honda Oct. sales rise as tensions ease

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. reported sharply higher China sales in October, as Japanese automakers continued to recover from anti-Japan street demonstrations in 2012. Toyota and its two local joint-venture partners sold 82,400 automobiles in China last month, up nearly 81 percent from a year earlier, the Japanese automaker said. Meanwhile, Honda and its two local joint ventures sold 75,150 automobiles in China in October, up 212 percent from a year earlier, the Japanese automaker said on Monday.

BYD to hire more U.S. workers at Calif. plant to ease criticism

Warren Buffett-backed Chinese carmaker BYD Co. said it would hire more local employees at its new electric bus factory in California, its latest response to criticism that it violated labor rules in the United States.

GM appoints John Stadwick, new sales chief amid China push

John Stadwick, a General Motors veteran, has become vice president of Shanghai General Motors Co. in charge of marketing and sales, the joint venture announced last week. Stadwick also was named GM China’s vice president for sales, service and marketing. He joined GM in 1984 and most recently served as head of the company’s operations in the Middle East. Stadwick will play a key role in the Detroit automaker’s effort to expand aggressively in China.

Light-vehicle sales projected to rise 14% this year

Passenger vehicle sales in China are expected to grow nearly 14 percent to 16.2 million units this year, predicts LMC Automotive, an automotive forecasting firm. Sales of light commercial trucks are expected to rise 3 percent to 5.1 million units, as China’s commercial vehicle market continues to lag behind retail sales.

Tesla opens first store in mainland China

Tesla Motors Inc.’s first store started operation on a trial basis Sunday in the Chinese capital of Beijing, according to Chinese media. The store, on the first floor of a shopping mall in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, has begun receiving orders for Tesla’s Model S electric sedan, reported the Beijing Youth Daily, a Beijing-based daily newspaper.

Valeo’s China sales up 24% in third quarter

Valeo SA’s China sales jumped 24 percent to 319 million euros (2.6 billion yuan) in the third quarter of this year, the company said. The company’s China sales account for 13 percent of the French supplier’s global automotive revenue. For the first nine months of this year, Valeo’s sales to auto manufacturers in China rose 23 percent year-on-year to 912 million euros.

Au revoir, Heuliez

Heuliez, which used to make cars for Peugeot, Renault and Opel, closed its plant on Nov. 1. The shutdown came a week after PSA stopped the line at its factory in the Paris suburb of Aulnay.

Peugeot CEO outlines plan to boost profit

Peugeot plans to boost profits by adding new high-end variants to its existing lineup, rather than developing new upscale model lines, its CEO says

Mitsubishi counts on SUVs, EVs for sales rebound

Mitsubishi will focus on utility vehicles, EVs and emerging markets under a new business plan that aims to boost global sales by 29 percent. In its European markets, Mitsubishi aims to lift vehicle sales by a third to 160,000.

Toyota closes in on record profit with healthy U.S. sales

Toyota raised its annual profit forecast, closing in on records set before the Lehman crisis as the weaker yen and growing sales in the U.S. sharply boost earnings. The company also nudged up its North America vehicle sales forecast.

Magna’s quarterly sales rise nearly 13% as Europe business improves

Canadian supplier Magna, which has been working to turn around inefficient operations in Europe, reported a nearly 13 percent rise in quarterly sales as business in the region improved.

Peugeot CEO outlines plan to boost profit

Peugeot plans to boost profits by adding new high-end variants to its existing lineup, rather than developing new upscale model lines, its CEO says

Mercedes sales rise 15% in October

Daimler said October sales for its Mercedes brand rose 15 percent because of strong demand for the new E class.

Citroen CEO outlines brand’s strategy for upscale and affordable car lines

Citroen wants its new C-line to match the success of its DS upscale subbrand. CEO Frederic Banzet told Automotive News Europe how the automaker aims to position its affordable, practical model line.

BMW makes X5 more fuel efficient, less noisy

BMW says its latest X5 SUV is quieter and more comfortable than previous generations. The automaker hopes to boost sales of the model in Europe by offering a four-cylinder diesel engine for the first time.

Continental raises earnings forecast on China, U.S. growth

Continental raised its earnings forecast for 2013 as growth in China and North America offset the effects of the euro’s currency-market gains.

Porsche plans to rev up Africa sales

Porsche is looking for investors to set up showrooms across Africa where the ultra-wealthy class is burgeoning as economies flourish.

Audi’s October sales rise nearly 7% on China, U.S. demand

Audi’s vehicle sales increased by nearly 7 percent in October on demand for the A3 and Q3 models, along with strong growth in China and the United States.

Fiat plans to offer car-share services in Milan

Fiat will shortly join Daimler in offering car-share services in Milan as automakers seek new ways to attract young drivers who can’t afford to buy cars in crisis-hit southern Europe.

Rolls-Royce lures much younger buyers in China

Rolls-Royce buyers in China are a generation younger than their counterparts in Europe and the United States. The average age of a customer in China is 40 to 45 years old while it 60 to 65 elsewhere in the world.