US lobbyists are claiming that they are forcing car companies out of Iran – on pain of becoming toxic brands in America. Last week Peugeot announced it was stopping supplies to its Iranian joint venture, which was more important than you might imagine. Iran was basically put on wheels by the Hillman/Chrysler Hunter in the 1970s and, when Peugeot bought Chrysler, it took over the deal and supplied Peugeot 405 and 406 models (the orange car above is the Hunter). The total number of Chrysler/Peugeots supplied now runs into the millions. The pull out is expected to cost Peugeot £750 million a year in lost turnover.
Hyundai followed Peugeot’s move, with the lobbyists claiming they were instrumental in the Korean company’s decision. A spokesman for United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) told industry website just-auto from New York, “We were the ones that announced Hyundai had ended its business in Iran. Our extensive consultations with Hyundai are confidential – that should give you an idea of how informed we were.”
Hot on the heels of the announcement that the Nissan Note replacement would be made in Sunderland comes the news that another new model will be added in 2014. The second new model is coyly referred to as a “midsized hatchback”. In fact, it will be a Nissan competitor to the Focus and Golf.
The UK car market is generally a pretty stable place – market shares tend to move by a fraction of a percent year by year.Not this year – it’s like a fireworks party, with some manufacturers shooting into the sky and others burning out and falling to earth. For example, Renault is down over 40% and was just a couple of hundred units ahead of Mini in the first quarter of this year. Land Rover is up by almost 20% and is now a mainstream player.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has come out against the current proposal to increase the fixed penalty fines from £60 to £90.
