The outlook for the global auto industry is fairly bright, but government interference is clouding the picture in Europe and China, Philippe Houchois, UBS Head of European Automotive Research, told the Automotive News Europe Congress here.
“The industry now looks fairly attractive from a growth perspective,” Houchois said. “Risk management has improved, and growth is structurally higher.”
The wholesale cost of diesel is now approximately the same as the cost of petrol, yet on average the price on UK forecourts is 6p-per-litre higher for diesel than it is for petrol.
In late May the wholesale cost of petrol was 103.5p, while the cost of diesel was just 0.5p more.
General Motors said Thursday that it will launch a program to compensate crash victims or families affected by faulty ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths that prompted a recall of 2.6 million older small cars.
Newly elected United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams on Thursday warned major U.S. automakers who negotiate with the union next year that he supports the financial health of the companies, but that “enough is enough” when it comes to concessions.
Meeting Europe’s tougher CO2 regulations is intensifying the pressure on the people penning vehicles.
“In the last five to 10 years designing cars has gotten a hell of a lot tougher,” Opel/Vauxhall design chief Mark Adams told the Automotive News Europe Congress in Brussels.
