Plants/Manufacturing auto news

Report: Leaked Fisker Atlantic documents reveal big production delay, specs

The Fisker Atlantic extended-range plug-in vehicle will start production about a year after its previously estimated mid-2013 date, Inside EVs blog reports, citing leaked company documents that were dated "a few weeks ago."

The Atlantic, formerly known as Project Nina, will compete pricewise against the BMW 3 Series and 5 Series sedans, as well as the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and E-Class, Jaguar XF and Audi A4 and A6. That would put the model in the $50,000 to $60,000 range, according to the publication. The model, which will still be produced at Fisker's Delaware plant, will have 300 horsepower, a 0-60 time of 6.5 seconds and emissions of 50 grams per kilometer of CO2, Inside EVs reports, citing the documents.

"As these documents are obviously leaked investor documents and highly confidential, I am not prepared to comment any further," a Fisker representative tells Autoblog sister site, AutoblogGreen.

The status of the Atlantic has been in question since plans for the former General Motors plant in Delaware were put on hold once the U.S. Department of Energy froze most of the $529 million in loans earmarked for the California-based company.

Fisker unveiled the Atlantic at the New York Auto Show last month, saying that the car's price tag would be "a much lower price point" than Fisker's Karma sedan.

Report: Chery requests Chinese approval of $1.9B joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover

A month ago, Jaguar Land Rover signed a joint-venture agreement with China's Chery Automobile Company. JLR's 12.1 billion yuan ($1.9 billion U.S.) investment, if approved, will pay for a plant in Changsu to build Jaguars, Land Rovers, engines and joint-venture models. The facility will also house a research and development center. Chery has submitted the paperwork to clear the deal with the Chinese government. The agreement must pass muster with the Ministry of Enviroment Protection, after which it will go to the National Development and Reform Commission.

When the agreement was first inked an Indian analyst said, "it will be some time before we see the results," a nod to the fact that government approvals can take a long time. Subaru is an instructive example, having signed an agreement with Chery a year ago. Sources said the deal was ready to be approved last November, but that was the last that has been heard of it - it's still waiting on the necessary signatures.

But JLR has the long view in mind: it sold 38,890 vehicles in China last year - all imported - a figure representing double-digit sales gains for both brands. The proposed factory will have a capacity of 130,000 units, providing a healthy buffer in case the bureaucracy sits on things.

Report: Ford finally takes serious aim at the Chinese market

When we asked Volkswagen last year why it was building a factory in the U.S., after having missed the irrationally volcanic era of car sales, we were told that even a 12-million-per-annum market was still too big to ignore. A report in Reuters paints Ford's situation in China somewhat the same way: Ford is only now attacking the Chinese market, building plants and increasing local capacity there, after numerous other players have established their positions.

Nevertheless, there's still much to play for. Whereas our market is expected to hang around in the 12- to 15-million-unit range, China's market is predicted to hit 30 million cars per year by 2020. Said one analyst, "People are saying the Asia Pacific auto industry by 2020 is half the world's industry." A little piece of China's colossal market will, anywhere else, still be considered a pretty big piece of pie.

After years of false starts and missteps in The Middle Kingdom, Ford sells six cars in China now, but they weren't developed for the Chinese market and haven't taken off with buyers there. Over the next three years Ford intends to introduce 15 more cars, many of them SUVs, and 20 engines to the Chinese market that can make better impressions on the locals.

That won't put it anywhere close to market leaders General Motors - which already sells 35 cars there and is lining up 60 more models, and has the preeminient Buick brand - or Volkswagen. But even the 3.1 percent share that one analyst predicted was in Ford's reach by 2020, up from 2.8 percent now, will be enough to turn Ford's currently desultory Chinese-market profits into something like a $700-million spigot once its production and offerings are stabilized.

Ford is investing $600 million and $760 million in two projects with its JV partner Changan Ford Mazda Automobile to expand capacity to 1.5 million autos per year. At the moment, The Blue Oval has no plans to take Lincoln across the Pacific.

Report: Toyota, Honda top supplier survey with lower results, GM and Chrysler improve

Before financial Stargate opened in September of 2008 and transported us to an entirely new economic dimension, it was oh so common to read about domestic automakers hammering Tier One suppliers to lower their prices. Of course, suppliers are still asked to find efficiencies, but pre-2008, it seemed a point of honor to hold a supplier's feet to the fire. No more: in the latest Working Relations Index survey of suppliers by Detroit firm Planning Perspectives Inc., General Motors and Chrysler rocketed up the charts to bring the bunch much closer together.

Admittedly, the two companies are still in last place, with GM just ahead of Chrysler and Toyota and Honda still up top. But perspective and improvement is the issue here: in 2005, Toyota scored 415 and GM scored 114. In this year's survey, Toyota scored 296 and Chrysler scored 248. It is the first time in the 12 years of the survey that the six automakers covered have been separated by less than 50 points. Chrysler's jump was led by the efforts of the the late Dan Knott, whle GM's improvement has been led by Bob Socia.

And yes, this is also a matter of the perennial leaders, Toyota and Honda, suffering a dip: in 2010 Toyota scored 327 and Honda 309, two years later, Toyota has dropped 31 points. Every automaker, however, from top to bottom acknowledged that they still have work to do with supplier relations. The benefits of good feelings are that suppliers tend to present their newest tech to, and make better parts for, the automakers with whom they have the best relationships. Naturally, it has been found that the reverse is true as well.

Nissan and Ford make up the middle two spots, where they've been for years. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Hyundai aren't on the list yet; PPI feels it doesn't have enough data on the Germans to yet to officially include them, and it doesn't have enough data on Hyundai to rank it at all. If the data gathered on the Germans was included, though, they would sandwich the rest of the field: BMW and Mercedes at the top, Volkswagen at the bottom a point shy of Chrysler.

Official: 2013 Nissan Altima production kicks off in Smyrna, aims to pass Camry for #1

"We are ready to make this car the top seller if the customer agrees."

Nissan has big plans for the fifth-generation Altima, which was the number-two selling car in the United States in 2011. The company is adding a third shift at Smyna, and shifting models around between this plant and its Canton, Mississippi plant with an eye toward the Altima passing the Toyota Camry as the top-selling model in America.

Toyota sold 308,510 Camrys last year, compared with Nissan's 268,981 Altimas.

"We haven't built and designed this car the way we have, and made all these changes with a goal of being number-two," said Nissan Americas vice chairman Bill Krueger. Krueger admits that the consumer will vote on whether the Altima becomes the top selling car. "But we are ready to make this car the top seller if the customer agrees."

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam chimed in on the rivalry. "We are going to give the folks down in Georgetown [Kentucky] a serious run for the money," said Haslam, speaking of Toyota's plant in the neighboring state.

Nissan definitely has the capacity to pass the Camry, as it builds Altimas at two plants.

Nissan built 570,000 vehicles in the U.S. last year and is adding a third shift to Smyrna. Nissan executives, however, won't pinpoint what total capacity is for Smyrna and Canton for competitive reasons. But it definitely has the capacity to pass the Camry's sales, as it builds Altimas at both plants.

Driving impressions of the 2013 Altima are embargoed until May 25, but we are allowed to tell you about a new feature we think is pretty cool. The tire pressure monitoring system not only tells the driver specifically what tire is low, but when you inflate each tire to the ideal, manufacturer-specified level, the car's horn sounds. Pretty neat, huh?.

Report: Saab union asks Obama to pressure GM for licensing deal

The door has not yet closed on Saab. Hoping for yet another 11th hour stay of execution, the defunct carmaker's chief union, IF Metall, has written directly to President Obama, asking him to intervene, according to Just-Auto. While on the surface, this may seem silly, it's actually rather clever, even if it has little likelihood of working.

With the United States government still owning 26 percent of General Motors, the Swedish union is hoping it can appeal to Obama to pressure General Motors into granting licenses to continue manufacturing Saab vehicles, according to the report. It's this sticking point that has torpedoed every attempt to forestall Saab's dissolution, as GM fears that were it to allow continued production of Saabs developed under GM's ownership, it would open up the possibility of intellectual property conflicts, particularly if a Chinese manufacturer that competes with GM's own Chinese partner, SAIC, acquires Saab.

You have to admire Saab loyalists, as they clearly have not given up hope. But in this case, they just don't have any other options: Unemployment in the Saab hometown of Trollhättan has hit 40 percent, according to the report.

Report: Auto sales credited with half of U.S. economic growth

The auto industry has long been a cyclical business, and though this last trough was a deep one, the coming boom has economists excited. According to Bloomberg, the auto industry's comeback contributed fully half of the 2.2 percent national economic growth in the first quarter of this year. Auto sales are on target to top 14 million vehicles this year, the best pace in four years.

Production is up at all three domestic carmakers, which has a ripple effect throughout the economy. Bloomberg cites Chad Moutray, chief economist of the National Association of Manufacturers, who estimates that every dollar spent on a new vehicle leads to an addition $2.02 in economic activity. The industry's share of gross domestic product for the quarter was 2.8 percent, which is nearly as high as it was in 2007, before the economic crisis that devastated the industry, according to the report.

Yet despite the rise in fortunes for carmakers, stock prices have yet to follow suit. A key automotive index is up just 1.5 percent so far this year, but is down 31 percent in the past 12 months, according to the report. The U.S. Treasury Department recently indicated that because of lagging stock prices, it would not be divesting its share of General Motors stock anytime soon.

Report: Subaru "doubles down" on North America after faltering in China

Automotive News reports Subaru no longer plans to manufacture vehicles in China in the near future. The company had originally planned to begin building cars in the country by 2016, but has re-shifted its focus back toward North America. Subaru will now increase production at its Indiana facility while also investigating other ways to up capacity in NA. That could mean adding a new line in Indiana or building an entirely new facility.

It's only been 10 months since Subaru announced it planned to build a manufacturing plant in China in just five years. Last year, the company said it planned to build 150,000 units per year in the People's Republic and import an additional 30,000 vehicles. Those numbers have been slimmed to a more modest 100,000 units, all of which will be imports. While Yasuyuki Yoshinaga, the president of Fuji Heavy Industries, says he would still like to see Subaru have a factory in China, he doesn't expect it to happen by 2016.

In the meantime, Subaru has also increased its North American sales targets from 380,000 units to 410,000.

Ford of Europe's VP of manufacturing leaves after just 5 months

Mike Flewitt, Ford's vice president, manufacturing, Ford of Europe, has decided to "pursue other career interests" according to the company's press release. Jeff Wood, director of manufacturing for Ford's North America operations, will replace Flewitt beginning June 1.

Automotive News reports that the resignation comes after Ford of Europe reported a first-quarter, pre-tax loss of $149 million. The company has also cut working days at plants in Spain and days and production rates in Germany. Ford of Europe CEO Stephen Odell has previously said Ford's second-quarter production will fall by 65,000 vehicles from last year.

Flewitt began working at Ford in 1983 as an assembly plant trainee. Eventually he wound up at Rolls-Royce in 1995 as production director then moved to managing director at AutoNova AB Volvo in 1998 and operations group manager at TWR in 2000. In 2003, Flewitt returned to Ford of Europe as production quality director. Flewitt was installed in the VP position in January, 2012.

Automotive News says Flewitt has left Ford's European headquarters in Cologne, Germany for his UK birthplace.

Read Ford's press release after the jump for details and other personnel news from Ford.

Continue reading Ford of Europe's VP of manufacturing leaves after just 5 months

Report: Nissan breaks ground on new engine plant in Tennessee

Nissan breaks ground today on an expansion to its Decherd, Tennessee engine plant and will start churning out powerplants for Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz models in about four years.

The plant already builds four-, six- and eight-cylinder engines for several Nissan models as well as the Infiniti JX SUV. In 2011, the Decherd plant built 580,000 engines. The expansion will boost production capacity by as much as 250,000 units per year.

Nissan's partnership with Mercedes-Benz, announced in January, has the Decherd facility supplying engines to Merecedes' only North American plant in Vance, Alabama. The four-cylinder will be installed in the German company's C-Class sedans.

"This is the newest milestone in our pragmatic collaboration and our most significant project outside of Europe so far," said Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn in a January press release. "Localized capacity reduces exposure to foreign exchange rates while rapidly enabling a good business development in North America - a win-win for the Alliance and Daimler."