WhichCar By Wheels

Ferrari has put its hand up to assist disaster victims to rebuild their lives one month after the Abruzzo quakes with a limited edition F430.

The car, which will be the last off the production line at the end of the F430’s lifespan later this year, will be covered in the colours of Aquila, the town worst hit by the April 6 quakes.The highest bidder will be invited to the Maranello factory to customise the car to his or her requirements, and be presented with a certificate and plaque for the dashboard.The bidding will be held this Sunday at the Ferrari RM Auction in Modena.

Honda has truly hit the ground running with the Insight, which in April became the first hybrid-powered car to top the sales charts in Japan.

Honda’s compact 1.3-litre Insight hybrid stunned the industry by going number one with 10.481 sales.In the process, it overtook Honda’s Jazz (9443 units) which had been Japan number one, to make it a dominant Honda 1-2 in the charts.That’s according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association, the august body that oversees domestic sales statistics over 660 cc.In this compact class, Japanese consumers love anything that is new, hi-tech, eco friendly and, ahem, value-based. Honda’s Insight which has been in strong demand right from its launch in Tokyo on February 6 strategically ticks all those boxes.The Insight’s sales performance must have raised a few extra smiles inside Honda’s Aoyama HQ as well because it comes just days before Toyota is about to pull the trigger on the third generation Prius.It’s not often that Honda puts the skids on Toyota in the hybrid wars, but this sales “first” with the Insight counts as one such occasion, an indicator as well perhaps that hybrids are starting to get closer to going mainstream.

Holden’s Viva replacement, the Cruze, has joined the short list of new cars awarded full marks in the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) safety test.

The Cruze will join the FG Falcon in the short list of Aussie cars awarded the full five stars when it hits the small car market in June, having earned 35.04 out of a possible 37 crash test points.

The points are collated through a series of internationally recognised crash tests that vary between offset frontal, side impact, pedestrian and pole impact. Cars can also award bonus points for safety extras like seat-belt reminders and electronic stability control.The Holden Commodore Omega and Sportwagon range have also recently earned their full stars from ANCAP, an achievement that is becoming increasingly expected among the passenger car classes.At Melbourne’s show this year, Holden boss Mark Reuss described the Cruze as Holden’s response to the growing small car market, and the high safety rating will validate Cruze as a viable option in the heavily competitive genre.The Cruze will go on sale in Australia at two spec levels of a base CD and CDX, with standard ABS, EBD, traction and stability control, and six airbags.Wheels test drives the new Cruze in the June issue, out May 25.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

12 May 2009 Cruze To Launch With Five-Star Safety Rating

The all-new Holden Cruze has joined the top-selling Commodore Omega sedan and Sportwagon models in receiving the maximum five-star Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) rating.Holden will launch the all-new Cruze into the Australian small car market next month with the five-star safety rating following independent crash testing by ANCAP. Cruze scored 35.04 points out of a possible 37 in the ANCAP testing.A combination of its high-strength structure and a host of active and passive safety systems make Cruze one of the safest cars in its class.Cruze’s structure has been designed to provide maximum protection including front and rear crush zones engineered to collapse in a controlled manner to absorb crash energy. A collapsible pedal assembly also helps to reduce the chance of lower extremity injuries to the driver in a frontal collision.In addition to its extremely strong passenger compartment, Cruze includes a full range of active and passive safety systems as standard across the range including:

nGM Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mark Reuss said safety was at the core of the vehicle’s global development program.nn”We know that today’s motorists want many things from a small car and that includes no compromises on safety,” Mr Reuss said.nn”Incredibly high benchmarks were set as the Cruze was being developed and the results show.nn”This is a world-class car with a safety rating to match.nn”We welcome ANCAP’s response to Cruze’s strong safety features.”nnCruze is the first vehicle in General Motors’ new portfolio of global products and enters the Australian market equipped with bold looks, a high level of standard features and advanced interior styling and comfort.nnIt will go on sale early June powered by a 1.8 litre four-cylinder ECOTEC petrol engine on the CD & CDX or a 2.0 litre four-cylinder turbocharged common rail diesel engine on the CD model.

Holden Cruze

Concept or production: Production. What is it: Holden’s much-hyped new small car. Highlights: The headline car at this year’s Holden stand was once a Suzuki mini-SUV hatch. Well, sort of… about seven years ago, the AWD Holden Cruze shared the platform of a front-wheel-drive Suzuki Ignis.

While Holden has re-used the nameplate, the car is completely different. The new Cruze small car will go on sale in the second quarter with two petrol engines: a base 1.8-litre four, and a 2.0-litre turbodiesel (CRDI).Transmission choices are a standard five-speed manual or optional six-speed sports shift auto, and two spec levels of a base CD and CDX will be offered. See the release below for details.Best of all, Cruze gets standard ABS, EBD, TC and stability control and six airbags as standard, so it’s looking at a reasonably high safety rating. Stay tuned for reports from the show floor.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:

Special Edition Commodore International Sedan and SportwagonThe ‘International’ glitter-pack revs up the base Omega with 18-inch alloys, fog lamps, standard reverse sensors, six-stacker, leather trimmings and Bluetooth for $33,990 drive-away (add $2,000 for the Sportwagon)2009 HOLDEN CRUZE CD:

HOLDEN CRUZE CDX – includes all CD specific feature highlights, plus:

nFull specifications, fuel economy figures and pricing will be released closer to launch.

It’s not just the US giants bleeding from every orifice. Toyota has also admitted that it’s facing a massive 850 billion yen (A$11.3 billion) group operating loss and a 550 billion yen (A$7.3 billion) net loss for the year ending next March.

If reality follows the pessimistic forecast, this will be Toyota’s biggest ever loss since it was founded in 1937, and its second straight year of operating on the wrong side of the ledger.

As the global economy reverses at breakneck speed and the Japanese yen strengthens against other major currencies, group sales for the fiscal year have plunged from 7.57 million to an anticipated 6.5 million vehicles. Many of the shunned model lines include big and thirsty pick ups and four-wheel drivers produced for the contracting US market.Compounding Toyota’s troubles and impacting on overseas profits are currency shifts, in particular the yen’s strength against the greenback and the euro.Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe didn’t avoid the truth at a news conference in Tokyo last week, suggesting that while China and India are showing some improvement, he’s not expecting the prime US and European markets to normalise quickly.Underscoring the suddenness of the economic about-face, the huge losses contrast starkly with the 2.27 trillion yen group operating profit and 1.72 trillion yen net profit Toyota posted just 14 months ago.Toyota intends to tackle its losses by cutting manufacturing costs and fixed costs by A$10.6 billion in the present financial year. It also plans to ramp up efforts to get a range of smaller greener cars to market.In Australia, Toyota remains a comfortable sales leader in a saggy year-to-date market which is 20.3 per cent down on the first four months of 2008.But according to sales data from VFACTS, its new vehicle market share has shrunk from 23.3 per cent to 20.7, and sales YTD are off nearly 30 percent. Comparing its nearest rivals, Holden is down 21 per cent and Ford running 19.4 per cent below the same period in 2008.All market segments are down, but those taking the biggest hit are large SUVs (off 46.7 per cent) and large luxury cars (down 46 per cent).

Jaguar Land Rover needs money. While this is a common cry at present (from the Wheels office to the rest of the world), the carmaker may be forced to slash plants and jobs if a deal with the British government cannot be immediately reached.

When Indian company Tata bought the Brits last year, it was seen as the saviour for the brand. But not long after the sale, rumours about financial problems started to swirl.Tata has this week revealed that it needs a £340 million loan from the European Investment Bank and a £400 million financial package from the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. But the British government have placed a hard set of conditions on the repayment and terms of the loan – obviously startled by the billions that the US government have thrown at the Big Three, never to be seen again…The terms include the ability to choose the chairman and an official seat on the board, final say on all company decisions, a promisee of a further £300 million into JLR after the crisis subsides, and ironically no further British worker cuts. Around 15000 Brits work for the conglomerate, and 450 jobs were cut at the start of the crisis.The government will only go guarantor on £175 million, and charge £26.25 million in interest, despite announcing a multi-billion pound assistance scheme at the start of the crisis to guarantee loans to struggling car companies.The Department for Business said Tata has to take responsibility for its purchase.“Any Government financial assistance must protect taxpayers’ money,” said a spokesperson.“But on this basis we are prepared to help although not on any terms. We regard JLR as a viable company with good long-term prospects.”The British government said on Wednesday that talks are continuing despite the rumours of a stall.

If nothing else, Chrysler’s history has been fun to follow; a television mini-series in the making.

Before World War I there was already a Big Three in Detroit, but the names were Ford, Buick and Maxwell. That last firm sold an impressive 60,000 cars in 1914, but had “run off the rails” less than a decade later and was taken over by ex-Buick boss Walter P. Chrysler in 1923.Now, 86 years later, Walter P’s dream is off the rails, with Chrysler in bankruptcy. So it goes…Walter P. Chrysler was ambitious, establishing Plymouth and Desoto in 1928, the year he bought out the Dodge brothers’ operations. He’d been so successful, the next year Chrysler started construction on one of the coolest-looking skyscrapers (even today) in New York City.Chrysler history after World War II was a soap opera. There was chromed and finned glory, Hemi V-8s and NASCAR titles. At points along the way, the Detroit automaker owned shares of Simca, Mitsubishi and Maserati and all of Lamborghini. Chrysler first went to the government for aid in 1980, winning a $1.5 billion loan and 14 years later declared a record profit of $3.7 billion. And 14 years later Chrysler was back at the public trough, hat in hands, again asking for loans.These are, of course, different economic times and the government (at least President Obama’s) doesn’t blithely hand over dough for the asking. Chrysler was told to develop a viable business plan by the end of April and get on with its partnership with Fiat or declare bankruptcy.They almost made it.There was a deal with the United Auto Workers that ceded 55 percent of Chrysler to the union, with 8 percent to the U.S. government and 2 percent to Canadian governments in return for financing. Twenty percent would go to Fiat in exchange for its help and technology, giving the Italian automaker a direct line into the U.S. market. If successful (as in paying back U.S. government loans), Fiat would get at least that entire remaining 35 percent of Chrysler. The U.S. government said it would back the warranties of Chrysler vehicles for the time being.Cerberus, the private equity company that bought 81 percent of Chrysler from Daimler, and Daimler would essentially wash their hands of Chrysler and retreat.Those are, of course, just the basics of what would have happened…if. While the four major banks that held 70 percent of Chrysler bonds agreed to a payoff of $2 billion, the 40-or-so hedge funds that held the remaining 30 percent wouldn’t agree. They felt they could get a better return if Chrysler went into liquidation and was sold off.So the deal fell through and Obama was ticked off, saying of the hedge funds, “I don’t stand with them.” The funds shot back that it was unfair of the government to take that stand when, under the principles of capitalism, it was the fund’s duty to get the best return for investors, arguing that companies that become complacent and lose the script deserve to die. Also, unlike the banks, they had received no government “Troubled Asset Relief Program” funds as part of the recovery program.That reply is just the tip of a philosophical iceberg atop which sit those who were angry the announcement of Chrysler’s bankruptcy was from Obama rather that Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli, a sure sign the U.S. is headed down the road to socialism. This will be argued on TV’s political talk shows for months to come.Philosophical talk is the last thing Chrysler employees care about. They want to be able to make their house payments and put food on the table, and the government has provided up to $8 billion of added loans to support Chrysler during the bankruptcy proceeding. While that process is projected to last 30-60 days (remarkably short under our system), the company is basically shutting down. Factories will reopen after that time, but eight will close permanently by the end of 2010. Naturally unions will fight those closings, which should be interesting arguments in a company 55 percent owned by the union.Among the actions bankruptcy will allow Chrysler to do is shed dealers with minimal legal recourse for those dealers. This is an important step for the automaker as the franchise rules covering automaker-dealer contracts can be onerous for a car company. Of course the current rate of car sales–Chrysler down 48 percent in April–is already doing away with marginal dealers.Also being greatly affected by the slowdown are the outside suppliers who have millions of dollars of Chrysler debt on their books. This side of the problems affects not just Chrysler and the suppliers, but the other companies that get parts from the latter, including the likes of Toyota, Honda and Nissan.Also impacted are the various deals Chrysler has with other automakers, like its plan with Nissan to build a small car in Mexico and a full-size pickup branded for the Japanese company. All this is up in the air as of the bankruptcy.In black and white American cowboy movies, the bad guys always wore black hats and the heroes wore white. The man with the white hat now appears to be Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne. His biography has been featured on the front pages of major U.S. newspapers so even farmers in Iowa and barbers in Georgia know about Marchionne’s North American education and his 20-hour workdays. What he seems able to do for Chrysler as a manager appears to be of more importance than the Fiat products that would find their way to the U.S.Read into the government’s position on the Chrysler-Fiat alliance and you’ll find several mentions of those Fiats and Alfas plus Fiat technology that will help Chrysler, to quote Obama, “build the clean, fuel-efficient cars that are the future of the industry.”The big question is whether those cars (Alfas and Fiats) are vehicles the notoriously gas-price-fickle American public wants. Some argue this is an attempt by the government to steer the public into vehicles the feds like…something that will be difficult to do because gas prices always seem to settle back down to a reasonable level. If you’re wondering, why not just raise gasoline taxes in the U.S. you’ll have to get in the “argument line” behind those hedge funds and their discussion of how our capitalistic system should work.As a fan of clean, fuel-efficient cars (our family car has four cylinders), a three-time Alfa owner who now has a Lancia, I’m still uncertain about the viability of Fiat products in the U.S., but we shall see.Dramatic as the Chrysler bankruptcy might be for the U.S., it is likely only a preview of what General Motors will be going through soon.“The General” has already said it will dump Pontiac completely, so kiss GTOs, Firebird Trans Ams and 83 years of history goodbye. Unless a buyer steps forward soon, Saturn is dead as of 12/31/09.GM will pare down to four brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick (thanks to its China connection) and GMC. These will be sold through three sales channels with a dealer count GM will slash (here’s where bankruptcy comes in handy) from 6246 at the end of 2008 to around 3600 by the end of 2010.Seemingly to get everyone into the mood of what’s to come, GM announced closure of its North American factories for nine weeks this summer. This will have the desired effect of dramatically cutting inventory and the undesirable effect of bankrupting, according to Automotive News, “As many as 10 percent of GM’s top 300 parts makers.”Expect an almighty battle between GM’s bondholders, the UAW and the U.S. government.What is coming next is going to be painful throughout the country and a disaster for the city of Detroit.

After two weeks of intensive talks – following two years of rumours – it would appear that a preliminary integration deal has finally been struck between Porsche and VW.

Both German marques have confirmed an integration agreement which will see them merge as a single entity with 10 different brands under one banner.

Porsche has stated that the “creation of an integrated car manufacturing group” would include Porsche Automobil Holding SE and the nine VW satellite brands of Volkswagen passenger cars, Volkswagen commercial vehicles, Audi, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Bentley, Seat, Skoda, and Scania Commercial vehicles.“In the final structure 10 brands shall stand below an integrative leading company alongside each other, whereby the independence of all brands and explicitly also of Porsche shall be ensured,” reads the statement from Porsche.In January, Porsche announced a 51 percent stakehold in VW, and had been planning a further 24 percent buy-up in the near future. However, an iron-clad law would prevent Porsche from acquiring full control of the company, even with a 75 percent sharehold. This seems to have prompted the full brand integration.Both companies hope to have reached a final decision within four weeks. Stay tuned…

VW OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Sights Set on Integrated Automotive Group Wolfsburg, May 6, 2009

Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft welcomes the decision by representatives of the Porsche und Piëch family shareholders to create an integrated automotive group in which each of the ten brands will retain its independence.During the next four weeks, a joint working group whose members will come from Volkswagen and Porsche will consult intensively with the State of Lower Saxony and the workforce at both companies to prepare the basis for a decision on the future structure. The Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft will do everything in its power to support this process.

PORSCHE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Family shareholders are in agreement: Creation of an integrated car manufacturing group intended 7 May 2009Stuttgart. The members of the management boards of both Volkswagen AG and Porsche Automobil Holding SE have been in intensive talks about the deepening of the cooperation over the past weeks. The family shareholders of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Stuttgart, have discussed the proposals resulting therefrom, with the inclusion of capital measures, this Wednesday and argued for the creation of an integrated car manufacturing group. In the final structure 10 brands shall stand below an integrative leading company alongside each other, whereby the independence of all brands and explicitly also of Porsche shall be ensured.On this basis both companies Volkswagen and Porsche intensify the talks in a joint working group with the relevant involvement of the State of Lower Saxony as largest co-shareholder as well as the employee representatives of both companies. It is the aim to develop a corresponding basis for decision-making on the future structure of the common group within the next four weeks.

Before Christmas, Automotive News reported that three key bidders remained: Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, and a private US equity firm called One Equity Partners. In early December, all three companies submitted tenders to Ford, with one anonymous source telling Businessweek that the bids ranged from AU$1.7 billion to AU$2.3 billion.

The strong Tata enterprise is rumoured to be Ford’s preferred bidder.

The Tata Group comprises of almost 100 companies covering information systems and communications; engineering; materials; services; energy; chemicals and consumer products, with a vested interest in both commercial and passenger vehicles through its Motor sector.Ford spokesman Mark Truby has publicly stated that no announcement will be made about the ownership of Jaguar and Land Rover until early in the New Year, though the papers claim otherwise.The Birmingham Post – the local rag nearest to Jaguar’s Midlands home – has speculated that Tata will pay as much as £1 billion (AU$2,285,850,000) for the two companies, and that the deal is sealed.This would be quite the cash cow for Ford, which has struggled to recoup its multi-billion dollar losses in recent years, and will not be operating in the black until at least 2010.Unfortunately for Ford, it originally acquired Jaguar and Land Rover for more than AU$2.8 billion each back in 1989 and 2000.In June this year, Ford flogged Aston Martin for £479,000 (AU$1,094,500) in cash and stocks. Only one satellite in the Premier Automotive Group remains – Swedish marque Volvo, which Ford is attempting to reposition in the marketplace as a more premium brand.For now, Ford wants to wash its hands of the Brits, their high production costs and their adverse exchange rates – and is set to gain some much-needed relief from both the sale, and the end of the sale speculation.

If feeling good about the environment is not good enough, owners of Honda hybrid cars will be offered priority parking at various high-traffic centres around the Australia.

Honda’s Hybrid Priority Parking will be available at Melbourne Central Shopping Centre between May 11 and 23, with plans for rollout at other locations in the coming months, including Sydney and Melbourne airports.The parking spots are not free; they are subject to the usual car parking fees and restrictions. However, they are convenient and accessible. For instance the three parking spots at Melbourne Central are opposite the lifts on level one.They are not restricted to Honda hybrids. The deal is that the spaces are for hybrid priority parking, brought to you by Honda.Anyone taking bets that there will probably be more Toyota Prius hybrids parked there than Honda Insights and Civics?Honda was of course the first to introduce hybrid technology to Australia, in 2000, with its interesting yet painfully slow-selling Insight.It currently offers the Civic Hybrid, Australia’s cheapest hybrid, and will soon be offering its appealing second-generation Insight.Honda’s Hybrid Priority Parking will complement its Civic Hybrid display – on show at each location.