http://www.autosinsight.com Automotives Insight RSS Feed from Business Monitor International en Copyright 2012, Business Monitor International Ltd Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:30 GMT Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:30 GMT AFP RSS Generator BMI has long held the view that Vietnam's new vehicle market is characterised by fluctuating tariffs, which makes it difficult to recognise patterns in sales and project future movement. This has been further underlined by an increase in the country's car ownership registration tax and licence plate registration fee from January 1 2012, which will create difficult conditions for carmakers to bounce back from a 2% year-on-year (y-o-y) decline in sales in http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108832/Increased-Taxes-And-Economic-Pressure-Make-For-Another-Tough-Year-For-Carmakers.html Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT Heightened risks from the eurozone debt crisis, renewed fiscal austerity measures, looming threats of a hard landing in the Turkish growth story and the consequent deterioration in our outlook for the European autos market have contributed to a decline in the region's average score, from 52.3 points last quarter to 51.9 points, in BMI's Risk/Reward Ratings for the autos industry. http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108831/Poor-Show-From-Western-Europe-Hurts-Regions-Score-In-BMI-Ratings.html Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT Angola's growth is set to be the sixth fastest in the world and the third fastest in Sub-Saharan Africa (following Ghana and Uganda), according to BMI forecasts. http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108830/Vehicle-Replacement-Programme-Prompts-Forecast-Upgrade.html Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT Data released by Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) show that while the restricted number of Certificates of Entitlement (COE) has pushed up prices of new cars to the point of being unaffordable for many, this has resulted in record sales for the used car segment. BMI expects this trend to continue in line with our forecast for another year of contraction in the new vehicle market in 2012, although we believe there could be potential for the stock of second-hand cars to be reduced within a few years if consumers continue to hang on to vehicles longer than usual, resulting http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108801/Used-Car-Sales-Will-Remain-Strong-As-Further-COE-Cuts-Are-Planned.html Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT Japan's Honda Motor has announced a partnership with Tanzanian firm Quality Motors to assemble and sell motorcycles in the country with a view to increasing Honda's sales in the African region. In addition to local assembly, Honda's strategy also includes products more specifically tailored to local conditions in order to compete with the large Chinese contingent dominating the market. http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108799/Honda-Steps-Up-Localisation-To-Take-On-Chinese-Competition.html Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT High production costs, yen strength and struggling vehicle sales in Europe have all contributed to Mitsubishi Motors' decision to stop production at its only Western European plant from 2013. BMI does not expect the move to have any significant impact on automotive demand in the region, but we believe the withdrawal highlights the wider problems faced by carmakers in the region. Thanks to political and union pressures, carmakers based in Western Europe have typically been operating under-utilized and high-cost plants and are in dire need of restructuring their European operations. http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108800/Mitsubishi-Closure-Highlights-European-Production-Woes.html Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT The city of Bogota is looking to include electric cars in its taxi fleet in move aimed at boosting its green credentials and as a part of the government's broader aim of reducing dependence on conventional fuel in transportation. A decree to this effect was also enacted by the city of Bogota in December 2011. It called for zero duty on electric vehicle imports into the country and provision of incentives for EVs in the city. BMI, however, remains cautiously optimistic about the success of EVs on a mass scale in the country and instead sees more scope for increased http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108775/Alternative-Fuel-Vehicles-To-Face-Demand-And-Supply-Side-Problems.html Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT The Serbian commercial vehicle (CV) production segment is set to receive a boost in the form of a RSD600mn package announced by the government that is targeted at truck, bus and tractor production in the country. The package is a part of a wider RSD7bn package announced by the government in January 2012 aimed at boosting the economy. http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108776/Government-Plans-All-Round-Support-For-Struggling-CV-Production-Segment.html Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT Despite growth of 8.65% year-on-year (y-o-y) in 2011, Indonesia's motorcycle sales did not achieve the volumes projected by either BMI or the Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association (AISI). While BMI expected sales of 8.53mn units and AISI a slightly more conservative 8.4mn, the actual total was 8.04mn. Although BMI expects sales to recover in 2012, on the back of improved parts supplies from Thailand and increasing incomes, we point out that there are also risks to this outlook, which are the same risks threatening the four-wheeled http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108774/Better-Year-Ahead-For-Motorcycle-Sales-But-Not-Without-Risks.html Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT The South African unit of Japanese truck maker UD Trucks has highlighted the risk of rail freight growth to heavy truck sales, which enjoyed growth of 35% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 26,149 units in 2011. This fits the view that BMI's Freight Transport team have put forward, that projects such as Toyota Motor's move to ship its vehicles by rail rather than road provide upside risk to rail freight forecasts. BMI believes the potential impact on domestic sales could prompt other truck makers to follow UD Trucks Southern Africa (UDTSA)'s lead of targeting the wider Africa http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108740/Exports-Will-Be-Key-As-Rail-Freight-Growth-Poses-Risk-To-Truck-Market.html Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT Trade secretary Tatiana Prazeres has repeated the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade's intention to possibly scrap a trade agreement between Brazil and Mexico, in what BMI sees as yet another desperate attempt by Brazil to battle with its bulging trade deficit in the autos sector. This poses a significant risk to Brazil's coveted third position in BMI's Risk/Reward ratings for the autos industry in the Americas and our long-term view about Mexico outperforming Brazil in the production segment, in terms of y-o-y growth. http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108739/Another-Trade-Dispute-Will-Tarnish-Reputation-And-Investor-Confidence.html Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT Ford Motor is one of the first US carmakers to make a move to increase exports to South Korea under the Korea-US (KORUS) free trade agreement (FTA) ratified in 2011. While the terms of the FTA will make it much easier to gain access to the South Korean market, BMI believes the increased competitiveness of US exports will provide further impetus for other similar projects to follow, in line with our view that North America will become a favoured production and export http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108738/FTA-And-Competitive-Production-Will-Boost-US-Vehicle-Imports.html Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT When Italy's Fiat acquired bankrupt US carmaker Chrysler in 2009 it was with the intention of turning the company around, but results for 2011 show a resurgent Chrysler bolstering Fiat's finances and possibly offering an answer to the difficult operating conditions in Europe. Chrysler's first net profit since 1997 helped Fiat double its own trading profit (earnings before interest, tax and one-time items) and the restructured North American production operations are providing a blueprint for how CEO Sergio Marchionne would like to see things done in http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108710/Chrysler-Could-Be-Fiats-Lifeline-In-European-Crisis.html Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT Imports of used cars in Poland are struggling to return to pre-crisis levels, reaching only 655,314 units in 2011 - down almost 9% compared with 2010 and almost 35% lower compared with 2008 levels. However, the segment fared better than the overall new car market, which was down more than 12% year-on-year (y-o-y), to 277,430 units, during the same period. Going forward in 2012, BMI expects growth in the used car market to outperform that in the new car segment on the back of rising unemployment, inflation and macroeconomic uncertainties from the slowdown in the eurozone. Further support for used http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108708/Used-Car-Segment-To-Outperform-New-Car-Segment.html Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT Sundecop, a Venezuelan governing body responsible for regulating, supervising and implementing prices in the country, is reportedly reviewing cost structures and plans to come up with a uniform pricing policy for the autos parts segment. BMI believes the move will not only weaken the recovery in the autos production segment but could also hurt the highly critical supply chain. In fact, we warn that the policy could have a highly detrimental and long-lasting impact on the local production segment as the potential closure of local suppliers could completely choke original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of essential parts supplies. http://www.autosinsight.com/file/108709/Uniform-Prices-For-Suppliers-Could-Threaten-Segments-Survival.html Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT