TOKYO—Honda Motor Co. is building a new $550 million automobile assembly plant close to Greensburg, IN, about 50 miles southeast of Indianapolis. The plant, which would employ about 2,000 people, would start production in late 2008, with a yearly production capacity of 200,000 vehicles.
The new plant would be Honda's sixth auto plant and 14th main manufacturing facility in North America. It would help boost Honda's total North American auto production capacity from 1.4 million units to more than 1.6 million units yearly. In all, Honda employs more than 37,000 people in North American, with a whole capital investment of approximately $9 billion.
"(The) state of Indiana has…an exceptional society of people, outstanding transportation systems and the necessary infrastructure to support industry," says Koichi Kondo, president of American Honda Motor Co. "It is an ideal location in the Midwest, both for our network of parts suppliers and as a central location for all of our customers crossways the country."
               
Jun. 28, 2006 (China Knowledge) – China would limit domestic companies' entrée to the automobile export business next year, an official from Ministry of Commerce said Monday.
Zhang Ji, deputy director of the Electromechanical, Science and Technology Department of China’s Ministry of Commerce, said that the government would restrict the number of companies that could export vehicles through the use of export licenses.
Under the new ruling, only companies with a large sufficient export volume would be awarded these export licenses.
He also said that a strategic alliance will be established among the China Ocean Shipping Corp., the China Export and Credit Insurance Corp. and main automobile exporters by August in order to curb competition.
According to the Xinhua news agency, China's automobile production takes up 10% of the worlds total as its export volume accounts for less than 1% of the world’s export volume
OLDMANS TWP. -- Auburn Fire Company responded Saturday at 2:26 p.m. to the New Jersey Turnpike for an auto accident and stayed in service for 40 minutes.
Pedrick town Ambulance, Logan EMS, Woolwich Fire Company, Life Support 5 and Carneys Point Fire & Rescue reacted to assist and remained in service for 35 minutes.
CARNEYS POINT
Carneys Point Fire Department and Rescue Squad responded Friday at 3:33 p.m. to the junction of Route 47 and Cedar Avenue for downed wires and remained in service for 25 minutes.
LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK
Lower Alleyways Creek Fire Company responded Friday at 6:33 p.m. to Alloway Creek Neck Road for downward wires and remained in service for 30 minutes.
MANNINGTON
Mannington Fire Co. reacted Friday at 2:30 p.m. to Dubois Road for a brush fire and stayed in service for 55 minutes.
Almost everyone has heard of the California State Automobile Association, but few people know much on it. Extensively known as AAA or the auto club, the great bulk of its income about 75 percent -- in fact comes from selling insurance. It's a vast organization, with 4.3 million members and some 6,000 employees spotted across much of the western United States. It's structured as a nonprofit, but pays state and other federal taxes. Behind its public facade and ubiquitous yellow tow trucks, its interior workings are a mystery.
It's fitting then that the man who heads CSAA is concurrently one of the Bay Area's lowest-profile and mainly powerful executives. Tellingly, James Pouliot, the organization's CEO since 2001, is an insurance manager, not an auto specialist. Since coming from Denver, where he was a senior insurance executive, he has hard-pressed hard to transform the auto club into a more efficient business. Those changes have been hard for employees used to the CSAA's usually nonprofit examine orientation.
Gasoline prices are averaging close to $3 per gallon in some U.S. cities, higher than Americans are used to at this time of year. But that alone is improbable to keep millions of Americans from drumming the roads this summer, says Mike Pina of the American Automobile Association
"People always say in surveys that they are not going to travel because of high gas prices, but te truth is, cars are the least expensive way for people to get where they want."
Pina says Americans are often eager to absorb higher fuel prices and related costs at this time of year because summer holiday journey is so deeply ingrained in American life. "What we notice is that people will continue their vacations but they are going to spend less money in hotels and they are going to be eating in cheaper restaurants. Some say they will still travel … but stay closer to home."
DEARBORN, Mich. - Ford Motor Co. is including on its 2007 lineup with new crossovers and all-wheel-drive cars to assist slow its declining market share.
The nation's second-largest auto-maker exposed its new models on Wednesday when its stock hovered near a more than 13-year low and a report came out that car buyers are behind more of their appetite for new midsize sport utility vehicles.
The companies also revise its Expedition SUV and added an extra-long model with more storage space capacity, plus Lincoln counterparts, the Navigator and Navigator L.
Mark Fields, president of the Americas division, said the new models, plus behind-the-scenes growth of future products, have the company on target to arrive at its aim of recurring to profitability in North America by 2008.
Sales of 4x4s and comfort saloons have increased in spite of higher fuel prices, higher road tax and obvious environmental concerns, new statistics suggest.
According to figures statement by The Times, sales of new off-road vehicles made up 7.6% of all new car sales in the first five months of 2006.The market share for the cars evidence over the same period last year was 7.2%. The paper said that the Range Rover Sport Supercharged was the best-selling opulence petrol 4x4.
The vehicle achieved the rank despite being placed in the top excise duty band and having short fuel economy.The European Automobile Manufacturers Association exposed that total new passenger car registrations in Europe in May amounted to 1,422,408 units, which represents an increase of 9.6 per cent on the May 2005 figure.
The Canadian Automobile Association needs the provinces to stop novice motorists from using cell phones, iPods and even other handheld electronic devices to decrease the large number of accidents credited to driver distraction. It's a good idea, but why stops at novel or recently licensed drivers? There is a rising body of evidence that cell phones and other interruptions really increase the danger of crash with other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and value poles. The CAA cites a study free in April by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that found that up to eight in 10 accidents engage some form of driver distraction, a much higher level than before estimated. It's true that more young people use cell phones, MP3 players and other like, but they are not the only ones reason heightened risks on the road.
An earlier review by the NHTSA showed that nearly a third of all motorists use their cell phones despite the fact that driving. Talking and listening slow response times and reduce drivers' ability to react to such commonplace situation as changes of speed, tapering of roadways and sudden stops. Road manners deteriorate, send-off other drivers aggravated and angry. Even when hands-free phones have been alternated, studies have found the dissimilarity is negligible. And the number of distractions is increasing, with the arrival of portable DVD players that could be mounted on dashboards and the fame of wireless e-mail devices and electronic organizers.
Currently, some state auto insurers take into explanation their customers' occupations and education level when locating their insurance rates. Apparently, statistics have exposed those individuals who are educated and grasp certain occupations have a history of being safer drivers.
"Our Legislature does not think this is fair and is holding hearings regarding the issue. I will like to suggest they call Attorney General Zulima Farber as an expert witness. She has a higher education level and an occupation that is relatively safe, but that hasn't prevented her from engaging in risky driving behaviors and thus receiving several citations. One of the perks she was looking forward to regarding her current position was that it came with a driver."
The amount of new cars sold in Europe last month prove an almost 10 per cent go up from a year ago, according to industry figures.
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) exposed that total new passenger car registrations in Europe in May amounted to 1,422,408 units that represents an increase of 9.6 per cent on the May 2005 figure.
"This result is encouraging, although also due to the fact that most countries had one or two working days more with respect to May last year," the body said as it announced the figures.
Cumulative figures for the first five months of 2006 also reproduced an increase in car demand, with sales 2.4 per cent higher than in 2005 across Europe.
Four out of the five main European markets posted an augment in sales during May. Italy's increase was theatrical at 49.5 per cent, but the ACEA said that it was mainly attributable to the fact that May last year was disturb by the strike of new car transporters.
Germany knowledgeable an 8.7 per cent rise, the UK a 1.1 per cent increase and Spain seeing a 0.5 per cent boost to sales.
Only France accounts a loss for May 2006, of 3.3 per cent.
Travelers who have mobility impairments could now get Avis rental cars in Las Vegas and Orlando with a "mobility scooter" in the trunk. Avis Rent a Car System LLC has started making the four-wheeled Scoot around strategy accessible for $40 daily in Vegas and $50 in Orlando
A whirlybird for the weekend
Two hours in a helicopter may not sound fun -- unless you're escaping New York for Nantucket. Responding to thriving demand for private flights from New York City helipads to "ACK," Martha's Vineyard, and Cape Cod, confidential operator Blue Star Jets this year has rolled out 10-, 20-, and 30-ride Helix-Card tickets, preliminary at a mere $6,800 one-way, with discounts of up to 5 percent the more rides you buy. Blue Star choppers make the trip at up to 160 miles per hour and extra travelers a ride out to Teterboro (N.J.) Airport or other private-jet field. One hitch: With weight limits, passengers could bring only one small carry-on each.
ST.PETERSBURG - Two new large automobile projects would be launched in the course of the 10th Petersburg Economic Forum, which releases here on Tuesday. The foundation would be laid on Tuesday for a General Motors plant, which is to be put up near the city, and an accord on the construction there also of a Nissan automobile assembly factory would be signed simultaneously with this.
St.Petersburg has chosen a 94-hectares plot to the General Motors Company in the Shushary industrial zone, next to the site where the Japanese Toyota Company had started to build its plant in June 2005. At the first stage, the General Motors plant is preparation to manufacture three modifications of its automobiles. Its annual output would initially equal to 25,000 automobiles. The company is predictable to spend in the project more than 115 million U.S. dollars at the initial stage and to finally double this figure.
The implementation of this project would provide the city with seven hundred additional workplaces. The St.Petersburg city government has given the status of strategic investor on the General Motors Company. It would be granted a standard set of tax privileges and preferences, which is typically guaranteed to all the major investors. The agreements on this project oblige the city to carry out the engineering preparation of the site for the building of the automobile plant.
As to the Nissan Company, a preliminary agreement on the structure of its plant was achieved last spring. The terms of the project were not in print up to now. They would be most likely announced on Tuesday during the signing of the final contract.
There is also a Ford Automobile Plant not far from St.Petersburg.
NEW DELHI: India's largest car maker Maruti Udyog Ltd is now provide its Japanese parent Suzuki Motor Corp a serving hand in producing two-wheelers in India.
Japan's Bell Sonica Corporation is forming a combined venture with Maruti Udyog to manufacture sheet metal, framework and other critical components used in structure Suzuki motorcycles and cars in India.
The venture - in which Maruti would hold a 30% stake - will be a core supplier to Suzuki's automobile ventures in India, counting Maruti itself and the lately reborn two-wheeler JV, Suzuki Motorcycles India.
Bell Sonica, sources told ToI, has sought the FIPB nod to set up this joint venture in India and travel the current boom in automobile demand.
"With the automobile market in India growing at a rapid pace, Bell Sonica has decided to set up its Indian operations and ride the boom," sources said.
The venture, sources said, would begin operations in November 2007.To be set up with an first paid-up capital of Rs 12 crore, the venture is sure of turning profitable from its third year of operation.
"The JV would manufacture two and four-wheeler sheet metal, chassis, structural and rigging components, in addition to producing tooling and jigs," the source said. The firm has projected a small net profit of Rs 38.86 lakh in 2009 on revenue of Rs 47.99 crore.
The firm is also part of a venture to locally manufacture diesel engines in India. It will supply engines to Suzuki operations across the globe.
The soaring prices of raw materials and rigid competition in China's auto parts market have encouraged a growing number of car components makers to export their products.
"We are looking for more overseas buyers as the rising prices of raw materials and intensified market competition squeezed our profits a lot," said Lin Xiangfei, general manager of Ju Guang Auto Parts Co Ltd, who was at the Auto Components Shanghai 2006 over the weekend at the Shanghai Automobile Exhibition Center.
China's auto industry has augmented rapidly by an annual average of over 30 percent in recent years, which fuels the fast development of the auto parts sector. In 2005, there were more than 5,000 home auto parts companies and their production scale reached 430 billion yuan. The total sales are expected to reach 850 billion yuan by 2010.
The total export value of auto products jumped 52 percent to US$19.6 billion last year, 44 percent of which were contributed by auto parts. The export value of auto parts hit US$42.5 billion for the first quarter of this year, up 40 percent year on year, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Young children stand a better possibility of avoiding death in a serious car crash if they're secured in a car seat rather than buckled in a seat belt, according to a new US study.
Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found that children among the ages of 2 and 6 were 28% less likely to be killed in a crash if they were sitting in the back in either a car seat or booster seat instead of in a seat belt. Even when bearing in mind 'gross misuse' - such as cases where the child seat was not friendly to the vehicle's seat or the child wasn't wearing the seat's harness - the risk of death was reduced by 21%.
The researchers for this study look at government data from 1998-2003 for virtually 9,000 children between the ages of 2-6 who were concerned in serious automobile crashes.
Economy cars with low production were among the best-selling cars in China in the first five months of the year.
Their reputation stems from soaring oil prices and more preferential government policies on vehicles with low emission.
Statistics with China organization of Automobile Manufacturers show that Xiali, manufactured by Tianjin FAW and well-liked for its low energy-consumption, topped the brand sales list in the first five months with a sale of 81,400, followed by Elantra of Beijing Hyundai with a sale of 73,900.
Among the top 10 brands, five of them were cars with low emission. But there was also a important leap in the sales of luxury cars with high emission.
The association credited the rise to China's new tax on luxury cars, which took effect on April 1. It had encouraged buyers to rush to buy cars before the completion of the new tax and expected price rises.
To build an energy-saving and ecologically aware society, China has outlined a series of measures to guide car use, as well as the release of restrictions on cars with low production in some large cities and consumption tax on high-grade cars.
The Ford Focus has won the award for Best Fleet Car in the 2006 Fleet World Honors. The trophy was on hand at a special ceremony held at the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall on Thursday 18th May.
The Fleet World Honors are presented yearly to those motor manufacturers and service companies who have attain the highest likely level of excellence in their sector, as judged by Fleet World magazine.
Fleet World editor 'Ken Rogers' commented: "Focus continues to be a truly great success story for Ford. It's rare for a extremely high volume, top-seller in both the fleet and retail markets to be considered a "benchmark" product but Focus still is. It presents that rare mixture of being a good value, effective work-horse - and a great driver's car. There is stiff opposition, but it remains one of the best cars to drive in its market segment."
Alan Cole of Glass's Guide added: "With list prices that range from just over £11,000 to almost £20,000 across 141 individual derivatives, Focus has something to offer every fleet driver. Its driving characteristics are equally well respected now as they were when it was originally introduced in 1998. Whilst there may be other models whose residual value performance is higher, the overall high level of fleet sales volume shows how its whole-life operating costs are respected by fleet managers."
BUFFALO -- Toyota's West Virginia plant has been named the mainly productive engine maker in North America for the fifth uninterrupted year by a national auto industry analyst.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia, Inc. topped the rankings in the meeting of both four cylinder and six cylinder engines, Harbor Consulting of Troy, Mich., said in its 2006 Harbor Report.
In 2005, workers at the Buffalo plant formed four-cylinder engines in an average 1.82 hours and six-cylinder engines in a standard 2.95 hours, the report said.
"What the workers at our Buffalo plant have done is simply unheard of," U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller said in a prepared statement. "They have turned the production of automobile engines into an art form."
The plant manufactures four-cylinder engines for the Corolla, Matrix and Pontiac Vibe; six-cylinder engines for the Sienna and Lexus RX 330; and five-speed transmissions for the Camry, Sienna and RX 330.
"Toyota remains the benchmark in engine productivity," said Michelle Hill, director of North American benchmarking for Harbor Consulting.
Car sales in April 2006 dropped as against March, but compared with 2005 they recorded a bigger volume. As for the sales in April this year, Saptamana financier weekly writes, the analysis can demonstrate that the market was motionless in expectation, finally ahead of the announced cassation programmed that can lead to a reduction of 1,000 euros, ACT Media news agency reports.
According to the analysis, the markets can have reached a saturation point, as well, and the bulk of those who were capable to swap an old car for a new one can have already made it in 2005.
For the time being, the only certain data are linked to statistics, which reflect a bigger number of imported cars, by 27.6 percent as against the similar months of last year.
According to the models, Renault Clio ranks first, followed by Renault Meganne.
Next there are two models used to rank lower, but later enter the buyers' notice due to generous price offers. They are Volkswagen Polo and Hyundai Accent.
Skoda lost ground with its older generation Octavia, baptized Tour and the new Octavia did not do well to impress the clients, as well.
Other top 10 drama models are Opel Astra Classic, Volskwagen Passat and Peugeot 2006.
TOKYO - Japanese auto production in April rose 3.9 percent from a year ago, marking the sixth straight month of gains, an industry set said Tuesday.
Vehicle production increased to 904,821 vehicles in April, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said.
Exports of cars, trucks and the buses jumped 10.6 percent from on year in April, climbing for the ninth straight month, the association said.Overseas demand for Japanese cars continues to underpin automakers' sales, with Japanese auto exports soaring to 473,632 vehicles, it said.
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