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GoAuto News
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April 1, 2009 60,000 READERS WEEKLY No. 476
Holden would not be viable as a manufacturer without the Delta program: Carr
DIG
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By MARTON PETTENDY and DAVID HASSALL
GM HOLDEN would not have been viable
without its small-car manufacturing plan
that will eventually produce up to fi ve model
derivatives, according to federal industry
minister Kim Carr.
The all-new Holden small-car family,
to be built on General Motors’ new global
C-segment chassis architecture dubbed
Delta II, will comprise a Holden-designed
turbocharged fi ve-door hatchback from
late 2010 and a locally built Cruze sedan to
replace next month’s imported model from
South Korea.
GoAuto sources say a further three Delta-
based models will eventually emerge from
the Holden factory, which will also have the
ability to produce the all-new Astra yet to
emerge from Opel, as well as Chevrolet’s
Orlando seven-seat people-mover and even
GM’s ground-breaking Volt plug-in hybrid.
Holden announced on December 22 that
it would manufacture an all-new small-car
line alongside the Commodore model range
at its Adelaide factory from the third quarter
of 2010 “with assistance from the federal
and South Australian governments”.
In addition to $149 million over three
years from the Australian government’s
Green Car Innovation Fund (GCIF), which
will contribute one dollar for every three
dollars invested by Holden in the project,
the SA government committed $30 million
over four years.
That should take the total ‘Delta’ program
spend to more than $600 million, $450
million of which was ‘quarantined’ from
within GM, which was this week given 60
days to come up with a new survival plan for
US president Barack Obama’s automotive
taskforce, under new chairman and chief
executive Fritz Henderson.
Senator Carr said last week that the plan
to build a family of small vehicles off GM’s
fi rst truly global compact-car platform was
essential to GM Holden’s survival.
“The new Delta opens up into about fi ve
different streams in its later phases, but to
get it up in a period like this, when General
Motors internationally is facing such acute
questions, is remarkable,” senator Carr told
GoAuto on March 24 at a function to open
a $12 million production facility at Hella’s
plant in suburban Melbourne.
“It made the difference between General
Motors (Holden) being viable and non-
viable.”
Hella will provide Toyota Australia with
lighting clusters for this year’s facelifted
Aurion and Camry, including next year’s
locally built Camry Hybrid, which became
the fi rst benefi ciary of the Rudd government’s
$500 million green-car program when $35
million was pledged to the project last June,
before the fund was due to have started in
2011.
Toyota later said it would have built the
petrol-electric Camry here anyway, using
imported hybrid drive components, before
the 10-year green fund was expanded to
$1.3 billion and brought forward from 2009
as part of the federal government’s $6.2
billion car industry plan to 2020.
Holden’s 3600 Elizabeth assembly plant
workers are on reduced wages during 26
‘down-days’ in April as Holden tries to slow
production to meet a 20 per cent slump in local
demand – and even bigger sales downturns in
its key export markets – this year.Continued next page
Cruze
Delta or dustDelta or dust
ATECO REVEALS LATEST CHINESE
CAR PLANS - page 6-9
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PUBLISHER: John MellorEDITOR: Terry Martin MANAGING EDITOR: Marton PettendyJOURNALISTS: David Hassall, Philip Lord, Byron Mathioudakis, Ian Porter, James StanfordPRODUCTION AND GRAPHICS: Chris Harris, Luc BrittenSUB-EDITOR: Ron HammertonNEW MODEL DIARY: Lou PaolinoProduced by GoAutoMedia: Ph: (03) 9598 6477 [email protected]
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Delta or dustDelta or dustContinued from previous page
But they are bracing themselves for
worse to come, with Holden chairman
and managing director Mark Reuss on
record as saying “2009 has to be a year of
transformation for our industry including
Holden” and admitting that he loses sleep
agonising over a viability plan that will
“reinvent the industry from the core”.
Mr Reuss, who is also the president of the
Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries
(FCAI), this week warned that Australian
car-makers could face liquidity problems
like their dealers and overseas counterparts
if stock levels continued to rise, the market
continued to contract and commercial
fi nance remained tight.
European GM affi liates Opel and Saab,
which are under strategic review by the
world’s number-two auto-maker, have both
sought government funding to continue to
operate.
Senator Carr said the main thing now was
to “keep the doors open.”
“We’ve got to ensure that we move
through this period as quickly as possible,”
he said. “We’ve got to maintain capacity. We
will build on local content or localisation
plans as we attract new investment.
“The main thing in a period in which there
is an intense shortage of capital investment
is to actually get those projects up and
running. That’s the fi rst priority, and we can
build from there.
“That’s one project. So it’s a major
contribution towards the future of the industry.
That’s what we want to look to – we want
to get through this, build on capacity, ensure
that in the long-term the industry survives.
“And it’s not me saying that, that’s what
General Motors (Holden) actually said
to General Motors in America about the
importance of the plant.”
Senator Carr’s statements echo that of the
second GM restructuring plan submitted to
the US treasury department on February 17.
In the section that relates to Australia, GM’s
treasury presentation said: “Continued local
production has become more challenging
due to changes in market preferences.
“GM’s local subsidiary (Holden) and the
Australian government have developed a
plan to bring to market a new, more fuel-
effi cient vehicle, with project funding
provided by the Australian government in
the form of permanent grants.
“With this support, Holden is projected
to be a viable operation, making a positive
NPV (net present value) contribution.”
While the Ford Motor Company is the
only member of the US Big Three not to
have requested direct government fi nancial
assistance, Ford Australia is the only local
car-maker that is yet to be pledged funding
from the GCIF.
Contrary to popular belief, Ford says the
reversal of its decision to close its six-cylinder
engine plant in Geelong was made possible
not by the GCIF, but by the reactivation
of funds from the former Automotive
Competitiveness and Investment Scheme
(ACIS), which will be distributed in the
form of import duty credits.
Ford announced plans to produce its next-
generation Focus small car in Australia
more than 12 months before Holden
revealed its small-car plan, in 2007. If both
projects come to fruition, Australia will for
the fi rst time be part of the global small-
car production program for both Ford and
General Motors by 2011.
Ford says that although it is yet to be
allocated GCIF money, it is in the process
of formulating projects that will allow it to
do so. Ford Australia spokeswoman Sinead
McAlary said: “We have not got any money
from the GCIF. But that is not to say we are
not working on things that will be applicable
to the fund. We are working on projects that
will attract interest from the green fund.”
Just as Holden will be capable of building
everything from the Cruze to the Astra,
Orlando and even the Volt, Ford has this
year also announced that a hybrid version of
the next Focus will also be developed – at
this stage only for sale in the US – by 2012.
Cruze secrets unfold – next page
Kim Carr (left) with Kevin Rudd at the Delta announcement last December
GoAuto News April 1, 2009 Page 3
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Hatchback set to be fi rst cab off the rank for GMH small-car production
Cruze secrets unfoldCruze secrets unfold
Cruze sedan
By MARTON PETTENDYAUSTRALIA’S fi rst taste of General
Motors’ new Delta II global small-car
architecture will come in the form of next
month’s imported Cruze sedan, which
made its worldwide and Australian debut
at the Geneva and Melbourne motor shows
respectively a month ago.
But the attention will swing to local
production from the third quarter of next
year, when Holden starts building its own
Delta-based small cars, beginning with
what GoAuto understands will be a Port
Melbourne-designed fi ve-door hatchback
version of the Cruze for both domestic and
export consumption.
The JG-series Cruze sedan, which has been
built in South Korea by GM affi liate Daewoo
since last November, received Australian
Design Rule certifi cation on March 11 and
was due to have gone on sale in April.
However, unexpected delays have caught
many Holden dealers short of small-car
stock after the discontinuation of the Viva,
which was previously sold here as the
Daewoo Lacetti.
As in Europe, the Cruze is expected to be
priced around the same as the Holden Viva it
will replace, meaning a sub-$19,000 starting
price.
However, unlike the Lacetti and other
existing Korean-built Holden models,
the front-drive Cruze is expected to be
a maximum fi ve-star NCAP crash-test
performer, like Subaru’s Impreza, VW’s
Golf and Renault Megane.
The car known as the Daewoo Lacetti
Premiere in Korea will be sold as the
Chevrolet Cruze in about 30 European
countries. GM Daewoo exported its fi rst
shipment of 2000 sedans to Europe on
February 24, and the Cruze received rave
reviews when it went on sale in Europe
in March. Middle East sales begin in the
second quarter of this year.
As revealed by Holden at the Melbourne
show, the four-cylinder Cruze four-door
will soon go on sale here with direct-
injection 1.8-litre petrol and 2.0-litre turbo-
diesel engines. While the 1.8 delivers
103kW in other markets, the diesel makes
110kW/320Nm elsewhere.
GoAuto can reveal that the volume-
selling petrol Cruze sedan with a six-
speed automatic transmission (the base-
specifi cation diesel will be manual-only)
will return ADR 81/02 fuel consumption of
8.0L/100km.
The Delta-based hatch will be the
second derivative to emerge from GM’s
Delta II platform and will feature the same
crisp interior design and build quality as
the Korean-made Cruze sedan shown in
Melbourne – as well as its spacious fi ve-
seater cabin, 60/40 split-folding rear seat and
six-airbag/stability control safety package.
Holden’s four-cylinder fi ve-door might
be marketed under a different name to the
Cruze sedan, but is unlikely to wear Torana
or Gemini badges.
Just as Ford will have the ability to
produce a range of Focus-based vehicles
in Australia from 2011, including the small
Kuga SUV, so too Holden will have the
technical ability to produce any GM model
based on the Delta II chassis developed by
GM Opel at Russelsheim in Germany.
FULL STORY: CLICK HEREEthanol focus – next page
HOLDEN’S 2020 VISIONAUSTRALIANS will still be able to buy
a traditional rear-wheel drive Holden
Commodore for at least the next decade,
despite the General turning to small-
car production to survive as a local
manufacturer.
Holden is already working on development
of the next-generation Commodore, which is
due around 2013 and would be scheduled to
run until at least 2020.
And the good news for enthusiasts is
that it will again utilise the Zeta rear-drive
platform developed at great cost for the
current VE, which was launched less than
three years ago in 2006.
The 2013 Commodore may be slightly
smaller than VE, and almost certainly
lighter, with a range of different engine
options and new technology designed
to make it more environmentally sound,
including idle-stop and turbocharged four-
cylinder and six-cylinder engines.
GM product chief Bob Lutz has said
that, despite global economy mandates
forcing GM to cancel programs in other
countries, RWD Commodore production
will continue in Australia, including “the
next-generation version”. In the meantime,
the VE Series II is set to arrive in early
2010 with signifi cant new technologies.
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
GoAuto News April 1, 2009 Page 4
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Financial reportsAudit & assuranceIncome tax FBT GST
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US ethanol outfi t pushes for $300m Australian plant as Holden goes E85
Ethanol focusEthanol focus
By DAVID HASSALLSTATE governments are this week holding
talks with one of the world’s leading ethanol
promoters aimed at raising capital to build
a major eco-friendly production plant in
Australia, estimated to cost about $300
million.
Ethanol compatibility is one of the key
planks of GM Holden’s plan to keep the
Commodore large car, which remains the
top-selling vehicle in Australia, viable over
the next decade or more.
American Wes Bolsen, who is the chief
marketing offi cer (government affairs) for
Coskata – a company with close links to
General Motors – said commercial-scale
production was scheduled to begin at a plant
in the US in 2012.
Coskata claims to have a unique micro-
organism that turns waste material – from
plant fi bre to old tyres – into almost pure
ethanol. It is offering licences to potential
development partners, including agricultural
producers and even oil companies wanting
to grab a share of a market estimated at up
to $400 billion.
Mr Bolsen said the Victorian government
had been “very aggressive” through its
investment promotion agency (Invest
Victoria), but he will also hold talks with the
Queensland and NSW governments
about building an ethanol plant. He
then is planning to fl y to Bangkok
on Thursday for talks with the Thai
government.
Mr Bolsen said Europe was not
high on his list of priorities “because I
don’t see the vision that Australia has
today”.
“Victoria has been very aggressive
in trying to help us,” Mr Bolden told
a media briefi ng this week. “The Invest
Victoria team – and the GM team – have been
very helpful in pulling together potential
investors, feedstock suppliers and looking at
locations which would work within the state
of Victoria to do this.
“Of course, I’m going to have discussions
with Queensland and the New South Wales
teams as well.”
Despite a global commitment by GM to
ethanol – and, of course, other petrol-saving
technologies – even Holden is concerned that
Australian consumers will not get serious
about the issues until petrol prices increase
dramatically again and reach $2 a litre.
GM Holden’s recently appointed energy
and environmental director Richard
Marshall said the market only trended down
to small cars when petrol previously peaked
at around $1.70 per litre.
FULL STORY: CLICK HEREGM to cut deeper – next page
The Coskata processFeedstock
Gasifi er
Feed handler
Scrubber
Bioreactor Ethanol recovery
Ethanol 99.7%Water recycle loop
Syngas
Ethanol & water
Coskata technicians
GoAuto News April 1, 2009 Page 5
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OBAMA FORCES WAGONER TO QUIT: CLICK HERE
Wagoner’s departure is just the beginning...
GM to cut GM to cut deeperdeeper
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Chrysler changes tune on alliance with Fiat
By IAN PORTERIN AN embarrassing development, Chrysler
chief executive Robert Nardelli has this
week been forced to admit the potentially
company-saving agreement with Fiat was
not as strong as fi rst indicated.
The admission came immediately after
president Obama’s Automotive Task
Force delivered its damning reports on the
viability plans submitted in February by
General Motors and Chrysler.
“(The task force) has found that
Chrysler’s plan is not viable as currently
structured. However, a partnership with
another automotive company, such as Fiat
or another prospective partner ... could
lead to a path to viability for Chrysler,” the
task force said in its report.
In his speech on the automotive
restructuring plans, president Obama said
that it was with “deep reluctance” that the
task force had determined that Chrysler
needed a partner like Fiat to remain viable.
He gave the company 30 days to come up
with a new plan and a partner if it wanted to
qualify for a further $US6 billion ($A8.85
billion) in government assistance.
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
Robert Nardelli
By IAN PORTERGENERAL Motors chairman and chief
executive Rick Wagoner was forced out of
his position this week after US president
Barack Obama’s Auto Task Force shot holes
through the revitalisation plan he presented
in February.
The task force said the plan was not
aggressive enough and would take too long
to implement. The stumbling giant has been
given a further 60 days to come up with a
more realistic plan.
And, in a frank assessment that shocked
Wall Street and sent share prices tumbling,
president Obama even raised the spectre of
bankruptcy as a possible way out of the mire.
The president said he realised that would
be an unsettling development for the
electorate and consumers, but stressed that,
in the US, bankruptcy was a way to quickly
clear away old debts so companies can get
back on their feet.
“What I am not talking about is a process
where a company is broken up, sold off and no
longer exists. And what I am not talking about
is having a company stuck in court for years,
unable to get out,” president Obama said.
The task force, headed by Steven Rattner,
dismissed many of the plan’s assumptions
as being too optimistic and, in a major
psychological blow to GM, said the vaunted
Volt plug-in hybrid would be too expensive
to be a commercial success.
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
US ECONOMY OVERHAULUNITED States president Barack Obama
might be preparing to offer more billion-
dollar loans to the struggling car-makers
in Detroit, but he is also maintaining the
pressure on them to improve fuel economy.
However, he has softened the fuel economy
blow by offering to guarantee the warranties
offered on vehicles made by the struggling
General Motors and Chrysler groups.
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
GoAuto News April 1, 2009 Page 6
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Australia’s fi rst Chinese brand will launch in less than three
months with two different dual-cab utes
Great Wall Great Wall set to riseset to rise
By MARTON PETTENDYTHE fi rst Chinese-branded vehicles to
be made available in Australia will arrive
inside three months in the form of not one
but two four-door utilities from the Great
Wall Motor Company.
GoAuto has learned the SA220 and V240
dual-cabs will be followed by a light-sized
hatchback known in China as the Florid, as
well as a mid-sized SUV that goes by the
Hover name there, by the end of this year.
After delaying the Great Wall brand’s
scheduled Australian launch beyond last
November due to currency exchange issues,
Sydney-based new-vehicle importer Ateco
Automotive has now offi cially pushed the
button on the plan and expects the fi rst
GWM utes to arrive here in June.
Ateco, which has sought the Australian
distribution rights for a volume-selling
automotive brand since it relinquished local
Kia representation to the Korean brand’s
parent company in 2004, also plans to import
Chery vehicles from China this year.
Managing director Ric Hull told GoAuto
this week that a consistently stronger
Australian dollar and 2009 price rises for
many of the Chinese vehicles’ rivals, plus
with the successful negotiation of lower prices
from the Great Wall Motor (GWM) factory,
had combined to make the deal viable.
Mr Hull confi rmed the reduced prices
from GWM would allow Ateco to maintain
an opening launch price of $16,990 for
business buyers of the 4x2-only Sailor dual-
cab utility, for at least the rest of this year.
“They’ve been very, very supportive, and
we’ve also covered currency to ensure that
we’ve got a solid launch,” he said. “The worst
thing in the world we could do would be launch
and then go back to the dealers we’ve just
appointed and say, ‘Woops, the dollar’s gone
down and we’ve got to put the prices up.’
“So we’re assured for a period of several
months that we can maintain the launch
(price) positioning.”
Mr Hull said the federal government’s
business vehicle investment allowance,
which expires on June 30 and permits
an extra 30 per cent of a company car’s
purchase price to be depreciated on top of
the regular 10 per cent allowance, added
impetus to the release of the Great Wall utes
this fi nancial year.
“We haven’t set an absolute public launch
date but obviously we’re keen to be in the
marketplace ahead of the end of the 30 per
cent investment allowance that is slated to
be withdrawn on June 30,” he said. “We’re
going to have stock out with dealers so that
they can write orders before that June 30
deadline.
“We’re reasonably confi dent with the
supply lines. We’ll have stock with the
dealers by June.”
Mr Hull said the Sailor would easily be
Australia’s most affordable dual-cab utility,
priced at less than $17,000 for ABN holders,
who were expected to comprise almost all
buyers for both GWM utes. To be known in
Australia as the SA220 rather than the SA230
as previously advised, the Sailor will be
available in 4x2 dual-cab petrol guise only.
Australia’s cheapest dual-cab utility is the
diesel-only Mahindra Pik-Up ($23,000 as a
cab-chassis or $25,990 with a tray), followed
by SsangYong’s diesel-only Sports Tradie at
$24,990, with most single-cab petrol utes
priced from just under $20,000.
Mr Hull said the larger, newer Wingle 4x2
utility, which will carry the V240 name here,
will be priced from the low-$20,000 mark,
with a 4x4 version to carry a price premium.
As with the SA220, GWM’s V-Series ute
will be priced about fi ve per cent higher for
non-business purchasers. Continued next page
Wingle
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Great Wall set to riseGreat Wall set to rise
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Working in partnership with Honda Dealers, your key responsibilities will include:– Manage the day-to-day sales and aftersales functions and ensure that wholesale and retail sales targets and parts and service
KPI’s are achieved, in line with the National Sales plan;– Ensure the Dealer network is actively achieving Honda Australia’s goals with regard to stock and sales levels, marketing activity
and customer satisfaction (including reviewing and recommending any opportunities to strengthen the Dealer network);– Monitor market and national share performance;– Manage expenditure of the state promotional budget;– Report on market trends and sales opportunities;– Liaise with Dealer representatives and generally manage co-operative marketing initiatives;– Manage the daily operation of the staff within the state of ce; – Oversee dealership staff training in all aspects of sales and aftersales Customer Satisfaction, as well as set individual Dealer
targets and monitor and report development of PES and OES by individual Dealer;– Ensure all Dealers are meeting Honda Standards; and– Assist in identifying speci c training needs for individuals and dealerships.
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Continued from previous page“Virtually every buyer of this product will
be an ABN holder so it’s not a trick,” said
Mr Hull.
Unlike the SA220, the V240 will come
standard with an anti-lock braking system
(ABS) and twin front airbags. Both models
will feature air-conditioning, power steering,
power windows, alloy wheels, remote
central locking, a CD/MP3 sound system
and even leather trim as standard.
The K2-series V240 will, as its alphanumeric
name suggests, be powered by a EuroIV
emissions-compliant 2.4-litre four-cylinder
petrol engine that displaces 2378cc and delivers
93kW at 5250rpm, mated exclusively to a
fi ve-speed automatic transmission.
Both the 4x2 and 4x4
versions of the one-
tonne V240 workhorse
measure 5040mm
long, 1800mm wide
and 1730mm high,
and offer 309mm of ground clearance. The
V-Series’ wheelbase is 3050mm, its front and
rear wheel tracks are a respective 1515mm
and 1525mm and kerb weights are 1660kg for
the 4x2 and 1780kg for the 4x4.
The V240 will also offer 16x7.0-inch
wheels with 235/70 R16 tyres, 280mm
vented front brake discs, 295mm rear brake
drums, power windows and the option of
front and rear foglights.
As GoAuto revealed
previously, Great Wall’s
other four-door twin-cab
fi ve-seater petrol ute, the
SA220, will be powered
by a EuroIII emissions-compliant 2.2-litre
petrol four offering 78kW/190Nm and also
mated only to a fi ve-speed manual gearbox.
The 2WD-only SA220 will therefore not
only be cheaper than the V240, but also less
powerful, 120mm longer overall, 25mm
shorter in its wheelbase, 100mm narrower and
50mm lower – despite an extra 100m of ground
clearance. ABS and airbags will be unavailable
on the SA220, which will also feature smaller
front brakes and 15-inch wheels.
An advanced 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine
co-developed with Bosch is already available
in China and will also eventually become
available here in both the Sailor and Wingle.
“It’s defi nitely in the wind – a 2.8-litre
turbo-diesel – and we’ve love to have it, but
I don’t have timing on it,” said Mr Hull.
FULL STORY: CLICK HEREChery ripe but not ready – next page
Sailor
WHAT’S COMING:SA220 4x2 dual-cab ute June
V240 4x2/4x4 dual-cab ute June
Florid light hatch Late 2009
Hover medium SUV Late 2009
GoAuto News April 1, 2009 Page 8
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Chinese Chery range still due here this year, pending ADR approval for a small hatch and SUV
Chery ripe Chery ripe but not but not readyready
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By MARTON PETTENDYAUSTRALIA’S fi rst taste of cars from
China’s largest vehicle exporter, Chery, will
come in the form of just two models that
could be delayed by up to 12 months.
The fourth-largest – and biggest independent
– Chinese automotive brand was to have sold
its fi rst vehicles in Australia by now, but is yet
to submit the Australian Design Rule (ADR)
documentation required for it to do so.
Ateco Automotive owner and governing
director Neville Crichton signed a
memorandum of understanding with Chery
Automobile Company to distribute its vehicles
in Australia and New Zealand more than three
years ago in China, in November 2005.
The distribution agreement was executed
12 months ago, in March 2008, when Ateco
offi cially announced it would import two
small Chery passenger cars and a small
SUV by early 2009.
This year’s Melbourne motor show was
widely expected to have hosted the launch
of Chery as Australia’s fi rst Chinese car
brand, but that plan – and another to import
a subsequently revealed Great Wall Motors
utility late last year – was put on hold when
the value of the Australian currency began
to decline.
The weaker Aussie dollar also forced the
indefi nite postponement of plans by another
Sydney company to import Lifan cars here
this year.
Ateco managing director Ric Hull revealed
last month that Chery had yet to submit the
necessary ADR paperwork to DOTARS,
but said the brand was still on target to be
launched in the third quarter of this year.
Volkswagen was the fi rst car-maker to sell a
Chinese-built car in Australia (the Polo sedan
in 2004), but the honour of being the fi rst
Chinese-branded vehicles to be sold here now
goes to Great Wall Motors, after confi rmation
this week from Ateco that two ADR-compliant
utilities from its other Chinese automotive
partner would arrive in June.
Now it seems there is no guarantee Chery
will even be launched here this year.
“We’re still very keen to have Chery on
the marketplace by the end of the year,” Mr
Hull told GoAuto this week. “They have
not yet completed the paperwork for ADR
submission, so the timing is really more in
their hands more than ours. They’re making
progress, but they’re still not anything like
the level of completion that Great Wall has
achieved.”
Ateco this week also confi rmed Chery
would launch with just two models in
Australia. As previously reported, Ateco
had targeted the light-sized A1 hatch, small
A5 sedan and Tiggo3 SUV, but now it
appears the A5 is off the menu.
“I think we’d try and have at least a couple
of models in the line – the A1 certainly and
the small 4x4 codenamed T11,” said Mr Hull.
“We’re not sure about the A5 at this stage.
We’re keeping our options open on the A5.”
Mr Hull suggested the most likely Chery
models to be sold in Australia were yet to
be exported, but would not comment further.
“They’re launching a lot of new models –
we’d want to have a look at them too.”
Chery plans to increase its annual
production capacity from 650,000 in 2007,
when China was the world’s second-largest
automotive market with 8.8 million new-
vehicle sales, to more than a million within
a few years. Last year it revealed it would
release 38 new models over the next fi ve years
as part of an ambitious export program.
Less than two weeks ago on March 19 the
company announced the establishment of two
further sub-brands in addition to its Karry
light commercial nameplate: the Riich luxury
brand and the Rely business fl eet brand.
The Riich marque was launched with its
fi rst model, the G6 – a fi ve-metre-long sedan
powered by Chery’s own EuroIV-compliant
petrol engines, including a 143kW 3.0-litre
V6 and a 125kW 2.0-litre turbocharged four-
cylinder. A total of 18 engines are also due
to be developed with Austria’s AVL under
the Acteco name, including a turbo-diesel.
Continued next page
A1
Tiggo3
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Ateco is still striving to launch the Chinese Chery brand in Australia this year
Chinese car-maker buys troubled Aussie gearbox manufacturer for $47.4m
Geely buys DSIGeely buys DSIIN
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Analysing or Agonising
Continued from previous pageChery’s fi rst rival for the likes of BMW
and Audi will feature adjustable damping
for its double-wishbone front and multi-
link rear suspension systems, bi-Xenon
headlights, LED tail-lights, “a slew of”
airbags and a standard equipment list
including tyre-pressure monitoring, a rear-
view camera and powered seats.
Chery demonstrated its hybrid technology
at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where a
fl eet of petrol-electric A5s developed with
supplier Ricardo were used as offi cial
vehicles and revealed its fi rst plug-in hybrid
model, the S18, in February.
As we reported then, Ateco is in talks about
introducing the S18 once Chery is established
here, if right-hand drive production and local
recharging infrastructure can be assured.
Chery says the S18, the second EV to be
announced by a Chinese car company, is
capable of 120km/h and a range of 150km
on its lithium-ion batteries.
Last year a subsidiary of rechargeable
battery maker BYD Co, BYD Auto, launched
its plug-in hybrid car, the F3DM, and is
scheduled to launch its fi rst all-electric car,
the E6, in China in the second half of 2009.
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
By IAN PORTERCHINESE car-maker Geely Automobile
Holdings has snapped up fi nancially troubled
Australian transmission-maker Drivetrain
Systems International (DSI) for $47.4
million, saving the jobs of the remaining
168 workers.
One of the smaller Chinese vehicle
manufacturers, cashed-up Geely is expected
to offer Albury-based DSI a sound future
and rising production volumes as it brings
its aggressive model program to market over
coming years.
A Geely spokesman told the Hong Kong
Stock Exchange in a news release that the
acquisition was strategically important
to the group, given DSI’s design and
manufacturing capabilities in automatic
transmissions.
“The group plans to use DSI to supply
some of the group’s in-house requirements
for automatic transmissions as well as
the requirements of other automobile
manufacturers,” the spokesman said.
That last statement will come as a relief
to Ford Australia, which buys four-speed
automatic transmissions from DSI for
models such as its LPG Falcon and rear-
wheel drive Territory. The current Ford
contract runs to June, 2010.
In good news for Albury, Geely sees
a strong future for the plant, which was
established by US company Borg-Warner
about 40 years ago.
“The management believes that there is
substantial room for growth in the group’s
sales once more vehicle models equipped
with automatic transmissions could be
offered,” the Geely spokesman said.
In China, almost 40 per cent of cars are
fi tted with automatics, but for Geely, the
proportion is “only a few per cent”.
The announcement to the stock exchange
showed that DSI was a profi table company
while its contract with Korean car-maker
SsangYong was in operation.
The Geely press release said DSI made
$A6.8 million in the year to June 2007 and
$5.1 million for the year to June 2008.
It was the fall of SsangYong into
bankruptcy, and the ceasing of deliveries to
the Korean manufacturer, which prompted
DSI’s fall into receivership in February.
SsangYong represented about 60 per cent of
its business.
Geely made about 185,000 vehicles in
2008 but has plans for a raft of new models.
It showed the TX4 hatch, FC sedan and a
‘Coupe’ at the Detroit motor show last
year. It also plans to move upmarket. Geely
chairman Li Shufu said three weeks ago that
the company would cease making cars that
cost less than 40,000 yuan ($A8500).
The company will roll out its fi rst “high-
end” cars in June under the Imperial (Dihao)
sub-brand. These include the FE-1 and FE-2
passenger cars and the FE-3 SUV.
Geely is also well cashed up. Earlier this
month it redeemed all of its outstanding
convertible bonds for an outlay of $HK318
million ($A59.5 million).
“We’ll have more than $HK1 billion cash on
hand after the redemption and will continue to
identify acquisition targets,” executive director
Lawrence Ang told news agency Reuters.
Geely Coupe
GoAuto News April 1, 2009 Page 10
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Industry minister favours business tax break over‘cash for clunkers’ scheme
Scrappage ‘too expensive’Scrappage ‘too expensive’
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By DAVID HASSALLFEDERAL industry minister Kim Carr does
not believe that Australia needs a “cash for
clunkers” scrappage scheme similar to those
operating in a number of European countries
to stimulate new-car sales.
“The diffi culty is that it’s extremely
expensive and there are fi nite resources for
the government,” Mr Carr said last week.
His department has estimated the cost
of a scrappage scheme at about $1 billion,
depending on the age cut-off and amount
offered. Despite calls from the NSW Motor
Traders’ Association for the government to
offer $3000 for ineffi cient old ‘bombs’ to
be scrapped in favour of new cars, Mr Carr
believes that a new government tax break for
business buyers is a more effective incentive.
Mr Carr said the $3.8 billion Capital
Investment Allowance announced on February
3 provides businesses a 30 per cent deduction
on purchasing assets, including cars, on top of
the usual tax deduction for depreciation. The
scheme applies to purchases in the six months
to June 30 and then reduces to 10 per cent for
the following six months to the end of 2009.
“It provides a benefi t for a tradesman buying
a $30,000 utility with a tax deduction of $9000
on that vehicle,” he said. “That’s an after-tax
return for this fi nancial year of $2700, or nine
per cent of the purchase price.
“That’s a major contribution to lifting the
level of demand quickly and is the sort of
measure that’s probably money better spent
in the short-term ... I think that will be more
effective than scrappage in the short-term.
This is an immediate stimulus to demand.”
Mr Carr admitted, however, that the
government needed to work harder to let
people know the tax concession existed.
The minister’s stance echoes that of the
Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries
(FCAI), which told GoAuto last month it
was investigating scrappage because of its
apparent success in Germany and France in
particular, but believed the government’s
capital investment tax break should fi rst be
given a chance to work.
A local car company insider also told us
that a scrappage scheme would not be as
successful in Australia because used-car
prices here were higher than in Europe – so
the incentive would have to be even higher
than Germany’s fi gure of €2500 ($A5000).
He said that with even a 12-year-old
Hyundai Excel commanding as much as
$5000 as a used car, the scrappage incentive
would need to exceed that rather than the
MTA’s proposed $3000.
Kim Carr
Mercedes-Benz defends discounting campaign as critics warn of damage to the brandBy JAMES STANFORD
MERCEDES-BENZ Australia has defended
a sales campaign that publicly acknowledges
overstocking and invites potential customers
to negotiate for the best price.
The “Let’s Talk” advertising campaign
kicked off in February, pointing out that
Mercedes needed to clear 2421 vehicles.
This approach came in for some criticism.
For example, panellists on ABC TV’s
advertising program The Gruen Transfer
said the campaign could damage the brand.
Mercedes-Benz Australia managing
director Horst von Sanden said the
campaign was necessary because of the
current climate and overstocking issues.
“The market is different to what it has
ever been before, and I think it would be
arrogant if we did not participate in the
market as it is,” he said. “The fact is that
there is overproduction, oversupply and
overstocking, and even we cannot afford to
live with overstocking for a long period of
time, so we just have to accept it.”
Mr von Sanden said the campaign was
different to its past marketing, but added that
such a step was necessary in such times.
“Our marketing campaign is pretty
obviously an invitation to negotiate, which
we haven’t had in the past,” he said.
“If anyone tells you, ‘We don’t participate
in this market and we don’t discount,’ it’s a
lie, unless someone can afford to simply to
leave cars in stock and wait until times get
better.
“A car is not a good red wine; it doesn’t
get better with age.”
Mr von Sanden dismissed suggestions
that the “Let’s Talk” campaign would hurt
Mercedes in the long-term.
“I don’t think it will damage our brand.
Our brand is built by product and many
other things.”
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
GoAuto News April 1, 2009 Page 11
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Mitsubishi insists Australia does not need a fast-charge network to spark EV growthBy IAN PORTER
AUSTRALIA is ideally suited to quick
adoption of electric vehicles and may not
be hampered by slow installation
of fast-charging infrastructure,
according to Mitsubishi Motors
Australia Limited.
The company has started a
feasibility study on the Mitsubishi
i-MiEV small electric city commuter,
which it hopes to sell here from 2010.
While there are no moves by government
or entrepreneurs to install fast-charge stations
in Australia, MMAL president and CEO
Robert McEniry does not think that will be a
make-or-break hurdle for the i-MiEV.
“Ninety-eight per cent of journeys
or daily driving are less than 100km.
The i-MiEV is a city commuter, so
100km should be enough,” he said.
That means most recharging can
be done at home, and this is where
Australia has a major advantage
over other countries. “Almost every house
has a garage or a driveway where the car can
be parked off the road,” Mr McEniry said.
That makes it simple to plug in the car for
the seven hours needed to recharge the car’s
batteries from a normal 240-volt household
outlet. The i-MiEV comes standard with a
six-metre power cord.
The MMAL chief said other countries
such as Japan, China and even many parts
of Europe faced a much bigger infrastructure
problem because most cars there were parked
on the street. Recharging in that situation
would require public recharge stations.
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
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Mitsubishi Australia chief argues case for subsidies to reduce EV premium
Push for EV subsidiesPush for EV subsidies
By IAN PORTERTHE federal government would have
to fi nancially support electric vehicles
(EVs) and other alternative powertrains if
they were to reach commercial viability,
according to Mitsubishi Motors Australia
Limited (MMAL).
Speaking at the start of a feasibility and
demonstration project for the i-MiEV electric
car in Australia last week, MMAL chief
executive Robert McEniry said Australia
would risk falling behind other countries in
adopting new technologies if it did not help
in the education process.
Facilitating the early adoption of electric
cars would fi t in with the government’s aim
to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, he said.
Australia has the highest per capita CO2
emissions in the world.
“In every other country that the i-MiEV
has been tested in, the government has been
very proactive in assisting the introduction
of EVs (electric vehicles) into that
marketplace,” Mr McEniry said.
He said Mitsubishi had not yet broached
the subject with the federal or state
governments, but said the introduction of
electric cars into Australia could be a way to
infl uence buyer preferences.
“If they are not looking to facilitate the
introduction of these new technologies,
whether it be hybrids, electric vehicles,
liquefi ed petroleum gas (LPG) or other
alternatives, then they are probably missing
an opportunity when other governments in
other countries are doing it.”
Industry minister Kim Carr indicated the
government was not thinking about helping
to popularise more technologies.
“The priority of the new car plan is to build
cars in Australia, cleaner, more effi cient and
cheaper cars for Australia,” he said. “We
are making a considerable contribution to
Toyota for the Camry hybrid. We are trying
to build up domestic capacity so we can
continue to make cars in Australia.”
Mr McEniry said he believed direct price-
based inducements would be the most effective
incentive for the adoption of new technology.
“I think direct subsidies are probably the
way to go,” he said.
Mr McEniry said the Japanese government
offered EV grants covering half the price
premium of an EV over a petrol-powered
car. He said some Japanese prefecture
governments then offered a grant to cover
half of the remainder (25 per cent of the
price premium).
“Initially, when you are introducing a
breakthrough technology like this, you are
not talking about 100,000 units a year,” he
said. “You are talking about an education
process on what alternate-propulsion
vehicles are about.”
Mr McEniry said he believed the i-MiEV
would be of particular interest to the
government because it is a vehicle which
produces no emissions while on the road.
“This is a zero-emissions on-road vehicle
and their focus is very much on CO2
emissions reduction. This car is something
that could be sentinel for that.”
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Mitsubishi remains on track to be fi rst in Australia with a ‘mainstream’ EV
Ready or not, here i comesReady or not, here i comes
By IAN PORTERMITSUBISHI’S little i-MiEV electric-
powered city commuter does not look like
a load carrier, but it has been saddled with a
considerable burden.
Mitsubishi claims to be the world leader
in electric cars, and the i-MiEV is the car
that has to deliver on the promise.
A fi rst-drive opportunity last week did
nothing to undermine that bullish claim –
although when it comes to leadership, there
is the little matter of 500 Mini Es running
around in the US testing the market. But
let’s not get picky.
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is not that far
behind, however, and will be ready to go
into limited production in Japan around
the middle of the year. Notably, it has also
become the fi rst electric vehicle certifi ed for
sale in Australia.
Mitsubishi is ahead of the game in other
aspects, such as being part owner of a
lithium-ion battery factory. Mitsubishi also
reckons the i-MiEV sets new standards in
well-to-wheel energy use, emissions (or the
lack of them) and low-cost operation.
The car Mitsubishi let us drive did not
look like a kei car that had been chopped and
changed into a development mule. It had all
the appearance of a production-ready model
with no apparent rough edges.
But Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited
managing director Robert McEniry did
see fi t to issue a general warning to the
assembled journalists: “Don’t drive it into
the water, and don’t smash it, because it is
the only one we have in Australia. It’s worth
a hell of a lot of money. And my job.”
The changes made to the original i-car are
virtually undetectable from the outside.
The 660cc turbocharged four-cylinder
petrol engine and gearbox behind the rear
seat have been removed and replaced with
an electric motor, inverter and charger, all
under the standard-height fl oor of the load
space behind the rear seat.
The petrol tank under the front seats has
been removed and replaced with lithium-ion
batteries.
While the i-MiEV has been created to cut
emissions and reduce dependence on oil, this
does not mean the car will not be fun to drive.
In fact, Mitsubishi has produced something of
a kei car GTI with this electric conversion.
While the electric motor produces 47kW,
just like the petrol engine that was ripped
out of the original i-car, the i-MiEV has a
handy 180Nm of torque, almost double the
original car’s 94Nm. This is such a jump
that the engine control unit has been set to
limit the amount of torque delivered as the
i-MiEV moves away from rest.
A quick glance at the torque “curve”
shows that it is absolutely fl at until around
2000rpm, after which it decays fairly rapidly.
But it never falls below the torque curve of
the petrol version.
This is great for performance. The i-MiEV
gathers speed with a turbine-like lack of fuss
and noise. You can only imagine what the
standing-start acceleration would be like
when the aftermarket “tuners” learn how to
take the restrictors off the torque delivery.
As with all electric cars, the acceleration
is seamless and you tend to lose track of how
fast you are going because there is no engine
noise or changes in momentum caused by
gear changes. It just keeps pushing forward,
and it is easy to fi nd yourself on the wrong
side of the speed limit without realising.
It is not a tyre-burner, of course, with the
torque restriction in place, but Mitsubishi
reckons it takes 1.5 seconds off the original
car’s 0-80km/h time.
Mitsubishi could not give us a defi nitive
time for the petrol car’s 0-80km/h
performance, but a graph in the presentation
suggests it might take around 10.9 seconds.
We do know for sure the petrol car gets
to 100km/h in 14.9 seconds, so it is safe to
assume the i-MiEV is at least 10 per cent
faster than the original. This is, in fact,
pretty commendable, even with the huge
torque increase, as the electric motor and
batteries add 180kg to the weight, pushing
the i-MiEV’s mass to 1080kg.
The performance achieved on the road
depends on which “gear” the driver selects.
There is a normal-looking transmission
selector in the middle of the dashboard with
three settings: Drive, Economy and Brake. In
Drive, the car can use all the available power
when the car accelerates. Being an electric
car, there is also the matter of regenerative
braking, and in Drive this is set at what would
be considered a normal setting.
When you back off, there is little
retardation, just as in a petrol car in, say,
fourth gear around town. When the driver
selects Economy, the control unit restricts
the amount of power that can be used under
acceleration, thereby conserving energy and
allowing the i-MiEV to achieve its maximum
cruising range of 160km. Regenerative
braking in Economy is the same as in Drive.
FULL STORY: CLICK HEREGoAuto Green – page 17
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To Europe, that is. Australia has to wait at least six months until the all-new hot hatch arrives Down Under
Golf GTI Golf GTI fl ies infl ies in
By MARTON PETTENDYVOLKSWAGEN has launched the
performance fl agship of its latest volume-
selling small car in Europe, but the sixth-
generation Golf GTI hatch will not go on
sale in Australia until late this year.
Full pricing for manual and DSG
transmission versions of the three- and fi ve-
door successor for the previous GTI, which
comprised a considerable 25 per cent of all
Golf sales in Australia last year, have been
announced in Europe.
Volkswagen Group Australia (VGA) has
not confi rmed if the three-door will go on
sale here alongside the fi ve-door in the fourth
quarter of 2009, but the new GTI is expected
to remain priced around the $40,000 mark
here – in the same way that VGA held prices
of the new Golf MkVI at Golf V levels at
launch this month.
The Golf V GTI is currently priced at
$38,990 for the three-door and $40,490 for
the fi ve-door. Similar pricing will continue
to make it a direct rival for hot hatches
such as Ford’s Focus XR5 Turbo, Holden’s
Astra SRi, this month’s upgraded Honda
Civic Type R, Subaru’s Impreza WRX,
Mitsubishi’s Lancer Ralliart, Renault’s
Megane RS and the Mazda3 MPS, which is
due for replacement around the same time.
Like the new MPS turbo, which is
based on the reskinned, second-generation
Mazda3 hatch to be launched in Australia
next month, the MkVI Golf GTI represents
a evolutionary, rather than revolutionary,
upgrade of the model it replaces.
Just as the Golf V hatch range made way
for a re-bodied, re-engined model this year,
the GTI kingpin carries over its fundamental
chassis architecture but with a revised
turbocharged 2.0-litre DOHC 16-valve four-
cylinder engine that now drives through a
more advanced limited-slip front differential.
While the MkV Golf GTI was powered by
an all-new 147kW turbo four, the sixth GTI’s
‘TSI’ engine now increases its power output to
155kW – but short of the 169kW offered by
last year’s limited-edition ‘Pirelli’ Golf and the
Golf GTI ‘Edition 30’ that preceded it.
Volkswagen says the latest GTI engine is a
development of the 169kW “EA888” engine,
rather than being based on its predecessor’s
147kW engine. As well as meeting the latest
EuroV emissions standards, it is said to have
new pistons and piston rings, a regulated
oil pump, a new vacuum pump, a new
high-pressure fuel pump and a new mass
airfl ow sensor. Volkswagen claims the result
is improved engine effi ciency compared
with the superseded 147kW engine and the
169kW version.
The new GTI’s TSI engine is claimed
to return average EU fuel consumption of
7.3L/100km, which is almost a litre better
than the Pirelli GTI’s 8.2L/100km, as well
as 0.7L/100km more frugal than the 147kW
FSI engine it replaces.
CO2 emissions are rated at a correspondingly
lower 170g/km, and the German giant claims
that equates to a fuel range of about 750km.
Perhaps more importantly to most
customers, however, is that a similar kerb
weight of 1340kg means the new Golf GTI
offers around the same acceleration as before,
despite the fact that its unchanged peak torque
output of 280Nm now arrives at just 1700rpm
and continues all the way to 5200rpm.
Peak power is now also available between
5300rpm and 6200rpm, and the offi cial result
is 0-100km/h acceleration in 6.9 seconds,
which will not surprise owners of the current
GTI. Nor will it put pressure on owners of
the current Pirelli GTI, which employs its
300Nm to hit 100km/h in 6.6 seconds.
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
VW’S DIESEL ‘GTI’VOLKSWAGEN revealed the diesel
equivalent of the Golf GTI at the Leipzig
motor show last week.
The GTD runs a potent 2.0-litre diesel
engine with 125kW of power and 350Nm
of torque in a sporty package that promises
the same agility as the petrol GTI, which
has become a true cult car.
The GTD will go on sale in Germany
in May, and while Volkswagen Australia
expects the car will also come here, timing
is yet to be confi rmed.
The GTD will replace the GT diesel
which used the same engine, but in a less
sporty package. The hot diesel hatch takes
8.1 seconds to go from 0-100km/h, which
is hardly the stuff of sportscars, but it does
have a range of around 1000km, thanks to
a fuel economy average of 5.6L/100km.
Like the GTI, the GTD Golf will be
available with a six-speed manual or six-
speed DSG dual-clutch automatic.
From the front, the GTD looks almost
identical to the petrol GTI and the only
detail that separates them are small chrome
horizontal strips on the radiator, which are
painted red on the GTI. The two models
are much the same at the rear, too, except
that the petrol GTI has an exhaust outlet at
either side of the bumper, while the GTD
has a single dual outlet.
Read more: Other Leipzig show cars
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Citroen launches a new C4 series in Australia without fanfare - or coupe
Fresh C4 arrivesFresh C4 arrives
By MARTON PETTENDYCITROEN has quietly released its facelifted
C4 small-car range in Australia, where the
2009 model range shrinks from six to four
variants after the discontinuation of the
three-door C4 ‘Coupe’.
The latter was previously available in
1.6 VTR and 2.0 VTS guises, priced about
$26,000 and $30,000 respectively. Its
absence from this month means Citroen no
longer sells a three-door model in Australia,
after its smallest C2 Coupe was axed from
the range last December.
The upgraded C4, which was revealed
globally in July 2008 before debuting at the
Paris motor show last October, constitutes
a typical midlife makeover for the historic
French maker’s small hatch by comprising
a new nose, fresh alloy wheels, more
paint options, revised interior and more
equipment.
The updated front-end comes courtesy
of a new bumper, grille, bonnet and front
quarter sheetmetal, wrapped around new-
look C5-style headlights, while the C4
cabin now boasts “premium grain” door and
dashboard panels and different velour and
leather seat trims.
Although the C4 retains the now-trademark
fi xed-hub steering wheel it introduced, its
tachometer has been relocated to the central
translucent dashboard display.
In the most signifi cant hardware news for
C4 customers, the outgoing C4’s 1.6i 16V
and 2.0i 16V engines have been replaced
by a pair of all-new 1.6-litre petrol engines
co-developed with
BMW, both of which are
claimed to offer more
performance, better fuel
economy and lower CO2
emissions.
Opening the simplifi ed
C4 range is the new C4
VTi (for Variable valve
lift and Timing injection), priced at $26,990
as a fi ve-speed manual – up $1000 over the
C4 1.6 SX it supersedes – and $28,990 as a
four-speed auto.
The new entry-level C4 is powered by
a 1.6-litre 16-valve DOHC four-cylinder
petrol engine delivering 88kW at 6000rpm
(up from 80kW) and 160Nm of torque from
4250rpm (up from 147Nm). Citroen says 90
per cent of this is now available from less
than 2000rpm to 6000rpm.
In the C4, the company’s all-alloy,
continuously variable valve timing-equipped
1.6 returns average fuel consumption of
6.7L/100km as a manual (auto: 7.0L/100km),
which is down six per cent on the former unit.
Surprisingly, electronic stability control
(ESC) is not available with the entry-level
C4 1.6, standard equipment for which does,
however, extend to ABS, twin front/side/
curtain airbags, air-conditioning and cloth
trim.
Like its naturally aspirated sibling, the
twin-scroll turbocharged direct-injection
version of the new engine was developed by
BMW for PSA Peugeot
Citroen (in a deal that
also involves the supply
of PSA HDI turbo-diesel
engines to BMW/Mini)
and also sees duty in
the other French brand’s
207 and 308 as well as
the Mini Cooper/S.
For the C4, the Turbo High Pressure (THP)
engine produces 110kW at 5800rpm in fi ve-
speed manual guise ($31,990) and 103kW
at 6000rpm as a four-speed auto, which is a
specifi cation unique to Australia and costs
$33,990 – the same as the now defunct C4 2.0
Exclusive fl agship. Both versions of the C4
1.6 THP produce 240Nm from just 1400rpm.
As a manual, the C4 turbo-petrol sprints
to 100km/h in a claimed 8.4 seconds (auto:
9.7 seconds) and returns 6.9L/100km (auto:
7.7L/100km). The turbo-petrol C4 carries
‘Exclusive’ badging, which translates into
equipment like 17-inch alloy wheels, chrome
exterior trim, body-coloured bumpers and
doorhandles, an auto-dimming interior
mirror, dual-zone climate-control, a six-CD
changer and a front armrest.
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
PRICING:1.6 VTi $26,990
1.6 VTi (a) $28,990
1.6 Turbo Exclusive $31,990
1.6 Turbo Exclusive (a) $33,990
1.6 HDi $30,990
1.6 HDi (EGS) $31,990
2.0 HDi Exclusive (a) $36,990
GoAuto April 1, 2009 Page 16
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Market Update
GoAuto Market Update is brought to you by Dealer Solutions
www.dealersolutions.com.au 1300 66 11 33
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Jeff Sakellaris Mark Butler
Mazda3 is now a force to be reckoned with, but it still bows to the Corolla
% M
arke
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are
Volu
me
10
5000
0
5
0
15
10,000
20
15,000
25
20,000
30
25,000
40,000
35
30,000
45,000
35,000
50,000
By IAN PORTERHAVING a small car in the range should
have been a licence to print money over
the past fi ve years as Australia’s love
affair with large cars waned.
Honda, whose Civic volumes were
crunched to fewer than 4000 vehicles a
year in 2003, saw volumes race to more
than 16,000 in 2008, helped by a switch
to cheaper Thai-made cars. Still, that was
“only” double the 8200 it sold in 1999.
For really strong growth, however, you
need look no further than the Mazda3, a
Japanese car that still arrives in Australia
with a ‘Made in Japan’ stamp on its
chassis.
In the 10 years from 1999, sales of the
323/Mazda3 have trebled from 10,230 to
33,755 units in 2008.
The 323 essentially carried the company
through some trying fi nancial times in
the 1990s, and the constant demand in
Australia, where the bulk of sales were
retail deals at good margins, was a pillar
of strength for the company.
There was some concern in 2003 when
the 323 name was to be dropped in favour
of Mazda3, as a lot of Mazda’s success
depended on repeat business.
“The 323 name had been around at that
stage since 1978 – 25 years – and you
build up a lot of loyalty with a nameplate
that old,” said Mazda Australia spokesman
Glenn Butler. “But you also build up a lot
of baggage.
“For Mazda, the mid- to late-1990s
were pretty dark days and we needed to
take some bold steps to put Mazda on the
course to where it is today.”
Unusually for a name change, sales
went up about fi ve per cent to 22,000 in
2004, but Mazda Australia was frustrated.
“When you tell the factory you can sell
60 per cent more of the new model, they
tend to look at you and laugh,” Mr Butler
said.
“It took us a while to convince the factory.
That’s why, in the second year, Mazda3
sales went straight up over 30,000 units.”
But sales have never been strong
enough to push the Mazda3 to small-
car leadership in any one year. That title
belongs to Toyota’s ubiquitous Corolla.
However, all the moons aligned for
Mazda in January and, while there were
falls across the market, the run-out
Mazda3 sailed through to claim monthly
leadership.
It was the fi rst time any Mazda model
had topped the national sales charts. It
was a great way to start Mazda’s 50th year
of operations in Australia and bring up
the 400,000th Australian sale for the 323/
Mazda3 nameplates.
The bad news for the opposition is
that Mazda is about to launch its second-
generation version of the Mazda3, with a
new body and refreshed mechanicals.
Three phase powerThree phase power
1999 2001 20052003 20072000 2002 20062004 2008
Laser/Focus
AstraVolume: LH axis
% Market share: RH axis
CorollaCivic
Lancer Barina/Viva323/Mazda3
Mazda3 Small-car market Source: VFACTS
GoAuto April 1, 2009 Page 17
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Green issues in the auto world
GoAuto Green is brought to you by Custom Fleet
Custom FleetPart of GE Commercial Finance
Green
By JAMES STANFORDCALIFORNIAN start-up car-maker
Tesla Motors has unveiled a new electric
family sedan that could revolutionise the
automotive industry if it lives up to its own
hype.
The Tesla Model S will go on sale in
2011 for $US49,990 ($A72,500) after a
US government tax break of $US7500
($A10,900). Tesla intends to build 20,000 a
year for sale in the US and Europe.
It claims the Model S will seat seven, have
a range of 483km (300 miles), accelerate
from 0-100km/h in less than six seconds
and be recharged in just 45 minutes. These
are staggering fi gures, which if carried
through, could change the automotive
landscape and clear the way for widespread
take-up of electric vehicles.
Tesla, which recently announced a deal
with Daimler to co-develop 1000 battery
packs and chargers for Smart, said it was
counting on a $US350 million ($A507
million) loan from the US government to
assist with the Model S development and
production.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the Model
S was the fi rst of several mainstream cars
the company was developing. “Tesla is
relentlessly driving down the cost of electric
vehicle technology,” he said.
Mr Musk claims the S electric car would
cost about the same to purchase and run as
a regular family sedan.
“Would you rather have this car or a Ford
Taurus?” he asked.
Tesla is referring to the S as the world’s
fi rst mass-produced highway-capable car.
Offi cially it is a four-door sedan, but actually
has a hatchback tailgate. Two of the seven
seats are in the boot, facing backwards and
are presumably only for children.
Tesla says its chassis and panels are made
from aluminium to keep weight down to
around 1800kg, around 545kg of which is
accounted for by the battery pack. There is
no word on whether the chassis is unique or
sourced from another car-maker.
The Model S runs a 23cm-long water-
cooled electric motor linked to a fl oor-
mounted battery back, and sends its power
through a single-gear transmission.
Tesla has not specifi ed the make up of
the batteries, but hints it would use lithium-
ion phosphate cells similar to the Tesla
Roadster. It said the S would have 8000
battery cells (up from 6000 in the Roadster)
and that they would be improved with
more advanced cell chemistry and greater
volumetric effi ciency.
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
All-new Model S unmasked ahead of 2011 market debut
Tesla’s new EVTesla’s new EV
Drive Lightly with Custom Fleet.To find out how to reduce your fleet’s carbon footprint, call Custom Fleet on 1800 812 681.
A WILL AND A WAYIT SEEMS there is no stopping Hyundai’s
avalanche of new products, the latest of
which appears to be the South Korean car-
maker’s fi rst dedicated plug-in hybrid.
Apart from sending a clear signal that
it has the world’s biggest car-maker in
its sights by fi lling every existing market
segment, Hyundai’s Blue-Will is designed
to rival electric cars like GM’s plug-in
Volt, due here as a Holden in 2012, and
the equally futuristic plug-in version of
Toyota’s next-generation Prius.FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
LPG HYBRID FOR KIAAN LPG hybrid version of Kia’s Cerato
small car was unveiled in Seoul last Friday.
Hyundai-owned Kia Motors plans to
launch the green version of the car, called
the Forte LPI Hybrid, in South Korea in
August. It will be introduced a month after
an LPG hybrid version of the Hyundai
Elantra, which uses the same technology.FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
OUR ‘GREENEST’ SUVLEXUS has confi rmed that Australia’s
version of the redesigned RX450h hybrid
will return offi cial ADR 81/02 fuel
consumption and CO2 emissions fi gures of
6.4L/100km and 150g/km respectively.
Apart from being the fi rst Lexus model to
return less than 7.0L/100km and therefore
the fi rst to be exempt from the federal
government’s luxury car tax, Lexus says
the petrol-electric RX will be Australia’s
‘greenest’ SUV when it joins the new
RX350 on sale here mid-year.FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
Blue-Will
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GoAuto News April 1, 2009 Page 18
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PSA Peugeot Citroen has this week
terminated the contract of chief executive
and chairman of the managing board
Christian Streiff, describing the need
for a change in leadership at the French
automotive giant as “necessary” given the
current global sales downturn.
Announcing the move on Sunday, March
29, PSA supervisory board chairman
Thierry Peugeot said the board had
appointed Philippe Varin as the incoming
chief executive, effective June 1.
Mr Varin is currently CEO of Europe’s
second-largest steel producer, Corus, which
is a subsidiary of the Tata Steel Group, the
world’s sixth-largest steel producer.
According to PSA, Mr Varin turned
around the fortunes of the loss-making
Corus after taking the reins in 2003,
and orchestrated the Anglo-Dutch steel
company’s merger with Tata Steel in April
2007. “Given the extraordinary diffi culties
currently faced by the automotive industry,
the supervisory board decided unanimously
that a change in the senior leadership
position was necessary,” Mr Peugeot said.
“I am confi dent that under the leadership
of Philippe Varin, the group will be able,
with all the teams, to unlock its potential.”
Mr Varin will begin familiarising himself
with the role at PSA from April 15. Until
his offi cial start date, managing board
member Roland Vardanega will act as
interim chairman. Philippe Varin
Christian Streiff
US CUTS ALSO HIT MULALLY, MITSU, MORE SUPPLIERSWHILE General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner’s resignation dominated
automotive news from the US this week, a number of other personnel-
related issues also deserve attention.
The Ford Motor Co released details of its executive remuneration,
revealing that CEO Alan Mulally earned $US13.57 million ($A20
million) in total compensation (down 37 per cent), while Mitsubishi
Motors North America (MMNA) announced that it was cutting 140
jobs – a quarter of its staff – at its US headquarters in California. The
MMNA downsizing will leave just under 400 employees at its US HQ,
and comes a week after Mitsubishi revealed that it was cutting almost
half its white-collar workforce in Europe.
And just days after the US federal government approved a $US5 billion bailout package
for automotive components suppliers, Johnson Controls – the third-biggest auto parts
supplier in North America – said it would close an additional 10 plants (over the initial
21) and cut more jobs than the 9300 already announced. Furthermore, the Detroit-based
Cooper-Standard Automotive revealed that it was cutting around 600 white-collar jobs –
20 per cent of its salaried workforce – as
part of a global restructure.
PSA AIMS TO GET OUT OF STREIFF WITH VARIN PEUGEOT, MAZDA CUTSBOTH Peugeot Automobiles Australia
(PAA) and Mazda Australia announced last
week that their respective public relations
managers were leaving, with Peugeot’s
Mathew McAuley being made redundant
and Mazda’s Glenn Butler resigning.
Mr McAuley’s
position was one of
three to be cut. PAA’s
Centre of Excellence
manager Glenn Forster
and aftersales marketing
manager Derek
Tomlinson were also
made redundant.
PAA general manager
Ken Thomas blamed the current economic
conditions as the factors behind the
cutbacks, which leave around 50 staff in
Australia.
“I regret to advise that as a direct
consequence of the tough global and
local economic circumstances, Peugeot
Automobiles Australia has made several
operational changes to the business including
the redundancy of the national public
relations manager,” Mr Thomas said.
Mr McAuley had served in the role since
the French marque changed distributors from
Inchcape to Sime Darby in October 2001.
All PR matters will now be the
responsibility of national marketing manager
Richard Grant. Supporting him will be events
and promotions manager Mark McCartney.
Mr Grant told GoAuto this week that the
Centre of Excellence manager and aftersales
marketing manager roles would be absorbed
into sales and marketing.
The reasons behind Mr Butler’s resignation
have not been made
public, with the former
Fairfax journalist, who
joined Mazda in 2007,
telling GoAuto that he
was planning a break for
a few weeks “to clear my
head before considering
plans for the future”.
Mathew McAuley
Glenn Butler
Alan Mulally
If you have any car industry personnel announcements, please email them to
Terry Martin at [email protected]
GoAuto News April 1, 2009 Page 19
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GoAuto’s latest car review www.GoAuto.com.au
Mercedes-Benz A180 CDI fi ve-door hatchTHE Mercedes-Benz A-class is now available with a diesel-sipping 2.0-litre engine that
gives the premium one-box hatch a counterpoint to the likes of the A3 Sportback TDIe and the BMW 120d, even though these entry-level German luxury brand diesels all
take different approaches. In the effi ciently packaged A-class, the new 2.0-litre diesel delivers a fi ne blend of power and economy. But the question is, is the rest of the A180 CDI package able to match these qualities?
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TATA LAUNCHES NANOTATA is confi dent it can make a profi t
producing the world’s cheapest car, which
goes on sale next month in India for 100,000
rupees ($A2900).
The Nano is light on features, doing
without air-conditioning, electric windows,
power steering and airbags (although a more
luxurious model will also be offered), but it
promises to give a whole class of Indians
their fi rst chance to travel using four wheels
instead of two.
Several fi nancial analysts suggest Tata will
not make a profi t on Nano for a considerable
time and may even lose money for each car
sold. But company chairman Ratan Tata
disagrees. “We are a socially responsible
company but we are not a philanthropic
trust,” he said. “We will make profi ts. As
for margins, there would be several up-trim
versions, and we will have our margins
spread over those.”
FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
FORD TERRITORY RECALLFORD Australia last week announced a
voluntary recall of all non-turbo Territory
models built between February 2004
and December 2008, after a “detailed
investigation” into at least 15 brake failures
fi rst reported by News Limited.
As part of the recall, Ford will contact all
affected owners via mail and daily newspaper
advertisements, before doing rectifi cation
work at their nearest authorised Ford dealer
free of charge. GoAuto understands the
problem relates to the front brake hose,
which can wear through and leak, rendering
the front braking system inoperable. FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
DESIGN EDITION CAYENNEA SWANSONG for the fi rst generation
of Porsche’s much-maligned but super-
successful luxury off-roader has emerged
in the form of the Cayenne GTS Porsche
Design Edition 3.
As the name suggests, the latest design-
edition Cayenne is based on the most road-
focused variant of the German brand’s
full-size SUV, which will be replaced by an
all-new model comprising the company’s
fi rst hybrid vehicle in 2010. In a fi tting send-
off for the Stuttgart sportscar-maker’s fi rst
fi ve-door, the 250,000th example of which
was produced at Leipzig on March 6 after a
seven-year model life that shocked Porsche
purists when it began in 2002, just 1000
versions of the exclusive Porsche Design
Cayenne will be available globally.FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
LF-A ON ITS WAYHOT on the heels of news that this year’s
biennial Tokyo motor show will not play host
to some of the globe’s biggest and most high-
profi le car-makers comes news from the US
that Lexus will unveil the production version
of its long-anticipated supercar there.
Mercedes-AMG recently confi rmed year-
long speculation that it will build a successor
for the McLaren SLR in the fi rst ‘gullwing’
Benz since the 1950s, and now it seems
Toyota’s luxury division will do the same
at Japan’s highest-profi le auto extravaganza
come October.FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
NEW HYDROGEN ROTARYMAZDA is pressing on with the rotary
engine, presenting the Japanese government
last week with the world’s fi rst hydrogen-
fuelled rotary hybrid.
The Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid
wagon, small numbers of which will be used
by the government fl eet, follows on from the
RX-8 hydrogen rotary model. The hybrid
Premacy has a range of 200km, double that
of the hydrogen-fuelled RX-8.FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
BRIT MOTOR SHOW NO GOTHE next instalment of the UK’s largest
motor show has been cancelled, and it may
not be held again until 2013. FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
