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| » May 17, 2007 |
U.S. Dealers Sign Up to Sell Indian
Vehicles
On hand here for a U.S. sneak preview of impending new vehicles
from India are representatives of more than 200 dealerships
who will sell them. The price of entry: $125,000 per franchise.
The preview’s box-office take: $25 million so far.
Producer of the exclusive show is Global Vehicles USA, an
importer based in Alpharetta, GA. The star attractions are
an SUV and pickup trucks produced by one of India’s
oldest auto makers, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. The grand
ballroom of an airport hotel is lavishly decked out as Global
Vehicles CEO John A. Perez, a veteran of 36 years in auto
retailing, opened the event. Perez compares the excitement
for the India-built vehicle launch to that generated when
Toyota Motor Corp.’s luxury division Lexus arrived
in 1990.“This is a better opportunity for franchise-seekers
than Honda was in the 1970s,” says Perez, a native
of Cuba who is a former Georgia dealer and dealership management
consultant. Perez and Goetze tell the standing-room-only
crowd that the first Mahindras imported for sale in the U.S.
will arrive in early 2009. A western Subaru dealer tells
Ward’s that is about six months later than he was told
when he originally signed the franchise agreement. But it’s
worth the wait if arriving vehicles are of top quality. “We
don’t need another Aro or Yugo,” he says, referring
to two import disasters, one of which – the Aro SUV – Global
Vehicles imported from Romania. The issue of quality and
creative research is implicit in remarks to the audience
by Pawan Goenka, president of Mahindra’s automotive
sector, and Arun Jaura, its senior vice president. Both are
trained engineers with doctorate degrees. Goenka left a 14-year
career with GM to join Mahindra in 1993. He oversaw SUV and
truck development programs at GM. Jaura was with Ford Motor
Co. 10 years, working on the Escape Hybrid program before
joining Mahindra, based in Mumbai, formerly Bombay. Mahindra,
which was licensed to build Willys Jeeps after World War
II, has grown to include not only the vehicle division but
also the largest non-bank financial services division in
India and a network of parts manufacturing plants. Mahindra
had revenues of about $4 billion last year. It will build
about 178,000 vehicles this year, most with diesel engines.
Vehicle displays include a 7-seat fullsize SUV with a 4-cyl.,
turbocharged diesel engine and new 6-speed automatic transmission.
IIHS reports on "A Day of Crashes"
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has issued
a special report on "A Day of Crashes", focusing
on June 7, 2005, the day with the average number of crashes
across the U.S. in 2005. On that day, 119 people died in
102 crashes across 34 states, beginning at 12:05 a.m. in
Indiana and ending at 11:55 p.m. in Texas. "Crashes
are so complicated, so many factors are involved, and so
many things can go wrong - do go wrong - that we'll never
get to the point where there are zero crash deaths," says
Anne McCartt, IIHS senior vice president for research. "But
if you look closely at the deaths on June 7, you see that
none of the people in these stories had to die. We know how
to prevent most crash deaths. We just don't always apply
what we know." Most of the people who died on June 7,
2005 were in passenger vehicles; 63 were drivers, and 27
were passengers. Also killed were 10 motorcyclists, 8 pedestrians,
4 bicyclists, 3 riders on all-terrain vehicles (ATV) and
one truck driver. The youngest was 20-month-old Kaylee Haneline
of Florida, the oldest 92-year-old Mary Millie Lopez of West
Virginia. On the day, 43 of 90 vehicle occupants killed were
not wearing seatbelts; 16 of the 63 drivers killed were teenagers;
19 drivers who died were speeding; and 22 drivers had a blood
alcohol content of 0.08 per cent or more. The deadliest hour
was between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m., when 14 died, followed by
12 deaths between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m.; one person was killed
between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m., while there were no deaths between
1:00 and 2:00 a.m. In all of 2005, a total of 39,189 crashes
across the U.S. claimed 43,443 lives, the largest number
of motor vehicle deaths since 1990; total deaths have increased
since a low of 39,250 in 1992.
Cerberus to buy 80.1% stake in Chrysler in $7.4 billion deal
- UAW supports sale
DaimlerChrysler announced a deal to sell a controlling stake
in the Chrysler Group to private-equity firm Cerberus Capital
Management LP, reports the Wall Street Journal. The automaker
said that an affiliate of Cerberus will acquire 80.1% in
the new Chrysler Holding LLC, while DaimlerChrysler will
keep a 19.9% stake. It said that obligations for pensions
and health-care costs would be retained by the Chrysler companies.
Under the deal, Chrysler chief executive Tom LaSorda will
continue to run the company. The agreement is still subject
to the approval of DaimlerChrylser's supervisory board, but
has been backed by the United Autoworkers Union. The closing
of the transaction is expected to take place in the third
quarter of 2007. The proposed deal would allow the German
auto giant to shed Chrysler's $18 billion in retirement and
health-care liabilities and could open the door to further
restructuring of the nation's unionized automakers.
Honda close to selling fuel-cell sedan
Honda execs announced the fuel-cell breakthrough at a gathering
in Washington. Honda says it will put a sleek hydrogen fuel-cell
sedan into limited production next year and will sell a unique
mass-market hybrid in the United States within two years,
priced less than the $25,000 Civic hybrid. The automaker
announced the vehicles at a Washington demonstration of prototypes
of the FCX fuel-cell sedans it will offer in the United States
next year. General Motors also has promised 100 Chevrolet
Equinox SUVs modified to run on fuel-cell power this year.
GM and Honda say their fuel-cell vehicles meet U.S. safety
standards and have the same features as gasoline models.
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