Aussie Motoring

A trip to our favorite mechanic is always a bit of an adventure … I mean how many mechanics actually run and hide when they see a customer drive their car into the yard?

It can also be interesting because you never quite know what you’re going to see Ian working next … about this time last year he had a very early model VW Cabriolet that he was fitting a brand-new genuine VW motor too. This time he had this in for some work.

Perhaps there’s some charity motoring event on around town soon.

Official VFACTS figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that 77,324 cars, trucks and buses were sold in August - down 10,882 vehicles (12.3%) compared to the same month last year.

Year to date new vehicle sales are up 0.7 per cent on the same time last year, with 703,995 vehicles being sold.

“The August downturn reflects the broader slowdown in domestic demand which is largely attributable to previous interest rate rises,” FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.

“Yesterday’s official interest rate cut is a welcome move and will help renew future confidence in the marketplace but unfortunately the figures suggest it may have come too late and further reductions may be necessary,” he said.

The figures for August show that sales of vehicles in core ‘luxury’ segments fell by 19.3 per cent compared to the same month last year.

“There is clear evidence that the slowdown has been compounded by the proposed hike in the luxury car tax and wider economic uncertainties,” Mr McKellar said.

“This unnecessary and unfair tax grab is continuing to have a damaging impact on the Australian car industry,” he said.

“It is economically irresponsible to persist with this measure in the current circumstances,” Mr McKellar said.

Sales in all segments of the passenger vehicle market were down.  Sales of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) were down except for the SUV large segment, which increased 23.3 per cent in August.

There were two strong performing segments in the commercial vehicle market - light buses were up 55.9 per cent and vans up 17.2 per cent during August.

Toyota retained the top sales position in August with a 22.9 per cent market share, followed by Holden with 13.8 per cent and Ford with 11.1 per cent.

Year-to-date, Toyota leads the sales race with 165,641 vehicles sold, followed by Holden with 88,969 and Ford with 72,536 vehicles.

Hyundai will soon be recalling around 65,000 Elantra’s sold in the United States due to a fuel pump defect. The recall relates to Elantras built in South Korea between November 2007 and June 2008.

There is no word yet on whether the defect is also found in Hyundai Elantra models sold in Australia.

It now looks as though the Federal Government’s luxury car tax won’t make it through the Senate unless there are some amendments made to it.

The Greens have announced that they won’t be supporting the bill because it unfairly targets vehicles that are among the world’s most fuel efficient. The Greens will support the tax if the Government amends it to only target those luxury cars that are not fuel-efficient.

They say that a week in Australian politics is a long time and that’s something that could also be said about the Australian car manufacturing industry. Last week we had the bad news of the Bracks Report into Australia’s car industry and this week we’ve begun to see and feel the pain.

Ford have announced that they’ll be cutting 350 jobs due to the sluggish sales of its new Falcon and the weak outlook for the vehicle industry and the former chariman of Toyota says that the move by Ford to reduce the workforce is just the beginning.

So which company i going to be next to shed jobs? I expect we’ll soon see an announcement from Holden although it could be Toyota.

Oh wait … I’ve just named the two remaining players in the Australian car industry haven’t I?

Perhaps the real concern isn’t going to be which company will be the next to shed jobs but rather whether or not we’ll still have three players in the industry by mid 2010.

… the sale of SUVs goes up.

Australian new vehicle sales softened in July, reflecting broader economic conditions and the impact of the proposed luxury car tax increase.

Official VFACTS figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that 83,976 cars, trucks and buses were sold in July - down 2,315 vehicles (2.7%) compared to the same month last year.

Year-to-date the car market is up 2.6 per cent on the same time last year, which was an all-time record year.

“Higher fuel prices, interest rates and the wider economic uncertainty have resulted in a slowing of people heading to showrooms,” FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar said.

The figures also show that sales of so-called ‘luxury’ cars fell by 33 per cent in July, compared to the previous month.

“The proposed tax hike has had a devastating impact on new car sales,” Mr McKellar said.

“It is clear that the downturn has been exacerbated by the impact of this unfair tax hike, and the industry has significant concerns that orders will continue to be affected in coming months,” he said.

“If this situation continues, the government will not receive the additional revenue it had projected and there is a real risk that it will cost jobs,” Mr McKellar said.

“In these circumstances, one would have to question why the government would pursue this tax increase,” he said.

Sales in most of the passenger car and Sports Utility Vehicle segments (SUV) were down except for light cars (up 1.0%), SUV medium (up 8.1%) and SUV large (up 7.4%).

Light commercial vehicle sales held up well in July, with an increase of 897 vehicles or 6.3 per compared to the same month last year.

Toyota remained the top selling marque in July with 24.4 per cent of the market, followed by Holden with 13.3 per cent and Ford with 11.3 per cent.

Year-to-date, Toyota leads the sales race with 147,961 vehicles sold, followed by Holden with 78,271 and Ford with 63,933 vehicles.

Have you ever wondered what happens when a manufacturer releases a new car? Well here’s a behind the scenes look at the way Kia in America introduced their new 4WD Borrego to the motoring press.

If you though that petrol prices were bad where you live just wait till you see the price of gas in Honolulu

This is not a replacement for an existing vehicle

Kia Motors Corporation has confirmed that its all-new production model, the Kia Soul, will be marketed globally with a choice of three highly efficient engines (depending on individual markets), when it goes on sale in early 2009.

The most powerful engine will be a 2-litre gasoline unit.  A smaller capacity 1.6-litre gasoline engine will be offered in most countries, alongside a 1.6-litre diesel engine featuring a VGT (variable geometry turbocharger).

Both the 1.6-litre, four cylinder, 16-valve DOHC power units are based closely on engines fitted to the hugely successful, European-built, Kia cee’d.

Kia has also confirmed that the new model, which will be available exclusively as a five-door hatchback with front-wheel drive, will have an overall length of 4,105 mm, and a 2,550 mm wheelbase. Height will be 1,610 mm and width 1,785mm – excluding door mirrors.

To be manufactured in Korea from November 2008 for overseas markets, the Kia Soul will defy conventions and appeal especially to the young and the young-at-heart – whatever their age.

Kia Soul is not a replacement for an existing vehicle and is destined to play a unique role within Kia’s global product line-up.  Kia Soul will provide a creative platform for buyers to individualise and match their car to their own personality.

The World Premiere of the Kia Soul will be celebrated on 2 October 2008 at the Paris Motor Show.  The exciting new Kia model is scheduled to go on sale in Europe during February 2009, with sales in the USA and remaining overseas markets beginning in April 2009.

Yesterday it was just a rumour that BMW were about to build a small fleet of electric Minis to test the concept and do some serious field trials. Today, with this press release from BMW, it’s official.

 As part of the Group’s Number ONE strategy, the company will begin extensive tests on electric drives in MINI Vehicles

Over the next months, the BMW Group will be carrying out various series of tests on electrically powered vehicles to determine the alternative drive of the future.

Several hundred MINI brand vehicles are being prepared for this. The cars, built in the Oxford plant, will be modified accordingly in Munich and fitted out for trials.

“This step will allow the BMW Group to gain an initial knowledge of how mobility can be achieved efficiently using purely electrically powered vehicles. Our task here is to combine the ultimate driving experience with an efficient electrified drive with practically no emissions”, underlined Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG.

The tests on alternative drives in a MINI body will be used over the next 12-18 months to refine the technology. Details about the drive concept and its marketing will be published towards the end of the year.