The Auto Escape growth slows to 18.2%

Auto Escape has just published a semi-annual turnover of 8.7 million, or 18.2% more than the same period last year (October 1 to March 31). In addition, in one year, the share of the Web in the broker's car hire almost double the online sales now represent 31.9% of sales, against 17.3% in first half 2007 -2008.

This activity is below the growth levels of recent years. Indeed, the average basket suffers from the fact that customers are increasingly moving towards shorter stays and destinations. Especially the french market, representing 89.9% of turnover biannual Auto Escape, is growing much lower (14.6%) that the international (+ 43.9%).

GM is preparing to lay-offs of employees in North America

The U.S. automaker General Motors said Wednesday that he would put unemployed technical employees in North America, following the recent decision of closing several of its assembly plants for up to three months.
"This is a temporary unemployment for our employees, for as long as the factories will be closed", told AFP Tom Wilkinson, a spokesman for the manufacturer.
GM will put at rest on prolonged 13 plants in North America between May and July, to reduce its stocks of unsold goods.
The spokesman was unable to quantify the number of employees, indicating that a production site employs on average between 100 and 200.
The aim of these measures is to allow GM to lock its bloated unsold, against a background of collapse of the U.S. market.
The group's production should be lowered from 190,000 units to reduce the levels of inventories among dealers to 525,000 units by the end of July, against 767,000 at the end of March.
The measures of temporary unemployment which GM has used in the past are generally shorter, a few weeks and did not affect the administrative staff. But the measures announced Thursday include up to three months of production for some of the sites concerned, need to take measures for employees, "said Wilkinson.
These employees will receive 75% of their wages until they return to a normal rhythm of work.

McLaren can breathe!

McLaren Lewis Hamilton and McLaren will not finally excluded from the championship.
McLaren can breathe
McLaren Lewis Hamilton and McLaren will not finally excluded from the championship (DPPI)

As she faced a potential exclusion from the championship following his lies to the Grand Prix of Australia and Malaysia, McLaren was hit by a suspension of sentence three races from the FIA on Wednesday.

McLaren is doing well. Very even. Under an outright exclusion of the championship following his repeated lies to the Commissioners at the last Grand Prix of Australia and Malaysia, the British team has finally hit "only" a suspension of three races suspended from the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), met Wednesday in Paris for a special hearing. "This penalty will apply only if new elements emerge in this case or in case of a new offense of the team over the next 12 months," said the governing body via a news release. Clearly, if McLaren is at tile for a year, this story will not be a bad memory. A decision could not be more lenient when it knows that the Silver Arrows had already been severely punished in 2007 for industrial espionage against Ferrari (all points acquired during this season had been removed constructor championship and a fine of 100 million dollars had been imposed). But more than this heavy burden, it is obviously the new reorganization within the team as the FIA has decided to take into account.

Auto - A1 GP - The Mexico race is canceled

The swine flu epidemic currently raging in Mexico has prompted the organizers to decide to cancel the race on Wednesday planned to Mexico from 22 to 24 May "We are disappointed to have to inform you of such news, the president regretted the discipline Tony Teixeira in announcing the cancellation of the race. When we learned that there were problems last week we decided to remain attentive to the situation and it quickly became clear that not a single risk. "

The Mexican stage was originally scheduled for March but a concert by Radiohead Accordingly, the British race scheduled this weekend at Brands Hatch will be the last race of the season and will play under ke therefore in Switzerland (88 points) , Ireland (86 points) and Portugal (82 points). France is pointing at 5th place (46 points).

Mexico, home of the epidemic, is currently the only country to have recorded deaths due to influenza virus. Seven were confirmed and 159 other deaths are suspected while 1311 people are hospitalized because of disturbing symptoms. The epidemic has spread across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and the Pacific.

Pontiac at the end of the road

General Motors, which owns the famous American brand, announced the completion of the activities and the withdrawal of the sale of cars by 2010. This is the end of a legend of the automobile.
That's all of Pontiac. General Motors, the owner of the famous American brand has decided to stop the adventure and to cease production. All models must have left the halls of dealers by the end of 2010.

Pontiac embodies the tradition of sports cars in the United States - the famous "muscle cars". The first car to bear that name appeared in 1926.

The name "Pontiac" refers to a neighborhood of Detroit, itself named after the name of an Indian chief of the eighteenth century, the Ottawa tribe.

From the beginning, the Pontiac is equipped with a six-cylinder engine and are recognizable by their bands printed on the cover. They are offered at affordable prices and experiencing some success.

In 50 years, the brand launched the model "Bonneville," which combines luxury and speed, and required at the Daytona race in 1959. Pontiac represents the group at GM racing and built a solid reputation in terms of high performance.

The mode of muscle cars - sedans sporting public at large powerful engine - was launched in the United States markets and Pontiac models that will fuel the legend: the Pontiac Grand Prix and the GTO and the Firebird and the Firebird Trans Am

After the oil crisis of 70 years, the brand focuses on smaller models, and even propose the Fiero in 80 years with only two seats. The famous series K2000 (Knight Rider en VO) uses a Firebird Trans Am, 1982, for the legendary Kitt, which contributes to the legend of the mark.

The 90 years mark the beginning of the end for Pontiac that moves away from its brand image to market traditional carriers who do not find their audience.

Today, Pontiac holds a U.S. market share of less than 2%, which does not honor its prestigious history.

Nobody wants our cars

Few countries are as dependent on the automobile industry of Sweden. With 15% of export is a major export industries of the country. "Around Saab Automobile, Volvo Cars, Scania and Volvo Trucks are composed of aggregates of hundreds of companies that provide products and services. When car manufacturers go wrong, the shock wave is reflected on the chain subcontractors, "says the weekly Fokus. Besides "the 140 000 employees in the automotive industry, who work for industries as diverse as restaurants, hospitals or banks." The latest unemployment figures show the most serious situation in the country ever since the 1970s: 100 000 people were laid off during the last six months, 53% in manufacturing. The auto industry was already a victim of a fall in demand before the global financial crisis. Aftonbladet noted that Saab has not made a profit since thirteen years. And last fall, orders suddenly stopped. The same goes for Volvo. "The rest of the world unfortunately did not see that Saab and Volvo cars manufactured exceptional", ironically the newspaper, which estimates that 28 billion kroner (2.5 billion) spent by government to research in this sector and other ad hoc support not enough to develop customers.

The crisis severely affects Daimler first quarter

The German automotive group Daimler has plunged deeply into the red in first quarter, lead by falling sales of cars and trucks, and n'espère very gradually revealed that the head of the water this year.

The manufacturer of the Mercedes showed a net loss of 1.28 billion euros over the first three months of the year, significantly more than expected. In the first quarter of 2008, he had earned a profit of 1.33 billion.

"The continued deterioration of the global economy has weighed heavily on the automobile in the first quarter, and sales of the group, falling by 34%, he said in a quarterly report.

The company in Stuttgart (south-west) certainly expects a "gradual improvement in operating profit during the year." But the second quarter will again be negative even if the magnitude of the loss will be lower.

The collapse in sales of trucks, where it is the world, will exert its full impact on the quarter, which will also be affected by a charge of up to $ 700 million related to abandonment, announced Monday evening its 19.9% share in Chrysler. "Financially, the chapter closed and Chrysler and over," said Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber during a conference call.

Volvo Cars recalls 20,000 cars over in Europe

The Swedish automaker Volvo Cars, owned by American Ford has recalled more than 20,000 cars in Europe because of defects in the cooling, it was learned Monday from a spokesperson for the brand.

"There is a control module in the cooling system and because of a problem making this module (...), the water can enter and in the worst case scenario lead to short-circuits", told Maria Bohlin, the spokesman for Volvo Cars.

Nearly 21,380 vehicles, diesel versions of four-cylinder in 2007 produced the compact C30, the S40 sedan and V50 break, are concerned.

Nobody was injured as a result of the defect and letters have been sent to landowners asking them to make an appointment with their dealer, "said Bohlin.

Volvo Cars, including the brand rests on its reputation for ruggedness and reliability, is owned by Ford since 1999.The U.S. said at the end of March to be discussions with an undisclosed potential buyers.

The manufacturer Geely suspected of having copied the Rolls Royce Phantom

The Chinese automaker Geely has caused a sensation this week in Shanghai, with its first luxury model, but mainly because his limousine confounding have similarities with the Phantom Rolls-Royce.

Geely denied Friday that his Geely GE or a copy of the British model, but without convincing home centennial announced consider prosecution.

The long black car similar to the Phantom, also features in the signs as particularly distinctive grille or bonnet mascot: a winged woman who, instead of leaning forward like Rolls Royce, features a arched posture.

Both models are actually different. At first glance people may feel they are the same but the details are really different ", said Zhang Xiaoshuai, an official of the Commission.

The Chinese says "reinventing the classic, with its GE - Geely Excellence" - who is yet a prototype and should not be sold until at least three years, according to Zhang Xiaoshuai.

It would be at a price defying any competition: one million yuan, or 112,500 euros, against at least 280,000 euros in Europe for a Phantom, or even more.

In China, taking into account taxes, the Phantom range actually begins six million yuan (680,000 euros).

Rolls-Royce did not hide his displeasure Friday: "We are not flattered by this design," Hal responded Serudin, Director of Communications for Asia Pacific of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, not excluding prosecution .

Auto Show Shanghai: the prestige brands to go

None of the most prestigious brands of luxury cars has missed the appointment of the exhibition in Shanghai this week, capitalizing on the dynamism of the Chinese market and the purchasing power of its wealth to challenge the impact of the recession.

Taking into account the taxes-quite-high in China, the range Phantom Rolls-Royce, whose cars were shown in Shanghai begins at six million yuan (680,000 euros). And more and more Chinese can afford.

"We started with a small number of cars sold here in 2003 to the point where China is now a substantial portion of our sales, the third largest market in the world", explained to AFP Tom Purves, CEO of Rolls -Royce Motor Cars.

China is home to 51,000 large fortunes, constraints, each more than 100 million yuan, according to a study published last week by the magazine Hurun. And, for Rolls-Royce, China came after the United States and Britain last year with sales exceeding one hundred units.

His "showroom" Beijing is also the third, behind Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and in Beverly Hills and London, said Purves.

The group, bought in 2003 by the German group BMW and has seven dealerships in China, plans to open another in the city of Ningbo (east) and expand that of Canton (south).

"This is a brand new market and therefore we must present our products in places that we would not normally think," he says.

In addition to the exhibitions in Shanghai and Beijing, Rolls-Royce is present at local events, not necessarily to sell but to share the legendary brand with Chinese consumers.

"Many of them have never seen, because we do not have the same history as, for example, in India, where we are present since 1906," says Purves, adding that its competitors such as Maserati and Lamborghini, are the same.

Ferrari, which show the same optimism about the Chinese market, is launched in Shanghai this week its latest sports car, the California, retro style, at an event that was even projected a movie from Hollywood director Michael Mann , known in China for being the star turn in the country Gong Li

California has sold 3.4 million yuan, including taxes.

According to the spokesman for Ferrari, Stefano Lai, the mark has been surprised by the youth of its Chinese customers, attracted in part by bonds of the company with Formula 1. A contrast to other markets.

"We are talking about people who have about 30 years and the surprising thing is that 25% of them are women, which is much higher than elsewhere," says Lai to AFP.

After five years in China, Ferrari holds 46% of the market for sports cars, according to Mr Lai, and sales grew 20% last year to 212 units.

Porsche also chose Shanghai to present its new Panamera, a four-door sedan that will cost 2.5 million yuan.

And even the Chinese trademark hitherto confined in cars cheap feel grow wings.

Geely has taken advantage of the fair to show its GE (Geely Excellence), an upscale car that is similar to the Rolls Royce Phantom

Weight loss for the car, less fat and less expensive

Less fat, less expensive and less greedy in essence: the average car sold last year in France has seen its measurements and its price melt under the double impact of the crisis and environmental bonus.

The year 2008 marks a historic turning point after more than 50 years of continuous increase, and the car should "continue to reduce the wing this year," according to a study published Thursday by the Argus de l'automobile.

In one year, the average car in France lost 2 cm to measure 4.15 m, has lost weight from 40 kg to 1253 kg weight, was reducing its capacity (from 58 cm3 to 1576 cm3) and had to give 5 horsepower (100 hp), writes the newspaper specializing in the listing of vehicles.

The car has also become cleaner: CO2 emissions are down from 135 g / km, against 145 g / km before, and the average dropped to 5.3 litres/100 km, or 0.2 liter less than in 2007.

Consequence of environmental bonus was introduced in January 2008 and soaring oil prices, the French have in fact opted for models more economical, small, leaving the 4x4 and other large German sedans.

Hence the fall in the average price of cars sold, which decreased by Euro 1056 to stand at 18,962 euros, the level of 2004. This rate remains four times more expensive than in 1978 (4.362 euro).

The fall in prices "will continue in 2009 with a market still on a downward trend, encouraging the manufacturers to compete for promotions," said Guillaume Mouren, an analyst at Xerfi. And the premium to be scrapped, introduced in December 2008, will further accelerate the decline in price. "

"When the historians? Trace his car, likely 2008 d? Seen as a pivotal year in the evolution of? Case with four wheels," wrote the Argus that lists the characteristics of cars since 1953.

The composite picture of the average car is based on over 120 models sold in the Year, which last year accounted for 95% of total sales in France, according to the newspaper.

The Committee of french auto manufacturers (CCFA) has also been a "spectacular" small car in France ( "economic and bottom line"): this segment reached 57% of total first quarter 2009, against 50% in 2008 and 45% in 2007.

First class, the Peugeot 207 and Renault Clio were the best cars sold in France in 2008, and this trend continued in the first quarter.

"The vision of the customer has changed, it goes to the practice, the useful and the price point is crucial in these times of crisis," says François Roudier, spokesman for the CCFA, which also noted a growing interest "the car for low-cost Renault Logan.

"But the client also wants to buy the latest model to have fun and has not lowered its equipment requirements, reliability or safety," he added.

Finished the race in the car even more powerful, more shiny to impress the neighbors "for urban youth, have a big car is no longer a symbol of social status," said Bruno Marzloff sociologist Chronos Group.

Thus, the era of the Hummer, huge 4x4 manufactured by American General Motors, is over: Mr Marzloff, "these arrogant monsters no longer fit into the car or on an economic plan or a plan ecological ".