PM - Dodge Viper will end up in the hands of the after market coach builders.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
IL Insider: Roush on Track To Launch "Third Brand"
LIVONIA, Michigan — Inside Line has confirmed that Roush — the premier tuner of such Ford staples as the F-150 and Mustang, is set to launch what it calls a "third brand" for consumers in late 2008.
"The whole point is to continue the evolution of Roush," said John G. Clark, communications and motorsports manager for Roush Performance Products, the tuning arm of the company. "It potentially could include foreign brands."
When asked if that meant Toyota and Honda, Clark replied, "well, they are foreign brands, aren't they?"
Clark would not put a price tag on the development costs of what he calls the "third brand," nor would he say what it would be called. "It probably will be a totally different brand name," he said, "(that has) nothing to do with Roush." The tuner's business is currently separated into two brands: Roush Industries, which includes a manufacturing operation that makes parts for such products as the Dodge Caliber SRT4, and Roush Performance Products, which produces such vehicles as the P51 Mustang.
Clark said the third brand will initially begin providing "powertrain parts for cars and trucks." The need for an expansion beyond Roush's core Ford business may be seen as a critical business decision. Despite the fact that Roush Performance enjoyed a record year in 2007 — building more than 2,000 custom vehicles for 475 authorized Ford dealers — sales of its customized F-150 are "very slow for us right now," said Clark. Last year, Roush sold just 100 of its "Nitemare" trucks, a customized 445-horsepower F-150 Flareside priced at around $45,000. "When gas hit $3 a gallon, truck sales really stopped," he said. "The performance truck market has slowed."
"We understand in order to continue our sales trend, we need to look beyond Ford," Clark said.
The news of the third Roush brand was revealed during Inside Line's rare look on Monday inside the sprawling Roush operation here. Clark used the visit to put to rest rumors that Roush is busy at work customizing the new Dodge Challenger. Recently, some Web sites displayed pictures of the Challenger in a Roush parking lot. "As of right now, we have no plans to do (Chevrolet) Camaro, Challenger or (Chevrolet) Silverado, despite what is on the Internet," Clark said. "We built a Roush Silverado as an engineering exercise, but we do not plan to go into production (with it)."
Roush disclosed a number of intriguing business developments to Inside Line, from its first foray into the movie business to its continuing move into alternative-fuel vehicles. Also, the day marked an important milestone at Roush, as Jack Roush Jr., son of the founder, began his first full day at the company. Speaking to Inside Line, Jack Roush Jr. would not specify what his title is, but described his new role as something akin to "a fly on the wall." But clearly, the succession plan is in place.
The Roush Mustang will make its debut in the upcoming movie Run. Roush is also launching a Roush Propane F-150 designed for fleet use only. The Propane F-150 comes with either a 20-gallon or 60-gallon fuel tank. "The advantage is that propane is a cleaner fuel and it offers fleets a 50-cent-per-gallon tax credit," Clark noted. He said the truck uses Ford's 5.4-liter V8. The company is also developing a small fleet of electric vehicles and plans to extend its alt-fuel efforts to diesel trucks. Clark said Roush likely will develop components for diesel trucks, such as cold-air kits. "We have a lot of people asking for a lot of different things from us," he said.
In another development, Roush for the first time is delving deeply into its customer base to come up with marketing demographics. The typical customer is a male between the ages of 38 and 52 with an average income between $80,000 and $120,000. The average customer's Roush vehicle is "sort of a toy," Clark says, "not a daily driver." The few women who buy Roush products are "very popular amongst the men who don't own one," he says.
What this means to you: Mighty Roush gets ready to take a giant step outside of its core Ford business. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
This Day in Auto History:
 | ||
 |
| |
 | Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick |
Tata to make electric vehicles with Chrysler
The deal, with the US carmaker's Global Electric Motorcars unit, is for an electric version of Tata's mini truck Ace that would be sold in the United States, the report said. "The battery-operated vehicle has passed required safety and reliability tests, and the prototype is ready for production," it said, adding they will be exported as completely built units.
Tata Motors will begin exporting around 10,000 units by year-end, and ramp up to 50,000 units, it said. "We are indeed exploring the feasibility of a vehicle on the Ace platform with an electric engine suitable for the U.S., in collaboration with a U.S. company," a spokesman for Tata Motors told Reuters. "But it is premature at this stage to give any details."
Tata Motors, which launched a passenger variant of its best-selling Ace last year, is working with foreign collaborators on biodiesel and electric traction technology, and is in talks for hybrid engines and fuel cells.
Tata Motors recently unveiled the Nano, an ultra cheap car priced at just over $2,500, and is the front-runner for Ford Motor Co's
In the United States, automakers are under pressure to meet tighter fuel emission standards beginning in 2012. Chrysler showcased three "green" concept vehicles at the Auto Show in Detroit last week, including an electric model.
Chrysler can't move molds yet, judge says
Chrysler LLC will have to negotiate with Dearborn-based supplier Plastech Engineered Products Inc. to move its molds and dies out of the struggling supplier's plants.
A bankruptcy judge decided Tuesday that Chrysler cannot immediately move tooling out of Plastech's plants because of the protections that Chapter 11 bankruptcy offers struggling companies.
Filing for Chapter 11 offers "an opportunity, a temporary window, to negotiate with its customers, lenders and other constituents," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Phillip Shefferly said in a 43-page ruling.
Chrysler declined to say what it plans to do next.
"We will continue to work with all parties to ensure that our plants continue to receive deliveries of parts," said Chrysler spokesman Kevin Frazier, who declined to comment further.
The dispute between Chrysler and Plastech arose after Chrysler canceled its contracts with Plastech, having refused a third round of additional financial assistance for the struggling plastics firm. Chrysler also said Plastech was not meeting the company's quality standards.
The same day Chrysler canceled the contracts, it won a court order to move tools Plastech used to make its parts out of Plastech plants.
But then, Plastech filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which halted all lawsuits against the supplier.
Shefferly's decision enforces that protection against litigation.
Still, Shefferly, in his decision, said that the tools belong to Chrysler, and defended Chrysler against assertions made during hearings that the situation is a result of Chrysler's own actions to cancel its contracts with Plastech.
But the damages to Plastech if Chrysler were to move its tools would outweigh the damages to Chrysler, Shefferly wrote.
Shefferly wrote that he was convinced that moving the tools out of Plastech's plants would disrupt Plastech's ability to serve its other customers, and "therefore any prospect of an effective reorganization will be lost."
The decision, coming in the third week of Plastech's bankruptcy case, gives the supplier some breathing room to negotiate with creditors and move forward with a reorganization plan.
"We think it's the right decision," said Plastech general counsel Kelvin Scott. "We look forward to a continued working relationship with Chrysler."
At this point, Chrysler's options include appealing Shefferly's decision and continuing talks with Plastech on a long-term contract.
The decision keeps Chrysler from moving nearly $200 million in business with Plastech to other plastics suppliers.
Chrysler and Plastech last week reached a temporary deal that keeps Plastech's plants producing parts for Chrysler vehicles until Feb. 27 and avoids shutting down production at Chrysler's assembly plants.
TCS bags Chrysler’s multi year IT Services Deal
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd was up on the down market as they informed the market that it has signed a multi-year contract with Chrysler LLC to provide a comprehensive portfolio of IT services.This will help TCs to get more revenue through auto Sector which accounts to almost 15 percent of the revenue.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Oil once again breaks $100 - again base don specualtion and not supplies
Crude soars as investors weigh the possibility of OPEC production cuts; Texas refinery explosion may have also lifted prices.
 |
| The path to $100-a-barrel oil now appears open, according to one industry analyst. |
Video
 |
| The Venezuelan president threatens to cut oil shipments to the United States. |
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil futures prices have shot back above $100 a barrel for the first time since Jan. 3.
A weekend refinery explosion in Texas and the possibility that OPEC will cut production next month are driving prices higher, although analysts say there isn't a single factor to explain the move.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery has risen as high as $100.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The refinery in Big Spring, Texas is owned by Alon USA. It processes nearly 70,000 barrels of oil a day. Officials say it could be closed for as long as two months.
"The refinery fire in Texas is making people a little concerned," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research Inc. in Amherst, Mass.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose $4.05 to $99.5 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. March gasoline jumped 11.4 cents to $2.6078 a gallon, and March heating oil rose 10.41 cents to $2.751 a gallon.
The dollar fell Tuesday, giving investors another reason to buy oil. Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the greenback is falling.
For the moment, investors appear to have put aside concerns about the economy that have sent oil prices down into the mid-$80 range twice since crude peaked above $100 last month. Traders are instead focused on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which will meet early next month to map out production plans, and Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez made conflicting statements this weekend about the country's legal dispute with Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM, Fortune 500)
OPEC could move to cut production in the second quarter, typically a period of low demand, though many analysts feel that's unlikely. In Venezuela, Chavez said he was not serious about an earlier threat to cut oil sales to the United States, but also threatened to sue Exxon Mobil. The world's largest oil company is fighting Venezuela's nationalization of an oil project, and recently convinced several courts to freeze $12 billion in Venezuelan oil assets.
None of the news is enough to justify a nearly $3 a barrel jump in the price of crude, said James Cordier, founder of OptionSellers.com, a Tampa, Fla., trading firm. Echoing other analysts, Cordier argued that the oil market is in the process of "decoupling" from oil's supply and demand fundamentals. He said investors drawn by the falling dollar and momentum are pushing oil prices sharply higher despite reports last week from the Energy Department, OPEC and the International Energy Agency which all cut oil demand growth predictions for this year.
"Everyone concurs that we've got smaller demand coming in the U.S.," Cordier said.
Retail gas prices, meanwhile, jumped 1.8 cents to a national average price of $3.032 a gallon Tuesday, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Retail prices, which typically lag the futures market, are following oil prices higher. The Energy Department expects gas prices to peak near $3.40 a gallon this spring.
Other energy futures also rose Tuesday. March natural gas jumped 30.1 cents to $8.961 per 1,000 cubic feet. Analysts said prices were supported by forecasts for cooler weather, but that futures were also following oil prices higher.
In London, Brent crude for April delivery rose $3.25 to $98.16 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)