Hyundai Mobis Won Combined $233 Million Order

Hyundai Mobis, An affiliate of the Hyundai Motor Group, said today that it won a combined $233 million order from Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors and Subaru to supply automotive lamps in what will be its first parts supply to Japanese automaker.

The deal comes as Japanese and other car makers are increasingly looking at South Korean parts makers which offer cheaper, quality products as opposed to their Japanese rivals struggling with the strong yen and the March 11 earthquake.

Hyundai Mobis, South Korea’s largest auto supplier said it will supply $200 million worth of headlamps to Mitsubishi Motors and $33 million of rear lamps to Subaru, an automobile manufacturing unit of Fuji Heavy Industries, from the second half of this year.

Hyundai Mobis previously agreed to provide its lamps to Europe’s BMW and Volkswagen as well as U.S. Chrysler Group LLC.

“Japanese and other car makers are turning to South Korean parts makers to save costs and diversify sourcing following the March 11 earthquake,” said Lee Sang-hyun, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.

Hyundai Mobis, which heavily relies on its sister companies Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors for sales, aims to generate 30 percent of its revenue form overseas exports by 2015, from the current 10 percent.

Skoda Fabia RS 2000 Concept debuts at Worthersee 2011

While the annual Worthersee event is focused around Volkswagen brand cars, mainly the GTI, Volkswagen Group AG’s Skoda brand decided to steal some spotlight with the debut of the new Fabia RS 2000 design concept.

“These days, the GTI-Treffen is rightly hailed by fans of powerful engines and sporty customization as the Mecca of car tuning,” says Skoda boss Winfried Vahland. “Anyone who comes to the event once never wants to miss another year of this fascinating get-together. The jubilee year of 2011 is a welcome opportunity for us to show off our sports models and make sure that everyone knows that Skoda really has something to offer here.”

The Skoda Fabia RS 2000 Concept was produced specifically for the GTI-Treffen event. The concept features seats for four with racing harnesses and carbon-fiber trim. Power comes from a 200-hp 2.0 liter twin-turbo 4-cylinder unit.

{via: egmcartech}

Ford adds 1.0L 3-cylinder EcoBoost to U.S. market, 8-speed transmission

Automaker Ford has just confirm that it is expanding it range of the EcoBoost engines in North America with the new 1.0 liter, 3 cylinder EcoBoost and a new 8-speed automatic transmission. The engine is the smallest engine the Ford has ever built and the 8-speed transmission is Dearborn automaker’s first.

“Consumers are telling us they want to buy affordable vehicles that get many more miles per gallon,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president of Global Product Development. “Our new 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine will give consumers looking for hybrid-like fuel economy a new, more affordable choice.”

Ford says that the new engine will deliver performance of that of a 4 cylinder unit with even higher fuel economy. We asked the famous question, How mush power and also what the MPG? Well Kuzak said that final calibrations of the new EcoBoost 1.0 liter are under way but the new engine will deliver horsepower and torque outputs equivalent to or better than Ford Fiesta’s normally aspirated 1.6 liter gasoline engine, which makes 120 hp, 112 lb-ft and a combined MPG of 33 (Info taken from fueleconomy.gov.) So if what Kuzak said is true, it will be better then the numbers given. This is pretty good for a 3 banger.

The new 1.0L 3-cylinder EcoBoost will be offered on the Fiesta and may even make its way to the Focus.

Ford said that it is on track to offer EcoBoost on 90 percent of its North American lineup by 2013 and to be producing 1.5 million EcoBoost engines globally.

Consumer Paid More For The Month Of May

Last month, consumers paid more when shopping in the U.S. auto market. This is according to auto information company Edmunds.com. They paid more and have fewer choices, Edmunds said.

For the month of May, customer that bought a vehicle, paid about $180 more then in April, $310 more for then the month of February, and $410 more then May 2010. Overall incentives were at the lowest last month since October 2005, and incentives fell for compact -23% and subcompact -14% cars more than the average incentives for any other segment between April and May, according to Edmunds.

South Korean automakers turn out to be the biggest winners in Edmunds’ analysis of the monthly sales data released by the industry this week.

Edmunds said that the joint sales for sister companies Hyundai and Kia topped Honda and placed them fifth on the U.S. sales list behind fourth place Toyota. Hyundai has broken its monthly sales record five months straight. Kia has posted a 44.8% sales increase year to date.

Government expects to recover more then foretold from the auto bailout

Government expects to recover more then foretold from the auto bailout as it pulls back financially from the sector, but taxpayers still face billions in potential losses, the White House said.

"We'll get back what we get back," Ron Bloom, the Obama administration's point man on manufacturing and restructuring of General Motors Co and Chrysler, said on Wednesday. "It will be what it is."

While a long time ago, the administration granted it would write off a portion of the $80 billion bailout, loss estimates have fallen from more then 60% to less then 20%, according the White House economic advisers.

Bloom said GM and Chrysler have made remarkable turnarounds and are positioned for success. But he said their futures are not assured and would not try to predict their fate. The surging U.S. auto industry hit a bump in May as the sluggish economy slowed sales.

Government intervention in the form of working capital for struggling GM and Chrysler was begun under the Bush administration and expanded by the Obama White House, which pushed the automakers into bankruptcy and financed their emergence.

Treasury has so far recouped about half of what was extended in grants and loans to GM and Chrysler, related retail financing arms, and suppliers in 2009. Some of the money was repaid in cash while the remaining interest was tied up in equity shares held by the government.

Chrysler has repaid $10.6 billion, but remains about $2 billion short of the total owed. Bloom said the Treasury would probably sell its 6 percent Chrysler stake to Fiat SpA, which runs the U.S. manufacturer.

Bloom declined to discuss timing or the value of that interest.

Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of both Fiat and Chrysler, said on Tuesday talks with Treasury on a sale are progressing well.

Washington has recovered about half of the $50 billion extended to GM and has reduced its ownership stake from 60 percent to less than 30 percent.

Treasury plans to sell its remaining GM stake but Bloom said there is no target price or time frame for doing so. The government was eligible to act in May.

"We're going to look for opportunities to see when the market will be interested in purchasing additional shares," Bloom said. "The people at Treasury will analyze the markets and see what investor sentiment is and make the judgment."

GM stock closed 5 percent lower at $30.23 on Wednesday, far below an average share price of $54 necessary for the government to break even on the remainder of that investment, a government analysis concluded last month.

The administration is touting the auto bailout as a success because it preserved thousands of manufacturing and supplier jobs, maintained exports and a commercial tax base, and prevented expensive business wind-down programs.

Political overtones ahead of the 2012 election are unmistakable as Bloom's appearance in the White House briefing room set the stage for President Barack Obama to visit a Chrysler plant in the potential swing state of Ohio on Friday.

Democrats have begun criticizing Republicans who have questioned the bailout as a waste of money. House Speaker John Boehner, an auto industry bailout critic, is an Ohio Republican who met with Ford Motor Co CEO Alan Mulally on Tuesday.

Ford did not seek a bailout but Mulally stood by his company's decision to back the rescue of GM and Chrysler, saying their collapse could have wiped out the industry supply base and damaged the economy more broadly.

Peter Morici of the University of Maryland's Robert Smith School of Business said GM and Chrysler still have higher costs -- mainly for labor -- than rivals, which will blunt their progress.

He also said continued reliance on trucks, especially at GM, will hurt further as gas prices rise and consumers demand more efficiency.

"They like to advertise the Volt, but their business model is still based on the Escalade," Morici said of the newly introduced electric sedan and the gas guzzlng Cadillac SUV.