Friday 2 February 2007

CHINA AUTOMOTIVE

ASIA: China is now a net passenger vehicle exporter.

In a survey conducted by Deloittes, Chinese automotive executives estimated that the proportion of exports to total sales of automotive products will grow from 14% in 2006 to 28% in 2010.

China first became a net exporter of passenger vehicles in 2005 when exports grew 224% over the previous year. The majority of vehicles went to developing countries.

Several factors identified by Deloittes have served to dent industry optimism:

excess capacity resulting in a steep drop in prices;

reduction in profitability as cost reductions lag price reductions;

reduction in vehicle import duties.

Thursday 1 February 2007

AUTOMOTIVE

EUROPE: EU strategies for the European automotive industry.

European Union President José Manuel Barroso stated in February 2007 that, "The EU car industries are at the core of our economies. By positively taking up the climate change challenge, they will preserve and enhance their competitiveness in the long term. This is of crucial importance for consumers and workers alike. The strategy we adopted today covers the strategic issues - from road safety to the environment to research - that if addressed in a timely fashion will make sure that the EU car industries will remain strong and innovative world leaders."

The strategy he refers to involves the reduction of administrative burdens, reduction of CO2 emissions (incorporating both technological changes and the increased use of bio-fuels), research and development (clean renewable fuels and vehicles and intelligent vehicles and roads have been identified as core research priorities within the EU), trade (proposals to assess the potential of using bi-lateral trade agreements, particularly in the Asian region, to improve market access and reinforce the need to enforce intellectual property rights globally).