Japanese cars in China: business pragmatism will win out in the end
Japanese carmakers seem to be staring into the abyss in China, with buyers shunning Japanese cars since September, because of the Diaoyu islands dispute.
But AllianceBernstein analysts think this may be a passing phase. If they’re right, it could be an opportunity to buy Japanese car stocks, which are well down on the news from China. Continue reading »
Russia: Renault close to control at Lada
By Ben Aris of Business New Europe
Avtovaz, the maker of Russia’s Lada cars, is in a race against time to modernise or die.
By agreeing to sell a controlling stake to Renault-Nissan in a deal that is expected to be closed shortly, the Kremlin has tacitly conceded that it has lost the fight to maintain a Russian-owned car producer.
But, with growing competition from other international carmakers, it remains to be seen whether Renault-Nissan can succeed where the Russian state has failed. Continue reading »
Brazilian autoworkers spend time idling
Enforced holidays may sound like no bad thing, but they have become an ominous sign of the slowdown in Brazil’s auto market.
Volkswagen was the latest car manufacturer to send its workers home this week, ordering 1700 employees at one of its factories in the southern state of Paraná to take a two-week break. General Motors and Fiat have also recently enforced holidays at their Brazilian factories to help control stock levels as production has started to race ahead of sales. Continue reading »
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