Tata may need to invest $1B in Jaguar

 India's Tata group may have to spend at least $1 billion to revive premium brands Jaguar and Land Rover, which were bought by Tata Motors earlier this year, the Economic Timesreported on Tuesday.

Tata Sons, the holding company that holds large stakes in group firms, and unlisted financial services unit Tata Capital are among the options being considered to raise the cash, the newspaper said, quoting unnamed company sources.

"We will do everything in our ability to resource all our operations," the paper quoted a Tata Motors' spokesman as saying. Tata Motors paid $2.3 billion to buy Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co. earlier this year, just as global auto sales began collapsing. He declined comment on the size of funds required.

A spokesman for Tata Motors could not be immediately reached by Reuters for comment.

On Monday, UK's Financial Times had reported that Tata Motors had agreed to inject "tens of millions of pounds" into Jaguar and Land Rover to prevent an immediate cash flow crisis.

Tata Motors, which has a market value of about $1.5 billion, has dropped 74 percent so far this year while the main BSE index is down more than half.

Zenvo ST1

Madly styled supercar boasts a Veyron-besting 1089bhp and 1055lb ft

Clearly the world doesn't have enough mad hypercars, with the Bugatti Veyron, Ruf CTR3 and TVR Speed 12 clamouring for more competition. It has come in the shape of this, the Zenvo ST1, quite probably the world's first all-Danish car.

It's a rear-wheel-drive coupe, propelled by a mid-mounted 7-litre V8 which boasts a supercharger and turbocharger - making it good for 1089bhp at 6900rpm and a fairly frightening 1055lb ft, which is available from 4500rpm. Whether all of that can be transferred to the tarmac without repercussions is an entirely different matter.

Claimed performance for the 1376kg coupe is 0-62mph in around 3sec, 0-124 in under 9 and an electronically-limited 233mph. That allows it to drive the length of Denmark in 18 minutes, apparently. Mated to that monster engine is a six-speed manual gearbox and a hydraulic limited-slip differential.

The brakes are ventilated discs, covered up by 19in alloys at the front and 20in at the rear, wrapped in Michelin rubber. Ceramic brakes are on the options list, and quite possibly a wise buy to rein in all that grunt. Also on the options list is a roll cage and four-point harnesses, turning this into a pretty extreme trackday car, no doubt.

Development on the ST1 has been ongoing since 2004, with deliveries penned to start in 2009. Just 15 are set to be made, with no price tag quoted. It'll be at least six figures, if not seven we'd imagine.

GM will equip Chevy Equinox with fuel-saving technology

General Motors' revamped Chevrolet Equinoxcrossover will carry direct-injection engine technology across the line, boosting fuel economy in the base model while delivering the same amount of horsepower.

The move will contribute to GM's goal of equipping most of its North American vehicles with direct injection. In the 2010 model year, GM says it will have 18 vehicles with the technology, including the Equinox, which goes on sale next summer.

The feature increases performance while curbing fuel consumption and emissions. GM plans to show the 2010 Equinox next month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit

The base version will be powered by a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine that develops 180 hp, about the same as the current V-6, GM said in a statement. The automaker expects that vehicle to deliver 30 mpg in highway driving. There is no four-cylinder 2009 model. The current Equinox has an EPA fuel-economy rating of 17 mpg city/24 mpg highway.

A 3.0-liter, direct-injected V-6 will be optional. That engine is rated at 255 hp. It will replace a 185-hp, 3.4-liter V-6 built in China that dates to the 1970s.

GM Powertrain spokesman Tom Read said the new V-6 will be built at GM's St. Catharines,Ontario, plant. The four-cylinder engine will be made at the former Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tenn.

Ford has 2 finalists for car, truck of the year

Ford Motor Co. placed two candidates on the short list of finalists for the 2009 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards.

Ford's Flex car and the F-150 pickup are among the six vehicles to make it through the latest round of voting by 50 automotive journalists in the United States and Canada.

The other cars were the diesel-powered Volkswagen Jetta TDI and Hyundai's Genesis luxury sedan. No Korean automaker has made the cut before.

The Mercedes-Benz ML320 Bluetec and the Dodge Ram pickup round out the truck field.

The VW and Mercedes models are the first vehicles with diesel engines to qualify as finalists in the 16-year history of the awards. The winners will be announced Jan. 11 at the Detroit auto show.

Last year, the Chevrolet Malibu won car of the year, and the Mazda CX-9 was honored as the top truck.

Domestic automakers have won the car trophy eight times, the Europeans four times and the Japanese three times.

In trucks, domestics have won nine times, followed by the Japanese four times and the Europeans twice.

Additionally, hybrids have won four times.

More than 50 vehicles were considered this year; 14 cars and 11 trucks made the initial ballot.

Subaru Legacy

Hard pressed car maker Subaru will unveil its brand new Legacy at this year’s Detroit Motor Show.


Hard pressed car maker Subaru will unveil its brand new Legacy at this year’s Detroit Motor Show.

Following the announcement of its immediate and total withdrawal from the World Rally Championship, the Japanese firm moved quickly to prove it has ambitious plans for its road cars by releasing this single teaser image of the new model, expected to hit the road in 2010.

Though exact details remain scarce, it’s believed that the Legacy gets an updated chassis, and a development of Subaru’s trademarked symmetrical all wheel drive system.

Under the bonnet, there’s a new 3.6-litre flat six-cylinder engine, plus an advanced six speed gearbox.

For launch, it’s expected that the 3.6-litre unit could be joined by smaller, more fuel efficient engines. Both 2.5-litre four cylinder and 3.0-litre six cylinder boxer engines will be offered, as will the company’s first diesel, a 2.0-litre turbo, that’s also the world’s only oil burning boxer.

The Legacy concept makes its debut almost 20 years to the day of the lunch of the original Legacy model, and builds on that car’s instantly recognisable design.

With a new look nose, and wide track, the sporty looking saloon is aimed at the likes of the BMW 5-Series and new Mercedes E-Class, which will also debut at Detroit.

Honda scraps plans to build NSX sports car

Honda Motor Co. cancelled plans to build a new Acura NSX sports car as the automaker grapples with the global economic slump.

President Takeo Fukui announced the NSX's demise today as one of several cost-saving cutbacks.

The NSX was expected to have a front-mounted, V-10 engine that made at least 500 hp. It would have been the successor to the first-generation NSX, which had a mid-mounted V-6. That NSX went out of production in late 2005 after 14 years.

Its successor was expected to debut as a 2010 model and was poised to be Acura's answer to the Audi R8 and Nissan GT-R.

The NSX was expected to be outfitted with advanced technologies, including the Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system. It was also likely to get aluminum and carbon-fiber parts to keep weight low.

The program appeared to be on track as late as this summer, when spy shooters caught what looked to be an NSX on Germany's famed Nürburgring circuit.

That car looked similar to the Advanced Sports Car concept unveiled at the Detroit auto show in 2007.

In addition to canceling the NSX, Honda is cutting sales and profit forecasts and executive pay while delaying plant openings. It also scrapped plans to launch the Acura brand in Japan in 2010.

Scientists find hole in Earth's magnetic field

Recent satellite observations have revealed the largest breach yet seen in the magnetic field that protects Earth from most of the sun's violent blasts, researchers reported Tuesday. The discovery was made last summer by Themis, a fleet of five small NASA satellites.

Scientists have long known that the Earth's magnetic field, which guards against severe space weather, is similar to a drafty old house that sometimes lets in violent eruptions of charged particles from the sun. Such a breach can cause brilliant auroras or disrupt satellite and ground communications.

Observations from Themis show the Earth's magnetic field occasionally develops two cracks, allowing solar wind — a stream of charged particles spewing from the sun at 1 million mph — to penetrate the Earth's upper atmosphere.

Last summer, Themis calculated a layer of solar particles to be at least 4,000 miles thick in the outermost part of the Earth's magnetosphere, the largest tear of the protective shield found so far.

"It was growing rather fast," Themis scientist Marit Oieroset of the University of California, Berkeley told an American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

Such breaches are temporary, and the one observed last year lasted about an hour, Oieroset said.

Solar flares are a potential danger to astronauts in orbit but generally are not a risk to people on the surface of the Earth.

The research was funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Scientists initially believed the greatest solar breach occured when the Earth's and sun's magnetic fields are pointed in opposite directions. But data from Themis found the opposite to be true. Twenty times more solar wind passed into the Earth's protective shield when the magnetic fields were aligned, Oieroset said.

The Themis results could have bearing on how scientists predict the severity of solar storms and their effects on power grids, airline and military communications and satellite signals.

The Themis satellites were launched to find the source of brief powerful geomagnetic disturbances in the Earth's atmosphere.

GM delays work on Volt, Cruze engine factory to save cash

General Motors, saving cash as it awaits federal rescue loans, has suspended construction of a Michigan plant scheduled to build fuel-saving engines.

The delay at the $349 million factory in Flint won't affect the late-2010 launch of the Chevrolet Cruze small car and the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, spokeswoman Sharon Basel said today.

CEO Rick Wagoner announced the plant on Sept. 25th and said it would produce two versions of a 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine, one with a turbocharger for the Volt and one without for the Cruze.

The delay reflects GM's heightened efforts to reduce spending as its supplies of cash dwindle. GM is waiting for the White House to approve a bailout that will keep the automaker operating and avoid a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

The postponement will allow GM to halt payments for construction materials, Basel said.

"Steel has been ordered but placed on hold, as have additional orders,'' she said. "This has only to do with the construction of the plant, not the program timing.

She said there is enough leeway in the construction schedule for it to build the engines on time after the temporary hold. She did not say when the work would resume.

She said the Flint factory is being built with a common template used around the world. The plant can be assembled in less than a year, she said.

The 552,000-square-foot facility will be able to build 800 engines a day. Another $21 million is being spent for a vendor tool area.

GM already builds a nonturbocharged version of the engine for its European small cars. Basel said GM has no plans to import those powerplants from Europe if the U.S. project ends up behind schedule.

Norway govt won't intervene to save carmaker Think

The Norwegian government said on Tuesday it will not directly intervene to rescue electric car maker Think after the company on Monday halted production and said it would not survive without the state's aid.

Privately owned Think had asked the government to help it out of its "urgent financial distress" sparked by the global crisis, saying it had difficulty obtaining working capital and that its suppliers are severely hit.

"There are many companies that are in a demanding financial situation because of the financial crisis," Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Rikke Lind told Reuters.

"The government cannot go in on the ownership side or provide loans to specific companies in today's situation," she said.

Think has said it needs 100 million to 200 million crowns ($14.5 million to $29 million) in short-term guarantees after it temporarily stopped production at its Norway plant and laid off between 50 percent and 70 percent of its employees to survive and proceed with expansion plans.

Norway's government is preparing a fiscal stimulus package to combat unemployment and shore up its construction industry, due to be presented in late January or early February.

The government has approved an increase in loan support for Innovasjon Norge, an organization fostering small- and medium-sized companies, by 1 billion crowns to 2.5 billion, in effect from Jan. 1, 2009, from which Think could apply for loans.

It has also said it will boost export credit institution Eksportfinans with about 50 billion crowns to ensure exporters get the financing they need to sustain operations.

"Think needs to contact the apparatus, where we have different lending and guarantee options, but they have to be considered in line with everybody else," Lind said.

Think was not immediately available for comment.

Earlier in December, the Swedish government said it would provide up to 25 billion Swedish crowns ($3.12 billion) in credit guarantees and emergency loans to its ailing auto industry but has no plans to buy stakes in Volvo or Saab.

With one car model in production, the micro Think City, the Norwegian company aims to ramp up production next year, launch the car in several European cities and set a date for its U.S. entry

Ferrari positive on '08, unsure on '09

CEO Amedeo Felisa wants the brand's dealers to do more to improve their stores

 The crisis hitting the auto industry has not slowed Ferrari so far.

The sports car maker is on track to match or beat its 2007 sales record, and CEO Amedeo Felisa is optimistic about next year because Ferrari's newest model, the California, already is sold out.

Felisa, 62, spoke about the brand's future when he met withAutomotive News Europe Chief Correspondent Luca Ciferri at the launch of the California here.

Sales are dropping at most automakers. Why has Ferrari avoided the decline?

So far, we have not seen significant change in our order flow so we remain optimistic about 2008. For the future, we are carefully monitoring the situation as it remains very unpredictable

Another reason for our optimism is the important investments we made in fully renewing our product range.

Our oldest car today is the 612 Scaglietti, which is just 5 years old.

With the new California, we are expanding our range by adding a V-8 front-engine car with a retractable hardtop -- a model that Ferrari has never had in its 61-year history.

The California is already sold out for 2009 and 2010. That means someone who orders the car today has to wait until 2011?

A two-year wait is typical for new models that are in high demand from our customers. It takes 18 to 24 months for the order flow to stabilize.

What is important to me is not the fast start, but the ability to keep the volume up for the entire life cycle. For the California, it is so far, so good.

How long is the wait to get the rest of the range?

The 430 Scuderia and the 599 GTB Fiorano take more or less a year; the 612 Scaglietti takes about six to eight months.

Are you counting on the California to boost Ferrari's sales volume to 10,000 units a year?

We have never given such a target. The California will help Ferrari to broaden its appeal by attracting customers who previously looked to our competitors for such a model.

Of course, the car will help increase our volumes, but we are not planning on such massive growth during a time of such uncertainty.

Our chairman, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, always says we should offer 'Ferrari diverse per Ferraristi diversi' [Italian for: Different Ferraris for different Ferrari owners].

Time will tell how many of the California sales are conquest sales and how many of the sales come from people who would have bought a mid-engine V-8 coupe or spider from Ferrari.

How many customers does Ferrari have and how many Ferraris are still around?

We estimate that we have 65,000 customers and that there are about 90,000 Ferraris that still exist out of about 130,000 units built since 1947.

Ferrari set a new sales record last year with a volume of 6,465 units. What volume do you expect for the full year?

Similar or marginally up on last year. Do not forget, although the California is in high demand, it does not go on sale until January 2009.

The California is expected to add up to 2,800 units to your sales volume next year and about 3,000 starting in 2010. What volume do you expect by 2010?

First of all, let me say that we aren't interested in volumes. That being said, it's a very difficult to make any forecast right now.

What has driven Ferrari's growth?

Ferrari's growth in the last decade derives mainly from an expansion in the number of markets where we sell cars and a little from increasing the units we deliver to our traditionally big markets. This lets us keep the right level of exclusiveness for our products and helps us protect our residual values.

On average, how much money does a Ferrari customer spend on options to customize the car?

It depends a lot on the market and model, but it is roughly €15,000 to €18,000 per car.

That represents an additional 10 percent on a V-8 model and 7 percent to 8 percent on a V-12.

Ferrari just completed an 11-year, €200 million renovation and expansion of its headquarters and production lines in Maranello. How many people now work for Ferrari?

We are roughly 3,000 people, of which 1,800 work on road-car production, 800 are in the racing department and 300 in r&d.

What is the installed capacity at the upgrade assembly plant?

Twenty units a day.

In the second half, Ferrari reported an operating margin of 20.5 percent. That was the best of any automaker during that period and could be the best result ever for an auto company. Was this a one-time success or is there room for further improvement?

For a company like ours, where there is a significant amount of spending on Formula One racing during certain months, a quarter-by-quarter analysis is not particularly significant.

Ferrari's operating margin was 12.6 percent in 2006. It grew to 15.9 percent last year and will improve significantly this year.

Could you provide a breakdown of your revenues per sector?

Since the company was established, Mr. Ferrari only wanted to reveal how much the company was earning overall. We love to follow our founder's guidelines. Licensing and merchandising are clearly important for us and they are continuously growing. For example, the estimated retail value of all the Ferrari-brand products worldwide is about €1 billion.

Which sector is the most profitable?

In term of return on sales, it is licensing and merchandising by far.

The business accounts for 15 percent to 20 percent of Ferrari's operating profit.

We currently have 25 Ferrari stores. More than half of them are located outside of Italy.

What expectations do you have for your theme park in Abu Dhabi?

We want to expand Ferrari brand awareness to new markets and to a broader audience than just Formula One supporters.

The park will be ready in 2010, which is when the first Abu Dhabi F1 race takes place.

If this park is successful, we could expand the idea to other markets. Trust me, we are not lacking in requests.

Dealers in Europe have complained that they may lose their franchises because of tough standards demanded by the company in August after Ferrari canceled all its franchise contracts.

The cancellation was done in preparation for the new franchise contracts that will be needed to comply with the next block exemption, as the current one expires in 2010.

Ferrari has made significant investments in the past decade to completely renew its headquarters, factory and products. We want our dealers to follow us by upgrading their corporate standards to match what the new Ferrari is.

We have 80 dealers in Europe. If they want to continue partnering with us, we would be happy to continue doing business with them.

At 305.6 grams per kilometer, the Ferrari California's CO2 emissions are 27 percent below the 430 coupe's. Which areas contributed most to the reduction?

The new direct-injection engine and the new design of the cylinder heads contributed more than 50 percent to the improvement. Better aerodynamics contributed 10 percent, the new dual-clutch transmission saved 7 percent to 8 percent, while new tires and new brakes each accounted for about 5 percent to 6 percent of the CO2 reduction.

When will Ferrari offer a car that produces less than 300g/km?

Starting in the middle of next year we will install a stop-start-system on California units that will be shipped to China. Those cars will emit less than 300g/km.

For our V-12 engines, our target is to slash CO2 emissions more than over 20 percent to about 350g/km.

By 2011-2012, new Ferrari models will emit 30 percent to 40 percent less CO2 then our current range.

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