The new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter will be introduced to the South African market in the last quarter of 2006, says Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles marketing communications manager Gert Grobler. So far, more than 1,3-million units have been sold worldwide. “Local sales accounted for an average of 1 400 units a year over the last ten years, and sales for 2005 are on target for a record, with 1 360 units for the year to date, which, for a vehicle in its run-out phase, is phenomenal,” notes Grobler.

Combined new passenger and commercial vehicle sales in South Africa topped the 50 000 unit mark for the fifth month in succession, as the motor industry stayed on course for its best year in its history, according to figures released on Friday by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa). Aggregate industry sales for November of 50 565 units show an improvement of 8 909 vehicles, or 21,4%, compared to the 41 656 new vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year.

South Africa's competition authority fined car dealers, importers and manufacturers in a price-fixing case officials said had artificially hiked auto prices in Africa's biggest market. The Competition Tribunal said the fines, ranging from about $1.8 million to $23,000, were imposed following a consent order negotiated by competition officials.General Motors South Africa was fined 12 million rand ($1.8 million), DaimlerChrysler South Africa 8 million rand, and Nissan South Africa 6 million rand. The Tribunal further said that appointed dealers of Subaru South Africa represented by the Subaru Dealer Council would be fined 500,000 rand and a company representing Citroen South Africa would be fined 150,000 rand.

General Motors Corp is considering exporting vehicles from its Chinese division to developing markets in a further sign of China's potential to supply the world with cheaply-built vehicles, the Financial Times reported. The troubled U.S. car maker is evaluating whether there is sufficient demand for exports to markets such as India, Indonesia, the Middle East and South America and will make a decision later this year, Troy Clarke, head of GM's Asian division, said in an interview with the newspaper.
 

Visteon, the nation's second-biggest auto-parts supplier , plans to close three plants and put an additional six up for sale under a restructuring plan announced Wednesday. The plan could affect up to 23 Visteon facilities worldwide. It is the second major restructuring in two years for Visteon, the former parts division of Ford Motor. Last year, it transferred another 23 North American facilities back to Ford in an effort to avoid bankruptcy.
 

French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen cut its 2005 profit outlook for the second time in three months after European car sales weakened further in the last quarter of 2005, pushing its shares lower on Wednesday. Car makers are struggling to make money in a European market where pessimistic consumers are delaying big-ticket purchases, despite record-low interest rates. PSA, the world's sixth-largest automobile maker, forecast gross operating income of 1.940 billion euros ($2.34 billion) for 2005, or 3.4 percent of sales, after 2.534 billion in 2004

Magna International, Canada's largest auto parts manufacturer , said it expects earnings to rise in 2006 with sales due to run between $22 billion and $23.3 billion. The company said in a statement its 2006 outlook is based on light-vehicle production volumes of about 15.8 million units in North America and about the same number in Europe. Full-year 2006 average dollar content per vehicle is expected to be between $750 and $780 in North America and between $300 and $325 in Europe, it added.

Skoda’s UK unit confirmed that the Czech Republic automaker would enter the hotly-contested SUV segment by putting the Yeti ‘concept’, shown at international motor shows last year, into production. Skoda UK spokeswoman, Cathie Bell, confirmed the intention to create Skoda’s fifth model line during the launch of the sporty Octavia vRS variant in Barcelona. She also noted that that Skoda GB bucked the declining British market trend in 2005 to post record sales of 37,803 cars. “Our 2005 sales were up 8% on 2004, in a market that as a whole fell by 5%,” Bell said, adding that the brand now enjoyed a record 1.6% market share in the UK.

South Africans seem to adore French ‘va-va-voom’. In 2003, Renault sold 8 950 cars locally, in 2004 14 500, and this year the figure is expected to peak at an all-time high of 19 500. In 2002 the company recorded market share of 2,5%, which has since grown to 5,3%. The aim is to capture a bigger slice of a rapidly-growing local market by 2008 – namely 7%. The Megane family contributes around 55% to local Renault sales every year.“We have an extensive range of models avail-able, and will keep on expanding our dealer net- work to ensure we cover most of South Africa.” Two years ago, Renault had 43 dealerships countrywide, which will number 55 by the end of this year and 65 by the end of next year.

In the first 11 months of 2005 , Land Rover's U.S. sales rose by 30.8 percent over the year-ago period, to 39,262 vehicles. The LR3 large SUV accounted for 42.9 percent of those sales. The U.S. luxury-truck segment is dominated by Lexus, Cadillac and BMW, which control half the market. This year, Land Rover has moved from eighth to sixth place in the segment, with a 7.6 percent market share through November 2005, up from 5.7 percent in the year-ago period.

Nissan Motor Co. will begin importing its Infiniti luxury sedans into China by the end of 2007, the Japanese automaker said on Monday, Dec. 19. "We aim to have 10 percent of the premium (import) market by 2011," said Sharon Shen, spokesperson for Nissan (China) Investment Co. The market for such high-end imported cars is around 35,000 units a year, said Yale Zhang, head of emerging markets forecasting for CSM Asia in Shanghai.

Paris -- French car equipment maker Faurecia said it would not be able to meet its second-half profit margin target due to weakness in its Vehicle Interiors business and high raw material prices. Faurecia said it now expected its overall operating margin to fall to between 1.7 percent and 2 percent in the half from 3.5 percent a year ago. Europe's second-biggest listed car-part maker had previously forecast a second half in line with the first, when it had an operating margin of 2.9 percent.

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Honda Motor Co. said it would bring its high-end Acura brand to its home Japanese market in late 2008, following Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus marque into the lucrative premium segment. Honda's planned entry is set to fan competition in a sector long dominated by European brands such as DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz and BMW AG, which already face pressure from Lexus' debut in Japan in late August. Honda will initially set up about 100 Acura dealers in Japan. "This will enable Honda to achieve further growth and take a big step forward in Japan," Honda said, citing its goal of selling at least 800,000 vehicles in Japan every year.