World Auto News & Reviews

More often than not, we think that the American automobile industry may have been in a much better state if only the people who are actually engaged in the creation of cars had a say in the decision making. This conceptual proposal for a Chevrolet Volt-based Saab coupe from Mayeul Walser, a 4th year Car Design student in Creapole-Esdi, is a good example. You may or may not like the design, but the idea of an aggressively styled hybrid Saab coupe is more than engaging.
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Watch the coupe’s presentation from the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this month, and don’t forget to lower the volume of your speakers because you’re probably going to get as annoyed as we did the music background.

The Volkswagen Group again demonstrated its market strength in the first quarter of the current fiscal year in the midst of a deep recession. “We further increased our global market share in the first quarter thanks to our new model rollout and strong presence in the key sales markets”, said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft’s Board of Management on Wednesday at the presentation of the interim report. “Of course we, too, are not immune to the crisis. However, with its nine strong brands and sound financial position, our Group is robust. This allowed the Group to reinforce its market position in the first quarter, and that remains our goal for the year as a whole”, he added. Volkswagen had been able to reduce inventories significantly. “This was a major factor in improving our cash flow and liquidity”, noted CFO Hans Dieter Pötsch. “In the current difficult global economic situation, our sustained cost discipline and highly targeted investment activities are more important than ever before. Preserving our financial flexibility remains a high priority”, according to Pötsch.

In the first three months of the year, the Volkswagen Group delivered 1.40 million (1.57 million) vehicles worldwide. Although the overall market contracted by more than 20 percent, the Volkswagen Group only recorded a decline of 10.7 percent, thereby improving its global market share to 11.0 percent (9.7 percent). As planned, the production volume decreased by 24.1 percent year-on-year to 1.25 million (1.65 million) vehicles. With this move, Volkswagen has reduced inventories significantly. Sales revenue declined by 11.2 percent to €24.0 billion (€27.0 billion) in the first quarter due to volume-related factors. Operating profit amounted to €312 million (€1,311 million). The sale of the Brazilian commercial vehicles business contributed around €600 million to this. The Group generated a profit after tax of €243 million (€929 million).
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Green Star Products, Inc. (OTC: GSPI) announced today that within the next four weeks it plans to publicly test its plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).

The demonstration will take place in Corbin, Kentucky, where the vehicle will be test driven and evaluated by industry representatives. The plug-in hybrid electric vehicle will be driven on a simulated city driving test route. The company expects to demonstrate that during an eight hour delivery day simulation this plug-in hybrid vehicle can exceed 150 miles while exhibiting an efficiency of over 75 mpg (miles per gallon).

Earlier this month, Green Star Products along with its International Consortium partner Global Green Cars had publicly tested its full electric vehicle version at tracks in Utah and Kentucky. Global Green Cars is a U.S. and International Consortium of automobile companies and associated supply companies which includes Green Star Products as an engineering and technology provider.
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Those of you in the States wanting a Porsche Panamera now have the opportunity to build one on the manufacturer’s website. Porsche is now allowing customers to configure their own Panamera S, Panamera 4S, or Panamera Turbo, in addition to viewing current and past issues of the “The Panamera Magazine” online.
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