Peugeot Citroen reveals ‘real-world’ fuel consumption

GENEVA, Switzerland — Leading French automobile manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen published Tuesday “real-world” fuel consumption figures for three of its diesel cars, seeking to win over wary customers after the Volkswagen pollution cheating scandal.

Peugeot Citroen said the initiative was a world first, launched in the aftermath of German rival Volkswagen’s admission last year that it had fitted 11 million diesel engines worldwide with devices that fool official pollution tests.

“We were obviously shocked by what happened with Volkswagen-gate and in some way, like the profession, the whole automobile industry, we were affected by the situation and deeply upset,” Carlos Tavares, chairman of the group’s managing board, said on the sidelines of the Geneva International Motor Show.

“It was important to safeguard our customers’ trust in relation to knowing their automobiles’ consumption,” he told a conference.

The French car maker said the results were based on tests designed by two environmental groups, Transport & Environment and France Nature Environment.

The cars were driven on public roads in town, outside town and on motorways near Paris in “real-life” driving conditions with passengers, luggage, roads with hills and the air conditioning switched on, Peugeot Citroen said in a statement.

“Peugeot Citroen is the first car maker to adopt such an approach,” the company said.

Peugeot Citroen promised to reveal the real-world fuel consumption results for 30 models “before summer 2016″.

Learn from past mistakes
As expected, all the “real-world” fuel consumption figures exceeded the results of the existing official laboratory-style New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) tests, which were thrown into question by the Volkswagen scandal.

The “real world” tests showed:

- A medium-sized sedan Peugeot 308 consumed 5.0 litres for 100 kilometres, compared to just 3.2 litres in the NEDC tests;

- A Citroen C4 Picasso people carrier drank 5.6 litres for 100 km, compared to 4.0 litres in the NEDC tests;

- And the premium subcompact DS 3 used 4.9 litres over 100 km, compared to 3.6 litres in the NEDC tests.

All three cars were equipped with 1.6-litre, 120-horsepower engines with manual gearboxes.

New official tests called the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedures, aimed at better measuring real-world fuel or energy consumption and pollution emissions are being defined for introduction in 2017.

For now, the official NEDC tests are the only recognised thermometer for car performance in Europe, said Gilles Le Borgne, head of research and development at Peugeot Citroen.

“If others want to join our initiative we would be delighted,” he said, adding however that no other manufacturer had shown interest in doing so.

Peugeot Citroen first announced the real-world testing initiative in November last year, two months after the Volkswagen cheating scandal broke.

Volkswagen admitted the existence of the illegal cheat software on diesel engines which limits the output of toxic nitrogen oxides during emissions tests by regulators.

But when the vehicles are in actual use, the software allows them to spew poisonous gases far above permitted levels.

Volkswagen chief Matthias Mueller called in Geneva on Monday for his company to “learn from past mistakes”.

In 2015, VW’s own-brand sales fell five percent to 5.82 million vehicles worldwide, the first decline in 11 years, the company has revealed. On top of lost earnings, VW is facing a barrage of legal complaints related to the scandal.

source: interaksyon.com

Porsche boss is named new Volkswagen CEO

Wolfsburg, Germany - Embattled car maker Volkswagen tapped Porsche chief Matthias Mueller Friday (early Saturday in the Philippines) to steer it out of the wreckage of a widening scandal over pollution test rigging, as Washington said it would check all diesel cars for devices that fool emissions tests.

The 62-year-old Mueller replaces Martin Winterkorn, who has resigned over the stunning revelations by US environmental authorities that the German car maker had fitted some of its diesel cars with software capable of tricking environmental tests -- a scam that could lead to fines worth more than $18 billion (16.1 billion euros).

The scale of VW's deception became clear when the company admitted that 11 million of its diesel cars are equipped with so-called defeat devices that covertly turn off pollution controls when the car is being driven and back on when tests are being conducted.

Calling the cheating a "moral and policy disaster", the company's supervisory board chief Berthold Huber said the group is now looking to Mueller, who "knows the company and its brands", to tackle the crisis.

Board member Bernd Osterloh added that "a small group had caused great damage to Volkswagen".

Mueller himself vowed that his "most pressing task will be to restore confidence in the Volkswagen Group -- through an unsparing investigation and maximum transparency, but also by drawing the right lessons from the current situation".

"We will overcome this crisis," he said, adding that the car maker could "emerge stronger from the crisis in the long term" if it learned from its mistakes.

Mueller has a daunting task ahead given the global amplitude of the scandal.

Swiss authorities said late Friday that they have temporarily banned the sale of Volkswagen vehicles potentially fitted with the rigging software.

The ban came as authorities from India to Norway announced new probes, while the US environmental regulator said it would test all diesel car models.

"Today we are putting vehicle manufacturers on notice that our testing is going to include additional evaluation and tests designed to look for potential defeat devices," said Christopher Grundler, director of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Transportation & Air Quality.

An hour before the group announced its new chief, VW shares closed 4.32 percent down Friday at 107.30 euros, after a rout this week in which a third of the company's market capitalization -- or over 20 billion euros -- was wiped off.

Mueller, born in Chemnitz in the former Communist East Germany, has been dubbed "the imperturbable" by newspaper Die Welt.

He has also been described as someone who knows how to use his elbows, "but I don't see it as playing foul, rather as a sign of perseverance and mettle", the daily quoted him as saying.

Winterkorn, who once famously said he knows "every screw in our cars", said he was "stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen group".

The 68-year-old said he accepted responsibility as chief executive but was "not aware of any wrongdoing".

With the German car industry reeling, top-of-the-range automaker BMW suffered collateral damage on Thursday when its shares skidded after the weekly Auto Bild reported that emissions from one of its diesel models were 11 times higher than European Union norms.

While there was no indication that BMW had cheated in pollution tests -- something the company strongly denied having done -- the report nevertheless shook investors.

Daimler too issued a firm denial Friday that its vehicles were rigged, after an environmental group claimed that they too, were affected.

VW faces a growing list of legal tangles.

Norway and India have opened fraud probes, Australia said it was checking to see if it was affected, and Mexico was investigating whether 40,000 VW cars there comply with emissions rules.

France and Britain announced new checks and the European Union urged its 28 member states to investigate whether vehicles in their countries complied with pollution rules.

Private law firms are also lining up to take on the German company, with a class action suit already filed by a Seattle law firm.

VW has set aside 6.5 billion euros in provisions for the third quarter to cover the potential costs of the disclosures, while ratings agencies have warned they may cut Volkswagen's credit rating, which could increase the company's financing costs.

The company's two main joint ventures in China have said, however, that their products were not involved in the rigging scandal.

China -- the world's biggest auto market -- is crucial for VW, which delivered 3.67 million cars in the country last year, beating US rival General Motors' 3.54 million sold, figures from the companies showed.

source: interaksyon.com

GM’s new chief seeks global share gain

DETROIT — The new chief of General Motors vowed to keep a steady hand on the wheel Thursday as she seeks to expand global market share and complete a major turnaround at the US automaker’s troubled European unit.

“To me, what’s important is we’re focused on the product,” Mary Barra, who took over as chief executive officer last week, told reporters at GM headquarters in Detroit.

Barra said she did not expect to make major changes in the strategies she inherited from outgoing chief Dan Akerson, who successfully steered GM back into profitability and independence after a government-backed bankruptcy.

“There is a strategy and the word (from me) is accelerate,” she said in her first lengthy discussion with journalists since becoming the first woman to head a major automaker.

“Don’t expect any right or left turns.”

GM plans to maintain robust investment in the development of new vehicles and continue its disciplined approach to pricing and incentives even as the rapid growth in US sales is expected to plateau.

“We’re in it for the long term,” said Barra who started her career with GM more than 30 years ago and worked her way up through the ranks after receiving a degree in electrical engineering from the old General Motors Institute in Flint.

“We have to maintain the fortress balance sheet. This is a cyclical business. We want to make sure we have the financial performance that allows us to reinvest in the business.”

GM, which for 77 years was the world’s largest automaker in terms of sales before being overtaken by Japanese rival Toyota in 2008, was once again relegated to second place Thursday when Toyota announced record 2013 sales of 9.98 million vehicles.

GM sold 9.71 million cars last year, while Germany’s Volkswagen logged annual sales of 9.5 million.

While she didn’t indicate any strong desire to regain the crown, Barra said she was “looking for modest share growth” both in the United States and globally.

“We have a strategy. I think there is a lot of opportunity,” around the world, she said.

Barra expects GM to continue its expansion in China where the company and its partners are second behind Volkswagen.

“Clearly we have great opportunities in China,” she said.

Europe — where GM has lost money for 16 consecutive years and expects to post another loss when it reports 2013 results next month — remains a trouble spot.

But Barra expressed confidence in the automaker’s restructuring plan, which aims for profitability by mid-decade, and said she doesn’t have any kind of hard and fast deadline for the turnaround to be complete.

“Europe is an important market,” Barra said. “I’m a glass half-full kind of person. I think Europe is very great opportunity for GM.”

While it’s “important to operate profitably everywhere we operate,” Barra noted that the automaker’s transformation in Europe — and particularly at its subsidiary Opel — is nonetheless impressive.

“We’re no longer talking about the viability of Opel,” said Barra, who has served on Opel’s board for the past couple years.

“Instead the focus is on showing of Opel products and rebuilding the image of the Opel brand,” she said. “We’re going to do everything we can to strengthen the Opel brand.”

source: interaksyon.com

Volkswagen says net profit surged 36% in first half

BERLIN - Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, said Thursday that bottom-line profits in the first half of the year soared by more than a third, leading it to confirm its upbeat forecast for 2012.

The group, which manufactures 10 makes of vehicles, reported a 36-percent rise in net profit to 8.83 billion euros ($10.71 billion) during the first six months of 2012 and saw a 23-percent rise in turnover to 95.38 billion euros.

Meanwhile operating profit jumped nearly seven percent to 6.50 billion euros after the group sold 4.6 million vehicles around the globe.

But it said that heightened competition and uncertainty touched off by the eurozone debt crisis in some of its key European markets would weigh on growth this year.

"The Volkswagen Group's main competitive advantages are its multibrand strategy, a range of vehicles that covers almost all segments from subcompact cars to heavy trucks and its growing presence in all major regions of the world, together with its wide range of financial services," it said.

"This will become even more attractive thanks to the integration of Porsche, with its offering of exclusive sports cars."

Volkswagen and Porsche surprised markets earlier this month by announcing they would move their planned merger forward by two years in a deal set to unlock hundreds of millions of euros in untapped synergies.

"The contribution in full of Porsche's automotive business, which is expected to take place as of August 1, 2012, will lead to its consolidation in the Volkswagen Group," the company said.

"However, the resulting increase in sales revenue will be relatively slight due to consolidation effects."

Volkswagen, which includes Seat, Skoda, MAN trucks, Scania and Audi in its stable of brands, appeared far more buoyant than other German automakers such as General Motors unit Opel.

"Our goal for operating profit is to match the 2011 level," it said.

On Wednesday, Daimler, which makes the iconic Mercedes Benz, said its second-quarter net profit had tumbled 11 percent to 1.52 billion euros.

source: interaksyon.com