Archive for December, 2010
Volvo Outlines Growth Plans Amid Sale Rumors
Fredrik Arp the president and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation is not affected by the intensifying rumors about the potential sale of the Swedish automaker along with its Premier Automotive Group PAG siblings Jaguar and Land Rover. Amid rumors the automaker is outlining growth plans to boost its global sales.
When asked if Volvo had a longterm future with Ford he replied “you should ask Ford about that. I am not dealing with hypothesis I am focusing on operating and running Volvo Cars and we are doing very fine this year.”
“The reason I reject going into this speculation and discussion is that it is not in the interests of Volvo Car stakeholders customers dealers or anybody else and because I do not own the business. However as we have consistently been saying since last year Ford has been considering a number of strategic options for all of our operations as any responsible business should do” the Wall Street Journal quoted Arp as saying.
Currently the Gothenburgbased car manufacturer is in the middle of a dual model launch programme with the imminent launch of the new V70 and XC70 sales of estate cars represented over onethird of the brand’s global sales in 2006.
The new Volvo V70 launched last February was developed to be a slightly more upmarket than its predecessor but remains the same size. The car features unique styling sharing little externally with other Volvos. The equipment used will be far different from Volvo 740 parts. The V70 shares the Ford EUCD platform and much of the interior with the new S80. It is equipped with a 3.2l straightsix a 3.0l turbo straightsix a lightpressure turbo 2.5l straightfive and two 2.4l straightfive diesel engines.
Arp was surprised to know that General Motors Corp. was planning to enhance Saab’s profitability by decreasing output and zeroing in on cost reduction. From his standpoint the CEO explained that Volvo was in the lucky situation of driving growth global sales grew eight percent yearonyear y/y in the first five months of 2007 and the company is using its current installed capacity more efficiently meaning that there was no need to expand production in Europe or anywhere else in the medium term.
The Swedish automaker has a total annual production capacity of around 580000 units worldwide of which it produces about 450000 units annually and wants to concentrate on making further efficiency gains to bolster its growth ambitions. By 2010 Volvo aims to sell 600000 units around the globe. The target will be supported by Volvos Sweden Belgium and China plants.
Volvo confirmed to Global Insight that the allnew XC60 crossover will come out during the second half of 2008 and development was according to plan. It means that the production version will be very close to the concept. “Beyond the XC60 we have not any firm thoughts and I will not comment on speculation around the possible consolidation of the S40 and S60 into one model. We think about all sorts of model developments and we see the segment created by the Mercedes Bclass as very interesting at the same time we are thinking whether the XC60 will have a little brother that could be categorized as a MultiActivity Vehicle Arp concluded.
Volvo does not intend to produce cars in the United States its largest market despite the weak US currency Automotive News Europe quoted Arp as saying. The combination of a weak currency and overcapacity prevents North American OEMs from passing on raw material price hikes said Arp. This makes setting up a plant and assembling vehicles in the US expensive the report stated.
About the writer: Glady Reign is a 32 year old is a consultant for an automotive firm based in Detroit Mi. she is a native of the motor city and grew up around cars hence her expertise in the automotive field.
Volvo Cv Joint: The Key To A Fast And Smooth Driving
High quality cars are always sought after in the market. Most of these cars pride themselves in their performance and stylish exteriors like what Volvo produces. Built with quality and safety in mind their cars are designed to be fast but smoothly. How do these cars go so fast and so smooth? The car’s drive shaft is the answer.
The Volvo drive shaft is essentially the carrier of torque a device that transfers power from the cars engine to the point where work is applied. The drive shafts today have universal joints or Ujoints which are the devices that help them to move up and down during suspension. One type of Ujoint is a Volvo CV joint. It is designed to create a smooth transfer of torque from the driven shaft to the driving shaft without any fluctuations in the speed of the driven shaft. They are primarily used in front wheel drive and all wheel drive cars. On the other hand rear wheel drive cars with independent rear suspensions commonly use CV joints at the ends of the rear axle halfshafts.
The Volvo CV joint is packed with grease and protected by a rubber or plastic boot called CV boot. There are two commonly used types of CV joints a balltype and a tripodtype. The balltype CV joints are used on the outer side of the drive shaft while tripodtype CV joints are usually used on the inner side.
Since Volvo CV Joint is made from high quality materials it will not need any immediate replacing. In fact it doesn’t require regular maintenance unlike other car parts. One may encounter some problems regarding the CV joints in case the protective boot gets damaged. When this happen the grease comes out and moisture and dirt will come in. This may cause the Volvo CV joint to become defective. One can tell if he has a problematic CV joint once there is a clicking or popping noise when turning.
About the writer: Glady Reign is a 32 year old is a consultant for an automotive firm based in Detroit Mi. she is a native of the motor city and grew up around cars hence her expertise in the automotive field.
Vauxhall Opel And Holden Are They All Really The Same?
Vauxhall throughout its history has attempted place cars on the forecourts of dealers that are attractive to buyers and above all affordable. They have had serious competition in this role however particularly from American company Ford although British Leyland provided serious competition for many years. The first Vauxhall factory was opened by Alex Wilson cars however were not the first items to roll off the productions line; originally it was pumps and engines that were the mainstay of Vauxhall’s trade. It was not until 1903 that the first cars rolled out onto the forecourts of dealers.
While the company started out as a British owned and run operation this soon changed as in the twenties Vauxhall was bought out by American car manufacturing giant General Motors. The decision to sell affected the design and sale of the cars for generations to come whilst also tying Vauxhall to its new European counterpart Opel. The price of the buyout was only two and a half million pounds for this sum GM received the company lock stock and barrel; the factories dealers and all the assets. Unfortunately the parent company was less inclined to inspire forward thinking design and the cars were somewhat dull and boring resembling their American and European counterparts.
While GM purchased Vauxhall in 1925 taking over production and the running of the company it was not until four years later that this American giant decided to buy out the German company Opel. Since this time the two companies their dealers and workers were intertwined producing cars that were practically identical in terms of design and build. Opel cars are common all across Europe and are regarded to be GM’s strongest European brand. However the Vauxhall Company have always rejected a name change for the sake of homogenisation fiercely clinging to their own identity as a British manufacturer. That said nearly all models produced by both companies have been almost the same just with different names and slightly different styling. One example being the Opel Kadett which in Britain was labelled the Astra. The latter name was seemingly more popular as the both companies have now adopted it for the most modern variant.
That said within Britain there were Opel dealers in operation selling practically identical models to those of Vauxhall. This however changed in the late seventies and early eighties when GM made the decision to faze out the Opel dealers within the UK the last Opel sale in the UK being in 1988. Opel cars do however continue to be sold in Ireland as the reverse of the closure process happened in this country. Vauxhall dealers were shut or simply taken over by Opel during the eighties. The reason behind such a move was duplication and GM simply making competition for themselves. Today both companies market cars with the same names and design although the prefix naturally differs.
Another sister of both Vauxhall and Opel is Holden predominantly operating in Australia. Once again this was once an independent company but was bought by GM in 1931. This company has a number of models designed by their European counterparts although has retained some of their independence by marketing high powered models for the racing sphere. The most recent being the Commodore the first vehicle to be completely designed and built by the company for over thirty years. Clearly it is Holden that has managed to retain the largest amount of independence within the GM dominion.
Vauxhall has had trouble continuing its independent nature as one of the subsidiaries of GM. But being owned by such a powerful parent company has ensured their survival in a UK car industry that has experienced decline since the mid twentieth century. Today the cars on forecourts of dealers owe as much to GM as they do to the work of Alex Wilson over one hundred years ago.
About the writer: Motor industry expert Thomas Pretty looks at the cars in Vauxhall dealers and their likeness to other GM owned brands.
