Auto sales in places like Russia, China, Brazil and India are expected to drive world demand to new records despite a sales slump in America, Europe and Japan, a Canadian bank said recently in Ottawa.

Global car sales advanced a mere 1.5 percent in the first half of 2008, undercut by slowing developed economies and record oil Global Auto Report. But BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China continue to post double-digit gains in automotive sales, it said. “Despite the year-over-year sales decline in recent months, we expect full-year 2008 volumes to climb to a seventh consecutive annual record, buoyed by ongoing strength in Brazil, Russia, China and India,” said Carlos Gomes, a Scotia Bank senior economist and the report’s author.

According to the report, total car and truck sales volumes fell in both May and June, crippled by record oil prices averaging 130 US dollars per barrel and weakness in the mature markets of Western Europe, Japan and the United States. In the United States, sales of sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks plunged by nearly 30 percent compared to the same period last year.

A further weakening of the US economy is also expected to slash full-year passenger vehicle sales to 14.1 million units in 2008, and to 14.3 million units in 2009 – “the worst back-to-back performance since 1993,” the report said. Surging oil prices, however, had little impact in Brazil, which accounts for 60 percent of all South American sales.

Eighty-eight per cent of new vehicles sold in Brazil are flex-fuel models that can run on less expensive ethanol, manufactured domestically from sugar cane. Its vehicles sales were up more than 24 percent in the first half of 2008. Vehicles sales in China moderated from an average annual increase of 30 percent this decade to a hike of 17 percent in the report.

China insulates domestic consumers from high oil prices by subsidizing fuel costs, but lifted fuel prices by nearly 10 percent in November and raised prices an additional 18 percent in June. In Russia, which is considered separately, car sales were up 40 percent in the first half of 2008 to 1.45 million units.

The report said Russia is set to become the world’s fourth largest car market in 2009 after America, China and Japan, with annual volumes of 3.7 million units. If you are looking for exporters of used cars, please click here: Used Cars Exporters

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Hino Motors, Ltd. (Hino) has relocated its used vehicle business operations from Mizuho-machi, Nishi-Tama-gun, Tokyo to Hidaka-shi, Saitama Prefecture, transferring the headquarters and used vehicle center of its used vehicle business subsidiary, Hino U-Truck, Ltd. (HUT), in order to increase the number of used vehicles in its stock and its supply volume.

The primary objectives of Hino’s used vehicle center are, a) to stock a large volume of vehicles for retail sales and b) to allow its domestic sales company to easily procure trucks and buses in order to fully comply with their customers’ requests.

As it has been anticipated that the demand of new vehicles may be reduced in Japan, Hino opened its used vehicle center in Kobe as an outlet for the Kansai Area in December 2006, with a view to expanding it as one of Hino’s core businesses. Although two outlets have been created, including the Mizuho Used Vehicle Center for the Kanto area, as the scale of the Mizuho Used Vehicle Center which could stock approximately 120 units was relatively small to cover the whole Kanto area in which the scale of the used vehicle market and the supply volume were large, the number of vehicles in stock was increased to approximately 300 units by relocating it to Hidaka-shi.

The relocation to Hidaka Used Vehicle Center at this time enables Hino to increase the supply volume of used vehicles to its sales company, and allows its customers to easily select a desirable used trucks and buses.

Source: Hino Mortors. Ltd.

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GM plans to invest $500 million on its all-new global compact car, the Chevrolet Cruze, being built at its Lordstown, Ohio plant in America. Ohio plant in America. Later it will also be built in Europe and in the Asia Pacific for sales in the region. Banking on the demand for small niche cars, the auto maker has increased production of compact cars after a drop in sales of its profitable pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles due to high fuel prices.

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Honda’s large transmission plant in west-central Ohio reached a major milestone when associates built their 10 millionth automatic transmission. Honda Transmission Mfg. of America supplies these transmissions to Honda’s auto engine plant in Anna, Ohio, where they are mated up with the engines for delivery to Honda auto plants in Marysville and East Liberty, Ohio, and in Canada and Mexico.

Located in Logan County near Russells Point, Honda Transmission has manufactured* transmissions for nearly 12 years. The 10 millionth transmission was produced for a Honda Accord and will remain on display in the plant. Nearly every department was involved in its production through its final assembly and quality inspection, including casting of the aluminum case, and forging and machining of its high-precision gears.

More than 1,000 associates at Honda Transmission are being recognized at an internal ceremony for their contributions to the production milestone. “Our team has worked very hard to achieve this milestone,” Honda Transmission President Nobuyuki Sanui said. “Working together as one team to exceed our customer expectations is the driving force behind our successes.”

Since starting transmission production in 1996, Honda Transmission has steadily expanded operations to keep pace with Honda’s growth into new passenger car and light truck models. In addition to the Accord, the plant produces automatic transmissions for the Honda Ridgeline, Element and CR-V, and the Acura TL, MDX and RDX.

The plant’s growth would not have been possible without the contributions of each associate, said Jeff Tomko, the company’s vice president. “What we are celebrating goes well beyond a production milestone,” Tomko said. “Our associates have worked as a strong team to satisfy 10 million customers, and they are continuing to build on that success as we increase our capabilities with the additional production of gears and differentials.”

The result of a $100 million expansion project, Honda Transmission associates started producing high-precision transmission gears in 2006, followed a year later by four-wheel-drive rear differentials for the Acura RDX and MDX. That 263,000-square-foot expansion was part of a major North American drive-train initiative that Honda announced in late 2004 that also included investment of $100 million for Honda Precision Parts of Georgia, a new plant that now supplies automatic transmissions for the light trucks produced at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama. At the same time, Honda invested $70 million to expand engine machining at the Alabama plant.

More recently, Honda invested $75 million at the Anna Engine Plant in Ohio to increase the production of steel engine parts previously imported from Japan. That project included a 135,000-square-foot expansion to manufacture camshafts, crankshafts, cylinder sleeves and connecting rods. Honda’s largest auto engine plant in the world, the Anna plant celebrated production of its 15 millionth engine last year.

Honda Transmission’s predecessor company, Bellemar Parts Industries, started producing auto parts for Honda of America Mfg. in 1982 as the Marysville Auto Plant was making history as the first Japanese auto plant in America. The company was formally incorporated as Honda Transmission Mfg. in 1997. Investment in the 651,000-square-foot facility exceeds $325 million.

Among five Honda plants in Ohio, Honda Transmission has the capacity annually to produce 750,000 automatic transmissions, 288,000 gear sets and 110,000 rear differentials. Honda’s two auto plants in Marysville and East Liberty, Ohio, produced a record 700,000 cars and light trucks in the state last year, making it the largest auto manufacturer in Ohio.

Source: Honda Motor Co. Ltd.

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Bleeding cash and with its very survival uncertain, Ford, an icon of American auto making, will try to import some of its success from Europe.

Ford reported its worst-ever quarterly loss and announced plans to bring over six small, fuel-efficient cars it makes in Europe and start selling them in North America, where Ford is losing billions on its truck-heavy lineup.

The company burned through nearly $11 billion of its cash stockpile in the past year and reported in the past year and reported a second-quarter loss of $8.7 billion.

Ford is trying to save itself by quickly shifting from a truck company into a car company.

But the help from Europe will not arrive until 2010: It takes time to retool plants in America and importing the cars directly is too costly.

Industry watchers wonder whether Ford has enough cash to survive until then.

Ford has successfully sold cars in Europe for years, and it made billions of dollars selling trucks to American.

But American drivers have recoiled this year from high gas prices and bolted for smaller cars. But Ford, GM and Chrysler still have to make up ground on Asian competitors who have won a lot of American car market in recent years, analysts say.

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