Comp�titivit� : deux syndicats valident l'accord chez Renault

L'accord de comp?titivit? chez Renault a re?u un aval important, le syndicat Force ouvri?re ayant d?clar?, mercredi 6 mars, qu'il "signerait" le texte, embo?tant le pas au syndicat de cadres CFE-CGC. Le feu vert de ces deux centrales (qui repr?sentent respectivement 15,6 % et 29,7 % des voix aux ?lections professionnelles, soit plus que les 30 % requis) permet de valider le projet d'accord, qui pr?voit le maintien des usines en France en ?change d'efforts durables demand?s aux salari?s.?

"Une large majorit? s'est d?gag?e et la d?cision a ?t? prise aujourd'hui, a d?clar? le d?l?gu? central de FO, Laurent Smolnik. Nous allons signer l'accord consid?rant qu'il vaut mieux qu'une r?gression programm?e."

"Il fallait arr?ter l'h?morragie et sortir de la spirale infernale dans laquelle ?taient des sites comme Douai, Sandouville et Flins", trois sites de production en sous-charge et ? l'avenir incertain, dit encore le d?l?gu? FO. FO avait "deux exigences : faire sauter le caract?re obligatoire des mobilit?s" et obtenir des "engagements fermes de Renault sur les volumes", a r?sum? M. Smolnik.

Le ministre du travail, Michel Sapin, a estim? dans la soir?e qu'il s'agissait d'un "bon accord dans les conditions d'aujourd'hui, c'est ce qui va permettre de sauvegarder des emplois" mais "il n'est pas conclu dans les conditions de la loi que je propose" sur la s?curisation de l'emploi.

SUPPRESSION DE PLUS DE 8 000 EMPLOIS

"Dans le cadre de la nouvelle loi, l'accord aurait ?t? forc?ment meilleur", a affirm? M. Sapin en soulignant que, dans ce cas, le PDG de Renault, Carlos Ghosn, aurait ?t? "oblig?, puisqu'il demande des efforts ? ses salari?s, de faire lui-m?me des efforts" sur son salaire. Le ministre s'est dit par ailleurs confiant dans le d?bat parlementaire sur le projet de loi sur la s?curisation de l'emploi, pr?sent? mercredi en conseil des ministres.

La direction a accept? que la mobilit? g?ographique des salari?s se fasse sur la base du volontariat et a garanti "un niveau de production minimum de 710 000 v?hicules par an ? l'horizon 2016, dont 110 000 ? l'usine de Flins, qui b?n?ficierait de la localisation de versions de Clio IV ? forte valeur ajout?e". Elle a ?galement indiqu? que des productions de versions de la Clio avec le volant ? droite, actuellement produites en Turquie, seraient rapatri?es et qu'une partie de la production assur?e par le site de Caccia, au Portugal, serait transf?r?e ? Cl?on.

La CGT s'est d?clar?e "farouchement contre un tel accord". Le d?l?gu? CGT, Fabien G?che, a jug? qu'il entra?nerait "de nouvelles d?gradations des conditions de vie et de travail des salari?s" et donc "une fragilisation de l'entreprise". La signature de l'accord aura lieu apr?s la pr?sentation du projet en comit? central d'entreprise le 12 mars.

Renault et Peugeot montent au cr�neau pour d�fendre le diesel

Les constructeurs automobiles europ?ens ont un avantage technologique dans le domaine du diesel, a-t-il poursuivi. "Au moment o? l'Europe s'enfonce dans une crise, est-ce vraiment le moment de r?duire la comp?titivit? du diesel en changeant les r?gles ?", s'est-il interrog?. "Nous n'y sommes pas favorables mais au final ce sera aux gouvernements de trancher", a ajout? le num?ro un du constructeur fran?ais, qui dirige aussi le japonais Nissan.

"LE SUJET SANT? EST DERRI?RE NOUS"

Le directeur des marques de PSA Peugeot Citro?n, Fr?d?ric Saint-Geours, a d?fendu lui aussi ? Gen?ve le diesel comme une "motorisation d'avenir", car moins gourmande que l'essence. Le constructeur automobile fran?ais est "le leader mondial du diesel et tout ce qui touche ? cette cha?ne de traction nous int?resse", a indiqu? M. Saint-Geours.

PSA vend pr?s de la moiti? de ses v?hicules ?quip?s d'un moteur diesel dans le monde et cette proportion monte ? 70 % en France. "Depuis 2011, les normes font que tous les diesels ont un filtre particule, ce qui fait que le sujet sant? est derri?re nous", a encore affirm? M. Saint-Geours.?

Le gouvernement fran?ais r?fl?chit ? sortir de la politique du tout-diesel, qui pose un probl?me de sant? publique, mais les avis divergent entre les ministres. Celles? de l'?cologie, Delphine Batho, et du logement, C?cile Duflot, mettent en avant les 40 000 d?c?s annuels dus aux particules fines, tandis que leur coll?gue du redressement productif, Arnaud Montebourg, s'inqui?te de mesures qui privil?gieraient les voitures construites ? l'?tranger. Le parc automobile de l'Hexagone a connu depuis une vingtaine d'ann?es une tr?s forte "dies?lisation" et sa part atteint aujourd'hui 59,8 %.

Ethanol’s Days of Promise and Prosperity Are Fading

Backed by government subsidies and mandates, hundreds of ethanol plants rose among the golden fields of the Corn Belt, bringing jobs and business to small towns, providing farmers with a new market for their crops and generating billions of dollars in revenue for the producers of this corn-based fuel blend.

Those days of promise and prosperity are vanishing.

Nearly 10 percent of the nation’s ethanol plants have stopped production over the past year, in part because the drought that has ravaged much of the nation’s crops pushed commodity prices so high that ethanol has become too expensive to produce.

A dip in gasoline consumption has compounded the industry’s problem by reducing the demand for ethanol.

The situation has left the fate of dozens of ethanol plants hanging in the balance and has unsettled communities that once prospered from this biofuel.

“It’s a more somber mood,” said Todd Sneller, the administrator of the Nebraska Ethanol Board. “The growth opportunity that existed some years ago is still out there in theory, but the reality that it’s going to take an awful lot of time, money and political battles to realize that opportunity” is causing consternation.

Thousands of barrels of ethanol now sit in storage because there is not enough gasoline in the market to blend it with — and blends calling for a higher percentage of ethanol have yet to catch on widely in the marketplace. Advanced biofuels from waste like corn stalks and wood chips have also yet to reach commercial-level production as some had predicted they would by now.

Referring to the plants that have been idled, Eric Lee, a commodities expert at Citibank, said: “Is that going to be temporary or permanent? It’s hard to say.”

Not only do the plants employ residents of these small communities, but they also provide a market for farmers to sell their crops and buy grain to feed their livestock. They attract a steady flow of trucks whose drivers use truck stops and patronize other local businesses. Contractors visiting the plants stay in local hotels. And the plants hold large accounts with local banks.

“It’s been quite an ordeal, honestly,” Mayor Christopher Jackson of Walhalla, N.D., said of the closing of an Archer Daniels Midland ethanol plant there last April.

About a dozen families who had moved to Walhalla, a town of about 1,000, to work at the plant have left, he said. Many of the 61 people who worked there have since found new jobs, but the salary and benefits are not nearly as good, he said. Mr. Jackson manages his family’s bar in town, and he said Friday end-of-week gatherings did not happen as much because people had less to spend.

“It’s been hard on every business up and down Main Street,” he said. “I don’t know that people realized how big of an impact that plant closing had on the community. Now we’re a year into it; everybody’s feeling the pinch.”

Congress set out to create an ethanol industry that would produce enough to make up 10 percent of every gallon of gas pumped into a car, but the lawmakers assumed that demand for fuel would grow. Instead, it has shrunk to 8.7 million barrels a day from 9.7 million in 2007, said Larry Goldstein, an economist and a director of the Energy Policy Research Foundation. And with corporate average fuel economy rules now in place to double the number of miles that the average car gets per gallon by 2025, “you know we’re on a trend,” he added.

As the gasoline market got smaller, so did the amount of ethanol it could absorb, because most service stations are set up to sell fuel with an ethanol content of only up to 10 percent. Owners’ manuals of most cars call for fuel blends of no more than 10 percent ethanol. The industry calls this the “blend wall,” and it has won Environmental Protection Agency approval for some cars to run on blends of up to 15 percent, but thus far that fuel has not caught on with consumers.

Millions of cars are “flex-fuel vehicles” and can run on blends of up to 85 percent, known as e85, but that fuel is not popular and is not even widely offered outside a few corn-producing states.

But the ethanol producers were encouraged to build because the federal government had mandated that refiners use their product, and it established a tax credit of 45 cents per gallon of ethanol. The tax credit was allowed to expire on Dec. 31, 2011, but not before it had stimulated construction of ethanol plants.

The value of ethanol has also sagged. Its price is created in part by the price of the gasoline it displaces, and gasoline prices have been relatively modest for the past few months.

Mr. Sneller and others in the industry remain optimistic that technological innovations and sound public policy will keep the industry afloat.

PSA n�gocierait avec le russe ZIL pour produire en Russie

Avec une croissance de 11 % en 2012 et 2,9 millions de v?hicules vendus, le march? automobile russe est tr?s convoit?. Le constructeur automobile fran?ais PSA Peugeot Citro?n m?ne des discussions avec le constructeur ZIL pour produire des v?hicules l?gers de marque Peugeot et Citro?n sur la ligne d'assemblage du russe, dont le site ? Moscou est en reconversion, rapporte vendredi 1er mars le journal Vedomosti.?

Le groupe fran?ais a ?coul? un peu plus de 77 000 v?hicules en 2012 dans le pays, soit 7 % de plus que l'ann?e pr?c?dente, selon les chiffres de la f?d?ration professionnelle AEB. Cela lui donne une part de march? d'environ 2,5 %, bien loin de Renault (6,5 %), qui a sign? en d?cembre 2012 la prise de contr?le du premier constructeur russe Avtovaz, qui fabrique les Lada.

Renault : l'accord de comp�titivit� sign� mercredi par trois syndicats

L'accord de comp?titivit? en France que devrait signer mercredi Renault avec trois syndicats permettra au constructeur automobile de r?aliser au total 500 millions d'euros d'?conomies par an, d?clare son pr?sident, Carlos Ghosn, dans une interview publi?e par Les Echos.

"Il y aussi des ?conomies indirectes encore difficiles ? chiffrer", ajoute-t-il. Carlos Ghosn souligne d'autre part que les syndicats (CFDT, FO, CFE-CGC) qui approuvent l'accord repr?sentent deux employ?s sur trois. "S'il y a une forte adh?sion, c'est parce que chacun a conscience qu'il n'y avait pas de plan B pour Renault en France", dit-il.

L'accord de groupe est ? dur?e ind?termin?e, ? l'exception notamment des modalit?s relatives au compte transitoire, de l'engagement de la direction de non-fermeture de site, et de l'engagement de ne pas recourir ? un plan de sauvegarde de l'emploi ni ? un plan de d?part au volontariat.

Lire Renault met sous pression les syndicats (lien Abonn?s)

Lors du CCE, la CGT a propos? une r?solution pour signaler qu'"il aurait fallu pr?alablement ? l'information-consultation du CCE l'avis des CHSCT". Le syndicat consid?re par ailleurs que "l'accord de groupe ne peut pas se substituer aux accords de Renault maison-m?re ni aux accords d'?tablissements", sur les RTT et le capital temps, a expliqu? Fabien G?che, d?l?gu? central CGT. Les ?lus CFE, CFDT et FO ont vot? contre la r?solution.

Lire notre entretien avec Carlos Ghosn : En termes de rentabilit?, Renault est solide

No End to Falling European Car Sales

PARIS — European car sales keep falling, and American automakers are among the biggest losers in the shrinking market, industry data showed Tuesday.

European Union new passenger car registrations slid 10.5 percent in February from a year earlier, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said in Brussels. It was the 17th consecutive drop, with sales falling everywhere except Britain, where they rose 7.9 percent.

E.U. sales, at 795,482 cars, came in at the lowest recorded for the month of February since the records started in 1990, Quynh-Nhu Huynh, statistical director for the automakers’ association, said.

She noted that in February 1990, new car sales totaled 1.1 million — at a time when the European Union had just 15 members.

The euro zone crisis, and the government budget-tightening measures prescribed to combat it, have hurt demand. Record unemployment has squeezed household budgets and left consumers reluctant to upgrade older models, and much of the younger generation lacks the means to purchase their first cars.

“Unless there’s a turnaround in the middle of the year, we appear to be headed for the worst performance ever,” Ms. Huynh said.

American automakers bore much of the brunt. General Motors’ European sales slid 20.1 percent, while Ford Motor recorded a 20.8 percent drop.

The European market sales of Volkswagen, the largest E.U. automaker, fell 7.2 percent, while the region’s No.2 carmaker, PSA Peugeot Citroën, fell 13.2 percent. Sales of Fiat, the Italian carmaker that controls Chrysler, fell 14 percent. Honda Motor led a handful of companies that posted gains, with its sales up 15 percent.

Ian Fletcher, an analyst at IHS Automotive in London, said that G.M., Ford, Fiat and Peugeot faced similar problems, with luxury carmakers reaching down to take their sales in a declining market, and cheaper models gaining at the bottom of the market.

“It’s the squashed middle market,” he said. “They’re facing pressure from the top of the market, from Mercedes and BMW, and pressure at the low end from the likes of Kia, Hyundai and Dacia.”

The U.S. carmakers, he said, are also suffering relative to other companies because they were less willing to offer buyer incentives, and were unable to match some rivals, particularly Volkswagen, on financing terms.

Mr. Fletcher said he expected car sales to grow this year in the United States, as well as in fast growing economies like China, Brazil, Russia and India.

He predicted that the European Union market, which shrank by 8.2 percent last year, was set for another 2.6 percent contraction this year, to around 11.8 million units.

There is hope, he said, that sales might bottom out before long, with gradual improvement possible by the end of the year. But with the monthly data as bad as they have been so far in 2013, he said, analysts might be looking at their forecasts again “in the next few months” for a possible downward revision.

Employees of PSA are the Elys e s pr, a mediator appointed m

According to a communiqu of the Department, Mr. Sapin, noting that these tensions "are more serene dialogue" on this site, "a demand Mr. Marc Lee, Manager of the work of unit territorial of Seine-Saint-Denis to get closer to all stakeholders to promote the return to calm and the r establishment of dialogue in the factory".

This announcement comes as hundreds of employees of PSA Peugeot Citro n of Aulnay plant showed Thursday Paris, proximity of the Elys e, d denounce the agreement in terms of the jobs. They r just claimed the appointment of a mediator m.

"THERE ARE TIRED OF PROMISES!"

The Aulnay-sous-Bois factory, which employs 2,800 people, must close in 2014. It is almost the judgment for a month due to a gr ve the call of the CGT. Tuesday, a majority of trade union organizations have developed a positive opinion on the plan announced in July social pr seeing the removal of 8,000 jobs to add 1,500 d natural shares not be replaced. But the CGT, which represented 23% of the employees, is strongly opposite e, d not ant a 'shame agreement'.

Read the reporting violence, threats: PSA Aulnay sous tension

S regroup behind a banner 'Not the closure of Aulnay', the employees have cry "change it now, there are tired of promises! ' or"Ban on redundancies". Street was e barr by three busloads of CRS and to other vehicles of police were positioned v s in the street nearby.

According to the Elys e a d l delegation of a dozen of trade unionists was re EU by Michel Yahiel, social Adviser of Fran ois Hollande.

PSA and Renault down in 2012

The decline is of a level equivalent observ'er in 2009 (15.3%), year of the crisis financial, note the daily economic on the basis of the "dashboard car 2012" put online on the site of the CCFA.

Production in France of the two manufacturers was down by 16.4% in 2012 for a total of 646 1,775 cars. Renault is 17.6% with 532 571 unit s produced in France and PSA 15.9% (114 1,204 v vehicles).

The fall is even more title e at the fourth me quarter 2012 (26.3%), mainly at PSA (31.5%), Renault accusing a decrease of 15.6% of its production.

The production outside France is in decline of 11.4% for two manufacturers with l still s big wage between Renault for which the international decline is mod r e (2.1% to 2 132 330 unit produced s) and PSA who fall of 20.4% (1 797 203 v vehicles).

The cars outputs fran plants easy p feels 20% of the volume produced by the Group Renault. They represented feel almost two times more (38%) at PSA.

These figures, s Add the collapse of sales of new cars (13.9%), confirm that 2012 was a black year for automobile easy fran, whose two constructors are live by restructuring.

The automotive industry at its lowest since 1990

However, the situation remains e contrast depending on the country, pr clarifies the ACEA. Thus, the United Kingdom recorded a strong increase (+ 11.5%). On the other hand, often s decreases res v are not in Italy (17.6%), in France (15.1%), in Spain (9.6%) and also in Germany (8.6%).

SITUATION CONTRAST E DEPENDING ON THE MANUFACTURER

Registrations have plong in the Netherlands (-3 1,2%, 48 294 unit s). On the other hand, they increased in Poland (+ 8.8%, 26 421 unit s) and l g slightly to the Portugal (+ 0.7%, 7,007 unit s). Germany, the largest automotive march within the EU, has recorded 190 090 new registrations, followed by the United Kingdom (143 643 unit s), the France (124 798 unit s) and the Italy (113 525 unit s). In Spain, 49 671 new cars were immatricul es, or l g slightly less than in Belgium (50 684 unit s).

The situation is also e contrast depending on the manufacturer, but few come forward. These include German Daimler-Mercedes (+ 3.7%), BMW (+ 6.6%), the Japanese Honda (+ 10.3%) and Mazda (+ 11.4%) and finally the South-Horn in Kia (+ 7.2%).

On the other hand, the Group Volkswagen (5.2%), Renault (5.6%), General Motors (5.5%), Fiat (12.3%), Toyota (16.8%) and PSA Peugeot Citro n (16.3%) are retreating. At the level of brands, Mercedes (+ 4.7%), BMW (+ 9.8%) but also Opel (+ 4.5%), Seat (+ 6%) and Dacia (+ 8.8%) are progressing. Fiat can limit breakage (-4%). In contrast, Volkswagen (12.1%), Peugeot (16.6%) and Citro n (15.9%), Renault (-10%), Toyota (14.6%) or even Ford (25.5%) were most marked.

BMW recalls s pr of 750,000 cars for my electrical problems

Op ration is especially the United States, 500,000 o unit s are reminder es, but also the Japan, the Canada and South Africa. On the other hand, Europe is not e touch, has indicated a spokesman for the group in Munich.

PROBLEMS START UP ME

Concern cars are are the sporty Z4, 4 4 city X 1, the S series 3 and the S series 1 built between March 2007 and July 2011. The problem me conclusion about the electrical connectors can "e.g. prevent the driver to open his car or even prevent d engine start", a pr cis spokesman.

This recall is one of the most important which has proc d German manufacturer. In March 2012, it had to recall 1.3 million cars (S series 5 and S series 6) for a problem me battery.

Read also: Smart, BMW, Audi: automakers are the lo power v

With Bluecar, Vincent Bollor wants to first popularize its battery technology

Launched in December 2011, the syst me French CarSharing Autolib' a evidence that the small town four places, and especially its 'lithium-m tal-polymer re' battery technology, held the road. If it is sometimes uncouth e jug by s passionate of the automobile, the Bluecar has demonstrated its reliability. S PR of 12 million kilom very have travelled in some eighteen months by the 63,000 ile s Subscriber - ann e or casual - this service which has 1 750 v vehicles in circulation.

In addition to a syst me long rental hard e - from 300 euros per month - Mr. Bollor esp re sell approximately 2,000 copies of its Bluecar three-quarters aupr s companies or fleets. "Today, with Autolib, we have special clients, and more than 100 SMEs - SMIs that support packages for the use of 25 2 000 hours, explains Quer Chau, the Director g n ral Autolib." Commen ons also equip Bluecar large companies, as the Cr says agricultural, Atos or Alstom. Some, instead of rent, want to buy their v vehicles."?

A CO COSTLY TECHNOLOGY

The boss of the group n goce and energy eponymous does esp re however not yet return to its costs. "For our me CarSharing Autolib, which co you about EUR 50 million per year, we need to attract 65,000 Subscriber s e ann [144 euros e ann] to balance our mod the." For the moment, we have 25,000. This means that we are still losing money. We should achieve the balance in the spring of 2014, esp re Mr Bollor. "And as much say system me alone will not enable us to return to our costs..."

It is that since the purpose d and ann 2000, group d j engulfed pr s two billion euros for the development of battery technology d and the design of the car. S D then, Mr. Bollor would swarm in other wealthy French cities and European communities. "We aim to Lyon and Bordeaux and other parts of the world..."

To achieve the balance, Bollor does not frankly on his car, m business me if projects with manufacturers are the medium-term study. This branch has achieved 12 million euros of turnover in 2012, less than 5% of sales business its battery business, which was 215 million euros the year established pass (for 350 million euros of investments).

ELECTRICITY STORAGE

"Our business model is on three pillars: battery, capacitors [that allow to operate a camera flash, for example] group d is 40% of the world market, and energy management solutions", insists Mr Bollor. It is this last pillar, which is the most promising, with two main targets.

Mr. Bollor wants to convince individuals from to equip to a 'bluebox', a battery and software power management, which allows you to store the electricity when it co te cheaper network, overnight for example, and use the day, when the tariff increases... Bollor is r mun accept taking a margin on the savings achieved.

Sustainable energy producers, Blue Solution offers to store energy in a unit s most important, of the order of 1 megawatt-hour, or 33 30 kw/h batteries. E id is this time to store the electric bill the time network absorbs... In addition to Bluecar, are these offers which should, long term, profitable plants production of batteries, which can produce 45 000 batteries of 15 s pr or 30 kw/h... And that is what pushes Mr. Bollor will introduce its activity storage of electricity by the end of 2013.

Renault reste dans le vert en 2012

The num ro two French automobile also benefit from the contribution of its s alli, Japanese Nissan and Avtovaz, more Volvo Russian. It reaches 1.5 billion, an amount equivalent to the ann e pr c dente. Renault (Renault, Dacia and Samsung Motors brand), who r half its sales achieved international, is less d while PSA Peugeot Citro n of a European market in Bern. However, he suffered the decline in registrations on the old Continent.

"(D) DEGRADATION OF SIX LINES OF V VEHICLES"

B n fice of operation is 122 million euros, compared with 1.2 billion one year previously. There go the pr NS li d "d. assessment of the Iranian currency and restructuring charges", according to the laser, but also 'the gradation of six lines of v vehicles d', has said the Financial Director Dominique Thormann. The automotive branch cash flows is positive "for the fourth me e ann cons row" 597 million. Renault has been to d sendetter enti slightly and has a net cash position of s liquidity of 1.49 billion end 2012.

The constructor, which has paid a dividend of € 1.72, aims for 2013 an increase in sales volumes. It also expects a positive rational automotive industry op margin (compared with 25 million in 2012) and a stream of tr cash op rational auto positive, "subject that markets European ens and fran ais are not significantly than inf to the expected level". Renault pr sees a European march in 3% and a French market falling 3 5%.

Philippe Varin devrait �tre reconduit � la t�te de PSA

Pr?sident du directoire du constructeur depuis 2009, Philippe Varin a annonc? une perte historique de plus de 5 milliards d'euros pour 2012. Son mandat expire en mai, mais sa politique "a le soutien complet du conseil de surveillance", a assur? M. Peugeot.

Confront? ? la baisse des ventes sur son principal march?, le groupe a pr?vu de supprimer plus de 11 200 postes entre 2011 et 2014 en France (sur un total de 91 000) et de fermer son usine d'Aulnay-sous-Bois (3 000 salari?s), en r?gion parisienne, en 2014.

Lire notre compte rendu des? n?gociations syndicales sur les mesures d'accompagnement du plan de restructuration. Et un article sur la mobilisation des salari?s, mardi, au c?t? des Goodyear.

Pour rebondir, le groupe mise sur son alliance avec l'am?ricain General Motors. Il a aussi c?d? plusieurs actifs, pour plus de 2 milliards d'euros en 2012, et a r?duit ses co?ts de 1,2 milliard d'euros ainsi que ses stocks. Cette ann?e, PSA pr?voit encore de vendre des actifs immobiliers, mais en revanche sa filiale d'?quipement automobile Faurecia "n'est pas ? vendre".

Philippe Varin avait assur? dans les colonnes du Monde, en d?cembre 2012, que le groupe sortira "grandi et transform?" de la crise, gr?ce, notamment, ? son alliance avec General Motors (GM), avec qui trois premiers programmes de coop?ration sont lanc?s.

Lire l'entretien Philippe Varin : L'alliance PSA-General Motors vise l'Europe et le monde entier

Carlos Ghosn: 'in terms of divorce, Renault is strong"

While PSA Peugeot Citro n batteries a historic loss of 5 billion euro in 2012, Renault announced, Thursday 14 February, a EUR 1.7 billion net profit n b. Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault, d size these results r 2012.

Renault continues losing share of march in Europe. Why?

Has what impact this had financially? Most of your competitors (d) think more that they earn. What about Renault?

The sales decline, but in terms of profitability, the group is solid. Despite the extremely extremely difficult, automotive activity context is the balance and our available cash flows reached s pr of EUR 600 million. Other good news: for the first time since 1999, Renault has more debt.

Our balance sheet is very healthy and, unlike most of our competitors, this effort has not made the d detriment of our development plan: implantation in China this year, taken control the Russian Avtovaz, in 2012. We have also double our capabilities of production in India and the Br sil. Finally, all new mod outputs them are maintained.

But then how can we justify the deletion by 2016 of 7,500 jobs in France?

There are two fa ons look at the situation. It can be seen that the bottle is half full when we consider re the robustness of our financial results r. But you can also watch the half empty bottle on the industrial plan. Today, does anyone think reasonably that the European market in will, short term, its record levels of 2007. The difficult is pr server the existing heritage, without questioning the future. Thus, if we are backwards in Europe, it is not question to abandon this march.

My plan to turn factories Renault in France needs to Nissan and Mercedes. It's a win-win relationship, which allows to increase the rate of plant Renault, while avoiding our partners to invest in new s capacity of production. But for that to work, it is imperative imp of am improve the French sites titivit comp. It is the goal of the agreement we n negotiating.

Find the maintenance gralit int in the pages ofWorld dat 15 f February and Subscriber space s s d e morning late Monde.fr.

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PSA n gocierait with the Russian ZIL to produce in Russia

With a growth of 11% in 2012 and 2.9 million v vehicles sold, the Russian car market is very s convoit. The automaker French PSA Peugeot Citro n m ne of discussions with manufacturer ZIL to produce the v vehicles l gers of brand Peugeot and Citro n on the Assembly line of the Russian, which Moscow is undergoing, reported Friday, March 1, the newspaper Vedomosti.

The French group ill just over 77,000 v vehicles by 2012 in the country, is 7% more than the ann e pr c last year, according to figures from the f d ration professional AEB. This gives him a march by about 2.5% share, far from Renault (6.5%), which a sign in December 2012 taking control the of the first Russian manufacturer Avtovaz, which makes the Lada.

The ACSS cows are are doing well

In 2012, on a march fran ais fell by 15%, Mini sales were down by 1% and the S BMW series 3, it is true fra loosely rejuvenated, saw his own jump 40%, just like those of the Porsche 911. In 2012, the Range Rover (which has t p a d but 2013) and the Qashqai saw their registrations continue to grow, so that the backlog of Golf, including the septi I g n ration appeared end of 2012 is well plump.

In addition to an exceptional profitability and a rate significantly within sup competition, these mod cults share several s operates. These are, firstly, the arch types. The first Mini (1959) a förg concept car urban e sophisticated, with a surprising report dimensions-habitabilit. His incarnation lanc r e in 2001 (and d j produced more than 2 million of unit s), at the time the application was on smaller cars but raffin es, has kept the chic dimension and l g slightly eccentric. The S BMW series 3 a jet in 1975 the bases of sedan compact sporty Alfa Romeo has never able sustainably.

Candidate automotive canonization

PAS very welcoming for rear passengers but equipped with engines brilliant six-cylinder in-line, it is very taken e ts pr executives express their social status with a dash of arrogance. Its t c, the Range Rover has invent d s 1970, well before the current SUV, 4 4 bourgeois; and the Porsche 911, which f te this year its 50 years, grav in marble the principles of usable everyday sports car. Candidate automotive canonization, the Nissan Qashqai, appeared in 2007 but d j produces 1.2 million to unit, has found the formula of the modern family car by merging MPV and 4 4.

This is the Alchemy of the Golf

that para t the most complex d finish. Mod the most sold in Europe, produces 30 million s pr of unit s since 1974, is pr presents as a sedan average, do and without aura particular homogeneous. This apparent conformism hides a cam l car on which a facility number of revolutions: the e arrival of diesel on the small mod the vogue of the 'bombies' fashionable GTi and the introduction of new equipment electronic security and comfort. Cultivating a subtle reverse snobbery, the Golf is an expression of the good go t without ostentation.

In addition, these renti res are also imposed as the embodiment of a constructor. The 911 remains, despite the extension of the range, the dam of all Porsche; for BMW, there was a before and an after s S series 3, as for Nissan with the Qashqai. Besides that a mod can become a trademark alone as the Mini. Reverse side of the medal m: Volkswagen mit and ann are no longer be for the success of the only Golf. Other sp specificity: a mod the star cannot be d starting of a style well finished. A g n ration, the changes must if op rer dose hom opathique to meet the "timeless design" cow e ACSS.

Aficionados

Last point, the res renti from automotive to recognize their aficionados. Some are in their fourth me BMW S series 3, others their troisi me Mini. This remarkable fid bed (65% of the property owners of Golf r it rent their purchase, then the rate of fid average bed exc brand of seldom 45%) is not without fault. At each renewal, most of these mod tend to embourgeoiser and drop out in way of the customers did not have the means to follow their e mount range. The number of copies produced during each g n ration of these best-selling recorded a modest decline but r regular. These classics of the car are also s competition by the growing number of s news updates on the market, including the mark which they belong. S ACSS monsters will have to monitor what is happening in their heâ r.

The Horn in Hyundai-Kia boasts his contributions the European economy

It is in any case well understanding the Horn in gr group this publication, Wednesday 27 February, a study of the b n benefits economic and soci rates flowing from the pr presence in Europe of Hyundai and Kia. R e alis by the English firm London Economics and funded by the Horn group, this study d size all inputs of the Horn in the European economy.

It is somehow the response of the Shepherd r the re berg. In August and September, 2012, Arnaud Montebourg, the Minister of the productive recovery, was attacked by two times the commercial agressivit of two brands cor European.

DUMPING COMMERCIAL

It was m me require the placing under supervision of the imports of the vehicles Horn SLT in Europe v that dump, he said, commercial. Apply e refusal politely by the European Commission.

Mr. Montebourg has thundered from the insolent sant of Hyundai and Kia in Europe. Last year, the first increased its sales by 9.4% and the second by 15.6%, in a market down by 7.8%. In fact, their share of march combin e jumped one point from 5.1% 6.2%.

However, insists the study, the "majority" (55%) of these sold vehicles v are produced in Slovakia and R public tch that o the two trademarks each hold an industrial site. The rest is import from Turkey, India and e Horn, for the biggest mod the.

GR this this industrial presence pr in the European Union, the Horn Group employs directly 7 345 persons in its factories, and gives work 18,000 people in its direct subcontractors. Total 61 000 people are directly used by the cor group in, both in its plants, its design centre or its commercial subsidiaries, etc. But a calculation London Economics, 253 000 people need their jobs the presence of Hyundai and Kia pr...

DESTRUCTION OF VALUE

Ultimate proof that Hyundai and Kia are not clandestine passengers in Europe, they continue their investments on the old Continent. In January, the Group d cid to build a centre to trial in Germany for 5.5 million euros...

The London Economics study does, however, not the destruction of value that the cor in group e imposed to other manufacturers. Indeed, policy prices down for Kia, and on equipment prices s serr for Hyundai, has closer the price war in the heart of a European market in crisis.

This has pes on results of Fiat, Ford, PSA, Renault and other Opel/Vauxhall. If the Horn group cannot be held only responsible, all these manufacturers are now required to close plants and lay off thousands of employees in Europe.

PSA Aulnay: 200 gr vists on the site of a subcontractor

This action is d rolls while discussions are ongoing between the unions and management under the gide to a conciliator, appointed the week last by the Government, to try to put an end to the movement launched the call of the CGT and footb since mid-January of many incidents. A new union is pr view Wednesday apr s-midi Bobigny.

"MAKE COMMON CAUSE"

Gr d'Aulnay PSA factory vists, entering Wednesday their six me week gr ve, intend to "make common cause with the colleagues of Lear" s touch by the consequences of the paralysis of the Aulnay plant, according to Jean-Pierre Mercier, d l gu CGT. "The challenge for us is to maintain the pressure" on the direction, continued Mr. Mercier, adding that gr vists then wished to visit the factory of Poissy (Yvelines) to distribute leaflets.

The site of PSA Aulnay-sous-Bois, employing 2,800 CDI, must close in 2014 as part of a broad restructuring plan. According to an impact study, the closure of the plant, a first in France for twenty years, should entered ner 4,000 job cuts including suppliers and the interim int.

Comp titivit agreement: new n negotiations with Renault

In order to weigh in n negotiations, which could not be concluded the week pass as pr seen lack advanced are sufficient, the CEO of Renault, Carlos Ghosn, about diff rer the end of 2016 the payment of 30% of the variable of the pay of the year r pass in case of agreement. He also announced that he would sign himself me the agreement in the event of a positive outcome, according to d l gu Labour Force ouvri re, Laurent Smolník.

Read: Carlos Ghosn: in terms of divorce, Renault is solid

At the end of the last re s n negotiations, the CFE - CGC, sitting in the group, the CFDT and FO are n f licit nonetheless are of advanced are positive, including safeguards on the production volumes, which they were a sine qua non, the signing of an agreement.

Its t c, the CGT is d e clar "fiercely against such an agreement". D l gu CGT, FA G che, a jug that he entered would ' new d gradations of the conditions of life and work of the employees"and therefore"a weakening of the business". Branch has e committed, in the event of agreement, "provide a level of minimum production of 710,000 v vehicles per year by 2016, including 110,000 factory of Flins, which b n location of versions of Clio IV immensely high value adding e '.

FREEZING SALARIES IN 2013, EXTENSION OF WORKING TIME

It has also shown that versions driving right Clio IV productions, currently assur es by the website of Bursa (Turkey), would rapatri es and that part of production e assur by the site of Caccia, the Portugal, would transfer r Cl on. Branch also accept that d s salari placement of a site another is volunteering an essential e jug claim based on Force ouvri re, which f licit e of this advanced.

The n door negotiation on decision of the direction of delete 8 260 jobs in France by 2016, or more than 15% of the workforce, a priori without site closure or dismissal. But, in return, management requests the freezing of salaries in 2013, a prolongation of working time and greater mobility. "If we reach an agreement, the implementation of appropriate words are we will earn about 300 euros per car produced in France", a d clar G rard Leclercq, op Director operations France.

To be sign, the agreement must be valid by at least two unions represented 30% of the employees. The CFE - CGC has 29.7% of the votes of the employees before the CGT (25.2%), the CFDT (19.1%) and FO (15.6%).

D despite a decline in its sales of 3.2%, the second me constructor automotive fran ais has been to remain in the green in 2012, while the march is in berne.

New incidents factory PSA of Aulnay-sous-Bois

These incidents occurred hours after a visit to the factory of the future secr Secretary General of the CGT, Thierry Lepaon, come meet with employees of the plant for two hours Friday morning.

'AMMUNITION IN METAL'

According to the direction of the site, "metal munitions were project es and two people have re u, one in the knee, the other in the womb". "These munitions were held es p tards", a pr cis a spokesman for the Directorate, which has also made State of "glass bottles" jets.

Contact by AFP, two employees have confirm these incidents under the cover of anonymity. "There is a p tards jets, two people have t touch es", said one of these employees, speaking of a "ambiance very tense".

"Tensions, they are executives and officers of my tris", a r involve Jean-Pierre Mercier, d l gu CGT Union origin of the gr ve movement, denying the facts s nature to the vists gr. "There has not been a bottles jet es."

INCIDENTS R P COMPETITION

The factory of d'Aulnay, which employs 2,800 people and shut down in 2014, is e touch by a gr ve since mid-January. The movement was footb by several incidents. Two workers gr vists CGT, batteries for taking part of the violence, have t licenci s gross negligence. An inquiry was also t open after a complaint d e pos by bailiffs saying have t s hit by vists gr in the factory on 18 January.

A conciliator was appointed mid - f February by the Ministry of labour to try to put an end to the conflict, without succ s until today. "We have sent a letter to the Ministry of labour (d) purpose of week a v real m mediator to be appointed, announced Jean-Pierre Mercier." For the moment, there is no response. We will not wait eternally. If r response does not, we will go looking for it."

Employees of PSA will temporarily leave Aulnay

"It is a measure that is the object of consensus between the majority of the unions and management," said for its part a PSA spokesman, confirming the result of polling organised the opportunity r a Committee central (IAC) organised Parisian ge SI of the automotive group.

SCHEDULE PR CIPIT

The Aulnay plant, with closing compl te e programm for June 2014, is the judgment since Wednesday after several weeks of production in dribs and drabs. Face tensions between vists and non-gr vists gr, the Ministry of labour has d cid Thursday to appoint a mediator m to try and y r establish calm and dialogue.

Plan social hired by PSA to reduce its co ts and adjust its structures the decrease of car march European pr sees half of the 3,000 employees of Aulnay be transf r s permanently on the neighbouring site of Poissy, also r Paris region. These shares (d), that should be the end of the year subject to a voluntary market d should result the passage of the factory in a single team, antechamber of a judgment (final d) of production.

The locking facility of the transfers could pr jump this calendar. PRI said if the question of closure e 550,000 of the site had t e first in e morning at CCE, one of the sources has answered 'no' r. Aulnay, will be the first automotive assembly plant closed its doors in France since the judgment of the Renault Billancourt site over twenty years ago.

IN THE LINE OF SIGHT OF MOODY's

In addition, Moody's Investors Service rating agency announced that it was considering lowering the solvency financial of the automaker PSA Peugeot Citro n, in regard to his bad results r financial in 2012. Moody's says tre train r review note "Ba3" which currently PSA, to lower it a notch. This decision d is due, according to it, the historic loss of 5 billion euros e registered year last by PSA and the morosit of the automobile market in Europe.

To take its decision, Moody's will examine in detail d results group and evaluate its restructuring efforts. It will notably take into account the adjustments of costs and the impact of the launch of new products and synergies that will generate its cooperation with General Motors medium and long term, d size agency.

It will lower the note if it leads to the conclusion that the rehabilitation of the divorce will be unlikely, or PSA does not stabilize its share of march in Europe with the new mod the. Moody's pr comes on the other hand it is little probable that rel ve notes. The rival of Moody's, Standard and Poor's, she d grad Thursday of a debt rating notch long-term of PSA, "BB" - accompanied by a perspective n negative.

Read also: after a historic loss, esp re PSA bounce (s subscriber link)

Director d partemental of the work of the Seine-Saint-Denis, Marc Leray, has started receiving Friday the PSA of Aulnay-sous-Bois factory unions with mission to "resume dialogue", according to these organizations. It must also receive d purpose Apr afternoon the site management. Mr Leray held pr clarify his interlocutors that he intervene not in the negotiations on the social plan n, while the vists r gr claimed to re-open these discussions.

"It is z ro point," batteries Jean-Pierre Mercier, d l gu CGT Union, which has launched crippling ve gr factory since 16 January. "This is m me not a mediator m, he does not want to talk about social", how there lambasting "completely irresponsible attitude of the public authorities, which are c t the direction to leave the situation to rot, prolong the conflict". "I esp re Mr Leray va r succeed bring a normal functioning of the plant and especially as internal security physical and moral non gr vists is e Ashur", has advanced his c t Tanja Sussest, SIA Union, prior to his appointment.

The beetle does not suspend its flight

In 1934, Ferdinand Porsche re ILO of the association of the industry of the Reich the mandate of d develop a popular, solid car and little on reuse. The "people's car" (Volks Wagen) will not delay na tre. Baptized KdF Wagen (Kraft durch Freude, "strength through joy"), the first mod sees the day in 1938, propuls'art-powered four-cylinder flat, the back log.

L legend wants, in his first re pr presentation at the Berlin Motor Show, a reporter for the New York Times whether exclam: "It looks like a Ladybug!" Line g n rale, if distinctive characteristic is e sign's designer Erwin Komenda. Much later, Ferdinand Porsche confessed is very much inspired by the Tatra V570, mod coslovaque tch, in the design of the Ladybug...

The war delayed the mass production of the plump auto cheap. When the U.S. Am take possession of Wolfsburg, o is located the plant, they entrust the cl s to the British. These last d cover the KdF and (d) decide to resume production.

U.S. Am crack for the "Cox"

In 1949, the first res KdF take the road to the United States. Surprised by this small vehicle but quickly s products, U.S. Am will fall for the "Cox". Ten years later, Walt Disney made this mod a star, and Valentina becomes h ro of films. The world adopt this car e nicknamed "K iron" in Germany, "Vocho" in Mexico, "Fusca" br sil, "Beetle" in Italy, "Ladybird" in France, "Bug" in Britain.

The production of this mod the routine embl to arr tera July 30, 2003 in the Mexican plant in Puebla. A little more than 21.5 million copies were built since 1938. The adventure do if arr not provided. At Volkswagen, it understood the interest to revive the myth. But in what form? The stylistic codes (curves and curves) must continue, but at the time and the security standards required to propose a car more s re and more comfortable.

In 1998, the New Beetle made its appearance. Design r tro is not enough s reduce the crowds. Too heavy, too clumsy, not enough "Cox" in the me, m me if the intention is commendable. Shortly after its release, the commercial success of the new Fiat 500 and Mini confirms that there is a pr client pay you a mod typ nostalgia.

D purpose of ann es 2000, Walter de Silva, design Manager of the VW gives the ING Group engineers House a clear objective: "R invent the original beetle!" The result r is the height of the rancid esp: longer, wider, smoother, more muscl e, dot e engines agr ables, the new beetle, always produced to the Mexico, a hangover and is r v pleasant drive.

The New Beetle Convertible is the last re - e n family. Available from 21 350 euros, it has more little show with the first cabriolet 1949 beetle, but still shows a friendly face. With its canvas top which opens in less than ten seconds (and up to 50 km/h), its roof height line e and s forms tempting, this is 4.27 m long beetle envy.

AGR able drive with its engines four-cylinder (all turbo), it proposes, in addition to three levels of finish, twelve colors diff annuities and paint two colors of Hood, sp special baptis shipments are "50 's", "60 's" and "70 's" who, with their specific shades and their comfort equipment, should s reduce nostalgic baby boomers. L legend continues.

Volvo removes a thousand jobs

Touch owe him also by the slowdown in demand, su automaker Volvo, property of Chinese Geely, announced Wednesday, 20 February the removal in 2013 of a thousand jobs, s pr of 5% of its workforce.

"Before the end of the year, we will no doubt be a thousand people less", a d clar public radio SR a spokesman Per - Aake Fr berg, confirming statements by its Director General s report on the website of t l SVT public vision.

Volvo indicated in September 22 400 people worldwide, and according to Mr. Samuelsson d j deleted 1,100 posts in 2012. The Director General has claimed pi be State of the automotive market. "You have to adapt the alit r. This is what we have the plants t c. Now we do c t of executives', a d clar.

COLLAPSE OF SALES IN EUROPE

In 2012, Volvo sold 422,000 v vehicles in the world, 6% less than the ann e pr c dente. Sales in Europe have slumped es 10%. Mr. Samuelsson had estimated in December that it would be "tr s decided" for the company to avoid a rational op loss in 2013.

When d sole PSA, Renault console

"When I see myself, I upsets me; When I compare myself, I console myself." Carlos Ghosn is not Talleyrand and is not of the kind to be sorry. But when the CEO of Renault look Philippe Varin, his alter ego at PSA Peugeot-Citroën, this what reassure him. It always tends to put our two national builders in the same bag. Is wrong. The difference became obvious on the occasion of the publication of results 2012. When PSA is adrift, Renault has demonstrated a resilience that will surprise more than one.

Compare the loss of 5 billion euros from the first to the 1.7 billion profit of the second has no sense. PSA has depreciated to about va, Renault has been the contribution of Nissan, Volvo and Avtovaz to profits. On the other hand, when you look under the hood of the car industry, this is the day and night. PSA spends more that it wins in alarming proportions. For Renault, the situation was reversed: the group identified six times cash that was waiting for the stock market.

Means already by critics: Carlos Ghosn made the share to the shareholder at the expense of the business. Except that the bad passes that cross the automakers demonstrated that one does not go without the other. Not of cash, no future, could be summed up.

For PSA, the current situation, it is triple trouble: the group is forced to sell the family jewels, close plants and be a part of its future in renouncing development projects. Renault, through better driven management, resists the headwinds, which however were the same ones that had to face his competitor: the European market slump and lack of competitiveness of French factories. A situation which has sealed PSA, but also Fiat, Ford and Opel. Renault, he succeeded in getting the big back in Europe, while continuing to invest in the markets: Brazil, India and China soon.

However, it is too early to declare victory. Electric vehicle remains a bet and a worthy of the name, a constantly reformulated promise high-end. Remains that the diamond company still has under the foot, while some competitors will emerge from the crisis completely bloodless.

So much for consolation. Obviously, better not look at Volkswagen because, as PSA Renault have what is sorry.

Photo credit: AFP

Fall of the registrations in February

He was immatricul last month in the hexagon 143 366 v special vehicles, announced Friday the Committee constructors fran ais motor (CCFA).

On the first two months of 2013, the march contracts of 13.5% in donn gross, and 11.5% in donn CJO, which leads the CCFA revise downward its vision for the year pr.

A spokesman of Committee said wait d now march French 5% at best, while it esp operates far stable from one year on the other.

Affluent fran marks are worth with an average withdrawal of more than 12.5%. Peugeot fell a little less than 10%, 10.7% Renault and Citroen 18% n. But also, drop most brands including Volkswagen, BMW or Mercedes.

Cor ens Hyundai and Kia are their pingle of the game, as the Japanese Toyota (+ 8.75%).

Accord chez Renault : Ghosn confirme qu'il met une part de son salaire en jeu

Le paiement de cette somme sera conditionn? "? l'ex?cution, par Renault, de l'ensemble de ses engagements dans le cadre de l'accord", c'est-?-dire de ne pas fermer d'usine en France, de leur assurer un certain volume de fabrication et de ne pas faire de plan social. En 2011, la part variable de son salaire ?tait de 1,59 million d'euros et la part fixe de 1,23 million.

Le conseil d'administration de Renault a accept? cette proposition. M. Ghosn reste assur? de percevoir 2,23 millions d'euros (fixe + variable) pour 2012, pr?cise le journal sans d?voiler ses sources.

MAINTIEN DE L'ACTIVIT? DANS TOUTES LES USINES

Confront? ? un march? europ?en morose et ? des surcapacit?s de production, le groupe a engag? ? l'automne dernier des discussions sur un plan visant ? rapprocher la comp?titivit? de ses usines fran?aises de celle de ses sites espagnols. En ?change d'un gel des salaires, d'un allongement du temps de travail et d'un recours accru ? la mobilit? intersites, Renault s'est engag? ? maintenir en activit? toutes ses usines de l'Hexagone.

Mardi, une dixi?me s?ance de discussion s'est tenue au si?ge du constructeur, ? Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine), mais n'a pas permis aux n?gociateurs de la direction et des organisations syndicales de parvenir ? un accord bien qu'elle se soit prolong?e jusqu'apr?s 21 heures.?Renault leur a donn? rendez-vous mardi prochain pour une nouvelle s?ance de n?gociations.

After a more thorough review...

A little new and greatly improved, 2013 Honda Civic sedan.

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

Wheels blog: manufacturers automotive work for achieving zero waste

American Honda Honda says that it has achieved zero waste to landfill sites at 10 of its 14 plants in North America.

Wednesday, Ford announced that it would increase its environmental strategy with a five-year plan to cut waste that it sent to landfill sites in the world by 40 per cent by levels of 2011 vehicle. In 2016, the company said, Ford could produce only 13.4 pounds of waste a vehicle operations in the world, down from 38 books in 2007, 22.7 books in 2011 and 20.3 books this year.

Andy Hobbs, Director of the Office of environmental quality of Ford, said the company had 14 factories worldwide that produce zero waste, or have been 'nil to landfill sites.

"We are trying to balance the needs of the business with the needs of the environment - they are not mutually exclusive, they are highly complementary," Mr. Hobbs said in an interview.

In 2012, Ford said that it has generated 225 million $ recycling 586,000 tons of scrap in North America.

For example, Ford said that a local its Committee factory transmission Van Dyke Sterling Heights, Michigan, thought how to keep 350 pounds fabric filters coolant discharge, which helped the factory become the first North American plant zero waste Ford transmission, diverting 15 tons of material per month.

Jeff Czich, a Ford senior environmental engineer, said in an interview that its supplier of external filter separated from the paper metal shavings, and then turned into new filters or used as fuel alternative for boilers. The metal goes to the new castings foundries.

Ford is hardly alone in getting seriously reduce the material that its plants send to landfill through reuse and recycling. He is joined by Honda and General Motors, among others, embracing the goals of zero waste. On 19 February, G.M. held a meeting, attended by more than 100 participants from industry, designed to help promote a recycling infrastructure in the Southeast, where many car manufacturers have plants. The event, at Spring Hill, Tennessee, brought together from many manufacturers, as well as Volkswagen, Nissan, Chrysler and Toyota.

"Participants were there specifically to work on the use of waste reduction and materials," John Bradburn, responsible for waste reduction of G.M., said in an interview. "We were happy to have them there. '' We are really pleased that other companies also pursue this issue. "Mr. Bradburn stressed the collective influence of several automakers with regional operations to start a solid network of recycling. "It is imminent," he said.

G.M., with a significant presence of manufacturing in the world, said 105 of 156 factories in the world, and 33 in North America, are free landfill. The company defines a factory zero waste like that less than 1% of the residues, and Mr. Bradburn said that even this rest must go through certain stages of recycling. G.M. said its revenues from recycling and reuse of by-product is about 1 billion $ per year.

Honda has achieved zero waste to landfill sites at 10 of its 14 plants in North America, Karen Heyob, head of green plant for North America, said in an interview. "We are close to zero with the other four," she said. "All the material sent to landfills at all 14 plants is less than 1% of all our waste. ''

Honda said that in 2012, it produced 1.76 pounds of landfill waste by car in North America, although direct comparisons with other automakers was probably unnecessary in light of changes in how the waste was measured.

Ms. Heyob said that regulations in some countries to achieve zero waste difficult. A Mexican plant, she said, will have to ship its waste to the United States because there is no recycling plant on the spot. Honda aims to overcome these barriers and to achieve zero waste in the world, she said.

Although the auto companies cite their turnover of recycling, they also tend to agree that the best way to reduce waste is to avoid the product. Sharon Basel, a spokesman for G.M. sustainability, said in an interview, "waste reduction, it does not create in the first place, is the desired end game. In fact, I would like to see our recycling turnover to go down. Reduce waste streams that are created is an endless cycle.

Speedometer Top Speed Often Exceeds Reality

In reality, the bulbous subcompact's 106-horsepower engine and automatic transmission can't push it any faster than 109.

So why do the Yaris — and most other cars sold in the U.S. — have speedometers that show top speeds they can't possibly reach?

The answer has deep roots in an American culture that loves the rush of driving fast. The automakers' marketing departments are happy to give people the illusion that their family car can travel at speeds rivaling a NASCAR racer. And companies often use one speedometer type in various models across the world, saving them money.

But critics say the ever-higher numbers are misleading. Some warn they create a safety concern, daring drivers to push past freeway speed limits that are 65 to 75 mph in most states.

"You reach a point where it becomes ridiculous," says Larry Dominique, a former Nissan product chief who now is executive vice president of the TrueCar.com auto pricing website. "Eighty percent plus of the cars on the road are not designed for and will not go over 110 mph."

Last year, speedometer top speeds for new versions of the mainstream Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Malibu were increased from 120 or 140 mph to 160, which approaches speeds on some NASCAR tracks. The speedometer on the Honda Accord already topped out at 160. All are midsize family haulers, the most popular segment of the U.S. auto market, and like most new cars, have top speeds that seldom exceed 120 mph.

The Yaris got its 140 mph speedometer in a redesign for the 2012 model year, giving it the same top reading as the original 1953 Chevrolet Corvette sports car. Even the new Nissan Sentra compact has a 160 mph speedometer.

There are several explanations for the speedometers.

When people are comparison shopping, cars with higher speedometer readings appear to be sportier, and buyers favor them even though they have no intention of driving over 100. "People really want to see higher numbers," said Fawaz Baltaji, a business development manager for Yazaki North America, a large supplier of speedometers for auto companies. "It is indicative of a more powerful engine. There's a marketing pitch to it."

Although cars with high-horsepower engines can come close to the top speedometer speeds, most are limited by engine control computers. That's because the tires can overheat and fail at higher speeds. Tires now common on mainstream cars often can't go above 130 mph or they could fail. Many tires, especially on older models, have speed limits as low as 112. But that's still faster than most people will ever drive.

Automakers, in a push to cut costs, now sell the same cars worldwide and use the same speedometers in different cars all over the world. In China and Europe, governments require that the top number on speedometers be higher than a car's top speed. Cars sold in Europe, for instance, have faster top speeds than those sold elsewhere because they can be driven over 150 mph on sections of Germany's Autobahn. So to sell the same car or speedometer globally, the numbers have to be higher, said Kurt Tesnow, who's in charge of speedometer and instrument clusters for General Motors.

Also, some mainstream cars have some souped-up cousins that go faster and need higher speedometer numbers. A Chevy Malibu with a 2-liter turbocharged engine, for instance, can go 155 mph, far higher than the mainstream version. The little Toyota Yaris gets its speedometer from another Toyota model that's sold in other countries. "It's not that each speedometer is designed for that specific vehicle," said Greg Thome, a company spokesman.

Lastly, research has found that most people like the needle to hit highway speeds at the top of the speedometer's circle, said Yazaki's Baltaji. So the common freeway cruising speed of 70 to 80 mph is right in the middle on a 160 mph speedometer, he said.

Auto Ego: Resembling a High Roller

Even if only a few of them acknowledged this imposing two-tone blue sedan as a Rolls-Royce, they could easily confirm that the great man in a dark blue striped suit and a trench coat standing next to the driver's door was its owner. Filling of each rear door window was a sign with a picture of the man, David Michael Leedy and his wife, Donna. Both are real estate agents working in this Office.

Mr. Leedy possessed this 1975 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow since 2009. He sometimes uses it in his work, client driver to see listings and Park the car in the open days, a tactic that he said helped attract attention and potential buyers. His other vehicle, a Chrysler minivan, uses less gas, but rolls offers more panache.

"It helps me to stand out in a crowded market," he said.

The latest announcements from Mr. Leedy include an assortment of the colonials, raised Cape Cod and the homes of two families at Bloomfield, Clifton, Belleville and burgher of North Jersey cities, spanning the Passaic River and the Garden State Parkway. A grey winter day, the region seems ready for the refreshing effect of the spring; It might even of Rolls-Royce's Mr. Leedy, a point he made repeatedly.

"It is far from perfect," he said, his apologetic tone, suggesting that one could reasonably expect any Rolls, even the one who is 38 years old, to remain a Virgin.

The painting has lost some of its luster, and there are a few scratches and bumps on the body. But two hallmarks of the brand - the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament and the vertical grid, a monument of polished stainless steel - shine again.

The Silver Shadow arrived to 1966 as a replacement for the upper, obsolete Silver Cloud, a model that many Americans recognize the 1980s television, a commercial for Grey Poupon mustard. A unibody chassis and independent suspension modern four-wheel - with hydraulic Tower upgrade licensed from Citroën - gave the Silver Shadow of 4 700 soft raccompagne books with enough handling.

Some 30,000 Silver shadows were built over a period of 15 years. Approximately 210 inches long on a 120-inch wheelbase, it is the mower that luxury Leviathan of Detroit, period cars, however, it offered a large cabin and trunk. Faithful to the British penchant for understatement, Rolls-Royce cited the engine output to only as "adequate". (It was, in fact, about 190 horses.)

Mr. Leedy bought its rolls for $10,000 from a dealer of used cars of luxury in Queens. The Silver Shadow was sold for about $40,000 when it is new - the equivalent of about $171 000 today, which is four times the price of America's most popular luxury car this year, the Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Knowing that his local reliable mechanic expertise Rolls-Royce helped Mr. Leedy to feel confident about the purchase of the car.

' He told me the best way to keep this car that works well is often lead, this is what I do, "he said.

Most of the car wear has occurred before Mr. Leedy bought, but a small dent in the passenger door was acquired when the rollers wouldn't start one day and brushed the door while being towed out garage of Mr. Leedy.

«Getting minor scrapes doesn't bother me,» he said. "If it was a perfect car when I had this tooth, I would have another heart attack."

Mr. Leedy, who is 47, had his heart attack 10 years ago the outcome, he said, a work of high stress and a habit of smoking, which he had left on his doctor's advice. He left a 23 year career at United Parcel Service, where he had started as a telephone representative centre and is passed to a senior account manager.

"I had the UN and Madison Square Garden as clients," he said.

Wheels Blog: Triumph Spiffs Up Its Standbys

Triumph Motorcycles Triumph Bonneville SE.

It’s an evergreen strategy for injecting a little excitement into mature models: clothe them in novel colors and finishes. Triumph Motorcycles knows this well and is rolling out special editions of two of its best-selling models, the retro-styled Bonneville and the rowdy Speed Triple.

The 865cc 2-cylinder Bonneville SE sports stylish cranberry-red fenders and frame, and it wears a red racing stripe atop its matte-black fuel tank. The new model also gets a black passenger grab rail, revised seat and the same $7,999 price as a regular two-tone Bonneville.

That red frame takes the SE into slightly more provocative styling territory than its understated predecessors.

Triumph’s 1050cc Speed Triple helped begin the vogue for so-called naked bikes, which eschew fairings that would otherwise conceal its brawny 3-cylinder powerplant. The 2013 Speed Triple SE features a restrained Matte Graphite color scheme offset by a frame and swingarm painted in tasteful matte blue. The wheels also receive a blue pinstripe treatment. Several body parts are fashioned from lightweight carbon fiber, and the SE comes with a color-matched flyscreen, belly pan and seat cowl. The added bits bring its price to $13,399, compared with $12,799 for the base-model Speed Triple.

The Speed Triple’s angry-looking, diamond-shaped headlights remain a worry to some eyes, however, and one expects the aftermarket may rescue owners who miss the signature pair of simple round headlights that distinguished earlier models.

Triumph Motorcycles Triumph Speed Triple SE.

Blog de roues : Modèle A exposition présente technologie voiture-mouvement

System of systems moving car Boomerang to the Elliott Museum.

Machines - specifically, the venerable model truck A Ford - subject of a new exhibition in a Museum in Florida high range. But it is the technology behind the screen, and above and around it, which steals the show.

Robots are part of the process of carmaking for decades; now they are the shuttle vehicles backwards and forwards, from top to bottom and side to side inside a high-tech, multilevel garage integrated into the Elliott Museum in Stuart, Florida

Notwithstanding the Fords in the collection - was donated to the Museum anonymously - the stack of three floors, transparent, designed and built by the New Jersey Boomerang Systems Company, is something of a museum piece itself.

Software and hardware automation move the vehicles, which are placed on slabs of concrete, through a series of rails, or "Guide automated vehicles that have been used in plants of car for the last 40 years," said Woody Nash, who is Director of business development of Boomerang.

An essential part of the system, said Mr. Nash, is its ability to "roads", so if there's a robot disabled in the middle of the garage, we can actually make their way around the robot." The idea is to keep the display moving by the rotation of vehicles, the garage has a capacity of 55 - on a stage at the lower floor, where multimedia displays inform visitors about the history of his time, with clips of songs, movies, fashion, sports and other aspects of life at the time the truck was in use.

The exhibition, called "Wheels of change", opens this weekend. The trucks include an early United Parcel Service delivery truck and a pickup with folding and a removable windscreen that allowed him to pass under the lemon trees during harvest time in South Florida. There are other cars as well, including the mandatory Chevrolet Corvette, in this case a 1954 model.

Mr Nash said that any particular truck or car in the garage could be located and filed in the plate in about 90 seconds.

Here's how the Museum's Web site describes the experience:

"Robotic stacking system, three floors of this exhibit will allow visitors to select one of these 55 vehicles for a closer view and then watch as it moves from its storage location on a custom Platinum. Travel of the vehicle to the turntable will be strengthened by a multimedia presentation. The custom turntable and then turn the vehicle look a visitor experience. »

Mr. Nash stated that he could not specify the cost of the Boomerang system; It is part of a 20 million renovation $ Museum, which is located on the coast East of Florida, near Port St. Lucie.

Mr. Nash has said it has no plans to build a plant similar to New York, dominated by archaic garages employing valets instead of robots to the shuttle cars. "Manhattan is not a priority for us, because they discourage parking," says. "The suburbs, real estate developments, are the really rich market for us."

Peugeot Bets on a Different Kind of Hybrid

It’s the Hybrid Air — an experimental vehicle that the French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroën has been trumpeting lately as an exemplar of energy efficiency. While some skeptics doubt whether it is truly breakthrough technology, the Peugeot and Citroën concept cars containing it may prove to be some of the more intriguing models on display next week at the Geneva Motor Show.

Peugeot says a compact car like a Citroën C3 equipped with the technology will get about 100 kilometers per 2.9 liters, or 81 miles per gallon, in city driving. If so, that would be significantly more than existing hybrid electric vehicles like the Toyota Prius can achieve in stop-and-go traffic.

Peugeot, the second-biggest carmaker in Europe after Volkswagen, plans to begin rolling out Hybrid Air cars by 2015 or 2016.

Like a Toyota Prius, the Hybrid Air recovers energy each time the driver brakes or decelerates. But instead of using that braking energy to charge a battery, which then runs an electric motor — as in the Prius — the Hybrid Air has a reversible hydraulic pump that uses the braking energy to compress nitrogen gas in what looks like an oversized scuba tank. When the Hybrid Air driver next presses the accelerator, the compressed gas pushes hydraulic fluid, syringe fashion, through a gearbox to turn the wheels.

The energy stored in the nitrogen tank is small — equivalent to only about five teaspoons, or a couple dozen cubic centimeters, of gasoline — and enough to power the car only a few hundred meters before the standard gasoline motor takes over again. But repeated over the course of a day of city driving, Peugeot says, those extra teaspoons of energy add up to big improvement in gas mileage.

The idea of using so-called hybrid hydraulics to power a car has been around for a while, although Peugeot prefers to call it “hybrid air technology” because the energy is stored in the compressed gas, rather than the hydraulics. In the United States, Ford Motor and Chrysler have studied the approach with encouragement from the Environmental Protection Agency. UPS, the parcel service, has added several dozen hybrid hydraulic delivery vans to its alternative fuel fleet. Other companies are applying the technology to garbage trucks, which like UPS vans, are big, make frequent stops and stand to recover much of their wasted energy. The Indian auto company Tata has promised to produce a car powered solely by compressed air, although that uses a different technology than Peugeot’s approach.

Peugeot, with a 200-member Hybrid Air team led by Karim Mokaddem, an engineer, appears to be moving the fastest of any global automaker to bring the technology to the family car, while most of the industry has focused on hybrid electrics as the main alternative vehicles for reducing emissions and saving gasoline.

“The logic of an electric hybrid is completely different,” Andrés Yarce, another of the project leaders, said in Peugeot’s technical center in Carrières-sous-Poissy, near Paris. With an electric hybrid, “you let the vehicle run for a few kilometers, have the engine shut off, then run silently on an electric motor,” Mr. Yarce said. “It took time for people to grasp that the Hybrid Air works differently but gets the same results.”

When the car is ready for the market, Peugeot plans to price it below €20,000, or $26,000.

Mr. Mokaddem said the pricing was meant to make the Hybrid Air a viable option in emerging markets like China and India, where many hybrid electrics are too expensive for most consumers and too complex for local service and repair operations.

Peugeot says it can undercut hybrid electrics on price because its car does not require a special, expensive battery and electric motor that vehicles like the Prius use, although the Hybrid Air does employ a standard car battery. The hydraulic system also adds about 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds, to the weight of a conventional Citroën or Peugeot. And because of the heat generated by the energy transfer process, the designers have had to adapt the car’s cooling system.

The most obvious difference between the prototype Hybrid Air and an ordinary car is the presence of two air tanks (the second, smaller tank is a low-pressure receptacle) and a special gearbox that manages the energy handoffs between the hydraulics and the 1.2-liter standard gasoline engine. The designers say the setup left them room to keep a standard-size trunk and gas tank.

The accumulator, or pressurized nitrogen tank is 1.3 meters, or about 4 feet, long, with a volume of 20 liters, or 5.3 gallons, and a maximum pressure of 250 bar, or about 3,600 pounds per square inch.

Greentech: Compression of gases for a cheaper and simpler hybrid

It is a hybrid Air, an experimental vehicle that the French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen has been trumpeting as a model of energy efficiency. While some skeptics wonder that if the hybrid Air really is an innovative technology, the Peugeot and Citroen search cars powered by, you might be some of the most intriguing models exposed this week at the Geneva Motor Show. The show opens Tuesday for two days of previews press and runs through March 17.

Peugeot said that a compact as a Citroen C3 equipped with the technology, which combines the hydraulic drive with a conventional gasoline engine, will get about 81 miles per gallon in the city. It would be significantly better than the existing gasoline-electric hybrids like the Toyota Prius can do to stop traffic.

PSA Peugeot Citroen, the second largest manufacturer in Europe, after Volkswagen, said it plans to start rolling the Air hybrid cars by 2015 or 2016.

Like a Prius, the hybrid Air system recovers energy whenever the driver slows down or decelerates. But instead of capturing the kinetic energy of the car of slowdown with a generator that charges a battery, like the Prius, the hybrid Air system uses a reversible hydraulic pump. The pump compresses the nitrogen gas in what looks like an oversized scuba tank which also contains the hydraulic fluid; the next time the driver steps on the accelerator, compressed gas pushes hydraulic fluid, like a syringe, by a gearbox to turn the wheels.

The amount of energy stored in the nitrogen tank is low – equivalent to approximately five teaspoons of essence. While it is just enough to propel the car a few hundred metres until the gasoline engine takes over once again, when repeated during a day of driving in the city, these additional teaspoons of energy corresponds to the great improvement in mileage, said Peugeot.

The idea of using so-called hydraulic hybrid to power a car has been around for years. Peugeot prefers to call its technology 'air hybrid' because the energy is stored by compression of nitrogen gas instead of hydraulic fluid under pressure. In the U.S., Chrysler and Ford Motor each have studied the approach and the Environmental Protection Agency has encouraged research.

The United Parcel Service said dozens of hybrid hydraulic trucks to its fleet of alternative fuels. Other companies apply technology for garbage trucks, which, as vans by UPS are great, make frequent stops and can benefit from the recovery of the energy otherwise wasted in the heat generated by the brakes.

The Indian carmaker Tata has promised to produce a car powered only by compressed air, but uses a different technology, developed by Motor Development International.

Hybrid Air of 200 members team, headed by Karim Mokaddem, a Peugeot engineer, seems to move faster from one to a car manufacturer worldwide to provide this alternative hybrid technology to the production.

"The logic of a hybrid electric is completely different," Andres Yarce, another of the Peugeot project leaders, said at the technical centre of the company in Carrières-sous-Poissy, near Paris. With an electric hybrid, ' you let the car run for a few miles, have the engine cut off, and then click run silently on an electric motor, ' said Mr. Yarce. "It took a long time for people to understand that the hybrid Air works differently, but it gets the same results."

When the car is ready for the market, Peugeot plans to price at about $26,000.

Mr. Mokaddem said that the prize was intended to make the Air hybrid a viable option in emerging markets like China and India, where most gas-electric hybrids were too complex and expensive for local repair and maintenance operations.

Peugeot says it can undercut hybrids existing prices because his car does not require expensive battery and an electric motor, like a Prius, even if the hybrid Air uses a standard car battery. The hydraulic system adds about 220 pounds to the weight of Peugeot or Citroen classic. And because of the heat generated by the process of energy transfer, engineers have had to adjust the cooling system of the car.

The most obvious difference between the hybrid prototype Air and an ordinary car is the presence of two pressure tanks and a special gearbox that handles the transfer of energy between water and the 1.2 litre petrol standard engine. The designers of the system say that the configuration left room to keep a standard size trunk and fuel tank.

The accumulator or reservoir of nitrogen pressure, is about four feet long, with a volume of 20 litres, or about five litres and a maximum pressure of about 3,600 pounds per square inch. Breakage in a steel pressure tank could send metal flying, of course, but the design team said it has shielded against this install the tank under the floor and adding emergency exit valves. They also note that the nitrogen gas, which is nearly 80 percent of the air we breathe is not flammable.

Advertising: A Shared History in Detroit Is an Ad Inspiration

The partnership unites Chrysler and “Motown: the Musical,” about the musical legacy of Berry Gordy and Motown, the record label he founded that is now owned by the Universal Music Group. The musical, scheduled to open on April 14 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, is the beneficiary of an elaborate promotional initiative by the Chrysler brand that supplements the show’s own efforts to encourage ticket sales.

The centerpiece of the Chrysler brand’s support is a television commercial that has been running nationally since December, featuring Mr. Gordy riding in a Motown Edition of a Chrysler 300C sedan as the seminal Motown song “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” plays on the soundtrack.

The commercial, created by a Chrysler Group agency, GlobalHue in Southfield, Mich., begins with Mr. Gordy at the original “Hitsville U.S.A.” Motown headquarters building in Detroit and ends with him arriving at the Lunt-Fontanne and declaring: “We are Motown. And this is what we do.” As Mr. Gordy enters the theater, the Chrysler slogan appears, altered to read “Imported from Motown.”

The words “ ‘Motown: the Musical’ on Broadway March 2013” appear, referring to the start of previews on March 11, and the address of the show’s Web site, motownthemusical.com, along with the Chrysler brand Web address, chrysler.com.

The commercial is believed to be the first time that a Broadway show has had such paid national television exposure as it prepares to open in New York. The commercial is in addition to a commercial that the producers of “Motown: the Musical” are running on stations in the New York market; the local commercial was created by SpotCo in New York, part of Reach4entertainment Enterprises.

The Chrysler brand will also buttress the show’s marketing with colorful signs to go up in coming days in Penn Station and Times Square. The signs display a Chrysler 300 Motown Edition, the Chrysler logo, the logo of “Motown: the Musical” and photographs of cast members of the show like Brandon Victor Dixon, who portrays Mr. Gordy.

The Chrysler Group is spending an estimated $6 million to $8 million to promote “Motown: the Musical.” The budget for the ads from the show’s producers, Mr. Gordy, Kevin McCollum and Doug Morris, is estimated at $2 million.

The automaker’s efforts extend beyond the product placement and sponsorship agreements that have become increasingly prevalent on Broadway as theater enters the realm of so-called entertainment marketing with television, movies and video games. Unlike the provisions of many of those deals, the Chrysler name is not being added to a lyric of a Motown song, nor are there plans to park a car in the lobby of the Lunt-Fontanne.

Rather, the partnership is about “merging both journeys, the journey of the Chrysler brand and the journey of Mr. Gordy and his music,” said Olivier François, chief marketing officer at the Chrysler Group.

“Motown is the most exported from Detroit of any music and, in this case, imported to New York,” Mr. François said. “It’s putting together the sound and the drive of Detroit. We were meant to meet.”

That thought is expressed in the national commercial, in which a narrator proclaims, “Because if cars are our city’s heart, music is its soul.”

That the partnership is centered on music is no coincidence. Mr. François, a producer of pop music in his native France in the 1980s, described the Motown catalog as “part of the American patrimony” that “will live forever.”

“And so is Chrysler,” he said hopefully. “Regardless of my passion for the Motown music and my respect for Mr. Gordy, I would not have pushed to tie a brand to Motown if there wasn’t this new Chrysler story,” Mr. François said, referring to “Imported from Detroit,” which was introduced in 2011 with a Super Bowl commercial featuring another famous Detroit music figure, Eminem.

“The Motown name has a huge value,” he added. “Does it have a huge value for any car? Maybe not.”

Mr. McCollum, whose Broadway credits include “Avenue Q” and “Rent,” invoked another musical to explain how the show and the Chrysler Group came together: “Kismet.”

“About a year ago, we flew to Detroit and sat down with Olivier and his team, and they pitched the idea,” Mr. McCollum said. “It’s about a collaboration between these two great American industries that came out of one place.”

Besides, he added, Mr. Gordy was “highly influenced by his early days working in an auto plant, learning that you have to put something out there people want.”

Mr. McCollum said he was glad to join Mr. François and Mr. Gordy in “celebrating Detroit when you’d think it’s contrarian thinking” to do so because Motown, Chrysler and “Motown: the Musical” are all about “the power of the American dream.”

The SpotCo campaign for the show — and a public relations effort by Boneau/Bryan-Brown in New York — play that up. The local commercial, for instance, extols Motown’s songs as “the soundtrack that changed America, the beat of a generation, the soul of a nation.”

The goal is “less transactional,” said Ilene Rosen, associate chief operating officer at SpotCo, and “more about synergizing the Motown and Chrysler brands to elevate both.”

As much as other Broadway producers would probably welcome a deep-pocketed partner like the Chrysler Group, the unique circumstances that produced the partnership may make it difficult to emulate, she added.

Geneva Motor Show: A High Dollar Debutante ball

While manufacturers such as Fiat, Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen have trouble in Europe with bloated inventories, declining sales and the red ink, many luxury brands are State of profits and record sales. As a result, an unprecedented number of ultraexpensive cars new is mixed among the creations of 130 or made Beaver in Geneva.

Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren will be unveiled the prices above $1 million vehicles. Limited edition of sport cars Lamborghini may set a record for vehicular excess; the car is common to carry a price tag more of 4 million $.

Not far behind in terms of stratospheric prices, will be new vehicles with six digits of Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin and a wide range of manufacturers the shop, and design houses that make the Geneva show an annual Carnival of automotive excess.

Price, of course, is not necessarily proportional with the meaning. Here are some important, but not necessarily as expensive, beginner, who will make an appearance:

Alfa Romeo 4 c This sports coupe, which the company called "Compact supercar", will be built in a factory of Maserati and lavished with technologies derived from Ferrari. Later this year, the 4 c will lead Alfa back to the United States market after an absence of 20 years. According to the Geneva standards, the car is a bit a bargain, with a price in the mid - 5-digit range.

100Th anniversary of Aston Martin Vanquish To celebrate 100 years in business, Aston produced a limited series of 100 special editions of his Vanquish coupe, offering features previously available only in its $2 million and more hypercar of the One-77. Versions of the centenary are also planned for Vantage, DB9 and fast.

Bentley Flying Spur To differentiate themselves more away from the Continental GT coupe and move more upscale in price and presence, the Flying Spur sedan gets its own platform and treatment of style. Engineering advances will exit the pump of his W-12 up to 616 horsepower engine.

Chevrolet Corvette convertible Something of a surprise as a European debut – especially so shortly after the cut has been shown in Detroit in January - the Stingray convertible will make its first appearance in Geneva. The car appears at the New York auto show this month and reach showrooms in December.

Ferrari F150 Successor in limited edition Ferrari Enzo supercar, codename F150 (no relation to the Ford pickup), will be finally shown in Geneva after months of teasers. If you could buy one - and you can not, because as said Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat group, the car is already sold out, you would have about 1.3 million $. Production of the monster 900 horses should be limited to 499 cars, 100 more than the Enzo.

Hyundai ix35 fuel cell This car started to roll, the line, last Tuesday in Ulsan, South Korea. Hyundai said that in fact the first automaker to offer a vehicle manufactured by hydrogen fuel cell in series. The annual production of this variant of the crossover Tucson is not should reach 1,000 units until 2015.

McLaren P1 To not be forged by Ferrari in the pricing, exclusivity, or horses, McLaren displayed the production version of its P1 supercar with horses 903, a price of 1.15 million $ and a production run only 375.

Qoros 3 m A Chinese-Israeli Chery Automobile and the Israel Corporation, this nascent brand holding company hopes to begin selling cars in Europe this year. The compact sedan 3 Qoros will be shown at Geneva, as well as two concept cars, including a hybrid crossover.

Rolls-Royce Wraith A version two doors of the Ghost sedan with a sloping fastback roof, this new coupe expected to reach customers in the fourth quarter.