UBS has cut Fiat’s rating from “buy” to “neutral”. UBS cites its cautious views on car demand in Europe and Brazil as well as heavy trucks and machinery, the areas is which Fiat are strongest. UBS notes that Sergio Marchionne’s grand scenario of spinning off Fiat’s auto division is still the company’s goal, and PSA

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Fiat Downgraded: Marchionne Eying PSA?

Automotive News [sub] reports that GM will rush out its $4.9b restructuring plan for Opel in December, as it seeks to ease worries on the continent about the fate of the troubled division. “Our plan is very similar to Magna’s. I don’t think it’s worse,” GM’s Nick Reilly told reporters near Opel’s largest plant in

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GM: US Taxpayer-Funded Opel Plans By Christmas

Looks like GM may have done some creative accounting after all – at least according to Swedish Government and their consulting firm KPMG. As we’ve reported the last couple of days, Saab’s rescue has been hanging by a thread due to questions around the company’s financial situation prior to the start of the financial crisis.

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Swedish Government: Saab’s Books Were Cooked

For Monday, November 23, EU Economy Commissar Günther Verheugen invited all EU Economy Ministers to come to Brussel to attend an Opel summit. GME’s new chief Nick Reilly will also attend, reports Unternehmer.de. The idea behind the meeting is anti-competitive: “The Commission is strictly against any bidding war with subsidies,” Verheugen said. Any government help

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EU Calls Opel Summit

GM Europe’s head, Nick Reilly, has suggested that the job losses at Vauxhall UK may not be as bad as was feared. Before GM did a U-turn with the sale of Vauxhall/Opel, Magna agreed with Vauxhall to cut 800 jobs, no forced redundancies, and keep the Luton and Ellesmere Port plants open. Then, GM realised

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Vauxhall Versus Opel?: Loans For Jobs Floated In Britain

Automotive News [sub] reports that the newest addition to Chrysler’s new Ram brand will be the Fiat Dobló, a compact van in the style of Ford’s Transit Connect. The latest generation Dobló has been previewed, and will go on sale in Europe early next year. The Rambló will hit the US market in 2012, and

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Fiat Doblo: My Tank Is Full

In October 2008, new car sales in carpocalypse-affected Europe had dropped by 14.4 percent. A year later, the Old Country is slowly coming back to normal. In Europe as a whole, new car registrations grew by 11.2 percent over October in the previous year. This according to the latest statistic of the European Auto Manufacturers

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Europe In October: Clawing Back To Normal

Worried about increasingly efficient cars and dwindling tax revenue at the pump, Dutch lawmakers approved the first “pay-as-you-drive” tax system in Europe. Of course, the dwindling revenue is not the official reason given. The official intent is “to protect the climate and to reduce traffic jams,” reports the Deutsche Welle. Now who can be against

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Dutch Treat: Pay Per Km Tax Approved In The Netherlands

From the innovation folder comes a proposal by EU-financed researchers to group cars, buses and trucks in short “road trains” on Europe's motorways to conserve fuel. The EU hopes to cut fuel consumption, journey times and congestion by linking up to eight vehicles together. Early work on the idea suggests that fuel savings in the neighborhood of 20 percent could be achieved among those cars and trucks traveling behind a larger lead vehicle. That vehicle would be operated by a professional driver who would monitor the status of the road train. Those in following vehicles could take their hands off the wheel, read a book or watch TV, while they travel along the motorway. Their vehicle would be controlled by the lead vehicle. Funded under the European Commission's Framework 7 research plan, SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) is aimed at commuters in cars who travel long distances to work every day but will also look at ways to involve commercial vehicles.

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EU-Financed Research Team Sees Fuel-Savings Promise in ‘Road Trains’

GM CEO Fritz Henderson’s promises of independence for Opel made the right noises, but they carefully avoided any discussion of the actual role GM envisions for its German division within its global strategy. The latest updates seem to indicate that GM will keep Opel for its engineering expertise, but that the brand will be subordinate

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GM: Opel Can Be Independent But Not Global