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Luxury, sports cars in Detroit spotlight as sales boom

Luxury and sports cars will be in the spotlight when the Detroit auto show opens amid booming sales and renewed optimism as the US economy rebounds from a deep downturn.

“The mood is going to be pretty good,” said Dave Sergeant, an analyst with JD Power. “The industry is coming off a reasonably good year and this year should be even better.” US sales are expected to rise to between 15 and 16 million vehicles this year after jumping 13 percent to 14.5 million vehicles in 2012, the biggest yearly gain since 1984.

The Detroit Three carmakers are raking in huge profits again after years of painful restructuring and a renewed focus on the product side of their business.

Their Asian and European counterparts are also investing heavily in the United States as they jostle for position in the highly competitive market and look for a place to grow sales amid a slowdown in China and Brazil and the collapse of European demand.

“The product is the best consumers have seen in a long time,” Jesse Toprak, an analyst with the automotive site TrueCar.com, told AFP.

GM's new Corvette was the most hotly anticipated and select journalists were given a sneak preview at a lavish preview Sunday night.

The muscular and sculpted Corvette Stingray shares a name with the iconic 1963 model but is an entirely new vehicle, sharing only two parts with the previous generation Corvette.

“The soul of our company is sitting right here in Corvette,” GM North America president Mark Reuss said.

“This car is the reason I work at GM.” Daimler also offered a sneak peak at an entirely new car, the compact, stylish -- and lower priced -- Mercedes CLA coupe which is aimed squarely at the youth market.

“The CLA is a style rebel,” Mercedes design chief Gordon Wagener said. “The dynamic design idiom is manifested in breath-taking proportions, muscular, flowing contours and sculptural surfaces.” Both vehicles will compete with luxury sports cars from Audi, BMW and a new muscle car from specialty carmaker Shelby once the show officially starts Monday.

Pickup truck fans will also have plenty of new models to feast their eyes upon, with the new Chevy Silverado and a concept (or pre-production) truck from Ford ahead of the 2015 launch of the next version of its top-selling F-series.

Honda will be testing out a concept for a smaller sport utility vehicle, as will Ford's luxury Lincoln brand. There will be plenty of new hulks on the floor as well, especially from Chrysler's Jeep and Dodge brands.

And even the more down-market vehicles are going to be decked out with features that were once reserved for luxury brands, like collision avoidance technology and heated side mirrors.

“Those features tend to be fairly profitable because once they get into the mass market they're not that expensive to install and consumers will pay fairly well for them,” said Jeremy Anwyl, vice chairman of automotive site Edmunds.com. Drivers looking for improved fuel economy will have a wide range of options as automakers push hybrids, diesel and electric vehicles, and boost the efficiency of standard gasoline engines ahead of upcoming tough new government standards.

But with hybrids and other alternative powertrains still only making up about three percent of the US market, carmakers are going to have to work harder on their green car pitches.

There is hope that younger buyers could help push demand for green cars to the point where it would have a significant impact on fuel consumption.

“While they're not necessarily going to gravitate to and make a buying decision because of 'green,' they have a preference towards new technologies,” said Joe Vitale, an auto analyst with Deloitte.

“We think this generation may be the generation that creates a tipping point to an electrified world.” More than 50 new models will be revealed on Monday and Tuesday as automakers vie for the attention of some 6,000 journalists from around the world.

AFP

Ardagh offers $1.7 bn for Verallia NA

French construction materials giant Saint Gobain said that it had a firm offer from international glass packaging company Ardagh for its Verallia North America operation for a price of about 1.275 billion euros ($1.7 billion).

Last year the North American activities of Verallia generated sales of about $1.61 billion and an operating profit of $171 million. The business says it is the second-biggest maker of glass bottles and jars in the United States where it has 13 industrial sites.

The North American activities employ slightly more than 4,400 people.

AFP

VW hits global sales record, still trails Toyota

Volkswagen posted record-breaking global sales in 2012, up 11 percent at 9.07 million, but the ambitious German automaker continues to trail Japanese rival Toyota.

VW, which aspires to be the world's biggest automaker by 2018, has a fair way to go to surpass the current champion, as Toyota has forecast that 2012 sales will jump 22 percent to 9.7 million vehicles.

GM, which briefly regained the crown after Toyota's supplies were shattered by the 2011 Japanese quake and tsunami, has not yet forecast or released its global sales figures for last year. VW chief Martin Winterkorn expressed confidence for the future.

“This industry remains a growth industry worldwide and in this country,” Winterkorn told reporters on the eve of the Detroit auto show. “We want to outpace the industry,” he said, adding “the VW group developed extremely well in difficult conditions.” However sales chief Christian Klingler cautioned progress could be slower this year if the situation in Europe continues to deteriorate.

“Present uncertainties will intensify in 2013,” he said, adding “markets remain challenging, competition is getting tougher.”

The 12-brand giant's sales jumped 34 percent in the United States, eight percent in South America and 25 percent in China, VW's largest market with 2.81 million vehicles sold last year.

AFP

Brand new Corvette kicks off Detroit car show

Sparkling new Corvette with as much Italian lines as American dash kicked off the annual North American Auto Show, the first makeover in eight years for the iconic US sports car.

Six decades after the Chevrolet speedster came on the market, the new Corvette easily earned the respect of the Detroit automotive press, with one saying its “Italianate lines” suggested the class leader Ferrari.

“The soul of our company is sitting right here in Corvette,” said Mark Reuss, president for the Americas of Chevrolet parent General Motors. “This car is the reason I work at GM.” GM, pulling out of an industry wide recession in 2008 to 2010, ordered a sweeping redesign of the current C6 model: a new platform, new 450 horsepower motor, and new exterior and interior, held together with a good dose of carbon fiber to keep it light and fast.

The company said it was the moat powerful base model Corvette it had ever launched, capable of reaching 100 kph in 4 seconds flat.

AFP

Mercedes Chairman of the Board Dr. Dieter Zetsche poses for a photo at the launch of the companys CLA class car on the eve of the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan 2013. AFP