In a yellow taxi Nissan sees gold

NEW YORK -- Nissan will do well to sell 4,000 of them a year. But the automaker is giving its new van-shaped taxi cab all the auto show fanfare of one of its biggest products.
Models last night handed out prepaid credit cards to New Yorkers worth a free cab ride in the city as a way of advertising Nissan's entry into the taxi business.
The canary yellow cab -- a converted Nissan NV200 commercial van -- is being hawked in billboards around the New York auto show, and the only existing model of the van sits prominently on Nissan's display at the show, even though it will not appear on the streets until October 2013.
Why all the hoopla?
Three reasons, according to Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn:
First, New York is only the beginning.
"Eventually, we'll see it in other markets in the world," he says. The company has received queries on the cab from cities in China, India and Britain.
Second, the so-called "Taxi of Tomorrow" will serve as a rolling advertisement for the Nissan brand for millions of New Yorkers and tourists, Ghosn says, showing off Nissan as a technology innovator.
"Six hundred thousand people a day will experience it," Ghosn says.
Among the cab's innovations: interiors made of anti-bacterial materials that neutralize odors and germs; large roof skylights to let visitors gaze at the city skyline while in traffic; rear-seat reading lights; plug-in jacks to recharge cell phones; separate passenger air conditioner controls; a driver-to-passenger intercom system; and an embedded radio-transmission feature that helps hearing-impaired passengers hear the driver.
The taxi also will come as a battery-powered electric vehicle, giving Nissan still more exposure as a maker of electric cars.
"In my opinion, the EV will be the dominant version of the taxi," Ghosn conjectured. "It's quieter, and that will be attractive."Automobile News

Over 12000 models are recalled by Volvo in China

The Sweden based luxury automobile manufacturer, Volvo has announced the recall of over 12798 units of its vehicles imported in China, the model year of the vehicles being 2012. The recall has been initiated owing to the suspected fault in wiring that may result in improper functioning of the airbags.
The automaker will be recalling around 11119 units of its compact executive car, S60 and its compact crossover SUV, XC60 that were the 2012 imported models supplied to China. These models are anticipated to be fitted with the faulty wiring clamp that is placed beneath the front seats, which may cause safety issues such as the airbag deployment failure.
Further 1679 units of the Volvo S60 and XC60 will be called back to an inspection conducted of the underbody coating that may penetrate into the fuel lines leading to leakages in the fuel, which may give rise to a fire outbreak.
It was reported by the recall of these models on the website of General Administration of Quality Supervision, China and until now the error has not resulted in any casualties or deaths.
Volvo cars, the subsidiary of the Chinese auto company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, in a bid to expand its footprints in the Asia’s highly diversified plan by the Chinese market to commence this precautionary recall that symbolizes its concern for quality and safety.Automobile News

To drive Tata Motors' fortunes in Q4 JLR's good growth in Europe

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]The Tata Motors stock closed 1.8% lower on Monday at Rs 268, but it is still fairly close to its 52-week high reached in mid-March.
Investor sentiment has been buoyant, as vehicle sales at the company's key Europe-based Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) expanded 46.6% year-on-year in the first two months of the fourth quarter of FY12, faster than the growth seen in the first three quarters of the fiscal.
Once again the company has benefited from the strong demand in Europe for its recently launched SUV, Evoque, and on expanding in the fast-growing BRIC markets it focuses.
JLR accounted for nearly 62.5% of Tata Motors' total income from operations of Rs 1,14,746.6 crore in the first nine months of the current fiscal, and 75.4% of its profit from the segment.
However, in a recent report, a Europe-based leading foreign portfolio investor has expressed concerns over signs of Chinese luxury car market slowdown in the and rising incentives and discounts being offered by German luxury carmakers to sustain sales volumes.
According to this report, presently JLR is expanding its dealer and marketing network in China, and about margins their concerns are more, rather than volumes. To an email seeking comments Tata Motors did not respond over this.
China had appeared as a key market for JLR in the first three quarters of the current fiscal, with Jaguar's sales volumes growing 148.8% Yo-Y to 5,136 units. Total Jaguar sales during this period were 38,796 units.
For Land Rover, retail volumes in China grew 54.9% Yo-Y to 28,289 units in the first three quarters of the fiscal, while globally it sold 168,455 units.
According to ETIG estimates, the recent development in the Chinese luxury auto market is expected to have no impact on the company's performance in the fourth quarter.
Strong demand for Evoque is expected to help Tata Motors (on a consolidated basis) report a 112% Y-o-Y growth in net profit for the March 2012 quarter, and a 59% improvement in net sales.
A fall in its core consolidated is faced by Tata Motors had faced operating profit margin in the first and second quarters.
And in the December 11 quarter, its consolidated operating profit margin (excluding the amount capitalized and other non-core items) was broadly flat at 10.1%.Automobile News