Data Insights
BELGIUM: "Loudest shift" as Genk mayor brands Ford exit disaster
Genk is to organise a "loudest shift" for tomorrow (18 December) with the city's mayor branding Ford's decision to end production after five decades "a disaster" for the region.
SOUTH KOREA: Hyundai redesigns Sonata hybrid
Hyundai has launched its redesigned Sonata Hybrid with "unique hybrid design" styling changes, new safety and convenience features and an upgraded powertrain that delivers claimed class-leading fuel economy of 18.2km/litre.
NIGERIA: Stallion to assemble Volkswagen cars and trucks
Local importer/distributor Stallion will assemble Volkswagen vehicles at its plant in Nigeria in 2015.
THAILAND: Volvo starts shipping UD brand trucks to South Africa
Volvo has started shipping UD brand trucks to South Africa from Thailand.
GERMANY: Mercedes adds Shooting Brake to CLA family
Mercedes-Benz has added the CLA Shooting Brake to the CLA compact car range.
US: Paccar profit jumps 32% as North America truck sales rise
Paccar reported a 32% rise in quarterly profit as the company sold more trucks in North America.
US: Global light vehicle assembly forecast to reach 81.8m units in 2013
Global light vehicle assembly is forecast by Autofacts, PwC's automotive analyst group, to reach 81.8m units in 2013, a 3.3% gain on the previous year.
US: Ford plans to boost SUV exports to China
Ford reportedly plans to boost the production of vehicles that are manufactured in North America and exported to China, by up to 40,000 per year as the Chinese appetite for SUVs grows.
SOUTH KOREA: Hankook Tire to build US factory
Hankook Tire has announced plans for its eighth global manufacturing plant - in Clarksville, Tennessee.
BELGIUM: European Council mulls "limited flexibility" on CO2 reduction
European automotive suppliers body, CLEPA, says it is sticking to its aims of reducing CO2 emissions for cars to 95g by 2020, despite the Council of Ministers suggesting there could be "limited flexibility" concerning the tough new targets. reports the German government has succeeded in postponing the deadline.
PHILIPPINES: Sales rise 15% in September
New vehicle sales in the Philippines rose by 14.8% to 14,764 units in September, from 12,857 units a year earlier, according to data released jointly by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association, Inc.
UK: Aston Martin axes Toyota iQ-based Cygnet
Aston Martin is dropping the Toyota iQ-based Cygnet city car following slow sales to focus on models more geared to their traditional customers.
UK: Bentley 2013 sales up 9%
Volkswagen Group's UK luxury car unit Bentley said 2013 sales to the end of September rose 9% year on year to 6,516 cars.
THE WEEK THAT WAS: JLR in the news
News about Tata Motors' UK success story - Jaguar Land Rover - always seems to attract a lot of interest from just-auto readers. That was certainly so this week.
UK: New 63 plate boosts September CV sales
Commercial vehicle registrations were "strong in September", according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), with sales up 12.4% year on year to 49,197 units.
UK: New car sales up 12.1% in September
The UK car market continued its positive growth trend in September with monthly car sales up by a healthy 12.1% on last year.
GERMANY: Mercedes September sales grow 15.9%
There may be a global economic downturn but no one has told Daimler's Mercedes Benz which has reported all time record sales worldwide for September.
ANALYSIS: Ford builds 85,000 F-Series trucks - ready for a monster Q4?
All sorts of things can be found in seemingly boring sheets of data. Take, for example, the monthly production stats for its North American plants that Ford sends me. The company is clearly readying itself for a belter of a final quarter.
GERMANY: September sales down 1.2%
A smaller fall in German car sales in September has strengthened hopes that weakness in Europe's largest car market is easing and sales could stabilise or improve this year.
EXCLUSIVE: Land Rover executive Edwards on next Defender [4 Oct update: sales figures added]
Following recent remarks by another senior manager at Land Rover, the firm's former brand head has told just-auto.com more details of the thinking behind the next Defender.