Revista Quatro Rodas

A Daimler anunciou o lançamento de um serviço que promete comodidade aos motoristas europeus. O car2go permitirá que qualquer pessoa alugue um Smart ForTwo e o devolva após o seu uso.

Segundo a montadora, todos os motoristas que desejam usufruir do serviço terão de preencher um cadastro, que libera o acesso ao veículo por meio de um chip. O usuário pode reservar um ForTwo com até 24 horas de antecedência – neste caso, as instruções para localizar o carro são enviadas via SMS – ou então pegar o veículo na hora, bastando encostar sua carteira de motorista em um sensor instalado no pára-brisa, que realiza a leitura e destrava as portas.

O carro permanece reservado para o usuário por tempo indeterminado e a devolução pode ser realizada em qualquer local que não ultrapasse os limites da cidade. A Daimler afirmou que disponibilizará vagas reservadas para os ForTwo nos arredores de estações de trem e aeroportos.

Já o serviço de cobrança do car2go será realizado por tempo de aluguel, e não por quilometragem rodada. De acordo com a fabricante, o valor cobrado será de 19 centavos de euro por minuto, incluindo gastos com combustível, seguro e impostos.

Após a devolução, uma equipe de profissionais especializados em limpeza automotiva se encarrega de realizar a lavagem, o abastecimento e todos os reparos necessários antes de disponibilizar o Smart para o próximo cliente.

A fase inicial de testes do car2go, que contará com uma frota de 50 veículos, será realizada na cidade de Ulm, situada no sul da Alemanha.

Fonte: Revista Quatro Rodas/Vitor Matsubara |  www.quatrorodas.abril.com.br

RENAULT and its partner Daimler, wanted to ask for financial help to the German government, in order to produce a new hybrid motor for bus and trucks and implant a new joint venture.

Germany didn’t come and we can wonder what will be the consequences for the German economy.

By Coralie Jouany.

DAIMLER asked for subventions from CitiCorp in order to take over Volvo from Ford and invest in research and development in Sweden.

The Swedish government is very happy and sees there a very good opportunity of profit, at every level.

By Coralie Jouany

DAIMLER announced that they signed an agreement with Germany. This agreement relates to subsidies granted by Germany to finance their joint venture for Research & Development with Renault. The subvention will amount to between 15% and 20% of the amount of the joint venture.

By Lucie Jacques

DAIMLER met with Russia. Daimler had 10% of Kamaz. Russia would like to keep the power in Kamaz and Daimler would like to open new manufactories in Russia or buy shares in Kamaz. But even though Daimler wants like 45% of Kamaz but Russia proposes only 15% because it wants to continue to manage the company.

By Lucie Jacques

GERMANY will become one of the greenest countries in Europe with the new “Car to Go” project. Daimler and the Deutsche bank have decided to co-finance the project that will offer citizens the possibility to use electric cars on the same system than the Parisian Velib’.

Daimler is borrowing 100 000 000 € from the Deutsche Bank at a 2,95 rate since it is a green project that can benefit from preferential rates.

The Deutsche Bank and Germany will offer customers the possibility to borrow at a 2,75 rate to buy the cars.

The project sounds like an important next step towards reducing pollution in big cities but will it be so easy to put in place? That is not likely at all. Indeed a lot of urban planning will probably be required and the project could be delayed for decades. Lets pray that politicians will not make such a wonderful project go to waste.

By Charlotte Creuzot

GERMANY vouches for Daimler Chrysler so the Deustche Bank about the project electric “car to go”. Indeed Germany trust in rapid profitability of this concept. With this support Daimler Chrysler has obtained a rate of 2,95% for the loan.

At the same time, Daimler Chrysler is committed to provide all the cars for the staff of the State. Nevertheless, it appears us important to underline that is not the role of the state to sustain companies in their negotiations. This goes against the liberal standpoint.

By Camille Gamba

DAIMLER-CHRYSLER, the specialist on engines and Renault-Nissan, the specialist on electric system have decided to sign a partnership to develop electric engines for buses and lorries in order to gradually give up oil. This joint venture will take the form of cooperation and exchange of engineers between the two companies. Regarding the budget, the companies agreed to each spend 10 million per year during 7 years, so 70 million by company all in all.

Both companies allied to negotiate with France and Germany. We encourage this project which can boost their competitive advantage and incite other companies to do the same.

By Camille Gamba

Siehe auch “Dubai: Verzögerung bei Rückzahlung von Schulden“.

Gefunden bei sueddeutsche.de:

Dubai: Banken müssen zittern

Monopoly des Größenwahns

27.11.2009, 15:46

Von Tobias Dorfer

Die Finanzprobleme Dubais könnten eine Eigendynamik entwickeln. Weltweit müssen die Banken hohe Abschreibungen befürchten – selbst deutsche Anleger könnten betroffen sein.

Die Nachricht schlug sofort auf die Aktienkurse durch. Als am Donnerstag bekannt wurde, dass das einst so schillernde Emirat Dubai in großer Finanznot steckt, kamen am Frankfurter Börsen-Parkett die Finanztitel ins Taumeln. Die Bilanz des Tages war desaströs: Deutsche-Bank-Titel verloren 6,4 Prozent, Commerzbank-Aktien 3,9 Prozent und die Postbank-Werte gaben um 2,7 Prozent nach. Im MDax brachen die Werte der Aareal-Bank um beinahe fünf Prozent ein. Am Freitag notierte der deutsche Aktienmarkt wieder positiver.

Auch wenn das finanzielle Engagement von Deutscher Bank und Commerzbank Finanzkreisen zufolge als vernachlässigbar gelten, so wurden die Institute am Donnerstag doch für die Bau-Exzesse Dubais und die leichtfertigen Investments vieler Geldhäuser in Sippenhaft genommen. Auch die eine oder andere deutsche Landesbank soll beim Wolkenkratzer-Monopoly mitgespielt haben.

Hohe Risiken

Sie reden nur nicht gerne darüber. “Kein Kommentar”, hieß es auf Anfrage von sueddeutsche.de bei der Stuttgarter LBBW. Die krisengeplagte BayernLB bestätigte, sie sei in dem Emirat engagiert, allerdings nur mit einer vernachlässigbaren Summe. Die HSH Nordbank hat immerhin einem Bericht der Financial Times Deutschland zufolge eingeräumt, an Dubai-Projekten beteiligt zu sein. Helaba und die Landesbank Berlin gaben in dem Bericht zu Protokoll, nicht betroffen zu sein. Auch ein Sprecher der Aareal-Bank sagte sueddeutsche.de, das Institut sei in Dubai nicht engagiert.

Und dennoch: Die Schwäche des Größenwahn-Emirats birgt ein großes Risiko für die Banken weltweit. 80 Milliarden Euro Schulden soll Dubai inzwischen angehäuft haben, 22 Milliarden davon entfallen auf die Holding-Gesellschaft Dubai World, berichtet die Schweizer Crédit Suisse. Den Geldhäusern, die Milliarden in dem Glitzer-Emirat investiert haben, drohen hohe Abschreibungen. So zeigt eine Studie der Investmentbank Goldman Sachs, dass die britische HSBC – eine der größten Banken der Welt – Ende Juni in den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten mit 15,9 Milliarden Dollar (10,7 Milliarden Euro) an Krediten und Darlehen engagiert war.

Ähnlich gefährlich sind der Studie zufolge die Risiken der britischen Bank Standard Chartered, ein Unternehmen, das vor allem in Asien und Afrika aktiv ist. Das Institut soll 12,3 Milliarden Dollar (8,3 Milliarden Euro) an Krediten in die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate gepumpt haben. 1,7 Milliarden Dollar (1,1 Milliarden Euro) sollen insgesamt an Immobilienkrediten in den Mittleren Osten und Südasien geflossen sein, 60 Prozent davon – so die Schätzung der Goldman-Sachs-Experten – davon in die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate.

Probleme für Hochtief

Taiwans viertgrößte Bank Mega Financial räumte inzwischen ein, sie erwarte einige Belastungen aus ihrem Dubai-Engagement. Das Haus versuche derzeit, die Gesamtsumme festzustellen, sagte Vorstandsmitglied Grace Lin. “Wir sind sehr besorgt. Wir haben gehört, dass auch noch andere taiwanische Banken betroffen sind.”

Sorgen muss sich auch der deutsche Baukonzern Hochtief machen. Denn die australische Hochtief-Tochter Leighton ist an mehreren Dubai-Projekten beteiligt und sitzt daher auf zahlreichen unbezahlten Rechnungen. Allerdings sei die Situation nicht neu, sagte ein Sprecher.

Auch Privatanleger könnten durch die Probleme Dubais in Mitleidenschaft gezogen werden. Die Zahlungsschwierigkeiten des Emirats würden das Klima an den Finanzmärkten weltweit “deutlich belasten”, sagte ein Sprecher der Deutschen Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz. Ein Beispiel dafür seien die Daimler-Aktien, die am Donnerstag mehr als 4,5 Prozent ihres Werts verloren. Und auch am Freitag lagen die Papiere zeitweise im Minus – und das, obwohl bei Daimler nur das noch immer finanzpotente Abu Dhabi engagiert ist. Jedoch gehen Fachleute davon aus, dass die übrigen Emirate den schwächelnden Paradiesvogel Dubai mit ihren Öl-Milliarden stützen müssen.

(sueddeutsche.de/AFP/Reuters/tob/hgn)

Valor Econômico

Para algumas montadoras, a recessão mundial é sinônimo de concordata ou quase em extinção. Para a Audi, filial da Volkswagen AG, pode significar seu maior sucesso das últimas décadas.

A Audi, fundada há um século, é uma das principais marcas de luxo do mundo. Mas até agora ela não conseguiu ganhar proeminência nos Estados Unidos.

Agora, a montadora alemã, sediada na pequena Ingolstadt, na Baviera, está redobrando seus esforços para tentar virar sua sorte no crucial mercado americano.

A Audi investiu pesado nos EUA este ano, uma abordagem contrária à lógica num momento em que seus maiores rivais tentam cortar custos. A montadora aumentou em 20% as despesas com marketing em 2009, despejando milhões de dólares para anunciar em eventos de alto impacto nos EUA, como a final do campeonato de futebol americano, e lançou oito novos modelos no país este ano.

A estratégia parece estar funcionando. Num dos piores anos da história da indústria automotiva, as vendas da Audi caíram apenas 6,7%, ante declínios na faixa de 14% dos concorrentes maiores BMW AG e Daimler AG, da Mercedes-Benz. Embora as vendas da Audi nos EUA no acumulado até outubro continuem em queda de 9%, sua fatia do mercado americano de carros de luxo cresceu de 6,5% para 8,3%.

Com pelo menos mais seis novos produtos a lançar no ano que vem, a Audi está perto de atingir uma meta importante: ultrapassar a Mercedes e se tornar a segunda maior montadora de luxo em volume de vendas.

“Quando você tem um mercado que está apertando o botão de reiniciar”, disse Scott Keogh, diretor de marketing nos EUA da Audi, é “a melhor hora para entrar na conversa.”

Mas talvez tão importante quando o desempenho da Audi tem sido a rápida mutação nas preferências dos compradores de carros de luxo. A crise econômica empurrou muitos motoristas endinheirados para modelos menores e mais discretos, mas que ainda contam com opcionais e acabamento de alto nível. Muitos compradores foram atraídos pelas versões simplificadas dos modelos mais caros da Audi – como o crossover compacto Q5 – e as linhas limpas e minimalistas do design da empresa, tradicionalmente influenciado pelos ideais da Escola Bauhaus.

Os principais concorrentes da Audi, a BMW e a Daimler, tiveram declínios mais sérios nas vendas porque têm mais exposição ao fortemente combalido mercado americano. Mas os analistas atribuem parte desse fraco desempenho a uma imagem dessas marcas, e também seus produtos, que não combinam com a tendência das pessoas de ostentar menos. A Mercedes, por exemplo, teve a pior queda de sua história – 34% até agora no ano – na Classe S, sua linha mais luxuosa.

Três anos atrás, a Audi perdeu muito mais motoristas para a Lexus do que conseguiu atrair da montadora japonesa de luxo. Ou seja, muitos compradores viam a Audi como um degrau no caminho para um modelo maior e mais luxuoso da Lexus. Mas este ano três vezes mais ex-proprietários de um Lexus debandaram para a Audi do que no sentido inverso, segundo a firma de pesquisa sobre o mercado automotivo R.L. Polk & Co.

Alguns desses motoristas têm as mesmas prioridades de Patrick Smith, que comprou no mês passado um Audi Q7 com motor a diesel “limpo”. Engenheiro residente na região metropolitana de Boston, pai de três filhos pequenos, Smith achou que a família logo iria precisar de mais espaço que o propiciado pelo Legacy Outback da Subaru que tinham, mas ele não simpatizava muito com a ideia de comprar uma perua grande demais ou uma picape.

Ele pensou em comprar um utilitário esportivo da linha GL da Mercedes e também pesquisou alguns utilitários mais baratos com espaço para sete passageiros. Mas comparado com outros o Audi Q7 pareceu ter “linhas mais lisas, no estilo de carro de passeio, que escondem o tamanho”, diz Smith, além de que a versão diesel tinha o mesmo consumo de combustível que o Subaru. Comparado ao Q7, achou ele, a Mercedes parecia “um tanque quadradão” e custava uns US$ 10.000 a mais. “Nossa impressão é que o pessoal que compra uma Mercedes cara como essa quer mostrar que está ao volante de um carro caro”, disse Smith.

Dieter Zetsche, diretor-presidente da Daimler, declarou numa entrevista recente acreditar que a Mercedes tem uma oferta de produtos suficientemente variada para atrair uma ampla gama de compradores de carros de luxo, mas reconhece um interesse crescente de muitas pessoas por veículos luxuosos “menos barulhentos, mais estilosos, talvez mais modestos mas não necessariamente mais baratos”. Para isso, a Mercedes estuda exportar para os EUA pelo menos um de seus quatro modelos compactos em desenvolvimento, para concorrer com carros de luxo pequenos como o Audi A3 e o BMW Série 1.

A Audi afirma que planeja pisar fundo no acelerador no ano que vem, aumentando o gasto com marketing mais 15%.

Apesar da forte presença na Europa e posição de liderança na China, onde se beneficia da força da matriz, a Volkswagen, a Audi ainda vende nos EUA menos da metade do número de carros da BMW e da Mercedes. A Audi também já lançou outras ofensivas de marketing ambiciosas, mas o retorno foi apenas modesto. Já a Toyota só lançou a marca Lexus nos EUA em 1989, mas reinou como a marca de carros de luxo mais vendida dos EUA por boa parte da década.

Fonte: Valor Econômico | www.valoronline.com.br

Pictured above is an ex-Northampton Corporation Daimler CV6G in May 2009. Along with many other classic vehicles, it was providing an intensive bus service on routes in and around Minehead, Somerset. Click on the picture for a larger view. Photo © Bob Brimley.

My driver and I were relief crew on that day and the cameraman has caught us as we took the Daimler on its next duty while its rostered crew had a lunch break.

Although of a traditional design, this bus was actually built well into the era of rear engined buses. Supplied to Northampton Corporation in 1967, the Roe body on this Daimler includes teak framing and is one of the last buses built to this longstanding method of construction. It is powered by a Gardner 8.4 litre 6-cylinder engine, driving through a 4-speed preselector gearbox.

It is often said that municipal operators would specify a preselector gearbox to save the expense of training its ex-tram drivers to drive a manual gearbox bus. There was no clutch on these, just a gear-change pedal in addition to the normal brake and accelerator pedals. The gears were selected in advance using a lever mounted on the steering column and pressing the gear-change pedal initiated the change.

Some car manufacturers in the inter-war years also offered a preselector gearbox.

My driving assessment, due to take place tomorrow, has been postponed so you’ll have to wait until next week to find out how I got on.

Gefunden bei stuttgarter-nachrichten.de:

Händlersterben beschleunigt

Daimler stützt seine Autohändler

13.11.2009 – aktualisiert: 13.11.2009 17:47 Uhr

Stuttgart – Der Stuttgarter Autohersteller Daimler greift seinen Autohändlern zum zweiten Mal innerhalb von wenigen Monaten finanziell unter die Arme. Seit Anfang November gleicht der Konzern Einbußen seiner Vertragshändler komplett aus, die sich wegen des Verfalls der Gebrauchtwagenpreise bei der Rücknahme von Leasingfahrzeugen ergeben.

Bisher war der Herstellerbeitrag auf maximal sieben Prozent des Neuwagenpreises begrenzt. Bereits Ende 2008 hatte Daimler seine rund 90 selbstständigen Mercedes-Händler bundesweit mit rund 60 Millionen Euro unterstützt.

Den Umfang des erneuten Hilfspakets wollte der Autobauer nicht beziffern, räumte aber ein, dass dadurch das Ergebnis im vierten Geschäftsquartal 2009 belastet werden könne. Daimler hat ebenso wie BMW kaum vom Absatzboom durch die vom Staat geförderte Abwrackprämie profitiert, entsprechend stark sind die Preise bei den wenig gefragten Mittel- und Oberklassewagen in den Keller gerutscht. Binnen eines Jahres verlor ein drei Jahre alter Mittelklassewagen wie eine Mercedes-C-Klasse oder ein 3er-BMW nach Experten-Berechnungen im Schnitt zwölf Prozent an Wert. Darunter leiden insbesondere Autohäuser, die stark im Leasinggeschäft engagiert sind, da sie zurückgegebene Fahrzeuge nicht mehr zu den ursprünglich angenommenen Werten weiterverkaufen können.

Der Zentralverband des Deutschen Kraftfahrzeuggewerbes (ZDK) begrüßt die Neuregelung bei Daimler und fordert andere Hersteller auf, dem Beispiel zu folgen. Ohne Lösung des Problems “könnten viele Händler in ihrer Existenz gefährdet sein”, heißt es. Von Januar bis August hat sich das Sterben von Kfz-Händlern und Werkstätten beschleunigt. 891 Betriebe meldeten Insolvenz an – 22 Prozent mehr als im Vorjahreszeitraum.

Petra Otte

Elérkeztünk a Száguldó Cirkusz azon szakaszába, amelyik bombahírektől és bombapletykáktól hangos: bár a pályán semmi sem történik, most alakul ki a 2010-es felállás, és a pilótapiac „felszabadulásával” egyre erőteljesebben pusztítják a csapatok a kérdőjeleket. Ettől függetlenül van belőlük bőven, és még hosszú ideig találkozhatunk megválaszolatlan kérdésekkel.

Jövőre 13 csapat indul, minden istálló két pilótát vonultat fel. A teljes mezőnyből mindössze négy csapat ismertette mindkét versenyzőjének a kilétét:

Red Bull: Sebastan Vettel (német) és Mark Webber (ausztrál) – tehát a 2009-es felállás.
McLaren Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton (brit) és Jenson Button (brit) – az utóbbi évek legerősebb felállásának tekinthetjük abból a szempontból, hogy két világbajnokot vonultat fel a csapat. Utoljára 1989-ben volt példa arra, hogy két, már világbajnok pilóa ugyanazon csapatban versenyezzen: a francia Alain Prost és a brazil Ayrton Senna éppen a McLaren színeiben rótta a köröket, és csúnya marakodástt eredményezett a „bajnokok harca”.
Ferrari: Felipe Massa (brazil) és Fernando Alonso (spanyol) – a maranellóiak fizettek Räikkönennek, hogy 2010-re még érvényes szerződése ellenére hagyja el a csapatot.
Williams: Nico Hülkenberg (német) és Rubens Barrichello (brazil) – Hülkenberget az a Wili Weber menedzseli, aki korábban a Schumacher-testvéreket is „beszervezte” a Forma–1-be.

További négy csapat már hivatalosan bejelentette a szerződését az egyik pilótájával:

Renault: Robert Kubica (lengyel). A francia gyártó lehetőségei között elsősorban a már idén kipróbált francia Romain Grosjean szerepel, de korántsem biztos, hogy ő kapja a másik autót.
Toro Rosso: Sebastien Buemi (svájci).
Manor: Timo Glock (német).
Campos: Bruno Senna (brazil) – a fiatal dél-amerikai tehetség a néhai Ayrton Senna unokaöccse.

A Brawn GP utódja, a Mercedes GP egyik pilótája a német Nico Rosberg – annak ellenére, hogy a szerződést hivatalosan még nem közölték. A világbajnok csapat másik 2010-es versenyzője több mint valószínű, hogy a szintén német Nick Heidfeld. Kavarog a hír Michael Schumacher szerződtetéséről – aki egyébként elérte, hogy a Ferrarihoz kapcsoló tanácsadói szerződését bármikor felbonthassa –, de a szerződés életképességéről eléggé megosztott a vélemény.

Szinte biztos, hogy a Force Indiánál megmarad Adrian Sutil. Bár az idén kiválóan versenyző németet korábban a McLarennel is összefüggésbe hozták, jelenleg egyetlen lehetősége az átigazoláshoz a BMW utódcsapata, a Sauber-Qadhok. Az indiai csapat tehát az egyes számú pilótájában sem lehet biztos, a második számú pedig ennél is nagyobb rejtély.

Az említett Sauber csapat mellett a visszatérő Lotus és az újonc amerikai US F1 berkeiben még nincs konkrétan megnevezett pilóta. Eléggé nagy a valószínűsége, hogy az amerikai csapat színeiben visszatér 1997 kanadai világbajnoka, Jacques Villeneuve, viszont egyre több pletykát hallani a tengerentúliak felkészületlenségéről. Számos szakértő kétségbe vonja a US F1 2010-es indulását.

A bejegyzés végére pedig érdekességnek: Ross Brawn jelképes összegért, 1 fontért vásárolta fel a Forma–1-es bukás után a Honda-csapatot. A Brawn által felpofozott csapat megnyerte a konstruktőri vb-t, és az egyéni világbajnokot is – Buttont – ő adta. Ma a csapat értéke mintegy 245 millió dollár – derült ki, miután a Mercedest birtokló Daimler és részvényese, az Abar 184,2 milliót fizetett a 75,1 százalékos többségi tulajdonért.

Kovács Hont-Imre

The E-cars are coming. Once the dominion of entrepreneurs tinkering in their garages. Now car companies we already know are jumping into the mix.

Rumors are swirling uptown, that an E-Rolls is in the works. Who knew the Upper Crust was so eco-friendly?

But if you prefer something a little more discreet, don’t feel left out. Since Smartcar already looks like a golf cart, the makers at Daimler decided an electric car was the next logical step.

On another note…

Daimler’s car2go, a car-sharing pilot project with 200 Smart Fortwo vehicles first announced in March, officially kicked off Wednesday in Austin, Texas. Now city employees will be able to pick up networked vehicles at stations and designated parking spaces around Austin, and drop them off anywhere within the service area.

The Austin network, modeled after a similar Smart Fortwo program in Ulm, Germany, is a “barter agreement” worth $85,000 to the city, according to the Austin Business Journal. Daimler will provide mobility as a service (city workers will get a limited number of free car2go minutes), and Austin has designated free street parking spots around the city.Car2go, while still only in pilot phase (Daimler and Austin officials will consider renewing their contract in six months), represents the latest introduction of a service that could play into a larger Mobility on Demand, or MoD system. As envisioned by MIT researchers including Ryan Chin (who explained the concept to us for a recent GigaOM Pro article), a fully fleshed-out MoD system would involve a comprehensive network of services in which city residents could rent an electric car, scooter or bicycle when and where they need it in order to bridge the “last mile” gap in many public transit systems (e.g., getting between the subway station and your final destination).

The Austin network offers an example of one-way car sharing, as opposed to the two-way sharing arrangement offered by Zipcar and other providers. (Vehicles have to be returned to the same spot.) That could make it more useful for the last-mile challenge. Daimler may have other goals for car2go beyond turning a profit — notably branding. (According to Chin, most MoD services are currently operated by advertisers.) But the pilot project could also help Daimler refine its algorithm for managing a fleet in this type of network — which could be an increasingly valuable tool as we move into the era of Car 2.0.

Folha de S. Paulo

A montadora Mercedes-Benz, por meio do grupo alemão Daimler, que detém seu controle, anunciou nesta segunda-feira que vendeu a parte que tinha na escuderia McLaren de F-1 e vai comprar outra equipe da categoria, a Brawn GP, campeã do Mundial de pilotos e construtores da temporada 2009.

O anúncio foi feito nesta segunda-feira, em Frankfurt, na Alemanha. Foi definido também que a Brawn, que já usava motores Mercedes na atual temporada, agora se chamará Mercedes GP. O consórcio alemão Daimler comprou, com ajuda de outro investidor, 75,1% da Brawn.

Mesmo vendendo a parte que detinha das ações da McLaren, a Mercedes vai continuar fornecendo motores para a escuderia por mais seis anos.

A Brawn, futura Mercedes GP, ainda não tem sua dupla de pilotos definida para a próxima temporada. O inglês Jenson Button, campeão mundial este ano pela equipe de Ross Brawn, ainda não definiu o seu futuro e flerta com a McLaren, já que valores contratuais oferecidos pela Brawn ainda estão abaixo do que o inglês espera.

Já o brasileiro Rubens Barrichello, terceiro colocado no Mundial, deixou a Brawn e acertou com a Williams.

Na McLaren, certa só a presença do inglês Lewis Hamilton para o próximo ano. O finlandês Heikki Kovalainen ainda não tem presença garantida e pode ser substituído por Button.

Além de Button, Kimi Raikkonen, campeão mundial em 2007 pela Ferrari e ex-piloto da McLaren, também é cotado para ocupara vaga de Kovalainen 2010. Fora da escuderia italiana no próximo ano, o finlandês chegou a dizer que não correria por outra equipe em 2010 que não a inglesa.

Fonte:Folha de S. Paulo | www.folha.uol.com.br

McLaren Group boss Ron Dennis believes that his company’s Formula 1 team will come out of its revised partnership with Mercedes-Benz a stronger force thanks to its increased independence.

Mercedes-Benz announced on Monday that it was to focus its efforts on Brawn GP , and bring an end to what had been an exclusive tie-up with McLaren.

Although those plans mean McLaren will not enjoy the financial support from Mercedes-Benz it has had in the past, Dennis believes that the benefits of being free to run its own car company, McLaren Automotive, will actually be a help to its F1 efforts.

His stance comes after a deal was struck with Mercedes-Benz to confirm the German car maker will supply engines until the end of 2015 at the earliest – with options available to keep the partnership going beyond then.

McLaren will also continue to run in the silver and red colours that have been a hallmark of its tie-up with both Mercedes-Benz and title sponsor Vodafone.

“This is a win-win situation, for both McLaren and Daimler,” said Dennis, who is chairman of McLaren Automotive and a founding shareholder in the McLaren Group.

“I’ve often stated that it’s my belief that, in order to survive and thrive in 21st-century Formula 1, a team must become much more than merely a team.

“That being the case, in order to develop and sustain the revenue streams required to compete and win grands prix and world championships, companies that run Formula 1 teams must broaden the scope of their commercial activities.

“Nonetheless, all of our partners will of course continue to play a crucial role in our Formula 1 programme. For that reason, and because the engines they produce are very competitive, we’re delighted that Mercedes-Benz has committed to continue not only as an engine supplier but also as a partner of ours until 2015 – and perhaps thereafter.”

McLaren plans to buy back the 40 percent stake in the company that Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler has had in the team, which will further strengthen McLaren’s independence.

Dennis added: “The next few years will be a very exciting time for McLaren, during which period we intend to become an ever-stronger technological and economic force. Formula 1 will always be a core activity, for sound business reasons as well as for historical sporting reasons: to be clear, our Formula 1 business has traditionally enjoyed great financial security, largely as a consequence of the longevity of our contracts with our partners, many of which have exceeded 15 years of continuous involvement with McLaren. Indeed, two of our partners have been with us for more than 25 years.

“We’re risk-averse by design. Over the past two years we’ve analysed in great detail the challenge of entering the high-performance production sports car market. In the MP4-12C, which will be introduced to market in 2011, we have a car that has inherited the genes of the iconic McLaren F1 of 1994 and has already been the subject of much global media acclaim.

“It is proposed that it will be produced in a new state-of-the-art production facility adjacent to the existing award-winning McLaren Technology Centre at Woking.”

Have your say and share your views in the comments  – get writing now…

Reference: Autosport.com

Revista Car Magazine

Durante uma conferência de imprensa, Dieter Zetche, CEO da Daimler, afirmou que há sim possibilidades do sedã Classe C ser produzido nos EUA. “Não é nenhum segredo que uma decisão para a nova Classe C tenha que ser realizada em um futuro próximo”, afirmou.

A decisão deve ser tomada nos primeiros meses de 2010 e terá como motivação as baixas vendas por causa da queda do dólar em relação ao euro. Se for confirmada, a produção de cerca de 80 mil exemplares, será realizada na fábrica de Vance, no estado do Alabama.

Fonte: Revista Car Magazine | www.carmagazine.uol.com.br

Gefunden bei ftd.de:

12.11.2009, 21:12

Entmutigendes Signal

Daimler lässt auch 2010 kurzarbeiten

Exklusiv Daimler wird an deutschen Standorten voraussichtlich im gesamten nächsten Jahr nicht zur normalen Arbeitszeit zurückkehren. Das deutete Daimler-Finanzvorstand Uebber im Gespräch mit der FTD an. Das würde signalisieren, dass der Erholungskurs der Autoindustrie schleppender verläuft, als erwartet.

von Heimo Fischer , Margret Hucko, Stuttgart und Matthias Ruch New York

“Wir können 24 Monate lang Kurzarbeit fahren. Das ist gar keine Frage”, sagte Bodo Uebber der FTD. Der Stuttgarter Autobauer hatte vor knapp einem Jahr in seinem Sindelfinger Werk zum ersten Mal in der aktuellen Krise Kurzarbeit eingeführt.

Die Verlängerung wäre ein deutliches Signal, dass die Erholung der Autoindustrie schleppender verläuft, als die Branche zuletzt gehofft hatte. Während der vergangenen Monate zeichnete sich bei mehreren Autobauern eine leichte Besserung des Geschäfts ab. Daimler selbst meldete im dritten Quartal wieder Gewinn, nachdem im ersten Halbjahr ein Milliardenverlust angefallen war.

Auch für 2010 droht Verlust

Die Kurzarbeitsregelung ermöglicht vielen deutschen Unternehmen, trotz der Flaute Kündigungen zu vermeiden. Die Beschäftigten arbeiten weniger, der Staat ersetzt einen Teil des Verdienstausfalls. Bei Daimler sind momentan rund 27.000 Personen betroffen. Nach den bisher gültigen Vereinbarungen soll die Kurzarbeit in sechs Pkw-Werken bis Ende Dezember laufen, an den Lkw-Standorten Wörth und Mannheim zunächst bis Juni 2010. Über eine Verlängerung laufen Gespräche, einen endgültigen Beschluss gibt es aber noch nicht.

Mit scharfen Kostenschnitten will Daimler sein Ergebnis verbessern. Bis Ende dieses Jahres sollen daher 5 Mrd. Euro eingespart werden. Dennoch wird der Konzern dieses Jahr mit einem Verlust abschließen. Die Kürzungen sollen 2010 im gleichen Ausmaß weitergehen. Uebber schloss wegen der unsicheren Absatzlage für das kommende Jahr ein Minus nicht kategorisch aus. “Für 2010 müssen wir weiter daran arbeiten, ein positives Unternehmensergebnis zu erreichen”, sagte er. Eine genaue Aussage soll im Februar folgen.

Mehr Produktion in den USA

Neben dem Minus beim Absatz drückt auch der schwache Dollar das Konzernergebnis der Schwaben. Um die Folgen des Umtauschkurses abzumildern, plädiert Uebber dafür, mehr Autos jenseits des Atlantiks zu produzieren – zumal dort ein wichtiger Absatzmarkt für den Konzern sei. “Grundsätzlich befürworte ich, dass wir etwas mehr Wertschöpfung in den USA haben.”

Bei Daimler laufen Überlegungen, die Produktion der für den amerikanischen Markt vorgesehenen Fahrzeuge der neuen C-Klasse ab 2014 ins US-Werk Tuscaloosa in Alabama zu verlagern. Bei einem Pressegespräch in New York kündigte Konzernchef Dieter Zetsche einen raschen Beschluss an. “Wir werden in den nächsten drei Monaten darüber entscheiden”, sagte er. Ursprünglich hatte Daimler allerdings schon bis Ende dieses Jahres zu einem Ergebnis kommen wollen.

Aus der FTD vom 13.11.2009

© 2009 Financial Times Deutschland

Michael E. Porter defines a Strategic Group as ‘the group of firms in an industry following the same or a similar strategy along the strategic dimensions.’  This essentially means that a Strategic Group, within an industry, is a group of firms that operate in a similar fashion in terms of their respective Specialization and Vertical Integration. If we take the example of the Passenger Car Industry, a group of firms are characterized by broad product lines, heavy advertising, medium integration, extensive distribution, mass-market appeal and widely-available service, lets call this Group A, while another group of companies would be characterized as extremely narrow product lines, minimal, often no advertising, high integration, selective distribution and service and superior performance, lets call this Group B. The firms that fall in Group A, internationally, are to the likes of Hyundai, Ford, Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Fiat, Toyota, Renault etc., while firms like Ferrari, Bugatti, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Maybach etc, belong to the latter group. Then there exists a group in between wherein performance meets mass-market appeal. This, Group C, would consist of firms like BMW, Audi, Daimler-Benz (Mercedes), Porsche, Alfa-Romeo, Nissan etc., which are a match between performance and luxury, and wide-appeal through narrow product lines. Another group of manufacturers, say Group D, such as Proton, Tata Motors, Maruti-Suzuki, Daihatsu, Mahindra & Mahindra, etc. exists which has most characteristics of the first group, barring an international appeal, meaning that manufacturers like these are broadly limited to their home countries and a few other countries, with product lines which are neither narrow nor broad, but have extensive distribution channels, at least in their home countries.  Firms in Group B are highly vertically integrated primarily because of the focus on quality in their products, which is essentially why most products from these firms are hand-built with in-house manufacturing of components unlike other groups where most, and in some cases, all components are purchased, ranging from the Chassis to the Design, and Automobiles are just assembled in the plants.

Interestingly, the Strategic Groups, as mentioned, also have a lot in common with market shares of these firms. While Group A firms tend to enjoy a high market share with their products with mass-market appeal internationally, Group B, on the other end of the spectrum, has firms with products of very limited appeal, primarily because of the exorbitant price tags. Group C firms have much smaller market shares than that of Group A, and have a middle-of-the-road appeal in terms of luxury and performance and price. Group D, on the other hand, consists of firms with large market shares in only a few markets, most commonly in the country they originate from. It is also interesting to understand the ownership patterns of firms across various Strategic Groups. Broadly, the largest Global players enjoy a presence, through one or more of their brands, in at least three of the four strategic groups. For example, Volkswagen Group has a presence in Group A with its Volkswagen brand, in Group B with Bugatti & Bentley, in Group C with Audi & Porsche, and in Group D with Skoda & SEAT. Similarly, Fiat Group has a presence in the three groups with Fiat in Group A, Ferrari in Group B and Alfa-Romeo in Group C. The benefits are primarily in the form of platform sharing and in effect, cost saving because of reduced Research & Development costs, Market Power and the sharing of critical components.

Industry Rivalry

Rivalry within a Strategic Group is likely to be more in industries where there is a great difference between product lines of firms, especially in terms of pricing. In the Automobile Industry, the rivalry among the firms within a Group is far greater than the inter-group rivalry, as opposed to an industry where the substitutes are very close and are available in plenty. The inter-group rivalry is at a far lower level internationally because of the scale and appeal of products of firms from different groups. On the customers’ part, there can be a shift from one group to another, especially when upgrading to a more expensive automobile, the firms effectively compete for customers in different market segments on their parts. For example, Ford does not compete with Ferrari, but it does, in some segments, with BMW, Audi & Mercedes. This is because Ford’s more expensive and less mass-market range of cars are in similar segments with BMW’s lesser expensive, more mass-market cars. So a Ford Focus would compete with a BMW 1-Series and not a BMW 7-Series as the target customers for both are poles apart. Similarly, firms from Group D can often compete with firms from Group A on a regional level, which is why we see Maruti-Suzuki competing with Ford, Fiat & Chevrolet because their target customers in the Indian market are broadly similar, but differ in the global context.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Different strategic groups enjoy different degreed of bargaining power of suppliers. In Strategic Groups where firms are primarily assemblers, the bargaining power of suppliers tends to be low primarily because of the scale of production of these firms. Often firms that operate in the mass-market enjoy market power because of their market share. This allows them to leverage their position to bargain with suppliers and have components customized for their use than that of other players. For example, Denso is a key supplier of Toyota to such an extent that Denso follows Toyota to whichever market Toyota enters. The bargaining power of Toyota over Denso is fairly high because of standardization of components and faster product development times across the industry because of which Toyota has the advantage of purchasing similar components from Bosch or Delphi. But because Denso is so dependent on Toyota for its revenues, it has to operate in a manner which suits Toyota, hence effectively lowering possibilities of serving another client. The existence of multiple-suppliers allows firms to pick and choose from a bouquet of firms and attain the lowest possible costs, keeping in mind the specification of the components in concern. In other strategic groups such as Group B, the bargaining power of suppliers is fairly high because of the focus on quality of the product. Most firms in Group B product most components of their cars and outsource only a few. The few components that they outsource come from specialist suppliers. The switching costs may not be very high, but the costs of customization of products to suit the manufacturer is very high because of the nature of the product.

Bargaining Power of Buyers

Bargaining power of buyers varies from group to group. Groups where mass-market players exist with minimal product differentiation have to deal with high bargaining power of buyers while groups with highly differentiated products enjoy low bargaining power of buyers. Strategic Group A, where firms are mass-market players with low product differentiation in most cases, have to deal with very high bargaining power of customers, primarily because of the availability of a plethora of options both from the same firm as well as from constituents of the Strategic Group. The bargaining power of buyers is slightly lower for Group C firms than that of Group A, because each Group C firm has a brand identity which is peculiar to that firm alone while others are close to achieving similar results, but are not widely known for the same. For example, BMWs are identified with their handling and performance, while Mercedes cars are identified as the more luxurious of the two. While customers pick between one of the brands, they have an agenda in mind while purchasing cars from this particular group. A customer who would like more performance than luxury is likely to go for one brand over the other, but at the same time, the customer also enjoys the presence of multiple players and can shift from one brand to another because the products are so close to each other in terms of specifications, features, luxury and performance. Firms in Group B enjoy low bargaining power of buyers, primarily because they have highly differentiated products with varied features and specifications. The products are normally either extremely high on luxury, or on performance. While all products in this strategic group are far more luxurious and better in performance than those in the other groups, they tend to have an inclination towards one side of the spectrum. While Rolls Royce cars are the epitome of luxury on wheels, Ferrari’s are the best performers of the lot, which is not to say Rolls Royce is archaic in terms of performance and Ferrari in luxury. The customers here have a clear-cut demand which can only normally be filled by one of the brands, which essentially goes to say that the bargaining power of buyers is low for Strategic Group B firms.

Threat of Substitutes

Substitutes to passenger cars are broadly based on the price points of the vehicles. While at the lower-end of the spectrum, substitutes are public transport and 2-wheelers, the higher-end of the spectrum only has air-travel as a substitute, which is only applicable for inter-city travel. Group A and Group D face the threat of substitutes such as 2-wheelers and public transport because of their price points. For example, the Tata Nano faces threat of substitutes by Motorbikes in India, especially for unmarried individuals, married without children and empty-nesters. The other threat to lower-end cars is Public Transport, primarily because of the limited spending capacity of the target customers of these products. Firms in Strategic Group B only face threat from substitutes such as Helicopters and Airplanes, the latter primarily for inter-city travel and the former for intra-city travel. The threat is low because of the scarcity of helipads in most parts of the world.

Threat of New Entrants

Threat of new entrants is low across the industry at a global level primarily because of the capital requirements for setting up of production facilities and distribution channels. The threat is low on a global level, but at a local level, threat in parts of the world is high. For example, in India, the threat of new entrants is at a medium level because of the absence of multiple global players. When these players decide to enter India, they can, and are willing to, spend Millions of dollars in setting up infrastructure to support their products. This is aided by a huge potential market for products of these firms, which are primarily members of Group A. Establishing of brands is also a very difficult task, especially for firms looking to enter Group B or Group C. Most firms in these groups have been present in the market for decades and have established their brands over years and years of existence and can hence charge a huge price tag for their offerings.

Reference:
Competitive Strategy, Michael E. Porter

The paper on Clusters & New Economics of Competition by Michael E. Porter, to a great extent, is an extension of his acclaimed piece of work titled ‘The Competitive Advantage of Nations’. The papers talks about Clusters – Geographic Concentrations of interconnected companies and institutions in a particular field – and how they play a vital role in a nations competitive advantage in a global economy which exists today. Porter states that companies can now tone down input cost disadvantage through global sourcing and essentially breakaway from the traditional notion of low-cost advantages. He talks about how competitive advantage now rests on productive use of inputs and the advantage of continual innovation for sustenance of competitive advantage for organisations and nations alike.

Porter mentions the importance of clusters with numerous examples from across the globe, ranging from the Italian footwear Industry, to California’s Wine industry, to the IT industry in Silicon Valley and so on. The striking feature here is the number of support and supplementary industries that have formed on account of the inherent advantages offered by the success of a fragment of the entire Cluster. Essentially, clusters play a major role in innovation through continual innovation and contribute to the foci of the cluster through education, marketing, supporting through ancillaries and so on. Further, Clusters are a hotbed for competition, which also contributes a great deal to innovation as intensity in competition drives organisations to focus more on innovations in terms of the durability of their offerings and cost-related advantages. Another significant attribute of clusters is the fact that they provide a bottomless pitcher of employees through the development of institutions of professional training and research. Not only does this allow organisations in the clusters to infuse new talent into their operations, it also ensures availability of workforce on an as-and-when basis.

On further articulation, a clear cut live example of Clusters and their contribution to competitive advantage can be seen in the Automobile Industry Cluster in the New Delhi & NCR area. It started with Maruti-Suzuki’s first production facilities in Manesar, Haryana and now accommodates two Maruti-Suzuki plants, a Hero Honda plant, Honda Motorcycles and Scooters facility, and a plethora of component manufacturers in the Gurgaon-Manesar area near New Delhi, and Honda Siel Motors and Yamaha India in Greater Noida on the other side of the capital. The factors that have attributed to this cluster are the sprouting of component manufacturers such as Sona Steering, Minda, Apollo Tyres et al around the Maruti-Suzuki facility in Manesar, and of further support organisations in areas of Delhi such as Mayapuri Industrial Area. The fact is, however, that the cluster was essentially instigated by the Government with the set up of the Maruti-Suzuki production facility in Manesar back in the mid-1980’s and the various tax and real-estate benefits offered by both the Central and State governments. This allowed for the set-up of a large number of component manufacturers since importing components at the pre-liberalisation era was just not a cost-effective option. Given the high demand for engineering graduates and management professionals, a large number of institutions were set up both by the government and private players to meet the demand through a never-ending supply of manpower. This essentially further motivated more Automobile manufacturers to set up shop around the area because of the logistical, cost and manpower advantages. A similar pattern can be seen at Pune, Maharashtra as well, which was primarily instigated by the setting up of the Tata Motors plant and Bajaj Motors plant, where the best of Automobile manufacturers are setting up shop, from Volkswagen to Daimler AG.

To conclude, the competitive advantage offered by clusters is highly beneficial for both the constituents of the clusters as well as the government as a whole. It is evident that most manufacturers can source parts from countries such as China and South Korea, but they stick to Indian component manufacturers because of the plethora of advantages offered by them.

Reference:

Clusters and the New Economics of Competition