Global vehicle sales grew by 3.4% between January and April 2018 to 28.8 million units. The data for 53 markets from JATO (around 90% of the global total) indicates that the growth pace continues thanks to the positive economic indicators and good mood among consumers in most of the key markets. Even if almost two in three of the vehicles were sold in China, USA and Europe, most of the growth was driven by emerging countries like India, Brazil and Russia. All three of these m

China will end foreign ownership caps on local auto companies by 2022 and will remove restrictions on new-energy vehicle ventures this year, a major shift that will open the market wider to carmakers such as Nissan and Tesla. The country will remove limits on companies making full electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2018, commercial-vehicle companies in 2020 and the wider passenger vehicle market by 2022, China's state planner said in a statement. The move, which comes am

Japanese automakers' U.S. sales slid mostly sideways last year, but their China business is booming. Two manufacturers, Mazda Motor Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., finally are selling more vehicles in the world’s biggest market than in the United States. Last year, Mazda’s passenger vehicle sales in China grew 8.3 percent to 309,407 vehicles, while its U.S. sales slid 2.8 percent. Mitsubishi’s sales in China also eclipsed those in the U.S., growing 56 percent to 129,

The Renault-Nissan alliance has announced plans to build electric cars in China in a new venture with Dongfeng Motor, joining the scramble by global automakers to meet Beijing's stringent quotas for zero-emission vehicles. The venture, eGT New Energy Automotive Co, will develop an electric mini-SUV to go into production in 2019 by Dongfeng, the carmaking alliance said, for sale under the partners' own brands. Dongfeng already builds conventional vehicles with Nissan and its F

Dongfeng Renault opens first plant in China, Wuhan plant opening Dongfeng Renault Automotive Company (DRAC) On February 1, 2016, Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Renault, and Zhu Yanfeng, Chairman of Dongfeng Group, opened the Dongfeng Renault Automotive Company (DRAC) plant in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Just two years after the joint venture was formed, the first DRAC plant in China will start producing the Renault Kadjar, Renault’s latest SUV. The Re

Considering these disparate pressures on costs, there is no easy formula that OEMs or suppliers can use to improve their return on capital. The solution will likely come from a combination of actions. Part of the answer lies in consolidation, which reduces industry capital requirements by eliminating competition and combining two manufacturing and design footprints into one. To a degree, these goals explain 2016’s robust supplier M&A volume, continuing the trend of the previo