Ford F-150 truck probe by U.S. expands to 2.7 million vehicles.
U.S. safety regulators said they have expanded to 2.7 million vehicles an investigation into the possibility that straps holding fuel tanks can rust and break on Ford Motor Co F-150 pickup trucks from the 1997-2001 model years.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said over the weekend that two fires have resulted from the issue in which one or both of the steel straps that hold the F-150 fuel tank in place rust and break.
An investigation is short of a recall but many investigations lead to an automaker recalling vehicles for safety issues.
The F-150 is the primary model in the Ford F-series pickup truck lineup which are the best-selling vehicles in North America.
“We are working with the government as they review the matter,” said Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood.
Ford reported a complaint in which a vehicle was destroyed by fire due to a leaking fuel tank, and safety regulators said they had received one complaint of a fire that went out before it caused major damage.
There were 306 consumer complaints, 175 filed with the NHTSA and 156 with Ford. Some consumers filed with both the automaker and the safety regulator, the NHTSA said.
“Among the incidents reported to NHTSA or Ford, 243 involved the fuel tank dropping below the vehicle and/or dragging on the ground, 95 involved fuel leakage, and nine included reports of sparks from the tank being dragged on the road,” the NHTSA filing said.
The probe was opened last September when an estimated 1.4 million F-150 pickup trucks were suspected of possibly having the problem. The investigation was opened after 32 consumer complaints had been received by last September.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall, editing by Dave Zimmerman) (Source Reuters)
Fiat has options to increase Chrysler stake to more than 70%.
(Bloomberg) — Fiat S.p.A. has options to increase its stake in Chrysler Group LLC to more than 70 percent as the U.S. government seeks to exit its investments in the auto industry.
Fiat has an option for 12 months to buy the U.S. Treasury’s remaining stake after it repays debts to the government, Chrysler said today in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Chrysler said in April it would issue new debt to repay the government loans, allowing Fiat to exercise an option to increase its stake to 46 percent from 30 percent.
The Treasury holds an 8.6 percent stake in Chrysler, the company said April 12. That amount would be reduced when Chrysler meets the final of three performance milestones that each give Turin, Italy-based Fiat an additional 5 percent stake. The final goal, to build a vehicle that gets 40 mpg in the U.S., should be met this year, Sergio Marchionne, CEO of both automakers, has said.
Fiat also holds an option to acquire 40 percent of the original stake held by the UAW’s retiree health-care trust, Chrysler said. The option is exercisable from July 1, 2012, to Dec. 31, 2016, and in amounts of as much as 8 percent in any six-month period, according to the filing.
Japan nuclear plant shutdown adds new risk for Toyota, auto industry.
May 9 The surprise closure of another Japanese nuclear plant, this time at the power supplier to the heart of the auto industry, threatens to dampen consumer sentiment and will provide car makers with yet another reason to produce fewer cars in Japan.
Chubu Electric Power agreed on Monday to close its Hamaoka plant in central Japan, raising concerns over the steady supply of power to its region, which is home to Toyota Motor Corp and other major manufacturers.
The shutdown was requested by the government, which singled out Hamaoka as particularly vulnerable to a major earthquake and tsunami, after the 9.0-magnitude quake on March 11 triggered a nuclear crisis in the northeast.
Output disruptions may not be large enough to delay the economic recovery nationwide because Chubu is taking steps to meet peak summer demand by boosting thermal energy and securing electricity from another utility in western Japan.
But in the longer run the lack of clarity about how the government’s energy policy might change following the March 11 disaster could tempt Japanese manufacturers to move more production overseas and discourage private consumption.
“We can rely on thermal power in the short term, but this raises costs and emissions,” said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute.
“In the future, we’re not sure what the government wants to do. The longer that uncertainty about the power supply continues, the more companies will start thinking about manufacturing overseas.”
The Hamaoka plant, located about 200 km (120 miles) southwest of Tokyo, accounts for about 15 percent of its electricity output. Chubu in turn provides power to half of the 18 plants that make Toyota’s vehicles in Japan, and all four of Suzuki Motor Corp’s domestic car and motorcycle factories.
The coverage area also includes other auto plants including those of Honda Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motors Corp , but Toyota is most vulnerable given its heavy ratio of cars made domestically.
Toyota and Honda have been forced to operate at about half the levels planned before March 11 due to the shortage of components. They have forecast a return to normal production levels by the end of this year.
The Chubu region also includes a concentration of manufacturers in the flat panel display and semiconductor industries, such as Sharp Corp’s Kameyama LCD factory and Toshiba Corp’s Yokkaichi semiconductor plant.
Toyota, Suzuki and other car makers said they had no comment on how they would cope before Chubu Electric explains how it plans to make up for the power shortfall.
Replacing nuclear power with that produced by conventional thermal plants could increase electricity costs, but those make up only a small portion of automakers’ costs, argues Nomura Securities auto analyst Masataka Kunugimoto.
What matters more, analysts say, is doubts about reliability of power supplies that could give automakers another reason — in addition to a strong yen and cheaper labour abroad– to shrink production volumes in Japan.
“This raises a question of how you’re going to split your domestic and overseas production,” said Koji Endo, senior analyst at Advanced Research Japan.
Toyota and Nissan have publicly committed to a minimum level of domestic production to keep Japan’s tradition of manufacturing alive, but questions surrounding energy policy could force a rethink, Endo said.
The shutdown’s impact on households could be more direct and immediate. Power cuts or a rise in electricity bills could force households served by Chubu Electric to save more energy or spend less on everything else, damaging sentiment already depressed by radiation leaks from the Fukushima plant in the tsunami-ravaged northeast.
Private consumption accounts for more than 50 percent of gross domestic product and Japan’s limping economy badly needs consumer spending to hold up.
“Chubu Electric is likely to come up with a campaign to save power, which could depress private consumption,” said Takuji Okubo, chief economist at Societe Generale Securities.
“Companies should be able to cope, but weak consumer sentiment could become a national phenomenon.” (Editing by Nathan Layne and Tomasz Janowski) (Source Reuters)
Saab hires former Subaru exec Colbeck as North American COO.
(Bloomberg) — Saab Automobile AB, the car maker that formed a partnership with China’s Hawtai Motor Group last week after a cash crunch forced it to halt production, today named Timothy Colbeck chief operating officer for North America.
Colbeck, 47, had worked at Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.’s Subaru of America unit for 25 years, most recently as senior vice president for sales, Stockholm-based Saab said in a statement. He will report to Matthias Seidl, Saab’s global sales chief, and the company’s North America board.
Saab, sold by General Motors Co. last year, is getting a 120 million-euro ($172 million) investment from Beijing-based Hawtai under a plan that calls for joint production in China. Hawtai will receive as much as 29.9 percent of Saab’s owner, Spyker Cars NV, and will loan Spyker 30 million euros, according to the May 3 accord.
The Swedish automaker was forced to stop building cars March 29 and after a brief restart last month again halted vehicle output. The company said on May 2 that it planned to begin production within a week, after getting a 30 million-euro loan from Gemini Investment Fund Ltd. and saying it would draw down 29.1 million euros from the EIB, the European Union’s lending arm.
Saab also is trying to bring in Russian banker Vladimir Antonov as an investor. GM on April 28 said it tentatively agreed to allow an Antonov investment.