Toyota Prado and Corolla are the bestselling cars in Georgia, according to one of the leading auto dealership companies Matemotors and Toyota Centre Tbilisi . Among Mercedes models ML-Class is the most popular, Mercedes Centre Tbilisi claims.
“The bestseller of the year 2008/2009 is Toyota Prado. It’s a Japanese vehicle of the highest quality for which demand is constant. Such Japanese brands as Toyota Nissan and Mitsubishi are quite popular in Georgia today also,” Irakli Zaria, General Manager of Matemotors Ltd, told The FINANCIAL.
“As the auto market grows up the population has an increasing choice of brands and models. But the Japanese brands occupy a very special niche. Among these brands Toyota is the leader in sales. The popularity of Toyota among other brands can be explained very easily: incomparable quality, refined design and acceptable prices,” Zaria says.
“The most popular and bestselling cars for the year 2008/2009 in Georgia, according to the sales of our company is the Toyota Prado and Corolla. The popularity of these brands among Georgians are due to their quality, prices and brand. From the above mentioned favourite brands our company in 2008 sold 400 Prado and 350 Corolla. In the first quarter of 2009, we sold 90 Prado and 80 Corolla,” says Tina Revazishvili, representative of Toyota Center Tbilisi .
The total number of cars sold by Toyota Centre Tbilisi in 2008 was 3,773.
After the beginning of the global recession Toyota decreased prices on cars by 15%.
“The most popular and bestselling car for the year 2008/2009 in Georgia, according to the sales of our company is the ML-Class. Of the above mentioned favourite brand among Georgians, our company sold 35 cars in 2008 and in the first quarter of 2009 - 7,” says Lasha Lomidze, Sales Manager of Mercedes-Benz Georgia.
Mercedes-Benz has imported 138 passenger cars; 30 commercial vehicles in 2008 and 21 passenger cars and 1 commercial vehicle in 2009.
“In total in 2008 we sold 125 passenger cars and 16 commercial vehicles. In 2009 we sold 14 passenger cars and 2 commercial vehicles,” Lomidze says.
After the beginning of the global recession, Mercedes-Benz Georgia has decreased prices on cars by 10-20%.
“In the US and the West car producing companies started creating the hybrid-electric vehicle, which has an additional electric engine, economizing fuel consumption. As Lomidze, Mercedes-Benz notes, in Georgia the demand for such autos has not increased.
“These cars have a great future I think, as a new combined type of engine is a great saving of money on fuel and at the same tame it’s less polluting. The only minus is that it’s less powerful, but this problem is being worked on,” Zaria declares.
“Matemotors doesn’t sell hybrid-electric vehicles yet. The reason is that the new type of engine requires special service which is not available at the moment. The second reason is demand, which is still very low. The general part of the population is not informed enough about the advantages of this new generation of cars, and for the rest the price is just not realistic. However in a few years the hybrid engines will gradually overtake petrol engines,” Zaria notes.
After the beginning of the global recession we used to have sales of up to 15-20%.
“Now we offer our customers interest-free credit allowing purchasing of a vehicle by instalments without any percent charge. The credit duration is one year,” Zaria says.
According to information on the car sales web pages auto.ge and myauto.ge, the leading car makes for second hand cars are Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
According to the information of myauto.ge, the leading top ten car brands offered for sale on our web page are as follows: Mercedes-Benz, with a total number of 2,692, BMW - 2,264, Volkswagen - 1,304, Mitsubishi - 1,169, Honda - 890, Opel - 851, Toyota - 731, Audi - 651, Nissan - 411, Subaru - 407.
“On the web pages of auto.ge the biggest number of cars offered for sale are Mercedes-Benz and BMW: C180-104, E200-59, E320-45, 220-40, E230-36, ML 320-33, 190-32, C 230-32, 230-28. BMW: 318-104, 525-80, 528-67, 520-58, 316-55, 320-49, X5-46, 523-24, 728-13,” says Zaza Dzadzamia, founder and Director General of the web page auto.ge.
Showing posts with label Euro Automotive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Euro Automotive. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Opel Incentives June 2009 to Boost Sales, Save Jobs
General Motors Corp.’s European Opel unit, rescued by German state aid last month, may have to slash prices by 40 percent to sell enough cars and fulfill a pledge to save jobs in the country.
“The market will be a combination of struggling brands and cheap cars,” if Opel gets restructured as planned, said Simon Empson, managing director of Broadspeed.com, a U.K. online car retailer. He predicts the carmaker, which operates Opel in Europe and Vauxhall in the U.K., will have to discount models by “40 percent or more” to meet its sales targets.
Canadian auto-parts maker Magna International Inc. is leading the group negotiating to buy the GM unit. Because of the structure of the deal, the new owners may be more interested in boosting output than generating profit, said Tim Adam, a corporate finance professor at Humboldt University in Berlin. The company agreed to save German jobs in return for 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in short-term loans from the government.
Ford Motor Co. and PSA Peugeot Citroen may be drawn into a price war if a Magna-led Opel pushes discounts, stoking concern the European auto industry will struggle to recover from the worst recession since World War II because consumers will become hooked on markdowns.
“Everybody is looking to generate cash, and the quickest but not necessarily the most effective way is to discount,” said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Research at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. “Peugeot, Renault and Ford need to make sure they don’t fall by the wayside.”
Production Curbs
European automakers probably will build 17.7 million cars this year, or 10.4 million fewer than their factories are capable of churning out, according to IHS Global Insight. GM’s European operations may use less than 62 percent of production capacity this year, according to estimates from the research firm.
Opel aims to sell 2 million cars a year once it can market vehicles worldwide, perhaps in about five years, according to Klaus Franz, Opel’s top labor leader. That would require the carmaker to boost capacity by more than 200,000 vehicles. The current factories can produce 1.76 million cars a year, according to Global Insight.
“We reject the assertion that Opel has to reduce prices by 40 percent to run factories at full capacity,” Frank Klaas, a spokesman for the carmaker, said by telephone. “This is complete nonsense.”
Job Protection
GM, the Detroit automaker selling Opel while reorganizing in bankruptcy, employs half its European workforce in Germany, and Aurora, Ontario-based Magna has assured officials that all four factories in the country will remain open. The deal depends on a total of 4.5 billion euros in loans from European governments.
Magna’s offer, with financial backing from Moscow-based OAO Sberbank, includes a pledge to expand in Russia, further adding to speculation that Opel will push output with cheaper cars. The Canadian company beat Fiat SpA in becoming preferred bidder, in part because the Italian carmaker wanted to trim production capacity at Opel and Vauxhall.
The interests of the new Opel ownership group may lead to decisions that extend the carmaker’s losses, Humboldt University’s Adam said.
“None of the new owners have strong incentives to maximize profits in the years to come,” he said. “Rather, the new owners have incentives to increase costs.”
Magna will benefit directly from sales of parts to Opel, while GM will get patent fees and technology royalties for each car sold, Adam said. Sberbank may gain from a planned Russian carmaking partnership with OAO GAZ, which the lender also has financed, he said.
GM in Russia
The sale of Opel won’t alter GM’s plans to start production of the Chevrolet Cruze this summer at a St. Petersburg factory, Hans-Juergen Michel, GM Russia chief, told reporters today.
Magna, which grew from founder Frank Stronach’s one-man tool-and-die shop to become one of the world’s top auto-parts suppliers, insists profit at Opel is a priority. Chief Executive Officer Siegfried Wolf said June 3 that unprofitable companies are “not good for society.” Magna spokesman Daniel Witzani declined to comment for this story.
And Magna may still close Opel plants. Labor leader Franz said June 3 that there would be tough negotiations to keep factories open in Luton, England, and Antwerp, Belgium. The deal may lead to as many as 11,000 jobs cuts, including 2,600 in Germany, according to German officials.
‘Looking for Margins’
“No one as smart and entrepreneurial as Frank Stronach is going to make that kind of a move without looking for margins,” said Tim Urquhart, an analyst with Global Insight in London.
Magna will hold 20 percent and Sberbank will own 35 percent of Opel, based in the Frankfurt suburb of Ruesselsheim. Workers will receive a 10 percent stake in exchange for $1.2 billion in concessions, and GM will retain about 35 percent. GM expects a final contract by July.
Peugeot expects European Union authorities will “remain vigilant to ensure that European competition rules are fully respected,” spokesman Pierre-Olivier Salmon said by telephone. He declined to comment on the potential impact of the deal on pricing. John Gardiner, a spokesman for Ford in Cologne, Germany, declined to comment on pricing.
Ford is wary that government loans may give Opel an unfair advantage, saying it is “imperative” German aid to Opel does “not breach EU state aid, internal market rules or competition policy.”
Ford Wants Fairness
“It is vital that a level playing field is enforced to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of any governmental assistance,” the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker said in a statement in response to questions about Magna’s plans.
Price cuts could reverse some steps taken by carmakers to weather the recession. Ford, the top car retailer in the U.K., has raised prices in Britain twice this year by a total of 8.6 percent. Opel raised prices in the U.K. almost 5 percent in February. Both carmakers cited currency fluctuations in addition to a slumping market.
Since the Opel deal, Peugeot Citroen, the continent’s second-largest carmaker, has said it’s open to partnerships to spur growth amid the worst auto-market slump in 15 years. The expected Opel purchase by Magna makes size more important in maintaining profits, Chairman Thierry Peugeot said June 1.
Ultimately, Opel will have to be able to finance itself, because the planned state funding isn’t enough to make Opel a viable, independent carmaker, said Bergisch Gladbach’s Bratzel.
While competitors may cry foul if a state-funded Opel cuts prices too aggressively, Magna’s lack of experience in selling cars, especially the complex relationship between new-car prices, financing rates and used-car values, could force Opel into discounts, Broadspeed’s Empson said.
“Magna’s understanding of new- and used-car markets could probably be written on the back of a cigarette package,” he said.
“The market will be a combination of struggling brands and cheap cars,” if Opel gets restructured as planned, said Simon Empson, managing director of Broadspeed.com, a U.K. online car retailer. He predicts the carmaker, which operates Opel in Europe and Vauxhall in the U.K., will have to discount models by “40 percent or more” to meet its sales targets.
Canadian auto-parts maker Magna International Inc. is leading the group negotiating to buy the GM unit. Because of the structure of the deal, the new owners may be more interested in boosting output than generating profit, said Tim Adam, a corporate finance professor at Humboldt University in Berlin. The company agreed to save German jobs in return for 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in short-term loans from the government.
Ford Motor Co. and PSA Peugeot Citroen may be drawn into a price war if a Magna-led Opel pushes discounts, stoking concern the European auto industry will struggle to recover from the worst recession since World War II because consumers will become hooked on markdowns.
“Everybody is looking to generate cash, and the quickest but not necessarily the most effective way is to discount,” said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Research at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. “Peugeot, Renault and Ford need to make sure they don’t fall by the wayside.”
Production Curbs
European automakers probably will build 17.7 million cars this year, or 10.4 million fewer than their factories are capable of churning out, according to IHS Global Insight. GM’s European operations may use less than 62 percent of production capacity this year, according to estimates from the research firm.
Opel aims to sell 2 million cars a year once it can market vehicles worldwide, perhaps in about five years, according to Klaus Franz, Opel’s top labor leader. That would require the carmaker to boost capacity by more than 200,000 vehicles. The current factories can produce 1.76 million cars a year, according to Global Insight.
“We reject the assertion that Opel has to reduce prices by 40 percent to run factories at full capacity,” Frank Klaas, a spokesman for the carmaker, said by telephone. “This is complete nonsense.”
Job Protection
GM, the Detroit automaker selling Opel while reorganizing in bankruptcy, employs half its European workforce in Germany, and Aurora, Ontario-based Magna has assured officials that all four factories in the country will remain open. The deal depends on a total of 4.5 billion euros in loans from European governments.
Magna’s offer, with financial backing from Moscow-based OAO Sberbank, includes a pledge to expand in Russia, further adding to speculation that Opel will push output with cheaper cars. The Canadian company beat Fiat SpA in becoming preferred bidder, in part because the Italian carmaker wanted to trim production capacity at Opel and Vauxhall.
The interests of the new Opel ownership group may lead to decisions that extend the carmaker’s losses, Humboldt University’s Adam said.
“None of the new owners have strong incentives to maximize profits in the years to come,” he said. “Rather, the new owners have incentives to increase costs.”
Magna will benefit directly from sales of parts to Opel, while GM will get patent fees and technology royalties for each car sold, Adam said. Sberbank may gain from a planned Russian carmaking partnership with OAO GAZ, which the lender also has financed, he said.
GM in Russia
The sale of Opel won’t alter GM’s plans to start production of the Chevrolet Cruze this summer at a St. Petersburg factory, Hans-Juergen Michel, GM Russia chief, told reporters today.
Magna, which grew from founder Frank Stronach’s one-man tool-and-die shop to become one of the world’s top auto-parts suppliers, insists profit at Opel is a priority. Chief Executive Officer Siegfried Wolf said June 3 that unprofitable companies are “not good for society.” Magna spokesman Daniel Witzani declined to comment for this story.
And Magna may still close Opel plants. Labor leader Franz said June 3 that there would be tough negotiations to keep factories open in Luton, England, and Antwerp, Belgium. The deal may lead to as many as 11,000 jobs cuts, including 2,600 in Germany, according to German officials.
‘Looking for Margins’
“No one as smart and entrepreneurial as Frank Stronach is going to make that kind of a move without looking for margins,” said Tim Urquhart, an analyst with Global Insight in London.
Magna will hold 20 percent and Sberbank will own 35 percent of Opel, based in the Frankfurt suburb of Ruesselsheim. Workers will receive a 10 percent stake in exchange for $1.2 billion in concessions, and GM will retain about 35 percent. GM expects a final contract by July.
Peugeot expects European Union authorities will “remain vigilant to ensure that European competition rules are fully respected,” spokesman Pierre-Olivier Salmon said by telephone. He declined to comment on the potential impact of the deal on pricing. John Gardiner, a spokesman for Ford in Cologne, Germany, declined to comment on pricing.
Ford is wary that government loans may give Opel an unfair advantage, saying it is “imperative” German aid to Opel does “not breach EU state aid, internal market rules or competition policy.”
Ford Wants Fairness
“It is vital that a level playing field is enforced to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of any governmental assistance,” the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker said in a statement in response to questions about Magna’s plans.
Price cuts could reverse some steps taken by carmakers to weather the recession. Ford, the top car retailer in the U.K., has raised prices in Britain twice this year by a total of 8.6 percent. Opel raised prices in the U.K. almost 5 percent in February. Both carmakers cited currency fluctuations in addition to a slumping market.
Since the Opel deal, Peugeot Citroen, the continent’s second-largest carmaker, has said it’s open to partnerships to spur growth amid the worst auto-market slump in 15 years. The expected Opel purchase by Magna makes size more important in maintaining profits, Chairman Thierry Peugeot said June 1.
Ultimately, Opel will have to be able to finance itself, because the planned state funding isn’t enough to make Opel a viable, independent carmaker, said Bergisch Gladbach’s Bratzel.
While competitors may cry foul if a state-funded Opel cuts prices too aggressively, Magna’s lack of experience in selling cars, especially the complex relationship between new-car prices, financing rates and used-car values, could force Opel into discounts, Broadspeed’s Empson said.
“Magna’s understanding of new- and used-car markets could probably be written on the back of a cigarette package,” he said.
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