Tag: sale

Reconfirmed: BMW developing FWD, four-cylinder small car line for sale in U.S.

Filed under: Technology, BMW, Rumormill, Luxury

BMW seems to think American buyers are ready to sink their teeth into small luxury vehicles. The automaker has reconfirmed plans to unleash a wave of small, front-wheel drive creations positioned below the 1 Series and due to go on sale in the U.S. market. The vehicles will be sold under a new class called UKL, and there are supposedly several different body styles just waiting to pounce on unsuspecting North American buyers. The news came via Ian Robertson, a BMW board member for sales and marketing, who also said that the full line will pack a four-cylinder engine when the cars debut before 2013.

BMW is looking to move around 100,000 units of its new UKL series vehicles worldwide, though the company hasn’t said exactly how it expects that figure to be broken up by market. Automotive News reports that while the company has also been tight lipped about exactly how many different vehicle types will fall under the new front-wheel drive, four-cylinder philosophy, other reports have pointed to a total of four body styles at launch.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

Reconfirmed: BMW developing FWD, four-cylinder small car line for sale in U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Harley-Davidson announces sale of MV Agusta to Claudio Castiglioni

Filed under: Europe, Earnings/Financials, Motorcycle

2010 MV Agusta Brutale 990R – Click above for high-res image gallery

We’d heard the rumors and now it’s official. Harley-Davidson has announced that it has sold the MV Agusta brand to Claudio Castiglioni and his wholly owned holding company, MV Agusta Motor Holding, S.r.l. For those who aren’t exactly up on their boutique Italian motorcycle history, Castiglioni is the same man H-D bought the company from back in 2008 and had been serving as company chairman ever since.

No actual financial data has yet been announced, but rumors from Italy have it that the Italian businessman isn’t actually paying anything more than a single symbolic euro for the storied motorcycle manufacturer and may even be getting some additional financial support from Harley-Davidson for the foreseeable future.

Couple those reports with the realization that H-D payed $109 million for MV Agusta just two years ago and subsequently spent big money to revamp the Italian manufacturer’s product lineup and it’s easy to see that the Milwaukee-based company is coming out the biggest loser in this exchange.

Harley is showing no (official) hard feelings, though. “MV Agusta is a proud brand and we wish Mr. Castiglioni and the company’s employees well,” Harley-Davidson President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Wandell said in a statement. Feel free to peruse the official press release after the break.

Gallery: Review: 2010 MV Agusta Brutale 990R

[Source: Harley-Davidson]

Continue reading Harley-Davidson announces sale of MV Agusta to Claudio Castiglioni

Harley-Davidson announces sale of MV Agusta to Claudio Castiglioni originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Volvo sale to Geely to close next week?

Filed under: China, Europe, Volvo, Earnings/Financials, Luxury

Volvo may finally part ways with Ford by the end of next week. The Detroit Free Press reports that the Blue Oval is aiming to close its $1.8 billion sale of the Swedish automaker to Geely in as little as 10 days, though Ford has merely said that its goal is to hand over the Volvo reigns by the end of the third quarter of this year. The move to send Volvo packing is part of Ford CEO Alan Mulally’s strategy to slim the company down to focus on its core brands – a scheme that seems to be working so far.

In the meantime, Volvo managed to turn a profit of $53 million before taxes in the second quarter of this year. The news is a big leap from the same time last year – in the second quarter of 2009, the brand lost a heady $237 million. Ford’s sale of Volvo seems to have been on glacial pace, partly due to the number of government agencies in the U.S., Europe and China that were needed to sign off on the deal. By the time the ink dries on the last document, Geely will have secured the largest overseas acquisition of any Chinese automaker so far.

[Source: The Detroit Free Press]

Volvo sale to Geely to close next week? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Recall, stop-sale issued on 2010-11 Subaru Outback and Legacy models over gearbox flaw

Filed under: Sedan, Wagon, Recalls, Safety, Crossover, Subaru

2010 Subaru Outback

2010 Subaru Outback – Click above for high-res image gallery

Once again, Subaru’s mainstay models, the Outback and Legacy, appear to be girding for a recall. Both models have already faced callbacks for leaky CVT hoses and wiring issues, but according to Inside Line, a new issue affecting a number of manual transmission-equipped 2010 and 2011 models will not only precipitate another recall, but also a stop-sale on all potentially-affected vehicles.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the oil lubrication hole in the six-speed manual transmission has not been drilled on the affected vehicles, which can cause gears to break. NHTSA issued a statement, saying:

“If the transmission gears are not properly lubricated, a groaning sound may begin to develop, alerting the driver to a problem. If this sound is ignored and no action is taken, the gears will eventually break and this condition will lead to vehicle power loss, possibly resulting in a crash.”

Vehicles will be repaired, free of charge, at any Subaru dealer in America. Most will simply have an oil lubrication hole drilled, though the automaker has informed its dealer network that vehicles with 6,250 miles or more will require the replacement of the third through sixth gearsets, as well as the main shaft.

A total of 809 Outback and Legacy models are affected by this recall, which is expected to officially go into effect on August 6. In the meantime, owners are urged to contact their local dealers as soon as possible to have this problem corrected.

Gallery: First Drive: 2010 Subaru Outback

Photos by Jonathon Ramsey / Copyright (C)2010 AOL

[Source: Inside Line]

Report: Recall, stop-sale issued on 2010-11 Subaru Outback and Legacy models over gearbox flaw originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Redesigned Nissan March goes on sale in Japan

Filed under: Japan, Hatchback, Nissan

Nissan March

2011 Nissan March – Click above for high-res image gallery

The all-new Nissan March, which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in, you guessed it, March) went on sale in Japan this week. The March (or Micra, as it’s known in Europe) is powered by a new family of inline three-cylinder engines. The base normally-aspirated 1.2-liter is rated at 79 horsepower, and Nissan has also announced a supercharged and direct injected version that should produce over 100 horsepower.

The normally-aspirated engine is available with either a five-speed manual gearbox or a continuously variable transmission along with an automatic start-stop function to switch off the engine when the car comes to a halt. The CVT variant with idle-stop is rated at 61 miles per gallon (U.S.) on the Japanese urban test cycle, which should be equivalent to somewhere in the low to mid 40 mpg range on the EPA cycle.

Nissan has yet to confirm whether it will offer the redesigned Micra/March in the U.S. market.

Gallery: 2011 Nissan Micra / March

[Source: Nissan]

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Redesigned Nissan March goes on sale in Japan originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 17 Jul 2010 11:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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