Italy assists Chrysler

Dodge Viper.

While Italy teeters on the brink of insolvency, it has taken an Italian to get Chrysler back on its feet again. Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Fiat, and now also the CEO of Chrysler, has brought the previously failing once big name back into the black.

Chrysler was so far in the red that it required US government loans to keep going, and had not posted a profit since 1997. Now it has apparently turned the corner and has shown a healthy profit of $183 million for the 2011 year.

Marchionne is confident that Chrysler will increase market share during 2012 and is talking numbers like $1.5 billion profit. That is a very healthy profit.

The turn-around has been effected by redesigning the Jeep range and adding vehicles with Fiat origins, so that it will have small and mid-size cars to sell in that market, as well as the Dodge Ram pick-up, a new Viper and an electric Fiat 500.

2012 has started off very well with the company showing a 44 percent rise in US sales in January, well above market predictions.

Mazda posts a loss

Mazda3.

Despite producing a very popular range of passenger vehicles and the new BT50 pick-up, Mazda (Japan) has posted almost one billion dollar loss in the three months up to December 2011. This is in contrast to the positive figures in 2010.

With Mazda’s fortunes dependent upon a strong export market, the company blamed the strong yen against international currencies as reducing its sales potential. In Europe the Mazda sales fell by 14 percent, with Mazda ascribing some of the loss as being due to the floods in Thailand, as the company suffered from smaller production volumes.

However, just as Thailand will bounce back, so will Mazda. The new Mazda3 is a particularly good motor car, and I believe will bring the company back to positive figures again.

Just over a month to go for the start of the 2012 F1 season

First race of the year is in Australia. March 18. All the pre-season testing means absolutely nothing until the GP. At the test sessions, you have no idea as to what fuel levels are being run, and even how many experimental bits are being used (that may not pass scrutineering).

The pre-season also brings all the commentators out, predicting such wonderful ideas as Kimi Raikkonen winning for “Lotus” (nee Renault), and Jarno Trulli being replaced at Caterham (nee Team Lotus). Two big questions are “Will this be Michael Schumacher’s last stand?” and “Will he win another GP before he retires?” Really, that all depends upon how good will the car be that Mercedes will give him. Schumacher still has bags full of talent (look at the way he gets to the finals of the Race of Champions each year), and if he has the goods will do the job.

However, you have to look back at 2011 and 2010 and you can confidently expect Red Bull to be up there, along with McLaren and Ferrari. Their drivers are good enough to find the limits of the machines, and professional enough to deliver all year long.

With 20 races on the calendar, though I believe we will only see 18 as Bahrain is unlikely, and either Korea or Valencia will withdraw. All in all, it should be an interesting year.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I asked what car is this? 2,594 V8, Italian via Canada, 1970-1977. Too easy! It was the Alfa Montreal. First correct was Ivar H๘yem, who sent the answer in before 6 a.m. I think he must sit outside the printers and gets one off the line!

So to this week. A Scottish vet changed the way we get about our travels. Who was he?

For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].

How ‘Green’ will we get?

All-electric Nissan Leaf.

It appears that every manufacturer is touting just how ‘green’ they are, with Hybrids on the lot today and EV’s just around the corner tomorrow. But is that concept one which reflects reality? Or is it some sort of hype to boost sales of these models, when their variants with internal combustion engines are cheaper?

The study ‘Drive Green 2020: More Hope than Reality’ concludes global hybrid and EV demand is likely to account for only a small proportion of total vehicle sales over the next decade, despite multi-billion-dollar investments and fast-paced development in the car industry, according to global marketing information company JD Power and Associates who commissioned the research.

JD Power’s research postulates that hybrids and EVs combined will account for just 7.3 percent - or 5.2 million units - of the 70.9 million passenger vehicles forecast to be sold in 2020. In other words, 92 percent of new vehicles at the end of the next decade will still be gasoline/diesel powered. So much for the oil supply dwindling. JD Power’s study obviously does not feel we will be forced into driving EVs.

Dealing in ‘futures’ is at best a risky business, and some automakers who have placed their bets on the end of oil as we know it, have commenced development of EVs. Nissan-Renault, for example, is expecting EVs alone to account for around 10 percent of total vehicle sales by the end of the decade - while JD Power estimate only 1.8 percent. But even if we accept Nissan-Renault’s figures, that still leaves 90 percent conventional gasoline/diesel power.

The German manufacturers, who have a finger in many options including hydrogen power as well as EVs, stand to benefit from their government’s ‘national electro-mobility plan’ put forward in August this year that calls for a million electric cars on German roads by 2020, and more than five million by 2030.

BMW also believes EVs will account for between five and 15 percent of the new vehicle market by 2020, while Volkswagen expects electric vehicles will be three percent of its sales by 2020 - which should be well in excess of 300,000 units.

There is another factor which must now be taken into account - the new internal combustion engines are much more frugal and in fact are as good as, if not better than, most hybrids.

While past auto shows have been stocked with petrol-electric hybrids and SUVs, slow hybrid sales have brought a dose of reality. Automakers are realizing they can give buyers what they want and avoid the expense of electric motors and batteries by building smaller cars and getting better fuel economy from traditional petrol engines. In fact, Hybrid sales slowed last year to 2.2 percent of U.S. sales, from 2.4 percent in 2010. Those figures would not encourage a prospective customer to go hybrid.

A chief executive of the retail chain AutoNation Inc., said that 75 percent of customers come into his showrooms and want to talk about hybrids, but only about 2.5 percent of AutoNation sales are hybrids.

However, the last word comes from Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat SpA and Chrysler Group LLC, said the skepticism over electric cars and plug-in hybrids “is well-justified.” He added, “If anyone thinks they will meet future EPA rules solely with internal combustion engines, they are smoking an illegal substance.”

Natter Nosh and Noggin

The next car club meeting will be at Jameson’s Irish Pub on Soi AR next to Nova Park. The meeting is on Monday February 13 at Jameson’s at 7 p.m. A totally informal meeting of like-minded souls to discuss their pet motoring (and motorcycling) loves and hates. Come along and meet guys who have a common interest in cars and bikes, and enjoy the Jameson’s specials, washed down with a few beers.

Who will pick up our youngsters?

Sandy Stuvik.

A couple of years back, Ferrari selected an 11 year old Canadian karter to join their driver academy. The program, which was set up at the end of 2009, was devised by the Italian team to find and support talented young drivers from around the world, with the eventual aim of helping them into Formula One racing. Since he was only 11, I think Alonso has to look over his shoulder just yet, but you can see where all this is heading!

Another youngster who got picked up very early in his motorsport career was Lewis Hamilton. With McLaren backing him (and paying much of the bills) Hamilton burst upon the F1 scene, frightening Alonso who thought that this rookie team mate was just an upstart and was eventually beaten by the youngster. Hamilton missed the world championship in his rookie year by one point, and then went on to claim it on his second season.

How did all this happen? At the age of ten, Hamilton approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards ceremony in December 1995 and told him, “I want to race for you one day...I want to race for McLaren.” Less than three years later, he was signed by McLaren and Mercedes-Benz to their Young Driver Support Program.

After winning the British Formula Renault, Formula Three Euroseries, and GP2 championships on his way up the racing career ladder, he became a McLaren F1 driver for 2007, making his Formula 1 debut 12 years after his initial encounter with Dennis. He has stated he wants to stay with the McLaren team for the rest of his F1 career. I would imagine McLaren has a vice-like grip on his tender bits, as well as a watertight contract!

BMW have also involved with nurturing young talent through the Formula BMW series. This was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It is positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it is intended to function as the young kart racing graduate’s first experience of car racing.

The new formula was created by BMW Motorsport in 2001, with the first of its championships being inaugurated in Germany in 2002. Selected competitors from each series meet in the World Final at the end of each season, with the promise of a Formula One test for the winner.

One notable winner was Nico Rosberg, now driving alongside Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes GP F1 team.

In Thailand there is a young Thai/Norwegian Sandy Nicholas Stuvik, now 16 years of age and rapidly becoming too old if he cannot get sufficient help soon. Like Hamilton, he has been a winner in karts and won the Formula Renault Asia, but the costs, even in these lower formulae are very high. He is a proven winner and now needs someone to pick him up. Ferrari already have their youngster. Who will take on this young talent? I sincerely hope Thailand will look after its own. Go to www.sandystuvik.com and meet this talented young lad.