Industry

Jaguar announced that Ian Callum is leaving his post as Director of Design at the car maker after 20 years of service, with current Creative Design Director Julian Thompson to take the reigns of the Jaguar Design Studio, effective July 01. “I have had an incredible career at Jaguar,” said Ian Callum. “One of my biggest highlights was creating XF because it represented the beginning of a new era moving Jaguar from tradition to contemporary design – it was a significant turning point in our story.” Callum started working as a designer in 1979 with Ford Design Studios, where he stayed for 11 years before moving on to TWR Design. While at Tom Walkinshaw Design, Callum was partially responsible for penning the Aston Martin DB7. Also Read: Jaguar’s Ian Callum Story Is A Must-Watch For Aspiring Car Designers In 1999, he joined Jaguar as Director of Design. During those early years, Callum was also responsible for Aston Martin and its Vanquish and DB9 … [Read more...] about Ian Callum Leaves Jaguar Design After 20 Years Of Service

Production and sales of new cars across the United Kingdom have nosedived – and the reason is none other than the Brexit. The United Kingdom had been scheduled to leave the European Union on March 29 this year and because of this, a host of local car manufacturers brought their annual factory shutdowns forward and closed facilities in late March and early April. As a result, 56,999 fewer vehicles were built in the UK in April 2019 than the same month last year. This also means that year-to-date production is down significantly on last year, as are year-to-date sales, Auto Express reports. Also Read: BMW, PSA Both Shutting Down UK Plants Despite Brexit Delay This year, the number of vehicles built through the end of April sat at 70,971, well down from the 127,970 built over the same time period in 2018. Production of vehicles to be sold locally dropped by 43.7 per cent while those bound for overseas markets fell by 44.7 per cent. What makes the lower production figures … [Read more...] about UK Car Production Down By Half Due To Brexit Shutdowns

Mercedes-Benz sold 180,539 new cars in January globally, down 6.7%. The rivals from BMW managed to sell 149,616 units, while Audi ended the month the last on podium with nearly 145,000 cars sold. This year starts at a slower pace for premium car builders. Mercedes-Benz, the leader of 2018, started the year in decline. In January, the Stuttgart builder reported sales of 180,539 units, down 6.7% compared to the same period last year. The Germans suffer this fall due to the changes that have occurred in the compact range (changing generations for the CLA and B-Class models). However, Mercedes-Benz is leading the markets in Germany, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, South Korea, USA, Canada and Brazil. In Europe, sales dropped 11.2% in January, while in China, Mercedes-Benz managed to increase sales by 4.8% (71,697 units). C-Class manages an excellent year (36,000 units sold in January, + 2.8%), while SUVs has gathered over 60,000 units, down 15.9%. BMW … [Read more...] about Sales in January 2019: Mercedes-Benz dominates the premium segment despite a 6.7% drop

Daimler has achieved a substantially lower profit in 2018. This is partly due to higher costs for new models and innovation, rising raw material prices and negative exchange rate effects. However, the company boosted its sales and revenues. In his last yearly conference as Mercedes’ boss, Dieter Zetsche gave today an explanation for a year with strong headwinds affecting Daimler, which according to him was also seen in the results and the decreased stock price of the company. Profit before tax fell from 14.3 billion euros in 2017 to 11.1 billion euros in 2018. It is not all bad news, though. Total revenue was 2 percent higher at nearly 167.4 billion euros while worldwide vehicle sales rose 2 percent last year to nearly 3.4 million units. In addition, the sales of Mercedes and Smart went up a fraction to almost 2.4 million cars, partly due to headwinds from the trade tensions between China and the US and stricter European environmental regulations. Meanwhile, sales of trucks, … [Read more...] about The fallout: Daimler announces lower profit for 2018

Mercedes-Benz conquered for the third consecutive year the title of the world’s largest premium car maker with 2.31 million units sold across the world. BMW stopped at the threshold of 2.12 million units, while Audi sold 1.87 million units. More precisely, Mercedes-Benz sold 2,310,185 million cars in 2018, a slight increase of 0.9% compared to 2017, and remained the world’s largest premium builder. SUVs continued to represent the most popular segment with about one-third of sales, while the compact segment recorded a quarter of sales. The best-selling model of the brand was the C-Class. The most important market was again China with over 650,000 of units delivered, while sales in Europe dropped by 2.3% to nearly 934,000 units. Meanwhile, BMW reported 2,125,026 units sold last year, up 1.8% compared to 2017. In Europe, the BMW Group brands (BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce and Motorrad) sold 1,097,654 cars, down 0.3%, while China is (just like for Mercedes) the largest market … [Read more...] about Mercedes-Benz, the world’s largest premium car maker in 2018, surpasses BMW by nearly 200,000 units