The birth of the Fisker Karma has not been easy. The project has seen delays and customers have seen the price go up over the years, before the car even set foot on any showroom floor.

However, it now seems that the project is finally well on its way to hit the open road, as the first Karma is set to be delivered later this month, to none other than Hollywood A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio.

Other notable names on the order list of this plug-in hybrid super sedan include Al Gore and Colin Powell.

The Karma as many of you know, is powered by two electric motors, which can power this car for about 80-miles on just battery power alone. Once the battery runs out of juice, a GM sourced 2.0-liter, turbo-charged, four-cylinder engine will come into play to take you the remaining distance. The idea is, you get green motoring without any mileage limitations.

Fisker says they have secured about 3000 orders for the Karma, which is being built by Valmet in Finland. Currently only 5 cars a week are rolling out, but that number will jump to 300 per week from November.

Henrik Fisker, the CEO of the company has said, “Our sales are split 50:50 between early-adopting car enthusiasts and total non-car enthusiasts who just like that we are bringing something totally new to market. They recognize the infrastructure isn’t there for electric cars, and see we offer a stylish, stress-free alternative with no range compromises.”

The Karma sedan is priced from around $100,000. Later, a convertible and wagon version will also be offered.

[Source: Autocar]

America’s ongoing insatiable desire for the Toyota Prius is about to be sated: the Japanese factory is sending 36,000 examples our way, just in time for summer.

Global availability of the Prius is still low. Currently, the Prius is at a 4-day supply in America and many dealers don’t have a single example on their lots: a check of nationwide inventory reveals that there are only 2,960 models, or a 10th of where they were last year before the March 11 earthquake.

“Demand for the vehicle remains very, very high, and we are doing all we can to meet that demand,” said Steve Curtis, a Toyota spokesman. “Availability is going to vary from region to region and dealer to dealer, but I can certainly tell you that it’s tight.”

Toyota hopes production and supply of the Prius will return to normal by September. These 36,000 examples will go a long way to fulfilling demand until then.

[Source: Auto Observer]

Toyota and Honda plan to hire as many as 5,000 temporary workers in Japan for the first time in more than a year as the automotive industry recovers from the March 11 earthquake.

Toyota will be hiring between 3,000 and 4,000 temporary workers from mid-July as the company plans to increase production in October.

This is great news considering Japanese carmakers’ domestic production dropeed 60 percent in April as Toyota’s output in the country plunged 78 percent.

Honda will be hiring 1,000 temporary workers as the company plans to resume normal production numbers as well.

Toyota’s plants suffered a 50-percent production decline in April and May but are running at 90 percent capacity this month. The plan is to reach 100 percent of planned production levels by July.

“Hiring temporary workers shows that the problem with parts supply is being resolved and that the industry is on a solid recovery path,” explained Takeshi Miyao an analyst at the consulting company Carnorama in Tokyo. “There are a lot of back orders and without these additional workers, they won’t be able to catch up fast enough.”

Nissan has also begun hiring around 200 temporary workers to help restore normal production levels.

[Source: Automotive News]

Saab’s ongoing drama will remain at a standstill for another two weeks. Saab’s Trollhattan factory in Sweden, has not produced vehicles for most of April and May because of issues regarding paying suppliers. The factory bounced back in late May, but was quickly forced to stop production when part supplies ran out yet again.

“There will be no normal production during weeks 25 and 26 (June 20th-July 3rd),” Saab spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs said.

In the last few weeks, Saab made agreements with two Chinese Car companies, Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co and Pang Da which, if approved by Chinese governments, will solve its mid and long-term financial issues.

“We are still negotiating with all suppliers and we need to get everyone on board at the same time,” Gustavs said. “The weeks of 27-29 (July 4th-24th) are planned to be normal working weeks”.

Saab has spoken with Swedish property company Hemfosa on a sale and leaseback deal for the Swedish plant. Hemfosa was prepared to pay around $46 million for Saab’s properties. If this quick sale goes through, Saab will have the finances to restart production.

“There is nothing new that we can communicate,” Gustavs said on its building sale plans. “That is still being negotiated.”

[Source: Automotive News]

Aston Martin has decided to reduce production on the Aston Martin Rapide in order to match output to sales. The British company said they will now produce around 25 cars per week, making 1250 cars a year. Initially, Aston Martin envisioned producing 2000 cars in 2007/2008.

Sources have even claimed that Rapide production may drop to  10 vehicles per week as Aston adjusts their output, however the company does not believe it will drop to those numbers. In May, production of the Rapide was stopped and Aston sent out emails to contractors saying no more components would be needed for the month because ”the factory was on shutdown,” said Aston.

The slowing luxury car market has been a key factor in slowing Rapide production, but when demand increases, production of the vehicle in increase.

Gallery: Aston Martin Rapide

[Source: AutoCar]

After an employee committed suicide at a Hyundai plant in Korea, the company reports that it has resumed production.

The employee of Hyundai’s South Korea factory accused the company of “suppressing the labor movement,” forcing the company to shut down on Thursday and meet with labor officials. An agreement was made with the union, and the plant will resume building the Sonata and Korean-market Grandeur (what we once got as the Azera).

“We have resumed production from 6:15 AM today and will do Saturday and Sunday works as previously planned,” said a union official.

[Source: Reuters]

Audi’s latest cute-ute (are people still using that phrase anymore?) is entering production in Spain, at the clip of 100,000 per year.

The Q3 will be built in Martorell, Spain, in a plant normally reserved for SEAT. Volkswagen recently spent about 330 million Euros in upgrading the facility in anticipation, and is betting big on the Q3: hopefully it can reclaim the crown of Europe’s favorite premium SUV away from the BMW X1.

“The Q3 production is an example of how we are making use of synergies within the Group,” said Frank Dreves, an Audi board member. “The Martorell factory is an extremely productive facility with a highly skilled workforce, and one that meets the exacting quality standards of our brand.”

The Audi Q3 starts in Germany at €29,900. Word’s still mum on whether handbag-dwelling chihuahuas will be glaring down the precariously close bumpers of left lane “hogs” on this side of the Atlantic.

Prestige automaker Aston Martin has confirmed that it will be moving production of it’s four-door super sedan, the Rapide from the Magna Steyr facilities in Graz, Austria, to Gaydon, Warwickshire, in the United Kingdom.

The move comes as facility restrictions at Gaydon, in place when Rapide production originally began have now been lifted.

According to AM’s CEO Dr. Ulrich Betz, “ things are very different (from 2008) – Gaydon is more established, more flexible and more efficient. While our overall volume has not changed significantly, we now produce a far richer model mix – eight model lines (plus five variants) compared to three model lines (plus two variants) in 2008 – so Rapide production is now possible.”

Betz went on to thank Magna Steyr and its employees for developing a very strong working relationship with Aston Martin, while helping the firm set “benchmark quality” standards for Rapide production.

Production of AM’s four-door is scheduled to begin at the Gaydon facility in the second half of next year.

It might be hard to imagine, considering that it sold just 40,727 of them last year, but when you add up the totals over the last 14 years Nissan has actually built one million Frontier pickups at it’s Smyrna, Tennessee assembly plant, spanning two generations.

Nevetheless, the compact truck market is not the popular segment it once was. The only true compact truck left, the Ford Ranger, bows out after this year, leaving so-called ‘mid-size,’ rigs, the Frontier, Toyota Tacoma, Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon and Dodge Dakota to pickup up the pieces, even though, the remaining domestic brand trucks are not long for this world either.

It’s a far cry from the late 1970s and 1980s, when compact trucks were one of the hottest things going and individual models, like Nissan’s own Hardbody regularly sold in excess of 100,000 units.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if Nissan sells another million small trucks over the next 14 years. Given that many manufacturers who peddle vehicles stateside have either abandoned the concept of smaller pickups, or at the very least not chosen to really update existing models, as it stands, that might be a hard goal to achieve.

Time and again it’s been revealed that there still is a substantial market for small pickups, especially with higher fuel prices currently a reality, only there’s very little choice. Perhaps it’s about time the automakers changed that.

[Source: Pickuptrucks.com]

Mazda will shift production of their mid-size Mazda6 from the current AutoAlliance International plant (a joint venture with former owner Ford) to Mazda’s facility in Hofu, Japan.

“Currently, production of the Mazda6 [known as Atenza in Japan] exists in three locations,” said Takashi Yamanouchi, Representative Director and Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Mazda Motor Corporation. ”At our Hofu Plant in Japan, AutoAlliance International in Michigan, USA, and at FAW Car Co., Ltd. in Changchun, Jilin province, China. Our intention is to transfer production of our next CD-car for North America from AAI and consolidate it at Hofu in order to improve production and investment efficiencies and optimize our business.”

Mazda is currently collaborating with Ford to study the longevity of the AAI plant, but will continue to build the current model Mazda6 until its life cycle is over.

North American Honda production will return to normal in August, earlier than expected, the company announced in a statement today.

The Japanese automaker has accelerated their recovery following the March 11th earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Every Honda model will resume regualar production in August, except the 2012 Civic. The company expects full production of the Civic to resume in the fall.

When the supply of parts from Japan improves, production will ramp up on a step-by-step, plant-by-plant, and model-by-model basis. Models including the 4-cylinder Accord, CR-V and Acura RDX, as well as all V-6 models including the Accord, Accord Crosstour, Odyssey, Pilot, Ridgeline, and the Acura TL, MDX and ZDX will return to 100 percent production.

“The light at the end of the tunnel is glowing brighter for us, represented by this significant improvement in our production situation,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “Throughout this crisis, Honda has been fighting to achieve a speedy recovery, while maintaining a focus on our longer-term plans for continued growth in sales and production in order to meet the growing needs of our customers.”

Honda, which employs 13,400 in Ohio, said in a statement that it has managed to avoid any layoffs in any of its 14 plants in North America during the parts shortage.

[Source: Honda Press/ Columbus Dispatch]

Chevrolet‘s popular Volt is getting a production boost—GM is increasing annual production from 15,000 to 16,000 per year.

GM is gearing up to build the European version of the Volt: of this new 16,000-vehicle figure, approximately 3,500 will be sold in Europe as the Opel Ampera. About 2,500 jobs are expected to be added to the Detroit-Hamtramck plant as a bonus. But by next year, however, GM hopes to skyrocket Volt’s production figures: 60,000 vehicles annually, with 45,000 remaining in the country.

The production increases are lofty, but still short of GM’s expectations. CEO Dan Akerson said last week that GM hopes to pump out even more Volts: 25,000 this year, and eventually more than 100,000 per year. With supply shortages still raging in Japan, this might be more challenging than GM expects; as such, they are monitoring demand for the Volt and other electric cars closely.

[Source: Auto Observer]

Contrary to earlier reports, Mazda will not be ending production of its Mazda6 midsize sedan. Earlier reports suggested that the slow-selling model would be axed after reports emerged that production of the vehicle at Mazda’s Flat Rock, Michigan plant may cease.

While Mazda confirmed that the Mazda6 would remain in the lineup for some time (and will get Mazda’s new SKYACTIV powertrains), it’s possible that production at the Michigan factory may move elsewhere, and this event was misconstrued as the end of the Mazda6′s life. Mazda may move production to Mexico to take advantage of less expensive, non-union labor, as the Flat Rock plant is shared with Ford, which pays its workers $8 per hour more than its non-union counterparts.

[Source: Car and Driver]

General Motors is investing $131 million into their Bowling Green, Kentucky factory to help improve the legendary plant that produces the Chevrolet Corvette, but a new car won’t show up for another two model years.

Having made upgrades to the 2012 model, General Motors will focus on re-tooling the plant, while also adding 250 workers to supplement the 400 UAW employees already building America’s sports car. General Motors has remained tight-lipped on details regarding the 7th generation Corvette, but considering how good the current car is, we can’t wait to see what improvements arrive in 2014.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

With Saab parent company Spyker Cars having secured a 30 million euro short-term loan, Saab vehicles will now resume production after a payment dispute with suppliers forced them to suspend their operations.

Saab CEO Victor Muller released a statement to the media, remarking ”I would like to apologize to our dedicated employees, suppliers, dealers and customers for the disruptions of the past weeks. We will do everything in our power to restore the confidence in our company as soon as practically possible.”

Saab is also exploring other avenues for funding, including partnerships with Chinese automakers and a land deal with controversial Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov, that would involve Antonov buying Saab’s Swedish production facility and then leasing it back to the automaker as a means of giving Saab some liquidity. European investment outlets previously expressed significant reservations regarding Antonov and his alleged connections to Russian criminal networks.

[Source: Automotive News]

Having reported a first quarter net loss of 72 million Euros ($107 million), Saab‘s owner Spyker Cars has now said that, due to ongoing production problems at its assembly plant as well as supplier issues, the struggling Swedish automaker will simply not be able to meet it’s 2011 production forecasts.

In addition, although it’s been revealed that the company is aggressively seeking funding to help it through the short and mid-term, it looks like that includes three Chinese Automakers, even though, in an official statement, Saab CEO Victor Muller declined to mention any names.

According to Bloomberg, said companies are rumored to be China Youngman Automobile Group, Great Wall Motor Co and Jiangsu Yueda Group, with the possibility that Saab may have an agreement worked out with at least one of them in just days.

This follows on the heels of an announcement this week that Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov will invest approximately 30 million euros, in return for a 29.9 percent stake in Saab, a plan that was proved by both the Swedish Government and General Motors.

In a further effort to help restart production, Saab also said that it was raising funds from shareholders, “pursuing various initiatives to improve the group’s liquidity” in the words of the company, but declined to elaborate any further.

So far, since under Spyker stewardship, Saab has seen production rise, it sold 9,674 cars in the first quarter this year versus 3,060 during the same period a year ago, though clearly, there’s still much work to be done.

[Source: Automotive News]

Hyundai boosted its quarterly profit by 46 percent, and managed to outsell Honda, whose production was hampered by the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March.

Hyundai managed to sell 919,000 units in the quarter, compared to 860,000 for Honda. Honda’s earnings, output and total sales were down markedly, in line with other Japanese auto makers who have been forced to curtail production. While Honda expects production to be down until June, analysts say that the Japanese auto industry’s slump may help Hyundai surpass other Japanese OEM’s like Toyota and Nissan.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Hyundai‘s Veloster sports coupe will have its North American introduction delayed by two months due to a labor dispute involving a union at its South Korean factory.

A labor dispute involving changes to the shift structure at the Veloster’s plant in Ulsan caused a production slowdown, which saw the plant operate at 33 percent capacity. Labor disputes and strikes are extremely common in the South Korean auto industry, with one occuring every summer for a 20 year period from 1988-2008.

While North American launch plans are still on track for the second half of this year, Hyundai has been forced to go ahead with a limited roll-out in South Korea, with a target of 18,000 cars sold. The Veloster is a key product in both markets, with the car being both a push into the “premium” market at home, and a way to bring in young customers in the United States.

[Source: Automotive News]

Discuss this news and more at Veloster.org

Like other Japanese automakers, Toyota continues to be affected deeply by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Now the company is saying that it will be at least 6 months before they can resume production at levels before the disasters.

By November, Toyota is hoping that production, both overseas and American, will return to normal—with suppliers bringing in parts at a steady rate and factory work suspensions slowing down. Toyota is the first major automaker to make such a prediction.

“By telling dealers the timing of the recovery, they can have a better conversation with their customers,” said Akio Toyoda, the company’s president. “Dealers right now cannot talk to their customers about delivery timing. They can’t talk about specifics. Sales people are having a difficult time.”

Right now, Japanese production is right around 50% of capability. The normal rate, Toyota believes, will resume by July as issues in the supply chain are slowly, gradually worked out.

[Source: Automotive News]

Dealers may be in for an arduous summer as Japan’s auto parts shortage is on track to choke off new vehicle deliveries for months, with dealers potentially receiving no new vehicles until September.

The best case scenario will be a resumption of production on May 9th, after Japan’s traditional holiday break. But manufacturers are still unable to comment due to the unstable nature Japan’s auto industry, which is still reeling from the natural disasters that rocked the country in March.

“We are currently planning North American production for next month based on parts availability, so we are not yet ready to project our situation,” Mike Goss, a spokesman for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America told Automotive News. “We are planning the best we can, but everything depends upon parts. It’s a very fluid situation, changing daily.” The paper reports that Toyota will continue Japanese production at 50 percent capacity, and reassess the situation after June 6th.

Nissan declined to publicly comment, but told dealers that it will only receive 7,500 vehicles from Japan and Mexico in May, down from the usual 40,000. Dealers are beginning to fret over inventory levels, which will only take them through the end of May. Honda, as well as Toyota dealers are reporting similarly reduced numbers, while even General Motors is said to be producing and allocating vehicles in a conservative manner, due to uncertainty over parts supplies and the overall marketplace.

[Source: Automotive News]

Hyundai and Kia remain unscathed by the parts crunch that is affecting Japanese auto makers, with both companies running their United States-based plants at full capacity and overtime shifts to help meet demand at certain plants.

“We’ve been fortunate,” Robert Burns, a spokesman for the Hyundai plant in Alabama, told Left Lane News. “Our parts development team is closely monitoring all our suppliers, but at this point there’s been no disruption.”

Toyota, Subaru and Honda announced significant cutbacks to their production schedules at North American plants due to parts shortages, and this development has left Hyundai and Kia, already riding a wave of good fortune, in an even better position to capitalize on a currently rebounding market and changing perceptions about both brands.

Toyota is the latest automaker to adjust their North American production schedules, with plants idling on April 15, 18, 21, 22, and 25. Toyota’s engine and component factories will follow a similar schedule, while their Georgetown, Kentucky facility will remain open on April 21.

Employees at the plants will have the option of report to work for training programs, use vacation time or take unpaid days off. While Toyota claims that 85 percent of their parts are sourced from North America, the fact is that one missing part, no matter how inconsequential, can halt an entire production line for indefinite periods of time, and this phenomenon is something that will be a common occurrence during these next few months.

Honda plants in North America could be operating at well below capacity as a shortage of parts from Japan threatens to cripple the automaker’s output for as long as 90 days.

Speaking with Automotive News, Honda’s executive Vice-President John Mendel estimated a 60 to 90 day slowdown, with 30 days being an optimistic forecast. Honda has already cut production in half at 5 of its 6 North American plants due to a parts shortage, and 90 percent of Hondas sold in North America are assembled here. While 600 of its 710 suppliers are based in North America, a single missing part can result in a production stoppage.

Mendel highlighted the dire situation in Japan, stating ”In some places, they are still recovering bodies. And even if you have a warehouse full of finished microchips, the roads are ruined, and you are in the radiation zone. What are you going to do?” Honda is estimated to have a 47 day supply of vehicles, and the company is also monitoring parts order by dealers to make sure that hoarding and other shady practices do not occur.

Honda currently imports the Fit and CR-Z from Japan.

[Source: Automotive News]

Saab parent company Spyker held talks with parts suppliers Thursday, in a bid to restart production that has been halted over a dispute regarding unpaid bills.

The scandal has been a blight on Saab’s efforts to re-structure after a tumultuous year of teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. “We’re expecting that we could resume normal production early next week,” Saab spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs told Automotive News. “A lot of work is going into strengthening the financial position of the company.”

The head of Sweden’s parts suppliers organization could not put an exact figure on the debt but said it was in the “millions” of Swedish kronor. In the mean time, Saab’s plant remained deserted as workers expressed hope that they could return to their jobs starting next week.

[Source: Automotive News]