First Smart orders exceed supply, Daimler says
Taken from the Detroit Free Press www.freep.com
First Smart orders exceed supply, Daimler says
December 5, 2007
Daimler AG Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said his company has more initial U.S. orders for Smart minicars than it can build. The German automaker has received “more than 30,000 down payments” from buyers in advance of the car’s U.S. introduction in January, Zetsche said Monday in Washington.
The orders total “far beyond the production capacity we have for next year,” he said, without giving details. Daimler hopes that the two-seat Smart, with a base price of $11,590, will appeal to urban consumers looking for a second car and tap growing U.S. demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.
GM seeks stake in Russian carmakerGeneral Motors Corp. is bidding for a stake in Russia’s largest carmaker as part of an effort to expand its presence in that rapidly growing market, a GM spokesman confirmed Tuesday. Spokesman Marc Kempe said GM recently submitted a formal bid for a stake in OAO AvtoVaz.
He wouldn’t say how large a stake GM is seeking or how much it is willing to pay. Kempe said there is no timeline for the bid.
With its exploding oil wealth, Russia rapidly is becoming a major market for GM, the world’s largest automaker. According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Russia has about 157 cars per 1,000 people. GM had a 6.6% share of the market in 2006, up from 4.6% the year before.
