A round-up of this week's other motoring news in brief
Ex-GM exec to chair Gaz board
A DEPARTING General Motors executive is in line to become chairman of Gaz, the car company owned by Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch seeking a carmaking deal with Opel.
Bo Andersson, who stepped down as GM’s global head of purchasing last week, has been offered the job at Gaz, which plans to build cars for the bankrupt carmaker’s Opel unit if a stake sale is agreed with Canada’s Magna International and Russia’s Sberbank.
“Bo Andersson has expressed his agreement to take the post of the chairman of the board of directors,” Gaz said this week. “The shareholders hope his candidature will be approved.”
- FT Service
911s replace Micras at used car auction
HIGH-END supercars such as Aston Martins and Porsche 911s are now being sold alongside Nissan Micras and Ford Transit vans, as private individuals and banks try and recoup money from car purchases.
Saturday last in Merlin Car Auction in Naas and, amid the usual tattered Nissan Micras and Ford Transit vans bearing the names of trades and companies now resigned to history, one lot in particular drew attention – a 2006 Aston Martin DB9, barely run in.
The seller was a private individual, looking to sell on the car. “I know there was a story behind it but we can’t comment on individual deals,” said David Byrne, managing director of Merlin Car Auctions.
“We now run four auctions a week and just recently opened a Dublin branch. There has been so much change over the last few months. If you had asked me two years ago what percentage of the cars coming through our door were finance repossessions, I would have said 10 per cent – now it is at least 60 per cent.”
“There is a huge difference in the quality of stuff coming in. On our list here for this week we have a 2007 BMW 530, 2007 Mercedes-Benz E200, 2003 Porsche 911, 2002 Porsche 911 and 2008 BMW X5.” Just like many car dealers, auctions are also starting to suffer from a shortage of used cars, as people move away from newer models.
“Used cars have become rare and we actually can’t get enough cars. The market became so stagnant for a long time and new cars dried up but people are buying used cars in droves. We have no market for the used commercials, but some used cars are now making more money then they did six months ago.”
Merlin sells 1,000 cars per week and between 30 and 35 of these cars are sold as part of a car-for-cash deal whereby the auction gives a seller cash for their car and then auctions it.
“Over 65 per cent of our buyers are private buyers now, and that is a huge change from the 6 or 7 per cent four or five years ago. The car dealers are now competing against the private buyer who is willing to spend a little more on the car as they are the end user.”
Merlin’s Auctions take place in Naas on Wednesdays at 7pm and Saturdays at 11am, and in Kylemore on Tuesdays at 7pm and a Friday morning at 11am. See merlincarauctions.ie.
Peugeot’s 308 RC-Z near production
IT MIGHT look like an Audi TT but this is the Peugeot 308 RC-Z and, despite years of concept hype, the French marque – hot on the back of its victory at Le Mans – looks set to finally put the sports car into production.
This prototype was caught testing in southern Europe, the first evidence to support industry claims that the car – unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in 2007 – will go on sale next year.
Competition in the sports car market is fierce and it will be up against true premium brands while fighting against its mainstream badge, so it will have to produce a special line-up of powertrains. The RC-Z will probably hit the streets with the same engines as higher-level 308 models, with a rumoured 250bhp petrol engine. Turbo diesels will most certainly be included.
The decision to go ahead with the RC-Z is the first real indicator of the way PSA Peugeot Citroën is realigning itself. While Citroën is also going upmarket with models like the DS-line, Peugeot is going to try and get a more sporting, youthful image. The Frankfurt Motor Show is coming up again in about three months and it would be an ideal place to unveil the sports car in production trim. We’ll have to wait and see.