South Korean carmaker launches Soul, with its distinctive grille, amid the gloom and doom of plummeting US sales
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Carmakers trotted out a rich line-up of new models at the Paris motor show with mixed emotions, after hearing only hours before the event opened what they had been expecting: that September new vehicles sales in the vital United States market had plummeted to record lows.
The shockwaves spread quickly. Jittery consumer confidence, a downturn in buyer interest, and Wall Street facing its worst crisis in decades led to high-flyer Toyota, for instance, turning in one of the worst performances in its 50-year history in the US.
Toyota's September sales of 144,260 new vehicles were down more than 32 per cent on the 213,000 it sold in the same month last year. Honda's sales slumped 24 per cent, its US sales vice-president Dick Colliver saying: "Obviously, no one is immune to market shifts as dramatic as we are seeing."
General Motors dropped nearly 16 per cent. Mazda was down 35 per cent; Nissan 36 per cent. BMW and Mini dropped 27 per cent. Suzuki and Subaru also reported steep slides.
South Korean carmaker Kia, which launched its new small crossover Soul in Paris, dropped 27 per cent in the US last month, although its year-to-date sales are up 17.2 per cent from 2007.
Porsche reported record worldwide turnover and sales for 2007-08 but pledged to adjust its production to meet a possible slowdown in demand.
"It is difficult in the present economic situation to make reliable predictions about trends in the current fiscal year as a whole," it said. "The company expects the next growth spurt when the Panamera [four-door saloon] is launched in the next fiscal year 2009-10."
GM posted its best monthly market share of the year at 27 per cent. Still, the sales numbers were ugly.
"We have to get our US business turned around in order for GM to succeed," chief financial officer Fritz Henderson told reporters in Paris. "We must. There's no other choice. And with the US as it stands, I think it's going to be difficult for us."
Tight credit markets and consumer uncertainty are expected to crush an already flat US automotive market. There is mixed reaction among European carmakers to the US slump. September sales in Spain were down 32 per cent. Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover are each talking job losses and production cuts. France, however, is buoyant - sales last month were up by nearly 9 per cent.
Analysts expect the key western European market to drop around about one million units this year to less than 14 million from 14.8 million in 2007.
Forecasts for next year are mixed. The optimists expect another drop of about 500,000 in 2009 to about 13.5 million. But pessimists predict that another million will disappear, putting 2009 sales at just above 13 million units.
But most expect sales growth to resume from 2010 onwards. By 2012, Europe is expected to be back at 2007 levels, selling close to 14.8 million units a year.
Lots of the 2012 models will be hatchback cars, like the Kia Soul, due in New Zealand next year. Large luxury models like the new four-door Lamborghini Estoque concept unveiled in Paris have another place in the world. But both the Soul and Estoque salute the animal kingdom. Kia design chief Peter Schreyer is using the Soul to sharpen the brand's image.
Schreyer wants Kias to be instantly recognisable anywhere in the world. The tiger-nose grille that he designed in the vehicle he calls an urban crossover is the company's signature element.
"From now on, we'll have it on all our cars," said Schreyer, who joined Kia after working at Volkswagen.
He sees a tiger nose as "three-dimensional - like a face, not just a surface with a mouth drawn on it".
Schreyer said tigers look "powerful, yet kind of friendly".
The front-drive, five-door Soul is expected to arrive in New Zealand with a choice of four-cylinder petrol or diesel engines. There are funky aspects: the tall roofline and bright and breezy interior accommodates an optional audio package with eight speakers. The speakers at the bottom of the doors glow with the intensity of the music.
The Lamborghini Estoque continues the Italian company's tradition of using names from bullfighting for its cars.
Estoque is a special sword used by a bullfighter and is closely related to the Espada name, used by Lamborghini for its two-door, four-seat coupe built between 1968 and 1978.
Lamborghini's most famous car, the 1966 Miura, was named after a famous Spanish breed of bulls used for bullfighting.
The company's Paris concept is a near-production concept for a coupe-styled, four-door car to compete against the forthcoming Aston Martin Rapide and Audi A7 models as well as the Panamera.
Lamborghini currently has two model lines: the V10 Gallardo and the V12 Murcielago. Both are sold in coupe and roadster body styles and both have rear-mounted engines and permanent four-wheel drive.
The Estoque will have an engine in the front driving all four wheels. It is expected to be a V8 unit, smaller in capacity than the 5-litre V10.
