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AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, executive motoring briefs [AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates](AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 20--SUZUKI TO RECONSIDER VOLKSWAGEN PARTNERSHIP: Suzuki Motor Corp has said Volkswagen and the Japanese auto maker need to reconsider their multi-billion-dollar partnership, Reuters has reported. VW's purchase of a near-20 percent stake in Suzuki for $2.5bn in December 2009 was welcomed by investors who expected Volkswagen to gain an inside track into Suzuki's leading small-car technology, while Suzuki would have access to Volkswagen's hybrid and other advanced technologies that it would not be able to afford on its own. "It was made very clear when we tied up with Volkswagen that we did not want to become consolidated, and that we would remain independent," executive vice president Yasuhito Harayama, in charge of relations with Volkswagen, said. "We feel we need to return to the starting point, including over the ownership ratio." OMANI FIRM TO BUILD ELECTRIC CARS: The Omani cabinet has granted Nur Majan Co the first licence for the construction of the first electric car manufacture factory in the Sultanate, Oman Daily Observer has reported. The factory, which is licensed to assemble cars, will have an annual capacity of 120 cars, with commercial production set at January 2014. The car, which can cover a distance of more than 3,000 kilometres in one charging, is expected to cost between OR10,000 and OR30,000, depending on the specifications, the firm said. AL FUTTAIM OPENS NEW SHOWROOMS IN SHARJAH: Al Futtaim Motors, the UAE exclusive distributor of Lexus and Toyota, has inaugurated new 9,200 sq ft Lexus and 22,000 sq ft Toyota showrooms in the UAE emirate of Sharjah. The dealer currently operates 13 Lexus and Toyota showrooms across Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Fujairah and Khor Fakkan, in addition to 12 service centres across the country. VW DELIVERS 4.1M CARS IN H1: Europe's biggest carmaker, Volkswagen, has said it expects to continue outperforming the auto market in the second half after posting a record 4.1 million deliveries in the first six months of the year, Bloomberg has reported. Sales of cars, SUVs and vans at the company's brands including the Audi luxury division and Czech unit Skoda rose 14 percent, VW said. Global industry sales increased 6.1 percent in the same period, it said. TOYOTA TO BOOST JAPAN PRODUCTION LINE: Toyota has unveiled a $1.3bn plan to overhaul its manufacturing in north-eastern Japan, including the purchase of two listed units, Reuters has reported. The move is part of efforts by the car maker to boost efficiency and soften the blow from a yen trading near a record high. The world's biggest auto maker plans to build 3.03m vehicles in Japan this year, equivalent to around 40 percent of its total global production. UAE CAR DEALERS APPROVE UNIFIED PURCHASE CONTRACT: The UAE economy ministry has received the approval of auto dealers in the country on the unified form for purchase contracts proposed by the ministry to facilitate procedures and protect consumer rights, Wam has reported. The unified contract form will be mandatory effective October 1, 2011 the ministry said. ROLLS ROYCE TO SELL USED CARS: British car maker Rolls-Royce has unveiled plans to sell luxury used cars for the first time through its network of dealers in the Middle East, The National has reported. The pre-owned car scheme, called Provenance, is due to be launched in the region towards the end of the year, before being rolled out globally. "The cars will be cheaper than new," James Crichton, regional director for Middle East and Africa, said. "We are brand new to this. Most of the used cars are being sold outside of our network. We want to bring them inside." ASTON MARTIN ENDS RELATIONSHIP WITH AL HABTOOR: British luxury car maker Aston Martin has ended its relationship with Al Habtoor Motors after 20 years, as part of plans to reposition its brand in the UAE, The National has reported. Aston Martin had a long partnership with Al Habtoor and is now working with the company to find "rebranded representation" by the end of the year, Adham Charanoglu, chief executive of Aston Martin in the region, said. As part of the regional expansion, millions of dirhams will be spent on showrooms in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi. EGYPT'S GB AUTO SEES Q2 SALES FIGURES DECREASE: Egypt's GB Auto has said political turmoil has dampened its second-quarter passenger car sales by 16 percent compared with a year earlier, Reuters has reported. "We have posted a decisive quarter-on-quarter improvement in sales despite ongoing turmoil in our largest market and remain on track to grow our top line year-on-year in 2011," CEO Raouf Ghabbour said. Egypt's biggest listed automobile assembler said motorcycle and three-wheeler unit sales reached record highs in the quarter, increasing by 27 percent from a quarter earlier and 64 percent from a year earlier. AUDI DELIVERS 17.7 percent MORE CARS IN H1: Audi has said the number of cars delivered to customers worldwide in the first six months of the year rose 17.7 percent to more than 652,950 compared with the same period in 2010. From January through June, total sales in Europe rose by 13.5 percent to around 382,850 cars. The main drivers of this growth were the Audi A1 and the A8, the latter having been steadily increasing its market shares since its introduction at the start of last year. Sales of Audi's large SUV, Q7, gained 23.5 percent over the same period last year, the German carmaker said. BMW SALES RISE BY 13 percent IN MIDDLE EAST IN H1: German car maker BMW has said it has delivered a total of 9,134 BMW and MINI vehicles to customers across 14 Middle East markets, representing a 13 percent rise in sales in the region during the first half of 2011, compared with the same period last year. Abu Dhabi recorded the highest increase in sales at 32 percent (2,247 cars), followed by Dubai with 29 percent growth (2,014 cars), Saudi Arabia with 14 percent growth (1,684 cars); while Kuwait saw sales improve by 13 percent, the company said. RENAULT DELAYS ELECTRIC CAR BATTERY PRODUCTION: French carmaker Renault has said the start of electric vehicle battery production is to be delayed until 2014 and would proceed without the government investment and loan it had planned for the project, Reuters has reported. The delay, due to the project's complex financing arrangements, would not affect the wider electric vehicles programme, the company said. The project was launched in 2009 with the signing of an agreement between Renault-Nissan, the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and France's FSI strategic investment fund. JAPAN CAR MAKERS' PROFIT FORECAST TO FALL 35 percent: Japan's biggest seven car makers are likely to post their first combined drop in consolidated net profit, with the total projected to fall 35 percent in the fiscal year ending next March, Nikkei has reported. Four of the firms would see annual sales drop in unit terms, as production takes a hit from the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake, the report said. This comes one day after Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries said its group net profit is likely to fall 30 percent, due partly to the strong level of the Japanese yen. MERCEDES BENZ ENJOYS RECORD SALES FIGURES: Mercedes Benz has posted its highest first-half sales ever, thanks to strong demand from China, other emerging economies and the US, the Associated Press has reported. The German car maker said its sales from January through June grew 9.7 percent on the year from 556,700 units to 610,500. Sales in Germany increased only slightly to 123,000 units, while deliveries in the US, its second-biggest market, rose by 7 percent to 111,000 vehicles. SAAB EDGES CLOSER TO ANTONOV RETURN WITH CHINESE CAPITAL INJECTION: Troubled Swedish car maker Saab has moved closer to having Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov back on board as an investor, as the company finalised a Chinese capital injection to help turn around the loss-making brand, Reuters has reported. Saab said two non-binding agreements with Chinese companies Pang Da and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile to buy Swan shares for E245m ($347.6m) had been finalised but were still subject to regulatory approvals. Antonov, who owns a bank in Lithuania and in Latvia, has wanted to return as a shareholder of Saab and aims to invest E30m for a 29.9 percent stake in Swan. BUGATTI REVEALS $2.4M SPECIAL EDITION OF VEYRON FOR UAE BUSINESSMAN: Bugatti, the maker of the world's fastest production car, has unveiled a E1.65m ($2.4m) special edition of the Veyron Grand Sport model with porcelain accents, Bloomberg has reported. The L'Or Blanc, which is painted in vibrant white with royal blue lines curving along the exterior, was developed as a one-of-a-kind model for an unidentified businessman from the UAE, who has a collection of about 800 cars, Bugatti's spokeswoman Emanuela Wilm said. AUDI UNVEILS $310,000 CONVERTIBLE SUPERCAR: Audi has unveiled a convertible version of the R8 GT supercar, as the Volkswagen unit hones a high-end sporty image in its quest to overtake BMW as the luxury-car leader, Bloomberg has reported. The car maker's most expensive series production car, the R8 GT Spyder boasts carbon-fibre in the front and rear spoilers to reduce weight and help the car accelerate to 100km/h in just 3.8 seconds. The open-top version of the R8 GT is part of Audi CEO's Rupert Stadler's strategy to topple BMW by 2015. UAE CAR DEALERS WANT FINANCE RULES EASED: Car dealers in the UAE have said new regulations by the central bank on car financing have caused a sharp drop in sales since becoming law two months ago, The National has reported. The new law, which sets the down payment at a minimum of 20 percent of a vehicle's purchase price, was meant to mitigate the risk of car buyer's defaulting on their loan repayments in times of hardship. Al-Futtaim Motors and Arabian Automobiles said the new rules forced the introduction of other forms of financing to tempt buyers such as bundling insurance and service packages, and the introduction of personal contract purchase agreements allowing customers to finance 50 percent of a car's value in exchange for the opportunity to buy outright, upgrade or sell the car at the end of the contract period. MOODY'S DOWNGRADES TOYOTA RATING: Credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has lowered its rating of Toyota Motor by one notch to Aa3 from Aa2 and said it will keep the automaker on review for possible further downgrade, Reuters has reported. The downgrade was attributed to concerns that increased global competition, the yen's strength and high raw materials costs will pressure the company's profits into the next financial year. NISSAN AIMS TO BOOST ITS GLOBAL SHARE TO 8 percent BY 2016: Nissan has said it aims to raise its global market share to 8 percent by the end of March 2017 from 5.8 percent in fiscal 2010 through expansion in fast-growing markets. Japan's second-biggest automaker also aims to boost its corporate operating profit to 8 percent by the end of fiscal 2016 from 6.1 percent in the last fiscal year ended March 31. "Our plan will also include the development of more than 90 new advanced technologies, averaging 15 per year," Nissan president Carlos Ghosn told a news conference. ___ To see more of the AME Info, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.ameinfo.com. Copyright (c) 2011, AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. 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