TROUBLE AHEAD: GM is building up stocks of cars and light trucks in what is thought to be preparations for a possible strike in the autumn, as it heads for a showdown with unions.
GM and its Detroit rivals, Ford and DaimlerChrysler, start negotiating a new, three-year contract with the United Autoworkers Union on July 18th. Discussions are expected to be very tough, with Ford hoping to close four US factories, Chrysler mired in losses and GM stuck with unfunded pension and health liabilities of €60 billion.
GM's stockpile of 1.24 million vehicles would allow it to hold out against a strike for about three weeks longer before dealers ran out of vehicles. Ford and Chrysler said they were not building up stocks in case of a strike. Chrysler has 500,000 vehicles, or 62 days' supply, close to its norm. Ford has an 80-day stock of about 232,000 vehicles. Pictured is a car production line at GM's plant in Flint, Michigan.
HONDA MOVE: Honda has appointed EP Mooney as one of its main Dublin dealers. Mooney is better known as Nissan dealers on the Naas Road. In the short term Hondas will be sold from the Naas Road facility, but building has started on a new dealership for the Honda franchise on the former Motokov site. It's planned to open in spring 2004. This is the first dealership to be signed by Universal Honda under the new block exemption rules.
MOBILE CHINA: One in every 120 Chinese now owns his or her own car, say Beijing authorities. There are now more than 10 million privately owned cars on China's roads. Some 1.36 million cars were sold in China during the first four months of the year with at least 800,000 bought by private owners. China recently passed France as the world's fourth largest car manufacturer - after the US, Japan and Germany.
Sales of vehicles made in China are forecast to exceed four million this year, up from 3.25 million last year.
A GIFT FOR J-LO: Rapper Sean "P Diddy" Combs has said he is planning to buy his ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez and her fiancé, Ben Affleck, a pair of Rolls-Royces as a wedding present. The rap artist, who broke up with J-Lo in 2001, said he had already selected the luxury gifts. "I heard they have some Bentleys. I want to upgrade them to Rolls-Royces - his and hers."