The European Court has announced judgment day for its ruling on the so-called "VW law" thwarting Porsche's takeover plans: 9:30am, October 23. Meanwhile, union bosses at the two automakers are duking it out in the court of public opinion. Just-auto [sub] reports that the head of the Porsche works council, Uwe Hück, has called his opposite number at VW, Bernd Osterloh, an "out of control boxer" [pugilist, not engine]. Hück was responding to Osterloh's assertion that Porsche management had refused to meet with him to discuss future VW worker representation on the Porsche Holding SE's supervisory board. Osterloh's beef: when if Porsche assumes control of VW, both unions get three seats on the new company's board. As far as Osterloh's concerned, this would give "Porsche employees" veto power over Volkswagen employees. As far as Hück is concerned, "Saying that a workforce of 324,000 carries more weight than one of 12,000 is capitalist talk. In a democratic social state, everyone has equal rights, whether they are big, small, fat or thin." What was that about divide and conquer?

The European Union may soon force automakers to include health/global warming warnings on their car advertisements, similar to the list of possible side effects required on US drug ads. MotorTrader (MT) reports that English MEP (Member European Parliament) Chris Davies has submitted a report on the proposal to EU chiefs, who will debate the idea in October. Davies' report also calls for a Euro-wide ban on any car ad that promotes a vehicle's high speed performance (as is currently in place in the UK) and ban the sale of cars that can drive faster than 101mph. According to MT, Davies "noted that the power of new cars increased by 28 per cent between 1994 and 2004, making them heavier and thus increasing the amount of CO2 output. This increase is completely unnecessary, the MEP said, as no country has raised its speed limit to allow cars to use this additional power."  

Who'd a thunk a car insurance company would have the stones to challenge the value of tomorrow's ever-so-PC International Car Free Day? And get this: the company in question is ibuyeco, the "eco-friendly UK car insurance company" [Customers' premiums include a carbon offsetting fee donated to The CarbonNeutral Company for eco-friendly projects]. The insurer's survey of 1500 Brits reveals that the anti-car (or pro non-automotive) event is flying well beneath the radar of the average UK motorist. Only 12 percent were aware of International Car Free Day (although they jolly well will be if and when they face the resulting traffic jams). When told of the global initiative, 72 percent of respondents said they wouldn't even "consider" taking part. When the survey takers asked recalcitrant motorists why they wouldn't give up their cars, work, shopping and visiting family topped the list. Three quarters of all respondents said public transport was not a viable alternative to using the car, citing time implications, delays, cost and lack of convenience.  

[Interview with Jim Hawker of ibuyeco below.] 

Private equity firm Cerberus ain't had enough fun. Despite (or becuase of) their enormous investment in Chrysler, the business brains at the three-headed dog have just cut another billion dollar deal, scarfing Swedish paper maker Stora Enso Oyj's ailing North American operations. Adding paper mills in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Canada to their NewPage Holding Corp. unit cost Cerberus $2.07b. Analysts are not yet convinced that the big deal is a Big Deal. "It's encouraging as it's the first billion-plus deal we've seen in recent weeks,'' Peter Taylor told Bloomberg. The managing partner at buyout firm Duke Street Capital Ltd. notes that the deal is significant, but not necessarily trend-setting. "It's probably too early to say if it's a turning point. It's in a specialist industry in the U.S." IF the move means credit is loosening-up again, it will have important implications for the game of musical chairs over at Ford's Premier Automotive Group and… elsewhere. If not, not. 

Toyota is expanding its car insurance business into the world's second largest country (by area). “If everything goes well, we want to [offer policies] within a year,” Toyota Canada's president and CEO told ReportonBusiness. The automaker already sells auto insurance in Asia, Europe and Australia. University of Calgary prof Ryan Lee is good with the expansion. Ish. “Having the ability to sell insurance through an existing dealership network would give an auto maker a major advantage at the outset; however it is not clear to what extent such a move would shake up the market.” Toyota has also set its sights on the retail banking industry. ToMoCo has a bank in Poland and recently opened ZAO Toyota Bank in Moscow. In the U.S., Toyota Financial Services offers everything from mortgages to savings accounts from its offices in Henderson, NV. The juggernaut rolls on.

Few people will recognize the name Salman Rushdie. Those who do will know know Rushdie as the Indian-born fiction writer whose novel The Satanic Verses inspired the Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a death sentence against its author. After attempting to read the work in question, I can tell you that it's far more likely that the the fatwa was, in truth, an act of literary criticism, rather than a divinely-inspired retribution for Koranic blasphemy. Suffice it to say, the rest of Rushdie's literary canon can be safely placed in that special category pretentious people call "challenging." In fact, Rushdie's greatest work was penned when he worked as advertising copywriter for Ogilvy & Mather. The headline above is one such Rushdie meisterwerk, written for the UK's Egg Council. He also wrote "Naughty but Nice" for a cake maker. But just try and find a bio that gives proper credit for these bon mots, or explains the creative process they required. As Justin and I dissect ad slogans on this podcast, try to remember that it takes a blazing talent to find a few words that can carry a car brand into the hearts and minds of consumers. And a great company to recognize and embrace them. 

A couple of days ago, we published an editorial taking English auto scribe James May to task for flaming American cars. For this, we were flamed. Despite TTAC’s blanket ban on comments that diss the website, and our ban on [off topic] comments questioning our editorial stance or style, many of you cried foul. How could Mr. Swanson accuse a British writer of an anti-American car bias when TTAC [obviously] shared this same prejudice? After damping down the flames of perceived hypocrisy, I promised to provide offended readers a place to fire at will. And here it is.

Since Cerberus removed Chrysler from German control, the crisis corporation’s modus operandi appears to remain unchanged. Other than some relatively minor dealer antagonism (since smoothed over), there’s been none of the slash-and-burn stylings formerly attributed to ex-Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli and his new, private equity employers. Perhaps a companywide excrement – fan collision awaits the conclusion of United Auto Workers negotiations. Meanwhile, Chrysler better start getting its you-know-what together on the product front, ‘cause the cupboard is almost completely bare.  

TTAC scribe Stein X Leikanger previously reported on Dutch planner Hans Moderman's "shared space" traffic management philosophy, which says that removing signs and traditional barriers between cars and other road users increases safety. The Independent reports that the German town of Bohmte joins the Dutch town of Drachten  as another proving ground for the controversial theory. With a European Union grant of £1.6m– who said minimalism was cheap?– the estimated 13.5k vehicles passing through the German hamlet now do so without any indication of who should go where when and how. While the scheme's backers claim shared space reduces accidents, congestion and emissions, it seems Bohmte's motivation was a little more prosaic. The town grabbed the EU cash in an attempt to reduce the number of trucks rumbling through town. Mayor Klaus Goedejohann provides the straight dope: "With our version of shared space, we hope that Bohmte will gain a reputation among lorry drivers as a town to be avoided."

The Detroit News reports that Ford has extended the bidding deadline for the sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover brands. The delay does not bode well for India's Tata Motors; it gives the Indian automaker's private equity rivals more time to secure financing for the deal. Meanwhile, Indiantelevision.com reports that Tata's way ahead of its competitors on its home turf– at least in terms of television advertising. From January to this August, Tata bought more TV time than Honda Hero Motors, by a margin of 19 to 17 percent. Mighty Mahindra & Mahindra, which dropped out of the bidding for Jag and Landie, spent their money elsewhere. Which may be just as well in a clutter-kills-your-message kinda way; Indian TV runs an average of 630 car or Jeep ads per day. 

Our friends across the pond are in the midst of celebrating (or not) “European Mobility Week 2007.” This year’s theme: “Streets For People.” EurActiv reports that some 1600 cities are holding car-free events aimed at “reclaiming road space for pedestrians and cyclists… to cut congestion and pollution without reducing people's mobility.” If that sounds like something of a challenge, the European Union (EU) wants to “combat climate change, boost economic growth and improve European citizens' quality of life” while promoting “more sustainable modes of transport.” In an article entitled “Severing car dependency in EU cities 'very realistic’,” Copenhagen’s vice-mayor (and Mobility Week cheerleader) Klaus Bondam offers a practical solution: “buy goods that come from your local area, so you don't need all that transport.” So the politician promoting an anti-car week created by an organization that began life as the European Economic Community suggests reducing trade with member states to protect the global environment. Go figure.

The cop spec Dodge Charger is a high-mileage mule for first responders who take that “first” bit seriously. As any pre-pubescent male will tell you, this “race to the scene of the crime and/or chase the bad guy in my bad ass American sedan” bit sits right at the top of the list of “why I want to be a cop when I grow up.” In fact, it’s so deeply grained in the male psyche that starting-up the cop spec Dodge Charger forced me to fight an overwhelming urge to crank, stomp and spin the beast. I swear I didn’t.

Have yourself a pint and celebrate, it’s almost time for National Metric Week! The Charlotte (FL) Sun Herald reports that Florida Gulf Coast University kicked off this year’s festivities a bit early by becoming the state’s first university to introduce metric speed limits along its campus roadways. Tony Planas, a FGCU math instructor and advocate of the much-maligned-in-America base-ten measuring system, paid for the recently installed signage. But Mr. Planas may have many miles to go before his metric dreams are realized.  Since Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, the US has only inched forward with its metrication efforts. Despite the proliferation of two-liter soda bottles and 5.7-liter engines from sea to shining sea, the US remains the only nation in the industrialized world, aside from the UK, that still uses traditional English measurements for its speed limits. 

"Hybrids are technologically of doubtful benefit, and expensive, but necessary from a political and public relations point of view. The reduction in fuel consumption does not pay for the technological content and cost of the vehicle." GM Car Czar Bob Lutz, July 19, 2006. Fast forward to today… "While the overall U.S. vehicle market is down, hybrids are a bright spot in the automotive industry with this category projected to easily exceed 300,000 vehicles this year." This from R.L. Polk's Lonnie Miller. Compared to the first seven months of 2006, hybrid sales are up more than 49 percent. "Hybrids are being adopted by vehicle buyers in all regions at an increasing rate for many factors which include fuel prices, differentiating themselves from other consumers and environmental activism," Miller announced in a PRNewswire press release. Overall, the Toyota Prius captured over 50 percent of hybrid sales, followed by the Camry hybrid at 15 percent. Looks like the technology Lutz claimed best suited the "what-would-Jesus-drive crowd" is here to stay. “Hybrids have not hit plateau,” Miller affirmed.

The major automakers are breathing a bit easier, thanks to a recent court ruling. The International Herald Tribune reports that the California federal district court has dismissed a claim against General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Nissan and Honda for damages caused by vehicle emissions. In its case, the State of California was demanding several billion dollars in court-ordered and civil damages on the basis that these emissions constituted a public nuisance that inflicted climate change and health-related costs. Judge Martin Jenkins, a Clinton appointee and San Francisco native, ruled against the Golden State, opining that emissions regulations were the domain of the legislature and not under the jurisdiction of the courts. The state has hinted that it may appeal the ruling. No word yet from Sacramento as to whether the state will also be filing suit against its own Department of Motor Vehicles for permitting millions of state residents to drive all of those cars, or its Department of Transportation for building the highways that they used.