We’ve counted ourselves among the many who laughed bitterly when Volkswagen first announced that it was campaigning to overtake Toyota as the top volume automaker in the world. Well, Automobilwoche Editor Guido Reinking has penned a column for Automotive News [sub] arguing that VW’s Mission: Improbable might just stand a chance. Surprisingly, the column is not a paean to German sachlichkeit in the nationalistic mold of most mainstream German auto journalism. Instead, Reinking makes a bold claim: Toyota, long the 800 pound gorilla of global automakers, may be losing its aura of invulnerability. First he points unconvincingly to Toyota’s 32 percent drop in US sales for the month of September, “worse even than the fall taken by sickly General Motors.” Sure Guido, but keep in mind that those are previous-year percentages, not apples-to-apples… (Read More…)
When Mercedes took the desperate brave decision of rolling out what is now called the first modern four door coupe, they were only hoping to boost a little the sales in the executive sedan segment. But the success that followed exceeded all their expectations and gave birth to a trend that now includes Porsche, Volkswagen, and Aston Martin (and to a lesser extent Jaguar’s XF). The only “loser” in this expansion is the E-Class, which looks suddenly misplaced: not as luxurious and exclusive as the S, nor as seductive and exotic as the CLS. Now Mercedes is preparing for round two with the CLS…
It was just a month ago that Edmunds was falsely claiming they had the “World’s First Test of the VW Jetta TDI.” Now Edmunds InsideLine is at it again, this time lying about the Nissan 370Z. The article lead, which appears on the InsideLine home page, says “First Photos of the 2010 370Z Convertible.” Except that under the pictures, the caption reads: “This photo illustration offers an early look at the future Nissan 370Z convertible. (Photo illustration by Nick Wilcox).”
The phrases “photo” and “photo illustration” don’t mean the same thing. If they did, the Weekly World News would be unbelievably successful and Sarah Palin really would be holding that baby and gun in her bikini. And by the way, even if “photo” included “photo illustration,” Edmunds wouldn’t be first; Japanese car magazines have been photoshopping the 370Z for several years already.
With a new VW plant under construction, Chattanooga’s local media is hunting down every last detail available on the new D-class, America-only model to be built there in 2011. WRCB TV even sent a reporter to a recent VW presentation in Berlin, at which a few more facts were released about the closely-guarded NMS (New Midsize Sedan) project. Those of us who consider VW’s current American-market engines a slap in the face (and I’m with you there, JB) will be happy to hear that the “NMS” will come with Fuel-Stratified Injection (FSI) gas and diesel options, mated to a dual-clutch transmission. Size, legroom, trunk volume and the number of cupholders are planned specifically for the US market, so expect proportions to be more Passat than Jetta. Oh, and it will have something called “dynamic powertrain acceleration” too. Whatever that is.
We now have it confirmed from two– count ’em two– inside sources close to the story familiar the matter who can’t speak publicly for fear of getting their asses canned: GM is shutting off voicemail for certain employees and contractors. One anoymous person who wishes to remain anonymous but really does exist (or so he thinks) estimates that about half of those working in GM’s RenCen HQ will be affected, mostly in manufacturing. “A lot of it had to do with redundacies between office phones and GM provided smart phones.” Although, it should be said, not all.
The British Government’s love for cameras of all kinds is well known, and its passion for speed cameras is a story we’ve followed at TTAC for some time. Until now, the news we’ve reported has been consistently bad, unless you happen to be a big fan of increasing government surveillance for revenue-building purposes. But the Times of London reports the speed camera onslaught may have reached its zenith, as the town of Swindon has become the first British municipality to ban the automatic speed traps. The Tory-led council of Swindon banned the devices, for a variety of reasons, although it seems that the “blatant tax on motorists” angle may have taken a back seat to the camera’s half-million-dollar annual maintenance costs in the decision. Hysterical opponents of the move wail that the council would have “blood on its hands” when the first person is killed by a speeding driver.
Bloomberg reports that the American Revolution may have to continue (start?) without America’s small town atheletes. “Chevrolet will stop promotions tied to college sports and only advertise during games, said Philip Caruso, national promotions manager. The brand will also eliminate partnerships with some of the smaller sports such as skiing, he said.” When you’re shutting off escalators and limiting voice mail to save some money, excising a big chunk of change like this makes sense. That said, check this out. “The economy is making us re-look at everything we do,” Caruso said in an interview after awarding Major League Baseball’s Roberto Clemente Award at the World Series in Philadelphia. “It’s cutting back mainly spending in the sports area and promotions as a whole, and then reallocating in some of those areas that help grow our business.” So, does that mean the previous ad spend wasn’t helping them grow their business? D’oh!
During his first inaugural speech, given at the height of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said, “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Once again, Americans find themselves living through days of economic infamy. Uncertain times and erratic energy costs have cured fearing suburbanites of their predilection for gargantuan SUVs. It’s time for practical pragmatism; inexpensive family haulers that dine lightly on 85 octane and stay firmly bolted together for years to come. To fully understand this segment, I tested and compared a quartet of economy sedans. First up: the Toyota Camry.
From the moment that GM’s Next Small Thing was announced, this blogger complained that the baby ‘Bu approach made for a particularly inflexible platform. And then we heard that the Orlando seven-seater Cruze variant wouldn’t be made in America, seemingly confirming that GM doesn’t take the roomy compact trend seriously. Perhaps GM was listening to our complaints, because Automotive News [sub] reports that GM is considering hatchback and wagon versions of its new compact in order to “accommodate the ‘individuality’ of markets around the globe.” “We will have tool sets in many locations,” says Hans Demant, managing director of Opel of the Cruze strategy. “And as soon as you have a tool set, you have variation which you can create basically at no cost. You have a customer advantage if you make a little modification while you’re doing that.” Demant also reveals that the Cruze will have different powertrains from market to market. Of course, highlighting the Cruze platform’s flexibility and GM’s ability to make tweaks based on individual markets’ needs doesn’t mean any of these variants will arrive in the U.S. at any point. In the very same article, GM COO Fritz Henderson says that the Cruze “won’t have high levels of variability. Huh? “We’ve developed the vehicle to meet broad, different levels of regulations: pedestrian protection, safety, emissions, all kinds of different requirements,” says Henderson.”But other than that, the Cruze will be the Cruze.” In other words, no news here. We think.
I agree. Merge in haste, repent at leisure. Or, as Maximum Bob puts it to The Detroit News, “There is no timeframe at all for having anything definitive.” This said following Lutz’ speech at the “2008 Public Relations Society of America International Conference” at the Renaissance Center. The what? A PR conference? Oh, no spin there, then. I mean, is there some timeframe to have something not so definitive? Meanwhile, we so totally believe that the “sources close to the deal” quoted by Mowton’s hometown paper aren’t GM itself. The DetN reports that these SCTTD have previously told them that “GM and Chrysler want to get a deal done before the presidential election on Nov. 4, when politicians may be more receptive to requests for federal aid to complete a merger.” I make that “Who’s your Mama, Obama” by rapper 2 Big 2 Fail. “Lutz would not comment on reports GM has approached the U.S. Treasury for help financing a deal with Chrysler owner Cerberus Capital Management LP.” In other words, MB doesn’t know, doesn’t care (golden parachute at the ready), doesn’t remember or ain’t sayin’. We’re still hearing that the deal’s going down on Halloween. No, really.
Despite the five-week holiday Daimler said its German workers will get this winter, the firm is still going ahead with plans to build a €800 million factory in Hungary. The factory is, according to Reuters, meant for “compact cars,” though what they’d be I have no idea. Smart doesn’t need any more capacity (a previous attempt to expand the smart brand was a dismal failure). It’s not as though the expensive A- and B- Class Benzes are flying out of showrooms, either. The original plan: build four compact models at the Hungary plant, including an off-roader, cabrio, coupe, and small van. But that was in June, before everything went to hell. And Mercedes changes its product plans on a weekly basis, anyway. The bigger story is how much the Hungarian government is contributing to the deal, whether in the form of tax credit or just direct subsidies. Hungary’s economy has been in seriously deep trouble in the past six months, with the currency in freefall and interest rates at 11.5 percent in an attempt to help the currency. Just this weekend, the IMF scrambled to bail out the country (this was after the European Central Bank gave Hungary’s central bank an emergency €5 billion line of credit earlier this month). With all this in mind, Hungary’s officials are probably looking to the Mercedes factory as an economic blessing, and Mercedes is likely cautiously optimistic about the low value of Hungary’s currency.
The People’s Republic of China has decided to drop some serious money on digging the country out of a hole. We’re not talking namby-pamby bailout money for distressed banks and auto companies that may actually go up in price (yeah, sure.) We’re talking real hard asset investment. China’s State Council has approved $300b for large scale construction projects to seriously boost economic growth, China Daily reports. Everybody had been banking on concrete measures to expand China’s clogged roads. But to the abject horror of China’s motorists, the government’s money will be working on the railroad. “In 1997, we dealt with the Asian financial crisis by stimulating domestic economic growth by investing in the construction of highways.” Zheng Xinli, a senior government policy advisor, said. “This time the money will go on improving the rail network.” Using the CIA Factbook’s numbers, 1/10th of GDP will be railroaded through China’s economy. Somebody’s making out this BIG STYLE. Bulldog, bulldog; bow wow wow!
April 10, 1945. American troops advance towards the Elbe. Russian troops prepare their encirclement of Berlin. WW II will last less than a month. On this day, a man packs up 10 million Reichsmark at the Volkswagenwerk GmbH and heads for Austria. This man is Anton Piech, Chief of Operations at Volkswagen, and Ferdinand Porsche’s son-in-law. Ferdinand Porsche had designed the Volkswagen for Hitler. The 10 million Reichsmark were Volkswagen’s war chest. Piech says he will keep the money from the enemy. Keep he did: The money was used to found Porsche KG. Nobody complained.
In a world of wild ass rumors, the four door everyman’s supercar is King. Maybe. No matter how you look at it, you gotta wonder what these Nissan/Infiniti guys are thinking. Pistonheads says “Unconfirmed reports from Japan say Nissan engineers are actively evaluating a four door built on a stretched version of the GT-R platform, with a view to introducing a new flagship to the luxury Infiniti brand in 2011.” New flagship? So Infiniti GT-R sedan replaces the previous, now extinct Q-ship, slots above the M-people, pals around with the G-men and lives happily ever after? And if that’s not enough to make Infiniti a success in Europe, PH reckons the new GT-R car will be horsepower-deficient. “Sources suggest an output of around 420bp is on the cards, significantly down on the output of European super-saloon rivals. However, with the GT-R’s intelligent ATTESA-ETS AWD system and six-speed dual-clutch transaxle carried over, it will be interesting to see how the lack of outright muscle translates into track times – although Nissan insiders have apparently conceded that any Infiniti flagship will be tuned for luxury before ultimate performance.” Right, ’cause GT-R means luxury. Go figure.
As Ken Elias points out in his latest General Motors Death Watch, GM is asking the feds for money to fund their merger (now buyout?) plans for Chrysler. The Wall Street Journal [sub] tells the tale, highlight analyst Ron Lache’s “come to Jesus” moment re: the automakers’ cash conflagration. “”Without external intervention, from consolidation or government assistance, we expect GM to reach its minimum cash position in under 12 months,” Deutsche Bank auto analyst Rod Lache wrote last week. In an interview, Mr. Lache added that Chrysler is also running dangerously low on funds. “We believe Chrysler is in the same position. It’s either August 2009 or December 2009 they run out. Both have a limited runway.” OK, so, now, bring on the anonymous source! “GM and Chrysler ‘are basically waiting on the government,’ said one person involved in the merger talks. ‘The three choices are bankruptcy, a big intervention from the government or some big deal like this that has massive cost-cutting possibilities,’ this person said. ‘That’s it. And even the big deal may require government help.'” Or… the feds could do nothing. You know, theoretically. But wait! It gets worse!
Recent Comments