Volkswagen has announced [via Autoblog] that “in response to requests by many customers,” the Passat CC will now be available with seating for three in the back seat. The lesson: even the people who spend more money for a more-fashionable but less-practical version of a mass-market car want that extra seatbelt just in case. Which begs the question…
GM and VW are the undoubted leaders in the biggest car market in the world, and despite challenges from homegrown upstarts like BYD, analysts say that the two global majors are best positioned to take advantage of their leadership in China. But now strategies they are a-changing. Recently, TTAC reported that VW seemed to be getting cold feet about expanding their capacity, but GM seem to have come to the opposite conclusion. Reuters reports that GM expects that they will need to build a new manufacturing plant to allow the growth of their Chinese division to continue. “We expect to sell more than 2 million units this year,” Kevin Wale, managing director of GM China, said. “We have enough capacity to build the cars we need to sell this year and we need to continue to look for ways of increasing our capacity. That will mean we will have to add a new plant some time in the near future.” The plant won’t be built this year because, according to Mr Wale it would be “physically impossible” to move so quickly, but with current GM China plants adding new shifts and expanding current production lines, it seems like their current facilities are just about tapped out. Maybe they could use some of their excess capacity in the United States? Er, maybe not.
GM boss Ed Whitacre just finished a brief and unenlightening press conference, in which he revealed that he will remain as permanent Chairman and CEO for the foreseeable future. Whitacre refused to set expectations for how long he would remain at the top of the government-owned automaker, simply saying he would stay “for an adequate amount of time to do what we need to do.” He does not anticipate the appointment of a separate President, COO or Chairman of the Board, leaving him in full control of the company. Whitacre also announced that an already-planned payback of $6.7b in government loans would take place in a lump-sum payment this June. He also clarified that GM was in “advanced talks” with the Dutch firm Spyker over the fate of the Saab brand (or what’s left of it) but that GM has not reversed its decision to wind the brand down, and that he had no announcement of any new deal with Spyker. Saab enthusiasts had hoped Whitacre would announce a Spyker deal at today’s press conference. Meanwhile, Saab hopeful Genii Capital has announced the withdrawal of its Saab bid. Otherwise, Whitacre said he was “encouraged” by GM’s situation and that the his emphasis would be on “fine tuning” going forward.
The deadline for culled dealers to apply for congressionally-mandated arbitration is midnight tonight, so if you lost your Chrysler or GM dealership in last year’s bankruptcy cull, you’d best get cracking. The Detroit News reports that at least 1,200 of the roughly 3,000 culled dealers had applied for arbitration, according to the American Arbitration Association. That number is expected to creep rise even higher by the time the deadline expires. Many observers had expected arbitration applications to be much lower, as GM and Chrysler had dragged out the proceedings, forcing many dealers to shutter their shops. GM has already reversed the closure of 80 dealers and Chariman/CEO Ed Whitacre has said he expects “hundreds” more to be reinstated in arbitration. Chrysler continues to take a hard line on the issue, a stance that is sure to make its arbitration proceedings considerably more tense.
The Detroit News reports that General Motors will call off its search for a permanent CEO today, as Chairman and interim CEO Ed Whitacre will become the firm’s permanent CEO. A press conference is scheduled at the Renaissance Center for 11:30 ET today, but at least one question appears to have been answered already. More details as they become available.
People buy cars they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t like. That’s why hardly anybody in Europe is buying the Chevrolet Cruze, which has been on sale over here since last summer. It’s an affordable car that you might need but you won’t want, and which won’t impress anybody […]
How about this for a world upside down: Instead of producing foreign cars in China, the Chinese will produce a foreign car, developed in China, in a foreign country. Such will be the case for the MG6. In a way.
China’s SAIC will manufacture its self-developed MG6-series sedan at its U.K. plant and sell the sedans across the European Union by the end of the year, SAIC’s chairman said to Reuters. (Read More…)
On Sunday, Tokyo’s Nikkei worried aloud that Toyota’s recall may snowball into Europe. The ball is rolling: Today, the Nikkei reports that Toyota “expects to recall roughly 2.0 million vehicles in Europe to fix defective gas pedals.”
The Nikkei’s source is “a person familiar with the matter .“ Because Toyota is still working out which cars exactly need to go to the shop, “it’s unclear when the recall will be formally announced, the person said.” (Read More…)
Want to move to Shanghai to cash in on the Chinese car boom? Want to drive a car in Shanghai? Better bring a lot of money.
Prices for a license plate in Shanghai rose to at two year high in the year’s first plate auction, Shanghai Daily reports. The average price of a private car license rose to US$5,617. A new QQ goes for as little as $4,100. (Read More…)
I know racing is not a TTAC thing per se. But safety, old photos, lady luck and the human face at work are, at least on Sunday. Going through some an old Car & Driver from 1963, I ran across some remarkable photographs of Julius Weitmann. Two are about those rare cases when drivers lived to remember their rude ejections from race cars, as Hans Hermann here looking warily at the BRM that bucked him at Avus in 1958 after a few flips. (Read More…)
Man Who Voluntarily Chose to Buy GMC Canyon Elected to U.S. Senate
Voters in Massachusetts have chosen a man who bought a GMC Canyon as their next representative to the U.S. Senate
According to reports, Senator-Elect Scott Brown voluntarily purchased the 5-cylinder truck, with either his own money or a bank loan. “As far as we know, there was no coercion involved in Brown’s purchase of the vehicle, the worst truck in America” said Sgt. Pete Malloy, of the Boston Police Department.
The GMC Canyon, based on an Isuzu design and featuring the world’s worst engine currently in production, has typically been the truck of choice of people who “You wouldn’t trust to buy your groceries, let alone vote on foreign policy,” remarked Evan Smith of the think tank and publisher Council on Foreign Relations.
Voters apparently didn’t mind Brown’s choice of Canyon, however. Amanda Eisler, 23, of Springfield told MetaCars, “I don’t see how his choice of car is important. Senator Brown is like real smart and has good judgment, just like my dad.” When asked, Eisler said her father is also an auto enthusiast. “He’s got a Suzuki Verona and a Chrysler Sebring sedan.”
It’s time to use up some of the leftover shots from the recent trip to the Bay Area (not that I’m running low; no worries). I admit that the ’68 Chevy truck caught my attention first, although I have several of that vintage and they’ll be coming soon to TTAT. But then I noticed the white coupe hiding behind the truck wasn’t just any old boring Beretta, but a pretty hot little piece… (Read More…)
The fine city of Eugene, Oregon seems to think so. You’d think they had already heard of the famous case of Santa Cruz V. Mr Twister. Apparently not. [Hat Tip: Charles]
Speed cameras worldwide were plagued by accuracy problems this week. In Scottsdale, Arizona, a black man received a white man’s tickets on five occasions. Because this man happened to be Larry Fitzgerald, one of the top wide receivers in the National Football League, his case was received the attention of TMZ. In five of six automated ticketing photographs mailed to Fitzgerald, who is black, a white man is unquestionably behind the wheel of a Cadillac Escalade.
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