Friday’s announcement of mindblowing Chinese sales numbers must have had an effect on the minds of the reporting profession, as evidenced by a quick read of the news. They are all over the landscape. (Read More…)
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Toyota is still smarting from a heavy decking it has received from Congress, the NHTSA, lawyers, and the press. Toyota’s answer? Let’s get SMART! (Read More…)
No big deal in China is done until it’s signed and sealed – by the Chinese government. In the case of Volvo, there won’t be any Hummeresque killing me softly. Geely’s deal to buy Volvo from Ford, reached last month, will be waved through the (necessary) approval process. (Read More…)
GM’s CEO Ed Whitacre has told the remaining employees that his purges of senior management are complete. “I want to reassure you that the major leadership changes are behind us,” Whitacre wrote in a March 31 letter obtained by Bloomberg. “The team we have in place today is the team that will take us forward.” (Read More…)
China’s SAIC is basking in the glow of another bang-up quarter. China’s biggest automaker told Reuters that their first-quarter net profit rose more than four times from the year-ago result. Detailed numbers will be released with SAIC’s full first-quarter earnings report on April 28. Keep in mind that last year’s results already were 9 times those of 2008. In March, SAIC sold 336,387 units, sales for the first quarter were up 64 percent from a year earlier to 891,795 units. To put it into perspective: All of Germany sold 670,410 cars in the first three months of 2010. SAIC singlehandedly outsold Germany by 221,385 units. (Read More…)
Yesterday, we admitted to the sin of a faulty prognosis: More than a week ago, we had forecasted a March growth rate between 50 and 60 percent for the Chinese auto market. Yesterday, the number came in as 63 percent. Shame on us. However, yesterday’s number was passenger vehicles only. Our patent-pending forecasting model covers all cars. Now, the real number is in. (Read More…)
NHTSA’s head of Defect Investigation will step down, according to the Wall Street Journal [sub]. Kathleen DeMeter has been with NHTSA for 30 years and spent 15 years in her current position. According to DOT officials, DeMeter “delayed her retirement in order to assist the agency during the recent Toyota recall crisis,” but at 60 years of age, it’s just as likely that she is NHTSA’s first casualty of the Toyota investigation fallout. After all, the Secretary doesn’t like having to explain to congress why his investigators only have two electrical engineers. An interim head of Defect Investigation will be named, while NHTSA searches for a permanent replacement… who wants to bet it’s going to be an engineer?
The Detroit Free Press sure seems to think it’s “possible.” The paper reports that NHTSA’s “final notification” to Toyota includes a warning that it “would have faced a fine totaling $13.8 billion were it not for caps set by U.S. law on NHTSA penalties.” But then, that’s a bit like Toyota saying it would have manufactured its pedals to space shuttle specification if it didn’t cost so much money to do so. Six paragraphs into the piece, the Freep concedes that
NHTSA said it could issue another fine depending on whether it decides the problems with sticking pedals are technically two separate defects, based on the manufacturing changes made by Toyota.
The AP reports that documents obtained by NHTSA say Toyota acknowledges CTS-manufactured pedals “had two separate defects that may require two separate remedies.” But that’s not all, folks…
The LA Times reports that “more than 100 suits seeking class-action status, as well as at least 50 personal injury cases” against Toyota have been consolidated to a single courtroom, under the jurisdiction of U.S. District Judge James Selna. According to Reuters, the ruling by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation did state that:
We are initially persuaded that the centralized proceedings should eventually include the related personal injury and wrongful death actions
People do the right thing, unless money and power is involved. From the highest paid executives to the lowest ranking newbie, money and power is a motivator. Those in positions of accountability are held to a higher standard, and post-bailout Detroit is not immune to criticism. But in an act of corporate cheerleading, Pete Mateja’s Internet flamebait at Automotive News [sub] titled “Detroit had lousy management — and other myths that need debunking” shows how the “experts” got it wrong.
Where to start with Saab-Spyker CEO Victor Muller’s plans for world domination? Why not with the craziest part? Despite declining sales, the boutique supercar arm of Saab-Spyker claims to be developing a “Super Sport Utility Vehicle” in the mold of the D12 Peking-To-Paris showcar. Autoinformatief.com caused quite a stir when it revealed images of both a clay model and a test mule for this allegedly production-bound (yes, again) piece of madness. Moreover, news that Spyker won’t be invited to use Audi engines in forthcoming models caused at least one popular car blog to run the headline “Spyker’s New Ferrari-Powered SUV.” Because apparently Spyker can’t decide if it wants to use an AMG engine or a “supercharged Ferrari V8.” Does this give you a taste of just how goofy things have become ’round Saab-Spyker way? Well, it gets worse.
In September of 2007, Jim Press surprised the automotive world by leaving Toyota to become president of Chrysler LLC. Press, the first non-Japanese member of the Toyota board of directors, was generally considered to be a major factor in Toyota’s North American success, and his move still has people scratching their heads. It’s been generally assumed that Chrysler’s then owner, Cerberus, promised him a big pile of money. That assumption seems to be reinforced by Press’ inability to pay $1.35 million in debt and taxes last September, which he attributed to bonuses not received due to Chrysler’s meltdown. Still, regardless of the merits of working for the strugling Auburn Hills automaker, leaving Toyota in the first place seemed like a poor career choice. (Read More…)
If there’s anything “wrong” with the Ferrari 599 GTO, it’s that they’re only building 599 of them. Which in turn guarantees that it will end up being more of a “my oil well’s proven reserves are bigger than yours” trophy than the road warrior it’s allegedly supposed to be. Otherwise it’s just 670 HP of 208 MPH, heritage-named goodness. A regular 599 starts at around $335,000 new, provided you’ve already bought a used Fezza and given Luca DiMontezemolo a sensual massage within the last six months… any guesses what the GTO’s premium will run? It’s looking like it could hit $100k, which is mighty healthy for a .35 second improvement in 0-60 time.
Et tu 4Runner? So many historically famous cars are back with “good old days” styling but added overweight dimensions to the party. It’s sort of like Fat Elvis, on four wheels. That said, “Moody Blue” is a pretty catchy song. And there’s nothing especially wrong with the 2010 Toyota 4Runner. Elvis rocked the rhinestones with […]
Thus far, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s war on distracted driving has been largely a rhetorical hobbyhorse, giving the good Secretary a crowd-pleasing speech topic no matter where he finds himself. After calling the situation “an epidemic,” LaHood held a summit at which it was agreed that distracted driving is bad, especially when it causes deaths. Federal employees were subsequently barred from texting while driving government-owned vehicles during work hours. And that was just about it. Apparently chastened by his big build-up and lack of pay-off on this issue, LaHood has kept himself busy with the Toyota debacle of late, leaving distracted driving largely alone since last summer’s summit. Until he remembered that there was one crucial tool in his bureaucratic bag of tricks that he hadn’t yet used: the photo op.
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