Consulting firm Alix Partners predicts a slowdown of U.S. auto sales. The study, reported at Reuters, cites the usual suspects, such as lingering high unemployment, increased costs and more people driving less. It then touches on something that is very basic, but often overlooked: Sales are driven by the number of potential buyers.  If there are fewer buyers, there will be fewer buys. New cars are bought in certain age groups, usually somewhere at around 35 and up. As the boomers are going out to pasture, there simply will be fewer potential buyers. (Read More…)

The Simca-derived Omnirizon platform led to some sportier-looking variations as the Malaise Era ground to a close. The hatchback-coupe Dodge 024 and Plymouth TC3 became the Charger and the Turismo, respectively, in 1982. Turismos were never plentiful, and these days they’re nearly extinct. Here’s a rare example I found yesterday at a Denver self-serve wrecking yard. (Read More…)

While other carmakers are treading water or worse, BMW’s global sales were up 9.1 percent for the first five months of the year, mostly on strong gains in China. That party is about to end, claims Citi Investment Research and downgraded BMW AG  from “buy” to “neutral,” Reuters reports.

In the euphemistic world of stock analysts, a “neutral” usually means a sell. (Read More…)

Judging from their writings, many TTAC commenters are prime candidates for a job as CEO at one of the world’s largest automakers. However, be careful who you work for. Executive pay is all over the map. It ranges from a charitable contribution of $1.71 million given to Toyota’s CEO, to nearly $29 million a year on Ford’s Alan Mulally’s paystub.

This according to a table circulated among reporters who, perched precariously in the 6^th floor balcony of the National Convention Hall at the Pacifico in Yokohama, observed Nissan’s 113^th ordinary general shareholders meeting today. (Read More…)

Autotrader.com recently decided to borrow $400 million for a brand new venture.

Was it in the field of research and development? Nope.

New marketing studies to explore an emerging niche in their core business perhaps? Not quite.

Issue a one-time $400 million dividend to their private shareholders and executives just before the IPO? Bingo!

The ones who will be paying for the principal and interest on this debt will be the upcoming shareholders in the form of lower earnings, a lower market valuation, and one other not so little thing hidden in the prospectus.

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You will find the Deer Park Winery and Automotive Museum in suburban San Diego, next door to the Lawrence Welk Resort for seniors. Yes, that Lawrence Welk. Just follow the Chevy Impalas with their turn signals stuck on.

The museum is a semi-secret. I lived in Southern California for three years before I heard about this eclectic Escondido auto collection. I would later introduce it to other car nuts who were unaware of it, including one who worked only five miles away. (Read More…)

Members of the MR2 Jihad generally refer to the creature on the hood emblems of their cars as the “Screaming Eagle,” but I say it’s a stoic, tight-beaked Robot Eagle. I hadn’t paid much attention to this emblem, since it’s quite small and mounted on a car snout that sits quite close to the pavement, but then a 24 Hours of LeMons team composed of Toyota engineers created a gigantic Pontiac Trans Am-style decal version for the hood of their MR2. Robot Eagle! (Read More…)

My wife had an old Steenkin’ Lincoln.

It was a 1983 model. 4 doors. Maroon. What I would call ‘Mighty Thor’ had been nothing more than a temporary home for sunbathing cats and vast amounts of driveway real estate.

Thumbtacks, staple guns, duct tape, a maroon bathmat for the passenger floor, along with a new battery and fluids gave the car a new life.

For several years it gave my wife basic transportation at a time when gas was cheap and our expenses were slim.

Then it happened…

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Over the last 12 years, GM lost $16 billion in Europe, more than a billion each year. Ford is doing a bit better, but it sits on excess capacity of 300,000 units in Europe and expects a loss of $500 million to $600 million. Automotive News [sub] recommends to both: Pack up and leave. Says Luca Ciferri in AN: (Read More…)

Some people say Obama saved GM from the abyss. Some people say GM sold its soul to the Chinese devil to cheat death. In truth, the future of General Motors rests on the shoulders of a 5-foot-2 woman by the name of Diana Tremblay. Writes Ben Klayman at Reuters:

“Global manufacturing chief Diana Tremblay is one of the highest-ranking women in the automotive industry. Throughout her 35-year career at GM, she has made her mark in what were regarded as male domains, from directing foundry workers to staring down union labor negotiators.

Now she faces an even more critical task for the world’s largest automaker – ensuring the smooth 2013 introduction of the remodeled full-size pickup trucks and SUVs, GM’s high-profile equivalent of a new Apple iPhone. (Read More…)

The Arlington, Texas plant that builds full size SUVs like the Chevrolet Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade will get a third shift, adding 800 jobs.

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Last week I wondered whether the Ford Focus could soon become the world’s most popular car… The response may lie in today’s article as it is time for our monthly appointment: the World car sales Roundup for May! You can check out previous world Roundups here for March 2012  (“Has the Hybrid era started for good?”), and here for April 2012 (“Big change coming from India”).

Not your thing? No worries, you can visit 164 countries and territories in my blog, go on, you know you want to!

So in March we talked hybrids, in April we talked India, this month my accent will be American, Chinese and South African…

Yep – all in one.

And yes. I have decided that Roundup doesn’t have a hyphen between Round and up. Because I can.

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While the regular junkyard visitor might run across the occasional FJ60 Land Cruiser in a cheap self-service yard, especially here in 4WD-centric Colorado, there are some Toyota trucks you just don’t see in such junkyards. One is the 4Runner (I’ve found exactly one so far) and another is the FJ40 Land Cruiser. But wait— look what I just found! (Read More…)

Here’s a breath of fresh air; Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby declared that his cars, laden with safety systems and other gadgets, are too complex for most of Volvo’s customers.

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Five years ago, former and now disgraced Porsche chief Wendelin Wiedeking started the Porsche SE. It was a holding company, destined to hold the shares of Volkswagen after a successful takeover. Porsche cars are made by Porsche AG.  The takeover never happened. Volkswagen bought nearly 50 percent of Porsche AG, and wants the rest ASAP.  What will become of Porsche SE?

If the shareholders agree – and the shareholder meeting is today –  Porsche SE will become a trading house, selling rare earths, building solar farms, and offering car sharing services, Germany’s ARD says. (Read More…)