Fiat saved Chrysler. Now, Chrysler keeps Fiat alive. Fiat would be in deep trouble, would it not be for the huge profits generated at Chrysler. Fiat’s future is so cloudy that it can’t give guidance for the near future. Yesterday, Fiat reported a second quarter trading profit of 1 billion euros ($1.23 billion), “bolstered by soaring sales at its U.S. unit Chrysler,” says Reuters. Today, Fiat says it has no clue where it will stand by the end of the year. (Read More…)
Mitsubishi is still alive and well in Japan, for the rest of the world, it is hoping for a Mirage. Just to make sure, Mitsubishi built one. Produced in Thailand, the Mitsubishi Mirage is a global compact car. Today, it goes on sale in Japan. (Read More…)
And now, the hangover: July brings disappointing sales numbers for GM and Ford after June had surprised. GM is down 6 percent in July. Ford is down 4 percent. Even Chrysler Group reports down to earth results with July up only 13 percent after a truly ballistic series of months. In June, Edmunds Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell politely voiced suspicions that the beautiful June numbers were the product of cosmetics: (Read More…)
When a common law couple finally stops living in sin and ties the knot, it usually is (in more ways than one) an anticlimactic event. And so it is today. Today, August 1, Porsche finally came home to Volkswagen. (Read More…)
While we are waiting for the U.S. July sales table to populate, let me entertain or bore you with all the numbers from Japan. This was made possible by the , the Japan Mini Vehicles Association finally publishing its outstanding table. Domo arigatou. (Read More…)
I woke up bright and early on Monday morning, 7:00 AM. A wake-up time reserved for maniacs and those who have circadian rhythms that are the exact opposite of yours truly.
Just a 10 mile drive to a neighboring auto auction. A nice stroll to a back lot loaded with 91 cars for the 9:30 AM sale. The beauty of the day seemed to shine before me as I looked at what was supposed to be an immaculate 1987 BMW 524td that had all of 69,000 miles.
Yes, we at TTAC may be heralding the imminent departure of Suzuki in the United States, but figures compiled by industry stalwart Just-Auto show that Suzuki isn’t doing too badly in their home market of Japan – in fact, they may even eclipse Nissan.
U.S. domestic sales of GM are down 6.4 percent, while sales of bitter rival Toyota are up 26.1 percent. Or more, depending on how you look at it. (Read More…)
According to Toyota, if you don’t drive, you won’t get the girl. But at least a yarmulke-clad Jean Reno will help you out. No wonder so many young Japanese men are staying shut in their rooms.
And now, back to the usual blood and tears from Europe: July new cars sales dropped 7 percent in France and thudded 17 percent in Spain “as consumers cut back on costly goods in the face of economic uncertainty,” says Reuters. (Read More…)
It’s not all blood and tears in Europe. Actually, the bloodier Europe looks, and the more Marchionne & Co do cry, the bigger the smiles at European carmakers with heavy exposure to foreign markets. The Euro is way down, and a low Euro means heavy profits from abroad – if you have business abroad. BMW sure does, and it posted its second best quarterly earnings in company history. Profit before financial result (EBIT) amounted to € 2.27 billion in the April-June 2012 quarter. (Read More…)
Japanese new car sales jumped in July while the business is getting ready to enter negative territory during the rest of the year. (Read More…)
Please welcome Jeff Jablansky, our newest guest writer and resident messhugeneh Attempting to carve into the curves of the Ramon Crater with a machine as dull as a Hyundai Getz is like trying to slice sashimi with a plastic knife. Or performing surgery with knitting needles.
The 3 series has been the benchmark to which all manner of vehicles are measured. The comparisons go beyond the likes of the A4, C-Class and S60 and include things like M3 vs Camaro, 328i vs Prius. There’s a problem with your largest volume product being put on this kind of pedestal: how do […]
The General produced quite a few not-so-quick front-drive cars with sporty-looking graphics and spoilers during the 1990s (e.g., the Beretta Z26), but the addition of an Eaton supercharger to the good old Buick V6 engine resulted in some fairly fast 90s machinery. Here’s a Grand Prix that had 240 horsepower at the front wheels during happier times. (Read More…)
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