If you are worried that you may have to live without daily episodes of the Saab Soap, now that the company is bankrupt, worry no more. Or in the words of Saabsunited: “never ever give up!” The show will go on.

Today, Automotive news China [sub] reports:

“Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. says it has purchased Saab Automobile’s Phoenix architecture despite its failure to acquire the automaker itself. Youngman already has set up a company in Sweden to develop new models based on the architecture, said Rachel Pang, Youngman’s spokeswoman and daughter of Youngman President Pang Qingnian.”

The trouble is, nobody in Sweden or elsewhere has heard about it. (Read More…)

A while ago, we showed you a video of an angry Shanghainese woman, towing a tow-truck away. Alas, the video was staged. This time, it’s serious. Or so they swear over at Carnewschina, and at the TV station in Liaoning Province that showed on the evening news what happened when the police wanted to tow a Buick Excelle. The Buick’s driver, a resolute woman, had different ideas. (Read More…)

Germany’s luxobarge makers aren’t just happy selling their luxobarges to China. Now they want Chinese money straight up. Daimler is flirting with the Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation (CIC), which may want to buy 5 or 10 percent of Daimler. (Read More…)

Carnewschina has another indicator that the Chinese bubble must be bursting somewhere, somehow. I mean, didn’t we just got used to a Bling Dynasty, where any self-respecting supercar owner had his Lamborghini Gallardo covered in gold? If Chinese must economize, then they choose a gold-plated Infiniti G37?

Those heady days appear to be coming to an end. Instead of gold-plated Gallardos, now there are – silver-plated Ferrari 458 Italias. (Read More…)

If, a few years ago, I would have suggested that the Chinese would buy more Mercedes, BMW and Audi than the Autobahn-addicted Germans, you would have suggested an increase in dosage. But the condition is incurable. China may overtake Germany as the world’s second-largest market for luxury cars, says Bloomberg. The largest market for upscale units remains the U.S. — until further notice. (Read More…)

A week ago, we predicted that „Toyota will start the year with guns blazing and the lines rolling.” Toyota agrees, and delivers the numbers to back-up the claim. According to data released today, Toyota and Lexus alone intends to grow global production in the coming year by 24 percent to 8.65 million units. This number does not include Daihatsu and Hino. This is an ambitious plan, slightly exceeding the peak level of 2007.

Toyota/Lexus Projections 2012 (Ex Daihatsu, Hino)

(Read More…)

Users of BMW Online in the US can now access Yelp in their vehicles, BMW says. Customers can yelp for everything from the best local restaurants and boutiques to parking garages and banks.

If you subscribe to the BMW Assist Convenience Plan and have a navigation-equipped vehicle capable of receiving the BMW Online you can yelp today, BMW promises. Mor apps are on their way.

Quick: Where is the largest plant in the Renault/Nissan empire? France? Japan? Tennessee? Nope. It’s in China. At least since today it is.

Today, Nissan’s joint venture with China’s Dongfeng officially opened phase II of its plant in Huadu, near Guangzhou, the former Canton. Across the street from the current plant, a new factory was erected that adds capacity of 200,000 units to the current 400,000 unit per year facilities. (Read More…)

We have been writing about it for years, now, Bloomberg wakes up to it:

“Volkswagen AG will kick off its biggest technology overhaul in almost two decades.”

Bloomberg still has a hard time of coming to grips with the technological revolution. It’s not just that “more than 40 models will use a set of standardized components such as axles, steering columns and chassis,” as Bloomberg puts it. This is not a parts bin exercise. Through the Volkswagen empire, cars don’t just share the same steering columns. They are designed using standardized building blocks of a common kit architecture. (Read More…)

Allegedly, GM wants to replace Opel and Vauxhall with Chevrolet in Europe, and turn the bow tie into a true global brand. Apparently, it wants to do this with a severely pruned-down dealer network. Chevy dealers in Germany watch every courier coming through the door with trepidation: Every fifth Chevy dealer in Germany will be handed a letter that tells him that his contract is being terminated, says Germany’s kfz-Betrieb.

As reason, insufficient sales are given. Uwe Heyman, a lawyer who manages the council of Opel and Chevrolet dealers in Germany, thinks the reason is likewise insufficient: (Read More…)

In August, we brought you a sensational story about a Volkswagen dealer in Daqing who used naked girls to get car buyers interested. Today, Carnewschina found another one, a Toyota dealer in Shanghai who hired a naked girl to sell some Camrys. Well, not quite naked, she stripped down to shorts and pasties. Not sure how many Camry that sold, but the building quickly teemed with ‘journalists’ and ‘car buyers’ . The girl appeared unperturbed. Warning: Hitting the jump could get you fired in prude America. (Read More…)

After delegations of Pangda and Youngman had travelled to Trollhättan to inspect the factory, one returning Chinese traveler mentioned to a contact of mine that the factory is great, but it’s in the wrong place. In Sweden, workers would earn way too much and go home early, contrary to the Chinese worker, who would have a much higher work ethic for less money, the traveler opined. If all goes well (for the Chinese,) the Trollhättan factory will come to China. Usually well informed Sveriges Radio reports that Youngman is interested in buying the Saab assets in a bankruptcy sale.

Updated with Victor Muller’s press conference.
(Read More…)

The Chinese stock market is way down. Real estate speculation had reached its zenith a while ago, and prices are on a downward trajectory. So are prices of luxury cars. Now is the time to get great deals on a BMW, or a “Benz,” as they call a Mercedes in China. Dealers are killing each other with discounts to move the high-end metal. Says China Daily: (Read More…)

Today, Toyota started Chinese production of its third gen Prius hybrid. The car is being assembled at Toyota’s joint venture plant with FAW in frigid Changchun in China’s northern Jilin Province. Sales of the vehicle will begin in early 2012. (Read More…)

Sweden’s Aftonbladet reports that Victor Muller filed for bankruptcy of Saab this morning at the court in Vänersborg.

Dagens Industri writes that with Saab having declared bankruptcy itself, the matter will be resolved quickly. A bankruptcy order is expected during the day. (Read More…)