Remember how everybody was scared by cheap Chinese car imports? It’s not happening. Leading executives of Chinese car companies have pretty much given up hope for major car exports in the near future. Instead of exporting cars, China’s auto makers should think about exporting technology and capital to get into foreign markets, said Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC to China Daily. “This is an inevitable change for Chinese auto makers who want to go global,” Xu said. “Products export is a short-sighted behavior.” (Read More…)

Last week, a small Swedish parts supplier by the name of SwePart did not want to wait any longer and asked a Swedish court to declare a key Saab subsidiary, Saab Automobile Tools, bankrupt. Bankruptcy of the subsidiary would have meant the end for Saab as well.  Hectic activity ensued. On Friday afternoon, there was an announcement that the matter had been settled and the bankruptcy petition was withdrawn. Expect a run on the bankruptcy court in the coming days and weeks. (Read More…)

Automotive News Europe [sub] must have been bar-hopping with German auto execs. On the same day it unearthed secret anti-X6 plans by Daimler, ANE also heard that Opel will lauch “a new flagship model” by the end of 2016 or early 2017. Not only will it be a “big Opel”, the car “may come to market with alternative powertrains such as a fuel cell system to help boost Opel’s green image.” (Someone needs to tell Opel that in Europe, one does not need to be ashamed of big cars, just like Silverados are o.k. stateside.) (Read More…)

When BMW launched its X6 a few years ago, it was widely considered an abomination and a deviation from the true BMW way. Justin Berkowitz, while still working for TTAC, called it the BMW Xcreable X6 and claimed it was conceived while “a BMW X5 went out drinking with a Scion tC. They had way too much Jose Cuervo and yada yada yada…”

As it happened so often, the opinions of the experts were ignored by the market, and the X6 turned into a runaway success. Audi supposedly can’t stand on the sidelines. Now, Daimler is rumored to line up an X6 fighter of its own. (Read More…)

Life imitates advertising: Years after the un-pimp your Volkswagen ads with Teutonic blondes and lots of lab coats, Volkswagen at last gets a head of Advanced Design with a name to match: Luc Donckerwolke! (Read More…)

When I was a very young and very green copywriter, Dr. Carl Hahn, at the time CEO of Continental Tires and later CEO of Volkswagen, said in an agency brief: “We lose 10 Deutschmarks on every tire we sell.”

“Then we better stop advertising them,” said I.

Hahn gave me a pained look. The look was followed by real and massive pain in my left foot, because my Creative Director had kicked me viciously.

“Ouch!” I said.

“You’ve got that right,” said Hahn.

That little story crossed my mind when I read in The Nikkei [sub] that “Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s electric vehicles and other eco-friendly offerings are expected to begin contributing to the firm’s bottom line in two years.” (Read More…)

Soon you’ll read all over Google that China has 217 million cars. Don’t believe it. It’s not true. (Read More…)

Why was Honda as much hit as Toyota by the March11 earthquake and tsunami? Doesn’t Honda have the bulk of its production outside of Japan? How could Nissan avoid most of the damage, even with an engine factory close to Fukushima?

It was a bit like a roulette game, and it involved a lot of chips.  According to industry talk in Japan, Nissan had taken a large supply of ECU chips before the quake. Honda and Toyota were waiting for their just-in-time delivery.  Honda and Toyota received most of their engine controller chips from one chipmaker, Renesas. Two weeks after the catastrophe, we had pointed out that Renesas and its damaged fab near the epicenter would turn into a major bottleneck. What’s more, Honda had no idea. (Read More…)

Say what you want about the nannyfication of cars, about gadgets that disturb the intimate relationship between man and machine. But a lot of the drastic decline of fatalities on the road goes on account of cars made safer with little electronics brains. Now, the brains think of people not even in the car. (Read More…)

Volkswagen just sold one of my inventions, and I didn’t get a dime for it. Volkswagen didn’t get rich on the sale either. After more than 20 years of trying not too hard, Volkswagen is getting out of the non-OEM service business and  sells its Stop + Go chain of quick-fit shops to the management.

“It was supposed to be an all-out assault on the non-OEM service business,” writes Automobilwoche [sub] in an eulogy. The attack ended in defeat. (Read More…)

Thailand, with a low currency, strong local demand and many foreign trade agreements, turns more and more into the South-East-Asian auto hub. Business-in-Asia gave it the unfortunate title “Detroit of Asia.” Thailand’s auto industry is targeting production of 3 million vehicles annually by 2015, more than countries like Canada, France, even Mexico currently make. Toyota, Honda and Nissan already have a pretty tight grip on the country. Now, Nissan is taking it a notch up. (Read More…)

Yesterday, we talked about a new gasoline-powered Daihatsu car that gets 70 mpg (non-EPA). After The Nikkei [sub] broke that story, the phone rang in Tokyo and several other manufacturers said “watashi tachi mo!” (Us too!) And today, The Nikkei [sub] is out with the story that other manufacturers “are mounting a challenge by launching gasoline-powered models that can compete with hybrids on fuel economy.” Not only that, they severely beat the pricey hybrids on price. Buy the car, and you can start saving right away. (Read More…)

Doesn’t it bug you that you have to shell out loads of money in order to save gas? Here comes a fuel sipper that won’t suck your wallet dry. No fancy electronics, no heavy batteries, and it even so gets 30km per liter of gasoline (according to the JC08 standard,) which translates to a non-EPA, but nonetheless jaw-dropping 70 mpg. According to The Nikkei [sub], Toyota’s Kei car subsidiary Daihatsu “has developed technology that will enable it to offer the only [gasoline powered] car in the world” that gets these numbers without hybrid technology. (Read More…)

You may not care very much when U.S. News ranks the $84,060 Nissan GT-R “2 out of 8 Super Luxury Sports Cars.” The thought might cross your mind that with a paltry $84K price, it can hardly qualify as a Super Luxury Sports Car. But you will take note when Top Gear runs the car around its airport-cum-testtrack and … (Read More…)

Last November, citizens of Garfield Heights, OH, banned the use of red light cameras in the city. The vote was close, 4,827 to throw the cameras out against  4,735 for keeping them. But presidencies were decided on a slimmer margin. The keeps the cams side had powerful support:  A PAC called “Safe Road Ohio” lobbied for the cameras, with the requisite pictures of little children.

According to the Plain Dealer, the primary donor of this PAC is “Redflex Traffic Systems — the company that operates the city’s camera program and pockets $35 from every speeding ticket issued.”  The Garfield Heights Council doesn’t seem to hold democracy in high esteem. Last week, the Council moved to bring the cameras back into the city. (Read More…)