In March, 1,558,915 new cars were registered in the EU. That is 5.0 percent less than in March last year. For the first quarter, demand for new cars was down 2.3 percent, with 3,583,185 units registered. (Read More…)

Remember the Brilliance A3 SUV that the German press called “a brazen BMW X1 rip-off, with inspirations from Audi?” After BMW spokesman Frank Strebe said that the matter would be taken up with their joint venture partner Brilliance, Strebe had said: “Maybe the vehicle won’t be at the show.” (Read More…)

Due to some adroit planning, important auto shows in the world’s largest market and the world’s second largest fall in the same week this year. CEOs of the world’s top automakers have a dilemma: Shanghai or New York? (Read More…)

Large parts of Japan’s auto production have been down following the March 11 quake and tsunami. Production of large Japanese carmakers like Toyota and Honda is now running at 50 percent capacity. There is something else that affects export: Fear of radiation. (Read More…)

A mild case of pedal misapplication left five cars in pieces. An 86 year old woman from Cologne, Germany, vacated her parking spot. She confused gas and brake and smashed into a few cars behind her. Totally shocked, she wanted to extract herself from the scene. She did put her car in gear, mashed the gas, and slammed into a car in front of her, which ended up against a wall. Another driver was waiting for the bigger and bigger parking spot to be come available. The octogenarian slammed into that car as well. After five cars including her own were demolished, an ambulance drove the lady to a hospital.

Auto Bild withheld the makes of the cars.

Rising prices at the pump make people do dumb things. Some buy a new car to save at all costs. Not only will they never recoup the cost of the new car, the tsunami in Japan turned fuel efficient Japanese cars into everything else than a bargain. Others do something particularly stupid: They drive their car until it runs out of gas. (Read More…)

Checking dealer transactions for the first half of April, Edmunds sees cars selling at a fast clip. Dealers are all smiles: Average prices are going up, cars are flying off the lot, and the “average days to turn”  – industry speak for the time the dealer sits on a car until it moves – fell more than 10 percent since the beginning of April, from 58 days to 52. If the rest of April behaves similarly, Edmunds sees a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 14.1 million in April. Party time. The festivities could be premature, Edmunds warns. (Read More…)

Honda sources the vast majority of parts and materials needed for North American production in North America. “However, for global efficiency, a few critical parts continue to be supplied from Japan,” says Honda in a statement. Honda restarted production of component parts for North American plants Monday, April 4 at several Honda plants in Japan. However, those need their own parts and supplies. Therefore, Honda’s component production in Japan continues to run at approximately 50 percent of the original production plan.

This of course impacts North American production. (Read More…)

Some of Nissan’s Leaf cars were beset by the opposite of the alleged sudden unintended acceleration:  Sudden unintended arrest. Once started and turned off, the Leafs refused to start again. Which of course would turn the Leaf into a PR embarrassment: Who wants the first serious mass market EV to be a non-starter? After having received complaints both in Japan and the U.S., Nissan decided to do something about it. (Read More…)

This coming week is the week when all car manufacturers wish they would have a split personality.  The New York Auto Show and the Shanghai Auto Show will take place in the same week. Jack Baruth will take Manhattan. (Hey, Jack: The famous Headquarter’s “Steakhouse” is right next door to the Javit’s Center.  Scores is just a few blocks south.) I’ll take Shanghai and my camera. I’m sure Jack will come equipped. Maybe.

As a special service to the Best & Brightest,  YOU can put in requests for what we shall take pictures of – apart from the obvious.

We’ll try to fulfill all requests – to the best of our abilities.

If The Nikkei [sub] is informed correctly, and given the recent track record with these matters, that’s a big if, then workers in the Japanese auto and electronics industries will be compensated for the hardships they endured after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami:  They will get two extra days off per week. According to today’s Nikkei story, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association proposed that manufacturing industries should alternate production holidays this summer as a way to conserve electricity amid a constrained supply.

“Automakers, for example, could halt production on Mondays and Tuesdays, with electronics firms taking Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, according to JAMA’s plan, which was presented at a briefing on energy-saving measures hosted by the Japan Business Federation, better known as Nippon Keidanren,” writes the Nikkei. “On each day, the shutdowns would extend industry-wide.” Honto? (Read More…)

Ford is finally waking up from sleeping through the fact that China became the world’s largest car market 2 years ago, and that China will most likely grow explosively for the next 20 years. Ford will introduce 15 new vehicles in China by 2015, the company told Automotive News [sub]. Ford will also more than double the number of its 340 dealerships in China by 2015. Ford furthermore is looking at doubling the work 1,200 strong workforce at its joint venture with China’s Chang’an.

(Read More…)

A few days ago, we looked at Volkswagen and said that “we expect a growth of group sales well over 10 percent in the first quarter” when Volkswagen does publish its Q1 data by the end of the week. Wolfsburg did not disappoint. Volkswagen sold 1.97 million cars globally in the first three months of 2011. In the same period of last year, it was 1.73 million vehicles, for a growth of 13.7 percent.

The “increase means Europe’s largest automaker also clearly outperformed the overall market, which grew 8.1 percent,” proclaims a statement emailed from Wolfsburg. Group sales in March were also respectable: 767,200 units, up 8.1 percent over March 2010, and a new record.

From the perspective of America, where Volkswagen has been relatively luckless ever since the success of the Bug, these numbers may look surprising. (Read More…)

The March 11 tsunami is having long term effects on Japanese car production. Toyota, the world’s and by far Japan’s largest car company, is severely impacted. Toyota just announced that vehicle production from May 10 to June 3 will proceed at approximately 50 percent of normal. (Read More…)

The waves of the March 11 tsunami did not really impact Australia. But the aftershocks do – in a big way. Toyota Australia will cut production at its factory in Altona, Victoria state, in half for a whopping two months because of missing parts, says The Nikkei [sub].

Toyota’s is not alone: Ford announced today that it will cut back Australian vehicle production by 20 percent, and will lay off 240 workers. (Read More…)