India’s Environmental Minister Jairam Ramesh’s jab at diesel-powered trucks and SUVs is turning into a major diplomatic row. Turns out that he didn’t just call drivers of diesel-powered trucks and SUVs criminals. He also said that said the mere act of driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and Mercedes-Benz in India was “criminal”. Jaguars weren’t mentioned. (Read More…)
Some say, TTAC has an anti-Detroit, pro-import slant. We won’t comment on that, you mommy-fraternizing liars. All we can say is: If you harbor these notions, don’t move to Oklahoma. Oklahoma’s largest newspaper, the Oklahoman, dishes out more anti-Detroit snark in a single serving than even a Farago could have cooked-up in his TTAC lifetime. How about calling the former owners of Chrysler unqualified “idiots?” And not the former owners you think of now. Wait, there is worse. (Read More…)
Well, it seems that the wrecked US-Korean trade pact only affects U.S. food exports to Korea. It most certainly does not seem to have any influence on Hyundai. Hyundai expects to set a company record for annual U.S. sales next week already, and to sell even more in 2011. (Read More…)
America – the greatest country on earth. At least when it comes to Chevy Volt prices. You think its $41,000 tag is expensive? Wait until you hear what the Europeans will have to fork over for the rebadged Opel Ampera, and the Volt will look like the greatest deal on earth. Especially after subsidies. Ready? (Read More…)
George Orwell said it would happen in 1984, but better late than never. The European Commission decided that from 2013 on, every new car sold in the EU must have a system called eCall. What is eCall? Think of it as a government-mandated OnStar. If your car crashes, eCall will automatically send an S.O.S. to emergency centers. It will send your GPS-derived coordinates, the number of people on board, impact sensor data, airbag deployment and other data which probably only the EU and the carmakers know. (Read More…)
Say what you want against Volkswagen, but they are moving the metal. In the first 10 months of 2010, Volkswagen delivered just shy of 6m cars to customers. 5.98m to be exact. In the same period of 2009, they had sold 5.32m, so that’s a plus of 12.4 percent. According to a message from Volkswagen HQ, the world market only rose 4.5 percent in October, the Volkswagen Group increased sales by 9.8 percent in the same month. That’s market share, baby! (Read More…)
The rest of the world is busy tearing down tariff borders by entering free trade agreements, such as the one between South Korea an the EU. Japan doesn’t want to stand on the sidelines and is in FTA negotiations with the EU. At the same time, the U.S. and Korea yesterday shitcanned their free trade plans. The reason? Cars. Allegedly. (Read More…)
GM appears to be sick of the constant needling it receives about their Wuling joint venture in China. Here is a company that produces half of the 2 million cars GM proudly announced as theirs in China, and GM owns only 34 percent. (The 37 percent that had been bandied about apparently were also exaggerated.) 50.1 percent are owned by SAIC, the rest by Wuling. Contractually, GM is entitled to pull the wool over the heads of the world and OICA, and count the millions of diminutive Wulings as theirs. Now, GM is taking steps to redeem themselves. Or to redeem some of the IPO take. But just a little. (Read More…)
Unless you plan a trip to Toyko, you probably aren’t concerned about the exchange rate of the yen. Is a Japanese car on the list of your possible purchases? Then you should be concerned. Those prices will go up. (Read More…)
The Germans were always a bit sceptic or downright hostile when it came to the great car electrification. Now they get jolted. Better late than never, says Audi and announces their first Plug-In Hybrid for 2014. Of course, the announcement can’t be done without the usual Volkswagen/Audi brand of heavy hubris. (Read More…)
Oh, to be a fly on the wall of the GM boardroom:
“Did you see the latest Opel numbers?”
“Jeez! Horrible!”
“What are these clowns thinking? We have an IPO to close.”
“Talk about timing. We should have sold them to the Russians. Who was the moron that cancelled that deal?”
“I hope the next rattlesnake wins.”
Indeed, the news from Rüsselsheim aren’t good, and with the IPO closing this coming week, they could not have come at a more inopportune time. (Read More…)
Toyota will no longer stand on the sidelines and leave the huge (joke, joke) EV market to Mitsubishi and Nissan. The Nikkei [sub] has it that Toyota will start marketing an all-electric car in Japan in 2012. (Read More…)
When the all new GM share starts trading on 11/18, the bulk of the new issue will most likely not be owned by widows and orphans, but by foreign governments and their proxies. One of the largest new shareholders could be Chinese. GM is in the final negotiation stage to sell a good chunk of their new stock to their old pals and Chinese joint venture partners SAIC, reports Reuters, citing the usual “two people familiar with the matter.” And don’t think they are just talking percentages, there is much more on the table. (Read More…)
With all the intrigue around the Porsche-takes-over-Volkswagen and Volkswagen-takes-over-Porsche, there are the expected ups and downs. Recently, there have been voices it might not happen. Reason given: The lawsuits. I believe, this is just propaganda to demoralize the opposition and to force them to settle. In the meantime, facts are being created. And here is another fact: Volkswagen officially acquired the auto trading business of the Porsche Holding in Salzburg, Austria. The company changes hands for €3.3b ($4.5b), a sign that this is not your ordinary car dealership. (Read More…)
I came to China first in 2004 on a job for Volkswagen. Back when, and years thereafter, the foreigners at the joint ventures agreed (latest after the third beer at Paulaner) that eventually, their days will be numbered. “Once the Chinese have learned enough, they’ll kick us out,” was the lament. That was six years ago, and no sign of an expulsion from the Chinese paradise yet. On the contrary: The Chinese might invite the foreigners in for good. They are thinking about dropping the 50:50 joint venture requirement that forces foreign automakers to team up with local manufacturers. (Read More…)
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