Should your travels bring you to Wolfsburg in the near future, do yourself a favor, don’t mention “Cologne.”  Don’t say anything about “Köln.” For goodness gracious, don’t mention Ford. Even colloquialisms such as “ich mach mich fort” (“I’m outta here”) should be avoided. Any of the above would get you an icy stare at a minimum. Or a uniformed Werkschutz escort to the factory gate at Wache Sandkamp.  The boys in Wolfsburg carry a deep grudge against Ford. Ford beat Volkswagen at Golf. (Read More…)

Analysts will have a lot of uncomfortable questions tomorrow when Chrysler reports post-bankruptcy financial results, while Fiat unveils “la strategia grande” domani in Italy. They will finally unveil their long-awaited 5 year plan.

According to Reuters, “more questions than answers could still remain about Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne’s turnaround strategy.” The most uncomforting question will be: “Are you sure?”   (Read More…)

China is rapidly becoming the world’s largest market for luxury cars. This is the conclusion of a study by the respected Institut für Automobilwirtschaft (IFA) of the university of Nürtingen-Geislingen, near Stuttgart. The study was made in cooperation with the likewise renowned Anting Automotive Academy of the Tongji University in Shanghai.

The study predicts that by 2015 two million premium cars will be sold in the PRC. That is four times the current uptake of luxury cars. In 2009, Chinese bought 500.000 cars for the upper class.  (Read More…)

The volcano on Iceland spews trouble for auto manufacturers. Ever since most of Europe has been declared a no-fly zone, just-in-time bit the dust. Literally.

Today, the lines stopped at the BMW factory in Dingolfing, writes Automobilwoche [sub]. On Wednesday, the lines will stop moving in Regensburg and on Thursday in Munich. More than 7000 bimmers are affected. The reason: Electronic parts that usually get flown in.  Icelandic ash brings production lines all over the globe to a grinding halt … (Read More…)

What is a car dealer’s most profitable business? Selling new cars? One would think so, judging by the amount of money invested into metal, marble and glass used to move new cars. But it’s wrong. If a dealer is good, his new car profit contribution is in the single digits. What makes money in a dealership? Servicing the cars. And selling used cars. As Buickman and Steven Lang will confirm: A dealer often can make more money re-selling a trade-in than selling a new car. This must have dawned on someone at Volkswagen … (Read More…)

Whenever yours  truly sings the long-term praise of the booming Chinese auto market, it elicits loud protests: “Can’t be! Bubble market! The environment! (Our gasoline.)”

The people who make and sell cars for a living have a different opinion. The AlixPartners consultancy asked  50 senior executives from both foreign and domestic players in China’s automobile industry how much they think the Chinese car market will grow between now and 2015. Guess what their answer is? (Read More…)

Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to pay a $16.4 million civil fine levied by the U.S. government, reports The Nikkei [sub]. They will not admit any wrongdoing and can claim that they never admitted to knowingly hiding defects from regulators, said a senior U.S. Transportation Department official. On Friday, it wasn’t clear whether the DOT would accept the dough with a deal attached. (Read More…)

Did you ever drive in Milano, Italy? Take my advice: Don’t. Park your car, take a taxi. That must have gone through the minds of the boys in Wolfsburg, when they were searching for a name for their dedicated taxi prototype. “Mamma mia! Let’s call it Milano!” (Read More…)

No, the boys of the blue oval didn’t win any new J.D. Power kudos (yet.)

But the relatively obscure RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. says Ford has the highest customer satisfaction among all major automakers. This according to Ford’s latest press release. Eighty-four percent of customers who purchased a 2010 model-year Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and trucks are satisfied with the quality of their vehicle, says the study. (Read More…)

End of last year, we reported that the Chinese government was publicly thinking about new regulations to shift a large chunk of cars bought by the government to home-grown brands. We are talking about a serious amount of money here. The government is the biggest customer of cars in China, with an annual budget of around $15b. Government purchases influence the whole market. To buy Chinese. (Read More…)

Like it or not, more and more car makers elect to premiere their newest creations not at the IAA in Frankfurt, or the Detroit Auto Show, but in China. What do you expect with China being the world’s largest car market, and growing like gangbusters.  TTAC will cover the Beijing Auto Show on press days of April 23 and 24. With daily posts, helped by the fact that China is not only ahead in sales, it’s also 12 hours ahead of the East Coast.

Here is a short random preview, gleaned from various posts on Chinese websites. (Read More…)

Japan’s domestic car trade can look back at the first up year in seven years. Japan goes by the fiscal year, which spans from April 1 in the current year to March 31 in the next. In the 2009 fiscal, domestic sales of new vehicles rose 10 percent on the year. You think that’s an occasion to head down to your favorite Ginza hostess bar, break out the sake, or stronger stuff, and party like it’s 2003? Chigaimasu. Quite the opposite is true. The land of the rising sun is worried about falling sales. “A strong sense of anxiety continues to grip the industry,” reports The Nikkei [sub]. (Read More…)

On April 5, the NHTSA levied their largest civil penalty in recorded history. $16,375,000 against Toyota,  because “they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families.” When we reported that, people thought Toyota would just appeal and drag it out. Not so easy, said The Nikkei [sub]. Toyota is between a rock and a hard place: “Admitting to the charge could strengthen the cases of car owners suing the firm, while refuting it risks inflaming U.S. public opinion.”  Toyota found a way out. (Read More…)

And the hits, they keep on coming: The Nikkei [sub] has it that Toyota will recall 740,000 Sienna minivans that have been sold or operated in cold-weather areas in the United States and Canada. They’ll be checking for corrosion of the spare tire carrier cable. (Read More…)

Toyota received another invitation to join a little congressional chit-chat,  reports The Nikkei [sub]. On May 6^th,  a U.S. House panel will hold a hearing to “further examine Toyota’s inquiry into potential electronic causes of sudden unintended acceleration,” as the invitation letter from Henry Waxman to James Lentz, president of Toyota U.S. says. The presence of Lentz is requested at the hearing. (Read More…)