Venezuela’s, well, President Hugo Chavez took a page out of the U.S. government’s playbook, and ordered Toyota’s local assembly plant to make more cars, pronto. If the Japanese don’t produce an adequate number of vehicles designed for rural areas, Chavez will expropriate Toyota and kick them out of Venezuela.
According to this morning’s indignant Nikkei [sub,] Chavez said his socialist government is going to apply strict quotas on the number and types of vehicles firms can produce. He ordered an immediate inspection of Toyota’s facilities to see how many “rustic vehicles” they are currently producing. (“Rustic,” not “rusty.”)
“They’ll have to fulfill (the quotas), and if not, they can get out,” said Chavez during a televised address. “We’ll bring in another company.” And what company would that be? (Read More…)
J.D. Power thinks it has found some more Americans who want to kiss a new fender under the mistletoe. Based on reported transactions for the first 17 days of the month, collected from 8900 dealers, J.D. Power now projects a December SAAR of 11.2m units, Reuters reports. This would be up 9 percent from a truly dismal December a year earlier, which saw a sickening SAAR of 10.3m vehicles. In eggnog-powered exuberance, J.D. Power calls the sputtering back to life “a year-end rally.” And how’s the year going to end? (Read More…)
As predicted various times on TTAC, Volvo has finally been sold to China. Ford said in a statement that it had agreed to all substantial commercial terms in a deal to sell Volvo to China’s Geely Holding Group, parent of Geely Auto, Reuters has on the wire.
“While some work still remains to be completed before signing, Ford and Geely anticipate that a definitive sale agreement will be signed in the first quarter of 2010,” Ford said. Final closing on the deal is expected for Q2 of 2010. (Read More…)
GM netted a paltry $200m for the Saab technology it sold to China’s BAIC. So said BAIC to Reuters today, while desperately trying to keep a straight face. The money bought BAIC the rights to three vehicle platforms, two engine technologies and two transmission systems. A pittance, given the fact that developing a new car typically costs from $1b on upwards these days.
Granted, the IP for the 9-5 and 9-3, and the tooling to make them are not the newest, but you can trust BAIC to make the most of it. Interestingly, BAIC got what they desperately needed: (Read More…)
Unbeknownst to many, Toyota and Volkswagen had been pretty tight in Japan. Japanese Toyota dealers started selling VWs in 1992. Last year, about half of the 45,522 VWs sold in Japan moved through the shared dealer organization. This helped Volkswagen become Japan’s top import brand for nine years. (Which says a lot about Japan’s import market.) Not only did they share the dealers, Toyota actually has been the distributor for half of the VeeDubs sold in the Land of the Rising Sun. Can’t make stuff like this up.
Now, Volkswagen and Toyota signed the green form (nippophiles know that the green form is for divorce, brown is for marriage.) (Read More…)
Two sales of two Swedish car factories are close to the finish line. One may live on happily, but in a foreign land. The other may die from exhaustion. You want the good news or the bad news first? Ok, let’s start with the good news. (Read More…)
Parts suppliers in Japan had near death experiences when they opened their Nikkei [sub] this morning. Parts suppliers in China and the rest of the world suffered heart and respiratory problems when the news of Toyota’s latest plan hit the news-wires. (Read More…)
Each year, the „Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache“ (association for the German language) selects its word of the year. This year, the German WOTY is, you guessed it … (Read More…)
When I did my first work for Audi in the 70s, competing with BMW or (gasp) Mercedes-Benz was considered a cruel joke. The brand was thought ideal for high school teachers or tax collectors, who kept their hats on while driving. What a difference a few decades make. Not to forget the money a rich sugar daddy called Volkswagen can sink into the brand.
Audi CFO Axel Strotbek told the German Handelsblatt that VW will pour €7.3b into Audi, from now to 2012. “80 percent is earmarked for developing new product,” Strotbek said. The money will go to a noble cause: (Read More…)
Since this approval is lengthy (takes about a year) and costly (even when administered by the VCA, which is known for bargain basement pricing,) the announcement was taken as an intention of Great Wall to enter the European market. Here they come: (Read More…)
Sweden’s prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt had his fill of failed negotiations. Returning home from round-the-clock talks at the Copenhagen climate conference, he said that he saw the Saab collapse coming. Sweden’s prime minister is “unsurprised” by the collapse of the sale, says Reuters. Asked if he was surprised, Reinfeldt said: “No, the process was built around a loss-making company and an American owner that owned Saab for 20 years and made a profit in one of the 20. It’s clear that it was not successful enough.” Sweden’s head blames GM for the failure. (Read More…)
VW CEO Martin Winterkorn is a superstitious man. He doesn’t want to add a 13th brand to his (or rather Piech’s) large collection. (Coincidentally, 12 is the number of Piech’s children. More or less. Nobody is quite sure,) “There are some who knock on our door. Some really want to come under our roof as they see we’re on a good path strategically. But we are satisfied with the current line-up,” Winterkorn said to Wirtschaftswoche. Specifically questioned about Volvo or (gasp) Daimler, Winterkorn answered: „There are many who would like to snuggle in VW’s cozy bed. Thank you, not interested.” Instead, he’s re-thinking the line-up of his new acquisitions: “I could imagine a smaller Cayenne derivative. Or a Porsche below the Boxster. This is under discussion.” (Read More…)
There is an interesting analysis on Chinacarforums: China-produced Western cars tend to come out bigger than their Western siblings. Especially at the higher end. A made-in-China Cadillac STS is 124mm longer than the U.S. sister model. The wheelbase grew by 100mm. A Chinese Audi A6 L has gained 97 mm in length over the Made-in-Ingolstadt relative. A BMW 5-series, made at the Chinese joint venture with Brilliance, has gained a whopping 140 mm in length and wheelbase over the Bavarian model. (Read More…)
Hide the liquor, hide the women (or not): The supervisory board of Porsche and Volkswagen will get new members, all the way from Qatar. Sheikh Jassim Bin Abdulaziz Bin Jassim Al-Thani will be crowned new member of the Supervisory Board of Porsche Holding SE. Officially, this needs the votes of the stockholders meeting which will take place on January 29th. But trust me, it’s all done. (Read More…)
Last year, Porsche gave Magna an eight-year contract to build the Cayman and Boxster models from 2012 on. Then Porsche went to Volkswagen. Then Opel came. VW was miffed and said “us or Opel.” When Magna’s Opel deal went poof, VW said Magna can come home, all is forgiven. Apparently not quite. Volkswagen (or Porsche, hard to say these days…) want to use the factories of bankrupt Karmann which Volkswagen had bought and cancelled the contract. Magna cried foul and wanted money.
Recent Comments