Now we know why China is at the forefront of alternative energy propulsion:
For oil, China is at the mercy of unstable places and easily disruptable shipping routes. The Middle Kingdom is the second-largest oil consumer in the world (behind the United States). China imports about half of its oil, making it the third-largest net oil importer in the world behind the United States and Japan.
When it comes to dysprosium and terbium, China is in a much better position, called a quasi-monopoly. (Read More…)
Germany’s Abwrackprämien powered sales rocket is entering its terminal phase. In August, Germany’s drivers bought 28.4 percent more cars than in August 2008, says the ever so reliable Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (via Das Autohaus.) That is a tad less than July (+29.5 percent), and definitely not as hot as June’s +40.5 percent. After burning through €5B worth of Abwrack-fuel just as August had ended, the missile is on its way back to mother Earth. The crater it will create is expected to be spectacular.
Just in time for the 40th anniversary of Moammar al-Gaddafi takeover of Libya, the Colonel and “Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution” designed a car. Not just a car of course. The Moammar-mobile is “the future of the automotive industry.” That according to a press release cited by Der Spiegel. The name of the car harkens back to Gadaffi’s military past and future ambitions: It’s “The Rocket.”
Bye-buy cash for clunkers, German style: €5b ($7b) in government money has been gobbled up by Germans who exchanged their 9-years-or-older auto for something new. On Tuesday, there remained money for 16K cars; today, it’s all gone. At 10:14 am, the last application was processed. No more money in the kitty. The program is closed. (Read More…)
TTAC commentator kurkosdr is having issues with “the comminazi governments of Russia and China.” He’s hoping that “perhaps we can still save the car industry from the Chinese and the Russians.” He better be heading for the hills, because New GM has completely opposite plans.
After a lot of hand-wringing, all indications point to China’s tiny Tengzhong finally finalizing their deal with GM to take HUMMER off their hands. According to Reuters, the deal may be signed this coming week.
After having had a look at the calendar, the German government appears to have written off any chances of solving the increasingly puzzling Opel mess before the national elections. (September 27). In an interview with theFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said that Opel has enough money to last through January. Which is code for “don’t expect anything soon.” And he has an ace up his sleeve . . .
The board of GM convened on Friday to finally decide Opel’s fate. The board did as expected: It did nothing. They left everybody hanging. The board decided to not decide anything.
According to Reuters, the GM board desperately needs critical information from the German government. To wit: What state financing would be available if GM would sell Opel to their darling RHJ International, and not to Magna, which is favored by Germany.
Excuse us?
Do we have a serious case of highly contagious ADD, which has befallen the complete GM board? We thought it had been made perfectly clear: (Read More…)
Kick ’em when they are down: The district attorney of Stuttgart has initiated a probe against former Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and former CFO Holger Härter. This after Germany’s financial watchdog Bafin has filed a complaint against the two. They are under suspicion for market manipulation and illegal disclosure of insider information, Die Welt reports. Prosecutors raided the offices of Porsche and impounded files. (Read More…)
Having won the battle of the alpha males, Volkswagen now bares its fangs at two new enemies: Big Toyota, which Volkswagen wants to unseat from its #1 position; and moribund Opel, which VW would rather see dead than alive. VW CEO Winterkorn growled that VW might pull its parts business from Magna if the Canadian-owned partsmaker proceeds with their plan to acquire Opel. “We are looking with suspicion at what’s happening here,” Winterkorn said, according to the German edition of the Financial Times. Things are getting nasty, again . . .
On Friday, the last act of the ménage à trois between Volkswagen, Porsche and the Sheik of Qatar was consumated. After the supervisory boards of Porsche and Volkswagen had given their approving nods to Porsche becoming the tenth brand of Volkswagen, Sheik Hamad bin Dschassim bin Dschaber al-Thani signed on the dotted line and bought 10 percent of coveted voting shares in Porsche SE for his sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holding LLC. Qatar will also take over “most” (says Das Autohaus) of the options on VW stock. They paid €1b for a package of derivatives that gives Qatar access to a 17 percent stake in Volkswagen. As peace breaks out between Wolfsburg and Zuffenhausen, Volkswagen is set to attack a big enemy: Toyota. (Read More…)
As predicted a month ago, European car sales continued their cautious turn-around in July. Eastern Europe is still down (but on the mend), Western Europe, clocked in with a growth of five percent compared to July 2008. Europe as a whole was up 3 percent in July. Here are the highlights:
The final version of the pre-nup between Volkswagen and Porsche didn’t quite work out as Reuters had reported. Their sources—two supervisory board members—probably didn’t listen correctly. Shame on them. Here is the real deal:
GM China’s sales are on a tear because of small mini buses made by SAIC-GM-Wuling. The venture, in which GM owns 34 percent, sold 87,925 of the small, rugged utes in July alone, up 90.7 percent from a year earlier. They are mostly being snapped up by farmers, helped by Beijing’s stimulus initiatives. Now, GM injects additional steroids: Exports of the Made in China vehicles. (Read More…)
Recent Comments