The worldwide car market contracted in the first five months of 2009 by about 20 percent. And what did VW do? Last month, all brands of Volkswagen actually edged out a little growth, 1.5 percent over May 2008. The core VW brand increased 10.2 percent in May, says Automobilwoche [sub]. For the first five months, all VW brands were down 7 percent worldwide, way above the -20 percent world average. Why? VW is strong, and they are strong in strong markets such as China (+ 45.2 percent), Germany (+36 percent) and Brazil (+4 percent). In the US, VeeDub can only do better. Their market share in the U.S.A. was an anemic 2.1 percent in May.

The German government is sending strong signals to GM to move on the Opel deal with Magna — or else. Their message: “Get on with it, or Opel will be Chinese.”

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You thought the Magna/Sberbank/Union/Russia/GM/Et/Al. deal is done? It’s not. Germany is still talking to potential investors, says Reuters.

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China’s quality watchdog found cars made by Renault to have severe safety problems. China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) banned the Laguna Ph2, Scenic/Long Scenic, Megane Ph2 and Megane Ph2 Coupe-Cabriolet, Xinhua reports.
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Undeterred by the alleged frugality trend, Reuters held their Global Luxury Summit in swanky Paris. At this occasion, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, CEO of the pricey bubbly that goes by the same name, said: “I am a happiness producer. Figures do not interest me.” The Chinese are taking the same posture.
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Beijing Auto, a.k.a. BAIC, is not giving up on its aspirations for owning a western brand. They came a little late in the race for Opel, and were used as bogeymen to pressure everybody into an 11^th hour deal (which is in doubt). Just two days ago, BAIC was rumored to covet Saab. What else is for sale? Ah, yes, Volvo. The WSJ has it on good authority that BAIC “has expressed interest in acquiring Volvo, becoming the second Chinese company to eye the Swedish unit of Ford Motor Co.” The first Chinese company wooing Volvo of course is Geely—maybe.
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We are an equal opportunity auto news provider. Don’t like the news that China’s sales exploded by 55 percent in May? No problem! Go to Russia! In May, Russian car sales tanked by nearly 60 percent, Automobilwoche [sub] reports. The former great hope for car growth and member of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) states turns into a basket case. It’s down to BIC now to re-ignite growth. Ooops, Brazil’s first-quarter GDP shrank 1.8 percent, so let’s make that a bIC. Back to Russia’s implosion: Who’s to blame?

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Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology have co-developed a nickel-hydrogen battery that recharges in less than 10 seconds, the Nikkei [sub] reports. That should get your plug-in EV or hybrid back on the road much faster than getting a tank of gas, a coffee and a doughnut. The new battery’s performance barely declines even after 1,000 quick charges, the developers say. That’s the good news. The bad news:

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China’s BAIC is not giving up on its aspirations to buy a foreign brand, if Gasgoo is not mistaken. Beijing Automotive Industry Corp (BAIC), already a joint venture partner of Germany’s Daimler in China, may bid for General Motors’ Saab unit. Saab piqued their interest, as BAIC’s attempt to acquire Opel looks unlikely to succeed—at least for now.
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China’s automobile sales will “definitely break the 10-million-unit barrier” in 2009, says the China Passenger Car Association. Scratch that. The association said that “automobiles sales in China will touch 11 million units this year, on the basis of the total number of vehicles sold across the country in the first five months.” The forecast wasn’t made by reading green tea leaves. Sales have risen for the fifth consecutive month. May left everybody stunned with a 55 percent rise. China’s double digit growth came to a screeching halt last year. Now China is off to the races again and feeds dust to all others.

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The hangover following the late night rescue of Opel is causing bigger headaches by the day. Last week, the German magazine Focus wrote that half of the €1.5 billion bridge loan, guaranteed by the German government, could escape “abroad”—€600 million to Spain, €150 million to the UK. Today, Opel denied that report. According to Die Welt, a drive for charitable donations yielded €200 million from Spain. The governments of Belgium, Austria, Poland, and the UK also pledged hitherto unspecified amounts to keep their Opel factories open. Then, German media wrote that GM wouldn’t hand over the Opel patents gratis. Oh no, they would want €6.5 billion in license fees over the next 10 years, €200 million in preferred stock, and €300 million in cold, hard cash for the patents that had been supposedly “sold” by Opel to Delaware. That topic is currently open, but “sources” say it ain’t true. Then there’s the matter of €4 billion for the Opel pension fund. The German government was asked to come up with the money, the answer was: “Nein!” Will it ever end? Nein.

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From early indications, we assumed that May car sales would be great in China. Yet, we admit being kept speechless by the news that China’s car sales rocketed up 55 percent in May. That’s the most since the beginning of this year, data from China Passenger Car Association shows. And it’s the biggest growth China has seen in a long time.

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This one has less hilarity. But it is German, I mean germane to The Truth About Cars.

1973, at the tender age of 24, I defected to the enemy. BS, the former muckraking journalist, became a copywriter in a hotshot advertising agency. As the saying went, I didn’t sell out, I cashed in: As a junior copywriter, I was paid twice as much of what I had made before as the editor in chief of a muckraking journal.

Raking muck had paid shit. Advertising was paradise. Work was easy, no more nerve-racking and downright dangerous undercover research, just sit and write. Powered by pilsener. Soon, my salary multiplied. Times were good.

They put me on the Volkswagen account. I didn’t have the vaguest idea about cars. I didn’t even have a driver’s license. This qualified me as an utterly unbiased and unbelievably gullible tool of automotive propaganda.

One of my first jobs was to launch a new Volkswagen with a funny name: “Golf.”

Wendy Wiedeking can go easier on the Klonopin. If the sources of the German magazine Focus aren’t mistaken, Porsche’s CEO has found someone who can help him out of his financial predicament: His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The Emir of Qatar gave Wiedeking his royal word that he will shake loose several billions on Porsche’s behalf. Or rather the Sheikh’s sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will fork over the money. Focus says they have a handshake, but no signed paper because two options are on the table: the Sheikh buys shares of Porsche . . . or Volkswagen.

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China’s central government clearly isn’t enthralled with Tengzhong getting intimate with Hummer. If you want to get a feel for how they really feel, all you need to do is read Xinhua, their official news agency. Xinhua speaks for China’s government – with plausible deniability if something goes wrong. As far as Hummer goes, every single day, Xinhua has sown FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) about the marriage.

Today’s Hummer deathwatch, Xinhua style, opens as follows:

“General Motor’s Hummer is considered as an exaggerated and extreme example of a disregard for the environment and there are significant brand negatives for the Chinese company Tengzhong to buy it.” Make the jump for more death sentences ….