High suspense in the bidding for Opel. On Wednesday evening at 6 p.m., the deadline for bids had run out. However, only one bid—by Fiat—was in. But where was Magna? Minutes before the clock struck 6—or 18:00 in Berlin—the German government declared a stay of, well, execution.Then, finally . . .
Yuasa is a well-known Japanese supplier of batteries. They just started to target the burgeoning market for automotive lithium cells. They commemorated this occasion with an electric car imported from the U.S.—in 1917.
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Wednesday, May 20th 2009. Final deadline for anybody who’s seriously interested in taking over Opel. Today, concrete and final plans and bids must be presented to GM and the German government in Berlin. Today, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Vice Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Economy Minister Guttenberg, Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück und Minister of Labor Olaf Scholz are meeting in Berlin to decide next steps, Automobilwoche [sub] writes. GM emissaries from Detroit are also standing by in Berlin to check the bids, Handelsblatt learned.
A bridge loan, estimated at €2 billion, has already been arranged. Condition: There needs to be a viable partner, and GM needs to agree to the German trustee model, which hasn’t been met with a lot of applause in Detroit. But they are running out of time and money at RenCen. When GM goes bankrupt by the end of the month, and no Opel deal is closed, all bets are off. Only two bidders seem to stand a chance in Berlin:
While sales of hybrids and plugins languish in the US, and are, for all intents and purposes, non-existent in Europe, in Japan, “the popularity of Honda Motor Co.’s Insight hybrid and the even greater popularity of Toyota Motor Corp.’s new Prius highlights that eco-friendly models are one of the few bright spots for automakers,” the Nikkei [sub] reports.
According to the Nikkei, “Honda’s Insight hybrid, released in February, became the best-selling model among all passenger cars, excluding minivehicles, in April.” Sales will heat up further after Toyota unveiled their third-generation Prius on Monday.
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The Porsche/Piech family feud has reached high politics and the gutter—which, according to some views, is about the same. Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the “hot phase” of the (European, ho-hum) elections, notably in Wolfsburg, seat of Volkswagen.
She was flanked by Christian Wulff, premier of Lower Saxony, owner of 20 percent of Volkswagen. Also there—unusual for a campaign rally—VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, and VW’s workers’ council chief, Bernd Osterloh. A show of unwavering unity, a signal to Stuttgart. Their contribution to the election that sends representatives to Brussels? A salvo in the direction of Brussels: “We are fighting for a Europe that doesn’t interfere with all decisions,” said the Chancelloresse. “One of these sacrosanct decisions is the VW-Law.” The very law that keeps Lower-Saxony in the driver seat of VW and keeps the riff-raff from Stuttgart from taking control of Volkswagen. Premier Wulff said it more clearly: “The sole dominance of VW by Porsche has failed.” And it’s getting steamier . . .
Another one bites the dust: The Volkswagen Santana, the car that provided the foundation of China’s mass motorization, will be put out to pasture in 2012, Gasgoo reports. The car’s history in the PRC provides a unique insight into the country’s move towards motorization.
Today, the supervisory board of Porsche has a sit-down in their super-secret R&D center in Weissach near Stuttgart. On the agenda: “How do we get out of this mess?” The meeting might not be very constructive. The board is heavy with members of both sides of the feuding Porsche and Piech clan. Ferdinand Piech himself will be there, along with Uwe Hück, head of the Porsche workers council. Last week, the former professional Thai boxer Hück had threatened he would report Piech to the authorities, on grounds of yet to be specified violations of securities laws. Only fools make idle threats to Piech.
In the late 70s, after Volkswagen had launched their new worldwide dealer network under the mysterious V.A.G. moniker. The V.A.G. dealers received a strong voice, their own national advertising campaign and a renewed focus on the importance of service. No wonder. Then as now, after-sales is the VW dealer’s number one profit center. The profit contribution of parts was often 30 percent or more. In 1979, for the first time, VW invited the service guys to the IAA auto show in Frankfurt. The suits asked me to come up with a spectacular concept for their debut. My first idea: fix cars live, Formula 1 pitstop style. Everybody liked it—until someone found out that the maximum height of the booth was 2.5 meters, way below the heights of the lift. Scratch that idea. Then I had an odd thought: Why not do it virtually?
Just got off the phone with my copyright lawyer. “Bertel, how many times do I have to tell you that ideas are not copyrightable.” “Yes, Sidney, I know, only the expression. But it’s a shame nonetheless.” There goes my last chance to get rich. What happened?
According to the pistonheads at Pistonheads.com, history goes into high RPMs again at Volkswagen. Due to the impending merger of Volkswagen and Porsche (which more and more looks like a takeover of Porsche by Piech) the company might need a new name. After all, Volkswagen-Porsche would sound unwieldy and would bring up memories of the ill-fated Volksporsche 914. Anyway, a holding company shouldn’t carry the name of one of its brands in its name (save for Ford, or Toyota, and many others.) The names of two brands in the name of one holding would be a bit too much. So someone floated a bright idea:
The fat lady of ACEA (European Auto Manufacturers Association) has sung her aria of April auto acquisitions. If you just want the skinny (as opposed to the fat): sales in all of Europe are down 12.3 percent compared to April 2008. Four months into 2009, the market decrease amounts to 15.9 percent. Compared to the carmageddon elsewhere, this ain’t so bad. A closer look reveals a mixed bag of surprising champs and walking dead.
Poor “walk-on-water” Wendelin Wiedeking is getting it from all sides. Yesterday, he was the Jesus Christ of the automotive world. Only He could perform the miracle of having more profits than sales—two times in a row. The multiplication of bread and dead fishes is mere amateur hour compared to the unnatural act of turning sales of €3b into profits of €7.34b. But will the man be revered until eternity? Just the opposite is true: After bringing in the bacon, Wiedeking is being led to the slaughterhouse, squeaking for his dear life. And yet, Wiedeking’s troubles are just the surface scatter of a brutal family feud that makes the War of the Roses look like flower power. They even brought in the Feds . . .
The Chinese “home grown” automaker Geely had been widely rumored to be highly interested in snapping up Volvo or Saab. Or both. They either have lost interest. Or they employ the stratagem usual in a Chinese market: Shout “Tai gui le!” (too expensive), make an indignant face, and walk away. If they run after you, the next round of haggling ensues.
Geely “has not submitted, and has no plans to submit, any bids concerning the takeovers of ‘Volvo’ or ‘Saab’ as stated in recent press articles,” said Geely in a notice to the Hong Kong stock exchange, and their stock price promptly jumped 13.6 percent, Gasgoo writes. It doesn’t mean they were not or are not interested. They just didn’t hand in a—formal—bid. They sure had been talking.
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Yesterday, we had a post about far-reaching plans of GM. They wanted to sell exactly 17,335 made-in-China cars in the U.S.—by 2011. And triple that audacious number (51,546) by 2014. Or so they say in a (supposedly) confidential 12-page presentation to members of Congress. Trouble is, nobody really knows who will make the cars.
Gasgoo says today, “Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (Group) (SAIC), GM’s Chinese partner, said it hasn’t got such information from GM yet.” Mei you! Never heard of it. Could it be that someone just wants to rattle the UAW’s cage? If that’s the case, then the colleagues in Shanghai blew their cover. Or, less sinister, but more likely, does the left hand have no knowledge of the actions of the right? Or maybe, the cuts are so deep that they sent the P.O. by slow boat to China?
In the WTF dept., “Hyundai Motor India is planning to shift production of one of its premium models to Europe after a strike over unionization at its south India plant that led to the mass arrest of 750 protesters,” reports Financial Times.
The move reflects growing skepticism of international automakers about the political climate in what used to be one of the world’s most promising growth markets.
China’s new car sales come roaring back. After a strong first quarter, China’s passenger car sales, including minivans, rocketed up a whopping 44.5 percent in April from a year earlier. Shen me? (Excuse me?)
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