Legs of RenCen executives must be covered with black and blue marks from kicking themselves daily for not unloading Opel when the German government offered to take the sick patient off GM’s hands. A deal, financed with $6 billion courtesy of German tax payers and a little petty cash from Russian bankers would have given GM a little money and an immediate end of the huge losses at Opel. Frankly, nobody in Germany had much hope for an Opel under Magna and the Russians either, it was seen as a hospice where to wheel the sick patient until it dies in silence, a la Saab.

At the last minute, GM changed its mind. Who made the ill-fated decision? Was Akerson for keeping Opel, or for getting rid of it? (Read More…)

If GM wants to know what will happen when things get tough at its Opel plants, all it has to do is ask partner PSA. Workers at PSA’s doomed Aulnay plant  “face jeers and threats, as well as eggs and other objects hurled by striking colleagues protesting against the shutdown and Peugeot’s restructuring plans,” as Reuters reports from the frontlines. (Read More…)

Did you do what we told you and collect bets on China’s auto market in January? Even if you usually disagree with TTAC, even if you only read TTAC ten times a day to see what scandalous biased stuff we write, this time, you should have followed our advice. China’s new cars sales in January were up 46.38 percent as compared to January 2012, says China’s manufacturers association CAAM. How did we see that coming? (Read More…)

Daimler’s trials and tribulations should be a warning to those automakers who are too gung-ho about the Chinese market. The market is big, but it can hurt big when there are Chinese constipations. Daimler has been falling behind in China while its Bavarian competition by Audi and BMW racked-up double digit gains in the Middle Kingdom.  Promptly, the Chinese flu affected the whole body. Says Reuters: (Read More…)

This was then ….

1973, the year when BS started his long career of doing propaganda for Volkswagen, is known for two equally momentous occasions: Volkswagen prepared for the initial launch of the Golf. Also, formerly staid Volkswagen became a bit risque when marketing its iconic Bug, and promptly got into hot water. 40 years later, they are doing it again. Hopefully, people have more humor than 40 years ago. I doubt it. (Read More…)

Trolls ‘R’ Us

The campaign for TTAC’s Top Troll goes into its final stretch. Nominations for the TTAC Top Troll Poll have been made.  Some folks received multiple nominations, but we will not declare a winner just yet. The Top Troll will be decided by popular vote. Tomorrow, Friday, we go to the Top Troll Polls. But first, we need your help. (Read More…)

Waiting for Godot-san

In my report from Toyota’s quarterly results, there was one thing I forgot to mention decided to keep for later. As long as I have been going to these things, and it has been a while, the first question has always been given to a Nikkei reporter. Old Japanese custom, like AP (and recently Reuters) at the Whitehouse. As long as I have been going to these things, the Nikkei reporter always asked when Toyota wants to make a profit and pay taxes at home. That kabuki dance is disguised as “when can we expect positive results on an unconsolidated basis?” The folks in the room need no translation, they roll their eyes and pens, or check their Brakkubely. That’s a Blackberry for you. This time, it was different. (Read More…)

Some people like to bitch about the crafty Nips who are manipulating their currency again. Other people like to cash-in on sudden swings in currency valuations. If you are of the second kind, then Reuters recommends a look at formerly beaten-down stocks of Japanese carmakers who nearly went under during years of unfettered appreciation of the ¥en. (Read More…)

Opel sales chief Matthias Seidl

The rebellion of German Opel dealers against a new, complicated and  – in the dealers’ views – disastrous distribution system was victorious.  Opel’s sales chief Matthias Seidl withdrew  the discredited and disdained design. “Dealers succeeded with their demands for a simpler system,” writes Automobilwoche [sub]. (Read More…)

Here we go. Are you sitting down?

Presenting its Q3 financials in Tokyo today, Toyota delivered much higher profits and much higher sales while promising even higher profits at pretty much flat sales for the future. With a man on his left who looked like an accountant, and who had a big accountant’s briefcase on his knee, ready to pull whatever document his master needs, and a very quiet Shigeru Hayakawa on his right, Toyota Senior Managing Officer Takahiko Ijichi did forecast a net profit of 860 billion yen ($9.3 billion) for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2013 up from the previously forecasted 780 billion yen. He also signaled a pause in Toyota’s rapid expansion: (Read More…)

Our mascot

Like any good on-line community, TTAC has its fair share of those little supernatural beings from Norse mythology, called trolls. If I tell you that some people call trolls fairies, this will immediately cause protests of LGBT discrimination, racism, or worse. How do you bring trolls out? Simple, you bait them. For instance with sentences such as the above. We have a better idea: We want you to elect TTAC’s SUPERTROLL. (Read More…)

Needs a lift

Three days ago, I showed you how to become a clairvoyant without even trying, or just by reading TTAC.  If you followed my simple method of predicting the Chinese market in January and February, you could now collect on your first bet. GM, our patent-pending sales oracle for the Chinese market reports humongous sales, and an “all-time record month in China.” Is that the big turn-around? (Read More…)

It is good to hear that bad puns have survived a decade of uptight up-positioning at Volkswagen, and are alive and well. You had me worried, friends. Under the tagline  “As sun as possible”, Volkswagen starts a digital campaign that brings the new Beetle Cabriolet to the Interwebs. (Read More…)

Opel’s new CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann isn’t officially CEO yet, and he already is facing a rebellion of his troops. Opel dealers threaten to discontinue the brand if Opel won’t withdraw a new distribution system. The dealers say the system comes from where Neumann and Opel’s sales chief Matthias Seidl come from: From Volkswagen. (Read More…)

You think gas is finally getting cheaper? Cars that use less gas may be a bit more expensive, but save you money in the long run? Households in the United States spent a record amount on gasoline last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Monday. More of your income is going out and exhaust pipe than at any time since the 1980s. (Read More…)