Chinacartimes, the website that monitors the Chinese car market, put its finger on a disturbing new trend in China: Cars adorned with Nazi paraphernalia.“Some Chinese like to dress up in period military costumes and stick WW2 era German military insignia all over their motors,” reports Ash Sutcliffe, the owner/operator of the site. (Read More…)

Today, the Moscow Motor show opened its doors its doors to the public. This time, it is the Russian of more modest means who has the attention of the world’s carmakers, keen to profit from one of Europe’s few growing markets,” says Reuters, reporting from the show. (Read More…)

Electric cars haven’t taken the market by storm, despite a hurricane of propaganda, and despite of tsunamis of government subsidies.  Now, India is joining the fray. India will spend some money to entice its citizens to go electric. Like the U.S. and China, India expects them to do so by the droves. (Read More…)

When U.S. August sales numbers will be announced next week, TrueCar expects them to be up strongly. The Santa Monica forecaster predicts August new light vehicle sales to be in the neighborhood of  1,255,392 units, up 17.2 percent from August 2011. TrueCar’s forecast would translate into a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (“SAAR”) of 14.2 million new car sales, up from 12.1 million in August 2011. (Read More…)

In the most recent installments of the never-ending rumors on Lincoln’s long march to China, Chinese media claimed that the Lincolns would be built at a new Ford plant in Hangzhou.  Dearborn denied everything. Yesterday, Ford confirmed for the first time that Lincoln would be coming to China. Today, Ford broke ground  at the Hangzhou plant, while someone says that Lincoln had been in China on the say, and that it did not work out. (Read More…)

Japan’s automakers released global production and sales data for July today. It is an ancient Japanese tradition, which is also shared by large European carmakers, but shunned by most American globals. GM for instance reports only quarterly on a global basis, and keeps observers guessing in between. July data released by Japanese large automakers shows a strong rebound after last year’s multiple disasters. Honda looks especially strong, while Toyota’s march towards regaining the title “World’s largest automaker 2012” appears unstoppable. (Read More…)

There had been consistent rumors of an entry-level Porsche, below the Boxster. Porsche CEO Matthias Müller discounted the rumors, again and again. Just to be sure, Müller denied rumors of a discount Porsche again today, but he also admitted that plans for a low price Porsche were not mere rumors. The plans exist. Somewhere on a shelf at Porsche. (Read More…)

While foreign cars are still a bit underrepresented in Japan, fueling fierce allegations of trickery by unions, democrat lawmakers and grossly underrepresented Detroit carmakers, foreign carparts do not have this problem. With the yen stuck at abnormally high level, Japanese carmakers more and  more buy their parts cheaper overseas. (Read More…)

There have been many rumors of an impending launch of the Lincoln brand in China, and so far, they had been rumors. Now, the rumor becomes reality. Ford will launch its Lincoln brand in China within two years, says Reuters.  Ford is not banking on big iron alone.  Ford, says Reuters, “is also developing a low-cost car under the mainstream brand to appeal to more price-sensitive consumers in the fast-growing cities in western China. This vehicle will compete with GM’s Sail car.” (Read More…)

Dany Bahar, the disgraced former CEO of the money-losing British sportscar maker Lotus, sued Lotus and its Malaysian parent DRB-Hicom for wrongful dismissal. According to Bloomberg, Bahar wants 6.7 million pounds ($10.6 million) from Lotus for alleged unlawful early termination of his employment. The media got wind of the lawsuit after  DRB-Hicom made a filing at the Kuala Lumpur Bursa. (Read More…)

Part of Saab’s presumptive “quirky” image is a serious lack of funds.  Saab “bled red like a stuck pig” as Car & Driver so delicately put it. Saab was sold when GM ran out of money. Victor Muller didn’t have the funds, and Saab’s future owner, Made-in-China Swede Jiang Dalong also seems to suffer the cash flow problem that is so familiar to all who touch Saab.  The presumptive buyer has received an ultimatum by the bankruptcy administrators: Pay in full until Friday, or the deal is off. (Read More…)

Porsche saw the Paris Motor Show coming, and asked: “Und was zeigen wir denn da?” A Porsche FNG had an idea: “How about a 4WD Porsche 911 Carrera?”  The others rolled their eyes: “Been done before.” The FNG did not give up: “How about a new 4WD Porsche 911 Carrera then?” And so it happened. (Read More…)

Divorces can be messy and expensive (ask me how I know) and take longer than thought (ask Frau Schmitto-san how she knows). Or ask Ford and Mazda. When Ford’s love affair with Mazda unraveled because Ford needed the cash, there was the case of their Chinese three-way joint venture with Changan. Two years ago, a deal was struck. It supposedly received the all-important Chinese government approval. Supposedly. Today, the threesome still isn’t dissolved. But it won’t be much longer. (Read More…)

Victor Muller managed to sell out to China after all. Today it was announced (full press release here) that Muller’s Spyker and former Saab suitor Youngman will form two companies. Spyker calls them “joint ventures,” but they look more like companies owned mostly by Youngman, with Spyker holding a token share. (Read More…)

Next week, Russian and Japanese dignitaries will assemble in the frigid Siberian port city of Vladivostok to celebrate the opening of the first Japanese car plant in the Russian Far East.  On September 6, Mazda will start Russian production of its best-selling CX-5 SUV and the new Mazda6 sedan, says The Nikkei [sub] – most likely after having received an invitation. (Read More…)