GM has rocky relations with its Korean unions, and the relations will get a lot rockier if what Germany’s Handelsblatt says is true. According to the report, GM is seriously looking into moving most of the production of the Opel Mokka to Europe.
Currently, the hot selling SUVlet is made in South Korea only. Says Reuters: (Read More…)
Russia is one of the BRIC countries, the folks that are supposed to power the world to new prosperity. Too bad Russia is running out of steam. Russian car sales dropped 12 percent in May, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) told Reuters. (Read More…)
To hell with saving gas: As TTAC’s sales analyst Tim Cain wrote a week ago, big trucks are back with a vengeance. It’s not just that sales are up by double digits. Transaction prices are up big.
“In many ways, this may be an even better time than before the recession,” writes Automotive News [sub]. “Although volumes remain well below the previous peaks, average transaction prices for full-sized pickups have increased at more than double the average rate for the industry since 2005.” (Read More…)
Your Carfax data is going to new hands. IHS, the company that owns businesses from the defense publication Jane’s all the way to the not always reliable Global Insight, told Reuters that “it struck a deal to buy privately held R.L. Polk & Co, the owner of used-car history provider Carfax and a leading provider of auto industry data.” (Read More…)
That sound you’ve been hearing for nearly two decades is the weeping and gnashing of teeth roused by the Chevrolet Beretta’s demise. Oh, Ford Probe, we hardly knew ye. Whither the Dodge Daytona? Let’s look at the continuing decline of an empire, formerly ruled by the American Muscle Car. (Read More…)
“Hybrid and electric cars are sparing the environment. Critics say they’re hurting the roads,” writes Bloomberg. “The popularity of these fuel-efficient vehicles is being blamed for a drop in gasoline taxes that pay for local highway and bridge maintenance, with three states enacting rules to make up the losses with added fees on the cars and at least five others weighing similar legislation.”
(Read More…)
What do People’s Daily, the voice of China’s Communist Party, and Jalopnik have in common? More than you would imagine. Just as a for instance, both are masters of the fine art of pecksniffian outrage. Both are experts when it comes to condemning loose morals, as long as the condemnation can be illustrated with enough graphic, click-generating pictures that show said loose morals in practice. Sanctimonious click-whoring knows no boundaries, and it transcends ideologies: Gawker and CCCP, unite!
A few days ago, Peoples Daily ran an 11 high resolution picture gallery, ostensibly condemning the fact that
“in addition to taking off clothes, some commercial promotions have chosen a more disgusting way to attract public attention. From sexy dress to body painting, public’s moral bottom line has been challenged again and again.”
(Jalopnik, aware of its TL;NR clientele, would have said it with fewer words, and with at least as many pictures.)
(Read More…)
“Struggling to match rivals’ scale and efficiency in smaller cars, as well as their success in China, Stuttgart-based Daimler has fallen further behind German peers BMW and Volkswagen,” reports Reuters. Alone by bringing outsourced SAP systems in-house, Daimler wants to save €150 million (nearly $200 million.) (Read More…)
With Volvo in Chinese hands, with a new Volvo plant in Chengdu “more or less completed,” and a second assembly plant in Daqing to come online in late 2014, there have been reports in Europe that Volvos may soon come from China instead from Sweden. Not true, Volvo’s production chief Lars Wrebo told Automobilwoche [sub]. However, “other markets” than Europe could get the Made-in-China Volvos. (Read More…)
Fiat might be looking for another Chinese joint venture partner to manufacture Jeeps, Fiat CEo Sergio Marchionne told Reuters. “In China we have a good partner, and we have the possibility to use a second one to develop Jeep,” Marchionne said. (Read More…)
Today we inaugurate a new series: As the Best & Brightest. Many sites dispense advice, and you know what they say about the free variety. At TTAC, we unleash the massive power of our readers and commenters to answer tough questions, for which there is no easy answer.
Today, John Lunbeck asks whether his brother-in-law (and by default John’s sister) should start a luxury car dealership.
John writes:
“My pretty savvy brother-in-law has the means and ambition to become a franchisee here in the US for some luxury makes. My question is, is that wise at this point? (Read More…)
I had no idea that today is National Donuts Day, would Jenna of Webershandwick.com (“Our passion, intelligence and commitment are essential ingredients in our clients’ success“) not have sent me a free link to a free donut video. (Read More…)
An attempt of Germany to water down CO2 targets, about to be imposed by the EU, explains why automakers are eager to build EVs despite a lack of an eager market. Germany proposes that so-called supercredits can be used to off-set the limits. “Unlimited supercredits could allow the manufacture of electric cars for which there is little or no demand, while allowing just as many polluting vehicles as before on to the roads,” campaigners against supercredits told Reuters. (Read More…)
Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne jumped, so to speak, into the flames erupting around the rebuffed Jeep recall. Says Reuters:
“Marchionne Friday reiterated Chrysler’s resistance to a recall of 2.7 million older-model Jeep vehicles, adding that the automaker is preparing to supply the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with information it had requested.”
After enduring what The Motor Report calls “a spiraling and damaging media campaign – run, in the main, by Fairfax media,” Volkswagen spoke up. According to Reuters, “Australian Managing Director John White told Australia’s Fairfax newspaper on Friday that VW “have issues” after car owners complained of transmission and engine failures causing loss of power, but did not order a general recall.” (Read More…)
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