The tempo of Porsche’s global growth slowed to 7.2 percent in April on sales of 12,588 units. This is down from the 12.6 percent gain the folks from Zuffenhausen racked up from January to April. “What do you expect, European malaise,” is the knee-jerk reaction.

The surprising malaise is elsewhere, further east, much further east. (Read More…)

Some of you are probably tired of the continuous reporting on car sales in China. Executives of the world’s biggest carmakers think otherwise. Without China, their companies would be also-rans. General Motors for instance says it sells more cars in China than back home. January through April, GM reports 972,369 sales from the Middle Kingdom, versus 821,707 in America. Getting a firm hand on sales in the world’s largest car market is important, but difficult. The tear out from a table published by Reuters illustrates this vividly – to the numerically unchallenged. (Read More…)

Bill Cosby’s farewell to Carroll Shelby.

If GM’s Opel would have a jobs bank, its accounts would be bulging. Opel has far too much capacity for far too little sales.  The situation at Opel “is more dramatic than thought,” writes Germany’s Focus Magazin. The magazine got is hands on confidential production plan (most likely leaked by interested parties,) and the numbers are horrific. (Read More…)

Good news for armchair brand strategists: Porsche’s race to the bottom (of the price range) has been cancelled. There will be no entry-level roadster below the Boxster, Porsche CEO Matthias Müller told the Stuttgarter Zeitung today. It’s not that there won’t be lots of new customers for the bargain-Porsche. Current customers don’t want their brand to be devalued and debased, Müller says. (Read More…)

Ford wanted to hire Carlos Ghosn instead of Mulally. Ghosn said no. Kerkorian wanted Ghosn to save GM, Wagoner prevented it. For you, dear TTAC reader, Carlos Ghosn is available.

Chief of Nissan and Renault, Ghosn is the ultimate rock star of the industry. He is the master of the unprepared remark. Any of his statements, delivered with French-Brazilian-Lebanese flair and his trademark gesticulations, is more profound than thousands of PowerPoints delivered by overpaid management consultants. Today, absolutely free of charge, Carlos Ghosn lets us in on the secrets of running a successful car company. (Read More…)

Yesterday, Volkswagen sent out a gushing report, saying that group deliveries rose 6 percent in April and 8.6 percent January to April. Something smells in Wolfsburg. Let’s take a look. (Read More…)

Nissan pulled off an even bigger miracle than Toyota and ended a (this time truly) catastrophic year with a big profit. Today in Yokohama, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announced that Nissan delivered a pre-tax profit of 535.1 billion yen (US $6.76 billion) for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, “despite natural disasters and currency exchange headwinds.” (Read More…)

When a new generation of the world’s best selling car, and of the best selling cars of all times (accounts differ) rolls off the line at its factory, then this is usually a big deal. This time, it’s a smaller deal. The 11^th generation Corolla that started production today at Toyota’s new plant near Sendai in Japan’s tsunami-ravaged north, is a little shorter than its predecessor. It breaks a tradition of carbloat. (Read More…)

Attack on Opel’s sites in Germany: Opel’s vaunted German Tech Center will lose jobs to PSA in France. The Bochum plant will be closed in 2015. Even Opel’s ancestral seat in Rüsselsheim is endangered. GM is bleeding out Opel’s production base in Germany. This according to a report in Germany’s Spiegel Magazin. Unions suspect GM’s vengeance. Detroit wants to punish Germany for its opposition against GM’s austerity program. (Read More…)

Audi is on a roll. In April, the four ringed brand outsold BMW on a global basis. Today, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler promised at the annual shareholders meeting back home in bucolic Ingolstadt that Audi may reach its goal of selling 1.5 million cars per year earlier than planned. The reason: Unabated demand in China, the U.S. and Russia. (Read More…)

Just-Auto issued a breathless press release with the hot news that the nasty Chinese government has said no to a joint venture between Japan’s Subaru and China’s Chery. If this sounds like deja vu to you, then you are an ace analyst. Send your CV to just-auto. (Read More…)

Tesla is sitting on more than 10,000 orders for its all-electric Model S sedan. Tesla might finally deliver the first units next month, slightly ahead of plan, says Reuters. The only thing that keeps the production from starting is a successful completion of crash tests required by U.S. safety regulators. If the car doesn’t bomb during the crash, customers can soon flaunt their high-priced environmental responsibility while tooling down the car-pool lanes in solitary fashion. (Read More…)

Vehicle sales in China were up a tepid 5.19 percent in April, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) reports. From January to April, overall auto sales, including passenger cars and commercial vehicles, fell 1.33 percent year-on-year to 6.42 million units. Want better news? No problem! (Read More…)

The contract manufacturer Magna Steyr will assemble “a future luxury entry level compact vehicle” for Nissan’s premium brand Infiniti. This according to a joint statement issued by both companies. Production of the mystery vehicle will start in 2014. (Read More…)