The Guardian reports that in the first 9 months of 2009, Volkswagen/Porsche made 4.4 million cars whereas Toyota made 4 million. Naturally, the majority of VW’s growth has come from the area which is growing even faster than VW, China. But the lads from the Middle Kingdom weren’t the only modes of growth for Volkswagen. The Wolfsburg warriors were also beneficiaries of European stimulus packages (A.K.A: Cash for Clunkers) where Volkswagen have large market share (Germany, UK, etc). Charity really does begin at home!
(Read More…)

Ever since GM announced that Saturn would be winding down, there’s been a niche-brand-like hole in the Canadian car market. And rather than learning from GM’s struggles, Toyota’s jumping right in to repeat them. The Star reports that ToMoCo have announced that Scion is going to Canada. Toyota will start off with 45 dealerships in urban settings (makes sense for an urban marque, I suppose); 20 in Toronto, 18 in Montreal and 7 in Vancouver. It’ll start off as a “store within a store” format. “The next generation of young car buyers is carving its own unique social and cultural experiences and Scion dealers will be part of their lifestyle,” Larry Hutchinson, Scion’s director in Canada, said. By slathering sensible cars which appeal to empty-nester boomers with youth-oriented marketing? Yeah, that’s been working well so far…

(Read More…)

Roast chicken, roast lamb, roast pork, roast beef, roast….Lutz? That’s right. The car world’s most favorite big mouth is going to get it shut, at least for an evening. Bob Lutz is being roasted in the name of the arthritis foundation of the United States. Maximum Bob is going to check his ego in at the door and have people shout barbed comments at him and all he can do is smile (a bit like when our own “Bob” Farago met him). In the past, comedy roasts have produced some great comments, my favorite being when Lisa Lampanelli said that Danny Bonaduce was the the only person in room who was in a good band (Gene Simmons was the guest of honor). Some comments have been very, very great but we couldn’t possibly print them on TTAC! So the question of the day is this: If you had to write one joke for Bob Lutz’ roast, what would it be? Here’s my entry: “It’s nice to see Bob Lutz and arthritis coming together. Normally, when Bob Lutz and cars come together, all the driver gets is rigor mortis!”. Thank you! I’ll be here all week!

[Ed: Roasters are said to include Fritz Henderson, Ed Wellburn, Jean Jennings, Brian Nesbitt and Brent DeWar… Jason Vines will be the MC. When asked if  a certain Robert Farago could contribute, either in person or in a video appearance, organizer Michelle Glazier said “We’re more or less selling things, not slamming things.” Pity.]

Since VW and Porsche started playing footsie, there have been enough twists and turns to fill TTAC’s pages with nothing but Deutsche drama. First there was Porsche’s audacious bid for Volkswagen’s. Then, there was Volkswagen’s fight back to take over Porsche. Now, the Norwegians are unhappy. Norges Bank Investment Management, the bank which manages the fund invests Norway’s huge oil revenues, fear that the takeover of Porsche by Herr Piech and his band of Merry Volkswageners will, as the NBIM said in a letter to the members of the board of Volkswagen, “leave the impression of being designed to suit the needs of the Porsche controlling families.” Avarice? In the Porsche families? What next?

(Read More…)

Derren Brown is, for me, the World’s greatest illusionist. In his career, he has, played Russian Roulette (and won), predicted the National Lottery numbers live on TV and tricked bookmakers in paying out on bets which hadn’t won. But this problem, I think, would have been beyond him. How do you revive a car plant in a high cost country? The answer? A 4 month break.

(Read More…)

We all want to leave a legacy to the world. Nelson Mandela tore down apartheid, Mohandas K Gandhi brought independence to India and William Wilberforce abolished slavery in the UK. When “New GM” was formed we were told that this company would be free from its legacies. Well, there’s one legacy it can’t shake.

(Read More…)

Let’s imagine that Bob Lutz has quit his job (“New GM? It’s a crock of shit!”) and you applied for the job and got it. What would you do? How would you change “New GM’s” marketing? Would you change some of GM’s brands’ slogans (“The New Class in World Class”)? Would you redefine some of the brands? Maybe you know a better spokesman than Ed Whitacre? Maybe a new brand is the order of the day? Bob Lutz does come in for a lot of stick, but could you do any better? Please help “New GM”, you’re their only hope . . .

I’ve long argued that if Detroit were to be nationalized (and it was, not that I’m arguing it was a good idea) the US government should make Detroit make it worth the taxpayers’ while and return production from low wage countries, such as Mexico, to the United States. This would have two effects: more US citizens would be hired and the government’s trade deficit would be reduced. Hey, if you’re going to make a private enterprise a government arm, then make that government arm contribute something positive to the country. Much of Detroit’s portfolio is made in Mexico: the Ford Fusion, the (yet to be released) Ford Fiesta, The Ford F-Series, the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra, the Chevrolet Aveo/Pontiac G3 and the Chevrolet HHR to name but a few. This has long been a practice of Detroit and some transplants (e.g., VW with the Jetta and Beetle; Toyota with the Tacoma). Exploit low wage countries for maximum profits in higher wage countries. Well, Honda didn’t get the message.

(Read More…)

A few days ago Ferdinand “JR Ewing” Piech was quoted as wanting to buy another 2 brides for his Volkswagen harem because as he puts it “A dozen is easier to remember than 10”. Well, it seems like he’s bored of his French beauty (Bugatti), his English rose (Bentley), his German frauliein (Audi) and his Spanish senorita (SEAT) and now, according to the Chosun Ilbo, has his sights on the South Korean salad dodger, Ssangyong. Yup, Ssangyong. Seriously.

(Read More…)

Mick Jagger once sang that “you can’t always get what you want,” and, to a degree, he was right. As a petrol head and committed environmentalist, I’ve found I’ve had to make compromises. After going crazy in my friend’s Porsche Boxster, I develop a painful pang of guilt of all the resources I wasted in the name of fun. No, really. Likewise, after driving greenly in my Toyota Yaris on a long drive (achieving 50 mpg for anyone who’s interested), I feel like I’ve watched a Russell Brand stand up show (i.e., I feel like my soul is damaged due to the absence of fun). But now it seems like Mr. Jagger’s words are out of date. Apparently, you CAN get what you want . . . .

(Read More…)

Have you ever looked at something and just are not able to see the point of it? The Simpsons, Kim Bauer,  RC Cola and Michael Bay’s career all spring to mind, but right now I’m more confused than a chameleon standing next to a rainbow. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chrysler are raising production of their minivans at their plant in Windsor, Ontario. More precisely, they are raising production of their right hand drive, diesel minivans for export (naturally). This will be the first time RHD minivans are built at Chrysler’s Canadian plant.

Car magazine reports that Jaguar wants to build an XE take on Porsche in the two-seater roadster market. The company is planning to produce some version of this garish, over-wrought, beltline-up-to-its-nipples, wagon-wheeled, bastard child of a Z-car mated with an Aston. It would slot into the £40K – £50K bracket, between the slow-selling Cayman and the slow-selling iconic 911 range. The rear wheel-drive Jag will/might/should share its aluminium architecture with the XF and XJ models. It’ll be powered by 275bhp V6 or a 350bhp supercharged version of same. The plan: introduce the XE roadster by 2013. If successful, convertible and R versions to follow. If not, not. In theory, the baby cat will be styled more gracefully than Rita Hayworth (ignoring all evidence to the contrary), rival a wood burning stove for reliability and begin life in the UK. OK but—the X-Type was supposed to be a BMW 3-series killer. Something got killed in the process, and it wasn’t German.

Let’s say you have one of the most unproductive car factories in the world. Car research firm CSM Worldwide says it’ll run at 37 percent this year and possibly 31 percent next year. So what do you do? That’s right, you crank up production. This story just goes to show you how a bailout can be more of a hindrance than a help. Renault has no choice but to keep production at their plant in Sandouville running despite it failing catastrophically. This is because Renault accepted a €3B bailout loan from the French government. A loan which came with a caveat, “Keep production open at French factories!” And now . . .

(Read More…)

Troy Clarke, President of GM’s North American operations, decided answer back on some issues plaguing GM while addressing students at Southern Methodist University (home of the George W. Bush Presidential Library). Clark started with the usual PR blurb; GM is one of the largest auto manufacturers in the world, and that they bring us household brands, like Chevrolet, Buick, Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer and Cadillac. Well, until they kill Pontiac and sell off Hummer. And Buick slips in the shower and dies. While we could read into Clarke’s reference to GM as “one of” the world’s largest automakers rather than calling it “the largest,” there were other gems from the presentation. Clarke went on to trumpet GM’s phenomenal fuel economy stable: they have 18 models that get 30 mpg or better. Ray Wert trashed this myth previously: these 18 cars represent 30% of GM’s overall line up, whereas Toyota’s and Honda’s 30+mpg club represents 55 and 60%, respectively. Then came the thorny issue of “the bailout”. Or not. Because it’s not a bailout. Is it? Clarke told the crowd that actually, it’s not a bailout. It’s just a return for the taxpayer. Nice! “Congress has mandated an industry average of 35 mpg or better by 2020,” Clarke said. “This was the figure that they thought was reasonable and would not bankrupt the car companies, but it just depends on how valuable sooner results in this facet are to the American taxpayer.” Fancy that! Even though, I’m not a United States’ taxpayer, I’d hazard a guess that citizens would want their taxes spent on things like roads, defense and fixing social security, rather than a company run into the ground by clueless executives.