Launching a new car division is tough. A monumental task, you might say. And it has to be executed just right. I’ll give you an example, look at Lexus. When Lexus was launched in the United States, it was a hit. It didn’t take much to separate American drivers from their Cadillacs, Lincolns and Buicks. Now compare this to the European launch. Lexus never really took off. Why? Well, a good reason would be that when Lexus starting exporting to Europe, Germany was making luxury cars to a high standard already, so Lexus was nothing special. Hyundai knows this. (Read More…)

Toyota has been taken to task quite a few times over the past few months. But now it’s time for Ralph Nader to take his pot shot at them. Why so late?

Ralph Nader is no stranger to calling car companies out on their safety. He took GM to task over the safety of the Corvair. Claims which the NHTSA and Texas A&M University studied and dismissed, but were backed up by John DeLorean. But now Mr Nader has Toyota in his crosshairs. (Read More…)

Over the past few weeks, I was surprised by the responses to my “Weekend Head Scratchers” (WHS). It seemed that you lot liked them, a lot. This is why I kept writing them. Throughout the week, I’d be sitting at my desk or asking myself for ideas, trying to get inspiration for the next WHS. I felt like a priest trying to tie something in the news to his next sermon. Then, I did something bad. I jumped the shark. Last week, I created a game for the week WHS, where we played “Fantasy Car Maker” whereby you had to create your own car company by buying car brands from around the world and justify why you bought them. It flopped, big time. I bet you don’t even remember seeing it. But that’s what happens when you believe your own bullsh*t! Well, for this week, I’m going back to basics and keeping it simple. (Read More…)

In 1999, a group of shareholders launched a court action against DaimlerChrysler management. They shareholders felt that their shares in Daimler AG (before the DaimlerChrysler “merger of equals”) were undervalued because management used an unfair exchange ratio (1.005 shares of DCX to every share of old Daimler AG). In 2006, a Stuttgart court ruled in favor of the shareholders and ordered DaimlerChrysler to pay them €230m (about $321m in today’s exchange rates). As far as everyone was concerned, that was the end of that. But not to Daimler. (Read More…)

Since the recession, I’ve been paying attention to my finances. I’ve re-negotiated my mobile phone plan, changed gas and electricity suppliers and cut my pay-tv package down. I then started to look at driving costs. I re-negotiated my car insurance, but the real saving was in fuel costs. How do I cut the use of an expensive commodity? I did contemplate changing my little 6 year old Toyota Yaris for a hybrid. Whilst I was doing the math, a story was emailed to me. (Read More…)

Despite losing $600m, Vauxhall/Opel is planning for the future. They’re bringing the Chevrolet Volt to Europe and they expect to be back in the black by 2012. Now, it appears, they want to fill that hole in their lineup. You know? That city car sized hole? Just below the Corsa.

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A couple of days ago I wrote about how Peugeot is looking to South East Asia for the next area of big growth. I also mentioned in the article how Peugeot will have a tough time trying to crack that market. Toyota, Honda and Nissan already have a pretty tight grip on that area. Well, it appears that Toyota has put forward their first defensive stroke. (Read More…)

When the whole “acceler-gate” scandal broke out, there were, pretty much, two reactions.

1. OH MY GOD!!!!!! STOP DRIVING YOUR TOYOTAS!!!!!! WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!!!!!

And 2. Witch-hunt. Witch-hunt. Witch-hunt!

Well, irrespective of who was right, an investigation of the whole affair needed to happen. The US government did an investigation of their own and didn’t like the results. But Toyota also did an investigation of its own. They found something. (Read More…)

Given the controversy of the Volt (earned or not), GM is being closely watched from all angles. Some people think that GM hasn’t changed. Others think that this may delay GM’s IPO. But, ironically what hasn’t changed, despite the witch-hunt of GM’s owners, is Toyota’s unwavering support of GM. (Read More…)

Approximately two weeks ago, I reported how Volkswagen CEO, Martin Winterkorn, confirmed that Porsche was going to bring us a new, smaller SUV. A sort of younger brother to the Cayenne called the “Cajun”. Well, it appears that the “Cajun” and few other things aren’t so clear cut. Either that or someone doesn’t value their career at Volkswagen. Or rather Porsche. (Read More…)

A few days ago Ford reported that 35 percent of the Lincoln dealers are superfluous and should be sent out to pasture – to avoid the word “cull.” The metro areas appear to have a particular overabundance of Lincoln dealers. According to Mark Fields, President of Ford Americas, this is where “the efficiencies” need to come from. The news didn’t go down too well. The Freep quoted one dealer. “It was a somber day,” said Larry Taylor, Lincoln-Mercury dealer near Dayton, Ohio, “I’m secure. But there are some guys who have had a store for 50, 60 years who are going to have to give that up.” Mark Fields, President of Ford Americas is adamant: “We are fully committed to transforming Lincoln into a world-class luxury brand.” Now Ford is upping the ante against uppity Lincoln dealers. (Read More…)

I’m not a big fan of Ford. But you have to respect their turnaround. They took a huge gamble at a really, economically-speaking, dangerous time. What’s also hard to deny is Alan Mulally’s charisma and ability to get people to work together.

Without it, Ford would be tapping that line of credit they secured from the US government. Well, while I was reading the BBC website I came across this radio show, Global Business with Peter Day. And Alan Mulally was the guest for today’s episode. I found it very interesting and I hope you do too. Click on the link  to take you to listen.

A few months ago I reported how Renault was planning on pulling out of IBC Vehicles (a joint venture between Nissan, General Motors and Renault) so they could take production of their Renault Trafic van to their underutilized plant in Sandouville, France. This would have left IBC Vehicles in trouble as valuable volume would have left the plant in a precarious position. Well, it seems IBC Vehicles can now afford to say “Au Revoir” to Renault. (Read More…)

When Renault, Nissan and Daimler all tied up together many people thought this was just a symbolic gesture. The venture may help each other out in designs and joint ventures, but personally, I didn’t see anything of real substance happening from it. Well, it seems that Nissan and Daimler are taking this cross holding seriously. Very seriously. (Read More…)

With sanctions piling up against Iran because of their nuclear ambitions, Iran is getting more and more isolated on the world stage. They need to assert their authority and let the world know they won’t be pushed around. And they may have found a way of doing it according to the Iranian Student’s News Agency (ISNA). (Read More…)