Remember the Saturn Vue? It’s back, baby, and more cannibalistic than ever. Starting in 2011, the refreshed Chevrolet Captiva will be undercutting Opel’s Antara, itself a rebadge of the same Daewoo Winstorm. Because what Opel needs right now is to prove that sometimes it’s worth paying a little extra for a German brand on your rebadged Korean Crossover. That’s what you call giving a brand a sense of purpose. Meanwhile, does anyone out there actually miss the Vue?
Bloomberg reports that Ford will not build its Kuga compact crossover at its Louisville, KY plant due to the falling Euro and UAW recalcitrance. According to the report
The promise of Kuga production in Louisville began to fall apart in November when UAW members rejected Ford’s request to match givebacks it gave General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC. Ford’s U.S. rivals, which each reorganized in bankruptcy last year, were granted a six-year freeze on wages for new hires and a ban on some strikes until 2015… The euro has fallen 14 percent against the dollar since Ford reached a tentative deal with the UAW in October to build the Kuga in Louisville alongside its mechanical twin, the Escape. At the time, the dollar had declined against the euro, lowering the cost of U.S.-made goods. Since then, the euro has dropped amid concerns Europe’s debt crisis may trigger another recession.
Barclays analyst Brian Johnson explains
This is a reminder to the UAW that Ford’s U.S. cars don’t have to be produced in the U.S. Ford’s global architecture allows them to build anywhere. That’s good news if the U.S. has competitive labor costs. It’s bad news if they don’t
Here’s a cheery study on the effects of Peak Oil, which is widely considered to be happening…right about now (throw in a few more hours/months/years depending on how big of an optimist/denialist you are). Der Spiegel got their hands on a confidential study commissioned by the German military, which has not yet been sanitized approved for publication. It’s a bit explosive…might get the civilian population riled up and all. It warns of shifts in the global balance of power, the decline of importance of western nations (oil importers), as well as “the total collapse of the markets” and…gulp…even worse. Let’s go talk about 1970 Boss 302 Mustangs. Read More >
Via Autocar come these pictures of a jacked-up Fiesta variant undergoing development testing. Rumors of a Fiesta-based MPV have been rampant, as European competitors have been bombarding the B-segment with bigger, and/or butched-up new models like Kia’s Venga (and it’s forthcoming sibling, the Hyundai ix20), Opel’s suicide-doored Meriva, Toyota’s Verso S,and VW’s PoloCross. Ford’s Fiesta-based entry could resemble the brand’s Iosis-Max concept, and it will probably be built in Romania. Based on the dearth of camouflage, we’d also guess it’s going for the “butch” more than the “big” section of the B segment. Needless to say, it’s unlikely to ever arrive in the US, where the idea of taking a B-segment hatch into the dirt occurs only to the desperately unwell.
As Germany tumbles, so does the rest of Europe (insert your own World War II or Euro currency joke here). As France, Italy and Spain withdrew their “bangers for cash” boondoggles, so did the public’s interest in new cars. The Wall Street Journal reports that in France new car sales dropped 9.8 percent compared to last year. However, according to the French car manufacturers’ association, if you factor out the extra working day in August, sales dropped by 14 percent. Read More >
When Opel needed a a low-cost subcompact for the European market, it did what all good car companies do: rebadged a Suzuki. And thus, the Opel Agila was born. For the latest version of the Agila, which debuted in 2008, Opel opted to let Suzuki build the car itself at its Hungarian plant (alongside the Suzuki SX4 and Fiat Seidici). It also tasked its Managing Director, a man known around the office as “Mr Opel,” with developing the new micro-MPV in partnership with Suzuki. For his trouble, Mr Opel (aka Hans Demant) was then shunted aside by GM, and ended up being poached by VW to head up “international project coordination.” Quite by coincidence (or not), VW’s biggest international project is in building new low-cost small cars with… Suzuki. Automotive News [sub]’s Paul McVeigh notes that
Neither GM or Opel has commented publicly on Demant’s defection to archrivals VW. But executives are said to be very angry in private.
But then, GM could hardly have expected Demant to stick around after having been shuffled off to “intellectual property protection” after nearly 40 years of service to Opel at some of the highest levels. The fact that he’d just been demoted at a time when Opel’s owners in the RenCen were enjoying record-low popularity in Germany made the move all the more likely. And because it’s happened at a time that Opel is struggling for its life makes the move just as damaging to GM as it is a windfall for VW.
Toyota’s Verso S will debut at the forthcoming Paris Auto Show, and these first pictures show that iQ-inspired styling is starting to creep across the Toyota small-car lineup. So does the edgier (by Toyota standards) iQ-inspired design language mean the shortest micro-MPV in Europe (at under 4 meters) might make it stateside as a Scion-branded van? Anything’s possible, but Toyota ain’t saying… for now.
In Europe, Volkswagen is a full service operation. You can buy your car at a Volkswagen (Audi, Seat etc.) dealer. You can finance it at the Volkswagen Bank. (They give you a credit card, and higher interest for your savings.) You can insure it with the Volkswagen Versicherungs Dienst VVD. Both are subsidiaries of Volkswagen Financial Services. The VVD is not a real insurance, they act as an agent for Europe’s insurance giant Allianz. Put that in the past tense. After 62 years with Allianz, Volkswagen does its first baby steps into the insurance business itself. Read More >
Once upon a time, the Maximum one declared that bringing diesels to the United States would only be possible by the use of urea. You know, the stuff that is is the main nitrogen-containing substance in the urine of mammals. Which can also reduce the NOx from diesel exhaust. Using urea would allow diesels to meet Tier II Bin 5 standards. The Maximum one further decreed that the extra cost of this after treatment system would make diesels prohibitively expensive. (Unless the driver uses man-made urea, but let’s not even go there.) Then, he mentioned the California standards which were way tougher than Tier II Bin 5. This would effectively kill diesels in the US as they wouldn’t be 50 state compliant. Then Volkswagen introduced the TDI Jetta which was 50 state compliant. What made this extra special was that Volkswagen did it without using any urea after treatment. Something which Bob Lutz said wasn’t possible. There was a diesel hurdle that was gone. Who else could be bringing diesels to the United States? Read More >
Having recently invested in an all-new global compact car, the Cruze, it was inevitable that Chevrolet would eventually come out with an MPV based on the Cruze’s underpinnings. When the unavoidable people-mover debuted at the 2008 Paris Auto Show as the severely handsome Orlando Concept, its clean yet distinctive look certainly got our attention. And with initial plans calling for US production (Hamtramck), it seemed that The General really was ready to put up to seven Americans in a compact-car-based vehicle. But after we called the Orlando “The Cruze To Wait For,” GM entered bailout hell and the Orlando was canceled and uncanceled for the US market with every new executive that passed through the RenCen.Now, with the first images of the production Orlando hitting the web, the post-concept reality of Chevy’s “Delta MPV7” reflects its troubled development.
The very European-looking concept has been softened into what looks more like a US-market crossover (i.e. something you might spot in Orlando)… but it’s going to be made by Daewoo in South Korea, and is focused on the European market. And based on the current plans, Americans looking for this kind of car from GM will have to spring for a GMC Granite “Urban Utility Vehicle.” Because apparently GM’s product planners think Europeans are into generic, American-named people movers, while Americans are looking for over-the-top designs and an upmarket brand from their fuel-efficient kiddy haulers. On the other hand, as little sense as that premise makes, the production look of the Chevy Orlando won’t exactly inspire anyone to contradict it.
Every month, at around the 15th, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), sends out car sales numbers for the preceding month for all of Europe. It’s a regular TTAC fare. This month, you will have to do without. Read More >
Does a passport with an RFID chip freak you out? Not if you don’t carry your passport on you. How about RFID-equipped drivers’ licenses? Well, stick the license in a shield and nobody will be the wiser. Never heard of RFID? It’s a chip that needs no power. It sends out a number that identifies you. Think of a barcode on your forehead. How about RFID equipped cars? Read More >
Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen/Audi are all moving inexorably towards a major downmarket expansion, as they develop a new generation of compact and subcompact cars based on front-wheel-drive architectures. Though Volkswagen has played in this space for some time, the move is a major cultural shift for BMW and Mercedes, which are typically associated with rear-drive luxury cars, particularly in the US market. But the truth is that the German luxury brands have always sold products in the German and other European markets that don’t match their premium overseas brand images (see, among other examples, the ubiquity of Mercedes taxis in Germany). But the strange thing about this next push towards smaller cheaper cars is that it’s not not aimed at Germany at all.
If the German magazine Focus is informed correctly, then Dr. Z’s days at Mercedes are counted. Focus heard that Wolfgang Bernhard will run Mercedes, while Dr. Z. will run all of Daimler. „In a second step, Bernhard could succeed Zetsche 2012 as Daimler CEO,“ says FOCUS. Currently, Bernhard is responsible for production and purchasing of Mercedes. Read More >
In the wake of GM re-taking full control of Opel, Opel’s former boss Hans Demant stepped down to make room for Nick Reilly. Demant’s new title was GM Vice President, Global Intellectual Property Rights. His job was described as being “responsible for protecting GM’s property rights globally, for example in conjunction with business alliances, partnerships and transactions.”
That job is the GM equivalent of keeping track of the Willow Ptarmigan, Common Ravens, and Snow Buntings population of Nome Alaska. It comes as no surprise that Demand quit. At age 59, he could have taken early retirement. Instead, he took a job with the competition. Read More >
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