Bloomberg reports that Honda's first quarter earnings are up 16% over last year. Honda President President Takeo Fukui attributes the rise in profits to several factors, ranging from the weak Japanese yen making exports cheaper to the success of the new CR-V and Civic in capturing U.S. market share from Detroit's own. While incentives have reduced operating profits in the U.S., the overall outlook is still healthy- primarily due to an increase of 9.5% in overseas production. Which is just as well. Bloomberg also reports that Japan's domestic automotive output may fall, as Riken (Japan's largest maker of piston rings for engines) shut down production after the July 16 earthquake in Niigata prefecture. Pre-quake, Honda's domestic production had already fallen 4.8 percent.

The Detroit News reports that The Big 2.8's decision to trim fleet sales is jacking-up prices down at the rental car lot. The cost of renting a car has jumped more than 20 percent in the past two years, heading for a five percent upwards jolt in '07. Manufacturers are also modding the product mix, cutting back on the dirt-cheap manual everything models the average Budget, Avis and Hertz renter has "enjoyed" in years gone by. By selling higher-priced, better featured cars, the Detroiters hope today's rental car will be tomorrow's not-so-dirt-cheap retail sale. Meanwhile, if you're not buying this explanation, if you're skeptical about car rental pricing policies, join the folks over iAfrica.com, who believe the industry is rife with "collusive and monopolistic practices."

Former GM subdivision Delphi filed for bankruptcy on October 8, 2005. Despite potential deals with a number of financially well-endowed suitors (including Chrysler's eventual buyer), there they remain. Still bankrupt. Still making parts. The CEO of one of Delphi's partners in the global exhaust biz is none-too-happy with this state of affairs. In an interview with Just-auto.com [full interview by sub], Borsal boss Bos slammed U.S. Chapter 11 rules, claiming that firms emerge from bankruptcy protection with an "artificially low asset base." The exec of the family-run firm says the post-bankruptcy company can then offer products at lower price than companies that have been run responsibly. "I feel that it is grossly unreasonable and unfair." Bos proclaimed. Yes, well, Delphi ain't out of Chapter 11 yet. 

The Motor Authority says the the flying Wallenbergs have joined a consortium in the hunt for ownership of Volvo. The Swedish family already control an investment group that owns an 11 percent stake of Scania, the truck-maker. In his book "The Rise of the Wallenbergs," author David Bartol claims the W's are serious players, controlling most of Sweden’s top companies. “In no other Western country, does a single family enjoy the same degree of influence or authority." There is some irony here. Henry Ford was one of the world's most notorious anti-Semites. Raoul Wallenberg was famous for saving tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazi slaughter.

Porsche's hook-up with VW has paid off– big style. In the first fiscal half of 2007, the Stuttgart automaker's stake in VW generated 2.1b euros ($2.83b) for the formerly fully independent carmaker. According to Reuters, Porsche has taken steps to guard their new cash cow: they've secured financial derivative contracts to limit their foreign exchange exposure and secure the value of their 31 percent stake in VW. Porsche is also hiving-off its own car production operations into a separate corporate entity. Despite the VW-cash bonanza, Porsche CEO Wiedeking is still not satisfied by VW's restructuring progress. This from the man who's watched Cayenne sales plunged 41 percent in the last six months.