Toyota’s head start on hybrid technology is easily the most significant advantage any one automaker holds over any other. It’s next closest competitor in hybrid offerings is Honda which is facing serious challenges as its Prius competitor, the Insight, is off to an incredibly weak start. To capitalize on this advantage, Toyota plans to up annual production of its hybrids to one million units by 2011. Despite reports that Toyota is refocusing on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as a long-term option, Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Kazaka Securities believes:

For the foreseeable future, the focus of Toyota’s (low-emission car) strategy will be on hybrids, not electric or fuel-cell cars. Except for Honda, Toyota is facing little competition in hybrids and is set to put distance between itself and other automakers

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A lot of what we have written in the last few days, even what we have not yet written, is utterly wrong, say the objects of our writings. Here are the denials of the day. Read More >

1984 was a milestone year in the car world for new cars: the new W124 Mercedes 300E; the Jeep Cherokee; The Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager mini vans. But perhaps the biggest shocker was Honda’s new Civic family: four distinctly different Civics, each with its own unique body and character: The conservative four-door sedan, the popular hatchback, the remarkably roomy tall-boy wagon, and the iconic two-seater CR-X. It was a bold and expensive gamble to make the Civic the number one compact in the land, and it paid off handsomely. With a Civic for each purpose and personality, Honda dominated the niche, and set the Civic (and Honda) firmly on a path of growth and domination that shocked Toyota, crippled Nissan, and utterly blew the domestics into the weeds. Was it Honda’s peak year ever, and have they been coasting since?

Money Control reports that the French government threatened to increase its stake in Renault from 15.01% to 20%. Not because it believes in the company and its products (would you trust a Renault Megane over a Honda Civic or Toyota Auris?), but to further exert control over Renault. Why would it want to do that? Well, that could probably have something to do with the French government’s invite to Carlos Ghosn for a little “sitdown” over the rumours that Renault may produce its new generation of Clio in Turkey, rather than its plant in Flins, France, where the current generation is built.

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Battery firm Ener1/EnerDel, which recently brought the EV firm Th!ink back from bankruptcy, has lost the battery contract for Fisker’s Karma luxury EV. According to Schaeffersresearch, Ener1 “decided it would be better pursuing higher-volume battery supply deals when larger automakers begin rolling out their versions of electric cars.” Says Ener1 CEO  Charles Gassenheimer, “we have some capacity constraints on our side. We’re interested in high volume programs in the future.” The public story is that due to Ener1’s Th!nk tie-up, Fisker’s October sales roll-out was too much, too soon. The real story illustrates the complicated relationships emerging between EV firms and battery suppliers.

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Pickup Truck def: a vehicle designed to haul cargo that the owner picks up and places into its cargo bed.

I may be in the minority, but that’s how I use my truck. I haul gravel, compost, dirt, and mulch, and shovel it out the back, which is the most efficient way to do it, short of a dump bed. I also haul junk to to the dump, and load loose items by tossing them over the side of my truck’s bed, and unload them the same way. I can readily lean over into my bed’s side and reach all the items in there. I easily tip large appliances single handedly into and out of the bed. That’s why I have a truck, and that’s what I expect it to be able to do. But there are times when I think I might like to ride in something a little more comfortable and safe than my 1966 Ford F-100. So I head down to my local Ford dealer and check out a new truck, starting with the business end: Read More >

Chrysler’s sales fell 36 percent last year, as bankruptcy and some of the weakest products on the market conspired to keep sales and market share trending downwards. CEO Sergio Marchionne figures Chrysler’s slide has hit bottom, and indeed his turnaround hinges on considerable improvement over last year’s dismal numbers. How much improvement? Marchionne tells the Freep that ChryCo needs to sell 1.1m vehicles in the US next year, an 18 percent improvement on 2009’s number, in order to reach his break-even projections. Worldwide, Chrysler needs to sell 1.65m vehicles, or 27 percent more than last year. Given the downward sales and market share momentum, the overall uncertainty of the US market, and the lack of new products until the end of this year, reaching those volume numbers won’t be easy. Especially because Marchionne refuses to cut any corners.

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“Ford is trying to get the deal done with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group within the next several weeks,” a Ford spokesman said to Dow Jones Newswire. Ford is sticking with Geely, and is pouring cold water on rumors that Ford is entertaining other bids and bidders.

Sweden’s Dagens Industri had reported on Tuesday that Volvo’s CEO Stephen Odell had intimated that “Ford is open to talk with others. Those who say that the door is shut can go to Ford and talk with them whenever they like.” Looks like it’s wishful thinking. Sure, anybody can talk to Ford (if their call is taken.) But they will receive only one answer: “No.” Read More >

Despite Ford’s surging stock price, new models and rising customer confidence there’s always been that one bone of contention which had divided peoples’ opinion: debt. $35 billion of it. Though they’ve tried to restructure it, selling new shares and raising cash throughout 2009, it’s still a problem. But apparently it’s becoming less of a problem. ABC news report that Fitch Ratings upgraded their assessment of the risk of Ford defaulting on its debt obligations, basing their optimistic view on a better economic environment, the company’s stronger margins, increased market share and cash position. Oh yes, and a small matter of $5.9b in federal DOE retooling loans [full Fitch release here]. Ford’s Credit unit also received a hearty slap on the back from Fitch because of its improving access to capital, as its rating was raised from “CCC” to “B-“. But let’s not get carried away. While this is a positive step in Alan Mulally’s vision of a sustainable Ford, the rating still qualifies Ford debt as non-investment grade.

Hey, we’ve finally found someone who believes in the Volt and Chrysler’s alleged new products. Too bad he’s from the government that owns 60 percent of GM and 15 percent of Chrysler… and he can’t explain his optimism in anything but the broadest platitudes. Did Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood properly disclose his relationship with the state-owned automakers per FCC standards? Probably not. But that’s OK, since few probably took him seriously to begin with.

With more than 30 years of advertising under my belt, I’m no stranger to spin. Once in a while, I’m impressed by the gumption of some spinmeisters. This is one of those times.

So I read at Reuters that Jaguar is “ready to leap back to pre-crisis sales.” Reuters quotes Jaguar Land Rover’s head David Smith, who said: “In the past, Jaguar built more than 100,000 vehicles per year. We can return to such levels once the crisis is over.” Reuters says  Smith gave those optimistic remarks to Germany’s Wirtschaftswoche.

So over to Wirtschaftswoche I go. At first, I think I found the wrong article. Read More >

Volkswagen has grand plans for the U.S.A. Volkswagen wants to “increase sales and market share in 2010.” Ok, who doesn’t.  Now, for the delusions of grandeur part: By 2018, Volkswagen wants to more than triple annual car sales in the U.S. to 1 million a year, with  Audi accounting for 200,000 sales, reports the Wall Street Journal. Seen any flying pigs lately?

Why 2018? By 2018, Volkswagen wants to rule the world, and trounce Toyota in unit sales, profitability, customer satisfaction, innovation, and most likely size and quantity of cup-holders also.

Everybody in the company has to do his or her share for the grand plan.
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With the world starting to gain stability economically and economists talking about “bull markets” you’d be forgiven for thinking we can start to be optimistic and why not? Ford are flying high, GM (prodded by the government) are adding third shifts and Chrysler’s sales “only” dropped 3.7% in December. Well, don’t be too sure. CNN Money reports that a survey conducted by KPMG of 200 auto and supplier executive showed that 88% of them believe there is still too much capacity in North American plants. In fact, the survey showed that the executives believe that overcapacity is a bigger problem today than a year ago and when you look at the figures, it’s a bit of a no brainer.

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Here are some full year 2009 new car sales data as they have become available. Along with the source. Caution: Data as reliable as the source.

U.S.A.: down 21.2 percent – 10.4 million units
China: up 45 percent – 13.6 million units
Japan: down 9.3 percent – 4.6 million units
Australia: down 7.4 per cent– 937,328 units
Canada: down 10.7 percent – 1.46 million units i
India: up 18.7 percent– 1.43 million units
Brazil: up 11.35 percent – 3.14 million units
Turkey: up 12.77 percent – 557,126 units
Taiwan: up 28.3 percent – 294,423 units
Philippines: up 6.4 percent – 132,444 units
Russia: down 49 percent – 1,465,917 units

Austria: up 8.8 percent – 319,403 units
Belgium: down 11.1 percent – 476,194 units
Denmark: down 25.3 percent – 112,271 units
Finland: down 35.2 percent – 90,574 units
France: up 10.7 percent – 2,268,671 units
Germany: up 23.2 percent – 3,807,175 units
Greece: down 17.5 percent – 220,548 units
Ireland: down 62.1 percent – 57,460 units
Italy: down 0.2 percent – 2,158,010 units
Luxembourg: down 9.7 percent – 47,265 units
Netherlands: down 22.5 percent – 387,679 units
Portugal: down 24.6 percent -160,996 units
Spain: down 17.9 percent – 952,772 units
Sweden: down 16.0 percent – 213,408 units
United Kingdom: down 6.4 percent – 1,994,999 units
Iceland: down 77.6 percent – 2,020 units
Norway: down 10.8 percent – 98,675 units
Switzerland: down 8.2 percent – 264,798 units
Bulgaria: down 49.3 percent – 22,869 units
Czech Republic: up 12.5 percent – 161,659 units
Estonia: down 66.2 percent – 8,234 units
Hungary: down 50.4 percent – 78,590 units
Latvia: down 80.5 percent – 3,745 units
Lithuania: down 67.4 percent – 7,003 units
Poland: up 0.1 percent – 320,119 units
Romania: down 59.4 percent – 115,979 units
Slovakia: up 6.7 percent – 74,717 units
Slovenia: down 18.7 percent – 55,712 units

European Union (EU15): up 0.9 percent – 13,267,425 units
EFTA: down 10.5 percent – 365,493 units
EU15+EFTA: up 0.5 percent – 13,632,918 units
EU (New Members): down 26.6 percent – 848,627 units
European Union: down 1.3 percent – 14,116,052 units
Total Europe (EU+EFTA): down 1.6 percent – 14,481,545 units

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2009 sales of light vehicles (cars and light trucks) in the United States came in at the bottom end of the estimates. Americans bought only 10.4m units, the lowest level in 27 years, Reuters reports.

America actually lost some 4 million cars. The United States scrapped 14m autos while buying only slightly over 10m last year. Cars on the road dropped to 246m from a record high of 250m in 2008, says a report to be released on Wednesday by the Earth Policy Institute (EPI), cited by Reuters.
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