When American automakers want to cut costs on parts, they turn to China. When German automakers want cheaper parts, they turn to North America. Automotive News [sub] reports that German automakers are looking to buy more parts made in North America to "cope with the dollar-euro exchange rate." AN says the Germans are asking their suppliers if they can build sub-assemblies (e.g. seats) with parts bought in the "dollar-zone." That's a no-brainer for Mercedes and BMW, who assemble vehicles in North America. But the dollar – euro disparity is now so great that even Audi, who builds NA-spec models in Europe, are switching to American parts to cut costs. Does this mean we should start looking for the UAW label in German vehicles? Nope.

Backing-up the basic thoery behind Andrew Dederer's TTAC editorial on Chinese automotive exports, Toyota is countering a drop in domestic sales by aggressively expanding exports. The JCN Network reports that while ToMoCo's home market sales fell 4.4 pct (to 108,787 units), they ramped-up exports by 9.1 pct (to 208,156 units). Globally, the world's largest automaker increased production in January by 8.4 percent (compared to '07), cranking-out 719,646 units. If you add in sales of ToMoCo subsidies (NOT minority partnerships like some automakers we could name), January's total rises to 801,873 units.

This season the blokes over at BMW have blessed us with two relatively diMINuative product announcements. First, they showed us the MINI Clubman. It's antithetical to the MINI brand, it's ugly, it's impractical, the micro suicide door is only on one side, the barn doors obscure vision and it's ugly. You should hate the Clubman as if it had slept with your ex-girlfriend. And she liked it. As if that wasn't too much, this week MINI previewed the John Cooper Works (JCW) performance packages that will officially be unveiled at Geneva. Though hideously overpriced, the JCW pack gets 'er done, We're talking a horsepower boost (to 207hp), upgraded suspension, a new performance exhaust and some crass alloys. But the JCW's real coup: how it transforms the already ugly Clubman into the ugliest car currently on sale in the United States. MINI says the Clubman is a more practical MINI; with the JCW package it really is da bomb [paraphrasing]. I reckon it's so vile that it may, in ten years, have all the reverse appeal of the Pontiac Aztek.

[Pixamo gallery of the Gorgonesque Clubman here.] 

While you were about to enjoy your weekend, a German court found former VW Labor rep Klaus Volkert guilty of 48 counts of incitement to fraud. Forbes reports that Volkert will face nearly three years in prison for his role in a long-running scheme which siphoned $3m in illegal "bonuses" from the German automaker's corporate coffers. Amongst other things, the money covered a $600k hush payment to Volkert's Brazilian lover and first-class international brothel excursions for Volkert and his union cronies (complete with Viagra prescribed by the company medical provider). Court testimony indicates that VW made the payments to ensure labor support for buying Bugatti and Bentley in 1998. "This is a crude case of class justice," Volkert's lawyer pronounced after the ruling. Although Volkert is obviously no working class hero, he may be taking the fall for corruption at the highest levels of VW management. Former Vee Dub exec Klaus-Joachim Gebauer– who received a one-year suspended sentence for his part in the scandal– testified that company Chairman Ferdinand Piech was aware of the "labor relations" slush fund. VW's CEO at the time and current Board Chairman has steadfastly maintained implausible deniability his ignorance of the fund. If Piech was in the dark, it begs the question: why didn't he know?

Auto Motor und Sport reports that a gas explosion rocked Porsche's famed Zuffenhausen factory early this morning. The blast originated in the factory paint shop at five a.m. local time, when gas apparently escaped a drying kiln and ignited. The explosion triggered the factories automatic sprinkler system, which prevented the spread of fire, but also left the paint shop and other portions of the 911 assembly line underwater. Two factory workers were hospitalized for unspecified injuries, but no fatalities were reported. Damage from the explosion and the sprinkler system will halt the production of up to 500 911's during the planned two to three day cleanup period. Despite the shutdown of 911 production, Zuffenhausen-sourced components for the Leipzig-built Cayenne and Finnish-finished Boxster will continue to roll out of the factory, meaning that for at least a few days the cynics were right, and Porsche will be building everything but a real 911.

Another myth exploded. Hot off TTAC's Paul Niedermeyer's editorial shattering our high-octane illusions of a country content with big, RWD Australian-made sedans like the Falcon, The Age reports that Ford and Holden finished at the bottom of the first ever J.D. Powers customer satisfaction survey for Australia. A sample of Aussies with cars up to three years old were fed an "international standard questionnaire" and asked to rate their purchases on several factors, including performance and reliability. Scanning the top place finishers paints a familiar picture for many Americans: Mazda, Honda and Toyota. Holden spinmeister John Lindsay uses utterly generic understatement to diffuse any controversy, noting that "When you sell thousands of cars some people will have issues". Right up until they stop buying, John.

Forbes reports that Peugeot/Citroen is shifting their hybrid diesel strategy. The French automaker planned on developing a mass-market diesel hybrid in partnership with Continental, Bosch, Valeo and Thyssen-Krupp for a 2010 release. To meet its goal of developing a diesel hybrid with a price point of under €2k euros, the €471m project had relied on €100m in loans and subsidies from the French Agency for Industrial Innovation. Amidst competitive concerns raised by the public funding scheme and an eighteen month delay (surprise), P/C abandoned the project altogether– in favor of an in-house premium-line diesel hybrid. P/C says their diesel hybrid won't be available until 2011– which is a lot better than "eventually."

Like man of The Big 2.8, Renault has worked the "everything to everyone" mantra for some time. French manufacturers generally do two– and only two— things well: small, cheap sporty cars and MPVs (Google "Renault Scenic"). In the past 15 years, their large car sales have been unimpressive, regardless of how bad (Peugeot 607) or good (Citroen C6) the models involved. Add BMW's 3-Series and Audi's A4 slicing into the midsize sedan market, and big ass sales of vehicles like the Ford Moneo and Renault Laguna, and Renault's mid-sizers are looking green around the gills. That's why Renault is trying to spice things up with the Laguna GT which has more powerful engines, a sport suspension and four-wheel steering. Buyers can opt for either a 180hp 2.0-liter diesel or a 20 hp 2.0- liter gas engine (I vote diesel). Cool as it sounds, it's a shrinking market segment. Like Ford, Peugeot and Opel, Renault's going to be left without a chair when the music stops.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Western Australia ruled against Ford Australia in an asbestos related lawsuit. The Geelong Advertiser reports that FoMoCo was "ordered to pay Perth motor mechanic Antonino Lo Presti $840,000 after contracting asbestosis in 2001 from working with brake pads in the 1970s and '80s. The court heard Mr Lo Presti was working in Ford dealerships without protective equipment, ventilation or warnings, long before asbestos was banned in 2003." The ruling– which determined that Ford knew the risks to mechanics but failed to take action– is sure to open the floodgates for a class action lawsuit. If the thousands of motor mechs who worked on Ford's asbestos brake pads Down Under get a fraction of Lo Presti's payout, this one will heavily damage an already sinking ship. 

Good news! Alfa Romeo has done the most modest of facelifts and revisions on the 159 sedan and wagon, as well as their siblings, the Brera coupe and Spider. This gives us an excuse to talk about Alfa Romeos and post a pornographic gallery of cars that come from an unacceptable tree in the Garden of Eden. Mechanical refinements to this fantastic car that isn't on sale in North America include "new engines include 140hp and 185hp petrol units displacing 1.8L and 2.2L" which comes as a surprise to me, as engines with these displacements and power outputs have been on sale in the 159 for quite some time. Until now, buyers could only opt for the sonorous 260 horsepower V6 along with Alfa's heavy (and expensive) all wheel-drive. To add lightness, Alfa offer the V6 with a new Q2 torque splitting system that works well (they claim) with front wheel-drive (i.e. without much torque steer). The 159 also drops 100 lbs with lighter alloy wheels, aluminum suspension pieces and new aluminum monoblock brake calipers. Will these cars ever be on sale in the U.S.? I think so maybe yes– after the recession.

[For more Alfa porn, click to Pixamo gallery here.]

Porsche reckons their UK sales are threatened by London's congestion charge hike, which will add £4k to the annual cost of Cap City Porker ownership. The Times Online reports that the Sultans of Stuttgart are giving the Mayor of London 14 days to respond to their protest before applying for a judicial review. Porsche argues that the extra congestion charge for cars in their emissions bracket is patently unfair, and not just to rich Yuppies. "Thousands of car owners driving a huge range of cars will be hit by a disproportionate tax," argues Andy Goss, managing director of Porsche Cars GB. "[It's]is clear will have a very limited effect on CO2 emissions." While not specifically playing the class warfare card, Mayor Livingston's office responded with predictable populist pap, weighing-in against the "tiny minority" driving high CO2 emitting automobiles in London. "No-one is allowed to throw their rubbish in the street and Porsche should not be allowed to impose gas-guzzling, polluting cars on Londoners who do not want them." So, off to the Old Bailey then…

Alfa Romeo's press corps have sent out three high resolution photos of the second most beautiful car currently in production. The Alfa 8C Spider is the convertible version of the presently released 8C Competizione coupe (with the 450-horse, 4.7-liter V8). As always with Alfas, it's not about stats. It's about how I-need-a-box-of-tissues gorgeous. And since Alfa 8C Spider isn't a track car, there's no shame in lopping the roof off so can revel in its aural sex appeal (you must click here). The 8C coupe version was a run of 500 cars (84 going to the U.S.). You can expect a similarly limited production for the Spider. Which is just as well; if there was a remote possibility of owning one, I'd be contacting the Devil to sell my soul, again. [ED: Justin's studying for the bar.]

[Pixamo slide show of the 8C Spider and Coupe here.]

Infiniti is, for all intents and accounting purposes, a U.S. brand. Last year, Nissan's luxury division shifted American customers' expectations– I mean sold brand fans 127,038 new vehicles (93,717 cars and 33,321 SUVs). And now Infiniti's heading across the pond to convince European buyers that, uh, what's their tagline again? It's not on the press release. Or the Euro-press website. Uh-oh. Despite a deeply worrying lack of branding, Infiniti is set to open some 80 stores throughout the Eurozone. The world's snobbiest car market. Where logical competitor Lexus has gained about as much traction as a Prius attempting a hill climb in a blizzard. To gauge Infiniti's chances of carving out a niche in the home of the luxury car, I rang-up Infiniti Euro Comms. Director Wayne "No Comma" Bruce for the inside dope on the dealers and the marque's plans for luxury conquest sales. [Podcast below] Bruce reckons sporty value-priced products, exclusivity and bespoke customer service will carry the day. Yes, well, the longest journey starts with a single FX: the new model's ready for its Geneva debut. It'll be the first new Infiniti revealed outside the U.S. Infiniti's going to need that kind of commitment– and then some– to make this venture work. Meanwhile, the brand is being "nurtured" in the Middle East.

Ferdinand Piech is the Porsche family patriarch [still] pulling the strings at Volkswagen. Wendelin Wiedeking is the Porsche executive who would be king of VW– once Porsche takes control of the mass market motor maker. And Der Spiegel [via Just-auto, sub] is the magazine that says that Piech wants to kick Wiedeking out of the corporate jet, golden parachute and all. Motive: Piech believes that Wiedeking has become too powerful and autonomous. He wants to replace Wendy with Wolfgang Reitzle, the high-living executive who ran BMW well enough– and convinced Ford to lose billions creating its ill-fated Premier Automotive Group (Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Aston Martin and, latterly, Lincoln). Means: Piech's family still controls VW. Opportunity: VW's unions are unhappy at the prospect of surrendering board seats to the numerically inferior Porsche workers. All that said, VW moved to quash the rumor. "The report about a supposed contact between Piech and Reitzle with regard to the replacement of Wiedeking is nonsense and lacks any foundation," a Volkswagen spokesman told Reuters. "Piech has had no contact with Reitzle for years, and has none currently." Ah, but what of intermediaries…?

Honda's Insight was America's first hybrid (1999). While the Deco-skirted skinflint's choice was a far more distinctive-looking and fuel efficient machine than the Prius, Toyota's gas – electric model had the edge on practicality (four seats vs. two). When Prius sales caught fire, Honda dumped the Insight in favor of a hybrid Civic, and then Accord. Sensing the new models invisibility (zero green creds), Honda's marketing department wanted to promote them as earth-friendly rocket ships (the Accord Hybrid was the fastest variant). Unfortunately, political correctness ruled (ruined?) the day. After going nowhere fast (saleswise), Honda axed  the gas – electric Accord. And now Honda's ready for another go. The Motor Authority says Honda's opting for a three-pronged hybrid sales strategy. First up: a "global hybrid" that's both smaller and cheaper than the current Civic hybrid, based on the Fit platform. (Barring foreseen internet leakage, it will debut in Paris.) Next, the Civic Hybrid (why not? they already make it). And then a range-topping somethingorother, based on the CR-Z hybrid concept pictured here, unveiled in Tokyo last October. We know Honda's got the engineering chops to give Europe's micro-car owners a decent run for their money. But can Honda hit the design/practicality sweet spot currently occupied by the Prius? As always, you'll be the judge, ASAP.