Reuters reports that French "vandals" (where are the Goths when you need them?) celebrated the New Year by torching 372 cars. More specifically, Parisian miscreants transformed 144 cars into autos flambée, while pyros in the rest of France set 228 cars alight. Apparently, this is something of a result, law and order-wise. Last year, 397 cars served double duty as New Year's Eve sparklers. Hey, when in France… "Cars are burned fairly regularly in France and the image of vehicles in flames in poor suburbs became symbolic of riots in 2005 when angry youths set fire to thousands of cars." To cope with the new trend, French authorities have taken to banning the sale of gas in containers during public holidays and periods of public unrest. The Reuters article made no mention of insurance fraud, but you gotta wonder…

If you're looking for a reason to be hopeful for strong sales of Pontiac's forthcoming G8– an imported Australian Holden by any other name– News.com.au's got a story for you. The news agency reports that sales of Holden's V8-engined cars down under are up 183 percent year-on-year. Of course, we're talking about absolute numbers so small they wouldn't even twitch the sales needle for GM. "We look like we'll sell between 11,000 and 12,000 V8 Commodores and Caprices," John Lindsay revealed. Still, "People seem to be adjusting to higher fuel prices. It's also important to remember that modern V8s are more economical than those of the past." The article points out that all may not be as it seems; sales of Ford's V8-powered cars are flat (the last of the great V8 Interceptors?) and overall Ozzie sales were up for the period. Still, it's true that V8s haven't reached a commercial or technological dead end. And the idea that consumers prefer rorty V8s is a nice thought for Motown denizens who [still] share GM's Lutzian perspective on the average consumer's desire for maximum horsepower. 

The Swaziland Observer gives us evidence that automotive obsession is a worldwide phenomena, with dangerous side effects on marital relations. And for once, I'm snarkless, awed by Dumisa Dlamini's rhetorical brilliance. "These three-legged animals just love their cars and women hate the cars with a passion. From his first income, a man would neglect any sort of expenditure and concentrate on buying a car. There is a time in a man’s life where the color, shape, size and model does not matter. So long as he has a car he can call his own life better, complete and the gentleman blissful. Through his car, he can have most desires of his hearts including the very woman who comes to fight him over the automobile… Will men get rid of their cars or rather prefer their women more than the cars? This is a balance that lies deep in the man’s heart. It would seem a man without his car is like an emu- a big useless and flightless bird. He can’t have his desires, dreams and aspirations met. He cannot even afford to please his woman when his car is not around." Sigh.

Automotive News [AN, sub] reports that Pininfarina is slated to build an "electric car" for the US, European and Japanese markets. The legendary Italian design house will partner with French battery maker Bolloré to build the plug-in electric. The partnership claims that the as-yet-unnamed new car will be a four-seater with a range of 155 miles of city driving. The batteries can be fully charged from "a standard home electrical outlet" in roughly five hours. (A five-minute recharge would get you enough for a 15-mile trip, according to the report.). The pack's designed to last for more than 124K total miles. Current plans call for building some 15K cars per annum, sold under the Pininfarina name. While pricing isn't mentioned, the article ends on a hopeful note: "Let’s just hope it has all the good looks that other Pinanfarina produced cars have with pricing that won’t make you mortgage your house." Amen.

Now that they've palmed-off their Chrysler fiasco on Cerberus, Daimler is cash rich and company hungry. Reuters translates: "'Acquisitions are an option for growth,' the German news agency dpa-AFX quoted Zetsche as saying in an interview, adding the German carmaker — also the world's biggest truckmaker — had practically no financial limits for deals." Apparently, Dr. Z has ruled out scarfing-up another automaker, preferring to sniff around for companies who make technology that Daimler needs to meet new European Union fuel economy regulations, and such. Oh and to prevent a takeover– the original impetus for the Chrysler fiasco– Daimler looks set to announce another round of share buybacks. It currently owns just 4.7 percent of its shares, but plans to use the cash swilling around in its corporate coffers to repurchase up to 10 percent of Daimler stock by the end of August 2008. Why they didn't do this instead of buying Chrysler the first place, or how Zetsche remains in power after NOT doing this in the first place, remains a mystery. 

Hey Eurocrats, what's the matter? Don't your guys trust the U.S. to continue supplying Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) data for your military and civilian sat nav systems? Or is it simply a question of doling-out billions of Eurozone tax dollars to aerospace contractors for your very own GPS system that you want, but don't really need? And the answer is… yes. Anyway, WardsAuto reports that Europe's Galileo GPS project has floundered on the rocks of the usual government mismanagement and waste, blowing-out its budget by billions and missing its launch date by five years… and counting. So the European Union has shut down the project, declared it an enormous waste of time and money, and apologized to tax payers. Just kidding. The EU Council of Ministers has decided to shovel another €2.4 billion ($3.6 billion) into the project. But hey, the "lion's share" of the money's coming from unspent agricultural subsidies. In their defense, "Galileo’s supporters say the network will provide navigational services that are more accurate than those available through the U.S. Global Positioning System." Oh, that's OK then.

Automobilwoche reports that November was an automotive watershed. For the first time in history, European car sales eclipsed American. From January to November of this year, the European Union (EU), Switzerland, Norway and Iceland racked-up 14,827,000 cars. That compares to 14,763,000 new vehicles (cars and light trucks) sold in the U.S. during the same time period. Automotive analyst Peter Schmidt of AID (Auto Industry Data) thinks it's more than a quirk. "Our forecast says that in the coming years, Europe will be ahead. We see 15.6m light vehicles being sold in the U.S. in 2008, as opposed to around 16.1 million in Europe… The established markets are satiated." The strong-growth regions of eastern Europe are the EU's car sales engine. Russia will account for some 2.3 million new cars per annum. "All this explains why German car makers are so healthy. There is no growth at home, but plenty to be exploited in other countries," says Schmidt. No surprise, then, that German carmakers have built up a spectacular war chest. Spiegel Online reports that BMW, Mercedes, VW and BMW have some €34b (about $49b) in their collective piggy banks. In 2007 and 2008, they may welcome an additional €26.5b. Unicredit Analyst Georg Stürzer thinks this means that German car makers will pay out generous dividends, invest in green technology AND finance large acquisitions. Uh-oh.

Throughout the 1990s, the UK's CAR Magazine was known for its breathtaking photography, incisive analysis, pithy prose and independent spirit. Readers devoured the elegant and technically proficient ramblings of LJK Setright, John Simister's lucid descriptions of how cars can handle, the witticisms and lateral thinking of Russel  Bulgin, and the roly-poly eccentricity of James May. Sadly, Setright and Bulgin died, Simister left for The Independent and May joined forces with that fat egomaniac at TopGear. CAR became  just another boring, soft on cars (and the causes of cars) buff book that missed the Internet train. And so CAR's owner, EMAP Publications is selling the mag to Germany's Heinrich Bauer Verlag. Bauer publishes Bella ("Exclusive survey: Germany's favorite Christmas meal is potato salad and sausages!"), Das Neue Blatt ("A best-ager entertainment magazine for the 40-59 age group"), Romanwoche ("Romance tales for the mature lady") and Auto Zeitung ("The modern general-interest auto magazine"). There are also porn titles, but we won't go there. We wish Car a quick recovery. 

Last week, Petra L. won the German national lottery. Her jackpot: €15.28m ($22,461,600). Needless to say, the Divinely Chosen Ms. L ran right out and bought herself a new car. Ferrari? Bentley? Mercedes? "I really just wanted a new one," she told Spiegel. "With airbags!" And so she purchased a $10k Polish-made Fiat Panda. In the Fatherland (i.e. not all markets), the Panda comes with four airbags as standard, with two more as an optional extra (go on; you know you want to). Is this proof that the Lottery is, as many have suggested, a tax on stupidity? Psychologists have observed that lottery winners who don't change their lifestyle have the best chance of "coping" with the "stress" of a big win. Which is exactly what  Petra L. is doing: "I will still be looking for special deals at the  shop, and won't be going on any big trips. I worked by the sweat of  my brow all life and turned every penny, and won't change now." What about… now? Anyone remember the old joke about the guy who wins the  jackpot, loses all his money, and later explains: "I spent some of it on women, booze and cars. The rest I wasted".

India's new car market is red hot. GM's Spark is not. As the Business Standard reports, "In the seven months between April and October this year, the Chevy Spark has managed to sell less than 12,000 units, or an average of 1,700 units a month, while its peers Alto and WagonR (Maruti Suzuki), Indica (Tata Motors) and Santro (Hyundai) have had average monthly sales of 10,000 – 18,000 units." Apparently, the Spark– a rebadged Daewoo Matiz– is a victim of GM's inability to move decisively (who'd a thunk?). Before GM took control of Daewoo in '01, the Daewoo Matiz– badged the Daewoo Matiz– had been India's best-selling car. Post-sale, The General dicked around trying to buy Daewoo’s assets in Surajpur, Uttar Pradesh. The deal went nowhere, leading to a five-year delay before the Spark's launch. And if that doesn't sound familiar (Camaro fans), how about this: "For 10 days in October, as a festival season offer, GM offered a massive discount of Rs 53,000 on the six-month old model, which got bookings for 12,000 units." Only capacity constraints at the Halol plant in Gujarat make timely delivery impossible. Never mind. GM's got big plans for the future, introducing six new Chevys from their Halol plant (85k capacity) and bringing its Talegaon plant (1.5m capacity) on-stream. 

Or it could be a heady combination of desperation and lust. Now that common wisdom holds that the Russian carmarket is The Next Big Thing, all the major playas are scrambling for a piece of the action. As we reported, GM was looking to buy into the Russian automaker AvtoVaz. As we didn't report (until now), The General got pipped at the post by the French. Blogging Stocks considers GM's failure to hook-up with AvtoVaz a major bummer and reveals that Renault stumped-up $1.6b for the honor of owning 25% of the Russian automaker. Undaunted (or perhaps foolhardy), GM now wants to fill-up with Gaz. msnbc reports that The General has already signed a letter of intent to develop an "affordable car" (as opposed to?). Despite the lack of said vehicle, GM wants to deepen its ties with billionaire Oleg Deripaska's company and expand their theoretical mutual efforts. Yes, well, meanwhile, the Gaz Volga already uses a Chrysler engine and underpinnings (ye olde Dodge Stratus), and Auburn Hills wants in as well. "Leonid Dolgov, chief executive of Gaz's car division, told the Financial Times it was 'no secret' his company was involved in talks with Chrysler." Well if it was before, it ain't now. [thanks to starlightmica for the links]

As we've been saying for years, China is only going to allow foreign automakers to do biz in The People's Republic as long as it takes them to figure out how to do it themselves. Hence the law stipulating that all carmakers setting-up shop in China must do so as part of a joint venture with a Chinese company. And the China half of these companies are already preparing for divorce. Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group, currently shacked-up with Toyota AND Honda, is the latest Chinese automaker to strike on its own. As WardsAuto reports, Guangzhou is readying an as yet undeclared model under an as yet unannounced brand name. "Construction of a research and design center and vehicle plant site already is under way in Guangzhou’s Payu district. The Chinese auto maker will invest some $916 million, including $404 million on the R&D center and $512 million on production facilities in order to launch its own brand of passenger cars by 2010." It's only a matter of time before the Chinese government games the market to favor their "independent" domestic automakers. 

Dutch Transport Minister Camiel Urlings has announced his government's intention to introduce satellite-based road pricing for all vehicles plying the Netherlands' roadways. Radio Netherlands reports that trucks will be the first to get the mandatory GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) monitoring devices in 2011, with cars gearing-up the year after. Drivers will be charged a per-mile fee depending on any number of variables: type of vehicle (to penalize larger cars and SUVs), location (i.e. congestion charging for cities), time of day, etc. Eurlings says the road pricing system will be countrywide by 2016. To soften the blow, the Dutch government will eliminate road tax and BMP (new car purchase tax). Eurlings claims that means the road pricing will be fairer, with more than half of road users paying less under the new system. The article makes no mention of personal privacy implications– which is scary enough. But it gets really scary when you consider the fact that the other European Union (EU) member nations are sure to monitor Holland's scheme in the hopes of implementing it in their home countries or, indeed, throughout the EU.

And there you have it: Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi's rationale for switching Samoa's cars from left to right hand drive. The Prime Minister's unilateral decision has unleashed unprecedented public dissent, especially from car owners who don't care to see their vehicle's value tank overnight. Radio New Zealand reports that over a thousand motorists are set to march (not drive?) in protest at the plan. Meanwhile, as the Prime Minister's "common sense" defense didn't seem to convince his skeptical electorate, Malielegaoi recently argued that the switch to right-hand drive will help the archipelago's populace cope with global warming. The New Zealand Herald reports the spin: the switch will spur rural residents to import cheap right hand drive cars from their New Zealand relatives, making it easier for Samoa's coastal citizenry to move inland, away from rising sea levels. Needless to say, the real reason behind the move is undoubtedly financial. Samoa currently imports vehicles from America and Japan. New Zealand and Australia figure the nearby island is a natural market for their right hand drive automobiles. What's the bet Samoa's neighbors have been working behind the scenes to "open" the Samoan car market to their products?