The European Court has announced judgment day for its ruling on the so-called "VW law" thwarting Porsche's takeover plans: 9:30am, October 23. Meanwhile, union bosses at the two automakers are duking it out in the court of public opinion. Just-auto [sub] reports that the head of the Porsche works council, Uwe Hück, has called his opposite number at VW, Bernd Osterloh, an "out of control boxer" [pugilist, not engine]. Hück was responding to Osterloh's assertion that Porsche management had refused to meet with him to discuss future VW worker representation on the Porsche Holding SE's supervisory board. Osterloh's beef: when if Porsche assumes control of VW, both unions get three seats on the new company's board. As far as Osterloh's concerned, this would give "Porsche employees" veto power over Volkswagen employees. As far as Hück is concerned, "Saying that a workforce of 324,000 carries more weight than one of 12,000 is capitalist talk. In a democratic social state, everyone has equal rights, whether they are big, small, fat or thin." What was that about divide and conquer?

The European Union may soon force automakers to include health/global warming warnings on their car advertisements, similar to the list of possible side effects required on US drug ads. MotorTrader (MT) reports that English MEP (Member European Parliament) Chris Davies has submitted a report on the proposal to EU chiefs, who will debate the idea in October. Davies' report also calls for a Euro-wide ban on any car ad that promotes a vehicle's high speed performance (as is currently in place in the UK) and ban the sale of cars that can drive faster than 101mph. According to MT, Davies "noted that the power of new cars increased by 28 per cent between 1994 and 2004, making them heavier and thus increasing the amount of CO2 output. This increase is completely unnecessary, the MEP said, as no country has raised its speed limit to allow cars to use this additional power."  

Who'd a thunk a car insurance company would have the stones to challenge the value of tomorrow's ever-so-PC International Car Free Day? And get this: the company in question is ibuyeco, the "eco-friendly UK car insurance company" [Customers' premiums include a carbon offsetting fee donated to The CarbonNeutral Company for eco-friendly projects]. The insurer's survey of 1500 Brits reveals that the anti-car (or pro non-automotive) event is flying well beneath the radar of the average UK motorist. Only 12 percent were aware of International Car Free Day (although they jolly well will be if and when they face the resulting traffic jams). When told of the global initiative, 72 percent of respondents said they wouldn't even "consider" taking part. When the survey takers asked recalcitrant motorists why they wouldn't give up their cars, work, shopping and visiting family topped the list. Three quarters of all respondents said public transport was not a viable alternative to using the car, citing time implications, delays, cost and lack of convenience.  

[Interview with Jim Hawker of ibuyeco below.] 

The Detroit News reports that Ford has extended the bidding deadline for the sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover brands. The delay does not bode well for India's Tata Motors; it gives the Indian automaker's private equity rivals more time to secure financing for the deal. Meanwhile, Indiantelevision.com reports that Tata's way ahead of its competitors on its home turf– at least in terms of television advertising. From January to this August, Tata bought more TV time than Honda Hero Motors, by a margin of 19 to 17 percent. Mighty Mahindra & Mahindra, which dropped out of the bidding for Jag and Landie, spent their money elsewhere. Which may be just as well in a clutter-kills-your-message kinda way; Indian TV runs an average of 630 car or Jeep ads per day. 

Our friends across the pond are in the midst of celebrating (or not) “European Mobility Week 2007.” This year’s theme: “Streets For People.” EurActiv reports that some 1600 cities are holding car-free events aimed at “reclaiming road space for pedestrians and cyclists… to cut congestion and pollution without reducing people's mobility.” If that sounds like something of a challenge, the European Union (EU) wants to “combat climate change, boost economic growth and improve European citizens' quality of life” while promoting “more sustainable modes of transport.” In an article entitled “Severing car dependency in EU cities 'very realistic’,” Copenhagen’s vice-mayor (and Mobility Week cheerleader) Klaus Bondam offers a practical solution: “buy goods that come from your local area, so you don't need all that transport.” So the politician promoting an anti-car week created by an organization that began life as the European Economic Community suggests reducing trade with member states to protect the global environment. Go figure.

According to a survey by NEWCARNET, 87 percent of British drivers want to see the demise of "sleeping policemen" (a.k.a. speed humps or speed bumps). Introduced in 1991, these "traffic calming" measures range in size from 75 to 100mm high (three to four inches for the metrically challenged). The survey claims sleeping policemen are responsible for damage to cars and buildings, increased road noise levels and injuries to drivers with bone conditions. Their detractors also consider them a dangerous distraction that slows emergency vehicles, and oft times diverts heavy traffic onto less suitable roads. The speed bumps' safety value is also a matter of debate. When Barnet City Council removed all of their sleeping policemen in 2005, accidents had dropped by 14.9 percent. Despite all this– and an anti-sleeping policeman petition that garnered 6,622 signatures– don't look for their extinction any time soon. The UK government has proven itself almost entirely unresponsive to public objections to road safety measures.

It looks like everyone wants a piece of the burgeoning Chinese auto market. The latest player: the Iran Khodro Industrial Group (IKCO). The Iranian conglomerate has joined forces with Chinese busmaker Jinhua Neoplan to build vehicles in China, according to China Car Times. IKCO is Iran's primary auto manufacturer; they assemble cars in Iran under license from PSA Peugeot Citroen and trucks under license from Mercedes-Benz. They also build cars under the Iranian brands Samand, Sarir and Soren. There's no word on whether IKCO's Chinese vehicles will be existing models or new ones, or whether they're destined for the Chinese market or export to Iran and/or other markets. So far together they've invested over $60m in the project, and are expected to sink another $140m into the venture in the near future.

Yesterday, we reported that Saudi Arabia's blanket ban on women drivers was rooted in clerical  fatwas– rather than secular or Islamic law. As if to prove the point, African Business reports that the predominantly conservative, 95 percent Muslim west African country of Senegal is training two thousand women taxi drivers. Project "Taxi Sister" is the result of a government fund to help would-be female entrepreneurs and car dealer Espace-Auto. To allay critics, the taxi drivers will only work from seven AM to seven PM, wear distinctive (and chaste) uniforms and receive martial arts training. Espace-Auto's MD claims the project it's not all about the art of the deal. "(Male-female) parity should not be just a slogan," Serigne Mboup said. "It must be applied in the economic sphere." Amen.  

The Committee of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive Cars will petition King Abdullah this week to remove the blanket ban on women driving. Although the petition has a snowball's chance in Riyadh of receiving acknowledgement– never mind consideration– it highlights the lack of anything remotely resembling democracy in The Land of The Two Holy Mosques. As the Associated Press reports, Saudi Arabia's prohibition against women driving is not based on secular or Islamic law. It's down to fatwas issued by senior Islamic clerics, who claim driving "creates situations for sinful temptation." Automotively aspirational women have attempted to overthrow the ban before– without success. "In November 1990, when U.S. troops were in Saudi Arabia following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, some 50 women got behind the wheel and drove family cars. They were jailed for one day, their passports were confiscated and they lost their jobs." And these are our allies against Islamo-fascists? 

At the "Frankfurt Motor Show India Day," Indian government and business representatives scolded Germany for their lackadaisical attitude towards the world's largest democracy. "When I speak to German companies", said the Indian Minister for Heavy Industries, "they say the Indian market for small cars is too competitive. But I tell them, you cannot afford to ignore this country, because it is as big as all of Europe, and is growing faster than any other place." Volkswagen AG's Joerg Müller said hold up: VW's offering the Passat and (wait for it) Phaeton to India. Another Indian official said get on with it, mate. "You need to combine German engineering excellence with Indian software ability and low costs to produce a competitive, mass-market product." Meanwhile, according to Spiegel, France's Renault has established a new R&D center in India, where it is developing a Three-Thousand-Dollar car". 2,000 engineers will work on a model which will severely undercut Renault-Nissan-Dacia's present €8,000.00 "Logan" model, but will probably won't make its way to Europe.

When TTAC revealed its Ten Worst Automobiles Today (TWAT) awards for 2006, the Jeep Compass "won" the second slot. "A pox on their house for building the Compass," William C. Montgomery wrote in his summary. It's "an ugly, gangly, underpowered, mud-aversive half-breed… turning all who see it– or God forbid buy it– into grotesque, bobble-headed morons." China Knowledge is reporting that Chrysler is now sharing this transformational tragedy with consumers in The People's Republic of China. In fact, they plan to sell 50k of them to unsuspecting Chinese. BTW, the move was initiated long before America received tens of millions of lead-painted toys. 

Pity the poor analysts over at Resource Investor. How do you measure current and projected oil importation and consumption in a country as enormous, secretive and chaotic as China? Still, this is one of the best reports on the subject I've seen. It includes a look at the country's rush to build new oil refineries and an explanation of the effect of "teapot" operations on supply. The bottom line's at the bottom: "Vehicle ownership in China is expected to double to about 55 million vehicles over the next five years, as falling prices encourage consumers to purchase cars… The ever increasing number of vehicles in China will help sustain the growth in both oil demand and transportation, driven by the country's rapid economic growth. Moreover, this will offset any efforts by the Chinese government to curb oil demand and imports." So rising international oil prices then? Depends on the supply, obviously. If the peak oil prognosticators are right… uh-oh.

Whatever you think about the evils of apartheid, the transition from Rhodesia to Robert Mugabeland has seen one of Africa's wealthiest, best-organized free market economies slide into corruption, shortages and misery. To wit: allAfrica.com's report on the Minister of Energy and Power Development's remarks at the opening of a National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) service station in Matshobana. "The country is facing critical fuel shortages," Mike Nyambuya admitted "As [the] government, we encourage all Zimbabweans to reduce the number of cars on the country's roads and walk to save the scarce fuel we have." No surprise there; the shortages have been ongoing since 1999. As Mugabe has frozen gas prices and awarded Noczim exclusive rights to import fuel into the country, nothing much is about to change. But just in case you thought Nyambuya was expressing solidarity with Zim's long-suffering motorists, he played the class warfare card. "In most developed countries, especially in Western countries company executives wearing expensive suits use public transport or walk to work but here in Zimbabwe one person wants to have 10 cars on the road each day." Fat chance.

Regular readers of this site will know we've been monitoring the UK government's anti-car stance closely. But we didn't see this coming. After an article in the medical journal Lancet concluded that London would need to be completely car-free to meet its CO2 reduction goals, the idea has started to gain traction amongst British environmental groups and politicians. The report's author, James Woodcock of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says the numbers don't lie. "Aside from cutting transportation emissions across London by 72 percent, shunning car journeys would decrease the risk of premature death in certain people by as much as 40 percent." At a press conference attended by Bloomberg, Woodcock's colleague Andrew Prentice suggested extending the scope of London's congestion charge zone into outer boroughs. He also recommended upping the charge to 50 or 100 pounds ($100 or $200) "to show people what the city would be like without traffic.'' The BBC reports that London Green Party member Jenny Jones has another idea: "I have asked the London mayor to do a feasibility study into creating a car free pedestrian zone in central London linking all the main squares and parks." 

The International Herald Tribune reports that the European Union's man in Afghanistan, former German commando Brigadier General Eichele, has given up trying to beef-up the national police force, and quit the theater. Seems bureacracy and corruption left him stuck at base; the EU executive delayed approving a budget for 70 armored cars, computers and office equipment. "We cannot travel outside Kabul because the armored-plated cars have not arrived," an EU diplomat told the Trib. The [theoretical] vehicles originally cost €110k a pop, but increased to €170k when security specifications changed. The commission went back to drawing up a new budget, issuing new tenders, etc. And then there's a turf war between the EU and NATO…