The Indian car market is a difficult one to crack, with frequent policy changes leaving automakers in turmoil. Volkswagen entered India in 2007 and hasn’t got a grip on the Indian market yet. The German automaker has invested heavily in assembly and manufacturing operations but availed little success. The Polo and Vento (Polo sedan) are doing average numbers and are not selling anywhere close to what the company expects. The reason for the poor performance can be attributed to the higher pricing of VW cars. Read More >

Volvo’s target is the lower end of the Lexus, BMW, Audi and Mercedes lines… Most experts consider the cars made by these companies engineering marvels. And Volvo, a Swedish marque with Chinese ownership, is another manufacturer that does not have the model line, marketing budget or dealer network to hope to compete.

Doesn’t sound like a vote of confidence, does it?

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Around 1,000 people tried to break through a security cordon around the Paris Auto Show (29 Sept. – 14 Oct.) today, throwing eggs and flour. The police answered with tear gas. It wasn’t an attempt to see the cars. It was a demonstration against lost jobs, and against the new Socialist government. Read More >

Volkswagen hasn’t published its group sales for September yet (it is expected to do so later in the week), but Reuters already saw a PowerPoint slide with 6.802 million vehicles on it, sold between January and September. This would mean an increase of 10.6 percent in the first nine months.  Volkswagen published Audi sales yesterday, and Volkswagen Passenger Vehicle sales (see below) today. Looking at these numbers, the 6.8 million are quite possible. Read More >

A couple of weeks ago the Wall Street Journal published an article about a “little-noticed” lawsuit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court filed by a trust representing “old” GM’s unsecured creditors. Those creditors are challenging a 2009 deal between GM Canada and a group of hedge funds that helped keep GM’s Canadian subsidiary out of its own bankrupcy. It’s a bit surprising to me that the WSJ article itself got very little notice in the automotive world because, if successful, the lawsuit could undo at least part of GM’s restructuring or result in a $1.3 billion price tag for the automaker. In regulatory filings GM has said its possible exposure will be less than that, $918 million, though in theory the bankruptcy court could reopen the entire bankruptcy, which would be much more disruptive to GM than just paying out a billion dollars.

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Japanese carmakers and their Chinese joint venture partners lost big-time in the spat over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands. The winners are German carmakers and their Chinese joint venture partners. Oddly enough, the central government ends up with a shot in the foot. Read More >

Is it possible to be a car enthusiast and not have at least a little bit of affection for Morgan? Call them anachronistic or replicas of themselves, but I don’t think you can like cars and not at least smile a little bit when you see a Morgan. If the Morgan in question has less than four wheels, that smile likely becomes a wide grin. Maybe it’s the influence of steampunks or hipsters, two subcultures that profess a love for old tech as they search for authenticity (or status markers), or maybe it’s because everyone who drives one says that it’s more enjoyable than most things that don’t require nudity, but Morgan has put their three-wheeler back into production. As you would expect with hand built cars, Morgans are always in short supply. They have waiting lists and the 3 Wheeler is only now arriving at Morgan dealers, but if you act quickly you might be able to have one in your driveway before your neighbor gets his Toyobaru Hachi Roku, and from the looks of it, unlike the FR-S/BRZ there are no concerns about ADM.

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Tesla’s sales model, with factory-run outlets selling directly to customers, is coming under fire while dealer groups such as NADA are citing the apparent illegality of factory-owned sales outlets.

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TTAC Reader Richard responds to Derek’s Scion Metalhead Marketing piece from the perspective of a car lover and metal fan

” ‘Entrails ripped from a virgin’s c**t,’ ” I thought to myself.  Toyota wants to play patron to a musical genre that has spawned songs like ‘Entrails Ripped from a Virgin’s C**t’ and ‘Christraping Black Metal.’ What are they thinking?”

My disbelief at Scion AV’s announcement echoed across heavy metal fandom. If there’s such a thing as collective cognitive dissonance, Scion AV caused it. Nobody could believe that Toyota was going to do this. What did heavy metal have to do with selling cars? And why would Toyota risk its stodgy and safe image on promoting itself via heavy metal, even if done through the ‘edgy’ and ‘youth-oriented’ Scion brand?

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TTAC is no stranger to the topic of Peak Oil, but the theory has fallen by the wayside with the recent explosion in unconventional oil and gas. A study by the British think tank Chatham House argues that the biggest issue facing oil and gas producers in the coming century isn’t Peak Oil, but Peak Demand (summary here).

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Fiat says it sits on a 22.7 billion euro cash pile. CONSOB, the Italian equivalent of the SEC, told Fiat to explain “size and purpose” of its cash position, says Il Messagero in Rome. Fiat says it is not aware of an alleged probe, and that any suggestion that its cash pile was lower than reported in its statements was false, and will be dealt with. Read More >

Every classic Mercedes enthusiast and their antique mother will brag about the longevity of their ride. Then you have the Camrys. The Accords. The Volvo 240/740/940 triplets. Silverados. F-150s. Crown Vics. Town Cars. And of course the VW TDI models.

They all will endure along with Cavalier cockroaches and the ever ready Rangers. But there is only one true ‘Exploder’ in the car business.

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Smiles in Ingolstadt and Wolfsburg, where Audi contributes 40 percent of Volkswagen Group’s profits: Audi’s global sales climbed 13.6 percent in September to 136,600 units delivered worldwide. 1,097,500 cars were sold in the first nine months, 12.8 percent more than in the prior-year period. Read More >

The top three Japanese automakers Toyota, Nissan, and Honda are slashing their production in China in half, says The Nikkei [sub]. The reductions are a response to sales drops triggered by anti-Japanese demonstrations and riots in China. Read More >

For the most part, I’m trying to avoid the whys and wherefores behind the topics I write about in this column. I’d just as soon hear from readers as to their opinions about the reasons behind. But there are going to be exceptions to that rule, as far as my postulating about motives.

This entry (as with Part One) is one of the exceptions. I still wouldn’t mind “hearing” your thoughts, though…

Once upon a time, when my little repair shop microcosm was a much safer and secure place to tread, I would rarely get a customer request for a repair procedure that was unlawful, unsafe, unprofitable, unfair, or just downright unrecommendable. And if their request was any of these, it would take very little effort on my part to dissuade them from their skewed request and get them to embrace my recommendation for properly solving their problem.

Or, did I DREAM that? Read More >