Some car dealers are missing the bad old times when Detroit was preoccupied with problems at home. Carmakers again have the bandwidth to look at “the channel,” and some don’t like what they see. Suddenly, dealers find themselves at the receiving end of harsh criticism. Both Chrysler and GM dealers are receiving a derriere chewing. Read More >
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Renault and Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn continues to prepare the battlefield of world opinion for a drop in Europe. According to Ghosn, Automobile sales in Europe could decline two to three percent. For Renault’s home market, he expects a drop of five to six percent, Ghosn said in an interview with France Inter radio: Read More >
Launching the “world’s cheapest car,” the Nano, into one of the world’s fastest growing auto markets, India, looked like a surefire concept back in 2009. Today, it looks stupid. Like many surefire concepts, the Nano turned out to be a dud. Says India’ Economic Times:
“After several years of disappointing sales, it has now become clear that the snubnosed hatchback’s unique selling point — its price — was actually a commercial sticking point. Read More >
Google’s nutty pseudo-utopian autonomous car project faced a reality check at a legal symposium sponsored by the Law Review and High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. Among the challenges raised were the prospect of insuring such a car, and whether the car would be able to stop for law enforcement or construction workers.
I’m currently testing the Mazda3 Skyactiv, and even though the automatic transmission is better matched to the car (more on that later) I’d still opt for the excellent 6-speed manual, even though 94.5 percent of consumers feel the opposite way.
Kelley Predicts 900,000 Cars For January, 13.3 Million For the Year – Edmunds Thinks Kelley Is Wrong
We must be going into the last week of the month: The sales forecasts are beginning to arrive. In January, some 900,000 cars should change hands, 10 percent more than January 2011, but a whopping 30 percent below December. GM will be the only major automaker with a minus, both before the growth number and the market share. Read More >
We’ve all heard anecdotal evidence of just how important cars like the Cayenne and Panamera are for Porsche’s financial health. Freelance analyst Timothy Cain has done the unenviable task of analyzing the data and his findings show just how important the apostate P-cars are for the company.
I was thumbing through the latest issue of Living Blues magazine, looking for authentically bluesy phrases, both musical and lyrical, to repeat as if they were my own invention, when I saw this cover.
Putting crapwagons on the cover is a bit of a hipster-esque affectation nowadays, but I get the sense that Mr. Bailey has that ’93-96 Regal on the cover just because, you know, that’s his car. It’s always been hard to make a living playing music and nowadays it’s tougher than ever. Nor is the blues customer particularly interested in seeing some sort of Scott-Storch-esque lineup of recently-purchased, already-in-stock “exotic” cars.
I’ve been working on cover ideas for my personal blues/rock album, to be released when I get around to it. My best idea so far has been unfairly criticized as derivative (warning: image contains explicit language and Jeff Beck-related sarcasm). Perhaps I need to find a Regal and stand in front of the thing. What about you? What car would be on the front cover of your album?
Today, “Italian automaker Fiat rolled out an introspective 90-second video for its new Panda compact car on the internet,” says Reuters. The wire claims that the ad is “aimed at tapping into the austerity zeitgeist.”
The commercial is inspired by last year`s “Imported from Detroit” ad that struck a chord with American buyers who want the good times to be rolling again. Now, Fiat wants to do a repeat in Italy. Read More >
Toyota is launching a hybrid version of the Yaris, and will likely be the European substitute for the Prius c/Aqua that Bertel drove just last week.
The Porsche-Piëch clan, ca. 1942. Grandfather Ferdinand Porsche, brother Ernst Piëch, sister Louise Piëch and mother Louise Piëch-Porsche. Ferdinand Piëch (nicknamed "Burli") is sitting in the grass on the left.
Volkswagen does not own Porsche yet. For all intents and purposes, however, Porsche is part of Volkswagen. Volkswagen executives give orders from Porsche board seats. Porsche engineers need to consult Volkswagen Group R&D departments. Insular solutions at Porsche require a written permission from Wolfsburg.
“Actually, Piech and his minion, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, could leave it at that. The integration of both enterprises has progressed so far, that is does not make a difference whether Porsche morphs into a Volkswagen division, or remains legally independent.
Actually.” Read More >
Bertel Schmitt recently spread the news about America’s new-found frugality when it comes to cars. The average registered car in the United States is now 10.8 years old. Almost enough to forget about the presidency of George W Bush. But not quite enough time to eliminate the memory of other failures such as the Daewoo Lanos, the Saab 9-7, and almost anything with the name ‘Mitsubishi’ on it.
Since so many of us have now become keepers when it comes to our rides, the MSM will likely find new and exciting ways to stereotype our behavior. Why? I don’t know. They always do. So my question to the B&B is simply this.
Why bother waiting for them to stereotype us? When we can so easily do it ourselves?
With concurrent news that some GM dealers are trying to game the vehicle allocation system comes news that Chevrolet dealers are outright rejecting shipments of the Chevrolet Volt.
After having been more or less luckless (Lupo, Fox ..) in the minicar category, Volkswagen appears to have finally found a winner with its autocorrect-busting Up! In Germany, the two-door city car immediately took first place in its class. In December, the Up! sold nearly the same as the former class champs Renault Twingo and Toyota Aygo sold together (see table.) To make backseat drivers more comfortable, Volkswagen introduces a four-door version of the Up! Read More >
Rare earth free electric motor
China is learning an interesting lesson: Only take a hostage if the other side wants it back. According to Japan’s Kyodo Newswire [sub], Toyota “has acquired technology to produce hybrid and electric vehicles without using rare earths and may begin doing so in about two years.” Read More >
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