You think Japan is import-adverse? Have a look at that chart that follows, and you will see a wondrous trend: Japanese automakers are importing more and more foreign owned cars to Japan. Some of them even from the U.S. Now, the imports will increase. Not from the US, but from …. Read More >
Japanese new car sales rose 20.6 percent year on year to 293,537 units in June, up for the 11th straight month, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association just told The Nikkei [sub]. And the best part is: Read More >
It’s that time of the month again. Today, sales in the U.S. will be reported. “Yucky” will probably be their nicest adjective. “U.S. auto sales this month probably posted the smallest increase since February as consumers concerned about unemployment and the economy avoid large purchases, analysts said” to Bloomberg.
Analysts polled by Bloomberg think June SAAR will be anywhere between 10.4 and 11m, the averaged number comes out to an annualized rate of 11.2 million units. More than last year’s horrendous June number of 9.7m, but less than 11.6 million in May. There will be little reason to celebrate. Read More >
Sergio Marchionne’s turnaround of Fiat was a weird one. He turned around a company, which most people thought had died already. Sergio’s turnaround was helped by GM’s unwitting “re-capitalization” of Fiat, too. Recently, worker relations in Italy have been strained, to say the least. If you thought the situation with the UAW in the United States was bad enough, in Italy, things are spicier than Mamma’s Arrabbiata sauce. The Financial Times UK reports that Sergio Marchionne has finally lost patience with unionized Italian workers and has threatened them to change their mindsets or else be out of a job. The end of September is their deadline. Mr Marchionne wants Italy to help drag Fiat (and Chrysler) into one of the top five car companies in the world. But to do that, he needs concessions from his Italian workers. Big ones. Read More >
Pre-recall, Toyota was the company to emulate. It was very profitable, its business and production model was the envy of the world (with Lexus-owning Alan Mulally praising it) and it had an iron grip on quality and reliability (even though Honda could have had that title). Then came “acceler-gate”. Customers were petrified their Toyotas would creep out of their garages and run them down in the middle of the night. The government held numerous show trials senate hearings to give the illusion that it was protecting the American people from the nasty foreigners. Only an outcast few questioned the fact that the hearings were conducted by an entity which held significant stakes in two of Toyota’s competitors. If you think about it, is like going to trial on a murder charge and the judge and jury are made up of members of the victim’s family. Yes, it looked like Toyota was down and out. Then, something amazing happened. The ABC News’ “story” on Toyota acceleration was found to be a fake. Customers’ accounts of Toyotas going wild were exposed as lies and some countries stuck by Toyota. So after this roller-coaster ride, was else could happen? Well… Read More >
According to BusinessWeek‘s David Welch, GM’s New York market share has slipped below ten percent for the first time, prompting The General to consider a 5th Avenue GM “salon” showcasing the company’s products. Now, the arguments against the idea are too easy: spending government money on some of the world’s most expensive real estate isn’t great PR-wise. Besides, isn’t GM trying to emphasize the individuality of its brands, and break down the monolithic image of GM as the all-seeing, all-rebadging automaker? Wouldn’t a GM “salon” go against the alleged independence of, say, Cadillac? On the other hand, GM does finally have some good products, and can’t afford further erosion in market share in America’s affluent coastal cities. Would it really hurt to showcase them in a prominent setting? It’s a debate that’s surely racking the RenCen at the moment, so why not weigh in before a decision is made. Is this a plain bad idea? Should a variation of the idea move forward, possibly highlighting individual brands in a more targeted manner? Or does GM need a world-class flagship retail outlet in order to manifest itself as a world-class automaker?
TTAC Commentator shores4now writes:
I have 111,000 miles on my 2000 Volvo S40 and it does not leak any oil. Have always changed the oil around 5000 miles. have never used synthetic on it before. I have heard I have too many miles to change over to synthetic. That it could cause my seals to leak if I switch over at this point. Have heard the opposite that if I don’t have any leaks that it will be fine. What do you think, should I switch over to a synthetic or a synthetic blend, or stick with what I have been using?
Two weeks in a minivan with three kids? There but for the grace of god goes this childless 20-something. Luckily our man Karesh is made of sterner stuff, and was happy to put the 2011 Toyota Sienna through its real-world, families-are-no-place-for-the-weak paces. Here, in pictures, are some of his impressions.
Alfa’s been talking about selling an SUV for years now, as the brand has thrashed around looking for a rescue line. Now, a long-rumored ute named Kamal (after an Alfa SUV concept) has finally materialized at Alfa’s 100-year anniversary, looking an awful lot like a BMW X1. In fact, it is a BMW X1 with tacked-on Alfa cues. If this is a sign that Alfa fans are desperate for an SUV, their dreams will come true. Automotive News [sub] reports that SUVs are a crucial component of Alfa’s plan to sell half a million cars per year by 2014, up from just over 100k last year. A small SUV, to be built by Chrysler and imported to Europe, will start sales in 2012, with another, larger ute (based on the next Jeep Libery) planned for 2014. In other words, look for rebadged Chryslers to rescue Alfa’s SUV dreams rather than a taped-off BMW. No wonder analysts are so skeptical of Alfa’s turnaround plans, telling AN [sub]
The potential of the (Alfa) brand is huge, but to multiply sales fivefold in five years they probably also will need to sell cars on the Moon and on Mars
Yesterday we suggested that this line drawing of a smaller-than-full-size Chevrolet pickup meant that Chevy would be “recommitting” to the US market for compact pickup trucks. Today, however, Bloomberg reports that Chevy is planning a mid-sized truck for production in Thailand, and that GM is focusing its smaller pickup efforts on the developing markets in South East Asia and Brazil (importation to Europe is also planned). GM’s Martin Apfel explains
The logical consequence is to build where the customer wants it, as that keeps your costs down. [Thailand and Brazil are] the two centers of gravity for midsize trucks
It used to be that the U.S. was Porsche’s largest market, even in the double nickel days. Number two was the land of the Autobahn, Porsche home market Germany. This is about to change. Read More >
Today, natural gas is a rational alternative to gasoline that can provide a near-term environmental solution on the road to vehicle electrification. It is the most effective solution, in terms of costs and timing, to lessen this country’s reliance on oil
Chrysler/Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne tells the Detroit News that despite not having an electric vehicles in the works until 2012 (can you believe ENVI was just vapor), Chrysler can sell environmentally-friendly vehicles sooner than that. After all, Fiat sells a grip of natural gas-powered vehicles in Europe (130,000 last year), offering the alt-energy drivetrain on nearly every model. Of course, there’s a hitch. Or three.
You take some of my rescued state-owned automaker, and I’ll take some of yours. That seems to be the cunning plan cooked up by presidents Putin and Sarkozy, as the two face the prospect of rescuing struggling firms in the midst of a weak European market. And actually, it seems that the idea was really Putin’s. French-owned automaker Renault is “more than happy” with its 25 percent stake in the moribund Russian automaker AvtoVAZ, reports Bloomberg, but Russia is offering to buy 15 percent of the French firm if France in turn takes on more AvtoVAZ equity. Considering that Reanult paid $1b for 25 percent of a firm that has been kept alive only by government intervention, a closer embrace of VAZ does not seem advisable. Nor, frankly, does any form of “Franco-Russian Leyland” sound like a good idea.
It’s safe to buy Ford again. Ford as in the F share. After trading at close to $15 in April, it could be had below $10 yesterday. A bargain. Or so it seems. Read More >
Hawaii’s Supreme Court ruled in September that speeding tickets issued on the basis of laser speed gun readings were not valid (view decision). The high court followed up this ruling in March by overturning a case where the officer in question claimed he used pacing to estimate the speed after the laser evidence was thrown out (view decision). Dozens of motorists convicted by lidar evidence are now being forced to take their case to the Intermediate Court of Appeals in order to clear their names.
Recent Comments