The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association today officially conceded defeat and yielded the title “world’s top automobile manufacturer in 2009” to China, reports the Nikkei [sub]. The world had known for quite some time that China made more than 13m cars in 2009, and that Japanese production was a mere shadow of its former self. But it needs some time to sink in and to make it official.
Note: All that follows are production data, as opposed to sales data. In China, production data nearly equal sales data. Couldn’t be more different than in Japan. Here, usually twice as many cars are made than sold. Half of the Made in Japan cars are exported. Usually. Let’s see what happened this time. Read More >
Ford’s announcement that it would restore merit pay increases and 401k matching to salaried employees has drawn protests from the UAW even though it has restored profit-sharing for UAW workers. The UAW’s head of Ford representation Bob King tells the Detroit News:
They’re two separate issues. We gave up a long laundry list of benefits. None of that is being restored. We think they should use the money to pay down debt
We agree that they’re not linked,” say Ford spokesfolks. “But we don’t believe that we violated the contract.” And while the union bashes Ford for restoring white-collar benefits, it’s actually reaching out to salaried Delphi retirees, as MLive reports that UAW boss Ron Gettelfinger has written a letter to Delphi asking it to restore salaried pensions which are being cut. So does the UAW support salaried auto industry employees, or does it see them as an opponent in a zero-sum game? More than likely, the answer is neither. Or both. As this video of chaos breaking out at a UAW meeting of NUMMI workers seems to indicate, the UAW is still an out-of-control juggernaut, unable to share a coherent perspective on the industry. But hey, thanks to their ownership of a majority stake in Chrysler and about 15 percent of GM, they’re an out-of-control fact of life.
Kudos to Edmunds Inside Line for throwing up pictures of two Toyota gas pedal assemblies. The recalled unit, made by CTS, is shown above in a 2010 Camry. The non-recalled Denso-produced unit is after the jump.
So you thought the Saab deal is done? A deal is never done until the check clears. Speaking of clearing, Laurence Stassen, a member of the European Parliament, and a member of the Dutch Partij voor de Vrijheid(a right-of-the-center party in the Netherlands) is seeking clarification from Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.
Vrouw Stassen wants to know if there is any forbidden state aid involved in the Saab/Spyker deal, the Dutch news site NU.NL reports. The Swedish government guarantees a loan of €400m, which Spyker then is supposed to get from the European Investment Bank. Spyker is, well, banking on that money. Read More >
Staff from the House Energy and Commerce Committee met with representatives from Toyota yesterday, reports Automotive News [sub], as Congress wades into the Toyota recall debacle. According to a letter from the Energy and Commerce Committee to NHTSA administrator David Strickland and Toyota North America Boss Yoshimi Inaba [letters available in PDF format here], the discussions with Toyota were characterized as “helpful,” but that “it left important questions unanswered, including when Toyota learned about this serious safety defect and what actions the company took to investigate and resolve the hazard.” Hearings have been scheduled for February 25, and the Committee’s letter to Inaba requests disclosure of all internal communication related to to the production shutdown, among other company documents.
Toyota’s recall of 2m vehicles in Europe isn’t doing much to clarify the chaos surrounding the unintended acceleration panic that is enveloping the company. Eight models are being removed from Europe’s roads, including Auris, Avensis, Aygo, Corolla, iQ, RAV4, Verso and Yaris. The fact that two of these models (iQ and RAV4) are built exclusively in Japan (European Corollas are built in Japan and South Africa), seems to suggest that the problem is not limited to gas pedal assemblies supplied by CTS, which has been blamed for the US recall. The other models are built in France (Yaris), Turkey (Auris, Verso), the Czech Republic (Aygo) and the UK (Avensis, Auris). According to Automotive News [sub], the recall affects these models built between Feb. 2005 and this month, even though
Toyota lengthened the arm of the friction lever and changed its materials on all vehicles produced in Europe using the subject accelerator pedals starting in mid-August 2009
About half of all dealers culled in the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies have filed for congressionally-mandated arbitration, reports Automotive News [sub]. 409 of the 789 culled Chrysler dealers and over 1,000 of the 2,000 culled GM dealers have paid the $1,625 to file for arbitration, and will move into the next phase of the process: agreeing on an arbitrator. Having threatened to sabotage the process with a lawsuit on constitutional grounds, it’s a bit of a surprise to see Chrysler suddenly validating the arbitration process,but that’s what appears to be taking place. Chrysler tells AN [sub]:
The company looks forward to the expeditious completion of the process. A robust dealer network is a critical component of the group’s strategy of rebuilding a strong and resilient American automaker
Representatives of the culled dealers are optimistic that many could be reinstated when arbitration wraps up in June, but only if Chrysler continues to approach the arbitration process with an open mind. Whether that happens or not will be clear as the process goes on.
According to Dow Jones Newswire, Honda “announced a voluntary worldwide recall of 646,000 compact cars so that it can examine window switches that can overheat if exposed to liquid.”
Europe has largely shifted towards a CO2-based vehicle taxation regimen. Next in line to tax what comes out of your car may be, wonders of wonders, China.
“Drivers in China may be taxed on the level of emissions produced from their vehicles in the future,” writes China Daily, citing the comments of an official of the Beijing Development and Reform Commission (BDRC). Read More >
Chinese automakers may not get government approval to expand their capacities, unless they first agree to take over another Chinese carmaker, says the Shanghai Securities News via Reuters.
China may have the largest auto market in the world, with 13.6m units sold in 2009, but China also has a big problem: Way too many automakers. There are more than 100 automakers in China. The exact number is unknown. China’s top 10 automakers accounted for 87 percent of total sales, or 11.9m in 2009. The more than 100 small guys built some 1.7m units – together. That’s 17000 units each. Read More >
Toyota knows how to fix the sticking gas pedals, says today’s Nikkei [sub]. Nobody will go publicly on record, and nothing will be announced before the NHTSA has approved the fix. Read More >
Stopping in at Wal Mart always raises the possibilities of some interesting people and car watching. There’s a web site dedicated to the remarkable sights of the peopleofwalmart.com. Prepare yourself! And buried in that treasure chest are some wild cars too. I’m sorry to say my brief venture into Wally Mart this morning doesn’t measure up to the best of theirs, but it’s worth sometimes to just stop for a second and smell the…old cars in the parking lot. Gallery follows: Read More >
Sajeev and Steve, I love the idea of your new column. Love it. I made an appearance in Piston Slap with my flash welded PCV valve on my Lexus but actually have been playing with the idea of buying a car for almost a year. I’m a serial test driver (I’ve been on 20+) and have found myself in this scenario which might be a good one for your new feature.
German Mercedes tuner Carlsson has announced a 25-unit, limited-edition C25 coupe based on the Mercedes CL and the ancient nightmares of dread Cthulu. Sure, it has a 735 hp turbocharged V12, but that isn’t why people will buy it. The real ownership pitch: Carlsson will only sell one per country, thereby “guaranteeing exclusivity” for its buyers. Which begs the question: would Carlsson have sold that many C25s on their own merits? We think not.
Supplier CTS, who produced the gas pedals now under recall from Toyota, tells Automotive News [sub] that it “built parts to the automaker’s specifications and says it has no knowledge that its parts were responsible for any accidents or injuries.” Sources at CTS tell AN that although they are working on a fix with Toyota and that new pedals have been tested and are shipping to Toyota plants, “this is their recall.” That would seem to contradict the facts of the case, as Denso, Toyota’s gas pedal supplier for Japanese-built models, has not been involved in the recall. According to Inside Line, the issue with pedal return damping that has plagued CTS-supplied, US-built Toyotas has not turned up in Denso-produced gas pedals. Read More >
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