Wonders never cease. Saab’s date of execution had been set for December 31. 24 hours before the last gasp, Saab has received a reprieve.
“We are preparing the wind-down process. At the same time we are open to options, to bids that come in. Therefore the deadline has also been dropped,” Saab spokesman Eric Geers said to Reuters. The news even surprised GM.
Read More >
To have a chance of succeeding with its Opel turnaround, GM needs two things: Financial support from the European governments to the tune of €2.6b. And concessions by Opel workers worth €265m a year. GM itself doesn’t have more than $600m to contribute. Not the best bargaining position.
Chances of government support are getting slimmer as time goes on. Now, Opel labor representatives flat out refuse any support if GM sticks to its turn-around plan for Opel. It is “totally unacceptable” said Opel labor leader Klaus Franz. “A reduction of 9,000 jobs in Europe is out of the question,” Franz said to the Frankfurter Rundschau.
Read More >
And the Hummer mess is marching on: Both Tengzhong and SAIC deny reports in the Chinese press that they are planning to cooperate in the production of the Hummer SUV in China. A lot of sense it would make:
Read More >
This 1960 Impala needs no words of commentary; it’s one of those profoundly visual and self-explanatory cars. For a frame of reference and background, I direct you to its predecessor’s 1959 Chevy Curbside Classic. Read More >
How many show-car concepts over the decade have featured a “convertible” body, where the car could be transformed from one body style to another? In my memory, several; it’s an irresistible draw for designers. And how many have actually made it into production? The only one that come to my mind is this gen2 Nissan Pulsar. When I saw it and its gen1 predecessor two blocks away, it was my cue to take a look at this historically significant little car. Read More >
Welcome to TTAC’s latest feature “New or Used?” In this series, your car-buying questions will become a battleground between the forces of the used-car market (as represented by our in-house auction specialist Steve Lang) and the new-car market (as represented by Mr Sajeev Mehta of Piston Slap fame). Send your automotive scenario to mehta@ttac.com, and let these skilled pundits for the new and used car markets battle it out for your business before handing the debate off to TTAC’s Best And Brightest. This week we have a hypothetical scenario to get things started, in which a young family finds itself in need of a lot more space. Will they be swayed to buy new or used? Let’s read on…
Read More >
We’ve always said the Fiat-Chrysler alliance was positive. The headquarters of an increasingly global company are here. But I wouldn’t like to see new auto products being developed in the United States and not here in our own research-and-development facilities.
Andrea Bairati, commissioner for innovation for Italy’s Piedmont region in a WSJ piece on Fiat’s annual meeting in Turin. Maybe if Piedmont had kicked a few billion in on the Chrysler-Fiat alliance, Mr Bairati wouldn’t feel quite so slighted.
No, it’s not an Infiniti, and yes, it is Chinese. Chery’s M14 is testing in UK, reports China Car Times, where Lotus is reportedly helping tune the engine and suspension settings.
First, they sold the most amount of cars in the world, then, they started cost cutting and now, Toyota are taking another big step towards becoming GM. The Charleston Daily Mail reports that the managers of Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Buffalo, West Virginia have allowed workers to distribute union literature during breaks at the plant. There’d been grumblings about unionisation for some time. Last month, some Toyota employees, (with the backing of the UAW, naturally), filed a grievance with the National Labour Relations Board’s regional office in Cincinnati. They wanted to distribute union material but were stopped by Toyota managers. Jeff Moore, a Toyota vice president at the West Virginia plant, reversed that policy.
Read More >
According to Reuters, GM has sent a letter to its dealers offering $7,000 for every new Saturn or Pontiac they can move to a rental or service fleet between now and January 4. The plan would essentially make dealers the first buyer of the remaining Pontiacs and Saturns, which would then be operated as fleet vehicles or be sold as low-mileage used cars. In any case, the single objective is clear: get those dead brands off the books at all costs. With 7,900 vehicles left at Pontiac as of the 14th of December and upward of 5,000 left at Saturn as of the beginning of the month, the cost to GM could easily approach $100m. But as they say in the advertisements, their loss is your gain…. as long as you’re interested in one of the G6s or Auras that dominate the dead-brand straggler inventory. Where’s Oprah when you need her?
Getting a car like the Volt on Jay Leno’s Garage seems like a no-brainer. America’s patron celebrity of car obsession has the gearhead credentials to help explain the Volt’s positive attributes, and the enthusiasm to draw a very different crowd than the usual Volt fanboy sites. And yet from the first, the Volt’s visit to automotive Valhalla seems to have chief engineer Andrew Farah in permanent flinch mode. Leno is never overtly hostile (alá Letterman), but from his comparison of the Volt to a 1916 Owens Magnetic, to his assessment that the Volt is “not a tiny car,” you can’t help feeling that he thinks it’s all a bit of a joke. It’s a four-seater. Literally. They’re shooting for a 2,900 lb weight goal. Your mileage may vary. The hood is held up with a stick. What is the deal with that? Like any comedian, Leno’s only as good as his material. Luckily, the yawning chasm between the modest reality of the Volt and its relentless hype is fertile ground indeed.
Wondered what BAIC will do with the used tooling and blueprints it has bought from Saab at the fire sale price of only $200m? BAIC has big plans, and big pockets.
Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC group, told China Daily that the company will spend some $5b over the next three years to develop three to four passenger car models and two to three turbocharged engines based on the acquired Saab technology.
BAIC will revive their “Beijing” brand which was born in 1958, but abandoned soon thereafter. Beijing’s initial lineup will include a mid-sized hatchback, a notchback, a compact hatchback and a CUV. The cars will be made at 150,000 unit plant in Beijing. Construction will start in February.
Read More >
Toyota’s Venezuelan unit has yet to be inspected by the government, today’s Nikkei [sub] reports. As a matter of fact, they haven’t heard a peep.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last week threatened to nationalize the plants of foreign car makers, and ordered his Trade Minister Eduardo Saman to “immediately” conduct a thorough inspection. Nothing happened.
Read More >
Subaru wasn’t the only automaker who bucked the misery in 2009, but it was one of the most consistent sales performers month after month. As a longtime Subaru aficionado, my initial diagnosis was that Subaru moved upmarket just as its brand equity was peaking. The brand’s new, flashier interiors, along with upsized redesigns of the Forester and Outback may not have been my cup of 30-weight, but they put the brand on more shopping lists among the automotive mainstream. That’s at least part of the message of Automotive News [sub]’s dissection of Subaru’s strong year, as Subie insiders reveal that more tech toys, better rear legroom and more “sophistication” were important in making Subaru products live up to the inherent “premium-ness” of their AWD platforms.
Read More >
Not long ago we wondered what the hell Mahindra was up to, as the Indian firm had delayed its US launch seemingly indefinitely. Thanks to Pickuptrucks.com, we’ve learned that Mahindra still has yet to file paperwork for federal standards compliance, and that the launch date for its diesel Pickup has been pushed back to the nebulous date of “middle spring 2010.” Federal testing is complete, but Mahindra won’t submit compliance paperwork to the feds until January. The company reckons this bureaucratic hurdle will be complete by February, clearing the way for a product launch sometime around April. According to pickuptrucks.com, Mahindra will be offering two-door and four-door versions of its pickup at launch, both powered by a 2.2 liter diesel engine. Mahindra intends for its trucks to achieve 30 mpgs and 1.3 ton hauling capacity.
Recent Comments