Category: News Blog
GM is stepping up efforts to retain some control over Opel this week, as political pressure builds to find a solution before German elections on September 27. GM sources told the Wall Street Journal that Spain, Britain and Poland would jointly contribute “about €1B” towards repaying a German government bridge loan. Should the nationalized American automaker pay off the note, they could then sell Opel to their “preferred” third party buyer option, RHJ. The private equity fund dug around in the couch and came up with another €25M, raising its offer to buy Opel from GM to €300M. Coincidence?
BMW’s Norbert Reithofer scored some brownie points in Old Blighty by “confirming” that “the MINI Coupe concept car and another new MINI model [SPOILER ALERT: it’s a roadster] will both be built at Oxford.” Jolly good and all that, but Ze Germans just laid off 850 Oxford employees in February. So, are the Coupe and Roadster being fast-tracked for production? “We can’t put a number on it yet,” says Reithofer. “It will be years before we begin production. It takes time to scale up.” But why let that ruin some good hype?
Audi has finally put a price to their baby diesel: $29K. And the rest. So how will a thirty-thousand dollar oil-burning compact car fare in the American market? For Johann De Nysschen’s sake, better than the Chevy Volt. Of course, the 230 mpg (snigger) Volt isn’t on sale yet, while the 42 mpg (highway) A3 TDI will soon hit Audi showrooms across the length and breadth of this great, oil-importing nation. Which reminds me—as Audi constantly does—“the EPA calculated that if only one-third of the vehicles on American roads ran on clean diesel, the U.S. would use 1.5 million fewer barrels of oil each day.” So, let’s see . . . Wikipedia says there are 135,399,945 automobiles registered in the US. That means Audi would like to replace roughly 45,133,315 vehicles with clean diesels. With a little help from other automakers, presumably. Right?
Click to enlarge. For better resolution, head over to mint.com or get younger. [Thanks to Mike B for the link.]
As of now, I’d say Ford has momentum and will outsell GM in the U.S. next year–and maybe even for one month this year.
Jerry Flint wonders (via Forbes) when, not if, Ford will overtake GM. Why?
GM, with its larger lineup, outsells Ford easily in cars, but the overall difference after seven months is only a 197,637-vehicle lead for GM (GM: 1,135,674 vs. Ford at 938,037). And some 172,000 of this lead are GM models to be sold or discontinued, such as Pontiac.
Longtime TTAC Commentator KeepAustinWeird writes:
Hi Sajeev, I’ve got a 2000 SAAB Viggen with 113K miles. Recently, I’ve noticed that after I’ve been driving the car for about 20 minutes and the car is good and warmed up, the motor totally bogs until I can get to 3,000 RPM, at which point the car takes off. This is particularly annoying (unsafe) pulling away from full stop, where I either have to gun the motor or crawl thru 1st and part of 2nd before the RPMs rise enough for the boost to kick in. Wondering if this is a MAF (which I’ve cleaned) issue, a drive by wire sensor issue, or a dying turbo issue?
No, we don’t know either. No idea. Not a freaking clue. Sorry.
Since last January, JamesList.com has been offering a no-nonsense marketplace for buyers and sellers of upmarket chazzerei. Contrary to the media’s “teflon mega-rich” meme, website co-founder Noam Perski reports that tough times have quelled demand for your garden variety “ultra-luxury” automobiles (e.g., Bugatti Veyron, Rolls Royce Phantom). Perski says the slow-down lowered prices for pre-loved examples by some 18 percent (from May to September ’09). So far. “Prices for high end cars stayed firm until three to six months ago, but few deals were being done.” The good news: “When owners ask for less money, the goods are moving, indicating that we may be nudging the bottom of the market.” Or not. Meanwhile, further up and down the scale, its a different story . . .
Audi of America’s Johann De Nysschen calls the Volt “a car for idiots,” in an MSN interview. “No one is going to pay a $15,000 premium for a car that competes with a (Toyota) Corolla,” he tells Lawrence Ullrich. “So there are not enough idiots who will buy it.” And you have to admit that the guy has a point. For all the Volt’s hype, GM has offered little in the way of an explanation of the Volt’s potential appeal to people who don’t merely “want to show what enlightened souls they are,” as De Nysschen puts it. But don’t worry, GM has a meme for that! Specifically, that deep down the Volt isn’t an overpriced hair shirt . . . it’s a performance car!
China will not report official August sales numbers for a week or so. First indications show that they will be abso-NSFWing-unbelievable.
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Germany’s Abwrackprämien powered sales rocket is entering its terminal phase. In August, Germany’s drivers bought 28.4 percent more cars than in August 2008, says the ever so reliable Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (via Das Autohaus.) That is a tad less than July (+29.5 percent), and definitely not as hot as June’s +40.5 percent. After burning through €5B worth of Abwrack-fuel just as August had ended, the missile is on its way back to mother Earth. The crater it will create is expected to be spectacular.
ABC News reports that “General Motors Co. said Tuesday the rollout of its new 2010 Buick LaCrosse is being delayed for a few weeks due to quality concerns. Speaking to analysts and reporters during a conference call on August sales, GM’s vice president of U.S. sales Mark LaNeve said about 300 to 400 of the cars were shipped in August, but further deliveries are on hold until the company works out what it called ‘quality issues.'” RF just got off the phone with Buick Communications Manager Michelle Bunker, who categorically denied her boss’s assertion. “I don’t know what Mr. LaNeve said,” Bunker admitted. “But we’re shipping cars to dealers every day.” Well, we know what he said . . .
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