Analysts predicted a down year for the European new car market, and the market complied. 968,769 cars changed hands in the EU, down 7.1 percent from January 2011. This according to data released today by the manufacturers association ACEA. (Read More…)

Today is a turmoil day in the auto industry. Where brands and cars came in on top of the J.D. Power 2012 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, champagne bottles were uncorked and press releases were issued. Where brands landed in the bottom rungs, panic meetings were called, fingers were pointed and resumes were polished.

Overall, it is a good day for the industry. (Read More…)

The massive wave of recalls that brought some 9 million Toyotas back to the dealers, amidst a frenzied coverage by a sometimes hysteric media, did less damage to the brand than imagined. A study from North Carolina State University shows that Toyota’s safety-related recalls that began in 2009 had little to no impact on how consumers perceived the brand. (Read More…)

Beijing Auto is working on a new BJ80V4x4. The old one was based on the Beijing-Jeep Cherokee. In a legit way: The Cherokee was brought in by the joint venture with AMC and later Chrysler. After that fell apart, Chrysler left the tooling behind in Beijing. The new B80V seems to be heavily inspired by yet another 4×4 classic: (Read More…)

When GM will announce 4^th quarter and year-end earnings tomorrow, a lot of fingers will be pointed at Opel, and on GM CEO Dan Akerson who decided to keep the hemorrhaging unit instead of selling it off to Magna and the Russians. Bloomberg expects that tomorrow’s quarterly profit will be “GM’s lowest since it emerged from bankruptcy in 2009,” despite record sales in the U.S. and China. According to Bloomberg, (Read More…)

Europe’s second-largest automotive group PSA Peugeot Citroen is looking at red ink. PSA’s automotive operating loss excluding one-time items was 92 million euros ($121 million), after a 621 million profit the previous year, Reuters says. (Read More…)

According to current propaganda, Toyota’s Prius c (2012 EPA-estimated 53/46/50 city/highway/combined mileage ) has “the highest rated city fuel economy of any vehicle without a plug,” whereas Ford’s new Fusion Hybrid (EPA-estimated 41 city/36 hwy/39 combined) is “expected to be America’s most fuel-efficient non-rechargeable sedan.”

Consider me confused.

Volkswagen’s double digit growth rates came to a grinding halt in January with the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand reporting what Volkswagen euphemistically calls “robust delivery figures:” Worldwide, Volkswagen handed over a mere 600 cars more in January 2012 than the 418,600 units it had sold in January 2011, for a teensy rise of 0.1 percent. Basically, Volkswagen is treading water. Why? China. (Read More…)

The driver of this Chinese delivery van deemed the price of a cheap Chinese replacement mirror as much too high: “What, it will last only one day anyway – the next passing car will take it right off .” Therefore, a low cost field expedient was found, as Carnewschina reports.

Back home in Germany, Volkswagen is dragging its heels when it comes to EVs, in China, VW is all for the electrification. Both of Volkswagen’s joint ventures in China plan to start making electric cars in 2014, its China chief told Reuters today. (Read More…)

Where is global warming when we need it? Europe has been hit by a gigantic blizzard, and the Grüne Hölle of the Nürburgring has been converted into the Weisse Hölle. What happens when hell freezes over shows this clip by Spiegel TV.

GM’s turn-around hinges on a market share above 19 percent, board member Stephen Girsky said at an industry meeting in October 2009. “The public plan is 19 percent and change. That is what everything is being based on,” Girsky said during a panel discussion at a conference at Columbia Business School. Reuters was taking notes.

In the 3^rd quarter of 2009, GM had a market share of 19.5 percent. The share climbed to 21.8 percent in January 2011, and eroded ever since. (Read More…)

India, often touted as the “next China,” has too much capacity and not enough sales, says a report by Reuters. It is getting worse: India’s carmakers “speed towards a head-on collision with a capacity glut,” the report says. (Read More…)

Which country is Toyota’s second largest export hub? If all goes according to the wishes of Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota Motor North America, then that will be North America. Toyota has an annual production capacity of 1.8 million vehicles in the U.S. alone and wants to export increasing numbers to the world, Inaba told The Nikkei [sub]. (Read More…)

Despite the fact that the Chinese new car market barely grew last year, and ignoring commentators that predict a flat market for this year also, GM has expansionist plans for the region. According to Bloomberg, GM should shortly receive approval to build a $1.1 billion factory in China, which will expand GM China’s annual capacity by 300,000 units. (Read More…)