It used to be that “produce where you sell” is the answer to the rising yen. Amongst Japanese car manufacturers, Japan’s Godzilla currency is regarded as a bigger threat than any natural disasters. Mitsubishi is opposing this trend. It announced today that it will stop making cars in Western Europe. On closer inspection, this fits the “produce where you sell” strategy quite nicely. Mitsubishi is not doing so well in the Old Country. The Nikkei [sub] penned press-release worthy material when it wrote: (Read More…)

Longterm TTAC reader and indie musician Pennan Brae sent us a link to his latest video. It has a nice red Buick Skylark Convertible in it. At least one of the protagonists looks hot too. Because of the car, we would have run the video anyway. Then, Pennan decided to bribe us.

Look at this still from the video. And then … (Read More…)

Hyundai may really, honestly launch its own luxury brand. In a way, at least, perhaps

For years, Hyundai has been going back and forth over on question: Luxury brand or not? Imitate Infiniti? Do it like Lexus? A la Acura? This conundrum produced millions of Google hits, but otherwise led to nothing. Hyundai may finally cave in and do it. Hyundai’s U.S. sales chief Dave Zuchowski told Automotive News [sub] that such a move could be in the offing. Why? Customers are well ahead of Hyundai and already created a new brand called “Genesis.”

Said Zuchowski: (Read More…)

Gains in market share, that is. It’s market share that counts. That perplexing axiom had been drummed into me in the many decades I spent on the other side. You need to be faster than the overall market, or you fall behind. Of course, you can gain share by giving away cars, but you won’t do that for long.

Detroit had a big comeback last year. Let’s look how big. And let’s discuss whether Bloomberg is right when it predicts that “U.S. automakers led by General Motors Co. may lose share in their home market this year.” (Read More…)

This just in: “The U.S. auto industry has dropped a demand for Japan to abolish rules related to minivehicles ahead of upcoming talks between the two sides over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade zone,” The Nikkei [sub] writes after reading this story. (Read More…)

Car prices are at an all-time high. Cash rebates and incentives are evaporating in front of our eyes. U.S. consumers are paying 11 percent more on average for a new vehicle, to a record $28,341, up from $25,505 on average in 2008. Yesterday, J.D. Power presented the inflationary news to car dealers assembled in Las Vegas for the National Automobile Dealers Association convention.

Dealers applauded. (Read More…)

I assume the Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton law firm that handles Chrysler’s trademark litigation is already on its way to China. If not, they will be calling the travel agent after reading this.

What do you think would happen if Chrysler would license its Jeep brand to a beer? It appears as if Chrysler did just that in China. (Read More…)

For a long time, Japan’s automakers had pressured their government to enter free trade talks with Europe and the U.S. The Japanese government had dragged its heels, putting the interest of ageing farmers first. With a trade agreement, Japan would be a ripe market for American rice farmers and cattle breeders, and I would finally be able to enjoy a good steak in Japan without risking a heart attack. Caused by the price, not by the cholesterol.

After the Japanese car industry did flee the strong yen and the country, its government reluctantly entered negotiations. Not surprisingly, the American car industry is opposed. (Read More…)

Illustrating the state of the Japanese auto industry, and especially that of Honda, Honda unveiled its prototype of the NSX yesterday in Tokyo. The Acura sports car had been rumored for two years, and was shown at the Detroit Motor Show. Honda repeated in Tokyo what it had said in Detroit: (Read More…)

Welcome to Marketing 101. Today: Brand loyalty.

Polk finally gives an answer to a question that had given mankind sleepless nights, for als long as since the invention of the wheel: Why do customers stay loyal to their car brand? Really: Why in God’s name? Truth be told, Polk only asked why owners of luxury vehicles return to their dealer to buy again. Instead of, say, emigrating to North Korea. Or joining the witness protection program. The study produced shocking revelations. (Read More…)

Tycho, my Dutch friend in Beijing, scored the big one with his fake F150 story. After we wrote about it, everybody from  Motor Trend to Pickupinfo.ru wrote about it as well, taking the Carnewschina.com server on a shakedown tour. Tycho does what a good journo needs to do: Feed the beast. He found even better pictures of the pseudo Ford. And he found imagery of its older brother. Which is a Chevy copypaste. (Read More…)

Sassenbach, BMW’s agency for Mini, had a killer idea: “Adopt a storm! When it hits, it will be all over the news! Free advertising! It costs only €299! How can you lose?” This (or words to that effect) is what the agency told the client.” Then, more than 100 people froze to death. (Read More…)

In 1992, the Ritz-Carlton chain won the Baldrige Quality Award for its excellence in customer service. Their idea was to write all customer preferences down, to feed them in a database and to henceforth deliver as expected.

Twenty years ago, I pointed this out to Volkswagen. I was VW’s customer service guru at the time and thought it was a swell idea. Volkswagen enthusiastically adopted the program. It was a failure, what do you expect from a company that retains me as a guru. Also, VW did not want to spend the money on a database. Instead, the Ritz-Carlton ended up running the hotel at Volkswagen’s Autostadt, and giving the occasional seminar to car dealers who still roll their eyes over the “gottverdammte Unsinn.”

Twenty years later, “Ford draws on luxury hotel experience for Lincoln overhaul,” writes Reuters, reporting that “in the plan to overhaul its luxury Lincoln brand, Ford Motor Co is embarking on a new approach, leaving behind the routine ideas of the auto industry and instead taking cues from the likes of high-end boutique hotels.”

Before that happens, Ford is reducing its dealer network to boutique size.  (Read More…)

Toyota announced its consolidated (i.e. including Daihatsu and Hino) 2012 sales plan today. It causes intensive head-scratching at other automakers, especially in Wolfsburg. Toyota plans to raise its 2012 global sales by a whopping 21 percent to 9.6 million. (Read More…)

“In 1909, people shifted from the horse carriage to the automobile, and horses retired from the world of mobility. What happened to the horses? We still have horse races. People love horses. People support horses and horse racing. As long as car enthusiasts exist, motor sports will continue.”

Akio Toyoda, February 2, 2012, at the hachi-roku launch party