A group of 41 Saab U.S. dealers today petitioned a U.S. Bankruptcy Court to put Saab Cars North America into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Automotive News [sub] reports. Last Friday, the dealers had threatened to file a Chapter 7 for involuntary liquidation, but changed their minds. Leonard Bellavia, a lawyer representing most of Saab’s U.S. dealers, explains: (Read More…)

When the March 11 tsunami hit, observers thought that of Japan’s major automakers, Honda would be the least exposed. Most of its global production already is outside of Japan. Very few cars that are produced in Japan are exported. Toyota and Nissan looked much more vulnerable. Distrust predictions: Today, Honda presented the results for the last quarter of 2011. The numbers  look uglier than the cars in the video. (Read More…)

“Chrysler Group has elevated the art of the striptease to a new level with the release of its first official image of the next-generation SRT Viper,” claims Automotive News [sub] . Not just the art of the striptease. Also the fine art practiced by the  bar maiden who purrs into your pricked ear: “If you come here more often, then maybe …” (Read More…)

It was the early 2010, the Toyota witch hunt was in full swing. While Toyota executives were burnt at the stake grilled on the Hill, Denso’s U.S. offices were raided by the FBI. Denso is a major automotive parts supplier, and a member of the Toyota family. The raid was part of an on-going investigation into alleged anti-trust violations. Or so they said.

After the NHTSA, NASA and the National Academy of Sciences could not find a ghost in the machine, the Department of Justice also cleared out its case file. For a fee. (Read More…)

So you know everything about cars. What do you know about the monster car carriers that bring an imported car? As far as I am concerned, I knew nothing when I arrived this morning at Nissan’s dock in Oppama, where Japan’s second largest car company showed off a 2012 model car carrier, the Nichioh Maru. And would you believe that the blue and white monster is green? (Read More…)

Suddenly, everybody is in a big hurry: On February 14, the Supervisory Board Volkswagen’s supervisory board will convene to hear plans to acquire the remaining stake of Porsche’s sports car business, Der Spiegel [sub] reports. The deal is supposed to happen in a tax-efficient manner. It also drives plaintiffs mad. (Read More…)

New car sales in the U.S. had crashed from more than 17 million a year to below 10 million. It did not faze you. You buy used anyway. Let someone else eat the depreciation. Now the slump is catching up with you, and you will pay through your nose.   (Read More…)

According to TTAC’s North Korean correspondent, “Mercedes of various models and age serve as the premium mode of transport for the rich and powerful.” China had to do something. And do they did. A Japanese car (of sorts) competes with German iron in the North Korean motor pool. (Read More…)

You think success in India hinges on cheap little cars? Audi thinks overpriced big cars can be good business also. If IBN’s sources are correctly informed, and if the Crores Rupees converter I found on the net is correctly programmed, Audio wants to sell 1 million dollar A8s to the Indians. (Read More…)

The world’s largest automakers are hugely dependent on China. More than a quarter of  GM’s and Volkswagen’s global sales are coming from China. With Europe’s market predicted to be flat or negative, and with only modest growth expected for the U.S., automakers are looking to the BRIC countries for long-term growth. Currently, the growth in China has more or less stopped. Are automakers betting on the wrong horse? (Read More…)

Mercedes-Benz 320 (W 142 series, 1937 to 1942) in the Streamline Saloon version, also known as “Autobahn Kurier”, 1938.

In 1937, Mercedes-Benz had a familiar problem: It lacked a car in what we would today call the “obere Mittelklasse,” or the upper middle class, that sweet spot between medium-sized vehicles and top-of-the line. Apparently, auto managers already engaged in the art of positioning. At least, that’s what the “Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung” (AAZ or “General Automotive Magazine”) wrote when Mercedes showed its 3.2 liter Mercedes-Benz Type 320 (W 142 series) at the International Automobile and Motorcycle Exhibition (IAMA) in Berlin in February 1937. (Read More…)

Patrolling  the interwebs for TTAC-worthy content, we find a woman selling Nissan Leafs on the streets of Davos. Rachel Konrad, formerly spokesperson of Tesla, is now the Communications Director of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Her boss Carlos Ghosn is a fixture at the World Economic Forum, which ends today in Davos. Rachel is using the fact that Davos has received more snow than in the 42 years before to praise the virtues of the Leaf in winter weather. At the same time, three topless women steal her thunder and get arrested. (Read More…)

If you believe, well, TTAC, then minivans are “deeply uncool.” The criminal element in Japan begs to differ. Toyota’s HiAce minivan was the most stolen automobile in Japan in 2011, says The Nikkei [sub]. The next most stolen cars in Japan are from Toyota also: The Celsior sedan and the Land Cruiser SUV take the second and third position on the podium of infamy. Let’s investigate … (Read More…)

The stuff those crafty engineers in Stuttgart come up with to keep our eyes off the road.

And just in case you are stuck in traffic in [geolocate your position] … (Read More…)

Tom Carpenter, co-owner of Auto Center Southeast in Groveport, OH, had three Saturn dealerships. In 2009, GM euthanized Saturn, and Carpenter had to look for new cars to sell. Now, he is looking again. (Read More…)