When a car company removes itself from Racing, it usually has one of two reasons:
For France’s Peugeot, it’s both. (Read More…)
When German cars reached the ripe age of 8.5 years on average, mentions of “Kubanisierung” (Cubanification) made the rounds. They did not shame customers to put their old cars in the shredder. Then, Germany put a bounty on old cars AND launched its “Abwrackprämie” (cash for clunkers,) The average age of all cars on the road immediately dropped. To 8.3 years. If 8.5 years qualifies as Cubanification, what do you call a country where the average age of all cars on the roads is pushing 11 years?
You call it America. (Read More…)
Porsche is not part of Formula 1, regular rumors to the contrary notwithstanding. This doesn’t keep Porsche from building and owning its own Formula 1 racecourse. In China. Atlanta and L.A. could be next. What for?
Chinese are snapping up Porsches at an alarming rate. Chinese took the three-monkey-approach to the tepid overall car market in 2011 and bought 65 percent more Porsches than in the year before. There is a 120 km/h (75 mph) speed limit on China’s freeways. Where can the rapidly growing crowd of Chinese Porsche drivers experience what their machine really can do? (Read More…)
The compact hybrid Prius C went on sale in Japan (where it is called Aqua) last month. If you would buy one today in Japan, you would get your car some time in late spring. Toyota already has orders for more than 60,000. In order to not let the line grow longer, Toyota is cranking up its assembly lines at the Kanto Auto Works in Iwate Prefecture. (Read More…)
Everybody is talking about how much the Euro is losing against the dollar. At closer look, it is not alarming. Even during normal times I have seen lower Euro rates than the current $1.27. But wait until you look at the Euro from a Japanese perspective. (Like the one I have at the moment, sitting in a pittoresk cabin half way up Mount Fuji that could use better heat.) The anemic euro might discourage people like me from coming to Japan. What it really does is discourage Japanese automakers from exporting to Europe. A lot has been said about the strength of the Yen against the dollar. It’s nothing compared to the Euro. Against the Euro, the yen turned into Godzilla. This has Japanese automakers extremely worried. They don’t really know what to do about it. (Read More…)
Want a piece of “quirky” history? While the good folks at the Church of the One True Saab still have dreams of white knights, Saab’s heritage is being auctioned off. This caught the attention of Bringatrailer.com (“The best vintage and classic cars for sale online.”) In a lengthy piece, the organ for trailer trash collector’s online hub salivates over “the entire collection of 100+ cars belonging to the Saab Heritage Museum in Trollhaettan, Sweden” to the liquidator. (Read More…)
Allegedly a basket case, Europe finished the year without major losses, at least as far as new car sales go. 13.1 million cars were registered in the EU last year for aslight 1.74 percent loss compared to 2010. That according to data released today by the European auto manufacturer’s association ACEA. If the common market EU would count as one common car market, then Europe would rank second, after China with 18.5 million, and before the U.S.A. with 12.8 million (excl. heavy trucks & buses.) But fear not, the EU does not count as one market, at least not as far as heavy metal is concerned. (Read More…)
We had been following the dark clouds, lawyers, and regulators circling over TrueCar for quite a while. Today, we were reminded to take another good look.
TrueCar says it is deeply sorry, and it will change the way it is doing business. Bowing to state regulators, TrueCar will change the way it discloses prices to car shopper. And it will change the way it charges dealers, Automotive News [sub] reports. (Read More…)
If I tell you that China will hit 20 million cars this year, you probably think I was drinking. I will tell you no such thing. But what if the chief of GM China says it? As a matter of fact, he just did. (Read More…)
In 2010, plans of a (by Porsche standards) low-priced cheap Porsche, a mid-engined, entry-level roadster based on the underpinnings of the Volkswagen BlueSport Concept were floated. The car was called a “modern-day 356 Speedster” by some.
On these pages, it was promptly called “a modern-day version of another Porsche Deadly Sin, the 914.”
Porsche decided to sin no more and ditched the roofless cheapo. (Read More…)
Do you live in or near a Cuban community? Drive a Mercedes? Noooooo! Leave it in the garage. Put a tarp over it.
The Cuban community hates Mercedes and Daimler Chairman Dieter Zetsche, despite his Cuban-sized mustache. Casus belli: At a presentation at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Zetsche praised the virtues of car sharing. Car sharing?
Zetsche said: (Read More…)
Honda’s plant in Thailand had been submerged for months. Now that the flood waters have finally retreated, Honda assesses the damage. The plant is a near write-off.
“The restoration work will almost be equal to making a plant from scratch,” a Honda executive told The Nikkei [sub]. Honda decided to completely rebuild the plant located in the Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya Province, central Thailand, at a cost of around $650 million. (Read More…)
This is CVN-76, a.k.a. the Ronald Reagan. It is a true multi-role ship. Today, it hauls cars, to keep them off I-5. (Read More…)
While America slept, the TTAC server, without consulting with the supreme powers of TTAC, said: “What the heck, it’s Sunday. Time for a nap.”
And it went to sleep as well. (Read More…)
Chrysler is dropping half a billion dollars into an expansion of one of its North American plants, Automotive News [sub] reports. This is where Chrysler will produce (to what degree remains open) its Fiat Ducato van, which will be sold as a Chrysler Ram Van.
Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler, told reporters in Detroit that this plant will be “the center for production of light-commercial vehicles in North America for us.” Red-white-and-blue blooded flag-wavers may object to the location of the plant. It is about 180 miles southwest of Laredo, Texas. In Saltillo, Mexico. (Read More…)
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