U.S. auto sales will probably come in lower than 13 million this year, Ford’s CFO  Lewis Booth told Bloomberg. That’s below the low end of Ford’s estimate. (Read More…)

Shanghai women are famous (at least in China) for their domineering attitude. The common line is that once they snatch a man, the man has to “carry her handbag and wash her panties.”

Now watch what happens when a tow truck snatches a car that already has the boot on it – when the car is owned by a Shanghai woman.

(Hat tip to Ika.)

Whenever we report about the machinations around Saab, the faithful remind us that there are real people affected. They are right. Some of the real people work for IAC for instance, one of Saab’s largest suppliers. Half of the production of its factory in Färgelanda went to Saab.IAC Sweden could be bankrupt in a few weeks because they don’t’ have the money to pay a 95 million kronor ($ 14.8 million) tax bill, Sweden’s Göteborg Posten reports. (Read More…)

It happens to all foreign joint venture partners: They are invited to have tea and a chat with representatives of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). After the pleasantries are exchanged, the weather has been discussed, and statements of mutual admiration have been made, someone from the NDRC side will say: “Don’t you want to start a Chinese brand? We would really appreciate it.” Who can say no to the wishes of the Chinese government?

The latest to say “Ja” is BMW. BMW will build a second, truly “Chinese” brand for China. “We are discussing this with the NDRC, and we will find a solution,” said BMW CEO Friedrich Eichiner to Germany’s FAZ. BMW’s futuristic carbon fiber i cars won’t be BMWs  in China. (Read More…)

Now that Chinese car sales are a hot topic on CNBC, and now that even Jalopnik reports Chinese car sales, here a short primer on how it’s done. You may want to write that down. It’s tricky.

The people who have the final word on Chinese automobile production and sales are not from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The final word has the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Never use the data of the China Passenger Car Association, they just lead you astray. I also recommend to distrust Bloomberg, they are prone to making mistakes – although this time, they were right.  If your Chinese is a bit rusty, use sources such as Shanghai Daily to double-check. No problem. Love to help. Now, for the numbers: (Read More…)

After only 18 months on the job (and he did a good job) Carl-Peter Forster resigned his job as group CEO and managing director of  Tata Motors. In a press release, Tata cites “unavoidable personal circumstances”. The industry is scratching their combined heads: What are those reasons? Are they real, or the usual BS? (Read More…)

There was a time when Bavaria (that’s the south-east of Germany for the geographically challenged) wasn’t known for much more than beer, cows, and King Ludwig’s castle. Now it’s the breeding ground for luxury cars (locally known as the “Premium-Segment”). And the cars breed with wild abandon. Both Audi and BMW report record sales for August. (Read More…)

Carmakers don’t want to be caught napping when the “next China” is at stake. They are setting their sights on Southeast Asia. Currently en vogue: Indonesia. The country with a population of 237 million  has a bullet on the PowerPoints of most major carmakers. Toyota is already there and wants to double down. (Read More…)

As if Victor Muller doesn’t have enough problems. He has managed to upset Sweden’s state collection agency Kronofogden so much that they are threatening arrest. Muller claimed there is enough money to pay the employees, but if he does that, the state collection agency will get  its hands on the money. The collection agency says that Muller has to hand over the cash or go to jail. This quote by Victor Muller sent Hans Ryberg, head of the enforcement agency in Uddevalla to the ceiling: (Read More…)

Volkswagen and Porsche will need to live in concubinage for a while longer. They will live and work together, they will be seen at parties such as the upcoming IAA in Frankfurt together, they share beds and platforms, but they won’t be officially married.  Volkswagen announced today ”that the planned merger with Porsche SE cannot be implemented within the time frame provided for in the Comprehensive Agreement. Nevertheless, all parties remain committed to the goal of creating an integrated automotive group with Porsche and are convinced that this will take place.”

And why are the nuptials delayed? Says Volkswagen: (Read More…)

This was the headline many Saab aficionados were looking for  (and we have the emails to prove it.) On Saab’s darkest day, we might as well put a smile on the faces of Saab’s most militant missionaries – even if the smile lasts only a few seconds.

Two days ago, Saab filed for court protection – the Swedish variant of Chapter 11. That must be approved by the court – and today, the court denied it.  Says the Wall Street Journal: (Read More…)

Frank Greve’s “Taking Readers For a Ride” article told us a little bit about the priorities in he auto PR business. If you write for a buff-book, sugar will be blown up your anal orifice. If you are a blogger – tough noogies. That stance is utterly misguided and so past millennium, says someone who knows best. That someone is Scott Painter. Never heard of him? I’m sure you heard of TrueCar. Scott Painter is TrueCar’s founder. TrueCar and competitor Edmunds know the car business better than the manufacturers: Truecar and Edmunds predict monthly sales with razor-sharp accuracy, their analyses of transaction pricing and incentives provide unprecedented (and often unwelcome) transparency.  Investor’s Business Daily had an interview with Painter. And what picture did he paint?

“Today, 98% of people who bought a car in the U.S. last month went online first. That is the reality and also the industry’s frustration.” (Read More…)

According to conventional wisdom, all cars in China are blatant copies of foreign cars. With the joint venture cars, that is certainly true. With some true red Chinese cars this is also sometimes the case. Now it seems that Chinese carmakers ran out of foreign victims and started to copy Chinese cars. Volvo is owned by China’s Geely, as we all know. Can you spot the true Volvo? (Read More…)

Employees of Saab will soon collect unemployment benefits from the Swedish government instead from Victor Muller. They can find solace in the fact that they are not alone. It looks like former media darling and wunderkind BYD is hitting the skids.

Except here, people are not kept around for months doing nothing . They are fired. This is China, not socialist Sweden. According to  Chinacartimes, BYD announced that it will cut up to 1,800 members of staff, including underemployed 1,000 members of its sales team. (Read More…)

Our Chinese sales oracle has spoken, and it says that sales of cars in China are good. August sales numbers released by General Motors today indicate that China has left the doldrums behind and is revving up to its old double digit self. Sales of GM China and its Chinese joint ventures set an August sales record and rose 13.4 percent (compared to August 2010) to 205,885 units. (Read More…)