A mild case of pedal misapplication left five cars in pieces. An 86 year old woman from Cologne, Germany, vacated her parking spot. She confused gas and brake and smashed into a few cars behind her. Totally shocked, she wanted to extract herself from the scene. She did put her car in gear, mashed the gas, and slammed into a car in front of her, which ended up against a wall. Another driver was waiting for the bigger and bigger parking spot to be come available. The octogenarian slammed into that car as well. After five cars including her own were demolished, an ambulance drove the lady to a hospital.
Rising prices at the pump make people do dumb things. Some buy a new car to save at all costs. Not only will they never recoup the cost of the new car, the tsunami in Japan turned fuel efficient Japanese cars into everything else than a bargain. Others do something particularly stupid: They drive their car until it runs out of gas. (Read More…)
Checking dealer transactions for the first half of April, Edmunds sees cars selling at a fast clip. Dealers are all smiles: Average prices are going up, cars are flying off the lot, and the “average days to turn” – industry speak for the time the dealer sits on a car until it moves – fell more than 10 percent since the beginning of April, from 58 days to 52. If the rest of April behaves similarly, Edmunds sees a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 14.1 million in April. Party time. The festivities could be premature, Edmunds warns. (Read More…)
Honda sources the vast majority of parts and materials needed for North American production in North America. “However, for global efficiency, a few critical parts continue to be supplied from Japan,” says Honda in a statement. Honda restarted production of component parts for North American plants Monday, April 4 at several Honda plants in Japan. However, those need their own parts and supplies. Therefore, Honda’s component production in Japan continues to run at approximately 50 percent of the original production plan.
This of course impacts North American production. (Read More…)
Some of Nissan’s Leaf cars were beset by the opposite of the alleged sudden unintended acceleration: Sudden unintended arrest. Once started and turned off, the Leafs refused to start again. Which of course would turn the Leaf into a PR embarrassment: Who wants the first serious mass market EV to be a non-starter? After having received complaints both in Japan and the U.S., Nissan decided to do something about it. (Read More…)
This coming week is the week when all car manufacturers wish they would have a split personality. The New York Auto Show and the Shanghai Auto Show will take place in the same week. Jack Baruth will take Manhattan. (Hey, Jack: The famous Headquarter’s “Steakhouse” is right next door to the Javit’s Center. Scores is just a few blocks south.) I’ll take Shanghai and my camera. I’m sure Jack will come equipped. Maybe.
As a special service to the Best & Brightest, YOU can put in requests for what we shall take pictures of – apart from the obvious.
We’ll try to fulfill all requests – to the best of our abilities.
If The Nikkei [sub] is informed correctly, and given the recent track record with these matters, that’s a big if, then workers in the Japanese auto and electronics industries will be compensated for the hardships they endured after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami: They will get two extra days off per week. According to today’s Nikkei story, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association proposed that manufacturing industries should alternate production holidays this summer as a way to conserve electricity amid a constrained supply.
“Automakers, for example, could halt production on Mondays and Tuesdays, with electronics firms taking Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, according to JAMA’s plan, which was presented at a briefing on energy-saving measures hosted by the Japan Business Federation, better known as Nippon Keidanren,” writes the Nikkei. “On each day, the shutdowns would extend industry-wide.” Honto?(Read More…)
Ford is finally waking up from sleeping through the fact that China became the world’s largest car market 2 years ago, and that China will most likely grow explosively for the next 20 years. Ford will introduce 15 new vehicles in China by 2015, the company told Automotive News [sub]. Ford will also more than double the number of its 340 dealerships in China by 2015. Ford furthermore is looking at doubling the work 1,200 strong workforce at its joint venture with China’s Chang’an.
A few days ago, we looked at Volkswagen and said that “we expect a growth of group sales well over 10 percent in the first quarter” when Volkswagen does publish its Q1 data by the end of the week. Wolfsburg did not disappoint. Volkswagen sold 1.97 million cars globally in the first three months of 2011. In the same period of last year, it was 1.73 million vehicles, for a growth of 13.7 percent.
The “increase means Europe’s largest automaker also clearly outperformed the overall market, which grew 8.1 percent,” proclaims a statement emailed from Wolfsburg. Group sales in March were also respectable: 767,200 units, up 8.1 percent over March 2010, and a new record.
From the perspective of America, where Volkswagen has been relatively luckless ever since the success of the Bug, these numbers may look surprising. (Read More…)
The March 11 tsunami is having long term effects on Japanese car production. Toyota, the world’s and by far Japan’s largest car company, is severely impacted. Toyota just announced that vehicle production from May 10 to June 3 will proceed at approximately 50 percent of normal. (Read More…)
The waves of the March 11 tsunami did not really impact Australia. But the aftershocks do – in a big way. Toyota Australia will cut production at its factory in Altona, Victoria state, in half for a whopping two months because of missing parts, says The Nikkei [sub].
Toyota’s is not alone: Ford announced today that it will cut back Australian vehicle production by 20 percent, and will lay off 240 workers. (Read More…)
“We can’t make cars as fast as they sell in China,” said an old friend of mine last night on the phone from Wolfsburg. He works at Volkswagen, the company that fights with GM for the title of King of the Middle Kingdom. I wanted his opinion on the sudden reduction in Chinese car sales. His answer? “What reduction? We are building three new factories in China, and we better get on with it.” He is right. If they don’t hustle, the competition will pour concrete faster than Volkswagen does. (Read More…)
Production of Legacy, Outback and Tribeca Subarus in Lafayette, Ind. will pause on Friday, April 15, Monday, April 18 and Monday, April 25 while Subaru sorts out supplies from Japan, Subaru of Indiana spokeswoman spokeswoman Jennifer McGarvey told Automotive News [sub]. (Read More…)
Nobody who knows the business a little thinks the consequences the March 11 earthquake and tsunami will be isolated to Toyota and a little Honda. Renault is joined both at the top and at the hip with Nissan. Renault warned today that its French operation could be affected – albeit in a roundabout way. (Read More…)
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