Like most manufacturers, BMW is getting ready for the pilgrimage to Shanghai, where the Shanghai Motor Show will open its doors to the press on April 19, and to the public on April 21. Some at BMW go with mixed feelings. There will be some delicate discussions between BMW brass and their Chinese joint venture partner Brilliance. The reason: At Asia’s and possibly the world’s most important auto show, Brilliance will show their A3 SUV. Germany’s Auto Bild calls it “a brazen BMW X1 rip-off, with inspirations from Audi.”
The matter becomes even more touchy as BMW plans to produce the X1 in China with a launch date in 2012. It will be built by BMW’s Chinese joint venture with Brilliance. (Read More…)
A truck at the Nordschleife? No, no service truck. One that does some 190 mph. Possibly more. A truck made by BMW. In a press release, BMW dubs it “the world’s fastest pickup.” If they say so. One needs to be very careful with these statements in Germany, lest someone will sue you faster than the truck completes the Nordschleife lap. (Read More…)
In the usual show of unity, all three Japanese majors will have at least some production up by mid April. Honda told The Nikkei [sub] today that it will resume auto assembly at its two domestic production plants in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, and Mie Prefecture, western Japan, from April 11. (Read More…)
The Nikkei must have had too much sake at Yokohama’s famous seaside watering holes after they finished an interview with Nissan and Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn yesterday evening. Their reports of an imminent merger of the two (and sundry others) under a joint holding company turn out to be utter nonsense, or rather “a misinterpretation of a wide-ranging interview,“ as Rachel Konrad, Director of Communications of the Renault Nissan Alliance, tells us in more elegant words. (Read More…)
There is was a new ad out in Brazil. 1 minute 39 seconds long (at least in its director’s cut Youtube version). For 1 minute and 26 seconds, it shows the Ford Focus. Only a short 13 seconds long it shows the Nissan Tiida (better known as the Versa in the U.S.). The full length of the ad is paid by Nissan. Nearly one and a half minutes of free advertising for Ford. And is Ford happy? No, they are hip-hopping mad. (Read More…)
While other manufacturers have problems getting parts, Saab has problems getting parts. But for different reasons.
“Production at Saab stopped for a second day on Wednesday as the money-losing automaker faces payment problems with its suppliers,” reports Automotive News [sub]. They add that Saab said it will start production again on Thursday, after money problems have been settled. According to the Automotive News report, Saab made a very inadvisable move: They did not pay their shipping company. (Read More…)
Often considered, more than often denied, now it’s on the table again: Nissan and Renault, having lived in an open relationship with a joint CEO since 1999, could move under the umbrella of a common holding company. Joint CEO Carlos Ghosn told that to The Nikkei [sub] late Wednesday night in Yokohama. The managements of Nissan and Renault seem convinced that this is the way to go. However, there is a lot of work to be done before the wedding will become official. (Read More…)
Our (not quite) daily run-down of delays, shut-downs, shortages, and postponements, triggered by the March 11 tsunami in Japan.
Toyota will have lost production of 200,000 vehicles by Friday. The Nikkei [sub]
Toyota says that 300 dealerships out of a total of 810 in North Japan have been damaged by the earthquake. The Nikkei [sub]
Nissan figures its Chinese output will be about 10 lower than planned in April as supply chain disruptions hinder operations. The Dongfeng Nissan joint venture will idle plants on weekends until mid-April, but will continue doing overtime on weekdays. Dongfeng Nissan has trouble getting parts from Hitachi. The Nikkei [sub] (Read More…)
Remember the story about the rotating power rationing in Japan? One for all, all for one? It appears that it is pure fantasy. On Saturday, The Nikkei [sub] wrote that Japanese automakers are considering running their factories in rotation to help cut the industry’s electricity consumption. The wire service said that “automakers are expected to hold a consultative meeting shortly at the office of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association to agree a rotational schedule.” The story had originated on the usually reliable and sometimes uncomfortably persistent Kyodo wire. On Monday, the story grew legs. Automotive News [sub] reported that the electronic industries don’t want to be left behind and demand rotating production holidays between the automotive and electronics industries. It now emerges that it was all wishful thinking. (Read More…)
Last weekend, Akio Toyoda donned heavy work clothes and a hard hat to do some genchi genbutsu (Toyota-speak for “go and see for yourself”) and toured the areas hit by earthquake and tsunami. Instead of us writing about it, we let Toyoda go and write himself.
The first waves of the Japanese tsunami are reaching consumers at American shores. Oddly, some of the cars first affected may be the ones customers already have, not the ones they cannot buy. Toyota notified its dealers across the United States to prepare for a shortage of replacement parts, due to disruptions caused by the monster earthquake and tsunami in Japan, The Nikkei [sub] writes today.
Out of 300,000 “numbers”, as they call parts items in the vernacular, 233 are in short supply and have been “placed on controlled allocation,” as a Toyota U.S.A. statement says. Dealers are being asked to “refrain from placing any orders in excess of what is critically needed to support customer emergency need and true customer demand.” (Read More…)
Japanese car production was down 5.5 percent in February on weak domestic sales (down 12.4 percent in February to 401,292 vehicles) which were (not quite) compensated by a 13.2 percent rise in exports, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association says. Exports were especially strong to Europe, where 73.7 percent more cars were shipped. A total of 795,632 automobiles (all kinds) were made in Japan in February. This was the good news. (Read More…)
I know, the sniping at Jalopnik is getting old, and I’m sure this article will receive a lot of complaints. But this is The Truth About Cars, and the truth must be told. Banking on the limited attention span of its readers, Gawker’s outlet for things remotely related to cars headlined yesterday: “European Union wants to ban gas, diesel cars by 2050.” A headline like that is sure to produce clicks. Too bad, clicking readers are being had.
Just for this occasion, we break the TTAC rule of not copypasting whole articles. Here is the Jalopnik article in full length:
In the face of hysteria about radiation that drowns out the true death and destruction in Japan, Renault and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn toured the earthquake-damaged Nissan engine plant in Iwaki. Iwaki is some 35 miles from the stricken Fukushima power plant. Right away, Carlos Ghosn had to deny rumors that Nissan would abandon their engine plant. Instead, Ghosn “vowed to use every possible means to rebuild it,” says The Nikkei [sub].
After the March 11 quake, when the office buildings stopped shaking, Toyota told its 500 staffers in Purchasing to contact suppliers. Each damaged supplier received a red pin on a large map of northeastern Japan. Soon, the map was swamped by a tsunami of red pins. Some suppliers “suffered the complete destruction of their factories,” writes The Nikkei [sub], “and were unable to determine how many of their employees were still alive.”
With more than 10,000 dead, more than 16,000 missing, and whole towns razed in the Tohoku area, many shops are now believed to be at the bottom of the furious sea.
“The word ‘ordeal’ does not even convey the gravity of the situation,” Toyota President Akio Toyoda says. (Read More…)
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