Despite the riproaring profit numbers, there is trouble in Toyota City. The ever appreciating yen is gobbling up ToMoCo’s profits. Message from Toyota to the Japanese government: “Do something, or we leave.” (Read More…)

Did we say „duh“ when GM China announced plans to make more than 2m cars in China this year, the first foreign joint venturer to do so? When they said that, they already had 1,976,913 units in the can, and nobody did doubt that GM would find the 23,087 buyers to reach the 2m. Well, a few days later, they found them. (Read More…)

Australian Caradvice has the riveting story of (Geely-owned) Volvo discontinuing plans of  a large S-Class type sedan that could mix it up with the likes of the Audi A8, the BMW 7er, and of course the Mercedes S-Class, all very much in favor amongst the Chinese rich and not so famous. Cardadvice makes it a fight between Geely CEO Li Shufu, who wanted the big Volvo, and his new hire Stefan Jacoby, whom he had snatched from VWoA to run Volvo, and who doesn’t want a big Volvo. The truth is elsewhere. (Read More…)

When gas peaked in 2008, and carmageddon ensued thereafter, many predicted the end of the world, and if that won’t come to pass, the total extinction of the pickup and SUV genre. Along with that, the demise of the U.S. auto industry was prognosticated, because it supposedly was more dependent on trucks than Robert Downey Jr, on uppers and downers. Conventional wisdom had it that we’d be driving bicycles, midgetmobiles, solar powered EVs, or use public transportation. Pickups? Only at Match.com.

Well guess what, as with all the crises before, it didn’t happen. Actually, the dinosaurs reign supreme. (Read More…)

Want in on GM’s IPO without being a sovereign wealth fund or Goldman Sachs?  Join the BDSM lifestyle for fun and (possible) profit. Buy the very much troubled pre-bankruptcy bond, and you could make out like a banshee. Reuters has the surprising news that bonds issued by GM’s bankrupt predecessor are a good investment. “GM’s 8.375 percent bonds due July 2033, which were issued by old General Motors Corp. and convert to shares in the new GM, rose 0.375 cent to 35.875 cents on the dollar at 4:29 p.m. in New York.” The day before, the bonds had jumped 2.25 cents, the biggest gain since June 14.

Why the sudden interest in the converting bond? (Read More…)

In the politically and emotionally charged discussion whether Chinese interests will buy a chunk of GM in their IPO, one decision appears imminent: Will SAIC, GM’s joint venture partner in China, take the bite or eschew the lure? India’s Economic Times, always with a wary eye on happenings on the other side of the Himalaya, says that “top Chinese automaker SAIC Motor is close to making a decision on whether to buy a stake in its long-time partner General Motors as the US auto firm goes public.” (Read More…)

Wasn’t BYD the miraculous Chinese company that would bring electric cars to the masses? Weren’t they supposed to go hundreds of miles on a single charge?  Forget about it. So far, their electric cars are being tested as taxis in Shenzhen in low numbers. What if you would be crazy enough to buy one yourself? They won’t sell you one. (Read More…)

Worried about the Chinese grabbing a piece of GM while it’s cheap? Don’t feel like the lone ranger. China is joining  an illustrious circle of investors from Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and around the world and grabbed a “notable” stake in Daimler. An unnamed Chinese institutional investor has bought a chunk of Daimler, as their CFO Bodo Uebber told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), which sent an advance copy to Reuters. (Read More…)

Our patent-pending China new car market prediction system (take GM China, deduct a few percent) hasn’t been doing so well lately, due to the poor showing of Wuling, which confused the mix. Let’s give it another cautious go.  GM China increased its October sales by 19.6 percent on strong sales of Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac cars. That according to Bloomberg, which has it straight from GM Shanghai. (Read More…)

GM China has made good on its threat to sell Made in China GMs abroad. According to The Nikkei [sub], Shanghai General Motors Co. has begun exporting the Chevrolet New Sail from China to Chile. Some of the B&B opined that this is nothing new. However, the Nikkei says that “this is the first time a world-class automaker will export from China a model it developed in the country.” A few weeks ago, Terry Johnsson, Shanghai GM vice president of vehicle sales, service and marketing, said that this is “the first locally developed and manufactured passenger car from an international brand to be exported.” (Read More…)

Honda is finally doing something against the ever stronger yen: They are selling more cars to make up the difference. Honda’s CFO  Yoichi Hojo told The Nikkei [sub] today that his company can make profits, even with the yen at its current near-record high against the dollar, if it can increase its global sales by 200,000 vehicles per year. The figure is already in their current budget. In the current fiscal, which ends March 31,2011, the want to sell 3.615m vehicles worldwide, modestly up from 3.392m a year earlier. They’ll probably do better. (Read More…)

Automotive News [sub] hasn’t received the memo that EVs need good news, badly. Instead, AN hammers the last nail into the electric vehicle’s coffin. If range anxiety, the lack of 220V outlets at your curbside parking spot, and high prices aren’t enough to keep you away from an electric car, how about “an Orwellian future where faceless international corporations track your every move. Drop by the bar after work, call in sick to go to the beach, visit your mistress’ house. The all-seeing eye of Big Brother knows where you’ve been.”

That’s what will happen when you drive an EV, says Automotive News [EN]. Your green friend will snitch on you. 24/7. (Read More…)

Most of the smaller makers reported October sales yesterday as the nation went to go vote. The big ones decided to wait until today: The Detroit 3, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. (Read More…)

After the Abwrackprämien-high in 2009 (which saved the auto industry from damnation and got rid of a lot of old cars), and the short hangover that followed, Germany is definitely back to normal. For the second month in a row, German new car sales are at 2008 levels. According to the official data of the German Kraftfahrtbundesamt, October sales were 20 percent below October 2009, but only 0.8 percent below October 2008. The graph above tells a better story. (Read More…)

U.S. car sales had peaked in 2000 at 17.4m, and it’s been downhill from there. Especially lately.  This year, we might see between 11 and 12 million in the U.S.  But wait, we might see the +17m again this year. In China.

“Industry experts are now saying China is on path to surpass that record,” reports Gasgoo. And that’s just the beginning. (Read More…)