So you think when a big company gives you (and your lawyer)  a sizable sum to settle a lawsuit, the lawsuit is settled?  To their horror, Toyota just found out that it’s not over when it’s over. Toyota could find itself wide open. Possibly to hundreds of old lawsuits that were settled and could haunt them again. Five years ago, Pennie Green’s Camry rolled over. Of course, it was Toyota’s fault, why don’t they build roll-over proof Camrys.  The woman was paralyzed. The personal injury suit was settled for $1.5 million. That should be it.  Then Ms. Green and her lawyer had a change of mind that could change the world of jurisprudence. At least in America … (Read More…)

Mr. Putin must be reading TTAC. Barely did we report that the Russian market is coming back to life, Vladimir Putin stepped in front of the cameras in Moscow, and announced killer measures to put the Russian auto market back into its place.

In a speech today, Putin announced that import tariffs for new cars will be increased “step by step.” He didn’t mention any numbers or dates, but the buyers  of that  Mulsanne better hurry. And it’s not that importing cars to Russia is particularly cheap right now. Currently, there is a 30 percent import duty on any new car. Smug Vladimir said that Russia is not part of the WTO, so they can put their import duties as high as they damn please. (Read More…)

The fate of the car industry depends highly on the price of oil. Higher oil prices, lower car sales. Lower oil prices, higher cars sales. Everywhere but Russia.

Russia’s main export is energy. Oil and gas. When oil climbed, the Russians were rolling in money and bought cars like crazy. Then came 2008. Oil crashed. The market crashed. Russian oligarchs went bankrupt. The car market followed. Unit sales of passenger cars dropped 50 percent last year. The annual Moscow Motor Show was cancelled. Automakers were worried about their investments into the Russian market. The Russians tried to protect their industry, raised import tariffs. The market plummeted more. Now, all of this is ancient history. (Read More…)

With the Volvo sale from Ford to Geely finally closed and consummated, Geely is losing no time, both in Sweden and in China.

In Sweden, Geely will “pursue investment opportunities” (read: buy other companies in part or in whole), reports Gasgoo, citing sources from the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). When MOFCOM gets involved, then we are talking sizeable deals. According to the report, Geely intends to cooperate with Swedish companies in several sectors, including green cars, alternative fuels, and hybrid technology. Stefan Ostling, an auto project manager from Invest Sweden, says that Geely has already completed tie-ups with Swedish auto technology consulting firms like Semcon and HiQ through equity participation and acquisitions. (Read More…)

A year ago, BYD issued the startling announcement that “it’s our company’s long-term target, to be China’s No. 1 automaker by 2015 and to be the world’s leading car maker by 2025.” Meaning that they would have to unseat either Volkswagen or Toyota. When they said that, polite analysts in China opined that BYD’s dream was  “realistic” because China and other Asian markets show more promise for growth than the relatively mature US and European markets. In private, people were wondering what drinks they were serving at BYD’s cafeteria.

Now BYD spokesman Lin Mi told Beijing’s Global Times that they may have been a bit overconfident. (Read More…)

Suzuki is hustling to avoid needing more help from partner Volkswagen. For instance in India, a market VW covets. Suzuki used to own more than half on the Indian market. In the recent months, that share slipped a bit. Not because customers in India don’t like Suzuki. Suzuki can’t keep up with the demand. Customers have to wait for months to get delivery of popular car models such as the Swift hatchback and the Swift Dzire sedan, reports The Nikkei [sub]. Suzuki is finally doing something about it. (Read More…)

It’s not just the Tokyo stock market that is worried about worse than expected August numbers. Back home, the public is being prepared for shocking numbers. “We are crawling around,” said Jesse Toprak of TrueCar to Reuters. “It feels like we got a dead car to jump-start but we just can’t get it to go over 20 miles an hour.” Just as GM  prepares its IPO, industry watchers see more evidence of a slower-than-expected industry recovery. (Read More…)

„I’ve said Alfa is not for sale“ grouched Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne at journos who badgered him about Alfa possibly going to Volkswagen.  While he was at it, Sergio told Automobilwoche [sub] that business is so good that he probably will raise year-end guidance in the third quarter.

The number of cars in Beijing is expected to double by 2015, the Beijing Transportation Research Center told Global Times. By the end of 2009, Beijing had 4 million cars.

A taxi driver said it more succinctly: “We’re making another Great Wall, it’s just that this one is a wall of cars.”  Relief could come from a monstrous contraption called the straddle bus. (Read More…)

If you think Toyota has problems, you sure can’t see them on their monthly report.  Toyota just released sales and production numbers for July,  and they look beauteous: (Read More…)

A press release, issued last night by Edmunds, had a devastating effect on Toyota. As the Tokyo bourse opened, the TMC share sunk to a fresh year-to-date low of 2,890 yen. In the afternoon session, it recovered a bit, but not much, to close at 2,941 yen. Ooops. In the beginning of the year, the ToMoCo share traded above 4000. What were the horrible news? (Read More…)

When Spyker bought Saab from GM, they bit off too much than they can chew.  Spyker is upside down, under water, or whatever you call it when you have negative equity. They just announced that their debt exceeds their capital. And it looks like they have been dipped by GM: “The negative equity is due to the preferred shares that were issued to GM.” (Read More…)

In Europe, Volkswagen is a full service operation. You can buy your car at a Volkswagen (Audi, Seat etc.) dealer. You can finance it at the Volkswagen Bank. (They give you a credit card, and higher interest for your savings.) You can insure it with the Volkswagen Versicherungs Dienst VVD.  Both are subsidiaries of Volkswagen Financial Services. The VVD is not a real insurance, they act as an agent for Europe’s insurance giant Allianz. Put that in the past tense. After 62 years with Allianz, Volkswagen does its first baby steps into the insurance business itself. (Read More…)

Up to now. GM saw a limited, Europe-only role for Opel. That’s pretty much a death knell. No serious brand can survive on Europe alone. With the weak Euro, it would be utter stupidity to try to survive on Europe alone. Finally, this fact dawned on GM. Opel now received the o.k. to expand into markets outside of Europe. You probably can guess which markets they have in mind. (Read More…)

Did we say that the Russian market is on the rebound with a vengeance? Nissan agrees. Nissan will raise its Russian auto sales target for fiscal 2010 to 100,000 units, up 120 percent from last fiscal year, COO Toshiyuki Shiga told The Nikkei [sub] today. Nissan’s SUVs are selling so briskly that Nissan has trouble keeping up with the demand. (Read More…)