Things did quiet down since March after Geely signed the contract to buy Volvo from Ford. A lot of people think Geely already owns Volvo. Geely doesn’t own Volvo until the deal is closed. But Geely might own Volvo as early as next week. (Read More…)

I’m still shaking when I think back to my first ride in the passenger seat of a brandnew Phaeton. It was piloted by a known reckless high executive of Volkswagen. Near Hannover, we barreled down the Autobahn, with the speedo indicating something above 250 km/h. I didn’t dare to inspect it closer, because I was scared to death. We were in the thickest of fogs. Visibility zero. “Aren’t you worried?” I inquired with a shaking voice. “Nope. We have RADAR.” Actually, it was called Abstandswarnung (distance warning). Now, Nissan will make it available to the common Joe. (Read More…)

Did we mention that there is a remake of the economic miracle in Europe going on? Despite tanking car sales, despite daily stories about near bankrupt EU-countries, European manufacturers are in high gear. Did we mention that despite imploding sales at home, Volkswagen delivered 16 percent more units to customers in the first six months of 2010? One would think that might have some bearing on VeeDub’s financials. It sure did. (Read More…)

OICA, the venerable “Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles,” better known as the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, finally got around to finishing their 2009 World Ranking of Manufacturers by motor vehicle production. This list has very little surprises for the TTAC B&B who pinned our World’s Top Ten Automakers 2009 to the wall. Yet, there are some. Let’s see … (Read More…)

Today, Porsche decided what everybody thought they would decide: They will build the mid-engined plug-in hybrid 918 Spyder. After all the pomp and circumstance at the auto shows in Geneva and Beijing, it would have been a big let-down if they would have said: “Sorry, it was just an idea. We didn’t really mean it. How about that Cayenne?” (Read More…)

Where would we be without our breakfast cereal, fresh from the  Chinese rumor mill? Two days ago, we wrote that Suzuki, Volkswagen, and SAIC are rumored to be working on a three-way tie-up. “Not so,” says SAIC according to Gasgoo. They denied a rumor that was spread by the competition at Suzuki’s Chinese partner Changan Auto. (Read More…)

The market took note when little Daihatsu announced  that its group net profit jumped 460 percent year on year to 19.9 billion yen ($227m) in the April-June quarter of the Japanese fiscal year.  Daihatsu is a Toyota company, and the market is eagerly expecting Toyota’s results. (Read More…)

The Chinese market keeps going, and going, and going. It was up  47.7 percent in the first six months of 2010. Can’t be, you say? Well, the rest of the Asian markets are not far behind. The six major ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore) bought 41 percent more cars in the first six months of 2010 than in the year before. (Read More…)

China’s quality regulator has ordered the recall of 875 imported C30 vehicles. What’s wrong with the car? Nothing. (Read More…)

Again and again, the mucky-mucks of Daimler and BMW had sworn to do stuff together, buy parts, build engines, there are occasional rumors that the two will tie the knot. North and South Korea will unite and hell will turn into a glacier before that happens – which is not saying that it might not. Some day. In a galaxis far away. As long as Daimler and BMW employ engineers who make crusaders look like the Peace  Corps, no jointness between the two luxury brands has any perspective. Every win-win so far has turned into a whine-whine. But it’s not for a lack of trying. (Read More…)

Nissan wants to invest “the Americas” with three new low-cost subcompacts, made in Mexico by their Aguascalientes factory that can crank out 300,000 units a year. The cars are based on the Nissan’s V-platform. The Nissan March (known outside Asia as the Nissan Micra) is currently being made in Thailand and re-imported to Japan. It sells there for around $10,000. (Read More…)

China isn’t Porsche’s largest market quite yet (it’s only a matter of time, now they are #3), but China is now officially the world’s largest market for the Porsche Cayenne. Porsche China CEO Helmut Broeker said it himself to Gasgoo. The luxo-SUV is popular with China’s well-heeled and high-ranking military figures. (Read More…)

Except for Nissan, which outpaced the market, the big Japanese automakers are having a bit of a hard time in China. Toyota and Honda received a lot of bad press in the Middle Kingdom. Toyota for its recalls. Honda for its series of strikes. Whatever the reason, both are losing market share. This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the year, when the red-hot Chinese market is expected to cool down a bit. (Read More…)

We’ve always suspected that there’s something bigger driving the (well..) tie-up between Volkswagen and Suzuki than little cars: Big markets. Volkswagen holds the keys to China, where they rule the roost, whatever numbers GM may conjure-up. Suzuki is nobody in China. Suzuki holds the keys to India. Volkswagen is nobody in India. It’s the perfect marriage. Even more perfect with some Chinese help …. (Read More…)

Toyota Motor Corp. is expected to report a group operating profit of about 100 billion yen ($1.14b) for the April-June period, The Nikkei [sub]. That would be a huge improvement over the same quarter loss of 194.8 billion yen ($2.23b) in 2009. In case you are wondering about the strange quarters: Japan goes by the fiscal year that ends on March 31. The April-June period is the first quarter of the new year, and times are good at TMC. (Read More…)