Which part of the car of the future can cost more than half of the car, but has a lifespan a little better than a set of brake disks? The battery. No wonder that battery making is what suppliers focus on. If  EVs catch on, you want to be in the battery business. Toshiba and Mitsubishi Motors have ganged-up to produce batteries together, says The Nikkei [sub]. (Read More…)

A three-way relationship in the open is every man’s dream. Those who tried it usually recommend against it. Why? Just ask them.  As predicted, Mazda is putting an end to the three way Chinese Changan-Mazda-Ford joint venture. Mazda wants to go it alone with Changan, and no longer play third fiddle. (Read More…)

“2010 could become the best year in the history of the automobile,” said Daimler’s Zetsche today, while Automobilwoche [sub] was furiously scribbling notes. “The best times of the car are in front of us.” Times are especially well for manufacturers for luxury cars. Had Dr. Z been drinking? Not necessarily. (Read More…)

And again, it’s time for a TTAC tradition. We ask the patent-pending TTAC market oracle: What were last month’s new car sales in China? TTAC was forced to develop this oracle, because China is always a bit late in reporting official numbers (it’s a big country.) So we devised our patent-pending China prediction system, call it the I-Ching of the automotive business: Take GM China, deduct a few points, and like a miracle, you have the performance of the Chinese market. Works all the time. Usually. Sometimes, it doesn’t.

Our oracle says that the Chinese market will come in at a growth in the low 20 percentile range.  Why? (Read More…)

As the following table will demonstrate, June sales rose a tepid 14 percent over an extremely low June in the year before. 860,004 light vehicles had changed hands in June 2009, a drop of 27.7 percent from June 2008. This June, 983,821vehicles left dealer lots, nowhere near the 1,189,518 units that were sold in June 2008. (Read More…)

You think Japan is import-adverse? Have a look at that chart that follows, and you will see a wondrous trend: Japanese automakers are importing more and more foreign owned cars to Japan. Some of them even from the U.S.  Now, the imports will increase. Not from the US, but from …. (Read More…)

Japanese new car sales rose 20.6 percent year on year to 293,537 units in June, up for the 11th straight month, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association just told The Nikkei [sub]. And the best part is: (Read More…)

It’s that time of the month again. Today, sales in the U.S. will be reported. “Yucky” will probably be their nicest adjective. “U.S. auto sales this month probably posted the smallest increase since February as consumers concerned about unemployment and the economy avoid large purchases, analysts said” to Bloomberg.

Analysts polled by Bloomberg think June SAAR will be anywhere between 10.4 and 11m, the averaged number comes out to an annualized rate of 11.2 million units. More than last year’s horrendous June number of 9.7m, but less than 11.6 million in May. There will be little reason to celebrate. (Read More…)

It used to be that the U.S. was Porsche’s largest market, even in the double nickel days. Number two was the land of the Autobahn, Porsche home market Germany. This is about to change. (Read More…)

It’s safe to buy Ford again. Ford as in the F share. After trading at close to $15 in April, it could be had below $10 yesterday. A bargain. Or so it seems. (Read More…)

So Tesla lost $30m last quarter. Do you know who made $20m in profits on Tesla in one day? (Read More…)

An odd collection of 35 companies and organizations, amongst them the correspondence school Benesse, and the convenience store chain Lawsons, established an association yesterday in Japan to promote electric vehicles. It’s called “APEV,” as in “Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles.” (Apparently, beyond Japan.) There is only one problem … (Read More…)

I still remember when I accompanied a big cheese of Volkswagen to (then) Czechoslovakia in 1990, shortly after the iron curtain had rusted out. We went to Mladá Boleslav, near Prague, to inspect VW’s latest acquisition: Skoda.  The place was pretty much empty.

“Where are the workers?” asked my guy. (Read More…)

The NRA, the Pope, Porsche and Piech, all eyes were on the Supreme Court for the last few days: Gun owners watched the Chicago case (right to arm bears upheld.) Accountants and CPAs monitored the treatment of their favorite boondoggle, a.k.a. Sarbanes-Oxley (upheld.) Rome said “oh my God” when they heard that a lawsuit that accuses the Vatican of conspiring with U.S. church officials to cover up sex abuse could proceed. Meanwhile, Germany’s attention, from Zuffenhausen to Wolfsburg, was fixated on Morrison v. National Australia Bank, No. 08-1191.  The Supreme Court seriously frustrated attemps by overseas investors who want to drag non-American companies into American courts. Champagne corks popped at Volkswagen and Porsche. The Guardian: “America’s supreme court has told prospective European claimants to take their claims back to Europe.” So what does that have to do with Porsche? (Read More…)

Remember the miracle carburetor that would have halved the gasoline consumption, if the wicked oil companies would not have bought the patent and locked it away? As a matter of fact, the lowly ICE has made great strides when it comes to reducing consumption, a drive that has traditionally been championed in Europe and to some degree Japan. (Read More…)