A study by Hertz shows that one in three British men try to impress a date with hired or borrowed items, and that “cars and then clothing topped the list of the most frequently hired or borrowed objects,” as Hertz says in a press release.
Apparently, the effort is not wasted. Four out of 10 women agree that the car a person drives can make them more attractive, six out of ten agreed that a man’s outfit would impress them. Suits them right, so to speak. (Read More…)
An alleged environmental measure will land Russia in the court of the World Trade Organization, a club Russia had joined only in August. Importers have to pay a “recycling fee” of around 5 percent of a car’s sticker price, local makers do not. “Russia’s trading partners say the new levy is a purely protectionist play under the guise of environmental ‘recycling’,” Reuters writes. “The European Union Trade Commissioner, Karel de Gucht, has threatened to invoke the disputes procedure of the World Trade Organization.” (Read More…)
Tow truck delivers Model S to charging station
New York Times reporter John Broder told a harrowing story of a test drive from Delaware to Connecticut in a Tesla-supplied Model S. Broder wanted to review both the car and Tesla’s Supercharger stations along I95. The drive ended on a flatbed truck with a Model S that had run out of juice. The story landed Broder on Elon Musk’s shitlist. (Read More…)
For those who want a topless car that can render passengerettes truly topless, Volkswagen introduces the Golf R Cabriolet. The über-powered R models never were available as a ragtop, no it is. “Tremendous propulsive power” (so the press release) is generated by a 2.0-litre turbo TSI engine that develops 265hp. Maximum torque of 350NM (258 ft lb) is available from a low 2,500 rpm all the way to 5,000 rpm. (Read More…)
Alfa Romeo will outsell Fiat in the United States once the sporty brand gets a foothold in its new market, according to Peter Grady, head of network development for the Chrysler Group, in an interview Reuters. (Read More…)
Automakers look with worry at the tanking European market, but have great hopes for an advancing American. Not so fast, says Mike Jackson, CEO of AutoNation Inc. He sees a day of reckoning follow a few years of good auto sales. (Read More…)
In the world of dealer standards, it is usually the OEMs that write the standards, and it is the dealers who have to pay the usually steep bills. Occasionally, an OEM even is tempted to recoup the steep cost of developing a new corporate identity by marking up the signage sold to its dealers. Dealers hate it. Ford is doing something dealers will love: Ford will offer dollar-for-dollar matching funds to its 3,100 U.S. dealers to upgrade their shops, from new construction to improved digital programs, Ford executives told Reuters. (Read More…)
At TTAC, we showed you the secrets of how to make a supercar. But what about the real top secrets of a car company, like its earnings? This is insider information, trading on which could make you rich, or poor. It also can land you in jail for a long time. TTAC takes you to the inside of how a car company prepares for an earnings press conference.
Dan Sloan is tired. The head of Nissan’s Global Media Center in Yokohama got up at 6am this morning after days of not much sleep. Today is the day when Nissan’s third quarter earnings are to be announced to the press, and the world at large. It will be a long day of preparations for the big announcement in the late afternoon, and TTAC will be the fly on the wall. Or, as Sloan predicted, the fly in the ointment.
His avatar in big
Remember TTAC’s Future Writers Week? You chose the writers. The writers wrote. The stories are in (well, most of them …). Here is the first one. Do you like it? Tell us. The stories will be published in the sequence in which they arrived in TTAC’s mailbox.
My neighbor growing up, Wayne Stork, was a quiet, gentle guy who loved machines. Growing up as a car nut myself, it was hard to miss the fact that the Storks had almost every kind of cool machine you could imagine – motorcycles, trucks, cars, boats, tractors, hay bailers, even a couple of bulldozers and a ramp truck. If it rolled, floated, or crawled, Wayne probably owned it at one time or another. (Read More…)
Legs of RenCen executives must be covered with black and blue marks from kicking themselves daily for not unloading Opel when the German government offered to take the sick patient off GM’s hands. A deal, financed with $6 billion courtesy of German tax payers and a little petty cash from Russian bankers would have given GM a little money and an immediate end of the huge losses at Opel. Frankly, nobody in Germany had much hope for an Opel under Magna and the Russians either, it was seen as a hospice where to wheel the sick patient until it dies in silence, a la Saab.
At the last minute, GM changed its mind. Who made the ill-fated decision? Was Akerson for keeping Opel, or for getting rid of it? (Read More…)
If GM wants to know what will happen when things get tough at its Opel plants, all it has to do is ask partner PSA. Workers at PSA’s doomed Aulnay plant “face jeers and threats, as well as eggs and other objects hurled by striking colleagues protesting against the shutdown and Peugeot’s restructuring plans,” as Reuters reports from the frontlines. (Read More…)
Did you do what we told you and collect bets on China’s auto market in January? Even if you usually disagree with TTAC, even if you only read TTAC ten times a day to see what scandalous biased stuff we write, this time, you should have followed our advice. China’s new cars sales in January were up 46.38 percent as compared to January 2012, says China’s manufacturers association CAAM. How did we see that coming? (Read More…)
Daimler’s trials and tribulations should be a warning to those automakers who are too gung-ho about the Chinese market. The market is big, but it can hurt big when there are Chinese constipations. Daimler has been falling behind in China while its Bavarian competition by Audi and BMW racked-up double digit gains in the Middle Kingdom. Promptly, the Chinese flu affected the whole body. Says Reuters: (Read More…)
This was then ….
1973, the year when BS started his long career of doing propaganda for Volkswagen, is known for two equally momentous occasions: Volkswagen prepared for the initial launch of the Golf. Also, formerly staid Volkswagen became a bit risque when marketing its iconic Bug, and promptly got into hot water. 40 years later, they are doing it again. Hopefully, people have more humor than 40 years ago. I doubt it. (Read More…)
Trolls ‘R’ Us
The campaign for TTAC’s Top Troll goes into its final stretch. Nominations for the TTAC Top Troll Poll have been made. Some folks received multiple nominations, but we will not declare a winner just yet. The Top Troll will be decided by popular vote. Tomorrow, Friday, we go to the Top Troll Polls. But first, we need your help. (Read More…)
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