Toyota’s CFO Satoshi Ozawa presented the financial results of the first half of fiscal 2013 to a packed conference room in the basement of Toyota’s Tokyo HQ. Analysts were astounded to hear that the company beat their expectations with a 6 month operating profit of 693.7 billion yen ($8.64 billion), an EBIT of 794.5 billion yen ($9.9 billion), and a net profit of 548.2 billion yen ($6.83 billion) after Japanese taxes are paid. What baffled them much more was Toyota’s business outlook: Toyota says it might make even more money than previously predicted. (Read More…)

For a while, TTAC has been following rumors that Renault may be reviving is storied Alpine brand. Renault will do it, together with another motor  celebrity, Caterham. (Read More…)

GM shows new vigor in its largest market China. October sales across all of GM’s Chinese joint ventures were up 14.3 percent on an annual basis. The Chinese market is of increasing importance for GM. In the first 9 months of the year, 30 percent of GM’s global sales were in China, trailed by the U.S. with 28 percent of GM’s global business. (Read More…)

Germany’s new car market was up 0.5 percent in October. What looked like bucking the European downtrend was quickly discounted by market observers who noted that October had two more working days than October last year. Taking this into account, Germany is down with the rest of Europe.  Meanwhile, sales in France dropped 7.8 percent, and those in Spain are down a gutwrenching 21.7 percent. (Read More…)

Super-Sandy rained into the sales plans of automakers and destroyed the predictions of America’s best analysts. All, except one: Rod Lache, Deutsche Bank’s star automotive analyst. (Read More…)

After a rash of interim-CEOs, Opel may have found a more permanent one. It’s the former Volkswagen manager Karl-Thomas Neumann. The successful recruitment was first published by Financial Times Deutschland, the report was quickly confirmed by wire services and major German newspapers. (Read More…)

Hyundai has long been in the top spots of America’s most fuel miserly vehicles. Over night, Hyundai will drop a few rungs down. Audited and found wrong by the EPA, Hyundai and Kia agreed to restate the fuel economy ratings on many of its cars. Cars in showrooms will be relabeled. Customers of more than a million 2011 through 2013 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada will receive debit cards. (Read More…)

Nissan announced a refresh of its GT-R supercar today.  Engine response in the mid- and upper-rpm ranges was improved using  high-output injectors and changes in the  turbocharger. The car’s center of gravity has been lowered, body rigidity has been enhanced, shock absorbers, springs and front stabilizer have been tweaked.  Racers can now use Motul Competition Oil. (Read More…)

Looking back at three catastrophes, the high yen, the tsunami and the Thai flood, a Japanese auto executive said to me last spring: “We’ve gone through hell, and made it. What else would be there, war?” He was close. A war of words over rocks in the East China Sea destroys Japanese car sales in China, while Korea profits.   (Read More…)

The demise of a large Australian auto parts supplier threatens to bring Australian units of Ford and GM to their knees as early as next week.  Management is working feverishly on keeping the doors open, while complaining about “lack of support from key players in the industry,” Reuters says. (Read More…)

October sales data are coming in, and most are below forecast. Chrysler, Ford, and GM sold less than analysts predicted.  Analysts had higher hopes for Toyota also. Volkswagen, up 23 percent, more or less met expectations. We have the final sales table, courtesy of Automotive News [sub]. (Read More…)

Observers knew that something was in the bush when Ford scheduled a conference call for today 9 a.m. Eastern. Hosted by Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr., the call promised to be about more than October sales. It was about Ford’s future CEO. (Read More…)

Chrysler Group’s U.S. sales rose only 10 percent in October, the smallest gain since May 2011. As suspected yesterday, Super-Sandy has been fingered as the culprit. (Read More…)

Renault shows a facelifted Fluence at the Istanbul Motor Show, November 2-11, 2012. The car receives a new 1.6 16V 115 hp gasoline engine mated to a likewise new X-Tronic CVT. (Read More…)

Japanese subsidies for eco-cars expired in September, and analysts predicted a hard landing due to pulled-forward sales. In a way, this happened, but the fall was not as hard as expected. In September, sales on all automobiles in Japan were down  3.4 percent.  This month, they are down 5.7 percent. The fall would have been harder, would it not have been cushioned by the resilience of a Japanese oddity, the Kei car. (Read More…)