Toyota’s  China sales  dropped 44.1 percent year-on-year to about 45,600 units in October, The Nikkei [sub] says. Toyota confirmed the number. A territorial dispute over  uninhabited rocks in the East China Sea triggered a massive boycotts of Japanese goods, especially of high-profile cars. In September, Toyota’s China sales were down 40 percent in September.

(Read More…)

With GM’s  third quarter release also and finally came the long-awaited global production numbers for the first nine months. We need  production, because the race for the world’s largest automaker is decided by  how many cars are made, not by how many are sold. (Read More…)

GM delivered its October surprise by posting what Reuters calls “a surprisingly strong profit.” In a bit of a hail Mary pass, GM said it is targeting a return to break-even levels in Europe by mid-decade. (Read More…)

Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne finds it “most shocking” that the U.S. auto industry is not throwing its might behind natural gas, which has been found in abundance in the United States: (Read More…)

Chinese domestic brands are being outsold by international brands in China. Their quality is suspect even and especially among the Chinese. This may not last. Domestic brands are catching up fast, says J.D. Power. (Read More…)

U.S. automakers release October sales data this week. If they don’t come in to their liking, they can blame a villain everybody hates: Super Sandy.  GM already took precautionary measures and told Reuters that vehicle sales in the Northeast will be hurt by the hurricane. (Read More…)

A smuggling attempt turned into a borderline disaster when two  Mexicans entrapped themselves and their Jeep Cherokee on top of the 14 foot high fence that separates Arizona from Mexico. (Read More…)

One of the many victims of Sandy: Jalopnik. Along with the other servers of the Gawker network, Jalopnik joined the fate of some ten thousand websites served by 150 data centers on the East Coast that were drowned out by the ferocious storm. Even after going down, the site’s problems did not end. (Read More…)

We have documented how GM and Opel have a hard time separating themselves from the Bochum plant, something that is urgently necessary to address Opel’s dangerous overcapacity. The date to close the plant is being kicked more and more down the road and well past the use-by date of the current and some future Opel CEOs. Currently, it looks like Bochum and gaping wounds will stay open through 2017. Or maybe longer … (Read More…)

Yesterday, a car developed (mostly) for and (mostly) in China was presented at a gala event in Wolfsburg. Volkswagen celebrated the new Santana, and Volkswagen’s lucky entry into the Chinese market some 30 years ago. That’s also how long the old Santana lasted. It was time to replace it, and the time was yesterday. (Read More…)

Shaking off a $468 million loss in Europe, Ford reports better-than-expected profits for the third quarter. (Read More…)

The slowdown of Chinese car sales, applauded in some circles that applaud any negative news out of China, could finally unleash the flood of cheap Chinese cars exported to foreign markets, something that had been long predicted, but which has been a bust for even longer. “Battling a slowdown and intense competition in their home market, Chinese carmakers are increasingly looking to exports for growth,” China Daily writes. (Read More…)

Bloomberg managed to combine super storm Sandy with one of Bloomberg’s obsessions: The fate of what Bloomberg calls luxury car brands. According to the wire, “luxury-car brands such as Honda Motor Co.’s Acura and Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz will take a disproportionate hit from Hurricane Sandy.” (Read More…)

A company owned by China’s central government is taking it on the chin as Chinese customers avoid Japan branded cars. Dongfeng reduced production at its joint ventures with Nissan and Honda, the Wall Street Journal reports today. Amount or duration of what the company calls “production adjustments” is unknown. (Read More…)

There is something positive about Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the East Coast: If you are in Connecticut with a license, tags or anything else issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles expiring – relax. Sandy bought you extra time. (Read More…)