Around 1,000 people tried to break through a security cordon around the Paris Auto Show (29 Sept. – 14 Oct.) today, throwing eggs and flour. The police answered with tear gas. It wasn’t an attempt to see the cars. It was a demonstration against lost jobs, and against the new Socialist government. (Read More…)

Volkswagen hasn’t published its group sales for September yet (it is expected to do so later in the week), but Reuters already saw a PowerPoint slide with 6.802 million vehicles on it, sold between January and September. This would mean an increase of 10.6 percent in the first nine months.  Volkswagen published Audi sales yesterday, and Volkswagen Passenger Vehicle sales (see below) today. Looking at these numbers, the 6.8 million are quite possible. (Read More…)

Japanese carmakers and their Chinese joint venture partners lost big-time in the spat over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands. The winners are German carmakers and their Chinese joint venture partners. Oddly enough, the central government ends up with a shot in the foot. (Read More…)

Fiat says it sits on a 22.7 billion euro cash pile. CONSOB, the Italian equivalent of the SEC, told Fiat to explain “size and purpose” of its cash position, says Il Messagero in Rome. Fiat says it is not aware of an alleged probe, and that any suggestion that its cash pile was lower than reported in its statements was false, and will be dealt with. (Read More…)

Smiles in Ingolstadt and Wolfsburg, where Audi contributes 40 percent of Volkswagen Group’s profits: Audi’s global sales climbed 13.6 percent in September to 136,600 units delivered worldwide. 1,097,500 cars were sold in the first nine months, 12.8 percent more than in the prior-year period. (Read More…)

The top three Japanese automakers Toyota, Nissan, and Honda are slashing their production in China in half, says The Nikkei [sub]. The reductions are a response to sales drops triggered by anti-Japanese demonstrations and riots in China. (Read More…)

Some have quietly or openly been hoping the GM could cash-in on the misery of Japanese brands in China. It’s not happening. Sales across all of GM’s Chinese joint ventures were up a marginal 1.7 percent in September while sales of German marques received a boost. (Read More…)

We’ve been told again and again that pooled parts purchasing produces profits. Baloney, Opel interim-chief Thomas Sedran will say in an interview that Germany’s Tagesspiegel will publish tomorrow. He says something GM customers have known for a while: Parts from GM’s bin often are too expensive, and by sourcing them elsewhere, one can save a lot of money. “We are talking a significant order of magnitude,” Sedran will say tomorrow. (Read More…)

Renault wants to shift more production away from France, French union sources leaked to Reuters, and to maximize the disgrace, the jobs will go to Turkey, a country not in high regard in islamophobic French circles. Renault plans to build more than 70 percent of its Clio subcompacts in Turkey, the union sources said. Renault issued a weak denial that reads like a confirmation. (Read More…)

Volkswagen workers who make the Passat at the Emden factory in Germany are enjoying a mini-vacation. After the national holiday last Wednesday, which celebrated the fall of the wall and the re-unification, Volkswagen workers can celebrate falling sales of the Passat, and stay at home, says Germany’s Handelsblatt. Meanwhile, managers at Volkswagen are busy down–revising their production plans.
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Fiat/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne casts longing eyes at GM’s palsied German daughter Opel, still, or again. Fiat was interested in taking Opel off GM’s trembling hands in 2009. Fiat is ready again, says the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore, if Fiat gets a similar deal as with Chrysler: Opel for nothing, preferably with a cash sweetener. (Read More…)

Toyota’s sales in China took a big hit in September, reports by the Yomiuri Shimbun and Reuters say. Executives of Japanese carmakers are putting on a brave face when it comes to China, but are worried that their significant China business could become a casualty of the East China Sea troubles.

No official data are available yet, but the Yomiuri says that Toyota’s September sales in China “halved,” after many Chinese customers canceled their orders in September. Reuters talks about a 40 percent reduction. A senior Toyota executive told the usually very reliable Reuters that Toyota sold about 50,000 cars in China in September, down from about 86,000 in September 2011. (Read More…)

On Monday, Japan’s prime minister Yoshihiko Noda presented a new and improved cabinet, tailcoats and all. Apparently, that cabinet has few friends in Japan’s  auto industry.

Akio Toyoda, who took over the rotating chairmanship of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association last May, sent a surprisingly strongly worded address to his new leaders. Speaking on behalf of all JAMA members, Toyoda said: (Read More…)

According to VW USA’s CEO Jonathan Browning, America is missing out on huge investments and new jobs due to our “rising debt and political discord.” In 1999, the U.S. did attract 41 percent of all global foreign direct investment. Now, the number is less than 20 percent. The money is going to places like China where Volkswagen has 12 plants and three more on the way, while there is only one in the U.S. Browning is talking in code about several facts of post-bailout automotive life. (Read More…)

Four 2013 models, the Lexus ES, the Hyundai Santa Fe, the Subaru XV Crosstrek, and the Dodge Dart received the coveted  “Top Safety Pick” award by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. (Read More…)