When you want to make and sell cars in India, you don’t need a joint venture partner. Except when you are GM. In the dark days of December 2009, GM cut a deal with Chinese partner SAIC, gave them half of its India business and a golden share in China for much needed cash. SAIC underwrote a $400 million loan when GM was out of money. Now, India is flooded with Chinese cars bearing the Chevrolet badge. (Read More…)

Today, the seventh generation of the Volkswagen Golf was presented in Berlin. 38 years after the launch of the first Golf in 1974, and 29.13 million cars later, Volkswagen shows a new Golf that is 100 kg lighter and up to 23 per cent more fuel efficient that the predecessor. If a new Golf ever was “all new” then this one: Built with the new MQB architecture, everything in the new Golf had to be redesigned. And here is a picture count-up, from first to newest. (Read More…)

GM is backing out of plans to share the Opel Insignia platform with its partner PSA, says Der Spiegel. It was planned that PSA will build a mid-sized Peugeot and Citroen with next gen Insignia underpinnings. The cars would have been made at Opel’s Rüsselsheim factory. Together with the Opel model, the cars would have filled the available capacity. Scratch that plan. It wasn’t killed because it was a bad idea. It was killed because Buick and especially GM China complained, says the magazine. (Read More…)

Forecasters predicted that August sales numbers, published today, will be strong. Chrysler opened today’s barrage of sales numbers with much better than expected results. (Read More…)

“Volkswagen is on course to bump General Motors into the world no.3 ranking this year,” writes Reuters. That’s not all. Volkswagen “aims to sell a world-leading 10 million vehicles by 2018, up from the 8.36 million recorded last year, and push past Toyota.”

The car that is supposed to lead Volkswagen to world domination is an also-ran in the U.S., but it is one of the world’s most sold cars. It is the Golf, and its seventh generation will be revealed tonight in Berlin at the Neue Nationalgalerie, the Mies van der Rohe designed temple of modern art. (Read More…)

A few days ago, an anonymous source told us that Lincolns have been in China for years, and that Ford won’t admit it.  Ford said they probably were grey imports.  Before the Chengdu Motor Show opened its doors, three Lincolns were seen entering the hall with big grins on their faces, and everybody thought they were brought by Ford.  No they were not. (Read More…)

It looks like news of the sacking of Joel Ewanick has not reached China. Or at least not Chengdu. (Read More…)

If you want to make cars in China, you need a joint venture partner. The Chinese joint venture partners have done well. 98 percent of last year’s sales of central government-owned Dongfeng came from joint ventures with Nissan, Honda, and Peugeot. Largest Chinese automaker SAIC derives 60 percent of its sales from made-in-China GM and Volkswagen cars.

That policy “is like opium. Once you’ve had it you will get addicted forever,”  said former machinery and industry minister, He Guangyuan. (Read More…)

TTAC’s eulogy on Saab was premature. The Chinese willing, there will be new Saabs in the future. Surprisingly, Swedish defense contractor Saab AB licensed the Saab name to National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) to be used in future vehicles, a press release of NEVS says. NEVS also “finalized its acquisition of the main assets of Saab Automobile AB, Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB, effective August 31, 2012.”

The ultimatum given to NEVS last week apparently instilled fresh urgency into the parties, and an undisclosed amount changed hands on Friday. For the money, NEVS also received  “IP rights for the Saab 9-3, IP rights for the Phoenix platform, tools, the manufacturing plant, and test and laboratory facilities.” There are others who think they also own that Phoenix platform. And the people of Trollhättan better don’t get their hopes up on EV exports to China. (Read More…)

Japan’s new car sales are coming back to normal as the government subsidies are running out. Sales of all vehicles climbed 12.4 percent in August, combined data of two industry associations show. (Read More…)

People in Europe had a lot of time to think about their troubled future during their long vacation. Coming back to work, they are “ready to shut plants and lay off staff,” as Reuters observes. Executives and union leaders are said to be in rare agreement over who to emulate: Obama, the UAW, and Detroit. Europeans want their bailout too. Some do, at least. (Read More…)

We continue our coverage of the 15^th Chengdu Motor Show, brought to you courtesy of China coverer extraordinaire Tycho de Feyter of Carnewschina.

“The BMW M6 Coupe, decked out in China’s national color,  was launched today on the China auto market during the Chengdu Auto Show. There is only one, priced at a rather sick 2.33 million yuan, or 367.000 USD. Not cheap indeed and most of da money goes directly to the Chinese tax office. Big engined cars are taxed up to 40% of value in China. But no matter, the M6 Coupe is worth it, just for that brilliant 4.4 twin-turbo V8 with 550hp and 680nm.“

Of course, there are the female product specialists of the Chengdu Motor Show. They bring them out en masse on the second press day. Warning: If you are offended by insufficiently dressed Asian females with garters, DO NOT click the jump. We promise it won’t be a picture of big – ears. (Read More…)

I am tickled you-know-what to see our pink mailbox at shootthepink@gmail.com flow over with seas of pink. We have so much that we make this weekend a pink twofer, with pink oodles to spare.

I bet reader russty1 did not take that picture of Connie Kreski on a pink Shelby GT 500, ca. 1969.himself. If he did, well, time will have taken its toll on Connie and Shelby by now. Good that we have another one from the glorious days of 69. (Read More…)

They say they are all pink inside. A surprising number is pink on the outside, as our weekly hunt for the crimson cars certifies, so much that our mailbox at shootthepink@gmail.com is all pink inside…

This time, the hunt starts with a big game trophy. Reader Kevin Jaeger bagged this pink cement truck in Ottawa, Canada. “Not something you see at every construction site,” Kevin says, and we agree. There are more … (Read More…)

Uh-oh: Our colleagues and fellow market watchers in Malaysia were waiting and waiting for market data for the month of July, but none arrived. With August about to end, they stared to ask questions. They were told there won’t be any data. No, it wasn’t because Malaysia suddenly is like Europe. In the Old Country, July data traditionally are supplied in September,because Europe is on vacation in August.

No, it was because Proton suddenly refused to supply its data. (Read More…)