Here is the perfect way to fight a brewing PR disaster from boiling over: Fire your CEO! Fisker Automotive named the former head of the Chevy Volt, Tony Posawatz, as CEO today, “marking the second time the green car start-up has replaced its top executive this year,” as Reuters can’t help to remark. (Read More…)

GM Korea reached a tentative wage agreement with its union, Reuters says. Workers receive a little more money, and a major concession that could have far-reaching consequences for GM’s recovery if it sets a precedence in the rest of GM’s world. (Read More…)

The Japanese car industry found a way to soften the impact of the crushingly high yen on its books. It does what U.S. and European automakers have practiced for a long time: Import low-cost parts from abroad. It is a stop-gap measure while large parts of the Japanese car industry is packing. (Read More…)

Two weeks ago, we had a rash of annoying ads. We are talking about autoplay video with autoplay audio. Not good. Especially in a work setting. Our technical crew worked quickly to have them turned off. And they did. Now we hear reports that they are back. (Read More…)

A month after the deadly riots at Suzuki’s Manesar factory in India, Maoist extremists are being blamed for the insurrection. Maruti Suzuki Chairman R.C. Bhargava told The Nikkei [sub] that “left-wing extremists pushed the factory workers to riot.” (Read More…)

One of our readers (he is a true reader, he never comments, doesn’t have a handle, just reads …) sent us this picture of a car dressed up in a tight corsage. Actually, he sent two. (Read More…)

Tesla’s 10 minutes test drives have received a lot of flak in the press. The Fourth Estate (at least parts of it) is trying to get to the core of that car, and that is its stellar battery performance. What is wrong with the tried and true practice of having the car for the day? A weekend?  This would give a tester time to find out when the battery runs out.  300 miles as per Tesla? 265 miles as per EPA? How much as per reality? Until journalists drive the Model S more than just a few times around the block, we have to go the unorthodox route of asking an inferential statistician. (Read More…)

While in Detroit the leaking remains limited to gossip and innuendo, Opel in Germany sprung a Deepwater Horizon–sized  leak that could pollute the political landscape for years. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says it is in possession of something that is regarded as part of the crown jewels of a car company: The long-term production plan through the next decade.  It’s bad enough that a paper publishes closely guarded secrets – their publication could blow-up the plan. (Read More…)

Nissan hired forty of the world’s most notorious slimeballs to flog its new Serena minivan.  Nissan “will promote its Serena minivan through a tie-in with the “Dragon Quest” video game series, part of a bid to boost sales to families,” says The Nikkei [sub]. (Read More…)

This morning, our man in India, Faisal, showed you renderings of the fourth generation Range Rover. TTAC reader Penaloza looked up from his (free) coffee at the  Embassy Suites in Corpus Christi, TX, and there it was: (Read More…)

Channel stuffing is taking its toll on China. Customers fight back against “increased sales pressure and an insufficient supply of experienced staff, driven by a disconnect between the dealership network expansion and the market slowdown, “ and punish car manufacturers where it hurts second most: On the J.D.Power Sales Satisfaction Survey. The survey, published today, notices “a notable deterioration in overall sales satisfaction among new-vehicle owners in China.” (Read More…)

Fisker responded  quickly to the fire that left a Fisker Karma  a clump of smoldering sheet metal last Friday.  Fisker issued a statement saying that Fisker engineers, working with independent investigators from Pacific Rim Investigative Group, have started examining the Karma. What they found so far does not support speculation put forth on major car blogs: (Read More…)

The Nikkei [sub] detected a brand-new trend: Cars with an internal combustion engine. In Japan, 20 percent of new cars sold are hybrids. Elsewhere, especially in China and Europe, hybrid cars have a bit of a hard time. “Although being environmentally friendly is important, saving money is tops,” an unnamed Nissan exec told the Tokyo wire, and added that consumers in these markets look more closely at how much they can save on fuel costs in relation to vehicle prices. Now this trend is reaching Japan. (Read More…)

Remember the DIY Lamborghini? In a garage somewhere in the less picturesque parts of Beijing, a man built a Lamborghini Diablo replica, fiberglass on hand-welded frame. No industrious Chinese will allow something like that to be forgotten as a one-off lunatic hobby project. Half a year later … (Read More…)

Last month, Toyota invited the Japanese press to join them for “the opening ceremony for its new plant in Brazil on August 9,” a three day event in and around Sao Paulo. The excitement lowered considerably as the Fourth Estate ventured to the bottom of the invitation. There it said that “flight costs to and from Brazil and all accommodation costs will need to be covered by participants themselves.” That’s Toyota as we know and love it. If you have dreams of lavish press jaunts, don’t dream them in Japan.  The event happened yesterday, without yours truly. The Nikkei [sub] hopefully sent its local stringer, and it reports what we know anyway: “Toyota Motor Corp.  will kick off production of a strategic small car aimed at the emerging-market middle class next month at a new plant in Brazil.” And the new car is the Etios. (Read More…)