Which part of the car of the future can cost more than half of the car, but has a lifespan a little better than a set of brake disks? The battery. No wonder that battery making is what suppliers focus on. If  EVs catch on, you want to be in the battery business. Toshiba and Mitsubishi Motors have ganged-up to produce batteries together, says The Nikkei [sub]. (Read More…)

A three-way relationship in the open is every man’s dream. Those who tried it usually recommend against it. Why? Just ask them.  As predicted, Mazda is putting an end to the three way Chinese Changan-Mazda-Ford joint venture. Mazda wants to go it alone with Changan, and no longer play third fiddle. (Read More…)

And again, it’s time for a TTAC tradition. We ask the patent-pending TTAC market oracle: What were last month’s new car sales in China? TTAC was forced to develop this oracle, because China is always a bit late in reporting official numbers (it’s a big country.) So we devised our patent-pending China prediction system, call it the I-Ching of the automotive business: Take GM China, deduct a few points, and like a miracle, you have the performance of the Chinese market. Works all the time. Usually. Sometimes, it doesn’t.

Our oracle says that the Chinese market will come in at a growth in the low 20 percentile range.  Why? (Read More…)

It used to be that the U.S. was Porsche’s largest market, even in the double nickel days. Number two was the land of the Autobahn, Porsche home market Germany. This is about to change. (Read More…)

What are Geely’s plans for Volvo? Which cars will be built? Where and when? How many? Who will run the show? Where is the money coming from? These are just some of the questions government regulators want to know before they put their stamp of approval under the deal. We are not just talking Chinese regulators. European regulators need to give their nod also. For that, they need Geely’s plans. Some of them were leaked. Some of the leakage is quite explosive. (Read More…)

This video, of the presentation at GM-SAIC’s 2010 Shanghai Expo pavilion, is not the newest video to hit the web (nor, necessarily, the most exciting), but it’s definitely worth a peek. The world of the future, as imagined by the automaker, is a classical leitmotiv of the industry, and its changes over the years can often reveal deep truths. Granted, this particular show is aimed at the international and Chinese audiences, but the contrast to footage of Futuramas past couldn’t be more stark. See for yourself, after the jump.
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Daimler’s China business is getting increasingly important. Two series, the C-Klasse and the E-Klasse, are already being built in China at their joint venture with Beijing’s BAIC. Soon, there will be a third line, says Automobilwoche [sub].  Today, Daimler’s CFO Bodo Uebber did not want to deny that it will be the GLK compact SUV. Wait, there is more … (Read More…)

Volkswagen’s  Chinese joint venture with FAW will announce a China-made Volkswagen CC next month. Two notable items: The launch ceremony will be on July 15 in Shanghai, right in front of the nose of Volkswagen’s other joint venture partner, SAIC. And the car will cost the princely sum of 320,000 yuan ($47,000) in China, if Gasgoo is correctly informed. That’s what a well appointed Audi A4L goes for. Volkswagen had been showing the car at Chinese auto shows for a while, whetting the appetite for a China created CC. (Read More…)

BMW, it turns out, can sell out more than just the odd “frozen grey” special-edition M3. According to BusinessWeek, BMW’s sales boss has confirmed that the new 5 Series is sold out, and that customers will have to wait between three and four months for orders to be processed.

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Better late than never: Fiat is betting big on their comeback in China. All eyes on their Changsha-based (read middle of nowhere) joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co (GAC). They are about to be open for business. Gasgoo says there will be three Fiat models, the first a newly designed mid-class sedan, codenamed C-Medium (any guesses?) If local media has it right, two Jeep-brand SUVs will also be produced in the new joint venture. Their codenames are SUV-3 and SUV-4 (any guesses?) (Read More…)

Ah, there’s nothing like a good old Chinese catfight over a foreign joint venture partner. Daimler’s Chinese partner BAIC (they build the E-Class and C-Class in Beijing) became increasingly green-eyed watching Daimler playing footsie with up-start BYD. Now, BAIC is throwing a fit.

Gasgoo says that BAIC might withdraw from or delay its planned acquisition of Fujian Daimler, and this could frustrate Daimler’s partnership with BYD. Why is that? (Read More…)

You thought the strikes that affected Honda and Toyota in China are over, and both are happily churning out cars again? That makes two of us. But we are mistaken. (Read More…)

In another case of unthought-through consequences, the cheered-on push for a stronger Chinese currency and higher wages strengthens the competitiveness and quality of Chinese products through increased automation of assembly lines.

Bloomberg reports that Nissan, together with the joint venture partner Dongfeng, is building a 5 billion yuan ($732m) plant in Guangzhou with the newest in automation. The factory is scheduled to open in 2012. In addition, Nissan spent about 1 billion yuan ($147m) on a second production line with the latest equipment at their Zhengzhou factory.

This is not an isolated incident. “The automation rate in China is on the rise,” said Nissan spokesman Mitsuru Yonekawa.  “We need to boost productivity in China,” COO Toshiyuki Shiga said. “Just because labor costs are higher in China, we won’t be leaving.”

It stands to reason that Japanese car makers would rejoice over rising wages in competing China and over an appreciating Chinese currency. Rising wages make production there more expensive, a rising Yuan makes exports more expensive. Both should give the Japanese more breathing room. That reasoning is falling by the wayside. The Nikkei [sub] reports that these developments pose ”serious threats to Toyota’s profitability in China, strategic challenges that other Japanese companies must also deal with.” Just goes to show that you need to be careful what you wish for. And wait who else should worry. (Read More…)

Remember GM’s Heated Windshield Washer Fire Fiasco? The one where the “Hotshot” unit got so hot that cars went up in flames? It sounded like it was a dispute between GM and the now defunct Microheat. Our friends at Carquestions did a little investigative reporting. Result? (Read More…)