Opel is bleeding money and has to save at all costs. Opel hoped to share development of the next generation Insignia with PSA, but that was called off before it was even announced. According to German media reports, Opel engineers quickly developed a more cost effective solution: A head transplant. (Read More…)
In February 1991, Volkswagen signed its second Chinese joint venture deal with First Automobile Works (FAW) in frigid Changchun in Northern China. This deal, and the older JV with SAIC turned into the cornerstone of Volkswagen’s world domination plans. In no country does Volkswagen sell more cars than in China – and it wants to double the current number in a few years. Written for a 25 year term, the joint venture with FAW would end in 2016. It won’t. It has been extended for another 25 years.
The old contract is still good for a few years, so why the rush? Well, there was that other matter. (Read More…)
BMW will enter marketing history by bringing McDonalds to the automotive industry. Just like McD took one food platform as the basis of a panoply of products (Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Double Cheseburger, McDouble, Daily Double) BMW’s MINI perfects the art and science of mass customization. The latest iteration: The long awaited Mini Paceman, debuting for North America at the Los Angeles Auto Show. (Read More…)
Smart asked fashion designer Jeremy Scott to come up with a special version of the smart fortwo electric car. Much to the horror of Daimler engineers who were used to fashion designers submitting patches of interior materials and color schemes, Jeremy Scott did put his trademark on the car: Wings, sprouting on both sides, and likely wreaking havoc with the CW coefficient. (Read More…)
One of the reasons for Volkswagen’s current strength dates back four years. During the carmageddon of 2008 ff, multinational carmakers such as GM and Toyota drastically cut back investments into new cars and technologies. Volkswagen did not change R&D spending. Four years later, this translates into a host of new models, and revolutionary platform architectures (MQB, MLB, MSB) that promise even more new models at lower cost. (Read More…)
GM wants to thin out its South Korean workforce while shifting production to Europe’s higher-wage locations. Korean unions already see it as a declaration of war. (Read More…)
Despite a tough situation at home, the Volkswagen Group continues to power ahead in the global markets. Volkswagen increased its global sales by 14.6 percent in October. For the year, Volkswagen delivered 7.5 million units worldwide, up 10.2 percent. In China, Volkswagen is nipping at GM’s heels, but does not seem to be able to overtake the General.
GM CEO Dan Akerson re-affirmed his committment to Opel while speaking at company headquarters in Ruesselsheim, Germany.
An experiment conducted in London shows that the new MINI is the world’s strongest babe-magnet. This 2012 MINI attracted 28 very skinny and flexible ladies. (Read More…)
By way of one of its usual trademark flowery press releases, BMW says it is developing a new two-man bobsled for use by Team USA in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. (Read More…)
Ah, those French! With their alliance with GM on les rocks, PSA is casting about for a new partner, just in case “the co-operation with GM and Opel should fail,” writes Germany’s Manager Magazin. PSA and Tata already had first talks, the usually well connected German business magazine says. (Read More…)
Porsche announced a stellar October, with sales up 24.1 percent to 11,688 units, and with a total of 116,050 units delivered for the year, an increase of 15.6 percent over last. Porsche even has a nice table, which we hope will set an example for all automakers. All this didn’t keep them from slamming the brakes. Porsche will cancel weekend shifts at its headquarter factory in Zuffenhausen from January, where it has been running eight extra shifts on Saturdays since September to clear orders for the revamped 911 model, Reuters says. (Read More…)
At the auto show in Los Angeles, next to Stuttgart basically home turf for Porsche, the company will have a small surprise for a big country: Porsche will unveil a “new compact sports car” at the show. Mum’s the word. (Read More…)
What do you get when you add two doors to a 6-Series coupé? Last year the answer was: a 7-Series. Of course that was last year, now BMW has an all-new answer: the Gran Coupe. Of course, calling your latest sexy sedan a “coupé” is nothing new (Mercedes has done it since 2004), what is new is the process by which this “coupé” arrived. Normally manufacturers introduce a new sedan, then within a year they delete two doors, lop off some trunk, give it a sporty grille and launch it as a coupé and convertible. The 6-Series Gran Coupe (GC) on the other hand is what happens when you take a an expensive coupé and add doors. In BMW speak, this process created a four-door coupé. Confused yet? Allow me to explain: apparently all you have to do to create a coupé is remove the sashes from the windows. (This means that Subaru buyers have driven coupés all these years and didn’t know it.) Can the sexy 6-Series beat Mercedes at their own CLS game? Let’s find out.
GM told Reuters that it won’t build the next-generation Chevrolet Cruze in South Korea. Reuters says this is “raising the possibility that GM might shift the assembly to Europe to help boost efficiency at its money-losing unit there.” (Read More…)
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