Increasing signs that reports of the death of luxury cars are greatly exaggerated are emerging from Sindelfingen. To the joy of Daimler stockholders, and to the amazement of pundits who predicted we’ll be driving scooters, Daimler nearly doubled its profit guidance. According to the new reckoning, between €2.5 and €3b should appear below the bottom line as EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) by the end of this year, says Daimler according to Das Autohaus. That came as quite a surprise. (Read More…)

Having helped launch the fad for four-door coupes that’s currently sweeping Europe with its CLS, Mercedes-Benz wants to move the game on to a whole new niche with this CLS Shooting Brake five-door hatchback. This styling concept [via Autocar] bridges the gap between Mercedes’ current design language, and its next-gen look, which was previewed in Geneva by the F800 Style Concept.

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The volcano on Iceland spews trouble for auto manufacturers. Ever since most of Europe has been declared a no-fly zone, just-in-time bit the dust. Literally.

Today, the lines stopped at the BMW factory in Dingolfing, writes Automobilwoche [sub]. On Wednesday, the lines will stop moving in Regensburg and on Thursday in Munich. More than 7000 bimmers are affected. The reason: Electronic parts that usually get flown in.  Icelandic ash brings production lines all over the globe to a grinding halt … (Read More…)

What is a car dealer’s most profitable business? Selling new cars? One would think so, judging by the amount of money invested into metal, marble and glass used to move new cars. But it’s wrong. If a dealer is good, his new car profit contribution is in the single digits. What makes money in a dealership? Servicing the cars. And selling used cars. As Buickman and Steven Lang will confirm: A dealer often can make more money re-selling a trade-in than selling a new car. This must have dawned on someone at Volkswagen … (Read More…)

Did you ever drive in Milano, Italy? Take my advice: Don’t. Park your car, take a taxi. That must have gone through the minds of the boys in Wolfsburg, when they were searching for a name for their dedicated taxi prototype. “Mamma mia! Let’s call it Milano!” (Read More…)

When people get married, they normally follow it up with a honeymoon and (at least traditionally) the consummation of said marriage. So, when Daimler and Renault-Nissan got hitched, how do you think they’d celebrate their first year of marriage? Build a car a together? Announce a joint venture factory? Start sharing dealerships? No. They had an argument. Just like your old polyamorous married couple. (Read More…)

A day after Ford’s attempt to abscond with Volkswagen’s thunder, the boys in Wolfsburg delivered just the right antidote: Forget the single brand modern math. Stop moving countries around the map. Volkswagen Group’s worldwide deliveries grew 24.6 percent in the first quarter of 2010, says Europe’s (still) largest auto maker in a press release. The positive trend that lifted global automotive markets by 19.4 percent should not remain unnoted. Volkswagen is outperforming the market, and that means gaining market share.

And where does that first quarter growth come from? You guessed it: (Read More…)

You may not know that Cammy is a Chemist by trade. With a degree at college and university. If you bug me, I know enough to blow you up. That aside, in chemistry, there is a theory called “Le Chatelier’s Principle”. It states that:

“If a chemical system at equilibrium experiences a change in concentration, temperature, volume, or partial pressure, then the equilibrium shifts to counteract the imposed change and a new equilibrium is established.”

Now why am I telling you this?

The BBC reports that Daimler is deserting Iran. (Read More…)

Dr. Z. is glad that yesterday’s annual stockholders meeting in Berlin is behind him. To fend of criticism, Zetsche had to set ambitious goals: Daimler’s sales will grow twice as fast as the industry average. Good luck with that. (Read More…)

Guess who was matchmaker for Daimler’s three-way tie-up with Renault and Nissan? The Nikkei [sub] thinks it was Volkswagen. VW’s alliance with Suzuki “spooks Daimler into thinking small,” says the Tokyo business paper. And that’s quite a change for formerly bigthinking Daimler. (Read More…)

Which drive train will own the future? ICE, hydrogen, hybrid? BMW bets it will be all of the above. Autocar reports that BMW has mated a regular ICE with a fuel cell, electricity-storing supercapacitors and an electrically driven rear-axle. The reasoning behind this new type of hybrid is that BMW’s engineers believe that this power train will make the cars capable of switching to an emissions free propulsion system and switch back to ICE when needed. Now I know what you’re thinking at this point. “Cammy, aside from being the worst new writer of the year, why would anyone want to buy a car like this?” Well, the answer lies in Europe. (Read More…)

Having just sealed the three-way tie-up between Renault, Nissan, and Daimler, Carlos Ghosn already lusts for more. At a press conference in Brussels, Ghosn said the alliance is open to new partners to get in bed with. Muses The Nikkei [sub]: “He may envision a grand coalition of Japanese, European and U.S. automakers.” (Read More…)

So today, Renault, Daimler, and Nissan did what we said they would do and announced a three-way tie-up. Which is good, because we are running out of inappropriate pictures. The marriage goes far beyond the exchange of symbolical stock holdings. (Read More…)

Have you ever seen a junkie on withdrawal? Not a pretty sight. This is what the German car market looks like. Taken off Abwrackprämien-money, cold turkey has got Germany on the run.  According to just released data of the German Kraftfahrtbundesamt, March 2010 new car registrations in Germany are 26.6 percent below March 2009. (Read More…)

If Automotive News’ [sub] dealer sources have heard right, then Daimler might sacrifice their S-Class on the altar of the almighty EPA and its newly announced CAFE standards. (Read More…)