GM’s turn-around hinges on a market share above 19 percent, board member Stephen Girsky said at an industry meeting in October 2009. “The public plan is 19 percent and change. That is what everything is being based on,” Girsky said during a panel discussion at a conference at Columbia Business School. Reuters was taking notes.
In the 3rd quarter of 2009, GM had a market share of 19.5 percent. The share climbed to 21.8 percent in January 2011, and eroded ever since. (Read More…)
Despite the fact that the Chinese new car market barely grew last year, and ignoring commentators that predict a flat market for this year also, GM has expansionist plans for the region. According to Bloomberg, GM should shortly receive approval to build a $1.1 billion factory in China, which will expand GM China’s annual capacity by 300,000 units. (Read More…)
Have a quick look at this screenshot. Scan it as quickly as you scan other news from China. Now picture scanning it under as much time pressure an average news editor is under. That’s what this is for, it is GM China’s site for journalists. Wouldn’t you think that GM China’s January sales were absolutely marvelous?
Well, it’s not true. (Read More…)
Just like the Lacrosse, the Buick Regal will no longer be available with a base 2.4L 4-cylinder engine. Instead, the same 2.4L with Buick’s eAssist mild hybrid will become the standard powerplant.
Tycho, my Dutch friend in Beijing, scored the big one with his fake F150 story. After we wrote about it, everybody from Motor Trend to Pickupinfo.ru wrote about it as well, taking the Carnewschina.com server on a shakedown tour. Tycho does what a good journo needs to do: Feed the beast. He found even better pictures of the pseudo Ford. And he found imagery of its older brother. Which is a Chevy copypaste. (Read More…)
Toyota announced its consolidated (i.e. including Daihatsu and Hino) 2012 sales plan today. It causes intensive head-scratching at other automakers, especially in Wolfsburg. Toyota plans to raise its 2012 global sales by a whopping 21 percent to 9.6 million. (Read More…)
American carmakers cast worried glances on Senators and union groups that want to create a level playing field with China. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Sherrod Brown, alongside union representatives and the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute try to push “the administration to bring a possible case at the World Trade Organization or begin a U.S. Commerce Department investigation that could lead to duties on Chinese-made auto parts,” as Reuters reports.
A study by the EPI alleges that the Chinese auto parts industry has received $27.5 billion in government subsidies since 2001. The study forgets that large parts of the U.S. auto industry would not be here anymore, would it not have been bailed-out by the U.S. government.
Why are carmakers horrified by the surely well-meant suggestion? Several reasons: (Read More…)
Bob Lutz took Fox News and other media outlets to task in his latest blog for Forbes, titled “Chevy Volt and the Wrong-Headed Right”, with Lutz taking shots at Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh.
Starting in March, the Chevrolet Volt will be eligible to use the HOV lane on California highways. The catch? You have to buy a new Volt to use the carpool lane.
Today, Toyota announced its official December and end of calendar year production numbers. In December, Toyota’s worldwide production was up 13.1 percent to 757,226 units as ToMoCo hustles to make up for sales lost under Japanese tidal waves and Thai floods. For the year, worldwide production of all TMC divisions (including Daihatsu and Hino) dropped 8.2 percent to exactly 7,858,091 units. (Read More…)
Some car dealers are missing the bad old times when Detroit was preoccupied with problems at home. Carmakers again have the bandwidth to look at “the channel,” and some don’t like what they see. Suddenly, dealers find themselves at the receiving end of harsh criticism. Both Chrysler and GM dealers are receiving a derriere chewing. (Read More…)
With concurrent news that some GM dealers are trying to game the vehicle allocation system comes news that Chevrolet dealers are outright rejecting shipments of the Chevrolet Volt.
General Motors reclaimed the worldwide sales crown in 2011, as sales growth and a crippled Toyota helped the General climb back to the top. (Read More…)
The Toyota Prius V didn’t hit dealerships until the final week of October, but it still managed to beat the Chevrolet Volt’s entire sales total. According to Bloomberg, Toyota moved 8,399 Prius V models in 10 weeks. The Volt sold 7,671 examples in 2011. Volt production has yet to re-start since it went idle in December, and we can only assume that Toyota is cranking out the Prius V as fast as they can.
Yesterday’s Junkyard Find from 1993 wasn’t the kind of car most of us would find interesting enough to seek out today (though I’m considering buying a Dynasty, caging it, and starting a new race series: Spec Dynasty). Today’s ’93 car is a different story. A Bonneville with 205 supercharged horses under the hood? I’ll take one! (Read More…)
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