How did Chrysler do last year? It all depends on how you slice the numbers, isn’t it? As warned, Chrysler’s Q4 was a bit of a letdown, as net revenues dropped from $11.018b in Q3 to $10.763b, resulting in a $199m Q4 net loss. Interest expenses continue to be a major drag on Chrysler’s performance, costing $329m in Q3 and a whopping $1.228b over the course of the year. Cash dropped by nearly a billion dollars from Q3 to Q4, ending the year at $7.347b (not counting $2.3b in undrawn government facilities). Chrysler nearly hit the 1.6m worldwide sales number touted in its Five Year restructuring plan, as well as the 1.1m US-market target (although fleet mixes appear to have been higher than anticipated). Chrysler also hit its goal of $40b+ in net revenues and exceeded Operating Profit and EBITDA projections, but as the slide from Chrysler’s Q4 financial presentation [PDF here] shows, Both debt (which will likely be restructured this year to reduce costs) and depreciation/amortization have killed Chrysler this year… which is why EBITDA and Modified Operating Profit take the top billing in Chrysler’s financial reporting.

(Read More…)

In October, Jefferson County, Missouri signed a contract with American Traffic Solutions (ATS) allowing the Arizona-based company to issue red light camera tickets in return for a cut of the profits. Now just three months later, the county council wants out of the deal. All seven members were unanimous in the desire to change direction, even signing a letter to lawmakers urging them to adopt a statewide ban on automated ticketing.

(Read More…)

Since I’ve got ungodly quantities of top-shelf booze thanks to my other job, I figured I’d celebrate my 900th birthday by having a party and pouring said booze down my guests’ throats. A couple of them went overboard on the gift department, including one who made me a coupon for free brake work on my Dodge A100 Hell Project. (Read More…)

Our not-quite-colleagues at AutoWeek are between a rock and a hard place nowadays. Back in the dinosaur days of the biz, subscribing to AW made sense. The writing was usually auto-weak, and there wasn’t much insight to be found in the reviews, but it was far more timely than the rest of the color rags. If you wanted up-to-date news on the auto shows, the press-preview events, and European rallies, there was only one magazine with the goods.

Needless to say, the Mandel clan’s rather cozy little empire ran into an Outside Context Problem when the World Wide Web arrived on their shores, chock-full of Jalopniks, Autoblogs, and TTACs. I can’t think of any reason to subscribe to AutoWeek, and judging by the increasing desperation with which they are soliciting me as a subscriber, neither can anyone else.

How, then, can Dutch and company keep the lights on at AW headquarters? I dunno… how about renting press cars?

(Read More…)

When January sales numbers will be announced tomorrow, just about everybody should have reason to celebrate. Analysts from J.D. Power to TrueCar, along with industry watchers of major banks and brokerage houses, expect a strong January. They predict the highest seasonally adjusted annual rate, or SAAR, since the shortlived cash for clunkers episode in August 2009.

The results of a poll by Bloomberg go like this: (Read More…)

The new 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK could give you reason to keep its trick roof up at all times, especially if you wrinkle your nose at diesel smell. Yes, the Daimler’s new roadster will be available with an oil burning option. (Read More…)

“Honda Reports First Profit Drop In Five Quarters”

Headline of a story about Honda’s October-December results, published in  The Nikkei [sub].

And then, there is: (Read More…)

Today, none of the 50,000 workers employed at Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg plant have to punch in at work. The factory is waiting for parts. You may think that is their good or tough luck.

Not so, says Dan Sharkey, a Detroit lawyer who counts many auto suppliers as his clients. The shortages affect us all. Parts shortages are “”beyond a trend; it’s an epidemic,” Sharkey told Automotive News [sub]. These shortages are stopping assembly lines around the world, just when demand is beginning to pick up.

Here is a current snapshot, taken by Automotive News: (Read More…)

Back in 2003, nearly a third of the vehicles I bought were either Volvos or Subarus. An auctioneer friend of mine described these cars as ‘wanna-be’s’. Since most of the buyers of these vehicles at his uncle’s car lot seemed to all fit the bill of an aspiring Yuppie. A lot of education. A lot of debt. Very little knowledge about cars beyond the Consumer Reports and monthly car mags. These buyers were a near nuisance in the Atlanta outskirts due to their pickiness and excessive question asking. For me though it was a different story.

(Read More…)

125 years ago yesterday, Carl Benz was granted the first patent for his Motorwagen, marking the birth of the automotive industry, as well as the company that would become Mercedes-Benz. Both have come a long way in the last century and a quarter, and the mind boggles at what might be in store for the next 125 years. Especially if they keep building the kinds of cars that outshine everything else on the road for decades after they’re built.