Opel workers, managers, German politicians and TTAC  have been heard complaining that Opel is being kept out of interesting growth markets and pretty much forced to suffer in Europe. The perennial nags are being thrown a bone: GM “will build a small number of its Opel Corsa hatchbacks in Belarus from next year as its European brand seeks to diversify outside its core market,” Reuters says.

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GM appears to be less convinced of the second coming of Cadillac than many of its fans. In the Global Business Conference Call, Bob Ferguson, VP of Global Cadillac, did set very cautious goals for Cadillac. (Read More…)

Most large automakers are working on a modular architecture of some sort. Farthest ahead appears to be Volkswagen, which already is rolling out new car after new car on one of four related kit architectures, and which is rumored to be working on one master kit. The other day, Toyota showed me glimpses of its new kit architecture, first cars to be expected in 2015. Today, GM showed us this chart. And there are no kits on it. (Read More…)

GM says it’s not true (yet) what Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports today. The paper says it has it on good authority that by 2014, GM will move production of its Chevrolet Cruze from South Korea to the Opel plant in Gliwice, Poland. (Read More…)

AutomakerS around the world seem to have colluded to turn 2015 into the Hydrogen year. Yesterday in Nagoya (a trip into which TTAC invested 21,160 yen, and the price of a bento box, no freebie jaunts in Japan) , Toyota’s NA CEO Jim Lentz confirmed that the Hydrogen Year is still on the calendar.
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If TTAC would headline “Doldrums in U.S. electric car sales could linger indefinitely,” we’d come under screeching attacks by electric propulsion proponents, screaming “bias,” “slow newsday,” and “faux news,” along with choice invectives that would overpower our bad word filter. Well, we are sorry to disturb the peace again, but before the screeching starts, be advised that it’s not our headline. The headline is from buttoned-down Reuters. The wire doubts EVs will become a serious factor anytime soon, despite rounds of aggressive pricing.

In May, we recommended to “prepare for a low intensity price war over electric vehicles.” By now, the war is in full swing, and it is fought with big artillery. Writes Reuters: (Read More…)

For better or for worse, it looks like the endless rants of bloggers about beige appliances are having their effects. Toyota is getting in touch with its emotional self, and that self-discovery starts in America, ground zero of the beige kvetching.  (Read More…)

Yesterday, battery acolytes who hate to see stories of EV makers going bankrupt complained about a TTAC story of another EV maker going bankrupt.  They said the story was unfair, because Miles Electric made electric essential services vehicles, used for parking enforcement and the like, whereas bankrupt EV makers such as Coda tried to sell real cars,so where’s the connection?

Our story actually went to great pains trying to explain this promising niche, in an attempt to say “well, if it doesn’t work here, where will it?”

Wire services such as Reuters are less subtle.  (Read More…)

Cooper tires is becoming another victim of President Obama’s much too cozy relationship with the union machine. Cooper Tires was bought by an Indian company. (Read More…)

In a bout of severe wishful thinking,  Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche told Reuters  that “Daimler does not expect the current spat between the European Union and China will escalate to include cars,”

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Unperturbed by propaganda that the Japanese import market is closed, and that setting up new cars dealerships in Japan is just about impossible,  a myth propagated by an unholy UAW/D3 alliance to detract from the tariff and regulatory walls protecting the American market, Tesla opened its second Japanese showroom in Osaka. (Read More…)

We all know that the value of a car crashes the moment we drive it off the dealer lot. Some do more, some less. Edmunds compiled which brands and makes hold their value more than others.

On a brand level the most prudent cars are made by Acura (honorable mention to Lexus and Infiniti), and, for the more rugged types, by Jeep (honorable mention to Ram and Jeep.) However, people choose brands, but buy cars. So here are Edmunds’ “Best Retained Value Awards” by segment.
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If and when China’s car export machine ever gets going in earnest, the city of Chongqing in Western China could become one of its main export hubs. Chongqing is not a sea port. It is the far eastern terminus of a 7,000 mile railroad line that connects Chongqing with Duisburg in Germany. (Read More…)

The electric vehicle revolution has eaten another one of its children. “U.S. electric car manufacturer Miles Electric Vehicles filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early on Tuesday, court documents showed, highlighting the difficulties faced by battery-powered vehicles in gaining wide market acceptance,” says Reuters. (Read More…)

The recent rise in U.S. car sales emboldened forecasters to predict that 16 million units will be made in North America this year. Some already raise a specter that was thought to be dead for nearly a decade: Capacity constraints.

According to Automotive News [sub]

“Automakers are expected to build more than 16 million light vehicles in North America this year, the region’s highest output since 2002. Two major forecasters, LMC Automotive and IHS Automotive, predict that production will rise from last year’s 15.5 million units as the U.S. economy continues to improve. “

LMC’s Jeff Schuster  said: (Read More…)