While America Slept. Sunday, November 23, 2008

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt
Never on Sunday? Not so at TTAC, a 24/7/365 world-class operation. While America Slept (WAS) is a daily round-up of the news that happened in other continents and time-zones. TTAC provides round-the-clock coverage of everything that has wheels. Or that has its wheels coming off. Disclosure: Mostly bad news today.

Let’s get small: VeeDub doesn’t want to leave the cars-for-lilliputians segment to the Smart 42, or the Toyota iQ. Based on a chopped version of their upcoming (2010) VW Up, Wolfsburg wants to launch a fuel-sipping 2seater. Target is 2 liter per 100km (118 MPG.) Unconfirmed rumor as per Automobilwoche (sub.) The oil-burning Smart ForTwo gets 71 MPG.

Let’s get cheap: Fiat plans low cost cars for the European market. Under a separate brand, says Automobilwoche (sub.) Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne says he wants to be the “Wal-Mart for cars.” Chinese imports, anyone? “Ma no!” says FIAT. Together with their Brazilian subsidiary FIASA, FIAT works on two el cheapo cars under codenames Project 326 und 327. Then there’s another one of unknown provenance.

Nothing sacred anymore at Daimler: According to Daimler’s hometown paper Stuttgarter Zeitung, “all investments which don’t add to efficiencies and competitiveness are cancelled.” Travel, overtime, outsourcing, everything needs to be cut. The whole company is under review. Grim sales numbers. Even the green may see pruning: Investments in plug-ins, hybrids and fuel cell may get chopped. More bad news to follow …

Hush! Jaguar begs for government Pounds: “Jaguar Land Rover is in secret talks with the government for a £1 billion loan, just nine months after Tata, the Indian conglomerate, bought the luxury-car marquee,” London’s Sunday Times discloses. The UK government is studying the request. An answer could be made “in the next fortnight.” Likely that Gordon Brown will pick up the phone to their former colony and tell colleague Palaniappan Chidambaram: “You own it, you help it.”

Honda halts Swindon: Meanwhile in Swindon, UK, Honda plans what the Sunday Times calls “the biggest manufacturing shutdown seen so far in Britain in this economic slowdown.” No UK Hondas will be made during February and March. Honda says its 4,800 workers still have a job.

Yes, there is a God, and he moved to China: Sales of Volkswagen’s premium brand Audi in China have increased 19 percent to over 100,000 units so far this year, said Zhang Xiaojun, deputy managing director of the FAW-Volkswagen Audi Sales Division to Xinhua via Gasgoo. The good news encouraged Audi AG’s head of Marketing and Sales Peter Schwarzenbauer to say that Audi will most likely sell one million units this year. This would mark the 13th consecutive year of breaking the annual sales record.

Japan‘s loss is China’s gain at Detroit Auto Show: Suzuki, Rolls Royce, Ferrari and Land Rover backed out of the January Detroit Auto Show. Now, Mitsubishi also says sayonara. Booths won’t stay empty. Chinese auto makers are “lining up to take advantage of the now-available space,” the Detroit News says. Time to rub some shoulders with future owners?

Japan says “Hai, wakatta!” to plug-ins: “Yes! Got it!” will soon be the answer of all Japanese auto makers when asked for plug-in hybrids. Mitsubishi, Honda, Toyota and Nissan will all jump on the bandwagon, The Nikkei (sub) reports. Release dates? Anywhere between 2009 (Toyota,) 2015 (Mitsubishi,) and “no comment.”

Green initiative gets red light. 10 year old Sam O’Shea told his mother Angela that he wanted to take the ‘green’ option and ride the two miles to St Paul’s Primary School, in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK, on his bicycle. The school said o.k., as long as the parents follow him by car, and pick up his bike because there was nowhere to store it. London’s Telegraph has the story.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Johnster Johnster on Nov 23, 2008

    I always wonder if they are talking about American gallons or larger British Imperial gallons when they give these kind of seemingly optimistic and unrealistic mpg figures. They aren't as specific as they should be and without better info you can't make a valid judgement about it.

  • Jared Jared on Nov 24, 2008

    "Amazing how the FourTwo can go from 71 MPG in Europe to 36 MPG here in the USA. WTF?" Chuck: Different countries use different standards for testing fuel economy. Testing methods in the US are far more representative of the mileage you will see on the road than those used in the EU. You will not get 71 MPG in a FourTwo -- not in the US nor in Europe.

  • Slavuta Inflation creation act... 2 thoughts1, Are you saying Biden admin goes on the Trump's MAGA program?2, Protectionism rephrased: "Act incentivizes automakers to source materials from free-trade-compliant countries and build EVs in North America"Question: can non-free-trade country be a member of WTO?
  • EBFlex China can F right off.
  • MrIcky And tbh, this is why I don't mind a little subsidization of our battery industry. If the American or at least free trade companies don't get some sort of good start, they'll never be able to float long enough to become competitive.
  • SCE to AUX Does the WTO have any teeth? Seems like countries just flail it at each other like a soft rubber stick for internal political purposes.
  • Peter You know we’ve entered the age of self driving vehicles When KIAs go from being stolen to rolling away by themselves.
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