While America Slept. Tuesday, December 30, 2008

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: December 30th, 2008

while america slept tuesday december 30 2008

A short overview of what happened in other parts of the world while you were in bed. TTAC provides round-the-clock coverage of everything that has wheels. Or has its wheels coming off. For the next two weeks, WAS will be filed from Tokyo

Doh! Several automakers in China reduced or suspended the production of some vehicles. They already regret it, reports Gasgoo. Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen halted the Citroen production line. Now, dealers are out of stock on the C-Elysee. Many editions of the C-Quatre model are also nearly sold out. FAW started a two-week overhaul of its equipment. As a result the supply of its Besturn model is affected. Gasgoo: “Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Auto, FAW VW and other automakers have decided to speed up the overhaul of the idled production lines and resume their operation for more output to meet the market demands.” Spending a lot of time writing production plans, and the customers simply ignore them.

Honda up. In China: Honda sold 45,090 vehicles in China during November, up 8.7 percent from the same month last year. Sales from January to November rose 18% to 421,060 vehicles from 356,730 in the same period last year, the Nikkei (sub) writes.

Lawson electrifies: Lawson is one of the top convenience store chains in Japan, second only to convenience franchise giant 7-Eleven. They actually started in Akron, OH, but the US-side morphed into Circle-K. Trivia aside, Lawson is an early adopter of EV. Lawson plans to start using Mitsubishi’s electric vehicles next summer for sales activities, The Nikkei (sub) writes. Lawson plans to add 150 i MiEV electric vehicles this summer as a first step. The company may eventually use as many as 1,600 i MiEVs. Mass production of the electric vehicles will begin this summer, and Lawson will be leasing them from a Mitsubishi.

The SAIC/ Ssangyong daily: SAIC, the Chinese parent of troubled South Korean automaker Ssangyong Motor wants Ssangyong to slash some 2,000 jobs — almost a third of the employees. This is a condition for SAIC to provide a 200 million dollar credit line, Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper says via Gasgoo. Ssangyong did not meet payroll in December. Korea Development Bank had refused last week to provide new loans unless the Chinese firm goes first. A Ssangyong spokesman told AFP: “I’m unaware of the proposed layoffs.”

Attention, Maserati shoppers: Maserati is recalling 659 sedans sold in China starting on Monday due to flaws in the car suspension system, China Econonmic Net reports. The affected models, the Quattroporte, GranTurismo and GranTurismo S, were produced between Sept. 1, 2003 and July 23, 2008. Press nuts in the upper and lower suspension arms in the front and rear suspension systems were not properly screwed tight, says an announcement by China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Down, Rover: Land Rover, bought by Ford, and sold to Indian Tata, saw worldwide sales fall by 18 per cent this year, the Daily Telegraph writes.

GM India goes slow: General Motors India is cutting down production by up to 10 percent from its two plants at Halol in Gujarat and at Talegaon in Maharashtra, India’s Econonic Times writes. “We usually have annual plant maintenance shut down for 7-10 days. This time we have extended it up to 15 days and it will result in a reduction in production by up to 10 per cent,” General Motors India Vice-President P Balendran said. Funny math.

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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El scotto UH, more parking and a building that was designed for CAT 5 cable at the new place?
Ajla Maybe drag radials? 🤔
FreedMike Apparently this car, which doesn't comply to U.S. regs, is in Nogales, Mexico. What could possibly go wrong with this transaction?
El scotto Under NAFTA II or the USMCA basically the US and Canada do all the designing, planning, and high tech work and high skilled work. Mexico does all the medium-skilled work.Your favorite vehicle that has an Assembled in Mexico label may actually cross the border several times. High tech stuff is installed in the US, medium tech stuff gets done in Mexico, then the vehicle goes back across the border for more high tech stuff the back to Mexico for some nuts n bolts stuff.All of the vehicle manufacturers pass parts and vehicles between factories and countries. It's thought out, it's planned, it's coordinated and they all do it.Northern Mexico consists of a few big towns controlled by a few families. Those families already have deals with Texan and American companies that can truck their products back and forth over the border. The Chinese are the last to show up at the party. They're getting the worst land, the worst factories, and the worst employees. All the good stuff and people have been taken care of in the above paragraph.Lastly, the Chinese will have to make their parts in Mexico or the US or Canada. If not, they have to pay tariffs. High tariffs. It's all for one and one for all under the USMCA.Now evil El Scotto is thinking of the fusion of Chinese and Mexican cuisine and some darn good beer.
FreedMike I care SO deeply!