The German Manager Magazin will write in its print edition that Volkswagen is considering buying all or part of Isuzu, the diesel-centric Japanese truck and commercial vehicle manufacturer. Volkswagen even has a codename for the deal: “Irene.” Another possibility: the truck firm MAN, which VW owns 30% of, could buy up an Isuzu stake, allowing VW to craft a three-part truck alliance between MAN, Scania and Isuzu. VW’s board member in charge of commercial trucks, Jochem Heizmann, is reportedly in Tokyo pursuing the acquisition and has inspected Isuzu. Toyota’s six percent stake in Isuzu (not to mention VW’s distractions integrating its Porsche and Suzuki alliances) could be serious obstacles. As VW and Toyota battle for the position of world’s largest automaker, Isuzu could become a symbolic battleground for the outsized ambitions of these two industry titans.

UPDATE: VW tells Automotive News [sub] that an Isuzu takeover is “not on the agenda.” Does that mean they’re not looking into the possibility? At this point, it’s not clear.

Within days of breaking, the Renault Spy Scandal has been in “ full reverse,” and now it seems the story is becoming even more embarrassing than we had even imagined. The last time we looked at the case, Bertel forwarded two possible theories for the “farce”: either Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn wanted a distraction from a soft Nissan Leaf EV launch, or someone inside the company wanted to sabotage Ghosn. Now a new theory takes the farce to nearly unimaginable levels…

When Americans travel abroad, they might catch the odd glimpse of a Ford Mustang. If they’re especially lucky, they might even find a classic in Paris. But if there’s a car left on the market that exemplifies the values that once defined American cars, it’s the Mustang. After all, the Mustang was not only born in the US, it became more than a car because of the way it tapped so deftly into the American psyche. Developed for American tastes, the Mustang has done best when it clings to the simplicity of the formula that made it an icon. Which is why it’s a bit puzzling to hear Ford telling Automotive News [sub] that the next Mustang will be designed based on styling themes from Ford’s global design studios, rather than the US-based team that has always taken the lead on Mustang design.

The Aveo name may be all used up in the North American market, but in emerging markets around the world it still enjoys quite a bit of equity. So, when this thing goes on sale stateside in September it will be called the Sonic… but for at its global launch in Seoul, South Korea, this latest Chevy-by-Daewoo is simply the new Aveo.

Most foreign-based automakers see the United States as a market first and a production center second: If sales are good enough, production will follow. Mitsubishi, on the other hand, seems to be taking the opposite approach. The Japanese automaker has announced [via Automotive News [sub]] that it will replace production its weak-selling midsized offerings (Galant, Endeavor, Eclipse) at its Normal, Il factory with one model: the Outlander Sport compact crossover. The Outlander Sport (known elsewhere as RVR and ASX) is Mitsu’s newest vehicle, but the firm still envisions only abput half of Normal’s planned 50k units of production to be sold in North American markets (a safe estimate considering it’s still not outselling the Lancer). The other half will be exported to Russia, Latin America and the Middle East. That’s right, Mitsubishi is keeping its only UAW-represented workforce in order to build compact crossovers for export.

Porsche’s legal troubles aren’t over yet. A group of hedge funds appealed the dismissal of their $2 billion lawsuit against Porsche. The lawsuit had been thrown out by U.S. District Judge Harold Baer on December 31 for lack of jurisdiction.

As the global auto industry becomes ever more competitive, the pressure to deliver a high volume of products and sales per platform is driving companies to develop mega-platforms that underpin millions of global sales units. And sorry folks, but mass market cars aren’t going to become less homogeneous any time soon… in fact PriceWaterhouseCooper’s Anthony Pratt took a look into his magic crystal ball recently, and he forecasts that in just over five years, a mere ten platforms will account for over 27 million units of global sales volume. It’s just the next step on the way to the ultimate dystopia: a world in which every new car in the world is identical under the skin. Spooky! Hit the jump for more details on the (projected) top ten platforms of 2016.

The recently-debuted Chevrolet Volt ads are built around the same basic assumption that drove the design of the Volt’s extended-range electric (EREV) drivetrain: Americans will not tolerate running out of vehicle range. So severe will be America’s Range Anxiety®, GM is guessing, that its electric vehicle (EV) consumers would be happy to lose some electric range and pay a significant price premium compared to the pure-electric competition in order to fill up on gas when they forget to plug in. But while we wait for this psychological insight to prove true across the broader market, recent news seems to show that GM has forgotten about another beloved American freedom: the freedom of choice. For example, the choice to buy a GM-made “pure” EV. To find that kind of freedom you have to go to China…

From conflict-torn Afghanistan [via Newsweek] comes this strange tale of Taliban tribute to the “the vehicular equivalent of the AK-47”: the Toyota Hilux (more famous among Western car nuts for its infamous Top Gear adventures).

As the war in Afghanistan escalated several years ago, counterinsurgency expert David Kilcullen, a member of the team that designed the Iraq surge for Gen. David Petraeus, began to notice a new tattoo on some insurgent Afghan fighters. It wasn’t a Taliban tattoo. It wasn’t even Afghan. It was a Canadian maple leaf.

When a perplexed Kilcullen began to investigate, he says, he discovered that the incongruous flags were linked to what he says is one of the most important, and unnoticed, weapons of guerrilla war in Afghanistan and across the world: the lightweight, virtually indestructible Toyota Hilux truck.

When Alan Mulally took over at Ford and sold off Jaguar and Volvo, a few people (me included) wondered as follows:

Having “Ford” as a global brand is well enough, but how will they compete in the more profitable luxury market?

Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen/Audi are all moving inexorably towards a major downmarket expansion, as they develop a new generation of compact and subcompact cars based on front-wheel-drive architectures. Though Volkswagen has played in this space for some time, the move is a major cultural shift for BMW and Mercedes, which are typically associated with rear-drive luxury cars, particularly in the US market. But the truth is that the German luxury brands have always sold products in the German and other European markets that don’t match their premium overseas brand images (see, among other examples, the ubiquity of Mercedes taxis in Germany). But the strange thing about this next push towards smaller cheaper cars is that it’s not not aimed at Germany at all.

Think GM has a tough sell for its coming IPO? Chinese battery/automaker BYD is preparing its own $420m stock offering, likely to be floated on the Shenzhen A-Shares exchange, in the midst of a Chinese-market downturn, and an ongoing lawsuit with electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn. And all this comes after a long run of good news for the Hong Kong-listed BYD, which had been running strong on optimism generated by Warren Buffet’s major investment in the firm nearly two years ago. So, is BYD in real trouble of having its overvalued stock burst, or is the company strong enough to weather the storm that’s swirling around it?

GM’s IPO filing still has yet to appear on the SEC’s EDGAR database, but while we wait for the S-1 form to clear, Reuters has some details on what to expect from the sale. The big news:

GM is mulling a plan under which sovereign wealth funds or pension funds would serve as “cornerstone investors,” a technique often used for large initial public offerings to show that key investors are supporting the deal, four people said…

Each cornerstone investor would likely be asked to commit to buying 2 percent to 10 percent of the IPO and cornerstone investors would likely account for 10 percent to 30 percent of the total IPO, one of the sources said.

On the other hand, another source says GM is targeting 15 percent of its equity towards cornerstone investors, with 20-25% is aimed at the retail investment market. Either way, Reuters points out that another recent large IPO of a government-owned business, the Agricultural Bank of China, relied heavily on cornerstone investors… but that the politics of such a strategy could be risky.

When I was a young and budding Creative Director on the Volkswagen account (some time in the wild 70s,) I was told that there is only space for 10 automakers on this planet. In 2008, Marchinonne said there is room for 6. Now, the odds are there is Lebensraum for 3 to 5 automakers, depending on who you ask.

The prophets don’t seem to look around when they say that. The annual OICA list of the world’s largest automakers has 50 positions. In China alone are anywhere between 60 and 120 automakers, nobody seems to have a definitive number. Since I was a young and budding Creative Director on Volkswagen 30 years ago, the number of carmarkers worldwide has risen dramatically. It looks like the minute a country turns from a “developing country” into an “emerging country” (whatever that may be,) they want at least one of their own automakers. Even Iran has a couple of sizable automakers, they aren’t on the OICA list, and it’s not for a lack of units made.

If it would be true that one needs annual output in excess of 5m cars to survive, then our choices would be limited to Toyota, GM, and Volkswagen. Reality looks different.

The motorized mass mortality doesn’t seem to happen, and it won’t happen anytime soon.

It’s mid year and time to compare sizes. Who has the biggest (production) of them all? Last year came and went with no changes on the top of the list of the world’s biggest automakers. Same procedure as the year before: Toyota #1, GM #2, Volkswagen #3.

Where are we now, halfway through the race? Watch out, Toyota! Objects in your mirror are closer than they appear! That’s big bad GM riding on your … bumper.

Some folks are convinced that EVs are taking over the world. So convinced they are that they are already publicly worried about peak Lithium. Lithium is found in unstable places. An internal Pentagon memo states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” writes the New York Times. Then there are distressing news that countries like Chile, Bolivia and China sit on piles of lithium. Should we be worried? Nein, says a study from Germany.

Recently, Opel’s boss Nick Reilly was asked by the Süddeutschen Zeitung how long it could be before GM’s top management decides that it doesn’t want to rescue its European division Opel after all. His answer [via Autobild]:

It’s not a question of two years, but rather six or nine months, before we need to have proven that we’ve made positive progress

Even then, Reilly admits that

We need four to five years before we’re able to get back to where we were

That doesn’t sound so good, does it?

Volkswagen, Daimler, Audi, BMW: Despite tanking sales in Europe, they all report record numbers. Why? Exports and a weak Euro. It’s not just a German thing. Same across the Rhine: Agence France Press (via Google News) reports that Renault is very bullish on the back of strong sales in the first half of 2010. Renault is up an amazing 21.6 percent to 1.35 million vehicles. Growth of 21.6 percent is good in Renault’s eyes as they claimed that the global market grew 16 percent. Meaning: Renault gained global market share.

Will the North American market for cars go up 45 percent in the next four years? I’m not convinced. Certainly the momentum hasn’t shown up yet. But this slide is from GM’s “Global Business Conference” which the company is holding in Michigan this week to drum up support for its forthcoming IPO. So… a little over-optimism is hardly surprising. But we’re not the only ones skeptical of GM’s ability to take flight as a public company. Automotive News [sub] reports that

Mirko Mikelic, a fixed income portfolio manager at Fifth Third Bank in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said he expected GM to face grilling about the risks of a return to recession in the United States.

“There’s concern about a double dip out there. That’s probably the biggest thing that’s weighing over GM coming to the market because that’s going to keep (auto sales) down for another year or two,” he said.

Check out the complete presentation in PDF format here, and decide for yourself if The General is worth an investment. The slides after the jump are certainly more convincing…

After North America and China, we have other markets in our sights. Buick has no plans for Europe at this moment, but that could change.

GM’s Jim Federico spills possible plans for a Buick expansion to Auto Motor und Sport.

As you remember, Susan “If you know what I’m good for, answers on a postcard, please” Docherty got canned from her job of Sales and Marketing of U.S Operations, to make room for Joel Ewanick. Back then, many thought it was only a matter of time before ol’ Doperty (see what I did there?) got the ol’ heave ho from GM CEO Eddie Whitacre. Unfortunately, it seems someone still likes her (again, answers on a postcard, please) and she’s now landed another gig at GM. Only this time, they’ve let her loose on the golden goose (hey, see what I d….never mind).

Whereas Chrysler’s surprise operating profit in the first quarter of this year was achieved mainly through cost-cutting, GM’s just-announced Q1 profit comes on the strength of sales increases in most of its global markets. Though The General’s sales numbers are still lower than they need to be, momentum is headed in the right direction… albeit somewhat more slowly than had been hoped.

Fiat Chairman Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo will be leaving the firm to pursue a career in Italian politics, according to Automotive News [sub]. Montezemolo will remain on Fiat’s board, and will continue to serve as chairman of Ferrari, but he will be replaced atop the Fiat empire by vice-chairman and Agnelli family heir John Elkann. Fiat’s shares rallied considerably this morning, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, but not because Montezemolo is on the way out. Rather, Fiat has finally announced the news that speculators have been waiting patiently for: the firm now confirms that it plans to spin off its auto business.

Forgive Audi a little hubris. As Bertel Schmitt has explained, mere decades ago “the brand was thought ideal for high school teachers or tax collectors, who kept their hats on while driving.” To now be figuring in the nightmares of Daimler bosses clearly juices up the marketing staff no end. And though Audi may have won that MT comparo referenced in the ad above, BMW has held off the upstarts for at least one more quarter in the “friendly competition” over global sales numbers.