#Germany
More Mess: GM Fires Opel CEO, Keeps His Lukewarm Plan
After putting Opel CEO Stracke abruptly out to pasture, one would think that his (allegedly interim) successor Steve Girsky has a new plan to rescue Opel and to spare GM shareholders further losses. Not so. The new man will keep the old plan. “GM fully supports the current plan to strengthen Opel and improve its operational competitiveness,” a spokesman for Opel told Reuters.
Volkswagen Group Reports Healthy Half Year Sales, But Not Enough To Dethrone Leaders
Volkswagen has published group sales for June and the first six months, and they are better than those of most other European makers. Global deliveries for the half year are up 8.9 percent to 4.45 million. June looks surprisingly good with sales up 11 percent to 798,500. Nevertheless, Volkswagen looks like no threat to the leading positions of Toyota and GM.
Brussels Investigates State Aid To Porsche
Porsche’s soon-to-be 100 percent owner Volkswagen is making money hand over fist. At the same time, the German tax payer is contributing 43.67 million euros to the expansion of Porsche’s plant in Leipzig, Germany, where the new Macan will be made starting in 2014. This has attracted the attention of EU competition regulators.
Audi's Plans For World Domination Postponed
By 2015, Audi wanted to overtake BMW and become the world’s largest maker of premium cars. These plans have been postponed. Not until 2018, but until 2020. The road ”is getting bumpier,” Audi CEO Rupert Stadler told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, and said that world domination now will happen “by 2020 at the latest. It is not about overtaking BMW tomorrow or the day after, but to seize and secure the top position.”
Volkswagen Back At 1970 Glory, But Will It Be Enough For 2018?
Volkswagen wants to be the world’s biggest, most profitable, most innovative, and most loved automaker by 2018, and everybody at Volkswagen has been sworn-in to do their share. US managers promised that they will deliver a million sales a year to the group. It’s a tall order. To get there, “American consumers will need to buy a lot more new Volkswagens, Audis and Porsches,” Reuters says.
Happy Couple: Volkswagen Finally Swallows Porsche
They have been together for a while. Behemoth Volkswagen and tiny, but bigger than life Porsche shared technologies and booths at auto shows, Volkswagen generals are in key positions at Porsche. Fitting the German Zeitgeist, they lived together without being formally married. This will be rectified in a few weeks.
Germany In June 2012: Bucking The European Downtrend
Germany’s new car market recovered slightly in June. Sales were up 2.9 percent to units, Germany’s Kraftfahrtbundesamt reports.
Ewanick's Bad Brand Strategy Kills Opel
GM has blamed Western Europe location for Opel’s woes, unions, the economy. Opel has a brand crisis, and the crisis is “a self inflicted-wound,” says Christiaan Hetzner, Reuters’ man in Frankfurt, Germany, in an article on why Opel is in so much trouble. “Reputation is seen as the problem, not cars.” The recent attempts to move the Opel brand up-market ripped those old wounds open and could kill the patient.
BMW And Toyota To Jointly Develop Sports Cars And More
“At the Nürburgring, there is always a car that passes me. It is a BMW.“ So said Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda today as he announced a deepening of the relationships between Toyota, and the company that makes those cars that pass Toyoda on the Ring. The surprising part: BMW and Toyota will jointly “develop architecture and components for a future sports vehicle.”
BMW And Toyota To Make Announcement This Week
Toyota and BMW will announce a closer alliance as early as Friday, The Nikkei [sub] and Tokyo scuttlebutt say. According to the Nikkei, the two will share Toyota’s hybrid and fuel cell technology. BMW will try seeking scale effects for its CFRP technology. TTAC will feature a closer look into Toyota’s carbon fiber capabilities once we have finished our own research.
Opel Restructuring: Baby Steps Instead Of Big Bang
Tomorrow, Thursday, the management of Opel will present an allegedly comprehensive turnaround plan to its supervisory board, Reuters reports. If GM stockholders expect a big bang to lift their holdings, they will most likely be disappointed. The plan is expected to deliver less and that later. However, it looks like Opel might share pain and plants with PSA Peugeot Citroen.
Analyst: Dump BMW!
While other carmakers are treading water or worse, BMW’s global sales were up 9.1 percent for the first five months of the year, mostly on strong gains in China. That party is about to end, claims Citi Investment Research and downgraded BMW AG from “buy” to “neutral,” Reuters reports.
In the euphemistic world of stock analysts, a “neutral” usually means a sell.
After Volkswagen Buys, Porsche Will Sell Dirt
Five years ago, former and now disgraced Porsche chief Wendelin Wiedeking started the Porsche SE. It was a holding company, destined to hold the shares of Volkswagen after a successful takeover. Porsche cars are made by Porsche AG. The takeover never happened. Volkswagen bought nearly 50 percent of Porsche AG, and wants the rest ASAP. What will become of Porsche SE?
If the shareholders agree – and the shareholder meeting is today – Porsche SE will become a trading house, selling rare earths, building solar farms, and offering car sharing services, Germany’s ARD says.
Toyota And BMW Edge Closer
Today, Germany’s Spiegel Magazin reports what we suspected since last December: “BMW and Toyota edge closer.” Both, says the magazine, will “enter a close partnership that transcends the projects that were agreed in the past.”
Opel Fix Will Cost More Time And Money Than Anyone Expected
Last Saturday, Opel CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke wanted to address the workers at Opel’s Bochum plant. All he addressed was 2,000 backs as the workers got up and left.
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