#france

Currently, the only commercially available plug-in on the European market is the Mitsubishi i-Miev. You can also have it as Peugeot iOn, or as Citroen C-Zero. Not much is known about their sales success. Launched in Japan in 2009, the i-Miev last month celebrated its 5000th car rolling off the Japanese production lines. Which earned the i-Miev the title “best selling pure EV” – the numbers are that big. The numbers will soon get much bigger – if all goes according to plan.

Peugeot has been all downhill recently in Brazil. Despite a relatively good showing in the São Paulo Car Show, its Brazilians offerings have been nothing to write home about. Having carved out a solid sixth place slot in sales (and sometimes threatening Renault’s fifth place) when it first got to Brazil, it has been recently surpassed by the likes of Toyota, Honda and even Hyundai. However, with the all-new (for Brazil) 3008, which was launched in Europe in 2009, Peugeot is asking its Brazilians customers: Are you ready to give up your false-jeep pretensions and give a more minivan-looking crossover a chance?

Full Disclosure: I hate “The Simpsons” and I hate Renault cars. So this article is going to have me seething.

In the car world, the BRIC countries have already got their institutional market leaders. That’s how quick these markets are moving. General Motors and Volkswagen have an iron grip on the Chinese market, Suzuki and Hyundai have India in their palms. Fiat is king in Brazil. But Russia is still anybody’s game. Well, Renault and Nissan want to change that.

Whilst doing my usual scan of today’s news I saw an article which made me do a double take. And I mean a proper “Whaaaaaaaaat?!” I saw a couple of interesting things in it, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Then I saw who published it. The Tehran Times. So, treat this story with a pinch of salt.

We are being reminded that one of the few things that still are common to the U.S. and the UK are their legal system, conveniently called the “common law.” British barristers are looking to American attorneys for new ideas. And here is one of them: If an obese driver dies in a car accident, it’s not her fault. It’s the fault of the manufacturer, who didn’t crash test with overweight crash test dummies.

A few months ago I reported how Renault was planning on pulling out of IBC Vehicles (a joint venture between Nissan, General Motors and Renault) so they could take production of their Renault Trafic van to their underutilized plant in Sandouville, France. This would have left IBC Vehicles in trouble as valuable volume would have left the plant in a precarious position. Well, it seems IBC Vehicles can now afford to say “Au Revoir” to Renault.

When Renault, Nissan and Daimler all tied up together many people thought this was just a symbolic gesture. The venture may help each other out in designs and joint ventures, but personally, I didn’t see anything of real substance happening from it. Well, it seems that Nissan and Daimler are taking this cross holding seriously. Very seriously.

With sanctions piling up against Iran because of their nuclear ambitions, Iran is getting more and more isolated on the world stage. They need to assert their authority and let the world know they won’t be pushed around. And they may have found a way of doing it according to the Iranian Student’s News Agency (ISNA).

Mitsubishi started production of the European-spec model of its i-MiEV electric vehicle Wednesday to maintain its lead over rivals in a non-existing market segment expected to grow rapidly. At the same time, Mitsu started production of the iOn, which is an i-MiEV, rebadged for PSA Peugeot Citroen.

According to The Nikkei [sub], the iOn needed “changes from the Japanese version to meet European safety standards.” Let’s hope that the Euro-spec i-MiEV received the same changes, otherwise it will be DOA.

When I started as a budding (and driver’s license less) copywriter on the Volkswagen account in fall of 1973, they were just introducing a (for Volkswagen) highly unusual car. They called it the Passat. After that followed in rapid-fire fashion the Golf, the Scirocco, the Polo. They turned the company around. And kept me employed for more than 30 years. With the Golf being the volume Weltmeisterr, it is often forgotten that it was the Passat that started a new era at Volkswagen. And now, the car enters its 7th generation.

Take a look at the above picture and have a think about what’s wrong with it? Answer after the jump.

There used to be a time when Japan exported cars. Now, they export car factories. Nissan has been on the forefront of this movement for a while. Now comes their biggest export deal: Nissan plans to double its capacity in China by 2012, writes Reuters. That would bring their annual capacity in China to 1.2 million units.

PSA Peugeot, and their joint venture with China’s Dongfeng, are planning to export cars made in China to Russia, said Gregoire Olivier, Peugeot-Citroen’s recently appointed head of Asian operations, to The Beijing News via Gasgoo.

PSA wants to sell cars made at the Chinese JV in other regions of Asia and Russia as early as next year, said Olivier. The only thing that’s keeping them from doing it right now is the lack of a logistics platform. But they are building that in Shanghai as we speak, and it should be up and running next year.

Because Olivier was recently appointed, he may have missed various memos, and will be forgiven. Here a quick update: