Russia's GAZ Group Suing Volkswagen for $348 Million

Russia’s Gorky Automobile Plant (Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod or GAZ) is suing Volkswagen Group over vehicles it was contracted to assemble but never had the opportunity to after the German automaker pulled out of the market at the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

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It's Nice, but It's No Lada: Chinese Brands Take Over Russian Car Market

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has set many wheels in motion, mainly to do with sanctions and efforts to cut the nation off from the global banking and logistics network. Though the Russian economy hasn’t completely collapsed, significant cracks are showing, leading the country to turn to China for support.

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Report: F1 Team Sponsor Linked to Russian Army. Again.

Haas Automation, which sponsors a Formula 1 team, has once again been accused of shady connections to Russia.

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Gas War: Russian Oil Now Under New Embargo

With the Russo-Ukrainian War ongoing, sanctions against Russia have become increasingly common. Western nations are casting a wide net in the hopes that bankrupting Russian businesses will destabilize the country and nullify its ability to wage war. The newest financial offensive is here and it’s a big one. As of December 5th, the European Union and G7 countries have decided to cap Russian oil in the hope of reducing Moscow's export revenues. 

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Nissan Pulls Out of Russia

Nissan is ending operations in Russia. The company has announced that it has sold its assets to the Russian government for a single Euro, which actually sounds like one hell of a deal considering Nissan estimates the decision will cost the business roughly 100 billion yen – or $687 million USD.

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OPEC, Russia Align on Oil Production Cut

Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to cut oil production in a bid to drive prices higher.

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Fuel Prices Are Allegedly Cooling Off

With the last several months delivering record-breaking fuel prices, as society endures what has undoubtedly been the largest spike in energy cost and inflation since the 1970s, everyone has been hoping to catch a break this summer. Some have even gotten theirs. While things are still looking exceptionally bleak in the long term, the United States appears to be enjoying a modest reprieve.

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Renault Sells Russian Assets for 1 Rouble, Moscow Takes Over to Revive Moskvitch

News surfaced yesterday that Renault has decided to sell its Russia operations and stake in Lada for the grand sum of 1 rouble (or double that amount, depending on the source). For those playing at home, a single unit of Russian currency is presently worth 1.5 cents in America as of this writing.

Following that announcement, reporters at The Moscow Times said the country quickly nationalized a major factory belonging to Renault, marking one of (if not the) first major transfer of private assets into state control since the invasion of Ukraine.

What does Russia plan to do with the facility? Kickstart production of the Moskvitch, of course.

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U.S. Government Cancels Oil and Gas Leases Amid Record Fuel Prices

Despite the United States confronting some of the highest energy prices in its history, the Biden administration has canceled oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet.

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), national fuel prices are averaging out to a whopping $4.43 per gallon of regular gasoline. Diesel is much higher at $5.56 and is speculated to endure mass shortages in the coming months as reports from the Northeast have indicated there are already seeing record-low inventories. Over the past twelve months, fuel prices have risen by nearly $1.50 per gallon and most market analysts expect rates to continue moving upwards through the summer. Though they’re not all in agreement as to who should be blamed for our current predicament.

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VW Plans Mass Culling of Combustion Cars, Loftier Margins

Practically every automaker on the planet has begun signaling a desire to change with the times by collectively revising their business strategies. The new hotness involves lower volumes, higher margins, and electric vehicles with the ability to push connected services allowing manufacturers to charge you piecemeal for just about every feature imaginable.

While Volkswagen Group has been at the forefront of those trends since the 2015 Dieselgate scandal helped force its hand, it often suggested that the shift to EVs would be a boon to low-income families. It was hardly the only automaker to make such promises, nor has it been the first to break them after deciding that perhaps there’s more money to be made with premium vehicles. VW has decided that its ideal strategy involves culling internal combustion vehicles by 60 percent over the next eight years and focusing on higher-margin products yielding superior profitability.

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Auto Industry Assets Could Be Seized by Russian Nationalization

The war in Ukraine continues to have ripple effects.

A new report from industry bible Automotive News suggests Vladimir Putin is considering seizing the assets of automakers who left Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

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What Is the Real Reason for High Gas Prices?

When gas prices spike, we argue.

It’s the current president’s fault. It’s the previous president’s fault. It’s about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and on and on.

Now Yahoo! Finance columnist Rick Newman suggests that politics and war aren’t the problems, but simple economics are.

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Volkswagen Shifting Production Out of Europe, Into U.S. and China

Volkswagen Group will be moving some of its European production out of the continent and into facilities located in China and the United States, citing the war in Ukraine as the largest contributing factor. Though if you’ve been following the company, it had already signaled a desire to raise its capacity in China ever since the region shifted into becoming its largest market.

In fact, Chief Executive Herbert Diess said during Tuesday’s press call that China will be taking precedence as the automaker reorganizes its manufacturing.

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Alright, Let's Talk About Fuel Prices and How We Got Here

Fuel prices have, like most other things, become totally ridiculous. In the United States, the average rate for a gallon of gasoline has eclipsed $4.00 for the first time in a decade. Though what’s probably the most alarming is how quickly it happened. Plenty of Americans could still find fuel for under $2.00 a gallon in April of 2020, meaning we’ve seen prices effectively double within two years in the United States. Meanwhile, European nations more accustomed to lofty fuel bills have been sounding the warning bells (especially in regard to diesel) for months.

Despite the issue existing long before Russia invaded Ukraine, the war has become the de facto explanation among politicians for why you had to swap to less-fancy dog food and off-brand soda to keep the truck gassed up. This is also influencing the government’s response to how to handle the present fuel crisis, which looks as if it’ll be getting worse before it gets better. But let’s take a look at how we got here before we dive into what’s being done (or not done) about it.

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Russian Grand Prix Off the Grid, At Least For Now

Russia invaded Ukraine this week, and the geopolitical situation is making it difficult to hold international sporting events in Russia, for reasons that should be obvious.

This means that the Russian Grand Prix has been dumped from the 2022 slate.

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