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Archives for October 2015

Ramen for reporters: Volkswagen cancels Media Night, tonight, and for the future

October 26, 2015 By
Where's the party? Stood up by VW at the Meiji Kinenkan

Where’s the party? Stood up by VW at the Meiji Kinenkan

It is Tuesday morning in Tokyo. Tomorrow, Wednesday, the Tokyo Motor Show will open its doors at the Big Sight in Odaiba to the media. Tonight, the always hungry and thirsty members of the Fifth Estate will be sedated with heavy doses of sake and tempura, administered all over town at dinner parties by the world’s (and especially Japan’s) big automakers. Those who are on the guest list of Volkswagen will suffer dry mouth and empty stomach. VW canceled its traditional auto show pre-party, a harbinger of lean times to come. [ There is more … ]

Filed Under: Analysis, Hallway Radio, News, Nissan, OEMs, Tokyo Motor Show, Volkswagen Tagged With: , , First published on October 26, 2015 10:37 pm

GM’s worst strategist now top strategist at Volkswagen

October 26, 2015 By
Sedran

Sedran

 

Embattled VW hired Thomas Sedran as Head of Group Strategy, the company said today in a statement. If the name rings a bell: While working for Alix Partnetrs, Sedran was the one who convinced Steve Girsky, and the whole board of GM, that it was a good idea not to get rid of Opel, something the company regretted many times. Sedran and Girksy were the dispatched to Europe to make their plan work. Opel is still bleeding money. [ There is more … ]

Filed Under: News, OEMs, Volkswagen First published on October 26, 2015 8:25 am

Why Chinese auto exports still suck, using the Tokyo Motor Show as an example

October 26, 2015 By
Dozo

Dozo

Last Saturday we were on the winding and windy road up to the Mazda Skylounge near Hakone, to catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji, and of a bunch of drifters leaving rubber on Japan’s mountain passes. My mobile rang, and a nice lady inquired, sumisasen, whether I received my tickets to the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens its doors to the press on Wednesday. I assured her that, domo arigatou gozaimasu, everything was received. Today, my Tokyo landline rang. This time, it was a gentleman, inquiring again whether my tickets had arrived. Yes, they did! “And those of Niedermeyer-san?” Yes, right here!  If you want to know why Japanese automakers are first in the world, this is why: A reliable product, paired with impeccable customer service. [ There is more … ]

Filed Under: Asia, Japan, News, Tokyo Motor Show First published on October 26, 2015 6:37 am

Dailykanban declares Toyota World’s Largest Automaker 2015

October 26, 2015 By
Number One

Number One

Nine months into the year, it becomes evident that in all likelihood, Volkswagen will once again miss its stated goal of becoming the world’s largest automaker. Nine months into the year, Toyota is nearly 100,000 units ahead of VW, with the gap expected to widen slightly by year-end. [ There is more … ]

Filed Under: Analysis, GM, News, OEMs, Toyota, Volkswagen, World's Largest Automakers Tagged With: , , , First published on October 26, 2015 12:47 am

Hallway radio beats BILD and Spiegel: Prime dieselgate suspect found

October 25, 2015 By
Jelden, as seen in BILD

Jelden, as seen in BILD

Last Thursday, we wrote that “Hanno Jelden, Development ECUs, has been suspended, says the hallway radio.” We wrote, with a link that “he has an interesting history.” We did not write that he is a key figure in the dieselgate scandal, and that he may have been the man who wrote the cheater code. We did not want to make this accusation on the basis of hallway talk. For two days, all quiet. Today, the story is all over the German media, usually on page one. [ There is more … ]

Filed Under: Analysis, Europe, Germany, Hallway Radio, Inside The Industry, News, OEMs, Volkswagen Tagged With: , First published on October 25, 2015 10:06 am

Got a #dieselgate TDI? VW may take it back

October 25, 2015 By
Urea production also will have to be increased

Urea production also will have to be increased

A day after Volkswagen’s dieselgate scandal (U.S. edition) hit, my former charges at Thetruthaboutcars started to add-up the possible cost of bringing an affected VW in compliance – a frivolous undertaking, given the fact that back on September 22, nobody except a couple of rogue coders had heard of a defeat device, not to mention the fact that the BOM list and number of work-hours remain a mystery to this day. Then, TTAC wrote that “any sort of recall repair work would need to be weighed against the cost for VW to buy back its own cars.” With that, they hit pay-dirt. Buy back is what Volkswagen is going to do. [ There is more … ]

Filed Under: Africa, News, OEMs, Volkswagen Tagged With: , First published on October 25, 2015 8:50 am

#dieselgate: Plans for North America chief scuttled, Horn left in the cold, all by himself

October 25, 2015 By
Horn at the hearings

Horn at the hearings

Michael Horn, U.S.A.-chief of embattled automaker Volkswagen, will receive some good news, and some bad news. The good news is that he won’t get a chaperone. The bad news is that he’s left in the cold, to face the big bad American wolves all by his freezing lonesome. [ There is more … ]

Filed Under: Analysis, Hallway Radio, Inside The Industry, News, OEMs, Volkswagen Tagged With: , First published on October 25, 2015 6:33 am

Dieselgate 2.0, the exit scenarios

October 23, 2015 By
Art-Paints.com

Art-Paints.com

The dieselgate tsunami sloshed from America to Europe, causing widespread damage. If the allegations of a German environmentalist group hold water, the scandal is about to swash right back to America, and deep into Detroit. GM’s EU subsidiary Opel is being accused of being just as bad as Volkswagen, while using defeat devices in diesel engines used in the company’s Zafira MPV. Will it ever end, and if yes, where? [ There is more … ]

Filed Under: Europe, Germany, News, OEMs, Volkswagen Tagged With: , , First published on October 23, 2015 1:39 pm
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