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Volkswagen boss rips Elon Musk as destroyer of jobs and money

October 20, 2017 By

Matthias Müller (Picture: Volkswagen)

Car companies used to refrain from commenting on the competition, but the veil of propriety seems to develop more rips than the jeans of a grunge rocker. Last night, Volkswagen’s CEO Matthias Müller tore Elon Musk a big one, blasting the head of Californian carmaker Tesla as deficient of both social responsibility, and profits.

At an evening talk show in Passau, Germany, the moderator mentioned that Tesla “fascinates customers with its electric cars.” This triggered Müller to deliver a forceful statement he audibly had wanted to make for quite some time. Here is the video, along with a translation from Müller’s heavily Bavarian-tinged German:

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Filed Under: Analysis, Auto Industry, EV, News, OEMs, Volkswagen Tagged With: First published on October 20, 2017 5:38 am

The Nissan brouhaha: Premature inspectors cause shutdown

October 19, 2017 By

Saikawa, today in Yokohama (c) Bertel Schmitt

What the 2011 tsunami couldn’t accomplish, bureaucrats did: Nissan’s Japanese production will be closed until further notice. 

At a hastily thrown-together press conference, called at an unusual time (the sun had long slipped behind Mt. Fuji) Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa announced that Nissan’s six factories all over Japan would stop making and shipping cars for the Japanese market, pending the resolution of an inspection scandal that taxes the comprehension of anyone outside of Japan. A customary deep bow of shame accompanied the statement.

But why?

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Filed Under: Analysis, EV, News, Nissan, OEMs First published on October 19, 2017 4:20 pm

Thursday morning car news roundup, October 19, 2017

October 19, 2017 By

Top News:

 

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Filed Under: Morning News, News Tagged With: First published on October 19, 2017 1:09 pm

Mitsubishi Motors plots its comeback, and here is the plan

October 18, 2017 By

Osamu Masuko in Tokyo (c) Bertel Schmitt

According to widely-held Silicon Valley belief, it is impossible to turn a lumbering old legacy carmaker around. Alright, watch Osamu Masuko. He is the CEO of a 100-year-old Japanese carmaker named Mitsubishi Motors, and today, he announced the company’s “V-shaped recovery” at MMC’s HQ in Tokyo

The company fell into disrepute last year for having (like so many others) fudged fuel economy readings. Sales sagged. Nissan promptly bought a controlling interest in the company for a $2.3 billion song. (Attn. Silicon Valley: This is what a million-unit carmaker operating in the real world outside of the distortion field truly goes for.) The Mitsubishi purchase propelled the Renault-Nissan Alliance (now renamed Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance) to the top of all global automakers. Now is the time to turn the company around.

Basically, the plan calls for a 40% increase in sales, and a 30% increase in revenue by fiscal 2019 (which ends March 31 2020.)

“How will they do that?” asked @happy_roman via Twitter. @happy_roman once managed PR and later Marketing at Skoda, therefore, professional courtesy, and an explanation are extended.

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Filed Under: Analysis, Auto Industry, EV Tagged With: First published on October 18, 2017 3:18 pm

Wednesday morning car news roundup, October 18, 2017

October 18, 2017 By

Top News:

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Filed Under: Morning News, News Tagged With: First published on October 18, 2017 1:47 pm

Tuesday morning car news roundup, October 17, 2017

October 17, 2017 By

Top News:

 

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Filed Under: Analysis, Morning News, News Tagged With: First published on October 17, 2017 1:09 pm

That legacy auto industry is just fine, thank you ever so much

October 17, 2017 By

Source: LMC Automotive

Should you – what with all the talk of “peak car” and imminent disruption – be worried about the long-term health of the auto industry, then there’s a simple cure. All you need to take is a global view, and a look into LMC Automotive’s monthly global review.

One look at their chart shows you that neither Uber nor robot cars can convince global auto sales to head downwards. Even the carpocalypse of 2008/2009 could not throw the graph off its secular trend. Two years after the sky dropped, the global sales plot snapped right back into its steady growth pattern. [ There is more … ]

Filed Under: Analysis, Auto Industry First published on October 17, 2017 12:29 pm

Peak car in EU? Bacon saved by former basket cases

October 17, 2017 By

Is peak car reaching Europe? EU car sales took 10 long years to slowly claw back towards pre-crisis levels, and now, the downer: In September, passenger car registrations dropped 2% across the common market, says Europe’s auto manufacturer association ACEA.

Remember how Europe’s southern periphery seemed sick for many years? Interestingly, Europe’s former basket cases are now the bright spots. All over the South, healthy improvements are reported. Passenger vehicles sales in formerly near-dead Greece, for instance, were up nearly 30% in September.

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Filed Under: Analysis, Auto Industry, Data, Europe First published on October 17, 2017 7:50 am
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