just-auto bloggers
Dave Leggett
Doolally to Mulally
26 July 2010 14:32
We were reminded late last week that Ford Motor Company is still on a roll, its latest financial results confirming that it is one of the industry's better performers.
Graeme Roberts
No, Cynthia, all Jettas will be the same length...
20 July 2010 12:33
It looks a bit like Volkswagen's redesigned, US focused, Mexican built Jetta, recently launched in some style in the Big Apple, is getting confused in some media minds with the upcoming, larger car - designed specifically for, and to be sold only in North America - that the automaker will soon start building in its brand new Chattanooga (choo-choo!), Tennessee plant.
Mark Bursa
Mazda’s holiday snaps celebrate 90 years
17 June 2010 15:15
Quite a few car companies are celebrating notable anniversaries this year. Jaguar is 75, and Peugeot is 200 years old – though it was approaching a century of making milling and grinding equipment before it attempted to build a car.
Simon Warburton
Treasure Zest?
29 July 2010 17:09
You may have noticed there's been quite a trade mission from the UK in the past few days to India.
Latest just-auto blogs
Treasure Zest?
By: Simon Warburton - 29 Jul 2010 17:09
You may have noticed there's been quite a trade mission from the UK in the past few days to India.
It ain't half hot in er, Moscow
By: Simon Warburton - 27 Jul 2010 17:01
I tend to look at the Moscow temperatures on a daily basis (I know) with a sort of grim fascination as they frequently challenge the lower end of the mercury scale.
Doolally to Mulally
By: Dave Leggett - 26 Jul 2010 14:32
We were reminded late last week that Ford Motor Company is still on a roll, its latest financial results confirming that it is one of the industry's better performers.
Time critical shipments and supply-chain
By: Dave Leggett - 23 Jul 2010 16:51
I had a very interesting lunch with 'Evolution Time Critical' MD Brad Brennan earlier today.
What's in a name part 2
By: Simon Warburton - 22 Jul 2010 17:29
I've speaking quite a bit today (22 July) to Iran Khodro (IKCO) and a very helpful bunch they were too.
No change: global economy still facing uncertainties
By: Dave Leggett - 22 Jul 2010 13:17
US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has made some remarks that have scared the markets a little bit, but what he has said isn't all that surprising.
Only way is Up!
By: Simon Warburton - 20 Jul 2010 16:03
What's in a name? Well, Volkswagen's new city car is to be known as Up! - and that's their exclamation mark not mine.
No, Cynthia, all Jettas will be the same length...
By: Graeme Roberts - 20 Jul 2010 12:33
It looks a bit like Volkswagen's redesigned, US focused, Mexican built Jetta, recently launched in some style in the Big Apple, is getting confused in some media minds with the upcoming, larger car - designed specifically for, and to be sold only in North America - that the automaker will soon start building in its brand new Chattanooga (choo-choo!), Tennessee plant.
Outriders await their comeback
By: Simon Warburton - 15 Jul 2010 17:23
Having battled through a power failure of most of east London on Monday morning - it had to be a Monday - my mood not helped by commuters draped in Spanish flags (in east London?) after their World Cup win - I finally weaselled my way into Essex - my first ever visit - and Ford's Dunton R&D plant.
Wider sale plans for new Ford US truck
By: Graeme Roberts - 14 Jul 2010 13:22
The next-generation US/Canada Ford Ranger truck will be sold outside North America.
VW lengthens runway to avoid China trip fuel stops
By: Graeme Roberts - 14 Jul 2010 12:31
How to improve access to your long-established Chinese unit from Germany? If you're Volkswagen, spend EUR 4.5m lengthening the runway at your private airport in Braunschweig so the corporate Airbus A319 can load enough fuel to avoid the mid-trip refuelling stop until recently required.
The 'Get Carter' car park...
By: Dave Leggett - 12 Jul 2010 15:13
Are you familiar with the film 'Get Carter' which was made in 1971, starred Michael Caine and was set in the north-east of England? If yes, you may recall a scene that takes place in a concrete multi-storey car park in which Caine's character chucks the bloke who used to be in Coronation Street over the side.
Thoughts on Peugeots
By: Dave Leggett - 7 Jul 2010 15:10
The Peugeot RCZ 'Audi TT lookalike' does look very good in the flesh. It was pretty prominent at the Peugeot dealership I visited in London earlier this week (to hear about the 'Mu' mobility initiative).
Tesla's big challenge
By: Dave Leggett - 2 Jul 2010 11:46
Tesla Motors' IPO may have been successful but the company is losing money hand over fist.
Cheer up!
By: Dave Leggett - 1 Jul 2010 15:11
A few colleagues here in England have been a bit down lately.
Crossed cables
By: Simon Warburton - 29 Jun 2010 17:09
I have to say my opinion of new business secretary Vince Cable's fulsome praise of the UK car industry was tempered somewhat when I got back to the office today to find he'd made some pretty tough comments prior to Toyota's new Auris hybrid event.
ASEAN attracts investment
By: Dave Leggett - 29 Jun 2010 15:07
Ford said last week that it would invest in a new Thailand plant with around 150K annual capacity; manufacture of the Ford Focus is being planned from 2012. Ford's latest investment move illustrates that emerging markets opportunities aren't just about the big markets of the BRICs.
Bring me sunshine
By: Simon Warburton - 25 Jun 2010 16:29
Well, thanks to French air traffic controllers working to rule yesterday (24 June), I managed to see a lot more of Bilbao's airport than I was bargaining for - a further three hours in fact.
Volvo's search for a CEO
By: Dave Leggett - 25 Jun 2010 14:36
It looks like Stefan Jacoby will be moving from Volkswagen in the US to take up the challenging role as CEO of Volvo Cars when it changes hands from Ford to Geely. Stephen Odell has apparently preferred to stay with Ford; that's not too surprising – he's a Ford career man. It will be interesting to see what his next post is within Ford.
Muller steals the show
By: Simon Warburton - 23 Jun 2010 17:21
Right, second ANE Congress missive of the day from inside Bilbao's cavernous splendor of the Euskaduna - the Basque influence is obviously everywhere here but the language is as impenetrable as Welsh.
Unintended tour of the Basque country
By: Simon Warburton - 23 Jun 2010 13:35
To Bilbao then - a first for me - at an unfeasibly early hour yesterday morning at Stansted airport - which even at 5am resembled a war zone for ANE's Congress.
Latest proActive is out
By: Dave Leggett - 22 Jun 2010 15:13
The latest newsletter from proActive has hit the stands (metaphorical, screens really).
Chinese firms can create jobs outside China
By: Dave Leggett - 22 Jun 2010 15:08
Ford's divestment of its Volvo Cars unit to Geely of China has yet to be completed and there will undoubtedly be some who would rather it isn't and that Ford will therefore be forced to reconsider the sale.
Vauxhall's 'bowling club'
By: Dave Leggett - 21 Jun 2010 09:47
I have to admit, a press release from Vauxhall has managed to startle me this Monday morn.
Mazda’s holiday snaps celebrate 90 years
By: Mark Bursa - 17 Jun 2010 15:15
Quite a few car companies are celebrating notable anniversaries this year. Jaguar is 75, and Peugeot is 200 years old – though it was approaching a century of making milling and grinding equipment before it attempted to build a car.
New life for an old car site
By: Graeme Roberts - 15 Jun 2010 18:33
Always a slightly poignant moment for me going up to what was once colloquially known locally as 'The Austin' - now MG Motor UK and formerly Austin of England, British Motor Corporation, British Leyland, etc, etc at Longbridge, on the southern outskirts of Birmingham.
State aid for Opel gets politically messy
By: Dave Leggett - 14 Jun 2010 12:45
The political backdrop to Opel's request for German government loan guarantees to help it finance its restructuring of European operations is messy – to say the least - on multiple levels.
Some background on the Honda China strikes
By: Graeme Roberts - 14 Jun 2010 10:09
The New York Times has been digging into the recent spate of strikes affecting Honda suppliers in China.
State phone calls
By: Simon Warburton - 11 Jun 2010 16:35
Further to yesterday's missive about the German Federal office's offer of talking to Chancellor Merkel, I spent the rest of the day looking anxiously at the phone wondering if the next ring would herald the head of state being patched through.
Take your Chev-row-lay to the lev-row-lay
By: Graeme Roberts - 10 Jun 2010 19:01
What a wonderful row has broken out in the US..., sorry, United States of America following the memo from GM suits, er executives Alan Batey, the chief of..., er, vice president for Chevrolet sales and service, and Jim Campbell, head of..., er, GM division vice president for marketing that, henceforth, and subject to a 25 cent penalty for each and every infraction at head office, the word 'Chevy' is no longer to be used.
