First job this Friday column is to welcome the newly widened involvement with daily life at just-auto of our PLDB guru (and fellow Antipodean, from that holiday island to the west of New Zealand), Glenn Brooks, who has put Chrysler’s product plans under the microscope and attracted a huge bunch of readers as a result.
And guess which automaker run by a man named Sergio is back in the black? Speaking of which, there have been some other pretty decent Q1 numbers out this week, along with the odd fiscal Q4 and even a Q2, so we decided to bunch ’em up in one convenient place for you here.
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Not familiar with just-auto’s PLDB? Well, if product placement’s now all OK for BBC TV, it’s OK with us, so read all about it right here.
Back to a familiar subject, now dragging on like an interminal soap opera. Saab. In this week’s episode, the Chinese become involved and the Swedish embassy in Beijing drops a clanger. And the bureaucrats continue to push paper while the car assemblers idle at home, their future still uncertain. Don’t miss the next exciting instalment next week. If you’ve missed previous episodes, click here.
Our Man in India reported in with news that Mercedes plans to retaliate against Audi and BMW by building more models locally which avoids large taxes on built-up imports and makes its cars more competitive in the fast-growing luxury sector.
And Our Man in Indonesia got out the abacus and ran a flinty eye over ASEAN sales in the first quarter.
Not to be outdone, Our Man in Texas (well, the Lone Star state is bigger than a lot of countries) burned the midnight oil, as usual, to bring us a wrap of April US sales with some encouraging news on SAAR.
And it was the end of an era when a certain Mr F Stronach finally quit a little parts company he founded in Canada decades ago.
And so to the weekend. As mad global weather, with tragic results in the US (tornados and floods killing hundreds in the south) and New Zealand (a rare but not unknown tornado killed one in a northern suburb of Auckland), continues, we in the UK, after the warmest April in decades, are apparently facing a summer drought with reservoirs already at record-low levels. I never thought I’d say this after 15 years back in the UK but: “We need rain!” Meanwhile, having mown a dustbowl instead of a lawn last night, I look forward to a beer and a BBQ. Hope your weekend includes something nice, too.
Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, just-auto.com
