The 2009 Chevrolet Caprice SS, sold in the Middle East but made in Australia. I came across a 2017 interview with former Holden chairman Peter Hanenberger, who was in charge when the company had its last number-one sales’ position in Australia. His words are prescient and everything he said then still applies today. […]
Read More… from Peter Hanenberger’s unintended post mortem of Holden
Stuart Cowley for Lucire I haven’t spoken to Holden New Zealand to see if we’re following suit, but as far as Australia’s concerned, 2020 will be the final year for the Astra and Commodore, as Holden transitions to selling only trucks (utes) and SUVs. Here we are, with its most competitive C- and […]
From an Automotive News interview with Yves Bonnefort, CEO of DS. Um, that’s called a station wagon or estate car, mate. You may also like A couple of days before it became official: thoughts on PSA and FCA linking up The top-selling cars in France, 2013 GM’s Holden to abandon C and D car […]
What does Tesla do to whistleblowers? They tell the cops you’re an active shooter. Apparently, this case about a gentleman called Martin Tripp emerged in 2018 but only today were the police documents released, and are worth reading. Above: Two of the pages from the Storey County Sheriff’s Office over the false […]
Read More… from Tesla or SpaceX doesn’t like you? They’ll say you’re an active shooter
Companies in FCA’s and PSA’s histories did once produce the Plymouth Horizon, so historically there is some precedent to a trans-Atlantic arrangement—not to mention the type 220 and 179 minivans and the commercial vehicles currently in PSA’s and Fiat’s ranges. This is a few days old, but it’s nice to know that these hurriedly written […]
Read More… from A couple of days before it became official: thoughts on PSA and FCA linking up
The car Lee Iacocca will be remembered for, the 1965 Ford Mustang on the right. Before I found out about Lee Iacocca’s passing, on the same day I Tweeted about one of the cars he was behind when he was president of Ford: the 1975 US Granada. Basically, Iacocca understood that Americans wanted style. That […]
Read More… from Reflections about Lee Iacocca—unfortunately, not all of it is positive
I haven’t blogged much about Carlos Ghosn, though I’ve Tweeted aplenty since his arrest last November. Earlier this week, his lawyers released a video of Ghosn stating his position, and it echoes much of what I had Tweeted. He couldn’t make a personal appearance at a press conference himself, thanks to some conveniently timed (for […]
Read More… from Bypassing the media, Carlos Ghosn tells it as it is
Over the weekend, I noticed Autocade’s page-view stat had ticked over the 15,000,000 mark. In fact, it was at 15,045,000, and I estimate that it hit the milestone around February 6—fitting for it to have taken place as the (lunar) year began. With how busy things have been, Autocade has been updated less, but […]
Read More… from Autocade passes 15 million page views, as SUVs and EVs take hold
On this Pope Gregory Arbitrary Calendar Start Day, I wrote to a contact of mine at Renault New Zealand. In mid-2018, I joked that, since Renault had no dealers in Wellington (never mind what’s listed on their website—the only people who can see a dealer there are psychic mediums), I could sell them out […]
Read More… from Capturing a buyer: some advice to Renault New Zealand
There’s a rumour circulating that Fiat (specifically, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, or FCA) will kill the Chrysler marque today. The range currently consists of two models: the ageing 300 and the relatively fresh Pacifica. It seems to be another step in the mismanagement of car marques, especially US ones, something I wrote about many […]