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I’d like to take a moment to share one of the best automotive sites I’ve ever seen. It’s not flashy or loud. It just covers cars and does some great stuff on modifying cars in a very down-to-earth way.
And it’s Australian.
I can’t believe I haven’t had a good look at it up until now. I can highly recommend Autospeed.com
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As ctm mentioned in comments, European sales were down by 26% in November, which is the biggest monthly drop in almost 20 years.
GM’s European sales dropped by 38% and Saab’s European sales fell by even more at 46%. Amongst other manufacturers, Toyota fell by 34%, Peugeot by 27% and Mini fell by a whopping 41%.
Who said being small and efficient was the be-all and end-all? The plain fact is everyone’s scared and no-one’s buyng right now.
Is this the first big worldwide recessionary event since the Googlisation of the internet in the late 1990’s? I’m just wondering out loud if the information age is having a magnifying effect on this tumultuous situation…
A full report on Euro car sales is here.
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The Dude is back in the news, full of fear and loathing over the potential collapse of the Detroit car industry.
Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, warned that the indirect effect of a potential G.M. collapse for American parts makers would be severe. He added that German manufacturers in the United States, like Mercedes and Bayerische Motoren Werke, the maker of BMW cars, would have to rethink not just their American supply chains but their global ones as well.
“There would be no winners, only losers,” Mr. Dudenhöffer said. “This would create a huge mess around the world.”
It’s a good read about the global nature of the current crisis and how various spinoffs might take place. They don’t consider GM Europe to be a go-er on it’s own.
The Dude abides….
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Here’s a novelty: a new Saab dealership opening in the United States….
It looks like Columbus’ new Chevrolet, Cadillac and Saab dealership will be opening on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule.
Emanuel Jones, who purchased the former Bill Heard stores out of bankruptcy, said he plans to finalize the deal Thursday and be selling and servicing vehicles before the day is over.
The stores will open under the names Legacy Chevrolet of Columbus and Legacy Cadillac/Saab of Columbus.
Good luck there, Emanuel. That’s an appropriate name for someone about to take on what you’re taking on at this present time.
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12 responses so far ↓
1 RMinNJ
// Dec 17, 2008 at 1:54 am
Article says Audi actually had an increase in Europe sales. I’d have to agree, here
in the northeast U.S. I see nothing but new Audis on the road. They must be
great cars or doing something right.
Must be the right combination of letters and numbers in the model names that makes for a safe
purchase
2 Karen
// Dec 17, 2008 at 1:58 am
The credit squeeze turned into a global crisis with Lehman Brothers bankruptcy on 9/15/08. If you can’t trust Lehman Brothers, who can you trust? (even though their iconic reputation was no longer deserved, historic brands like that take a while to tarnish – which is also why almost 20 years of GM has not yet destroyed the Saab brand).
At least twelve trillion USD globally starting moving under the mattress after 9/15. Even people who think they have secure jobs usually need some credit to buy or lease a car – so auto sales for everyone except Rolls Royce fell off a cliff in October/November.
Columbus, Ohio is the state capital with a relatively more stable economy than the rest of Ohio.
Someone has to keep servicing all those Saabs…
Just to shake up both those Southern Republicans AND California greeniacs, Toyota will delay construction on their new Prius factory in Mississippi.
A disorderly GM bankruptcy hits the supply chain hardest.
3 curtis
// Dec 17, 2008 at 2:03 am
it takes some real balls to open a dealer for an auto company on the brink of failure.
4 Stephen
// Dec 17, 2008 at 3:24 am
A change of dealers in Columbus, Ohio is a big plus for the folks there. The old dealer was very HT, their brands including Jaguar, Rolls Royce, and VW Audi. They did not like Saab too much – about the only way they would actually sell you one was if you threatened them with a firearm. I think many, if not most, of the Columbus, Ohio Saabs were purchased from Just Saab in Cincinnati or Dave Towell in Akron!
5 turbin
// Dec 17, 2008 at 7:18 am
Yeah, Autospeed is a great site and brilliantly honest. His reviews are so spot on and are brutal where deserved, so much so many manufacturers won’t lend him cars anymore. His tech advice segments, while not always relevant to everybody, are of great help to manyand food for thought.
His Saab 9-3 reviews, the couple that are there, are really good. His ‘06 9-5 Linear review however is painful, but I can’t really fault it (his previous ‘01 9-5 review was much more positive). I wouldn’t be suprised if GM took him off the Saab loaner list as a result. Julian doesn’t care as he gets paid anyway for doing what he’s doing.
His blog is often quite enjoyable to read too.
6 wilfried
// Dec 17, 2008 at 7:37 am
Maybe not the right spot to comment, but after taking a quick look trough the fantasygarages at pistonheads, some other (1 month) old news I found out about profit in 2008 in the automotive world caught my attention: http://www.pistonheads.com/lotus/default.asp?storyId=18959
Makes me think, you do not have to be a big manufacturer or need to be a part of a massive global player.
OK, lotus had their rough years, and many of them, and this might be a not average year for them. And yes being part of they are not that independent.
But why not considering i.e. Saab as being a small niche player. Makes sense in a shrinking market. Combination of engineering (even for others) and small production of characterfull cars has been done before. Porsche did it for many years and thanks to the engineering jobs they survived some rough periods (that was before the Cayenne cash cow appeared).
7 Markac
// Dec 17, 2008 at 9:14 am
Legacy Cadillac/Saab of Columbus? I guess Emanuel can always become a Subaru dealer if it doesn’t pan out!
8 turbin
// Dec 17, 2008 at 9:32 am
On the subject of Subie, everyone see they’re pulling out of WRC?
9 Richard
// Dec 17, 2008 at 9:40 am
I think this is referring to Columbus, Georgia, not Columbus, Ohio. I hope I’m wrong, because Midwestern Auto Group, the only Saab dealer in town (which, as mentioned above, also sells Ferraris, Porches, Rolls Royces, and other cars), charges an arm and a leg for service. As an example, they wanted to charge about $200 for parts and labor to put the mp3/aux in adapter into my 2003 9-3. Saab Exchange of Chicago and Iowa City Saab/Meyer Garage each estimated that it would cost $100. I say we need Adam Smith’s invisible hand to sweep in and help the situation.
10 jrcjr
// Dec 17, 2008 at 2:11 pm
yes that’s Columbus Ga– not nearly as big a town as the one in Ohio. cool to see another saab dealer opening in GA though. saabs are all over here in atlanta, but I usually don’t see too many of them in the rest of the state.
11 Karen
// Dec 17, 2008 at 2:57 pm
My apologies for not checking the link. Yes, Columbus, Georgia, right next to Phenix City, Alabama.
Not sure that is really Saab country, though maybe the films “A Time to Kill” and “Sweet Home Alabama” inspired a new generation of New South Saabistas.
When Atlanta gets freezing rain or a little snow, those hills make having a Saab worthwhile. Something tells me this is another “Chevy-Cadillac-oh I guess we have to carry Saab” dealer.
12 Swade
// Dec 17, 2008 at 2:59 pm
And my apologies for not checking out the location a bit more thoroughly to start with. D’oh!!