thegriffon

For a rebadge the Raider sells quite well, much better than the Mazda B-Series or the Isuzu i-Series.

It seems a lot of people are being mislead by the camouflage. The C-pillar is nothing like the Passat and Lucerne, although the rear deck and trunk lid etc. may be. Recall the earlier white car caught by KGP (not as well finished or well-photographed as this one), showing more clearly the outline of the rear door and windows (see also pic no 4 in this series). Also, the badge at the rear of the car is not circular as in Brasil, that's just the shape of shape of the camouflage tape covering the standard global bow-tie.

Do you mean analysis (a reasoned examination) or analogy (a metaphorical comparison, e.g. CR is a demon charged by senior devils Public Citizen and the tort lwayers with the destruction of the righteous - the domestic auto industry)?

Don't get too excited tere are more charges to come as part of the previously announced restructuring expenses. These may exceed operating profits for some time yet.

Kudos to Mazda for reviving this segment in the US. Now we'll see how long it takes other companies to take an interest. After all there are more than a dozen 5-7 seat C-segment MPVs on the market globally, even excluding such smaller 5-6 seat models such as the PT Cruiser, Renault Scenic and Honda FR-V, with more on the way. Ford Focus C-MAX (a rebel with only 5 seats) Chevrolet Vivant (older, still 5-seats) Lada Nadezhda Toyota Corolla Verso VW Touran Mitsubishi Dion Opel Zafira Renault Grand Scenic Nissan Lafesta (seen on test in the US, but apparently dropped from plans) Mazda5 Kia Rondo (coming to the US soon) Toyota Wish (Peugeot and Honda have 7-seat 3-row station wagons in this size class)

I'd take Lutz's leaks witha grain of salt. WM will be too old by the time it comes to replace the Lucerne. Don't count on anything being shipped from Australia again - remember Holden is down to two shifts now and has plenty of other export markts to take care of—the Middle East, Asia and South America, all of which are growing strongly. Buick will get a lwb Zeta sedan, Chevy will get a rwd Impala with the Malibu taking on the volume sales, there may even be a rwd Monte Carlo in addition to a Camaro and Monaro. Will there be a G8 and GTO as well? Probably, but they are keeping things very quiet if they've made a decision yet.

If it's just one it will be the Enclave, promised for this year (not that it will be on sale).

I've seen some unusual sponsorship before, but ClearSCADA?

Not true. Volvo bought Renault VI (trucks), which in turn owned Mack. Renault got a small stake in Volvo in return and still co-operates in producing commercial vans for Renault Trucks. Volvo also owns White and took over the former White-GMC venture. Volvo/Renault also bought the largest stake in Nissan Diesel (UD), just as DCX took over Mitsubishi Fuso. The other big truck companies are Paccar (Peterbuilt and Kenworth) which took over the bankrupt Dutch company DAF, and it's British Leyland operations; IVECO, which took over Ford Trucks in Europe and was itself the result of a merger between the German Magirus, French UNIC and Italian OM/Fiat companies. IVECO also took over Intrnational's former Australian operations and Spanish company Pegaso, which once also made sports cars, as well as another British truck-manufacturing congolmerate; and Isuzu, which took over most of GM's commercial vehicle businesses outside of North America, although GM largely kept the factories and switched to producing Isuzu trucks and vans, at least temporarily. VW produces trucks in Brazil and owns a big stake in Scania. Smaller companies include Navistar (International), MAN, the Russian KAMAZ, Indian company TATA, which bought Daewoo trucks, and a smaller British company which bought the Bedford heavy truck business from GM. PSA (Peugeot SA) is a very old metal fabricating business that got into making cars early on. In addition to Automobiles Citroen and Automobiles Peugeot they also own component manufacturer Faurecia and Peugeot Motorcycles (motor scooters). They used to make bicycles (sold to Cycleurope) armored vehicles under the old Panhard et Levasseur (recently sold to military 4x4 manufacturer Auverland), and still make Peugeot pepper and salt mills, and grinding mechanisms also used by other companies. They also acquired Chrysler's European and South-American operations many years ago, including the former Rootes and SIMCA operations in the UK and France respectively. They do not own Michellin.

There was a Clio Renault Sport V6, actually mid-engined and rwd, viurtually hand-assembled, I think by the Alpine subsidiary which used to make sports cars and which has been sadly neglected in recent years. Renault defined the European minivan market with the Espace, actually designed and produced by an independant company named Matra Automobile and featuring a plastic body. They also produced a coupe, not a sedan, based on a later-generation Espace, but sales were poor and after Renault brought Espace production in-house with the latest-generation steel-bodid version Matra ceased production. Pininfarina bought the engineering business and the plant now assembles electric bikes and DCX's GEM electric vehicles for European sale. In the late '90s the 5-seat Megane Scenic breathed new life into the C-MPV market invented by the Japanese in the early '80s with the 7-seat Mitsubishi Chariot/Nimbus (sold in the US as well) and Nissan Prairie. By the time the Scenic appeared both had grown much larger, although Mitsubishi was still selling a newer series of C-segment MPV/wagons in Europe. Opel resurrected the 7-seat C-MPV shortly afterward with the Zafira, and everybody else (including Renault with the new Grand Scenic) has had to follow suit (PSA's models are still pending, although the 307 is available in a tall 7-seat wagon). The Kangoo is just one example of a primarily European phenomenom, the compact 2-box LCV. Originally crude 2-door panel-vans based on chopped B- and C-segment hatchbacks with a van body (similar to the Colorado Astrovan), almost every manufacturer now produces more sophisticated, dedicated commercial vans, usually with sliding rear doors in both cargo and passenger versions. some are available in both low- and high-roof versions, in short and long-wheelbases and with as many as 3-rows of seating. Ford, Opel, VW Nutzfahrzeug (utility vehicles), Mercedes Vans, PSA and Fiat Veicoli Commerciali all produce them (although the rather expensive A-class–based Mercedes will soon be dropped). Although Toyota once produced something similar called the Deliboy the Japanese have stuck with compact and sub-compact–platform forward-control vans in this segment, primarily used by small contractors, couriers, appliance stores, florists, delis, any kind of delivery or mobile service business that doesn't need a larger van.

Renault and GM co-produce the midsize vans (Trafic/Vivaro and a Nissan version), the fullsize vans (Master/Movano etc.) are produced solely by a Renault subsidiary and simply sold by Opel/Vauxhall. There is also a rwd fullsize van (Master Propulsion) developed and sold jointly by Renault and Renault Trucks (Volvo) and produced by the same subsidiary.

There will be Peugeot and Citroen versions, names as yet unconfirmed.

The Kangoo continues and will evenutlaly replaced by a new model. It's not a mini MPV, but primarily a light van, also available in passenger (and 4x4) versions. This is the market an HHR Panelvan would target in the US. The Modus is an A/B-segment MPV, much smaller and designed as a city car.

VW already has a half-dozen URLs for the Tiguan, all of which currently re-direct to volkswagen.de

It has already been introduced in concept form as the Concept-A. VW came up with a long list of names internally, which were cut down to half a dozen to be voted on by AutoBild readers.

Marrakech was the code name. Previous leading candidate was Beduin, far less obscure than any of the choices offered AutoBild readers.

Slightly higher prices, extremely small investment in differentiation, which is pretty much how it's always been. Currently outsold by both Saturn and Pontiac, the intended competition. With a number of lines going away that will only get worse. Without importing every car line from either Europe or Australia hard to see how this can possibly change.

Melted bar of soap? are you sure you're not thinking of the LaCrosse? How you define the segment id important. most of these cars are actually in the same segment as the LaCrosse, not the Lucerne, by price as well as size. The rest are in the same segment as the LaCrosse by price (but bigger) or size (more expensive) alone. At a stretch there may be a little overlap with the Lucerne in price, but none are in the same segment by size. Those cars that are as big as the Lucerne are much, much more expensive.

Cary apparently is in or near the "Research Triangle" in NC, and very pretty in a scenic woodsy sort of way. Sugarland is very hot and humid and apparently popular with Asian immigrants accustomed to the heat and tropical storms. Given recent weather I'd have to pick somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

Don't forget debt (more than just the legacy costs although that's an inordinate part of it). Enterprise value is calculated as market cap + debt. Ideally the market cap is much higher than the shareholder equity (=Assets - debt), as investors value potential growth. If it's less than the shareholder equity then you have a potential target for break up, especially if cash and securities make up a large portion of the assets.

It's hard to see how Nissan could make better value from any of GM's brands than GM does at the moment. That said, despite the different market dynamics there is room for multiple brands in most major markets. In the US 1. Entry level (e.g. Chevrolet, Kia, Hyundai, Ford) 2. Mainstream (Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Saturn, VW) 3. Premium (Hummer, GMC, fwd Lexus) 4. Luxury (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volvo, rwd Lexus, Maserati etc.) 5. Upper Luxury (Bentley) 6. Super Luxury (Rolls-Royce, Maybach) 7. Premium Sports Car (Porsche, Maserati) 8 Supercar (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin etc.) GM's problem is it's brands don't reach their pricing potential - Pontiac should be mainstream, but is priced closer to entry level, Buick should be premium but is priced at the bottom of the mainstream segment, Cadillac shoiuld be Luxury, even upper-luxury, but has fallen into the premium segment. In Europe the segments are compressed - the Luxury brands are priced very close to the Mainstream, and Mainstream are always trying to break into the lower end of the Luxury segment. Thus VW finds it hard to position all of its brands. 1. Entry level (Suzuki, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Kia, Perodua, Proton, Skoda, Dacia) 2. Mainstream (Renault, Citroen, Peugeot, Opel, VW, Seat, Fiat, Toyota, Honda etc.) 3. Luxury (BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Volvo, Saab, Lancia, Alfa etc.) and so on In Australia the pricing of Luxury entries is so high that there are a wider range of prremium brands (mainly European and Japanese Mainstream brands - VW, Citroen, Peugeot, Mazda and Subaru), plus a lower tier of Luxury brands beneath the big two Germans - Saab, Volvo, Audi, Lexus. While Nissan can fill part of its product gap by expanding Infiniti around the globe, Renault is desperate for a credible Luxury entry after the French government deliberatey killed off the French luxury brands (damned socialists). The company has a premium sports car brand in Alpine, but the brand is not appreciated, reduced to building low-volume Renault special projects. There are brands with great potential still out there, as BMW has proven with Mini. The Chinese will try again with MG (but without new products). Jensen holds potential but is historically tied to Chrysler and would compete with Mercedes (in their own peculiar niche). Bristol has as much potential as a competitor for Bentley and could fill the gap between BMW and Rolls nicely with BMW-Bristols. Hello? Lagonda and Daimler remain under-appreciated by Ford, who have shown, as Fiat has long known, that a well-run super-luxury operation can work well within a big manufacturer, even when money is tight at the parent. Duesenberg, well, no more needs to be said, although not worth what is being asked for it, given the investment required.

What's a socialist?

Unfortunately that's normal for GM anyway, but it shouldn't be a big gap. You'll hear more when they're ready to announce investment for future LaCrosse production.

You're not getting it - Oshawa shuts down just after production of the 3800 ceases, so no problem deciding on replacement V6 for the GP or LaCrosse - there will just be a brief interlude before the NG LaCrosse arrives without the 3800. As for the GP, well we'll see if GM goes ahead with an indirect replacment - one which is bigger and actually sells for more than a V6 G6.

Somehow I don't think that would be what Toyota has in mind, if they make any approach to GM at all about an alliance. In any case in too many markets it would not be allowed.