General Motors must be reading Left-Lane.com, as they have announced that Chevrolet will be pulled from the European car market, in order to focus on Opel (and Vauxhall in the UK), just two weeks after I wrote my article on What should General Motors do with Opel and Vauxhall in Europe?
Automotive News reported that “due to a challenging business model and the difficult economic situation in Europe” Chevrolet will no longer have a presence in Europe from 2016. “We have growing confidence in the Opel and Vauxhall brands in Europe. We are focusing our resources in mainstream Europe,” according to Stephen J. Girsky, Vice Chairman at General Motors.
Although that is exactly what I wrote in my article on Opel, that GM should focus on its local brands, in my article on How does GMs Global Brand Strategy fit in Europe? I said that they could keep Chevrolet in Europe, but make a bigger distinction between the brands. Chevrolet should be the budget brand, like Dacia, which is very successful and profitable for Renault. Daewoo was selling quite a bit of cars before it was renamed Chevrolet and raised its prices to mainstream levels for budget cars. For Dacia prices, Chevrolet would have been able to compete in Europe. [Read more…]
With new technology, there is always a period when regulations and good practices haven’t kept up with the new situations that this technology can put people into.
In 2012, Volkswagen Group made a splash in the European minicar segment, introducing a triplet of cars under the VW, Skoda and Seat brands, that were to take the successful Toyota-PSA triplets C1, 107 and Aygo head on to become the best (and best-selling) minicars of the continent. The cars have been well-received by the press and the public, storming to a (combined) first spot of the segment in their first year on the market. They are selling at a rate their predecessors, VW Lupo and Seat Arosa, and more recently VW Fox, have never been able to reach.
In 1997 Mercedes had introduced a revolutionary new car, the A-class, Mercedes’s first entry into the compact car segment. Mercedes proclaimed it would be the safest compact car on the market. Shortly after the car was officially introduced, it rolled-over during a test known as the “
Fast forward to 2013: BMW introduces a revolutionary new car, the i3, BMW’s first entry into the electric car segment. BMW proclaimed it would be one of the safest electric cars on the market, thanks to its carbon fibre safety cell. Shortly after the car was officially introduced, it received only a 
The famous German Autobahn will soon no longer be unlimited. Unlimited free kilometers, that is. Chancellor Angela Merkel has 
“Because of the poor state of our infrastructure, safety may be jeopardized if we do not invest in maintenance”, Merkel said. “But there is no money available in our current budget, so we had to choose: introduce a speed limit of 90 km/h (55 mph) or introduce a toll system, which should generate enough revenue to pay for road maintenance”.
Citroën is making a huge bet on its DS premium subbrand in China. With a projected 200.000 cars to be sold through 100 stand-alone DS dealerships by 2015, the investment is enormous and the stakes are high. Crucial to success in the Chinese market is local production, as heavy taxes keep imported models limited to just 10% of the Chinese car market in 2012. This year, Citroën has started production of DS5 in Shenzhen with its Joint Venture partner ChangAn, and two more models will follow.
After 
As I mentioned in my article on 
If Musk’s claim about who initiated the safety investigation proves to be “a bit overstated”, it may hurt his credibility in the future. For someone who is known for his bold claims, credibility is key, or he will make a fool of himself.