Nazi past keeps VW from celebrating landmark event

Volkswagen's Nazi past kept it from celebrating the 75th anniversary of a big event in the automaker's history. During a gala celebration on May 26, 1938, Adolf Hitler laid the foundation stone for what would become VW's Wolfsburg plant. Series production of what we know today as the Beetle was interrupted by World War II. Instead of making the People's Car, the factory churned out products for the military. In 1944, two-thirds of the factory's workers were forced laborers, according to German media. After the war the British military became trustee of the plant, which was led by Senior Resident Officer Ivan Hirst. Under Hirst, the plant resumed car production in December 1945. When Hirst left the plant in 1949, VW had become the biggest automobile maker in Germany, VW's historical records show.

Driver's license in Japan comes with lots of ritual

TOKYO -- Japan's automakers love to moan about all the red tape that discourages young people here from buying cars: high taxes, thickets of registration, the need to show proof of an overnight parking spot, onerous inspection regimes. Add to all that the trials and travails of simply getting a driver's license and then keeping it. After years of driving in Japan on an international permit, I finally went local. This week I endured my first license renewal. It was a five-hour odyssey at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's sprawling traffic safety center -- replete with a two-hour remedial course on rules of the road. I knew I was in trouble when our 60-something proctor spent the first 15 minutes telling us where the restrooms and smoker's corner were. She also apologized profusely to the two foreigners in attendance that she couldn't speak English and promised to speak slowly and clearly. This was all in Japanese. No arm crossing! She also warned: Don't slump your heads or cross your arms in impatience. And keep all drinks in bottles with closeable caps. And by all means, keep those caps screwed tight between swigs. "If you stay focused with a good attitude, two hours won't seem that long," she assured us. She then inexplicably launched into a 10-minute lecture on proper bicycling etiquette. Among those lessons: A 50,000-yen ($500) fine awaits those brash enough to bicycle with an umbrella in the rain. What that had to do with our motor vehicle licenses, I still don't know. The entire process oozed with unbearable paternalism. Getting the licenses in the first place is even more pedantic. A failed walk-around A Nissan Motor Co. public relations executive, a foreigner who had just arrived in Japan but has since left the company, famously flunked his driver's license exam. He failed to do the perfunctory test-car walk-around to make sure there are no kids under the back axle, broken taillights or other hazards. They made him come back to test again. (He passed, but only after taking a course that forewarned of all such pitfalls.) My renewal episode included the "Death on Wheels" video of bereaved parents recounting how their precious children were run down on their way home from the neighborhood park. Halfway through the class, our instructor noticed some nodders. She then led us on a forced exercise march -- directing us to close our eyes, rotate our necks and stretch our arms. Still, the day wasn't a complete waste. Among the valuable takeaways: • In a severe earthquake, all nonemergency vehicles will be banned from entering central Tokyo on major freeways and boulevards. Now that's news I might actually use. (Though hopefully not.) • Also decoded were the special stickers seen on so many cars. Each of these subsets of drivers is required to affix its own brightly colored decal "warning" others on the road of their presence: hearing-impaired, elderly, handicapped and beginner drivers. • Aichi prefecture, home of Toyota, had the most traffic fatalities of any Japanese prefecture last year. Its 235 deaths topped the 183 in much more densely populated Tokyo. Still, Japan had only 4,411 traffic deaths in 2012. Compare that with 27,770 in the European Union last year and just over 32,000 in the United States in 2011. Of course, the EU and the United States have much larger populations than Japan. But the stats still work out to one traffic death per 29,000 people in Japan, one death per 18,200 in the EU and one in 10,000 in the United States. So perhaps Japan's nursemaid mind-set, so benevolently despotic to my American sensitivities, counts for something after all.

Ford Ka faces uncertain future

The future of the Ford Ka appears uncertain after a senior marketing executive said that the minicar has been left out of a new, brandwide advertising campaign. "For quite a long time we have not produced new advertising" for the Ka, Elena Cortesi, Ford of Europe's director of social media, told Automotive News Europe. "It is considered a stand-alone vehicle." Stand-alone might be a nice way of saying "forgotten" as the Ka's sales continue to shrink. The minicar's European volume fell by 20 percent last year to 59,112. Sales through April are down 27 percent to 18,824 units, according to the most current figures from market researchers at JATO Dynamics. Launched in 2008 as a replacement for the successful first-generation model, the Ka is based on the Fiat 500. Both cars are built in at Fiat's factory in Tychy, Poland. The Ka, however, doesn't command the premium prices that the similarly sized, retro-styled Fiat gets. In Germany, for example, the Ka starts at 7,990 euros ($10,500), compared with an entry price of 11,600 euros for the 500. 'No profit' As a result the Ka "produces absolutely no profit," Ford of Europe design head Martin Smith told British magazine Autocar The problem he said was that the Ka doesn't fit into the company's global One Ford strategy. "It won't pass a U.S. crash test, it was designed too narrowly to suit European tastes and it's only built in one place," he told the magazine. Smith said he "couldn't see much life for it" past a mid-cycle refresh. A Ford spokesperson, however, told us a face-lift wasn't imminently planned. "The outgoing Ka was treated in the same way – there was no face-lift as such as sales remained good over its 12-year tenure." Fiat partnership Fiat is keen to continue its Ford partnership, which helps the Italian automaker fill capacity in Tychy, but Ford will need to get a minicar with a much wider geographical appeal. Sources say Fiat plans to concentrate production of a global-ready next-generation 500 in Poland starting in 2015. This could have an effect on Ford's next move in the minicar segment. European sales of the Ford Ka fell by 20 percent last year and are down 27 percent through April. Other potential solutions include quitting the minicar segment or forming a new partnership to jointly produce the entry-level car in a country with even cheaper labor. Cortesi pointed out that sales of the Ka are still "healthy." If so, then Ford needs to do for the Ka what it needs to do for its entire European operations, start making a profit.

MERCEDES-BENZ SLS AMG ELECTRIC DRIVE LAP RECORD

Only two weeks after the first overall win for the SLS AMG GT3 at Nurburgring 24 Hours, the German powerhouse has done it again. Setting a Nurburgring Nordschleife (north loop) record, the SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive broke all past records for the north loop and even made a first for an all-electric vehicle. Setting a time of 7:56.234, the SLS is the first to make it around in less than eight minutes. With 715 available horsepower and letting out zero emissions this Benz is setting the bar for all other electrically powered supercar companies. This four-motor car implements AMG Torque Dynamics, which gives individual control to each of the electric motors allowing for optimal performance. AMG Torque Dynamics offers further variability by offering three different driving modes including Comfort, Sport, and Sport Plus. Additionally the energy and power efficiency used in the SLS was derived from the experts behind the Formula 1 KERS technology. Mercedes-Benz is not only celebrating its incredible record breaking success with the SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive, but also the official sales launch this month. Read more: http://www.europeancarweb.com/news/1306_mercedes_benz_sls_amg_electric_drive_lap_record/#ixzz2VurYrzxC

RANGE ROVER SPORT SETS PIKES PEAK RECORD

The all-new Range Rover Sport has out shinned all other standard production vehicles with a new record. Racing up the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb course, the new Sport not only broke the long standing production-standard vehicle record, but also the production- standard SUV record. Completing the 12.42-mile asphalt course in just 12:35.61 with an average speed of 59.17mph. The 510hp 5.0-liter supercharged V8 engine raced to the top through 156 corners, up to 14110-feet above sea level. Still not impressed? Well the oxygen level at that elevation is about 58%, which diminishes engine and driver performance, making the task doubly hard. Piloting the vehicle was American competition and stunt driver Paul Dallenbach. Who's won his division at the Hill Climb six times and the overall event three times. Dallenbach said, "There's no margin for error at Pikes Pike - you only need to misjudge one of those 156 turns and you're into the trees or over the edge of the mountain. To take on this place the way I did today, you need complete confidence in your vehicle, and the Range Rover Sport sure gave me that - it's fast, responsive and agile." Read more: http://www.europeancarweb.com/news/1306_range_rover_sport_sets_pikes_peak_record/#ixzz2VurIyqO2

BMW says May brand sales up 8%, beating Audi, Mercedes

FRANKFURT -- BMW said global sales of its core BMW brand rose 8 percent in May to 139,161, outpacing delivery gains of rivals Audi and Mercedes-Benz brand, and pushing five-month sales up 7 percent to 651,168. BMW Group said that demand in the United States and China helped boost group vehicle sales, including its Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, by 6 percent last month to a record 166,397 vehicles, its best May sales result. In the first five months, sales rose 6 percent to 770,025, the company said in a statement today. "We could offset the headwinds in Europe through solid gains in other markets such as the U.S., China, Japan and Russia,'' BMW sales and marketing chief Ian Robertson said in the statement. BMW Group sales gained in all the company's major markets last month except Europe, where they remained flat, falling 1 percent to 74,918. Since January, deliveries have risen 2 percent to 352,013. In the United States, monthly volume was up 10 percent to 31,174 and sales in No. 1 market China grew 11 percent to 30,311. Monthly deliveries of the group's Mini brand rose by 2 percent to 26,955, helped by the Paceman model that has boosted sales of the marque by nearly 3,000 vehicles since its launch in mid-March this year. BMW said the Mini brand has reached a total of more than 2.5 million deliveries to customers since its relaunch under the BMW Group in 2001. In the first five months, brand sales fell 2 percent to 117,694. BMW said demand for its core brand in May was driven by strong sales of the X1 compact SUV, which rose 29 percent to 14,718, and the sixth-generation 3 series, which rose 28 percent to 41,811 vehicles. In total, the latest 3 series has sold 400,000 units since its launch in February 2012, BMW said. BMW brand sales top Audi, Mercedes in May BMW, the world's biggest premium-vehicle maker since 2005, is working to stave off challenges by second-ranked Audi and third-place Mercedes-Benz. Both have vowed to pass BMW for the global luxury-car sales lead by the end of the decade. Last week, Audi said sales rose 6 percent in May to 137,200, pushing five-month sales up 7 percent to 640,200. The Mercedes brand sold 121,360 in May, a rise of 7 percent. Through May, Mercedes' global deliveries rose 6 percent to 562,824. Last year, BMW brand reported unit sales of 1.54 million, compared with Audi's 1.45 million and Mercedes brand's 1.32 million. Reuters contributed to this report

VW brand sales rise 5.5% in May as China demand offsets Europe drop

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group said today that global sales of its core VW brand rose 5.5 percent in May to 503,100 vehicles, buoyed by gains in China, which helped offset weak Europe sales and a slowdown in markets including the United States. "Overall the Volkswagen passenger cars brand is showing stable development despite continuing economic uncertainty, although the trends vary quite significantly," sales chief Christian Klingler said in a statement. "While deliveries in China, for example, continued to rise, unit sales for May in other regions such as western Europe declined," he added. Europe, U.S., Russia, Brazil sales drop Five-month brand sales gained 5 percent to 2.41 million vehicles thanks to continued growth in China. The brand's sales in western Europe, excluding Germany, fell 7 percent to 351,400 through May. In Germany, volume fell 10 percent to 229,300. In central and eastern Europe, deliveries were flat, falling 0.2 percent to 108,200, and sales in Russia fell 4 percent to 62,600. Through May, deliveries in China, including Hong Kong, rose 20 percent to 980,000, but in the United States, sales dropped slightly by 0.4 percent to at 169,800. In South America, volume declined by 3 percent to 303,100 with deliveries in Brazil falling 2 percent to 227,100.