Presented By (Auto parts)

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TVR mess
What a sad and sorry tale at TVR - the low volume maker of sportcars based (well, was based...) at Blackpool in the north of England. The Russian who came in for it, offering real hope, appears to have been pretty clueless. Crates of fresh fruit and veg for the workers symbolised an owner perhaps a little out of his depth. In TVR we have an exotic make with product, a degree of engineering know-how, a brand with heritage and a substantial band of diehard customers/supporters. If the gameplan is taking production to Italy and minimising the costs of shutting the Blackpool site, that won't go down at all well with the existing customer base. And what would future TVRs be, exactly?

BMW and PSA get deeper on engines
Very interesting news story we had today about BMW and PSA looking at extending their collaboration on engines; BMW staying pretty tight-lipped. I'm out with a couple of auto industry analysts this evening for a few festive season beers. It's that time of the year for catching up with people. One of the chaps is a powertrain specialist, so I'll be sure to ask for his views on the subject. Best do that early on and before we get on to the cricket...

Review of 2006
If you would like to be reminded about some of the events in the industry over the year that has now almost passed, the annual review of the year members' briefing is now available to download. No rest for the wicked though, as I now have to get going on the outlook for next year briefing, which is published next month.

Where next for Bernhard?
Here's a thought. Wolfgang Bernhard has stopped playing that old Clash number, 'Should I stay or should I go?' and finally opted to bail from Volkswagen. Where to next? One possibility might be Ford as head of Ford Europe. It would be a coup for Ford, but Ford has Lewis Booth in Europe, right? Well, let's looks at Ford. And here's a scenario that developed over a few beers last night. Let's start with Mulally and Fields. It is said that they don't get on, that Fields has had his wings clipped following Mulally's arrival as CEO and is not all that happy. Might be true, might not. But there is one piece of evidence that supporters of the theory that he is out of favour with the Ford family can grab. Automotive News published a comment piece just before Christmas ripping into Mark Fields for the use of the company Lear jet for weekend jaunts back to his Florida home. A Detroit TV station did some digging to uncover that earlier, apparently. Now, I make no judgement on Lear jet use (he must have his reasons and I am sure Fields' actions are not all that unusual in terms of his peers - Jeepers, if he turns Ford's NA ops around who cares?), but the mere fact that Automotive News ran a comment piece - albeit written by a guest contributor - criticising him on such a personal front may be interpreted by some as significant. There was even a follow-up selection of pretty critical letters published in AN while the Detroit Show was on. Some people say that AN is pretty darn close to the big companies in Motown (I couldn't possibly comment!) and that if such an article appears in AN, Fields must have therefore lost the support of Bill Ford. Days numbered and the tea leaves look bleak, the theory goes. Okay. Let's - for the sake of argument - say Fields is indeed looking at an exit sometime soon. Who replaces him in Detroit? Lewis Booth may well, in such circumstances, be seen as a safe pair of hands. So, he's back to Detroit and what about the vacant slot as head of Ford of Europe? Step forward Mr Wolfgang Bernhard (contractual clauses, payoffs, permitting) - a product guy who also knows a fair bit about cost management, can be tough with unions and has big jobs at DC and Volkswagen on his resume. It's just a beer-induced theoretical scenario.

Borat-inspired: Changfeng in Detroit
Chinese vehicle manufacturers have been thin on the ground in Detroit this week. But I m hearing that one Chinese firm did show up and caused a few waves. Changfeng Motor drew a big crowd to announce its intention to begin exports to the US within the next couple of years, together with a number of new models, mainly SUVs and pick-ups. But it was the company presentation that left some people breathless. In a slightly comical presentation, the attendant media was treated to a propaganda film entitled Developing through innovations in pursuit of the great . This gave details of the company s history, culminating as the voiceover man barked Dragons are taking off! Cheetahs are leaping forward! over a stirring soundtrack of Elgar s Jerusalem . Changfeng s chairman Li Jianxin said the company was the largest maker of SUVs Mitsubishi Shogun-derived - in China. It showed a weird concept called the Rhombus, which looks like two Reliant Robins joined together. This oddball car is apparently a design study by a Chinese university which works closely with Changfeng. Are they having a laugh?