Australia is Subaru’s third largest market, after Japan and the U.S.

It decided to display an ad here that marketers rarely do: the ad never showed the product.

The ad is quite delightful and can be watched here:

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, passenger car sales rose 98.2% yoy to over 1 million units in November. Once again, this is off a lower 2008 November base (which itself was down by 10% yoy). Passenger vehicle sales rose roughly 50% in the January to November period.

Luxury car makers are said to be experiencing strong growth in China. Daimler AG says that its Mercedes division saw 16% growth to 98,400 cars in November. Audi’s sales have more than doubled to 16,500 cars in the same month. BMW’s sales up 40% to 8,470.

The luxury car segment is expected to continue its strong growth given its low sales base, China’s increasing affluence and the strong status symbol a luxury car holds in China.

General Motor’s new North American chief executive, Mark Reuss, told reporters that the focus now is going to be on adding to the bottom line through improved sales and revenue and away from cost-cutting.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Agency is investigating complaints that Toyota’s Corolla and Matrix are stalling randomly.

The investigation comes not long after Toyota has admitted that improper installation of floor mats had caused sudden acceleration, leading to a mass recall of Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

The Component Pricing Law came into effect in May 2009.

It’s meant that car manufacturers have had to include/display costs such as dealer delivery charges.

Car manufacturing took down prices from their website in response and updated it later to incorporate user location so they can show relevant CTP and statutory charges.  

Today, seven months later, most manufacturers have been able to adapt their website to the new legislation. It’s meant more fiddling on the part of users on websites but it’s provided aruguably better pricing information.

Strangely, BMW have yet to do this. Instead, they quote the component pricing laws and leave it at that. Go to your dealer if you want prices. Our website only has pictures and specs even though you probably came to check out our prices.

Thankfully, you can still visit places like carsales.com.au and get some dealer quotes for something of a guide. But still, most anyone interested must find this an unnecessary hassle.

It’s time for BMW to include prices once again.

New vehicle sales surged 20% in Australia yoy in the month of November with SUVs up 44% yoy.
However, this is off a lower base following the hit in confidence last November.

Population has encoutered record growth with an increase of over 400,000, with immigration accounting for 285,000, according to government data for the year to June 2009.

According to the LA Times, Car Makers have taken a renewed interest in in-booth video games with plenty of them being displayed at the LA Auto Show.

“The key with bringing video games into the auto show booths is keeping people in your booth longer,” Lenihan said. “If you’re playing the game or watching someone else play over at the Hyundai booth or the Lexus booth, then you’re not at the Mazda booth or the Dodge booth.”

Frankly, this seems a waste of time, effort & money. I can’t imagine wanting to buy a car after driving in a simulator. Perhaps to sharpen driving skills as pilots do with flight simulators.

Audi’s A3 TDI clean-diesel sedan was just named Green Green Car of the Year at the LA Auto Show. This is the second time in a row that a diesel has won this award, pushing aside the Toyota Prius hybrid.

Geely is believed to have lined up loans from Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Export-Import Bank of China in a bid to finance its purchase of Ford’s Volvo unit.

The bid is expected to be in the $2bn range. The primary issue preventing the sale has been intellectual property rights.

Audi’s new A8 has been unveiled: 372 hp, 4.2 litre V8 engine with 8-speed transmission, all-wheel drive. The car will be around $75,000

Pictures:

Inside the Audi