MCG Executive Briefing for March 29, 2013

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Volkswagen is pulling the plug on the Routan, above, a badge-engineered Caravan built at Chrysler’s Windsor, Ontario minivan plant. Its replacement is the VW CrossBlue crossover. Read this news and more in today’s Executive Briefing. 

 

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+   Michigan-based American Axle says a strike at a General Motors plant in Rayong, Thailand will cost the supplier $15 million. More here at Crain’s Detroit Business.  

+   Citing weak sales and a shrinking market segment, Volkswagen will drop the Chrysler-based Routan minivan, replacing it with a crossover. More here at Edmunds.com.

+   Membership in the United Auto Workers has increased for the third consecutive year and has reached its highest level since 2008. More here at Bloomberg.com. 

+  Nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb will enter the 2013 Pikes Peak Hill Climb in a specially built Peugeot 208 T16. More here at Autosport. 

+   Fiat is shopping for a $2.5 billion credit line to complete its buyout of Chrysler Group LLC. More here at The Detroit News. 

+   GM will produce its next-generation electric vehicles in South Korea, the automaker says. More here at The Economic Times. 

+   Three employees at Ford of India and its ad agency have been fired over a series of ads showing women bound and gagged. More here at the Detroit Free Press. 

+   Mark Martin will sub for Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver Denny Hamlin, who suffered an L1 compression fracture last week at Fontana. More here at National Speed Sport News. 

 

For the previous Executive Briefing from March 25, click here.

 

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2 thoughts on “MCG Executive Briefing for March 29, 2013”

  1. I never could figure why VW would go with a rebadged Chysler minivan instead of using one of its own existing and more attractive models. We rented a VW Sharan in Europe a couple years ago and it was fantastic. Comfortable and pleasing to the eye, its performance was more than adequate with a six speed and a TDI delivering 40mpg in a fully loaded vehicle.

    • It seemed at the time they desired a conventional, traditional minivan in the American idiom. It did ok for a while but I don’t think it ever met sales targets.

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