Is there a pattern? Peter Mandelson's links to Indian businessmen were one of the reasons for at least one of his disgraces. Now, within weeks of his return from exile in Europe, he is once again "considering" assisting an Indian business.
Ford says it doesn't need state aid, at least not yet. GM says it's on the verge of bankruptcy. And Chrysler says so little it seems stunned as the US Senate says it will not make direct loans to the Auto sector, pointing out that this is the job of the banks which have been told they can have USD700,000 million to fix the economy.
The UK has backtracked on a high-cost "showroom tax" on cars, and whilst the cost will reduce substantially for all cars, for some the tax will actually turn into a rebate. But it won't save the UK car industry. And behind it all, there are some very questionable dealings.
The announcement that General Motors wanted to buy Chrysler raised a few eyebrows. First, why would the venture capital company that only recently bought it from Daimler-Benz want out so soon; would competition authorities agree; but most of all, where would the money come from?
Holden says you'll be able to buy its electric car in 2012; Renault and Skoda both bring new mid-size SUV's, Mazda shows it's frankly startling Taiki concept car and the industry says it expects to sell one car for every twenty people in Australia in the next year. But some big names don't think it's worth making the trip.
It used to be the preserve of Japanese manufacturers to call their cars by stupid names. Then marketing men all over the world got involved and now it's a global idiocy. The latest batch of new names is, quite simply, ridiculous. Or is it?
It was a sad day when I stood in Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre at the British Motor Show in the mid 1980s and failed to buy a British sports car for the sole reason that there wasn't one I liked that had anywhere to put a child seat. Now there is.
It is expected that Ford, which had already said that Tata of India was its preferred bidder, will shortly announce that Jaguar and Range Rover will be sold to TATA for USD2 milliard.
Ford sold Aston Martin to an investment company and then put Jaguar and Range Rover up to sale, recently declaring TATA of India to be the preferred bidder. It's yet another faux pas in the recent history where, so far as the company's accounts are concerned, it's any colour you want so long as it's red.
Here's a puzzle - what's northern, big, white and grumpy? No, it's not a polar bear. It's Canada - at least when it comes to its car manufacturing industry. What's that, you say? Does Canada have a car manufacturing industry? Apparently so.
