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Trump turns his unpredictable ire towards German carmakers

President-elect Donald Trump likes to be unpredictable. During the election, he used the phrase in reference to foreign policy and dealing with terrorism. But he's using the same tactic with the automotive industry, making broad statements that send manufacturers into emergency-response mode. The latest salvo comes from an interview with Germany's Bild, where Trump threatened a 35-percent import tax on German manufacturers. ( Reuters covers the highlights in English here.) "If you want to build cars in the world, then I wish you all the best. You can build cars for the United States, but for every car that comes to the USA, you will pay 35 percent tax," Trump said. Trump's comments seem to be directed at manufacturing in Mexico, although it's unclear if the comments refer to any import from a German automaker or just those from south of the border. BMW is building a $1-billion plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, where it plans to assemble the 3 Series. Mercedes-Benz is joining up with Nissan to build a new facility in Aguascalientes near the Japanese company's existing factory. And Volkswagen recently expanded its massive footprint in Puebla to build the new Tiguan as well as a separate factory for the Audi Q5. Reuters states that Trump thinks there's not enough reciprocity between Germany and the United States, as Germans don't buy Chevrolets at the rate American buy Mercedes-Benz Vehicles. At present, only the Corvette and Camaro are sold in Germany. The German subsidiary of Chevrolet parent General Motors, Opel, is the fifth-ranked automaker in the European Union, ahead of FCA but trailing Ford, VW, and both French auto companies. In response to Trump, Germany's deputy chancellor (Chancellor Angela Merkel is shown above) and minister for the economy, Sigmar Gabriel, did not mince words. As reported by The Guardian, Gabriel said "The US car industry would have a bad awakening if all the supply parts that aren't being built in the US were to suddenly come with a 35% tariff. I believe it would make the US car industry weaker, worse and above all more expensive." Asked what it would take for Germans to buy more American vehicles, he said "Build better cars." Gabiel also noted that BMW's largest plant is already in the US. The Spartanburg, SC plant exports about 65 percent of its 400,000-unit annual production to foreign markets and directly employs 8,000 workers according to BMW.

BMW i gets in on ridesharing with Scoop investment

The ridesharing investments are starting to roll in quickly now, and BMW i Ventures is the latest to drop some cash to get in on the trend. The automaker's venture-capital arm put an undisclosed amount of money into Scoop, a ridesharing platform based in California and operating in the Bay Area. BMW i's investment in Scoop Technologies is part of a $5.1 million seed round that included several other firms. It follows news that VW put $300 million into a service called GETT and that Toyota has partnered with Uber for ridesharing and leasing. There's also GM's $500 million investment in Lyft and its own car-sharing service, Maven. Automakers may soon run out of startups to pump money into. Oh, and don't forget about Apple's billion-dollar investment in Didi Chuxing, the Chinese Uber. Scoop's app is designed to let commuters find each other and drive together to reduce traffic, something the Bay Area and California in general can benefit from; then there's the added bonus that packing more people into a car unlocks access to the carpool lane. Scoop also partners with employers, like Cisco, to help people that are all going to the same place get to and from work. Employers can subsidize the cost of the rides as a perk and to encourage the app's use. And because plans can change, there's a ride-home guarantee that will reimburse you for costs getting home if you find yourself stranded. The service launched in 2015 in Pleasanton, CA, and is still in a limited rollout that includes San Francisco, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, and North San Jose. It's not clear how or if BMW i will integrate the tech into its vehicles. This could just be an investment to get a foothold into a young ridesharing company, or it could be a sign that BMW wants to build the app's functionality into i cars. Related Video:

Audi leading rival BMW in worldwide luxury sales race

If you thought competition among the German luxury automakers was hot before, it looks like things are just getting started. For the first two months of the year, Audi has sold more cars than BMW worldwide by just 383 cars.
Audi claims to have sold 242,400 vehicles through February, up 9.3 percent from last year, compared to 242,017 units from BMW, up 8.9 percent, in the same period. While the advantage is tiny, its implications could be huge because Bimmer has been the leader in the premium car segment for the last nine consecutive years. Mercedes-Benz lags behind them somewhat at 229,630 vehicles through February. According to Bloomberg, at this time last year Audi had sold 429 fewer cars than BMW.
The growth is all part of Volkswagen Group's goal to become the world's largest automaker. It currently ranks in second when its heavy truck businesses are considered. The German automotive giant also wants to be the world's leading premium carmaker. "Competition in the premium segment is more intense than ever," said Audi CEO Rupert Stadler to Bloomberg.