This News Does Not Surprise Me

German Car Companies Have Run A Secret Cartel Since The 90s: Report

According to Der Spiegel, Volkswagen reported in a filing to German authorities that every major German car manufacturer has been involved in the agreements—VW, Audi, Porsche, BMW and Daimler.

Politico had a rundown of the magazine’s findings, and you’re going to be stunned to find what’s tied into all of this:

The working groups even set the stage for the Dieselgate scandal, Der Spiegel reported. The companies agreed on the size of tanks containing AdBlue fluid, which reduces exhaust emissions — but the tanks proved too small to do the job so manipulation became the only way to keep emissions readings low, the magazine said.

Der Spiegel reports that antitrust authorities in the nation had been investigating VW for possible collusion of steel prices. While that probe was underway, evidence of potential illegal collusion in the auto industry emerged. How about that.

(Jalopnik.com)

Some Well Executed Creations

(BroBible.com)

Something To Ponder

(BroBible.com)

Just A Reminder

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There's Some Truth To This

(Bits&Pieces.us)

Cars In Movies Are The New Race On Sunday, Sell On Monday

Why the Ferrari Enzo Ferrari debuted in Charlie’s Angels | The Car Stays in the Picture

All of which begs the automotive question we love to ask at The Car Stays in the Picture: How the hell did something like this ever happen?

"It was a combination between us having a very strong connection in Hollywood, and knowing the dealer, Giacomo Mattioli of Ferrari of Beverly Hills, that has always been quite prominent, used by a lot of movie directors," says Marco Mattiacci, the vice president of the Ferrari and Maserati brands in North America at the time. "But one of the things we were doing then was trying to find placements for Maserati. And we had to leverage that appeal of Ferrari."

The Enzo was thus something of a Trojan Prancing Horse, with the re-launch of Maserati USA hiding inside – a carrot leading not a stick, but a trident, or maybe some slightly less familiar vegetable, like broccoli rabe.

"In that movie, there was the Enzo. But there is also a 2002 Maserati Spyder. That was more of the key product placement. We had to place the Maserati," Mattiacci emphasizes. "So at that point, it was for me to go to the importer and convince Maranello to bring this car on set, because the only chance we had to position the Maserati was to give this premiere of the Ferrari Enzo."

Intrigue and deal making aside, how was this executed – a multi-stop tour for a top-secret production prototype that originated in Italy, jetted to California, and then returned to Europe in time for a reveal in France? Ferrari supercars are among the most desirable scoop in all of autodom, rivaled in the entertainment industry only by the insatiably misogynistic demand for catty gossip from the set of a female-driven hit franchise. Placing the two together on a public beach must have created a paparazzi feeding frenzy akin to a sharknado touching down in a tilapia farm.

"We had to guarantee the importer confidentiality so no photos could be shot of the car. The car was still was one of the demos, or pre-production cars. So we took all the kind of precautions to not have the car viewable," Mattiacci says, modestly. "We brought the car there during the night, the crew did an amazing job."

(AutoBlog.com)