You know the Big Mac standard, where they compare the price of Macca's iconic hamburger in different markets all around the world? You can also do that with an automotive icon - the base-model Porsche 911.

The price varies wildly in different markets, and we Aussies are among the most heavily gouged.

The cheapest place I could find to buy one was the USA, $88,000 (in Aussie dollars).

Dubai and Kuwait $92,000 and $95,000 respectively. Mexico: $116,000.
The UK: $121,000.
South Korea: $122,000.
Germany: $143,000 - $55k more than in the States. And it's a German car.
Japan: $151,000.
South Africa: $168,000.
Russia: $171,000.

Puts the Aussie price - $219,000, thanks very much, into perspective. That's $131 more than the same car in the USA.

Prices here were from the Porsche website (except Australia's, which came from Wheels magazine) and currency conversion to Aussie dollars was by the Google currency converting widget.

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Why not turn the first owner's misfortune into your own sweet ride, three years down the track?

There are some huge depreciators among the finest limousines.

The 2006 760 Li BMW cost $342,000 new, but three years later you can buy one privately for just $141k - after losing 59 per cent to depreciation (That's $200k in three years - more than average people earn.).

That's almost as bad as the A8 L W12 Audi from 2006, which cost $326,000, but which you can buy now for $126k - 61 per cent of the original ‘investment' - if that's the right word - up in smoke.

An equivalent S-Class Benz retains 55 per cent in the same time frame, while the Aussie-built Holden Caprice (which has the legroom if not the finesse) holds onto 58 per cent, albeit off a much lower base.

Depreciation data here came from Redbook.

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According to CBS News, a former lawyer for Toyota has accused the world's largest car maker of destroying evidence in hundreds of rollover death and injury cases. Toyota has described the allegations as inaccurate and misleading.

Dimitrios Biller, the complainant and former managing counsel for Toyota in the US described the actions as a "ruthless conspiracy" undertaken so to prevent evidence "of [Toyota] vehicles' structural shortcomings from becoming known".

Mr Biller, who left the Toyota with a $4.3 million severance package and suffered a mental breakdown, claimed that Toyota's engineering unit destroyed information relevant to about 300 rollovers. Mr Biller also alleged Toyota withheld information relating to design and testing of vehicle roofs.

The complaint will be heard by a US court on September 14.

Full story here.

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There's more scandal in the US with Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen last week declared that the Chevy Volt would fail, and that anyone who buys the extended-range electric vehicle is an idiot.

De Nysschen said anyone who buys an electric vehicle is a failed kind of intellectual elitist. Which is curious - I'm certainly not definitive on this, but my take on Audi's marketing is that it appeals to well-heeled intellectual elitists. In reality it's too early to tell who the idiots in the future fuels debate will be.

Full story here. And here.

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Audi America offers only one diesel entrant currently, according to USA Today. It's the CO2-belching Q7, but a second diesel is in the wings. It's the far more frugal A3 TDI. Audi Australia, in comparison, has something like 15 diesels on the books - and what's not open to debate is the 30-odd per cent CO2 and fuel consumption saving offered by diesel.

Full story here.

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PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi Motors have agreed to a joint venture. The pair will launch an electric car in Europe by the end of next year.

The car will be based on the Mitsubishi i-MiEv, and will be built in Japan. The plan is for 50,000 units - half on offer in Europe under the Pug/Citroen umbrella and half by Mitsubishi in Japan and elsewhere - presumably including Australia. Names for the vehicle are yet to be announced.

Full story here.

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New Holden boss Alan Batey says the company will blur the line between car company and fuel company as it lobbies for a raft of alternative fuel options to become available in coming months.

Holden has multi-pronged plans for flex-fuel E85 engines as early as next year, plus diesel, LPG, and compressed natural gas. And plenty of the machinations are presently commercially in confidence.

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The fire brigade was called to a service station outside Darwin where a jerry can burst into flames. A man was filling the container inside his boat at the time of the incident.

Good safety tip: always fill portable fuel containers when they're sitting on the concrete floor of the servo. Don't fill them in the boat, in the boot or in the bed of a ute. If you put them on the concrete, it eliminates the risk of a static electricity spark as you introduce the spout into the container - the commonest cause of service station fires.

Full story here.

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A Queensland police officer has been clocked at 223km/h - during an unauthorised pursuit on the Bruce Highway. Senior Sergeant Bryan Eaton has been stood down pending an investigation by the Ethical Standards Command.

223km/h? That's only 8km/h slower than a Ferrari California in the WA wheat belt, but at least officer Eaton benefitted from all that intensive Highway Patrol training...

Senior Sergeant Eaton killed two men in a 2004 pursuit when he crashed his 4WD into them. The incident forced the Queensland cops to change its pursuit policy.

During that pursuit, the state coroner found Senior Sergeant Eaton had driven in a, quote, "dangerous manner, with little regard for the safety of the occupants of the car he was chasing".

Full story here.

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Jaguar and Land Rover are eating away Tata's profits. Business Week says the former British Brands are losing $1.3 million each day, with combined sales down 52 per cent for the June quarter.

$1.3 million a day is a huge number. But not nearly so huge as the $2.7 billion Tata paid for the privilege of Jaguar and Land Rover ownership last year. Or the billion-dollar-plus R&D impost just to keep the power-hungry brands relevant in a tightening emission-control environment.

Ratan Tata said last month that the acquisitions were still, quote, "very much worthwhile". They hustled up a $500 million loan from the European Investment Bank. But when they asked for another $300 million to fund Jag's and Land Rover's operating expenses, the bank baulked. Without British government guarantees - no cash. And the government wanted a seat on the board, and the right to fire Jaguar and Land Rover boss Davis Smith - there's a vote of confidence.

So, Tata's on its own. It has less than $300 million in cash. It might need to sell some equity to stay liquid. And the former British icons are bleeding hand over fist.