Auto Industry News with a twist...

Mahindra Pickup Arrives Late, But Well-Equipped

2009-08-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

Expect Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.’s first U.S.-market offering to make its showroom debut in first-quarter 2010.

In deference to the demanding nature of American consumers, Mahindra tweaked the yet-unnamed small pickup, which delayed by about three months its production launch.

Output of U.S.-specification models now is set for December at the auto maker’s assembly plant in Nasik, India, with showroom arrival scheduled for early to mid-February.

Meanwhile, Mahindra has shelved tentative plans to build the 2- and 4-door models, known internally as TR20 and TR40, respectively, in Ohio.

In a telephone interview from Global’s headquarters in Alpharetta, GA, Daniel tells Ward’s he expects Mahindra to “make an investment and employ some Americans” when industry volumes begin to trend upward (that's nice of them).

Mahindra Appalachian Looks like a cross between a Daewoo and a Jeep.

To make the truck more appealing to U.S. consumers, its front end was restyled and now features “jewel-like qualities,” (yea right) adds Max Butler, Global vice president-marketing.

The truck will be powered by a 140-hp 2.2L 4-cyl. diesel engine with projected combined city-highway fuel-economy of 30 mpg (7.8 L/100 km). Available with 2-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive, it also will feature a 6-speed automatic transmission and electronic stability control.

More than 300 dealers look forward to selling Mahindra vehicles.

“We’re thinking we can lease (the pickup) to small businesses,” The diesel engine likely will become a selling feature as gasoline prices increase.

Particularly enthusiastic about the prospects of Mahindra SUV expected to arrive in mid- to late-2010, Taylor also is buoyed by results of an AutoPacific study that says American consumers are warm to an Indian-brand vehicle. “It’s a world market and it’s on a roll,” he says (I guess if anything's cheap enough, American onsumers will be warm to it).

The study findings are consistent with Mahindra’s vision of a customer base that comprises “independent thinkers,” (the "stroke the American ego" tactic)Daniel says.
“They don’t really care about what people think about what they’re driving,” he adds. “They’re influencers. They’re not followers. I think they’ll be out there with their kayaks, and they’ll be out hiking and doing all the things (like putting) surfboards on top in California.” (what a pile of b.s.).

The Toyota Tacoma, along with the Nissan Frontier and Dodge Dakota, are among the trucks Mahindra is targeting as direct competitors.

Daniel favors the Australian nameplate: Pik Up. “That hit me and I like it,” he says, promising Mahindra’s pricing strategy will “blow away” the segment.
However, Daniel does not reveal numbers.

Mahindra - a real off-road vehicle!

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GM Exits Bankruptcy, CEO Vows Better Performance

2009-07-10T09:26:00.001-07:00

"Talking Head"?

A leaner and meaner General Motors arose on Friday, making an unusually quick exit from bankruptcy with ambitions of making money and building cars people are eager to buy.

Once the world's largest and most powerful automaker, the new GM is now cleansed of massive debt and burdensome contracts that would have sunk it without federal loans. The U.S. government owns a majority stake - although the Obama administration says it has no plans to run the automaker (I would give anything to see Obams's face coined on the hubcaps of the new models).

At a news conference, CEO Fritz Henderson said the new GM will be faster and more responsive to customers than the old one and it will make money and repay government loans faster than required.

Henderson said GM completed its 40-day stay under court supervision far faster than anyone thought it could. He said it would repay about $50 billion in government loans ahead of a 2015 deadline.

The new GM will also build more cars and trucks that consumers want and launch them faster than in the past, the CEO said. (I think the guy will probably say just about anything).

"We recognize that we've been given a rare second chance at GM, and we are very grateful for that. And we appreciate the fact that we now have the tools to get the job done," he said. Yada yada yada.

The new company arose from the ashes Friday as the bulk of General Motors Corp.'s assets were transferred to a company controlled by the U.S. government.

He said Bob Lutz, a legendary industry executive, was "unretiring" to become a vice chairman responsible for all creative elements of products, marketing and customer relationships. Lutz had previously planned to retire at the end of the year after more than four decades in the auto business. (oh God please help us).

The automaker is launching a "Tell Fritz" Web site to allow owners and the public to share their concerns with senior management and he planned to go out on the road every month, Henderson said. (The question is: will senior management actually hear the concerns? Yea right).

"Business as usual is over at General Motors."

"We need to listen to the questions, ideas and the concerns of the people who matter the most," Henderson said.

"We all want to win and we are going to win," Whitacre said.

The company's logo will emain blue with white underlined GM letters. Henderson said GM has no plans to change the background color to green. "It's not in my plans actually," he said. GM has considered the change to represent its new environmental focus.

* Even thinking of changing the GM logo color to green has to be the biggest suck-up to Pelosi so far from the GM execs. (I would probably throw-up something green).

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Computers and GM

2009-06-30T06:06:00.000-07:00

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated:

"If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon".

In response to Bill ' s comments, General Motors issued a press release stating:

If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash........Twice a day.

2.. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single ' This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation ' warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask ' Are you sure? ' before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

PS - I ' d like to add that when all else fails, you could call ' customer service ' in some foreign country and be instructed in some foreign language how to fix your car yourself!!!!

Good stuff!

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2009-05-05T18:59:00.000-07:00

Following is a college paper emailed to me and reprinted by permission. It cites this blog as an informational source. Scary.

Task Name:

SCI205-0902A-06 Environmental Science

Task Name: Phase 4 Individual Project
Deliverable Length: 2 pages

Details:

You have been assigned to a scientific commission whose mandate is to research ways of reducing air pollution from motor vehicles.

Your specific assignment is to research the types of alternative-fuel vehicles that are currently under development, examine the advantages and disadvantages of each, and decide which would have the least environmental impact.

* Electric
* Natural gas
* Hydrogen
* Fuel Cell

Use the Library and Internet to research each type of vehicle. Discuss the environmental and economic advantages and disadvantages of each type and select the one that, in your opinion, provides the best environmental impact at a reasonable cost. Provide evidence to support your selection.

Please submit your assignment.

Objective: Explain the importance of atmospheric pollution.

Submitted paper (probably an A):

Environmental Science

Phase 4 Individual Project

SCI205-0902A-06

Results for the scientific commission from the research done on ways to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles: Research topics: Electric, Natural Gas and Hydrogen
Fuel Cell:

The first production motor vehicle designed to reduce air pollution was first sold in 1999 and was called the Honda Insight. The car achieved 61 mpg in the city and 70 mpg on the highway (About.com 2009). Called a “hybrid car”, it combines the best of an electric car with the best of a conventional gasoline burning car. A hybrid car reduces air pollution by using the power of the electric motor for initial starting and acceleration and switches over to the gasoline motor only when the car accelerates to a certain speed.

A hybrid car has been the first step toward the development of a totally electric car. An advantage of an electric car over a hybrid car is that the electric car produces zero emissions and is therefore cleaner that a gasoline hybrid car. Current electric car technology uses electrical power secured from the electrical grid to onboard batteries or from the sun. There are much fewer moving parts on an electric car which means fewer parts to wear out or break. Advantages of electric cars are primarily higher efficiency and lower emissions (Hybrid Cars 2009).

Some disadvantages of electric cars are limited driving range due to battery power limitations, long battery recharge times and high costs that come with the continual charging of the battery(s) that power the electric motor. Solar – electric cars have longer ranges due to batteries that are charged by the sun, but they are still dependant on batteries which have weight and size limitations. Disadvantages of electric cars have much to due with their range. Hybrid Cars (2009) states that today’s electric cars are limited to about 100 miles between charges. Once battery life is extended and recharge times improve, the electric car will be the technology used in cars of the future.

Compressed Natural gas is touted as the “cleanest burning alternative fuels available” (Gas 2.0 2009). This is because of the simplicity of the methane molecules in relation to fossil fuel molecules. The burn is smoother and reduces tailpipe emissions by 35 – 95%. Advantages to using CNG – ready vehicles are a significant reduction in greenhouse emissions as compared to gasoline vehicles and the fact that deposits of natural gas worldwide are almost infinite. Natural gas is also a renewable fuel with technology already developed to collect it from landfills. Gas 2.0 (2009) shares that landfill collected “bio-methane” could supply enough fuel for 11 million natural gas vehicles, or 5% of the U. S. fleet.

Disadvantages to using compressed natural gas consists mainly supply and distribution of both the vehicles and the fueling stations. The only CNG vehicle for sale to the public is the Honda Civic GX, and is only available for sale in New York and California. Gas 2.0 (2009), states that “Honda cannot build them fast enough”. Additionally, other than California, New York and Utah, it would be hard to find a refueling station for your CNG vehicle.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles or FCV’s are different from electric vehicles in that FCV’s create their own electricity onboard while EV’s store power in battery packs. This is a big advantage in weight reduction for the FCV. A fuel cell creates electricity by a chemical reaction between compressed hydrogen atoms and air from the outside. Power moves the car and the only byproduct is pure water which drips out the tailpipe (fueleconomy.gov 2009).

Disadvantages are similar to the compressed natural gas vehicles in that there is a shortage of FCV vehicles for sale and a shortage of re-filling stations. A main disadvantage also is the cost of producing the compressed pure hydrogen needed to power the vehicle. Producing pure hydrogen in a form needed to be used by an FCV, uses much electricity taken from the grid which was in part generated by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal. Once hydrogen can be manufactured without the damage to the environment, an FCV might be the vehicle of tomorrow.

My findings conclude that in the near future, electric cars will provide the biggest environmental gain at the most reasonable cost. Chevrolet (2009) announces the 2010 release of the Chevy VoltI. Unlike all other currently produced electric cars, the Volt has a “revolutionary propulsion system”. It has a 40 mile range on its electric battery and a gasoline engine to continue past that point. The average American does not drive over 40 miles in a day. With the Volt designed to “drive 75 % of America’s daily commuters without a drop of gas” (Auto Industry News 2009), General Motors should secure dominance of the next decade’s economy car market provided it fixes its financial problems. As the advertising slogan proclaims: Chevy Volt: Fully Charged 2010.

References:

About.com (2009). The History of Hybrid Vehicles. Retrieved on May 5, 2009 from:
http://4wheeldrive.about.com/cs/buyacaronline/a/hybridcarstruck_4.htm.

Auto Industry News (2009). Chevy volt. Retrieved on May 5, 2009 from:
http://autoindustrynews.blogspot.com/2007/12/chevy-volt.html.

Chevrolet (2009). Electric Cars. Retrieved on May 5, 2009 from:
http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/.

CTU Online. (Ed). (c. 2009). Phase 4 Multimedia Course Materials. Colorado Springs,
CO: CTU Online. Retrieved on May 5, 2009 from CTU Online Virtual
Campus, SCI205-0902A-06, Environmental Science.

Fueleconomy.gov (2009). Fuel Cell Vehicles. Retrieved on May 5, 2009 from:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fuelcell.shtml.

Gas 2.0 (2009). Natural Gas Cars CNG. Retrieved on May 5, 2009 from:
http://gas2.org/2008/04/29/natural-gas-cars-cng-fuel-almost-free-in-some-parts-of-the-country/.

Hybrid Cars (2009). Hybrid Automobile FAQ. Retrieved on May 5, 2009 from:
http://www.allabouthybridcars.com/suv-hybrid-autos.htm.

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Criticism of Tata Nano Outrageous, Wrong-Headed

2009-04-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

??? Wrong Headed ???

By Drew Winter

A few weeks ago, a machine that will save tens of thousands of lives every year – many of them young children – officially went on sale in India, beginning a journey that promises to improve the living standard of millions of families in one of the world’s most impoverished nations.

And yet, many environmentalists who profess to be on a mission to save mankind are condemning this new device as an “environmental disaster” they would like to wish out of existence.

Chief U.N. climate scientist Rajendra Pachauri, who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize, has said "I am having nightmares" about it. Many other groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth also lament its debut.

What is this contraption that offers so much hope yet is so terrifying to some?
The Tata Nano, a tiny car with carbon-dioxide emissions of just 100 g/km and average fuel economy of 55 mpg (4.3 L/100 km)..

Priced at $2,500, it is the world’s cheapest car and designed specifically to give South Asia’s low-income families a safer, all-weather alternative to a motorcycle or scooter, currently the only “family car” millions can afford.

If you have ever seen a family of four or five or six, weaving through India’s chaotic traffic on a scooter, with infants and toddlers perched on the handlebars or hanging onto mom and dad for dear life, you can understand the momentous achievement the Nano represents.

Can't you just see 8 Indian people crammed into this thing?

India has the highest traffic-death rate in the world, exceeding 100,000 fatalities and more than 2 million serious injuries annually. That’s a worse toll than India suffers from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, combined. A large percentage of these traffic deaths are motorcyclists who are so vulnerable in India’s undisciplined traffic.

Ask any Indian parent why they would take such safety risks, and they will say they would prefer to take their children to school in a car, but a motorbike is the only transportation they can afford.

Starting now, the Nano offers a safe, affordable alternative. Sales bookings began April 9, and demand is expected to far exceed supply.

It is exactly this popularity that critics from green groups – 100% of whom we can assume do not have to drive their children to school on a scooter – fear.

They are afraid the Nano will become so popular it will spark an industrial revolution, such as Henry Ford’s Model T did in the U.S.

In other words, demand for the Nano will soar; leading to more factories being built, creating more jobs, which in turn will create more demand for cars, accelerating India’s production of greenhouse gases.

The Nano will create progress. And by golly, that will be terrible.

Unfortunately, this contemptible viewpoint, spewed from comfortable middle-class lodgings in the U.S. and Western Europe, has not received the heaping dose of ridicule it deserves.

In the worst kind of cultural elitism imaginable, environmentalists argue that in their noble war on global warming, tens of thousands of traffic deaths annually in the developing world are acceptable casualties.
This is an utterly unacceptable position to take, no matter what.

The birth of the Nano is an historic event that needs to be celebrated, and environmentalists need to reevaluate their rhetoric and game plan (bastard environmentalists).

Otherwise, the world soon may decide the cure for global climate change is worse than the disease.

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Chrysler Faces Shotgun Marriage To Get Additional $6 Billion - Death Threat

2009-03-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

Additional funds contingent on completion of Fiat deal

If the feds took a tough stand with GM in forcing Rick Wagoner to resign, Chrysler could be in for a dose of even stronger medicine.

As reported by the Detroit Free Press, the auto task force is willing to provide Chrysler with an additional $6 billion, but only if the company can complete the much-discussed alliance with Fiat by the end of April.

If Chrysler can’t come to terms with Fiat, Chrysler will be deemed non-viable and will get no additional government assistance.

Is she going to come with the deal?

The government’s requirements are to be formally announced sometime March 30.

The task force wasn’t satisfied with the restructuring plan Chrysler submitted Feb. 17.

In manufacturing productivity, it found Chrysler has not invested enough in common architectures and flexible capacity.

Under the proposed alliance, Fiat would own 35% of Chrysler and provide four small-car programs, two engines and two transmissions that are worth an estimated $8 billion to $10 billion.

The first Fiats would reach U.S. dealerships in 2011 (We can't wait).

If Chrysler and Fiat deliver what the task force requested, the administration will take steps that could help their alliance succeed. These include a government-funded program to back warranties of both Chrysler and GM, and a previously announced $5 billion in aid to assist the two automakers with payments to their suppliers.

Do you think it will be called FiatChrysler like DaimlerChrysler?

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Tata’s Nano to hit India’s streets in July 2009

2009-03-23T15:59:00.001-07:00

Snub-nosed vehicles will be priced starting around $2,000

MUMBAI, India - The world’s cheapest car will retail for just over $2,000 and can be yours — if you live in India - and are very lucky. Tata Motors said on Monday.

The Nano, a pint-sized vehicle designed to make car ownership accessible to millions of the world’s poor, finally goes on sale in India next month. Whether it will revolutionize the global auto industry — or turn around its manufacturer’s fortunes — has yet to be seen, and other automakers will be watching closely to see how consumers respond to the car. So will environmentalists (of course, sigh, the environmentalists).

Here is the Nano showing some attitude!

Tata Motors unveiled the Nano Europa, a slightly more robust version of the Indian model, at the Geneva Motor Show this month, with a planned launch of 2011.

The company is now designing a version of the Nano that meets U.S. safety and emissions standards and should be ready for launch in about three years, Tata said.

The Nano, with a starting retail price of 112,735 rupees ($2,233) is a stripped-down car for stripped-down times: It is 10.2 feet (3.1 meters) long, has one windshield wiper, and a 623cc rear engine.

The four-seater can travel up to 65 miles an hour (105 kilometers an hour) and gets 55.5 miles to the gallon (23.6 kilometers per liter). The Nano does not have air bags or antilock brakes — neither of which is required in India — and if you want air conditioning or power windows, you’ll have to pay extra.

Tata said the car emits less carbon dioxide than most motorbikes.

Priced like a gadget or a piece of jewelry, the Nano will be sold not just at Tata car dealerships across India, but also online and at electronics and clothing shops owned by the Tata group of companies.

The "bra" is the first of an extensive line of accessories coming soon for the Tata Nano.

“It is a proper car,” said Hormazd Sorabjee, editor of Autocar India, a trade magazine. He said the designers made clever compromises to keep costs down, scrimping on the plushness of the seats, but offering a comfy suspension and ample interior space.

The Nano should make global automakers stop loading their cars with costly gadgets (and safety features) people don’t really want, he added.

“Finally, it’s going to make people realize they should be building cars that people need,” he said. “This is where multinationals have failed.”

Some automakers have already started following suit. Bajaj Auto, Renault and Nissan teamed up last year to make a car that wholesales for $2,500 in India by 2011.

Production of the Nano has been scaled back from initial targets — and the rollout has been delayed six months — because Tata Motors had to move its Nano factory from West Bengal to the business-friendly state of Gujarat. Violent protests by farmers and opposition political party leaders over land at the initial site forced the company to change plans.

Ya see - violent protests do work!

The new factory, which will be able to produce up to 500,000 cars a year, will open by year’s end, officials said. Until then, Tata Motors can only produce 50,000 cars a year from an existing plant in Pantnagar, in the northern Indian state of Uttaranchal.

Ratan Tata won’t speculate whether this is a Henry Ford moment for India. Ford famously paid his factory workers enough so that if they saved carefully, they’d be able to buy their own Model T.

The average salary at the Pantnagar factory is 150,000 rupees ($3,000) a year, company officials said. Ratan Tata said most workers there don’t even own motorbikes.

“We bus them to work everyday,” he said.

Nice.

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THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT - $11.6 Million Awarded to Alvaro de Molina - the CEO of GMAC

2009-02-28T11:03:00.000-08:00

It's time I expressed my opinion about these CEO's and their compensation plans.

Who else thinks that if a company loses billions, the CEO should get NOTHING!!!

This makes me sick.

Auto financier GMAC LLC, the recipient of a $6 billion federal bailout in December, today said CEO Alvaro de Molina was awarded $11.62 million of compensation in 2008 -- which doubled his total compensation from 2007.

Package included $2.3 million in use of corporate jet.

De Molina was awarded a $1.2 million salary, $5.81 million of stock awards and $4.8 million of other compensation, offset by option awards of negative $194,000, reflecting the application of an accounting standard.

GMAC said de Molina's compensation was $4.93 million in 2007. He became CEO on Sept. 5 of that year.

GMAC has in recent quarters suffered operating losses in its auto and mortgage units, but in December won its government bailout, as well as bank holding company status that allows it to tap lower-cost funding.

GMAC reported de Molina's compensation in a summary table included in its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Differing calculations:

Some pay consultants and governance experts tabulate executive pay differently, saying the summary total may be imperfect because it counts options and stock as part of pay when they vest rather than when they are awarded.

About $2.26 million of de Molina's compensation came from the use of corporate aircraft. GMAC said it no longer provides aircraft for business or personal use.

The bailout required private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP and General Motors to slash their respective 51 percent and 49 percent stakes in the Detroit-based lender.

AFI's take on this:

A MONKEY could come in as the CEO and cause a company to lose billions of dollars. What do we need these people for?

Actually, I am glad that the public is becomming more aware of this insanity. Maybe if we makes enough noise, things could change for the future.

Oh well, Obama is the President. The waters will recede and all will be made whole.

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2009-01-27T21:26:00.000-08:00

A Thing Of Beauty.

When Hugh Hefner first asked out singer Barbi Benton, she supposedly said, "I've never been out with anyone over 24." "Neither have I," Hef replied.

We should all be so lucky...

When it comes to cars, however, it's easier to get fired up over mature's curves. Contemporary rides are obviously miles ahead in terms of power, handling, gas mileage, and technology. But they lack the intangible mojo that made these landmark vehicles timeless. Here are 10 classic American cars that left a permanent mark on the automotive industry.

AWESOME!

1953 Chevrolet Corvette - 1953 Chevrolet Corvette

The only sports car worth owning.

What began in 1953 as a slow performer in the showrooms and on the street soon gained momentum and V8 power, and it evolved into an American icon. To desire a 'Vette is only human. To own one is to belong to a family as passionate for their cars as any you'll find. Each generation of Corvette has been better than the last, and all represent passion molded in fiberglass.

Cool Fact: Red is the color we usually associate with the 'Vette, but in 1953, white was the only color offered.

Is she really all that? Post a coment:

Flying Car the 'Ultimate Hybrid' Goes to Market

2009-01-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

Prepare for Takeoff

A Boston-area company plans to begin flight tests this year of a two-seater airplane that moonlights as a car.

The aptly named "Transition" takes a stab at bridging the gap between automobiles and airplanes. Some people call it a flying car. The company designing and selling the vehicle prefers the term "roadable aircraft."

Either way, it boils down to this: You sit down behind the steering wheel, drive to the runway, unfold two wings and take off. You can fly 500 miles on a tank of gas -- regular unleaded -- and when you land, you simply fold up the wings and drive where you want to go. At the end of the day, you fly back, drive home and park inside your garage.

Terrafugia, of Woburn, Mass., is not the first firm to attempt what may be the ultimate hybrid.

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Announcing the 2010 Ford Taurus

2009-01-13T07:30:00.001-08:00

My first new car (and negative car buying experience) was a 1989 Ford Taurus. I loved that car.

Oh well,

More convincing is needed to get me to switch from Infiniti.

AFI

By REX ROY | AOL AUTOS
See 2010 Ford Taurus Photos:

The lines are crisp, the roofline looks sleek, and the wide stance of the wheels gives the car a performance-oriented feeling. If you weren't standing inside the Ford booth at the Detroit Auto Show, you'd think you were looking a new luxury car -- probably an import -- not the all-new, full-size 2010 Ford Taurus.

No Taurus in recent memory ever looked this good, and the transformation is welcomed because 2008-2009 Taurus isn't a great looking car. Knowing this truth, Ford decided to do something drastic.

The all-new design is decidedly upscale. There's not a hint of the dowdy old style to be found. The exterior style is dominated by a sculpted hood, pronounced front fenders, and character line that runs front to back ending at the tall trailing edge of the rear fenders.

Inside, a forward-leaning center control cluster clearly makes the new Taurus a five-seater. New production techniques have yielded better looking and richer feeling dash and door coverings. As evidenced in recently introduced models, Ford knows how to craft high-quality and visually pleasing interiors. Panel gaps and materials appear on par with luxury cars.

See 2010 Ford Taurus Photos:

Even though the Taurus is a full-size car, the amount of passenger room still surprised us. The adjective "huge" comes to mind. The trunk, thanks to the high profile of the rear fenders and the tall deck, is likewise enormous. Back in the days of drive-in movies, it would have been easy to fit three stow-aways back there with room for soda and chips.

The 2010 Ford Taurus should have the moves to match its trimmer more athletic looks. The mechanicals are based on the Lincoln MKS, a capable performance sedan. The standard engine is a refined 3.5-liter V-6 (also used in the Lincoln), generating an estimated 263 horsepower. Along with earning ULEV-II emissions certification front-wheel-drive Taurus (all-wheel drive is optional) is expected to deliver unsurpassed highway fuel economy in the class, but Ford hasn't yet released mpg estimates.

Every Taurus will be equipped with a six-speed automatic. On SEL and Limited models (the SE is the base model), the transmission will feature paddle shifters on the steering wheel, a manual shift mode, and rev-matching downshifts deliver a sportier driving experience.

Compared to the outgoing model, the chassis components under the 2010 Taurus should provide sportier ride dynamics. Ford engineers promise more roll stiffness and more responsive steering. Like the MKS, the new Ford uses struts up front and multi-link, fully-independent arrangement in the rear.

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Hyundai: If You Can't Make The Payments? Just Return It

2009-01-07T18:12:00.000-08:00

by Dan Strumph

Can't make the payments on that new car you just bought? No problem -- just return it free of charge.

At least that's the deal being offered by Hyundai Motor America. In a bid to woo skittish consumers, the South Korea-based automaker will cover the depreciation on any returned leased or financed vehicle for the first 12 months to those who find themselves unable to make their car payments.

An excellent promotion. It is as exciting as Hyundai's 10 year / 100,000 mile warranty.

"We're seeing people who are stuck," said Joel Ewanick, vice president marketing for Hyundai Motor America, in an interview. "Really they have a mental fatigue and they're really nervous about their long-term financial situation, so we started working on that side of it."

Deadbeats need not apply, however. The "Hyundai Assurance Program" only applies to customers stricken by misfortune outside of their control, such as losing their job, becoming disabled or losing their driver's license for medical reasons.

Customers must also have made at least two payments on the car already. In addition, Hyundai will only refund the depreciation on the returned car up to $7,500.

"For the normal person, this should cover any normal depreciation in the first year," Ewanick said.

After the first 12 months, customers have the option of extending the program for a fee through their dealership. Customers who pay cash for their car don't qualify for the program, Hyundai said.

Hyundai, which launched the program on Friday, said the program is aimed at consumers too nervous to spring for a new car in the difficult economy. The slump in consumer confidence has been one of the biggest factors behind the collapse in new vehicle sales in 2008.

For this reason, traditional incentive tactics, like low-interest financing or cash bonuses, have been much less effective in boosting sales recently, Ewanick said. Economic anxiety -- rather than cost -- has been the biggest factor holding consumers back from big-ticket purchases.

"This is a recession of fear, a recession of confidence," he said. "It's much more severe than what we saw in the early '90s."

Hyundai said Monday its December sales in the U.S. fell 48 percent to 24,037 from 46,487. Sales for all of 2008 declined 14 percent.

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Credit Repair va, Credit Repair blog, Funny License Plates

Ford - The Fusion Hybrid Tops Toyota’s Camry Hybrid

2008-12-24T22:28:00.000-08:00

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

Ford Fusion Hybrid to get 41 city m.p.g.

Ford Motor Co.’s much ballyhooed 2010 Fusion Hybrid will get 41 city miles per gallon and 36 m.p.g. on highways, based on final certification figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the company said Monday.

The move is one of the final steps in getting the vehicle to dealerships next spring. Certification of the vehicle was recently completed at the company’s testing laboratories in Allen Park.

Ford said that the Fusion Hybrid tops Toyota’s Camry hybrid -- its main competitor -- mileage by 8 m.p.g. in the city and 2 m.p.g. on the highway.

The Fusion can travel up to 47 miles per hour using only battery power. After 47 miles, the car’s four-cylinder engine turns on to power the car and recharge the battery.

The Fusion’s nickel-metal hydride battery is lighter and produces 20% more power than the Ford Escape hybrid. It also devised a way to get 28% more power out of the battery cells, said Praveen Cherian, program leader for the Fusion Hybrid.

“It’s not just one thing, but thousands,” he said of the improved mileage numbers. “We’ve optimized the heck out of that vehicle, it’s individual components.”

The battery also can tolerate higher temperatures, and Ford has eliminated its battery cooling system in the Fusion, allowing the battery to cool using regular cabin air.

The company also has improved its regenerative braking system, which captures energy lost through brake friction and stores it for battery usage. Ford said 94% of brake friction energy is recovered in the new model.

The Fusion also includes SmartGauge technology, which helps drivers adjust their driving to get more mileage out of the car.

Ford unveiled the Fusion Hybrid at the Los Angeles Auto Show last month, along with the Mercury Milan hybrid.

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A World Without Gas Part 1

2008-12-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

It's going to happen, maybe not today, tomorrow or possibly not for a century. But one day, fossil fuels will run out. What then?

By Erik Sofge of MSN autos

It's not a call to arms, or a doomsday prophecy. It's a simple truth: Someday the planet will run out of oil. Whether the endgame comes within decades or a century, and despite whatever attempts are made to restrict global consumption and dramatically increase fuel efficiency, even the most optimistic experts admit it's only a matter of time.

For now, major automakers continue to roll out hybrid cars while teasing the public with more revolutionary models, such as GM's plug-in hybrid, the Chevy Volt, and the hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity from Honda. These might be glimpses of a brighter, more energy-independent automotive future. Or they might be marketing disasters in the making, and yet more reasons to defer the coming crisis for another few years. These are short-term concerns. In the long run, what will it take to achieve an entirely petroleum-free fleet of automobiles? What will the road look like when the gas runs out?

A Complicated Problem

"This question is likely to be a real concern in a 20- or 30-year time frame," says John Heywood, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "We have to start looking for alternatives immediately, but that's when it will really become critical." The problem, however, could hardly be more complicated.

Despite decades of research in battery technology and fuel cells, there is no clear-cut successor to petroleum-based fuels. Gas and diesel offer an irresistible combination of energy density and stability. The only drawbacks are the inevitable release of all those converted hydrocarbons as carbon dioxide and other emissions, as well as the fact they are made from oil. Despite all of the political and environmental collateral damage, petroleum is a tough act to follow.

Over the past decade, there has been no shortage of contenders in the race to replace gas and diesel, including cars powered by compressed air or recycled vegetable oil. For now, though, the world of alternative fuel research is essentially a two-party system, with the most high-profile projects falling under the umbrella of vehicles powered either by batteries or hydrogen fuel cells.

Both camps have their champions, decidedly flawed heroes like the Tesla Roadster electric sport car, which could reinvent the public image of electric vehicles (EVs), provided the fledgling automaker can survive long enough to deliver the first batch. Honda's hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity, which can be refilled at only a limited number of stations throughout the country, has a waiting list that's so restrictive the car seems more like a public relations stunt for eco-conscious celebrities than a step toward oil independence.

Awkward as they might seem, these are baby steps, some experts say, and only the opening round in a war between EVs and hydrogen for post-oil market supremacy. "It's unlikely we'll do both," says Heywood, who remains tentatively optimistic about battery-powered vehicles. "Electric vehicles can evolve in a grass-roots fashion. It grows bit by bit. There aren't real barriers to getting started."

EVs: Available Now, Infrastructure Issues

EV devotees can buy small, limited-range models right now, such as the $14,000 Xebra from California-based ZAP,a three-wheeler that can travel up to 40 miles on a charge.

I just can't stop thinking of those VERY windy days...

According to ZAP, sales are up — the company sold roughly three times as many Xebras in the third quarter as it did during the same period in 2007. When it comes to mainstream adoption, though, battery-powered EVs face significant barriers, such as the price and capacity of present-day batteries.

Norwegian EV maker Th!nk, which hopes to start selling its battery-powered two-seater City in the United States sometime next year, has unveiled its design for a more mainstream-friendly sedan.

Th!nk Ox - Kinda cool

The Ox would have five seats, and as much as 50 percent more range than the City — up to 155 miles per charge — but according to Th!nk Chief Executive Richard Canny, "The Ox is a vision of where industry might be in 2012 or 2014. With today's batteries, it would be prohibitively expensive."

Th!nk Ox - Looks like something out of a video game.

Th!nk Ox - Ok, these graphics aren't foolin' me - it really is out of a video game. Call me when the car is built.

Continue Reading A World Without Gas - Part 2:

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A World Without Gas Part 2

2008-12-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

Even if a breakthrough in battery power revolutionized the EV, there's the problem of charging infrastructure. Is the national electric grid ready to accommodate a nightly spike in power as cars are plugged in to recharge? "And what about all those cars parked at night on city streets?" says Heywood. "Will they have extension cords running back into apartments? It's sort of a suburban opportunity. It's still significant, but it doesn't get us to 100 percent right away."

According to Norwegian EV maker Th!nk, its two-seat City should cost less than a Prius and will be available in 2009. It has a range of up to 110 miles on a single charge, with a top speed of about 65 mph.

The other problem with EVs is range. Even if batteries were to achieve the 400-mile range of a gas or diesel engine, would drivers be willing to sit in a recharging station for an hour or longer? One potential solution, says Jim Sweeney, a professor of management science and engineering and director of the Precourt Institute for Energy Efficiency at Stanford University, is a battery rental model, similar to the business model proposed by Israeli start-up Project Better Place.

Project Better Place’s car looks just like a regular sedan according to reports and images on the company’s website, but with an electrical socket and a screen showing the battery power, instead of a gas gauge. The cars are said to have a range of 100 km in city driving and up to 160 km on the highway before needing to be recharged or swapped.

Instead of owning a rechargeable battery pack, EV drivers could stop at a charging station, which would pull a new one off the rack and swap it out. The charging station's battery packs could be charged at night, when the strain on the grid would be lighter, and therefore electricity would be cheaper. "The challenge is that those batteries are very valuable," says Sweeney. "If you design it so you can release them easily and quick take them out, how do you make sure that thieves don't come in and steal those batteries from parked cars? A black market would develop for them."

Hydrogen Power: Costs as well as infrastructure issues

For hydrogen-powered vehicles, range isn't the problem. Hydrogen fuel cells could provide roughly the same driving distance as gas or diesel, with fewer constraints on vehicle size and weight. The larger obstacles include the need to roll out a national network of hydrogen filling stations. Another issue is the high cost and potential scarcity of platinum, which at present is the most efficient catalyst for hydrogen fuel cells. And then there's the hydrogen itself, which must be stored under high pressure onboard the vehicles.

One possible solution to hydrogen tanks is to get rid of them entirely. "In theory, you could hold a lot more hydrogen not as a gas, but bound to solids," says Sweeney. "You would absorb the hydrogen into a solid material, and then it bonds in there and gets released gradually. Essentially it would become a new type of battery." To some extent, fuel cell vehicles are in the same position as EVs, waiting on the fringes of the automotive world for a research breakthrough to push them into the mainstream. But whereas EVs have inched into the market through hybrids, plug-in hybrid aftermarket conversions and a limited number of short-range EVs, hydrogen has barely made it out of the lab.

"To get a hydrogen system up and running, it takes a revolution," says Heywood. "And what would prompt that? Could the government do that? It would have to be willing to spend a lot of money."

Fuel Cell Car

Some hydrogen proponents believe that a gradual introduction of the vehicles will be followed by an expansion of filling stations and related infrastructure, and that the fuel's potential as an all-around replacement for oil — both in cars and for general energy production — will eventually overtake the current buzz surrounding EVs. In a more cooperative vision of the future, the two technologies could share the road. Families could use smaller, all-electric vehicles for daily commuting and errands, and a longer-range fuel cell vehicle for road trips.

To that end, EV development could actually benefit hydrogen in the long term, since both types of vehicles use electric drivetrains, with the primary difference being the source of the current that drives the various motors. Th!nk's Canny isn't ruling out the ultimate alt-fuel automotive holy grail: a plug-in hybrid with an all-electric mode for daily use and fuel cells for extended range. "If we move aggressively on electric vehicles now, the technology will be in place for the batteries and the electric motors and the rest of the hardware," says Canny. "At that point you have range and zero emissions. It's the ideal technological solution."

Other Fuel Possibilities

Although the total number of EV drivers in the United States is still in the hundreds, companies like ZAP claim that their customers have already adopted this sort of dual-technology solution. If hydrogen never takes the place of gas and diesel for extended-range vehicles, there are other liquid fuels on the horizon, such as biomass-derived fuels. Instead of converting valuable corn crops into ethanol, fuel companies could use prairie grass, switchgrass or even new, bioengineered plants. Researchers are also developing methods of turning coal into liquid fuel; the resulting carbon emissions could make it hard for automakers to meet increasingly restrictive federal standards, but if the oil is gone, it might be the cheapest short-term option.

For now, despite public interest in plug-in hybrids and other kinds of EVs, and rising skepticism about the prospects of a hydrogen infrastructure, the details of a gas-free future are still sketchy. One potential casualty might be traditional American car culture — tomorrow's more fuel-efficient cars and trucks might be smaller, lighter and less often used. There could be multiple propulsion technologies sharing the same garage, or an array of bizarre designer liquid fuels that become as commonplace as regular or unleaded gas. Electric vehicles are likely to play some role, particularly if hydrogen's fortunes continue to fall. But the shape of the post-petroleum automobile will come into focus gradually, based on early-adopter feedback and lessons learned from ethanol and other national alt-fuel experiments.

"There's going to have to be a lot of trial and error," says Heywood. "We've done an initial sorting, but there are still more options out there than we'll ultimately be interested in investing in. We've got to keep addressing these questions, coming back to them again and again, in an almost continuous way."

Based out of the Boston area, Erik Sofge is frequent contributor to Popular Mechanics and Slate.com. He specializes in everything scientific and technical.

Read: A World Without Gas Part 1

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Is there a “car czar” in the country’s future?

2008-11-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

Senior adviser would oversee any financial aid given to automakers

President-elect Obama has raised the idea of appointing a so-called "car czar" to oversee emergency federal aid to automakers, exact tough corporate reforms and ensure taxpayers earn a return on any investment in the auto industry, notes the Detroit News.

Miacoda Tadewi, an aluminum sculpture artist and locally known as the "Car Czar of Omaha" is waiting for president Obama's call.

The Obama transition team hasn't identified who the car czar would be, but the president-elect has three auto advisers. They are economic adviser Jason Furman, Georgetown University law professor Dan Tarullo and Joshua Steiner, a former Clinton Treasury official, but none of them have emerged as the point person on autos yet.

It would be helpful for such an appointee to have an intimate knowledge of the auto industry or at least assemble a panel of expert advisers, said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.

Mr. Obama raised the possibility of appointing a czar during a meeting Monday with President Bush.

According to a person briefed on the meeting, Mr. Obama "urged help for the automakers including accelerating the $25 billion Congress already passed, exploring other authorities that exist under current law, and identifying someone in charge of the auto issue who would have the authority to bring about reforms that would lead to an economically viable auto industry."

A car czar could serve as a point person for federal agencies that deal with automakers, such as the Treasury, the Labor and Transportation departments, and the Environmental Protection Agency, Mr. Cole said. A czar also could represent taxpayers and explain how the government could reap a profit on any federal loans.

While most industry experts believe 2009 will be difficult, Mr. Cole said there are indications a recovery may not be too far off.

There will be pent-up demand among car buyers after a long weak spell caused by a lack of available credit. In addition, domestic automakers anticipate big labor cost savings in 2010 thanks to a landmark contract negotiated last year with the United Auto Workers, he noted.

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World’s Fastest Rolls-Royce

2008-11-13T05:13:00.000-08:00

This thing is too cool:

This 1970 Silver Shadow was a real auto show crowd-pleaser, enjoying standing-room-only audiences. This old-timer has a distinct split personality.

Approach from behind and the distinct boot and classic Rolls-Royce lines generate an aura of sophistication. Come upon the car bonnet first and it’s a totally different story.

Any visions of Grey Poupon and a leisurely day at the country club are replaced with barbecue sauce and burnouts down Main Street, as a gleaming roots-style 671 blower towers over the hood.

This Rolls is motivated by a 572-inch Chrysler Hemi V8 that is also fitted with nitrous-oxide injection. Owners Tod Weston and Nancy Olson report there’s 1,350 horsepower at the ready. The British bomber rides on a Chris Alston chassis with an Air Ride Technologies suspension providing the proper stance.

The cabin retains its Rolls-Royce elegance with a custom Hot Rod Interiors leather interior, four TVs and a Billet Specialties steering wheel.

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Nobel Prize contributor found working at a Toyota dealership

2008-10-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

When his research grant ran out, Doug Prasher gave his work to a colleague. Guess who won the prize.
DealersEdge Daily Headlines

A scientist who contributed to the research behind this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry has been shut out from the glory and will remain in Alabama working as a shuttle driver for a Toyota dealership while three of his colleagues enjoy a $1.4 million payday, reports the New York Post.

Twenty years ago, Dr. Douglas Prasher was one of the driving forces behind research that earned a Nobel Prize in chemistry this week. While his former colleagues will fly to Stockholm in December to accept the Nobel Prize and a $1.4 million check, the former Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist will be earning $10 an hour.

In the late 1980s, Dr. Prasher began research on a fluorescent protein found in a type of jellyfish and - working with a $220,000 grant from the American Cancer Society - was able to isolate and clone the gene that helped create it.

When his grant money ran out, he voluntarily gave copies of the genes he had developed to Columbia University's Martin Chalfie - one of three men to win the Nobel this week for their work on fluorescent proteins.

Dr. Prasher took the dealership job after a year of unemployment so he could put his kids though college.

His contribution was acknowledged by one of the Nobel laureates, Professor Chalfie, who said, “they could've easily given the prize to Douglas (Prasher) and the other two and left me out."

The Nobel committee only allows three people to share a prize. Despite his work, Dr. Prasher lost out.

According to published reports, as a result of the publicity, Dr. Prasher has received job inquiries from several research groups.

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Virtual car dealerships open in Phoenix-area Wal-Mart stores

2008-10-16T06:04:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to figure out the difference between this and staying at home shopping on your computer. I mean - who wants to endure the BS of going into a Walmart to use the service? Has anyone had the pleasure of trying to develop pictures at a Walmart self-serve photo kiosk? Oh well, time will prove if this is a good idea or not.

Pilot program allows Wal-Mart customers to shop for new and used vehicles

By Hannah Scott

In an exclusive pilot program with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Live X Auto Exchange will begin to offer electronically enhanced auto trading services that bring an entirely new retail experience to consumers, reports television station KTAR in Phoenix.

Live X Auto Exchange is setting up shop at two Phoenix area Wal-Mart Super Centers. The “showroom” floor features music, televisions and computer screens to bring sellers and buyers together.

"It's a one-stop shop where you can get financing, you can look at all of the vehicles across town," said Patrick Dial, president and chief executive officer of Live X.

Live X uses a pricing intelligence system that takes the haggling out of car buying, Mr. Dial said.

There's one car on each showroom floor, which attracts people initially.

"When they come in and they ask, 'What are you guys doing?' we step them over to our technology and say, 'We're now in the car business, let me step you through it.'"

“Trading assistants” are at each of the showrooms to help people navigate through the online inventory, which features new and used cars from dealerships around Phoenix.

Live X Auto has an exclusive arrangement with Wal-Mart. It is an electronic trading platform that combines a virtual trading experience bringing car buyers and sellers together. Financing can be approved on the spot with several lenders including Wal-Mart's local partner, Desert Schools Credit Union.

There is a three-day, 500-mile exchange policy on most cars.

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GM’s Top-Selling Chevy Dealer Out of Business

2008-10-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

GM’s Top-Selling Chevy Dealer Out of Business

By Cliff Banks
WardsAuto.com
General Motors Corp.’s top-selling Chevrolet dealer group is closing all of its 13 dealerships this week, citing various reasons for the drastic measure.

Bill Heard Enterprises Inc. sold more than 40,000 new vehicles – most of them Chevrolets – in 2007 and was ranked 11th on the Ward’s Megadealer 100 this year with $2.2 billion in total revenue.

W.T. Heard Sr. opened the group’s first dealership in 1919 in Columbus, GA. The group had dealerships in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas with more than 2,700 employees.

All 13 of Heard’s stores ranked on the Ward’s Dealer 500 list this year.

A statement released by the company cites rising fuel prices, truck and SUV-laden inventory and the overall economic slowdown as reasons for going out of business.
Within the last couple of weeks, GMAC Financial Services stopped financing the inventory for several of Bill Heard’s stores, hampering the group’s ability to floor plan and order vehicles.

SEEMS LIKE THE REASON HAS TO DO WITH ETHICS:

GMAC did not say why it did so, but several Heard stores have come under fire the last several years for a slew of allegations regarding violating business and ethical regulations in the states in which they operate.

GMAC reportedly threatened to pull its financing last year after Bill Heard sent 10,000 customers what appeared to be a recall notice but actually was a bid for service-department business.

Georgia’s Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs filed a $50 million deceptive-advertising lawsuit against the group’s four Georgia dealerships for the same offense. It was the first lawsuit filed by the OCA in its 32-year history against a dealership, according to a report in the Atlanta Business Chronicle last year.
The report also claims Bill Heard has paid more than $280,000 in fines to the state of Georgia since 1991.

Other states, including Florida, Texas and Arizona have been investigating the false recall notice claims, as well.

In early September, Bill Heard closed its Scottsdale, AZ, store which opened to great fanfare less than two years ago. And last year, the company sold its dealership in Antioch, TN, which at one time was selling more than 1,000 new and used vehicles a month.

GM likely will reopen several, if not all, of Bill Heard’s stores once buyers are found and the deals completed. GM spokeswoman Susan Garontakos says the auto maker will look to find new owners to keep the stores running.

In 2005, GM named Bill Heard one of its “Dealers of the Year,” an exclusive list of auto retailers demonstrating strong sales performance and customer service. Each of the 110 dealers on the list received the 2004 Jack Smith Leadership Award.

WOW.

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Big 3 Look to Federal Loans to Help Refine, Not Reinvent Plug-in Cars

2008-09-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

By Barbara McClellan
WardsAuto.com

Commentary: The past is nothing if not a signpost to the future, as history has proven.

So, as the 2008 U.S. presidential election draws near, it’s a good time to remind the candidates, and their respective political parties, that plug-in electric and other fuel-efficient technologies the Detroit auto makers are racing to develop are not a recent phenomenon.

While nearly every global auto maker is hurrying to get such vehicles to market, General Motors hopes to have the first high-volume entry with its Chevy Volt extended-range electric vehicle.

American auto makers long have been in the forefront of powertrain innovations that often are credited to foreign competitors. What’s changed is the substantial capital investment required by the industry to retool plants and accelerate research in order to meet fuel-efficiency targets set by Congress in last year’s Energy Act.

Federal loans are needed to keep the Detroit Three competitive in putting cleaner vehicles on the road at affordable prices in this era of technical revolution, not to bail them out from their perceived misdirection in producing large trucks and SUVs to meet customer demand.

Indeed, the Motor City was well ahead of its time 100 years ago when the Anderson Electric Car Co. began producing cars in Detroit powered by a rechargeable lead-acid battery. For $600 more, an Edison nickel-iron version was available.

Anderson Electric Car

Detroit Electric-brand cars were said to be capable of traveling 80 miles (130 km) per charge, with a top speed of 20 mph (32 km/h), considered sufficient for the times.

Doctors needed a car they could depend on, as gasoline engines at the time were not easy to start, nor reliable. And because hand-cranking gas engines required lots of muscle, the electric cars also were popular with women, Detroit Electric.org says on its website.

Ironically, this contributed to the electric car’s downfall, as it soon became thought of as a woman’s vehicle and men did not want to be seen driving one. To try to overcome this aversion, some models in later years were designed with a faux radiator grill.

Kettering Electric Self-Starter

Another factor in the EV’s demise was the invention of the first working electric starter in 1911 by Charles F. Kettering, of Dayton Electric Laboratories, initially used by Cadillac in 1912.

Additionally, battery-powered cars were expensive. The asking price for a Detroit Electric car in 1914 was about $2,650, compared with $600 for a Ford Model T, the website says.

Anderson Electric changed its name to The Detroit Electric Car. Co. in 1920, but filed for bankruptcy after the stock-market crash in 1929. A buyer kept the company alive by building cars to order, with the last delivered in 1939.

Meanwhile, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford decided to work together to make the electric car the main form of transportation in the U.S. Their vision was to have an infrastructure of charging stations available to the public. But the grand plan never came to fruition as gasoline became a plentiful and cheap alternative.

History repeats itself as the industry once again finds its focus on electric vehicles, only this time with ultra-clean models that have much longer driving ranges than the failed EVs of the past.

The next U.S. president needs to understand American auto makers don’t need loans to reinvent the wheel; they just want to make it better.

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GEM Introduces The Peapod - Neighborhood Electric Vehicle

2008-09-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

The "Chrysler Peapod" is actually made by "Global Electric Motorcars" (GEM). It's all-electric range of "community vehicles" has been on sale for ten years now. The Peapod is the latest concept set up for a debut in GEM's 2009 lineup, which also gets an updated and greenwashed name - GreenEcoMobility.

Seems like an electric, four-passenger, 25 MPH, 30-mile-range overgrown golf cart. What do you think?

Cute, Huh?

GEM Introduces The Peapod - Neighborhood Electric Vehicle – the Next Generation of Clean and Green Transportation – No Gas. No Emissions. Pure Electric.

* Chrysler LLC's neighborhood electric vehicle gets a new name - 'GreenEcoMobility' - and new styling that will define and set a new standard for environmentally responsible vehicles.

* Sleek, streamlined styling and breakthrough innovations converge in the next-generation eco-friendly car.

* More to come as Peapod leads expansion of GEM's 'no-gas, no-emissions' clean vehicle lineup.

Auburn Hills, Mich., Sep 23, 2008 - Clean and green transportation gets a new look and feel as GEM, a Chrysler LLC company, introduces the next generation of clean, gas-free and emission-free, battery electric vehicles.

The vehicle’s innovative, groundbreaking design, with its striking pod-like shape and sleek lines, reflects the environmentally friendly nature that has been the hallmark of GEM since its founding 10 years ago.

The user-friendly mood of the vehicle, named the GEM Peapod, is enhanced with the newly designed center console that will offer iPod integration, as well as hands-free operation of the customer's iPhone. Other innovations include ergonomic, supportive, mesh seating, which enables air circulation for comfort and uses eco-friendly recycled and recyclable materials.

“We have evolved the GEM design language to better reflect its eco-friendly performance and its upbeat, positive image,” said Peter Arnell, Chrysler LLC’s Chief Innovation Officer who led the design process. “These vehicles use no gasoline and emit no pollutants. So whether it’s a trip around the neighborhood or the drive to school or work, the GEM Peapod is the ideal way to contribute to a greener planet, and a healthy lifestyle."

GEM will also get a new name – GreenEcoMobility, Arnell said, signifying the company’s goal to redefine environmentally friendly vehicles.

Chrysler will show the styling model for the production 2009 GEM at the company’s headquarters Sept. 23. The re-designed GEM is scheduled for production in 2009.

The Peapod represents the first in a series of product launches that will redefine the future of electric vehicles, said the company’s CEO Bruce Coventry.

“With this next generation GEM, we will broaden the market for this clean, emission-free technology,” Coventry said.

In addition to the 2009 GEM Peapod neighborhood electric vehicle, Coventry said, GEM has plans to market a new light-duty, battery electric commercial truck and a larger city electric vehicle, with more range and performance. These vehicles are scheduled for production within the next year, he said.

Today’s GEM is the nation’s No. 1 zero-emission electric vehicle, with 38,000 produced and in use. GEM vehicles are used in settings such as city centers, planned communities, military bases, college campuses, corporate and commercial centers, and city, state and national parks.

“Over the past decade, GEM has established itself as the nation’s leading battery-powered, pure electric vehicle,” said GEM President and COO Rick Kasper. “We have done that by responding to the needs of our customers for safety, utility, versatility and performance in environmentally friendly vehicles."

GEM cars are available in six models: two-, four- and six-passenger cars and three utility vehicles. GEM neighborhood electric vehicles have a top speed of 25 miles per hour, a range of up to 30 miles per charge (battery charge is extended through use of regenerative braking) and are street legal in more than 40 states. The vehicles can be recharged anytime, anywhere with a standard 110-volt outlet. Recharge time is approximately six to eight hours.

By replacing conventional vehicles, GEM vehicles can reduce overall emissions of pollutants, particularly during short trips when conventional vehicles create the most tailpipe emissions. GEM vehicles have been driven a combined 200 million miles and averted more than 150 tons of pollutants from reaching the air, while saving 10 million gallons of gasoline.

About Global Electric Motorcars

Global Electric Motorcars LLC assembles and markets neighborhood electric vehicles. The 10-year-old company is based in Fargo, N.D. For more information about the company and GEM vehicles, to build your own GEM or to locate a dealer, visit www.greenecomobility.com, or find out more about the Peapod at www.greenecomobility.com/peapod.

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The Making of the Chevy Volt - Lutz defends Volt design

2008-09-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz on Tuesday, Sept. 16, wrote a lengthy defense of the newly unveiled Chevrolet Volt on his GM fastlane blog.

Here is a copy of the posting:

We've weathered a lot of skepticism since the Chevrolet Volt concept was introduced at the 2007 Detroit show. The Volt has been called "vaporware" by some members of the media. We've heard executives from other manufacturers tell the press that the battery technology won't work. We've even been accused of using the Volt to "greenwash" our image.

Well, as everyone knows now, the Volt is real, and the covers have come off. And it represents nothing less than the first step in the reinvention of the automobile.

The vehicle's design has come under some criticism, most of it, to me, unwarranted. The challenge to the designers wasn't to design the most beautiful car imaginable and accept the compromises you have to make to do so. It was, make no compromise to fuel efficiency and electric range, and then do the most beautiful design possible, around those aerodynamic dictates.

When you look at the exterior of the Volt, you might notice certain aerodynamic shapes and design elements of some other cars you might see on the road. But beneath the skin, it shares very little with any other car that's ever existed. So I submit that while it's typically design that makes an emotional connection with buyers, in this case, the Volt is going to be bought for emotional reasons, but it will be for the emotion tied to the technology contained therein.

The Volt means a lot to General Motors, and to the industry, on a variety of levels. First of all, this is solid technology that is going to be proven reliable. It's a practical way that we can electrify the automobile and drastically reduce our dependency on imported petroleum. It's also important to GM to help reinforce and continue its proud history of technological innovation, and to help restore the image of leadership that accompanied that history.

In terms of the impact of Volt on the automobile industry, I think you'll see lithium-ion technology filter out to the rest of the industry, even to our competitors who initially said it wouldn't work. I think they've figured out that we may well be onto a winning formula here, with 40 miles of driving powered by electricity from a battery and a small engine -- powered by gasoline or E85 -- to create additional electricity to power the vehicle for several hundred additional miles. I suspect most of our competitors will have vehicles with technology similar to the Volt within four or five years.

What does that mean for society at large? I think it can have an enormous benefit. Our statistics show that 78 percent of Americans drive 40 miles a day or less. That means that nearly 80 percent of Americans can commute powered by electricity from the grid, never using a drop of gas.

When we achieve substantial production, and if our competitors do as well, and the public takes to this new way of driving -- and there's no doubt in my mind they will -- we will drastically reduce gasoline and/or diesel consumption and we will simultaneously be drastically reducing our dependency on oil. This puts the country in a much more comfortable place geopolitically and also helps the environment. So at this point, I think it's very hard to overestimate the importance of the Volt for GM, for the industry and for society in general.

The production version of the Volt represents our progress, and our commitment to seeing that all become a reality in short order. We'd like nothing more than to see everyone drive a Volt and stop going to the gas pump so often to fill up on ever-more-expensive fuel imported from an ever-more-unstable part of the world.

With the Volt, you go home, you plug it in, and you're done. And for roughly 80 cents' worth of electricity, you've got a fully-charged battery, ready to take on another forty miles of gas-free and tailpipe-emission-free driving. If that's greenwashing, then come on in -- the water's fine.

Link to Automotive News source article:
Posted in Bob Lutz, Volt

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7 Sexy Hybrids You Can't Buy Yet

2008-09-20T06:19:00.000-07:00

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1. Aptera's Typ-1 to bring space-age looks to Earth

Mere Earthlings will likely do some serious rubbernecking when the Aptera Typ-1 three-wheeled vehicle hits the road, perhaps as early as this year. The vehicle, shown here, is officially classified as a motorcycle and looks more like something out of "The Jetsons" than Detroit. The California-built machine will come in all-electric and hybrid flavors, the latter getting more than 300 miles per gallon of gas. Top speed exceeds 85 mph, and the vehicle goes from 0 to 60 in under 10 seconds, the company says. About four hours plugged into a standard socket recharges a drained battery.

2. Yet unnamed Honda hybrid to duel the Toyota Prius

Next April, Honda will release a yet-to-be named gas-electric hybrid-only five-door hatchback priced at less than $20,000. The gambit aims to steer market share away from the popular Toyota Prius. An official name and full details of the car will be released later this year, though the company says the exterior will employ a design evocative of the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle, shown here. Honda hopes to sell 200,000 of the cars worldwide next year, including 100,000 in the U.S.

3. Is a hybrid-only Lexus brand the future?

Lexus, the luxury arm of Toyota, already makes hybrid versions of its GS and LS sedans and RX utility, but will a hybrid-only model akin to the hot-selling Prius ever join those on the showroom floor, shown here? Katsuaki Watanabe, the company president, reportedly announced at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show that the answer is yes. Plans for the hybrid-only Lexus will be unveiled at next year's gathering of auto enthusiasts in Motown. Stay tuned.

4. Chevy Volt, the resurrected electric car

The production model Chevy Volt is slated to charge onto showroom floors sometime in 2010. A concept model, shown here, was unveiled to much fanfare at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show. General Motors Corp. is banking the car will rev up the company's "green" cred, which suffered for putting the kibosh on its EV1, a tale told in the 2006 documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?". The Volt will use a battery-powered electric motor that can run the car for about 40 miles on a single charge. After that, a gasoline-powered engine kicks on to keep the car rolling and re-charge the battery. Top speed is estimated between 100 and 120 mph. It recharges in about six hours with a standard 110 volt wall plug.

5. Tesla Model S to come with a hybrid option

Tesla Motors, maker of the all-electric Tesla Roadster shown here, announced in February that its next project will include a gas-electric hybrid option. While most details of the car are under wraps, executives have let slip that the four-door sedan will cost around $60,000 and get in the neighborhood of 225 miles per charge. This June, the company also announced it will manufacture the sedan in its home state of California, not New Mexico as earlier planned.

6. Porsche Panamera to have hybrid option

Porsche, the German car company more known for brawn than environmental sensitivities, is jumping on the hybrid bandwagon. Its Cayenne, an SUV, will come with a gas-electric hybrid option by 2010. And in January, the company announced its upcoming four-dour Gran Turismo, the Panamera, will also have a hybrid option that uses the same drive concept as the Cayenne's. A schematic, shown here, indicates the battery will be positioned below the luggage compartment and the hybrid module is sandwiched between the engine and transmission. Drivers will have the option to use one or both drive systems, depending on conditions. A release date for the hybrid Panamera is not yet known.

7. Will the Venturi Astrolab be commercialized?

At the 2006 Paris Motor Show, the Venturi Astrolab was introduced as the world's first solar-electric hybrid to be commercialized. But commercialization plans are now on hold, Clément Dorance, a spokesperson for the French company, noted in an e-mail. The concept vehicle, shown here, has 38.8 square feet of photovoltaic cells to charge the battery from the sun, even on the go. A plug allows battery charging from the electricity grid when or where the sun doesn't shine. Fully charged, the futuristic vehicle has a range of about 70 miles and can reach a top speed of 75 mph. If interest in the car is sufficient, the company might consider a limited production, Dorance noted.

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Sexy Hybrid Article Credits:

1. Aptera's Typ-1 - Business Wire
2. Honda Prius - Koji Sasahara/AP
3. Hybrid-only Lexus - Itsuo Inouye/AP file
4. Chevy Volt - General Motors via AP
5. Tesla Model S - Gus Ruelas/Reuters
6. Porsche Panamera - Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
7. Venturi Astrolab - Michel Zumbrunn
Link to source article:

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No gas? No problem: Electric car sets example for future

2008-09-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

John Wordin and his electric car are trying to set an example for Molokai's environment.

By Sara Kennedy
Molokai News : Environment

Driver concerned about gas prices and the environment

Have you seen a car that looks like no other driving around Molokai? You might mistake it for a fancy golf cart or even a space-age vehicle from The Jetsons.

In fact, it is not an ordinary car, it's an electric car and it's the only one on Molokai.

Owned by Kala'e resident John Wordin, the Dynasty Sedan, shipped from British Columbia, "generates a lot of interest."

To feed the curious minds, he actually does plug the car into a regular wall outlet. Every night, he plugs the car in, and when he wakes up, it's charged. According to Wordin, the car takes four hours to fully charge, equaling one kilowatt-hour, and will run for approximately 30 miles at 25 mph. The vehicle uses a lot of energy uphill, but with a full charge, he makes it around town just fine.

Wordin paid $14,500 for the car, and combined with shipping costs, the total price was around $20,000.

At his Kala'e home, 40 solar panels charge his vehicle and run the house. His water heater and outdoor power equipment are solar as well.

The car, if charged twice a day, costs Wordin an extra dollar on his electric bill and gives him approximately 30 miles. In comparison with gas prices, Wordin can travel 150 miles on five dollars, the cost for approximately one gallon of gas.

Besides helping his wallet, the car helps the environment. The average new vehicle has a smog/pollution index of 0.53 percent, while the electric car emits no pollution into the air.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for every gallon of gas burned, 20 pounds of pollution and carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.

Wordin's concern about the environment has been growing since 1998. He read books and articles on the subject of America's fuel dependency and has been preparing himself for the necessary changes.

"My interest in this has evolved over a period of time," he said.

Wordin is trying to provide an example for the community. He has seen gas prices continue to rise, the economy fall and the environment suffer.

"People are still buying SUVs; something is definitely wrong," he said. "They just don't get it, oil is running out. The world is changing and I see examples everyday."

Wordin's dream is to see the whole island driving electric cars.

"Sure, it's possible," he said. "People just have to realize there are profound changes in the economy, as well as the environment."

Peter Rosegg of Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) said the time is not too distant when electric cars will cost less and be more readily available on the market. HECO is looking at the situation, "closely and optimistically." Sometime in the near future the company will be changing its meters to an advanced system that will let customers charge electric cars overnight for a cheaper rate.

Studies done by the Natural Resources and Defense Council and the Electric Power Research Institute have shown that, electric cars are cheaper than driving cars running on fuel.

eVehicles in Honolulu specializes in electric vehicles and can be reached at 589-2347.

F&I

Will Lightning Strike in the UK?

2008-08-04T05:26:00.000-07:00

A native car company unveils a 700-horsepower electric supercar at the British Motor Show 2008 — but will it really work?

By Christopher Hubbard of MSN autos

Well here's a shock: a good looking British sports car (sorry Lotus). This is the Lightning GT, and instead of guzzling super unleaded it creates 700 horsepower using batteries.

Or so the Lightning Car Company claims. But we'll leave off being cynical for a moment (don't worry, it is only for a moment) and continue telling you just how good this thing looks. It is all classic GT: long hood, low curving roofline, and massive multi-spoke alloy wheels, complete with a major surprise.

Those blue discs? They ain't the brakes — at least not in the traditional sense. The Lightning GT uses four hub-mounted electric motors, providing direct drive to the wheels. Combined with just 30 battery packs, these deliver the electric equivalent of "700 horsepower+" and each motor can be individually controlled.

This means the car can modify the speed of the wheels depending on steering angle and velocity, and presumably any other parameter the team can program into the system — suspension load, for example. This should lead to exceptionally dynamic handling — assuming all the computers are talking to each other.

Zero to 60 mph will, apparently, take less than four seconds — "when it's fully developed." This leads us to the more eyebrow-raising areas of the Lightning’s specifications. Having just 30 batteries is surprising enough (most electric supercars use far more than that), but the claim is these give the car a 300-km [186-mile] range — on just a 10-minute charge.

This is, quite frankly, unbelievable. That's not to say the Lightning Car Company hasn't achieved it — it does have video footage of the car moving under its own power displayed on the stand at the British Motor Show 2008 — but we would really like to see a full demonstration before even thinking about handing over any money.

Lightning officials say deliveries could start in 2010, but the company still requires investment to make that happen. It also claims "£20,000+ [US$40,000+] savings on annual running costs versus equivalent petrol sports car" — very bold. But if your biggest concern is the lack of an exciting engine note, fear not: the Lightning GT includes a “sound module.”

You can blast out the sound of a smooth V6 or throaty V12, or cruise along in serenity of silence. Make of that what you will. We love the concept of the Lightning GT — the look, the idea, the innovation, the British engineering. But my goodness, we need some convincing that the thing is really going to work.

Awesome. We can't wait!!!

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GM readies Volt unveiling to shift focus from the present crisis...

2008-07-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

Automotive News

General Motors is rushing to finish the production version of its Chevy Volt and plans to unveil a showroom-ready model of the heavily touted electric car in September, people familiar with the project say.

Battered by a deepening slump in sales and concerns about whether it can ride out the downturn, GM is counting on the Volt to break its costly association with high-mpg vehicles at a time when truck sales are tumbling and gas prices are near record levels.

This car looks so cool!

GM is likely to complete the production version of the Volt by early August and plans to show it off in September, just when the embattled automaker celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding, people familiar with the plans said.

A GM spokesman declined to comment on the timeline for its next announcements on the Volt, which will include naming a supplier for the vehicle's lithium-ion battery pack, the single most expensive element of the vehicle and the component seen as critical to its success.

"Everyone is waiting for the next steps," Rob Peterson, spokesman for GM's electric vehicle program, told Reuters. GM designers and engineers are "getting very close" to a production-ready version of the Volt, he said.

GM showed off a concept version of the Volt in January 2007 but has retooled the look of the vehicle significantly since then, in part in order to improve its aerodynamics, representatives of the automaker have said.

GM has already shown a near-production version of the Volt to a Los Angeles-area focus group of consumers as it pushes toward production of the vehicle by late 2010 under a development plan the GM board approved in June.

By unveiling the final version of the Volt at a centennial observation in September, GM will be looking to shift the focus for investors and consumers from its current sales slump toward the more fuel-efficient vehicles it has in development.

The automaker, which saw its stock hit a 54-year low last week, is expected to use the circuit of major auto shows that begins with Paris in October to unveil a series of upcoming vehicles that will underscore its effort to move away from a reliance on light trucks.

Those include the production version of the Chevy Beat, a replacement for the Aveo hatchback, and a replacement for the Chevy Cobalt, a small sedan.

VOLT: READY FOR ITS HOLLYWOOD CLOSE-UP

In a further bid to create buzz, the Volt is one of several GM cars set to make an appearance in the action movie "Transformers 2," scheduled for release next summer, a person familiar with the matter said.

GM was heavily involved in the production of the first Michael Bay-directed "Transformers" film, released last summer, and provided a concept version of its 2009 Camaro for a central turn in the movie.

GM is designing the Volt to run for 40 miles (64 km) on a lithium-ion battery pack that can be recharged at a standard electric outlet. The Volt will also capture energy from braking, like a traditional hybrid, and feature an on-board engine that will be used to send power to the battery on longer trips.

GM is racing Toyota Motor Corp. to bring the first plug-in car to the marketplace and has already featured the Volt in its advertising, part of a bid to improve the public image of the fuel efficiency of its car line-up.

Just as the Detroit-based automakers once rolled out limited-edition performance cars to create a buzz around their brands, the Volt has emerged as a kind of environmentally friendly "halo car" that GM hopes will have as much impact as the Prius hybrid has had for Toyota.

SUPPLIERS BATTLING

Two suppliers have been in the running to provide lithium-ion batteries for the Volt: A unit of Korea's LG Chem said last month that it was ready to supply batteries for the Volt, and German auto parts supplier Continental AG, adapting battery technology used by privately held A123 Systems, is also competing for the Volt battery contract.

The Volt marks one of the first attempts to adapt lithium-ion batteries, widely used in consumer electronics, for a car, although Toyota and others are pressing ahead with their own work on the same technology.

GM celebrates its centennial on Sept. 16, the anniversary of its founding by Billy Durant. It kicked off a series of events last year to mark the date, but those have been overshadowed by concerns about its performance and whether it has sufficient cash to ride out the downturn in U.S. sales.

GM's U.S. sales are off 16.3 percent this year, and analysts expect the automaker to raise additional capital to shore up liquidity as it looks to turn around its U.S. operations.

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The Top Ten electric vehicles you can buy right now

2008-06-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

Top 10: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors, Zap, Phoenix, Miles EV, American Electric Vehicle, GEM, ZENN, Universal Electric Vehicle

I think all the news of the Tesla Roadster and the Chevy Volt that came out since last summer has reminded a lot of people that there are some serious contenders to the gasoline engine. The electric vehicle (EV) community certainly thinks 2006 was a good year for EVs. In fact, the past has seen some truly cool EVs, and the list of retired EVs is long and, for some, emotional: the EV1, the Ranger EV, the RAV4 EV and so on. But there should be no time for mourning and instead a look toward the future. Actually, we don't even need to guess what great EVs are coming down the pipe, there are already some wicked cool EVs available today. If you're ready to get off the gas in 2007, consider one of these, the Top Ten Electric Cars of 2007 (Aside from the Roadster, which certainly deserves the Number 1 spot, the list is in no real order).

Tesla Roadster - This car has reinvigorated the EV market like no other. While technically no one can buy it this year (all 100 vehicles that will be available later in 2007 have already been spoken for, I can't help but place it at No. 1. With a 0-60 time beneath four seconds and a look that makes you just want to hop in and drive, the Roadster (More)

UEV Spyder - Universal Electric Vehicle's Spyder made an impressive debut at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo last December, even though I heard a lot of people ask, "Is this the Tesla?" This EV will be available with different battery configurations at different price levels (some comparable to the Roadster). You don't hear so many people talk the Spyder up, but it seems to share many of the same qualities that make the Roadster so exciting: speed, zero emissions, and sports-car styling. (More)

Phoenix SUT – Yeah, it's expensive ($45,000), but EVs aren't cheap. Heck, retired Toyota RAV4 EVs regularly go for more than $50,000 on eBay, and the batteries in those things are old. Phoenix has been working with Altairnano Technologies on new batteries and is bringing this sports utility truck to market with better range than the RAV4 (but, admittedly, not as much size). Phoenix says they hope to sell 500 SUTs by the end of the year. Perhaps a better name will pump up sales. (More)

Miles ZX40 – While the Spyder and the Roadster don't really ask the driver to make any sacrifices (aside from in the bank account), EVs like those from Miles are not a replacement for a "standard" car, but a solid contender for second vehicle for certain families or individuals, or as a main vehicle for those who don't have to go very far. The Miles ZX40 is like a lot of NEVs – limited to a top speed of 25 mph, a range of around 50 miles per charge and a price of about $12,000-$20,000. (We don't actually know the price of the ZX40, but other NEVs are priced in this range). Another Miles model, the OR70, can go 35 mph. (More)

The ZENN

ZENN – Another player in the NEV field, ZENN's cars are "zero emission, no noise." Get it? ZENN. These NEVs have a lower range than Miles' offerings (only about 35 miles) and are a bit smaller, too. When I drove one in D.C. last year the battery was on its last legs and in need of a charge, but still drove well. The various options can add up to $2,500 to the $12,500 base price. But the most exciting part about ZENN's offerings are yet to come: the EESTOR ultra capacitor is still shrouded in mystery, but the potential is great for this new EV power source (as is the disappointment if the EESTOR doesn't live up to the hype). (More)

GEM e2 – Yes, they look funny. No, they can't go very far or very fast. But GEM electric vehicles have been available for years and the company has a wide range of models available (two through six seats, with or without a flatbed) and prices ($7,000-$12,500). GEMs are used around the country on various campuses, but models like the e2 are obviously targeted to home users. (More)

Smart EV - Available in Switzerland and the UK, the tiny Smart EVs are zero-emission versions of their fossil-fuel drinking cousins. These cars share the easy-parking abilities and unique styling of the standard Smarts, but are only available in the fortwo configuration and only to "to blue chip companies who are happy to meet our requirements to power the cars using only renewable energy sources," says Smart UK. Conversions for your standard Smart are also available. (

Mullen L1X-75 – Some of our readers are skeptical of Hybrid Technologies, maker of the Mullen L1X-75, saying their press releases promise more than they can ever deliver. The L1X-75 certainly promises a lot - 100-mile range on a 4-6 hour charge - and this comes at a price ($125,000). Still, the sports car look will attract the eye of those you zip by, and I'd certainly give one a whirl. (More)

G-Wiz EV – available in the UK (and desired by Sir Elton John), the G-Wiz costs a little bit (£8,299 to £6,999) more than some of the short-range EVs in America, but you get something extra in England, too: exemption from certain taxes and London congestion charges and free parking in some areas. There are even free charging stations in some locations. (More)

Kurrent – A tiny and very distinctive-looking NEV, the Kurrent's price ($10,600) includes home delivery because, as American Electric Vehicle president Scott Thornton told AutoblogGreen, if AEV allowed the Kurrent to be sold at just any dealership, the customer might not be able to drive it home thanks to U.S. laws that restrict NEVs to roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or below. Lead-acid batteries deliver a range of about 40-mile range. (More)

For Number 10, I cannot ignore all of the homemade EVs and converted EVs. People have been creating their own electric vehicles for year, and the trend continues.

There are more EVs available today, and if you feel I should've included any in this Top Ten list, add it yourself in the comments. Also, there are a lot of upcoming EVs to get excited about - Tesla's WhiteStar sedan, Zap!'s Lotus APX - so if you're sick of gassing up your car, consider going all-electric. They're not for everyone, but they might be perfect for you.

All Electric Tesla sports car dealership opens in Los Angeles CA

2008-05-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

See YouTube video of Tesla versus 500HP Viper

While still not in serial production – only four production cars have been built – and plagued by problems with the original transmission – Tesla has opened its first factory store on May 1, 2008

The Tesla is powered by some 7,000 laptop batteries if you can believe it and is plenty quick off the line. Their Web site claims that it accelerates from 0-60 in 3.9 seconds (see YouTube video below), while obtaining a range of 220 miles per charge at a per mile cost of just 2 cents.

A video posted on YouTube depicts a race between a 500 horse powered Dodge Viper and the battery-powered Tesla. In the quarter mile, the Tesla beats the Viper by a significant margin. The commentators on the video acknowledge that in a longer race, the Viper will beat the Tesla, but that is an impressive performance for a vehicle powered by laptop batteries.

Check out the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm6gD6r3-cw&feature=related.

Want to get on the waiting list? Tesla’s Web site quotes a $109,000 base price, but production is already spoken for. To get on the waiting list, you will have to put up $60,000.

Tesla Roadster: learning lessons from the EV1

With advances in battery, software, and semiconductor technology, electric cars can now perform as well, or better, than conventional cars, said Musk during an interview. Asked about the EV1, General Motors' electric car that was summarily shut down, Musk said the car's short life was likely not the result of a conspiracy between car manufacturers and oil companies. Instead, he said, the car probably failed because of big-company inertia.

Tesla Roadster: a battery on wheels

The Tesla Roadster is essentially a battery on wheels. Much of the company's design work revolved around developing a lithium-ion battery pack to power the car. The battery cells come from a third-party provider, but Tesla has wrapped it into a battery pack that can deliver energy rapidly for the car's acceleration.

Check out the CHEVY VOLT electric concept.

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Ford's recovery gaining traction

2008-04-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

Against all odds, Alan Mulally pushes cultural change on all fronts to move carmaker to profitability

Thank God.

Like an itiot, I've held on to some Ford stock that I bought in 2003 for about $10 a share. I still think the company will take off again which is why I'm holding, but so far it's been 5 freakin' years in purgatory!

The share price might bump to $8 on this news woohoo.

In the year and a half that he has been at the helm, Ford chief executive Alan Mulally has downsized Ford's North American operations and negotiated a game-changing contract with the United Auto Workers, notes the Detroit News. He is selling off what he calls "non-core assets" like Jaguar and Land Rover and has mortgaged much of what is left to secure what he calls "the largest home loan in history" to pay for it all. He has assembled a global leadership team, outlined his vision for integrating Ford's global operations and is leading a cultural transformation that is shattering the old ways of doing business at Ford.

I wonder how much Ford stock Mulally owns.
It has to be disclosed somewhere.

There is a growing sense of optimism in Dearborn. There are the impressive quality gains the automaker has achieved, despite one of the most painful downsizings in its 104-year history. There are the customers Ford is reclaiming in key markets like California, and the new products it is preparing to launch later this year.

Ford insiders also point to the smaller victories being won at every level of the company: a few dollars shaved from the cost of a new truck by using common components, a few days cut from the development time of a new crossover by virtual manufacturing analysis, a few million saved by new work rules approved by union members at an assembly plant.

The financial reports Ford releases April 24 will likely reveal the company's sixth consecutive year-over-year improvement.

Wall Street has taken notice. Ford's rising share price has given the automaker a market capitalization far larger than its cross-town rival, General Motors, and Ford watchers increasingly give the company credit for unloading brands and crafting more creative deals with the UAW than its competition.

Mr. Mulally's insistence on teamwork is only part of what is driving this new spirit of cooperation at the top. Ford executives may believe in his turnaround plan, but they also know it is likely the last chance Ford has to get it right.

AFI

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Does this car make me look fat?

2008-04-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

How do I look? Chevy builds 'fitting room' at dealership

The world’s first drive-in fitting room that lets car buyers check out what they look like in their car before they commit to purchase has just been opened, according to an article in Motor Trend magazine.

Despite three out of every four drivers in England saying their car is a status symbol – wanting other drivers to view it as a reflection of the owner’s personality and success – 95 percent admit they have no idea what they actually look like behind the wheel.

Until now.

A Chevrolet dealer in London has created a drive-in "fitting room", a curtained room where buyers can "try on" a car by driving it on to a turntable surrounded by three giant mirrors.

A remote-control handset can rotate the turntable through 360 degrees view of what they actually look like in their vehicles.

Susan Kalair of Chevrolet said: "We’re excited to be the first car brand to introduce a drive-in fitting room. It’s such a simple idea but with 95 percent of drivers saying they have no idea what they look like in their car, we think it could prove a drive-away hit."

(Does that mean that the old guys with toupee's might finally know that it still looks like a toupee even though they are driving a Vette?)
AFI

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Unusual “ride-share” program experiment in Washington DC

2008-03-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

I don't have a huge respect for GM but this is pretty brilliant.

Unusual “ride-share” program in Washington DC provides a steady source of new test riders.

“Slugging” in Washington is a system of ride sharing so that cars can meet the three occupant requirement for using HOV lanes. Randomness of passengers provided an easy way to get a lot of feedback on the new Malibu - and maybe get some word-of-mouth buzz as well.

HOV Lanes

Cars offering rides and passengers looking for a ride (Slugs) meet at predetermined locations inside and outside the city. The driver announces his or her destination and the first person in line for that destination hops in for the ride. In the evening the process is reversed.

A couple of interns working at Chevrolet’s Northeast Regional office came up with the idea to use the system to obtain first-hand consumer reactions to the Malibu. For five weeks after the Washington DC Auto Show, regional employees joined the Slug vehicle lines in the morning and afternoon, offering complete strangers rides in the new Malibu.

Approximately 800 informal test rides were completed during the five-week program. Slug riders offer an interesting base from which to solicit reaction to the newly redesigned and highly touted Malibu. Because the Slug system is so random, riders get to experience just about every type and model of automobile, truck and whatever else makes its way into a Slug line.

2008 Chevrolet Malibu - a born rental car?

Their opinions could be more valuable than the average person met at a dealership. They certainly provide a much wider basis of comparison when it comes to the ride experience in different cars

According to a report in the Washington Times, John Konkel, Chevrolet’s marketing manager for the region says that the feedback has been very positive. According to Konkel, the riders were very impressed with the OnStar turn-by-turn navigation system and that the vehicle had a 110-volt outlet for their portable electronics.

A GM Executive Manager comments. Stay tuned.

Slugging has existed in the DC area since the early 70s. More information can be found at www.slug-lines.com.

DealersEdge Daily Headlines

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GM prepared to take loss on Volt

2008-03-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

As much as I like to tease the electric car makers, the Chevy Volt is slightly impressive (it just looks so cool). Good luck GM!

Carmaker to stick with plug-in through initial sales; admits mistake in early hybrid strategy.

David Shepardson and Eric Morath / The Detroit News

General Motors Corp. could some day sell more than 500,000 Chevrolet Volts annually worldwide, but the company is preparing to lose money "for years" on the range-extended electric vehicle, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Wednesday.

This car is so cool.

While speaking to a group of Volt fanatics at the New York International Auto Show, Lutz said it was a mistake that GM didn't beat Toyota Motor Corp. to market with hybrid vehicles even though the Detroit automaker had electric vehicle technology dating back to the 1960s.

He said GM won't make that error again, even if it means losing money on initial Volt sales.

"We won't make a dime on this car for years, and the board is OK with that," he said. GM was hesitant to go to market with hybrids a decade ago because he said the automaker was likely to lose $250 million a year selling such vehicles.

Lutz said being late to the market with hybrids has cost GM billions in sales because it lost its image of having superior technology.

GM's initial estimates of 60,000 to 100,000 annual Volt sales could grow five-fold, Lutz said, adding that the car is a "game changer" on par with the Ford Model T.

More than 100 Volt fans accepted GM's invitation to attend the New York show and meet executives.

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Find Electric cars on Cars.com.

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Electric cars start to gain some traction as dealerships sprout up

2008-03-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

Alternative car dealers sell alternative power

Ecomotion is not a typical car dealership, reports the New York Times. First, there is the coffee shop just inside the front door. Second, the cars in the showroom are small and shaped a little funny. Some have only three wheels; one is available in a zebra print. All are powered by electric motors.

Ecomotion opened last September and has so far sold about 125 automobiles, including some used hybrids that are kept in a separate showroom. Ecomotion has become one of the top-selling electric vehicle dealerships in the country, selling cars from Zap and Myers Motors.

the ZENN 500 - Powerwheels for a grown-up?

There are now dozens of dealerships in the country selling electric vehicles, including those made by Zap, the Zenn Motor Company and Myers. Many dealerships sell models from several companies.

“Dealerships are what we need more than anything right now,” said Alex Campbell, a Zap spokesman. He said there were about 50 independent dealerships that sell its car, with the majority on the West Coast.

Don't laugh at me please - ZAP Automotive Marketing USA

Though there are E.V. dealerships around the country, many are taking advantage of the West Coast’s fusion of car culture and green sensibilities.

Alternative power once had the alternative lifestyle image of hippie owners driving odd vehicles. Many dealers said that buyers were now people concerned about the environment or Hollywood types looking for eco-cachet.

For celebrities looking to make a statement, Tesla promises that its E.V. sports car will hit the streets sometime this year. The first Tesla dealership is scheduled to open in Los Angeles, possibly in April.

The Tesla Roadster: Very cool - I want one!

Buying a car from an E.V. dealership is similar to buying from a traditional dealer. Many dealerships offer test drives and financing, and service the cars they sell. But there are also differences — they could actually try to talk you out of buying the car.

The dealers said they needed to make sure the car is right for the buyer. The sales staff has to explain that driving a limited number of miles at a limited speed is feasible for most people, but not for everyone. Drivers with highway, hilly or long commutes should buy something else.

The Myers NMG electric car. (this picture might become my icon on some automotive forum. Hmmmm maybe).

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DealersEdge Daily Headlines

Selling Jaguar won’t end Ford's ties to luxury brands

2008-02-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

Technology agreement will tie Ford to brands for several years

DealersEdge Daily Headlines

Ford is widely expected to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover brands to India's Tata Group, but the terms under discussion could keep the U.S. automaker linked to the brands for years to come, according to an analysis in the Wall Street Journal.

The deal between Ford and Tata could come as soon as next week, according to a United Kingdom labor official at a union representing Jaguar and Land Rover workers. People familiar with the matter said the timing was likely but cautioned the talks remain fluid. Tata is expected to pay more than $2 billion for the luxury brands and related facilities and technology.

Ford plans to sell its entire stake in the brands. But Tata signaled to British labor leaders last week that, under the deal, it intends to continue using engines and other parts currently built in Ford-owned plants in the U.K. Tata could continue to get the engines from Ford for the next five years, and perhaps longer, one person familiar with the negotiations said.

Tata faces challenges as it seeks to become a player in the global auto industry, particularly in the luxury arena. Purchasing Jaguar and Land Rover will give the company technological know-how and luxury-car expertise. But it can't afford to stumble over technical issues, making relationships with Ford and existing suppliers important.

A Ford spokesman declined to comment beyond saying executives "expect to have a deal early this year."

A Tata Motors spokesman said that only leather from non-holy cows would be used in the Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.

"Nobody foresees any major problems now; everything is pretty much done," said Roger Maddison, a national officer for the British union Unite, which represents about 16,000 workers at Jaguar and Land Rover. He said a memorandum of understanding between Tata and Ford could be signed as soon as March 5 or 6.

Ford acquired Jaguar for $2.5 billion in 1989 and Land Rover for $2.75 billion in 2000.

Get price Quotes on Jaguar and Land Rover

at Edmunds.com

Jaguar, Land Rover sold to India's Tata Motors

2008-02-25T13:13:00.000-08:00

Tata Motors will announce its purchase of Jaguar Land Rover on March 5 or 6.

The dates have been agreed between Tata and Ford, which is selling the two luxury brands, following talks with trade union leaders last week.

We are big machine - Trust us.

Roger Maddison, national officer of Unite, the largest union in the UK auto industry, told Automotive News Europe Tata had agreed to meet guarantees sought by workers' leaders.

He said, " Everything seems fine as far as we are concerned; it's just the lawyers working on it now."

Union leaders spoke with Ford and Tata to resolve final details before the drawing up of a memorandum of understanding for the sale.

In earlier talks with the two companies, unions had been seeking assurances that Tata would continue to source engines, stampings and other systems from Ford's plants in Bridgend in Wales and Dagenham, near London.

All Jaguar and Land Rover engines come from Ford plants, as do many of Land Rover's stampings.

We may or may not buy your engines Ha.

While Ford would not comment officially on the planned announcement date, insiders confirmed to ANE that March 5 or 6 were " not too far off track."

A Ford source ruled out any kind of announcement at next week's Geneva auto show, where the first press day is on Tuesday, March 4.

At Geneva, Ford is launching a new version of its second-biggest seller, the Fiesta small car.

We plan to overshadow the Fiesta with this beautiful, powerful and impresive machine.

The source said an announcement of a deal with Tata would be held back to avoid overshadowing the debut of this key new model.

" The sooner everything goes through, the better," said Maddison. " The workforces are beginning to get anxious."

Why again did we buy Land Rover?
We already have a blatant copy?

Source to original article.

Get price Quotes on Jaguar and Land Rover

at Edmunds.com

Electric cars face battery of hurdles

2008-02-19T15:39:00.000-08:00

by: Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News

In the rush to deliver an electric car to the masses, General Motors Corp. is finding that the all-important battery might not be the only major hurdle.

The heating and cooling systems, for example, are a challenge because they typically are built to run off a traditional fuel combustion engine. That means new types of air conditioning and heating systems must be built.

GM, in a high-stakes race with Toyota Motor Corp. to turn out an affordable, effective battery-powered car, has found that while the lithium-ion batteries themselves are hitting all the marks on early road tests, a host of other issues are beginning to crop up.

Chevrolet Volt concept

"People tend to believe that if the battery question is solved, everything is solved and the vehicle will work," said Frank Weber, GM's vehicle line executive in charge of the electric car program. "But beyond the battery, the electric vehicle presents challenges that are significant."

A typical modern stereo system, for example, drains too much juice from the battery life. At the same time, there still isn't a supplier base to provide parts for the mass production of electric vehicles.

The quandaries underscore the complexity of what GM and other automakers are trying to achieve in creating an electric car, a feat that involves far more than simply swapping an engine for a high-powered battery cell.

GM executives say, despite the challenges, they still hope to meet a 2010 production goal for their first battery-powered offering: the much-hyped Chevrolet Volt.

The Volt is a variation of a plug-in hybrid vehicle, which Toyota also is racing to bring to market. Nissan Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co., too, are working on developing lithium-ion batteries that are more powerful and durable yet smaller than the nickel-metal hydride batteries in current hybrids.

Durable battery is first task

In the case of the Volt, the battery would drive the powertrain, and an onboard fueling system would recharge the battery on the road. GM is working on that fueling system, known as E-Flex, which would run on gasoline, diesel fuel and hydrogen fuel cells.

Unlike gas-electric hybrids on the road today, everything in the Volt would run solely on battery power. The engine's only job would be to recharge the battery.

GM's first task is to produce a lithium-ion battery that is long-lasting, durable and affordable.

Then, the legions of engineers working on the battery face the challenge of putting together all the components -- from tail lights to heaters -- so that they drain significantly less power from the battery. Once those pieces are in place, GM must build a base of suppliers to provide parts on a mass scale.

"The battery is important, but all the other components are electrified as well," Weber said. "There is not an established supplier community for this. It's a very complicated system with known technological solutions. But they've never been integrated in these forms."

Toyota, which also has set a 2010 goal for producing a plug-in version of its Prius sedan, has the same issue. But the Japanese automaker also has the advantage of having pioneered gas-electric hybrid technology and being the world's leading seller of hybrids.

"The accessories can be a huge draw on the battery, and those have to be managed as well," said Jaycie Chitwood, a strategic planner for Toyota's advanced technologies group.

"But in terms of getting the technology in place, it's a secondary issue."

Because of the limitations of a battery, both automakers are likely to find it virtually impossible to deliver a plug-in vehicle that operates identically to a similar size gas-powered car, said analyst Jim Hall, president of 2953 Analytics LLP in Birmingham.

Efficiency needs to improve.

"An automobile with a gasoline engine as the power plant has a lot of energy on board -- so much energy there are things that we never paid attention to," Hall said. "When you're relying on the battery, all these problems stack up and you realize you have to do all these other things to optimize for range."

In many cases, he said, the suppliers will be better equipped than the automakers to improve on the efficiency of vehicle components.

"This is not so much a matter of invention," he said, "as much as it's an application of technology they wouldn't normally do."

See if there are electric cars for sale on Edmunds.com

What would insurance be like on an Electric Car?

Swiss create the ‘sQuba’ underwater car

2008-02-15T15:04:00.000-08:00

Swiss create Bond-like underwater car
‘sQuba’ concept set to make a splash at Geneva Auto Show
Rinspeed says the ‘sQuba’ is the first real submersible car.

GENEVA - OK, so the Swiss have invented a car that runs on land and underwater. But did they REALLY have to make it a convertible?

It’s called the “sQuba,” and conjures up memories of James Bond’s amphibious Lotus Esprit from “The Spy Who Loved Me.” That fictional vehicle traveled on land and, when chased by bad guys in a helicopter, plunged into the water and became an airtight submarine — complete with “torpedoes” and “depth charges.”

But “Q” isn’t responsible for this one.

The concept car — which unlike Bond’s is not armed — was developed by Swiss designer Rinspeed Inc. and is set to make a splash at the Geneva Auto Show next month.

Company CEO Frank Rinderknecht, a self-professed Bond fan, said he has been waiting 30 years to recreate the car he saw Roger Moore use to drive off of a dock.

The sQuba can plow through the water at a depth of 30 feet and has electrical motors to turn the underwater screw.

You’ll have to break out the wetsuit, however.

The car has an open top, meaning that the two passengers are exposed to the elements.

“For safety reasons, we have built the vehicle as an open car so that the occupants can get out quickly in an emergency,” said Rinderknecht, 52.

Passengers will be able to keep breathing underwater through an integrated tank of compressed air similar to what is used in scuba diving.

The sQuba’s top speed on land is about 77 mph, but it slows down to 3 mph on the surface of the water, and 1.8 mph underwater.

Working with engineering specialists, Rinspeed removed the combustion engine from a sports car and replaced it with several electrical motors. Three are located in the rear — er, aft — with one providing propulsion on land and the other two driving the screw for underwater driving.

“We always want to do cars that are outrageous, which nobody has done before. So we thought, ’Let’s make a car dive,”’ said Rinderknecht, whose innovative company has made transparent, flying and voice-activated cars in previous attention-grabbing displays at the Geneva Auto Show.

The company calls the sQuba the first real submersible car. Unlike military amphibious vehicles, which can only drive slowly on a lakebed, the sQuba travels like a submarine — either on the surface or submerged.

The interior is resistant to salt water, allowing the skipper to drive into a lake or the sea.

“Many concept cars introduce important new technology,” said John Cabaniss at the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers in Washington. “Anything to improve the efficiency of a vehicle, streamlining or reducing the weight of materials, while maintaining strength ... is put into concept cars first.”

See if there are underwater cars for sale on Edmunds.com

What would insurance be like on an underwater car?

The Great Dealership Downturn

2008-02-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

From Now

To Then?

Cliff Banks
Ward's Dealer Business

Prediction time — Sometime, probably in early 2010, when Ward's run its annual number of roof tops and sales per brand, the automotive industry may be in for a shock because the number of existing dealerships very likely could be much less than it is today.

The total numbers for 2007 aren't in yet (check back next month) but 2006 finished with just under 22,000 dealerships.

By the end of 2009, that number could very well be between 19,000 and 20,000 rooftops.

We know the domestics are trying to reduce their dealership ranks. Till now, the “Big Three” officially have allowed the market to drive much of that process.
There are indications, though, that General Motors is about to become more aggressive in that arena. GM sales and marketing executive Mark LaNeve downplayed recent media reports of GM's aggressive stance, but the situation bears watching.

Ford appears to be on track with its plan, however, with approximately 400 of its dealers exiting the market in the last two years. One problem, though, we hear many of those stores are minority dealers.

The good news is, Ford dealers' profitability was up in 2007 — mostly at Lincoln Mercury stores. Still improvements fall far short what it was in the heady years at the end of the last decade.

It's anybody's guess as to what happens with Chrysler this year. For now, it appears there is no money set aside to facilitate dealers getting out of the game. A lot of you seem to be hanging on to see what happens but from here in Detroit, it looks like Chrysler is in for a couple of rough years yet.

Another brand working on a dealer reduction plan is Volvo, which has said it will eliminate about 20% of its 350 dealers.

When you start adding the numbers up, losing 2,000 dealerships isn't such a stretch.
And, if sales do drop to the 15.5-15.6 million level this year as many analysts are predicting, we can expect more dealers to get out.

It will be interesting to see at this year's National Automobile Dealers Assn.

convention in San Francisco, how Dale Willey and Annette Sykora handle their message to auto makers to leave dealers alone and let the market run its course.

There probably will be some tough meetings behind closed doors this year.

Another trend we'll see is privately owned dealer groups will get larger. One large group in Texas tells me it plans to acquire as many 50-60 stores in the next couple of years.

A director at another group in the Southeast says his company loves downturn years. “Those are years we capture a lot of share,” he says. They also are reworking some of their framework agreements with certain OEMs to allow for more flexibility in how many rooftops they can own.

For those of you who can hang on, the struggle might be worth it — some analysts are predicting the market to rebound to the 17 million-unit level by the end of the decade.

See new car factory invoices on Edmunds.com

What would insurance be like on a pre-owned Car?

John Kerry's SUV Hybrid Sitting On Used Car Lot

2008-02-14T10:05:00.000-08:00

According to Kerry’s Chief of Staff, the senator is helping the fight against global warming and reduction of greenhouse gases by giving shorter speeches.

Ecorazzi.com that dubs itself “the latest in green gossip” headlined the news that Kerry’s used Hybrid is sitting on the used car lot at Koons Ford in Falls Church after having been traded for a 2008 Tahoe Hybrid.

Those interested in owning the used hybrid of a famous senator and past-Democratic nominee for President are urged to act quickly. There is no word on how many miles are on the vehicle, but a companion article found at WashingtonPost.com notes that the vehicle has a price tag of about $26,000.

The Washington Post.com asks the question, “But what is Kerry, Mr. Saving the Planet Jr. (Al Gore is Senior) doing getting rid of his hybrid? Is he going back to a gas-guzzling ozone-destroying emissions way of the past?”

Apparently they contacted the senator’s office with that question and were assured that this was not the case and that Kerry replaced his 2-year old Escape with a new Tahoe Hybrid, which they quickly pointed out was the 2008 Green Car of the Year. According to Kerry’s chief of staff, David Wade, it is a 40 percent increase in fuel efficiency.

As usual, when politicians use percentages you have to look for a little deception. In the Ecrorazzi.com version of the story, they are quick to point out that the senator traded a hybrid that gets 30 miles per gallon for one that only gets 22 mpg. Again, quoting Ecorazzi.com - “Tsk, tsk.”

You might recall that during the 2004 election Kerry was questioned about his family’s use of a gas-guzzling Chevy Suburban at their ski-country mansion - one of their many. Husband of super-wealthy heiress to the Heinz fortune, Kerry countered that this was not his vehicle, but was owned by “the family.” Apparently he has found a way to keep is big SUV and environmental conscience too.

See if there are hybrid's for sale on Edmunds.com

What would insurance be like on a Hybrid?

Lentz to Dealers - No Magic Dust for Success

2008-02-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

By Marty Bernstein
AIADA Contributing Editor

Jim Lentz, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, told the 500+ audience at the American International Automobile Dealers Association’s 38th annual luncheon meeting in San Francisco, “There’s no Toyota magic dust I can sprinkle to make things better. It won’t happen, but I can tell you this… we will get through this year, the challenge will make us stronger and the long term outlook is very good.”

Lentz was responding to the industry events and days leading up to the luncheon in San Francisco. The general tone of conversations during NADA’s annual convention was cautious, careful and to some degree concerned as the slowing of the economy impacts the retail automobile business. Optimism was not rampant.

Yet from Toyota’s industry perspective all was not doom and gloom. Their projection for the U.S. market at the close of the year remains around 16 million vehicles, slightly down from 2007, but as Lentz noted, “Instead of seeing 2007 as the worst year in the last nine, we think it will be one of the best eleven years in automotive history.”

Continuing, “It wasn’t all that long ago when 16 million cars were seen as an incredible year.” Supporting this approach, he commented on the auto needs of an aging population, the growing younger demographic entering car buying years, low inflation combined with low interest rates, the Fed’s quick responses and Congress’ move to pass a near term stimulus plan. Toyota, he said, “Is optimistic about the future because people love cars!”

To make things better and brighter the automobile industry needs to understand and know how to help consumers through these turbulent times. Findings from the Scan Study by DYG, a research firm specializing in trends and motivations which his company uses, Lentz discussed how America is becoming a Super Saturated Society.

“Today’s consumers are super stressed and overwhelmed by too much information and too many choices. It’s the result of too much information, too many choices, multi-tasking, technological speed, non-stop media coverage and endless choices.”

Responding to the societal changes will require adapting to these changes proactively by eliminating the “hassle” out of car buying by providing low or no maintenance products, offering valet ownership plans, creating a faster, less complicated F&I process and generally, “reducing the time customers spend in dealerships.”

Another area which needs modification and change to meet customers’ needs the actual process of buying and servicing a car and making the time they do spend in a dealership more enjoyable. Both Toyota and Lexus the past year have urged their dealers to upgrade and improve facilities which add to the ambiance, comfort and convenience of a visit to a dealer’s store.

Next, Toyota’s president hit on improving the service department, “We were able to prove a direct link between a good service department experience and future car sales. To do this, each service call should be viewed as an opportunity to solve a problem by evidencing initiative and expertise that will be remembered.”

Lentz also chided his company for “causing needless confusion among dealers and customers by assigning different names to the same set of specs on a vehicle.” He said, “The goal is to weed-out and eliminate these inconsistencies and create a simple, common language everyone can understand.”

Alluding to the magic dust, Lentz cited the feeling that Toyota dealers are the company’s closest business partners. As such, “We try to get their feedback before making any major moves. All that give and take played out over 50 years has created a priceless trust that is the foundation of our success.”

Lentz ended his remarks by encouraging the audience to stay active in the AIADA and say involved with the legislative process in Washington. “Congress is always working on issues that can affect our business and we need your help to make sure our voice is heard. This made a huge difference last year before the crucial vote on the CAFE bill.”

The year ahead, he emphasized, is critical to the automobile industry on issues regarding vehicle safety, free trade, climate change, and the state-by-state movement to further regulate greenhouse gases. The importance of the election of a new president and new Congress will have major ramifications on our future.

“So, this is no time to be timid, lose focus or get complacent. We all need to stay informed, stay active, and stay united to protect our business. There is no magic dust; it’s about hard work and working together.”

See factory invoices for new Toyota's on Edmunds.com

What would insurance be like on an Toyota?

Jury finds Florida car dealer guilty in “out-of-trust” case

2008-02-12T20:55:00.001-08:00

Former Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealer faces up to five years as a guest of federal taxpayers.

The former owner of Big Oaks Buick Pontiac GMC Inc. in Bartow, Florida, was found guilty by a federal jury in Tampa on 11 counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit both, reports the Lakeland Ledger.

John Giovanetti, was charged with the theft of $2.5 million by having employees file fake documents to receive financing from SunTrust bank.

Mr. Giovanetti now faces up to five years in prison for conspiracy and up to 30 years for each count of the wire and bank fraud counts. He also faces a fine of $2.25 million.

The former dealer was convicted of conspiring with two former employees, the dealership controller and the general manager, to obtain funding from SunTrust to purchase vehicle inventory in 2004, according to the indictment.

During several months in 2004, at least 12 fraudulent documents were submitted by the dealership to SunTrust, listing at least 44 vehicles for purchase that had already been sold.

The money obtained from the bank was used in "the day-to-day operations of the dealership and to support the owner's lifestyle," the indictment read.

Before the trial, the dealership controller and the general manager both agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and testified against their boss.

Their plea agreements stipulated that the controller would forfeit $56,500 and the general manager $85,000, their respective total salaries for 2004 which represent "the minimum amount of proceeds obtained by the defendant as a result of the offense."

The Pontiac-Buick-GMC store was eventually bought at auction by Michael Holley.

Mr. Holley paid $3.6 million for the GM franchise and its assets.

Dealership employees “borrow” an Infiniti G35 to video street racing stunts

2008-02-08T17:46:00.000-08:00

Bellevue Washington dealership employees “borrow” an Infiniti G35 to video street racing stunts - wanted video to post on YouTube

But bright, they are not. “Drifting”, the art of sliding the rear wheels sideways while burning rubber was the trick. A parking lot right next to the State Patrol’s regional office was the location. The outcome obvious - or should have been.

Late last Sunday night, two 21-year-old Bellevue Washington dealership employees got a great idea. An Infiniti G35 had just been traded in, and one can guess that their discussion somehow gravitated to street racing. So, who would know - they decided to take the car for a joy ride, apparently to demonstrate their “drifting” skills for the video camera. The video was intended for posting on YouTube.

“Borrowing” the car was not a bright idea to start with, but these two geniuses decided to compound the error with a series of bad decisions.

First bad idea: The chose a parking lot right next door to the regional office of the Washington State Patrol. A trooper returning to the Patrol’s office heard the wheels screeching and saw the car as it “drifted” through the turns in the neighboring parking lot. Both were arrested at the scene.

Second bad idea: videotaping the entire scene. Some of the video was shot by either Dumb or Dumber from the curb as the other drove. When the trooper spotted the video camera he confiscated it and was rewarded with video tape evidence of the entire episode.

Their voices were obviously recorded throughout the adventure. The final few seconds of the recording show the police cruiser approaching, while one says, “I’m going sh**, cop up here!” and then the recording ends.

Both were charged with felony malicious mischief and the driver with reckless driving. The charges sound serious enough but given the growing number of innocent victims killed each year by reckless “street racers,” it seems that this type of behavior should draw a more serious penalty.

Dealers Edge.

Toyota dealership employees will take it all off for charity

2008-02-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

Employees at an Illinois dealership plan to raise money for charity with an unusual gambit.

The employees at Belleville Toyota in Belleville, Illinois, like to consider themselves one big family. And as a family, they do things in bunches. The dealership's employees have all agreed to do something outrageous in support of four local charities, according to a report in the Belleville Intelligencer.

Sixteen employees - both male and female - will say goodbye to their hair in a ceremony at the dealership. Even the dealership owner said he decided to shave his head after two close relatives died of cancer.

"I was adamant I was going to do it to show my support for people with cancer who lose their hair to chemotherapy. And I was taken aback when everyone here decided to join me," dealer/owner George Farlow said.

The group hopes to raise more than $10,000 for the local cancer society, a hospice, the lung association and the diabetes foundation.

Members of the public will drop into the dealership and make a financial pledge to the charity of their choice before the cut-a-thon.

Isuzu to exit U.S. car market

2008-02-02T08:02:00.000-08:00

Isuzu exec: Competition hurt us

Financial problems in the early part of this decade and the intensely competitive U.S. automobile market led to the downfall of Isuzu's passenger vehicle business in North America, according to an Associated Press report.

Isuzu Motors, famous for developing one of the first midsize sport utility vehicles and an ad campaign that featured a salesman telling lies, announced that it will stop selling new pickups and SUVs in North America on Jan. 31, 2009.

The Japanese company had financial problems and restructured to become profitable again earlier this decade, but in doing so had to reduce investments and expenses, said Terry Maloney, president and chief operating officer of Isuzu Motors America Inc.

Isuzu's U.S. sales peaked in 1986 at 123,000 vehicles, mainly on sales of the Trooper SUV, but the company sold only 7,098 pickups and SUVs in 2007.

Isuzu said in a statement that it will back its products and dealers for years to come, honoring all product warranties and roadside assistance programs. Purchase an extended warranty for Isuzu through SmartAutowarranty.com
.

Mr. Maloney said Isuzu will remain in the U.S. with its commercial vehicles and diesel engine technology.

Find Isuzu cars and trucks for sale through the Edmunds.com
website.

See if there are Isuzu's for sale on Edmunds.com

What would insurance be like on an Isuzu?

Rick Case opens first smart dealership

2008-01-29T16:40:00.000-08:00

Rick Case, one of South Florida’s most recognized automotive and motorcycle groups and smart USA dealer, opened the first smart car dealership in the United States - Rick Case’s Smart Center Weston – January 19. The smart cars arrived early that morning and the first owner received their car that afternoon.

“I am so excited that Smart Center Weston is the first smart dealership to open in the country,” said Rick Case, smart USA dealer. “Smart vehicles have been around in Europe for many years, and it’s a privilege to be the first to introduce these fuel efficient cars to the United States market.”

James McDonnell was the proud owner of the first ever smart car in the United States. smart vehicles are known not only for their high gas mileage but also for their safety. Smart fortwos also allow ample room within the vehicle – during the opening weekend, a 6’5”, 350 pound customer sat comfortably in the car with a passenger. Forty smart fortwos were delivered to Rick Case’s Smart Center Weston, kicking off what is sure to be the new craze in the automotive industry.

More than 500 people visited Smart Center Weston during its opening weekend, including two individuals who flew in from Long Island, NY specifically to test drive the smart fortwo. Of those 500 curious individuals, 125 people took the unique vehicle for a test drive.

Rick Case was given the exclusive rights to open smart dealerships in Broward County, one of only 68 United States dealers to sell the fuel efficient vehicles. The brand news smart dealership to open in the United States, Smart Center Weston, is located on I-75 next to the Cleveland Clinic and just North of the Rick Case Hyundai dealership in Weston at 3500 Weston Road. Three models of the smart fortwo, a two-seater 8.8 ft long vehicle available in either coupe or convertible, will be available. The entry-level pure coupe starts at $11,590 MSRP. The passion coupe starts at $13,590 MSRP and the passion cabrio starts at $ 16,590 MSRP.

Rita and Rick Case were chosen to open the new dealerships because of their friendly customer handling process and unique customer benefits such as rewards, free car washes, discount gas, in dealership Broward County Clerk of the Court office with wedding chapel, South Florida’s largest collision center and express service center servicing all makes and models.

Smart vehicles, which have been manufactured by Mercedes Benz for over 10 years, are known for their high gas mileage (more than 40 miles per gallon), compactness (two smart cars can fit in one traditional parking spot), performance (top speed is 90 miles-per-hour) and safety (reinforced steel safety cage like those on NASCAR race cars). Characterized as a “fun” and economical car, smart vehicles can be found on the streets of 36 countries including England, France, Italy, Spain and Canada. Smart fortwos are affordable as well as a solution to current driving challenges.

The cars are available in six body panel colors including: deep black, silver metallic, red metallic, light yellow, crystal white and blue metallic with a choice of black or silver tridion cell accents. Additionally, the smart fortwo offers five interior color choices including: black leather, design beige, design black, plain grey and design red.

Chrysler offers buyouts to 13,000 in Detroit area

2008-01-29T16:35:00.000-08:00

January 29, 2008

BY TIM HIGGINS

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Chrysler LLC offered buyout and early retirement packages Monday to about 13,000 Detroit-area hourly UAW members as the automaker works to cut its overall hourly workforce by as many as 10,000 people.

Monday's effort aims primarily to reduce workers at support facilities that are seeing the domino effect of recent production cuts at the automaker's assembly plants.

Packages offering lump-sum payments as high as $100,000 were offered to UAW workers at the Sterling Heights and Warren stamping plants, the Trenton and Mack Avenue engine plants, Conner Avenue Assembly Plant, Detroit Axle, Mt. Elliott Tool and Die, and the Sterling Heights Vehicle Test Center, Chrysler spokeswoman Michele Tinson said.

In addition, she said, the 1,140-person second shift at Sterling Heights Assembly Plant was offered packages, and 770 hourly workers at Warren Truck Plant, which is idle this week, are expected to be offered buyouts, too.

Also, 110 salaried UAW members at the company's Auburn Hills technology center and elsewhere will be able to take early retirement effective Thursday.

About 500 workers at Jefferson North Assembly Plant already had a chance to show interest in a buyout package this month, Tinson said.

Outside the Detroit area, workers at assembly plants in Belvidere, Ill., St. Louis and Toledo already faced deadlines to express interest in buyout packages that were offered.

Chrysler had said it wants to eliminate about 900 jobs at the Jefferson facility in Detroit, 780 jobs at the Toledo North plant and 1,096 jobs at the Belvidere factory.

"That seems to be on plan," Aaron Bragman, an analyst at Global Insight, said of Monday's announcement. "This is reducing headcount so they can get costs down."

Of the packages offered Monday, an estimated 4,600 are early-retirement eligible. The early-retirement package includes a lump sum of $70,000. The $100,000 buyout package is for eligible employees with at least one year of service. The deadline is Feb. 18.

Chrysler negotiated the packages with the UAW, which did not want to make a comment Monday. Tinson said the job cuts are related to volume reductions.

Monday's offers seemed to focus on facilities that do so-called noncore work. Under the new UAW contracts with Chrysler, non-assembly workers can be replaced by new hires whose pay and benefits cost half as much as those for current assembly workers. But Chrysler has indicated that the current cuts are solely related to cutting capacity to meet falling consumer demand.

Chrysler is not alone in Detroit in its efforts to reduce its workforce. Ford Motor Co. has started rolling out buyout offers. GM has only begun the first phase of its program and aims to offer packages to the rest of its UAW workforce next month.

Some analysts wonder whether Chrysler will have a greater challenge getting workers to take buyouts because its workforce is younger than GM's.

The average age of Chrysler's UAW hourly workers is 46 with 30% of workforce eligible for retirement within five years, according to research by Sean McAlinden, vice president of research at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.

Meanwhile, 64% of GM's workforce is within five years of being eligible to retire; the workforce's average age is 49.

"They're young and looking around going, 'There's nothing else in this market. I can't necessarily leave because the housing market is so awful,' " Bragman said of Chrysler workers. "It is still a difficult decision to actually leave the company -- $100,000 notwithstanding."

The UAW told its members in October that Chrysler plans to close the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit some time over the next four years. The Detroit Axle plant is slated to close after the new Marysville axle facility comes online; the union has said UAW members will have the right to transfer to the new facility.

In November, Chrysler announced plans to eliminate as many as 10,000 hourly jobs on top of the 11,000 hourly jobs planned for elimination as part of the February 2007 turnaround plan.

G.M. sees improved outlook, but says economy could hurt

2008-01-25T07:25:00.000-08:00

GM Details Its Turnaround Progress and Outlines 2008 Priorities

Next phase of special attrition program to be launched in February U.S. labor agreement to yield additional savings of $5 billion by 2011 New automotive structural cost target of 23% of revenue by 2012 GM expects continued growth in emerging markets

DETROIT, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner and Vice Chairman and CFO Fritz Henderson spoke to automotive analysts at a GM conference today, giving detailed reviews of the company's turnaround progress, outlining the automaker's priorities for the year and providing a preview of improvement opportunities for 2010 and beyond.

"We're delivering on the turnaround plan we established in 2005, and have exceeded expectations on virtually all counts," Wagoner said. "We've set a strong foundation that we can truly build on. We're encouraged by our progress in revitalizing our product portfolio, strengthening our brands, reducing structural cost and growing the business globally. At the same time, it's clear that we'll face some challenging headwinds in 2008.

"To continue driving the company's transformation, we'll remain steadfast in our efforts to introduce great cars and trucks and new advanced propulsion technologies, take full advantage of growth markets around the world, and accelerate our efforts to reduce structural costs to even more competitive levels in North America," Wagoner added.

Turnaround Progress
Since introducing its North America turnaround plan in 2005, GM has delivered significant progress in its massive restructuring, including:

-- Product excellence -- Dramatically improved vehicle design and performance is gaining broad recognition, demonstrated by robust sales of recently launched vehicles and numerous industry awards, including 2008 North America Car of the Year for the Chevrolet Malibu, 2008 Motor Trend Car of the Year for the Cadillac CTS, and 2007 North America Car and Truck of the Year awards for the Saturn Aura and Chevrolet Silverado;

-- Revitalize the sales and marketing strategy -- The company has fundamentally changed its "go to market" approach, resulting in stronger brands, re-alignment of its brand distribution channels, stabilized retail market share, significant reductions in daily rental sales and higher average transaction prices;

-- Intensify the focus on cost and quality -- GM reduced annual structural cost in North America from 2005 to 2007 by $9 billion, driven by the 2005 hourly healthcare agreement, revisions to U.S. salaried healthcare and pension programs, capacity reduction actions, special attrition programs for 34,000 hourly employees, and efficiencies achieved in other activities. Significant improvements also continue to be made in vehicle quality, as measured by both internal and industry metrics;

-- Address healthcare/legacy cost burden -- Reflecting the impact of historical agreements with the United Auto Workers union (UAW) and several other key initiatives, GM anticipates that its spending on U.S. hourly and salaried pension and healthcare will be reduced from an average of $7 billion per year over the last 15 years, to approximately $1 billion per year beginning in 2010.

Despite continued pressures in the German market, GM has also made significant progress in its Europe (GME) operations, driven by strong new products, successful implementation of its multi-brand strategy, especially the rapid growth of the Chevrolet brand, which contributed to record GME unit sales of over 2 million in 2007. Rapid expansion in Russia and Eastern Europe, and further structural cost reductions have also contributed to the improvements.

GM's total automotive results have demonstrated strong progress since 2005, marked by significant improvements in both adjusted net income and adjusted operating cash flow through the first three quarters of 2007. GM continues to have strong liquidity, with 2007 year-end gross liquidity estimated to be more than $27 billion, up from $20.4 billion at year-end 2005.
2008 Outlook
Acknowledging headwinds facing the industry, including weak U.S. auto industry sales volumes, high fuel prices, high commodity and steel prices, and mounting regulatory requirements, Wagoner outlined the following focus areas for 2008 designed to continue the momentum and achieve improved financial results:

-- Continue to execute great products
-- Build strong brands and distribution channels
-- Execute additional cost reduction initiatives
-- Take full advantage of growth in emerging markets
-- Build GM's advanced propulsion leadership position
-- Maximize the benefits of running the business globally

For 2008, GM projects global industry volume to reach a record high of approximately 73 million units, up from about 71 million in 2007, with growth in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East and Europe. GM anticipates U.S. industry sales will likely be in the low 16-million range, reflecting continuing high fuel prices and sub-par consumer confidence. Despite industry pressures, GM expects to increase revenues in all of its regions, particularly in emerging markets.

Building on notable product successes including the Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Malibu, GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook and Buick Enclave in the U.S. and the Opel Corsa in Europe, GM will continue to introduce a host of new products including the Pontiac G8 and Chevrolet Traverse in the U.S. and Opel Insignia in Europe. Capital spending is projected to be up slightly from 2007 levels to about $8 billion in 2008.

On the sales and marketing front, GM will continue its efforts -- most clearly demonstrated in the recent launch of the Chevy Malibu in the U.S. -- to more effectively integrate product and brand marketing strategies. GM will accelerate the alignment of its seven U.S. brands into four distinct dealer channels: Chevrolet, Saturn, Buick/Pontiac/GMC and Cadillac/Hummer/SAAB. By doing this, the company expects to enhance dealer profitability and over time facilitate more highly differentiated products and brands.

With regard to cost competitiveness, GM has made major strides toward achieving its global target of reducing automotive structural costs to benchmark levels of 25% of revenue by 2010. Structural costs are already below 30 percent, compared to 34% in 2005, despite weaker than expected U.S. industry volumes. In light of the progress already made, the company fully expects structural costs as a percentage of revenue to be further reduced beyond 2010, with a target of 23% by 2012.

In support of those goals, the company plans to reduce annual U.S. labor costs by an additional estimated $5 billion by 2011.
A significant portion of those reductions will be driven by the implementation of the 2007 GM-UAW contract, including the independent healthcare VEBA scheduled to begin in 2010, and in the shorter term by taking full advantage of the workforce restructuring opportunities included in the contract, including a "non-core" wage and benefit structure which will result in the re-classification of a significant number of jobs over time.

To facilitate these changes, GM launched, in cooperation with the UAW, the first phase of a voluntary special attrition program for hourly workers in January 2008. This phase applies to those at select job banks, Service Parts Operations (SPO), and other key sites. Employees participating in this phase will begin to exit in March. GM announced today that Phase 2 of the program, under active discussion with the UAW, will be launched in February in all other plants. Participating employees will begin exiting in April. For both phases of the program, 46,000 existing employees are eligible for retirement.

During the conference, GM also reiterated its strategy to achieve manufacturing capacity utilization of 100 percent, or greater, in countries with higher labor costs. Based on current U.S. industry volume levels, additional capacity actions would be required in vehicle assembly, stamping and powertrain facilities. The company will continue to assess U.S. industry and product mix trends, and what potential actions may be required over the coming months.

GM will continue its aggressive plans to grow in emerging markets such as China, Brazil, Russia and India. To strengthen its position in China, where it was the first automaker to sell 1 million units in a single year, GM intends to continue to build its corporate reputation, expand its product portfolio with fuel-efficient products, drive full implementation of its multi-brand strategy, expand capacity, and develop our local supply base and technology capability.

At GMAC Financial Services, while its mortgage business faces continued challenges relating to weaknesses in the housing and credit markets, its auto financing business remains profitable and its insurance operations continue to perform well. GMAC expects Residential Capital, LLC (ResCap) to meet its year-end 2007 financial covenants, and GM believes GMAC remains adequately capitalized.

In addition, GMAC's liquidity position is at relatively high historical levels and GMAC expects to be profitable in 2008, with substantially reduced losses at ResCap due to risk mitigation actions undertaken by the company.
Looking Ahead to 2010

Looking ahead, GM expects continued cost savings and improved automotive pre-tax earnings by 2010, compared to 2007 levels, driven by a number of factors.

The most significant savings is the estimated $4-5 billion GM expects to gain in 2010 once it realizes the full-impact of the 2007 GM-UAW labor agreement related to the shift of U.S. hourly health care to an independent VEBA, and takes advantage of favorable labor demographics to adjust workforce levels and transition a portion of the workforce to the new non-core wage structure.

In addition, GM will reduce the cost premiums it has historically paid to Delphi for systems, components and parts by approximately $1 billion by 2010. Those savings will be offset by various labor and transitional subsidies of $400-500 million under Delphi's proposed reorganization, resulting in net savings of approximately $500 million.

GM also sees the probability of a stronger U.S. industry in 2009 and beyond, as compared to the relatively low 16.5 million total industry in 2007. All indications are that 16.5 million units are approximately 1 million units below trend. It is estimated that a move of the industry back to trend levels by 2010 would generate additional pre-tax income to GM in the range of approximately $1 billion to $1.5 billion annually.

Beyond these factors, there are a number of additional opportunities to further improve GM earnings and cash flow by 2010, though they are more difficult to predict with specificity. These include: additional material cost reductions due to continued leveraging of global vehicle architectures, improved pricing driven by compelling designs and stronger brands, continued explosive growth in revenue and profitability in emerging markets, and improved performance at GMAC.

At the same time, continued U.S. industry product mix deterioration, regulatory cost increases and the ongoing competitiveness of the marketplace pose potential risks to GM's profitability.

Considering the foregoing, GM management expects to significantly improve operating results, including earnings and cash flow, over the next two to three years.

Source: General Motors Corp via PR Newswire .

2008-01-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

Downturn nearing an end, auto report says

2008-01-08T13:51:00.001-08:00

Automotive Industry Ramps up Production of Fuel Efficient Cars and Races to Find Alternative Fuel Sources, KPMG Survey Finds

DETROIT, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Automotive industry executives have identified finding alternative fuel sources as the number one trend facing the industry and are focused on producing low cost cars and hybrids to meet consumer demand, according to an annual global survey by KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm.

In the KPMG survey, based on interviews with 113 senior executives at vehicle manufacturers and suppliers worldwide, auto execs said quality (86 percent) and fuel efficiency (84 percent) are the two key factors for consumers in making a purchase in the next five years. Other top consumer criteria are safety (70 percent) and affordability (69 percent). The execs also feel that car buyers will want vehicles using alternative fuel sources, which has jumped considerably in importance from KPMG's survey a year ago (65 percent versus 53 percent).

"The industry knows where it is and knows where it needs to be," said Daron Gifford, National Automotive Leader for KPMG LLP. "It needs to produce quality vehicles that are fuel efficient, especially in this economic cycle, and it needs to invest heavily in developing alternative sources of power. We found the execs in our survey more optimistic than past years, and that's largely because the landscape before them is clearer on the direction they need to go."

To meet demand, auto execs in the KPMG survey said that in the next five years, in terms of global market share and units sold, 81 percent expect major increases in low cost/introduction cars and an equal percentage expect increases in hybrids. This was followed by cars, at 67 percent, and crossovers at 58 percent. Categories of vehicles expected to fall are SUVs and large pick-ups, with 47 percent projecting a decrease in SUVs and 50 percent projecting a decrease in large pickups.

Asked to rate the importance of automotive product innovations over the next five years, 79 percent cited hybrid systems and 78 percent fuel cell technology, with safety innovations trailing at 67 percent.

The auto industry projected alternative fuel/hybrid vehicles sales to be in the 500,000 to 600,000 range by the end of 2007. Thirty-two percent of execs in the KPMG survey felt that we will see an equal number sold in 2008, while 25 percent saw a modest increase to 600,000 to 700,000 vehicles. Sixteen percent expect sales in the 700,000 to 800,000 range, with 27 percent expecting sales to top 800,000. The execs surveyed last year under projected sales of alternative/hybrid vehicles for 2007; only 17 percent expected sales to top 500,000.

"The auto execs expect heavy investment in new models/products and new technologies in the next two years as well as building capacity in Asia," said KPMG's Gifford. "Not investing puts manufacturers at risk in terms of market and product differentiation, resulting in market share decline."

Investment in China has been so strong that the number of cars sold in China could equal that of the United States in the next five years, the execs said. In addition, they feel that China will sell a significant number of cars in the U.S. in 6-10 years. What also may result, however, are problems with overcapacity, with 45 percent of the execs saying that overcapacity in China will become an issue in the next five years.

In the KPMG survey, the executives interviewed represented vehicle manufacturers and suppliers in Canada, United States, England, France, Germany, Sweden, India, China, South Korea, Japan and Australia. KPMG has released an annual survey of automotive executives expressing their views on the state of the industry since 1999.

Where's that Small-Car Shift?

2008-01-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

By James M. Amend
Ward's Dealer Business

Detroit — With U.S. gasoline prices currently at $3 a gallon and growing consumer awareness of environmental issues, small cars should be the U.S. auto industry's hottest segment.

Not quite yet, says GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner.

“It's been sort of surprising,” Wagoner says during an interview at the auto maker's headquarters here. “We haven't seen a radical shift.”

Sales of small cars in the U.S. through November were relatively flat, up 0.7%, or 16,403 units, to 2.3 million compared with year-ago, according to Ward's data. The segment accounted for 15.9% of the total light-vehicle market in the U.S., up from 15.4% in like-2006 but still fourth behind midsize cars, cross/utility vehicles and pickup trucks.

The lower small-car sub-segment, however, has been doing well. U.S. sales through November jumped 35.4% to 338,675 units from prior year's 250,072, Ward's data shows. But that was due mostly to an influx of new product such as the Honda Fit, experts suggest, and only accounts for 2.3% of total industry light-vehicle sales.

Meanwhile, the volume-leading upper small sub-segment, which includes vehicles such as the Toyota Matrix and Mazda3 5-door, saw deliveries fall 3.7% to 1.8 million units in the period from year ago's 1.9 million units.

Wagoner blames a weak economy, which has caused lower-income families to postpone new-vehicle purchases.

“You lose more sales at the bottom of the market because the people buying the smaller category of vehicle are buying it because that's what they can afford,” he says.

Should gasoline prices remain elevated for an extended period of time, the long-anticipated shift to small cars could occur, Wagoner admits.

Auto makers should begin building more compelling vehicles for the segment, says Brett Hoselton, an analyst with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

He points to Europe, where small cars draw buyers for their value and fuel economy but don't sacrifice features.

“In Europe, buyers don't have to sacrifice content,” he says. “In the U.S., as the euphemism goes, you're not going to get the heated seats.”

Wagoner says GM's options for building a premium small car for sale globally are becoming greater and more cost-effective than ever before.

The Saturn Astra is one example. GM will import the car from its Adam Opel GmbH subsidiary for sale in the U.S. next year as a test of how American drivers take to cars with a decidedly European flavor.

It also will demonstrate whether Saturn can compete with brands such as Volkswagen and Honda, rather than “more modestly positioned” names, Wagoner says. “It's an important step in that direction.”

New Year Brings Harsh Realities

2008-01-07T09:09:00.000-08:00

By Drew Winter
WardsAuto.com

CommentaryIt started out innocently enough as a conversation about Christmas gifts. “People my age value experiences over material things,” my 21-year-old told me.

I assumed he was just politely asking for cash and didn’t think much of it.

Then, during a recent meeting with Ward’s editors, Ford sales analyst George Pipas used almost exactly the same words to explain the entire Millennial generation, people born between the late 1970s and late 1990s, feel the same way my son does.
In other words, the children of Baby Boomers do not aspire to vehicle ownership like we did.

Instead of daydreaming about buying a Ford Expedition they can use for camping trips with friends and family, many Millenials may want to rent the big SUV for just the camping trip, Pipas explained. The vehicle is just another element of the experience, not the foundation for it.

The next weekend they might rent a canoe.
That sent a chill down my spine.

Millenials, otherwise known as Gen Y, or Echo Boomers because they are the children of Baby Boomers, are the linchpin of most optimistic long-term automotive growth forecast.

Numbering about 75 million in the U.S., alone, they are the largest and most influential demographic since their parents.

They have been the apple of every mass-marketer’s eye for the past 10 years and are predicted to be a major driver of new-vehicle sales.

Based on the assumption that Millenials and even younger generations would exhibit the same buying patterns as their parents, Jim Press, then president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., used to predict the U.S. eventually would see 20 million annual sales, far exceeding 2000’s 17.4 million record.

In 2005, Press told attendees at the Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City that he loved to visit hospital maternity wards. “Every one of those little baskets is 20 purchase cycles,” he said.

Toyota still is doing well. It is battling GM for global dominance, and Ward’s forecasts it will eclipse Ford for the No.2 spot on the full-year U.S. sales chart.
But there has been little talk of 20 million-unit years lately. Ward’s is expecting 2007 sales to end up at a little over 16 million units.

The housing crisis, tough new fuel-economy legislation and sagging consumer confidence have most forecasters predicting 2008 will be an even weaker sales year.
And now wrong assumptions about future buying behavior may pull the rug out from under rosier long-term forecasts.

According to most recent studies, the average college student now owes about $20,000 in student loans at graduation, virtually assuring that a new-vehicle purchase will not top many recent grads’ to-do lists. Now some forecasters such as Ford’s Pipas are suggesting these future consumers may not even want a new vehicle, even if they can afford one.

It all points to a very sobering beginning for the New Year.

Then again, many Boomers will remind that they started out rebelling against the materialism of their parents, and then 20 years later became card-carrying members of the Me Generation, the most conspicuously consumptive generation ever.

But the credibility of the source is, unfortunately, suspect. Remember, you can’t trust anyone over 30.

Late Payments on Consumer Loans Rise

2008-01-06T09:22:00.000-08:00

By JEANNINE AVERSA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Late payments on a cluster of consumer loans, including those for autos, home improvement and certain home equity loans, climbed in the summer to their highest point since the country's last recession in 2001.

The American Bankers Association reported Thursday that the delinquency rate on a composite of consumer loans increased to 2.44 percent in the July-to-September quarter. That was up sharply from 2.27 percent in the previous quarter and was the highest late-payment rate since the second quarter of 2001, when the economy was suffering through a recession.

Payments are considered delinquent if they are 30 or more days past due. The survey is based on information supplied by more than 300 banks nationwide.

Late payments on credit cards, meanwhile, dipped during summer.

The delinquency rate on credit cards dropped to 4.18 percent in the third quarter, down from 4.39 percent in the second quarter.

The association's quarterly survey of consumer loans painted a mixed picture of how people are managing their debt. It suggested that some people feel more squeezed than others.

A severe housing slump and weaker home values have clobbered some homeowners — making it difficult, or even impossible for some to pay their monthly mortgages. Foreclosures surged to record highs and more homeowners fell behind on their payments during the third quarter of last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported last month.

A drop in home prices left some people stuck with balances on their home mortgages that eclipsed the worth of their home. Others got burned when low introductory rates on their mortgages jumped to much higher rates, which they couldn't afford.

"Consumer loans directly related to the housing market were hit the hardest," said James Chessen, chief economist at the American Bankers Association. "We anticipate delinquency rates will continue to rise on these types of loans in the fourth quarter of 2007, reflecting continued weakness in the housing sector."

Late payments on home equity lines of credit jumped to 0.84 percent in the third quarter. That was up from 0.77 percent in the second quarter and was the highest since the final quarter of 1997. The delinquency rate on home-equity loans in the third quarter rose to 2.28 percent, a two-year high.

Meanwhile, the delinquency rate on "indirect" auto loans — which are arranged through dealerships — jumped in the third quarter to 2.86 percent, a 16-year high.

Kbb.com: Car shoppers cut spending due to gas prices

2008-01-05T07:33:00.000-08:00

Kbb.com: Car shoppers cut spending due to gas prices

New-vehicle shoppers plan to adjust their shopping habits due to high gas prices, spending less money on themselves so they can still give to others during this holiday season, according to the latest Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research study (www.kbb.com). The December 2007 results reveal that 44 percent of in-market new-vehicle shoppers are looking at cars they normally would not have considered due to the pain at the pump. An example of this is a notable shift in vehicle segment consideration from just two months ago, with increased interest in less expensive and more fuel-efficient transportation including crossovers, sedans and hatchbacks, and declines in SUV interest.

With a gallon of unleaded gasoline currently hovering at more than $3 in most parts of the country, 67 percent of those in the market for a new vehicle indicate they will not spend less on holiday gifts this year due to the rising cost of gas. However, more than 40 percent of consumers do say they are eating out less often and nearly 50 percent of consumers say they are doing less shopping of non-essential retail items such as clothes and shoes; further examples of consumers cutting back on self-spending. According to new-car shoppers, the largest shift in personal spending includes delaying the purchase of a new home, which more than doubled from October to December.

“While gas prices are clearly influencing the way consumers plan to spend money on themselves, such as going out to eat and delaying the purchase of a new home, it appears most people will not let the price of gas affect their holiday spirit and giving to others,” said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com. “Based on our monthly study, shoppers are willing to sacrifice in order to still give to others, and it even extends to their next new-vehicle purchase. We are seeing more and more new-vehicle shoppers looking at smaller and more fuel-efficient cars than in the past. ”

When asked how gas prices have affected which vehicles they are considering, more than half of consumers say they would seriously consider a vehicle with higher fuel efficiency if gas prices were to increase as little as 50 cents per gallon. Among those looking to buy a new hybrid vehicle, shoppers say they are most interested in the Toyota Camry hybrid and the Honda Civic hybrid.

“Determining how gas prices affect consumer shopping provides tremendous insight into shifts in the economy, and tracking their opinions of alternative fuel solutions sheds light on the possible adoption and acceptance rates of alternate fuel systems in the future,” said Rick Wainschel, vice president of marketing research and brand communications for Kelley Blue Book. “Timely, in-market vehicle shopper feedback can provide invaluable information to automotive manufacturers and marketers, allowing them to tailor their messages and strategies more toward what car shoppers actually think and how they plan to spend their money.”

The latest Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research study was conducted on Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com among in-market new-vehicle shoppers during the first week of December 2007.

GMAC Insurance Unveils Innovative Solution

2008-01-04T06:40:00.000-08:00

GMAC Insurance Unveils Innovative Solution Targeting 30% Increase to Dealer F&I Revenue

GMAC Insurance Group

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Jan. 3 — GMAC Insurance today introduced the latest additions to its innovative suite of technology-based solutions for automotive dealers. Combined with ongoing training and support, IntelliMenu(SM) and IntelliTracker(SM) provide a state of the art, custom- designed, menu-selling process with the potential to increase dealership F&I revenue by 30 percent on average.

"During the last several years, dealers' profit margins on new vehicle sales have become increasingly slimmer," said Tom Callahan, executive vice president of GMAC Insurance's Dealer Products & Services group. "Our integrated menu-selling process will help dealers remedy that trend. First, it will provide dealers with unprecedented and complete access to all of the tools and training necessary. And second, by enhancing customer awareness of F&I product offerings, we expect the solution will ultimately result in significantly improved penetration and revenue."

GMAC Insurance is providing this service through a partnership with menu- selling technology leader MenuVantage.

"We are proud to be working with GMAC Insurance on this unique, integrated dealer solution," said Phil Battista, co-chief executive officer of MenuVantage LLC. "On average, dealerships with our system have seen a 30 percent increase in F&I revenue. By combining our technology expertise with GMAC Insurance's complete support package, dealers can expect unparalleled service and results."

By capitalizing on MenuVantage's proven platform, IntelliMenu also will provide dealers with an interface approved for ADP's dealer management system (DMS) and certified for Reynolds and Reynolds' DMS. These interfaces allow MenuVantage access to a dealer's DMS using standard data interfaces and help ensure dealer information security, privacy, confidentiality, integrity and supportability.

The company will also supply GMAC Insurance with technology support and development expertise for future upgrades and improvements.

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IntelliMenu and IntelliTracker are big departures from the industry norm. While the majority of competitors traditionally focus solely on products, GMAC Insurance is redesigning its entire portfolio of offerings around dealer- focused solutions - integrating F&I products with on-going dealership training and best-in-class tools to provide a complete, packaged solution.

"Our business model is built around developing products, services and training that address specific issues raised by our dealer-customers. IntelliMenu and IntelliTracker were both born out of our ongoing conversations with dealers," said Callahan.

By integrating with major DMS providers, web-based IntelliMenu provides a seamless sales transaction, giving dealerships an easy, affordable way to structure multiple deals in the F&I office. IntelliMenu further assists dealerships with disclosure needs, allowing dealers to show every customer a complete listing of product offerings, while providing a record of acceptance or decline.

IntelliTracker integrates with IntelliMenu providing dealers and their GMAC Insurance account executives with up-to-the-minute information on F&I sales results. An individually tailored approach to maximizing sales is then jointly developed based on the needs of the dealer, and any necessary training is immediately set-up.

The entire process will be made available to dealers in mid- to late- January. Dealers interested in more information can contact their GMAC Insurance representative. Additionally, reps will be available to demonstrate these new solutions in GMAC Insurance's booth at the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA) Annual Convention on Feb. 9-12 in San Francisco.

"I encourage every interested dealer to stop by the GMAC Insurance booth," said Callahan. "While there is no silver bullet to address dealer needs, we believe GMAC Insurance can offer real solutions with the depth and breadth of our products and proven F&I capabilities."

About MenuVantage

MenuVantage, based in Orlando, Fla., provides automotive dealers with best in class F&I tools to ensure compliance and increased per unit profit. The MenuVantage system offers F&I departments the most advanced technology available on the market today to increase F&I sales. It is also capable of the electronic submission of warranty and F&I products to providers, real time service contract rating, and the dynamic printing of documents on regular paper. Founded in 2003, MenuVantage has enjoyed tremendous growth and currently services more than 2,500 users at automotive dealerships in over 42 states nationwide, processing more than 70,000 deals per month. MenuVantage can be reached on the web at http://www.menuvantage.com.

About GMAC Insurance

The GMAC Insurance Group is part of GMAC Financial Services, a global, diversified financial services company that operates in approximately 40 countries in automotive finance, real estate finance, insurance and other commercial businesses. GMAC's insurance operations were first established in 1925, and now offer a wide range of products to meet the needs of retail consumers, dealers and business partners. For more information, please visit www.gmacfs.com.

SOURCE GMAC Insurance Group

San Fran - greenhouse gas emissions.

2008-01-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

State sues EPA to force waiver over greenhouse gas emissions.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

California led 15 other states and five environmental groups into federal court Wednesday to challenge the Bush administration's refusal to let the state limit vehicle emissions of gases that contribute to global warming.

In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco, the state accused the Environmental Protection Agency of exceeding its authority when it barred California last month from enforcing limits on cars and trucks starting with the 2009 model year, the first law of its kind in the nation. The state needed the EPA's approval to implement clean-air standards that are stricter than federal rules.

"The EPA has done nothing at the national level to curb greenhouse gases, and now it has wrongfully and illegally blocked California's landmark tailpipe emissions standards," state Attorney General Jerry Brown said at a news conference in San Francisco.

He said EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson had offered no coherent legal explanation for his Dec. 19 refusal to let California act and accused President Bush's appointee of merely "doing the bidding of the auto industry."

The lawsuit was endorsed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said federal regulators were "ignoring the will of millions of people who want their government to take action in the fight against global warming."

The federal veto affected as many as 19 other states that have adopted California's standards or indicated their intention to do so, including the 15 that joined the lawsuit filed Wednesday with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Other California political leaders chimed in, including Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who chairs a Senate subcommittee on the environment. She cited reports in The Chronicle and other news outlets that Johnson had ignored his legal staff's recommendation to grant California the waiver and asked the EPA's inspector general to investigate the decision.

"The thought has occurred that this was a political decision rather than an environmental decision," Feinstein said.

In response, EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar cited Johnson's position that a national approach to the problem is better than state-by-state regulation. He noted that Bush had just signed legislation that requires makers of cars and trucks to increase fuel economy to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

"We now have a more beneficial national approach to a national problem, which establishes an aggressive standard for all 50 states as opposed to a lower standard in California and a patchwork of other states," Shradar said.

California's law, passed in 2002, established limits on auto emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists consider to be among the major causes of global warming. The law was scheduled to take effect with the 2009 models and would require automakers to reduce their 2016 fleets' emissions by 30 percent.

A federal judge in Fresno upheld the law last month, rejecting automakers' arguments that the law would interfere with exclusive federal regulation of fuel economy and would make new cars dangerous and unaffordable. But the state still needed EPA approval to enforce the law.

The federal Clean Air Act allows California, because of its smog problems, to enact air-quality rules more stringent than the national standard if the state gets a waiver from the EPA. The agency had approved about 50 waiver applications without a denial since the law took effect more than 30 years ago.

The greenhouse gas case was different, because California and the states that followed its lead were implicitly challenging Bush's policy of relying on voluntary industry action, rather than mandatory limits, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

After considering California's request for two years - finally prompting California to file another lawsuit seeking a prompt ruling - Johnson denied a waiver last month. He cited the newly signed federal fuel-economy law and also said the state didn't qualify for a waiver because greenhouse gases are not unique to California.

But the state and environmental groups said the EPA has regularly granted waivers to California to address air pollution problems that were not unique to the state.

In addition, "no other state can claim the same wide range of severe impacts that California faces: melting of the state's snowpack ... increases in catastrophic wildfires, worsening of dangerous smog levels and other harms," said attorney David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the five advocacy organizations that went to court along with California and the other states.

California and its allies also disputed the EPA's assertion that the state law is weaker than the new national fuel-economy standards.

The EPA's Shradar said the federal agency estimates that manufacturers could comply with the California law by achieving an average of 33.8 mpg in their new cars and trucks by 2016.

But Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the state Air Resources Board, said studies by board staffers concluded that the California law would require a fleet average of 44 mpg by 2020 and would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state by about twice as much as the federal law.

"Frankly, this is not very surprising because California standards start earlier, go faster ... and the end points are more stringent," Nichols said.

Brown's office had said earlier that federal law required the lawsuit to be brought in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., a more conservative court than the Ninth Circuit. Brown said Wednesday that Johnson's letter rejecting California's waiver did not refer to the controversy as a nationwide issue - which would have sent the suit to Washington - and instead referred only to conditions in California.

Brown said he prefers the Ninth Circuit because its record in environmental cases "has been more closely aligned with how we interpret the law." That may not matter in the long run, he added, because the case could wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Chronicle staff writers Matthew Yi and Zachary Coile contributed to this report. E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco

2008-01-02T15:19:00.000-08:00

Subject: Penske Automotive Group End-Of-Day Quote Alert

Penske Automotive Group End-of-Day Stock Quote for January 2, 2008

PAG (Common Stock)
Last Trade: $17.39
Change: -0.07
% Change: -0.40%
Volume: 526,900
Day's High: 17.62
Day's Low: 17.10
Previous Close: 17.46
Exchange: NYS

In 2007, Chrysler Expects $1.6 Billion Loss

2007-12-28T10:49:00.001-08:00

Chrysler Expects $1.6 Billion Loss in 2007
By Ward’s Staff From Wires
WardsAuto.com

Chrysler LLC CEO Bob Nardelli tells a group of engineers and designers the auto maker is on track to post a $1.6 billion loss this year, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The report, citing a person familiar with the situation, says Nardelli expects revenue of $63 billion, short of the $64 billion in costs the auto maker will incur for the year.

“Therefore we will lose about $1.6 billion this year,” Nardelli is quoted as saying.

Since assuming control of Chrysler in August, private-equity firm Cerberus Cerberus Capital Management LP has slashed thousands of jobs and eliminated four models from its lineup in an effort to get costs under control.

Last week, Steven Landry, executive vice president of North American sales, informed a group of business students from St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, of the expected loss.

“You have to come to the realization that in some instances, you’ve got to stop spending,” Landry says in a published report. “You’ve got to rightsize what you do to the revenue that comes into the company.”

Toyota Matrix

2007-12-28T10:33:00.001-08:00

Toyota Takes Another Shot at Drawing Younger Buyers With Matrix
By Christie Schweinsberg

RALEIGH-DURHAM, NC – Ever since its debut in 2002, the Toyota Matrix compact hatchback has failed to live up to expectations as a major draw for young, hip buyers.

“Right now it’s much more of a family vehicle, not really the target we envisioned for that product,” Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. product planner Mike O’Brien told Ward’s in August.

He blamed that in part on styling, saying the first-generation Matrix was “a bit boxy” and failed to convey motion. It didn’t “have the appeal to young people that we had hoped for,” he said.

With the second-generation Matrix, due to hit U.S. dealers in February, Toyota is aiming to right this wrong.

The revamped Matrix, which continues to share its platform, engines and transmissions with General Motors Corp.’s Pontiac Vibe, sports a sleek new look and has “the soul of a 2-door sports car,” Toyota Div. General Manager Bob Carter says at a media preview for the car.

So Toyota will take another stab at appealing to younger consumers, hoping the new model will lower the median age of the overall Corolla/Matrix buyer in line with the Mazda3, currently the segment leader in that regard.

Matrix should make up greater percentage of Corolla mix, Toyota says.
“I can tell you that we would be thrilled for Corolla to have the youngest buyer demographic in the segment,” Carter says. “And we think the new second-generation Matrix will get us closer to that goal.”

Toyota considers the ’09 Matrix part of the Corolla lineup, reporting sales of the two models together. With the new Matrix and Corolla, also redone for ’09 and set to go on sale in February, it hopes to shift more sales to the former, with an 80/20 split in favor of Corolla vs. 85/15 currently.

Toyota will be aiming its marketing message at men ages 25-30, some of the same buyers its Scion brand targets. As with the FJ Cruiser SUV, Toyota wants the Matrix to draw some customers from the Scion brand, as it says a third of buyers who shop and don’t buy a Scion purchase a Toyota.

Carter says he is unconcerned about overlap, noting Scion always has been focused on luring trendy urban buyers while Toyota is targeting “mainstream youth.” But he says Toyota will borrow some of Scion’s marketing gimmicks to launch the ’09 Matrix.

Those include promoting the vehicle online as well as in the real world at rally, tuner and gaming events. There also will be “low levels of television” advertising, Carter says.

Targeting young men makes sense because Toyota overall woos fewer of them than the competition.

“Currently, 37% of Toyota buyers are male and under 35,” Carter says. “That’s four points below the industry average of 41%. This means there is a lot of opportunity for us with young new-car buyers.”

Toyota again is offering the Matrix in three trim levels: Base; S, which replaces the XR grade; and XRS.

The Base model comes with Toyota’s new 132-hp 2ZR-FE 1.8L engine used in the Scion xD hatchback, replacing the current Matrix’s 126-hp 1.8L. It is expected to comprise about 40% of total Matrix sales, Toyota says.

The midrange S trim will be the volume-leading grade, with more than half of total sales. All-wheel-drive, discontinued on the Matrix with the ’07 models, returns as an option on the S grade, boasting active torque control. About 14% of buyers are expected to opt for the AWD system, which again is packaged solely with a 4-speed automatic. Carter says AWD take rates tend to be lower with manual transmissions.
Those choosing a non-AWD S can select a 5-speed automatic transmission or a 5-speed manual. Toyota’s 158-hp 2.4L 4-cyl. engine, available in the Camry, is standard on both S and XRS trims.

The XRS, which Toyota discontinued for ’07, is expected to remain a bit player, comprising just 5% of Matrix sales.

Vehicle stability control with traction control is standard on the XRS but optional on all other trims. Additional options include an audio system with 6-disc CD changer (all three models); JBL hands-free audio system with 6-disc changer or navigation system with XM NavTraffic (S and XRS); and an all-weather guard package that has rear-seat heater ducts and a heated rearview mirror (XRS).

Pricing for the ’09 Matrix is expected to be announced before year’s end.
Toyota is vowing the hatchback will be a “no-compromise vehicle,” saying buyers won’t have to pay a premium for a versatile vehicle with an up-market image.

– with Byron Pope

Tundra Gaining Ground

2007-12-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

Toyota Says Tundra Gaining Ground
By David E. Zoia

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. is sticking to its target of selling 200,000 new Tundra fullsize pickups in calendar 2007, though executives admit it may turn out to be a photo finish.

“It’s going to be close,” predicts Bob Carter, group vice president and general manager-Toyota Div., citing rising gas prices and other economic factors that are slowing the market overall. “That’s still our goal, but it’s going to be close.

Carter, discussing Toyota’s November sales in a conference call with media and analysts, says the auto maker is pleased with the performance of the fullsize pickup, heavily revamped for the ’07 model year.

“We’re seeing record market share on the West Coast and good growth elsewhere, particularly in the Midwest,” he says. “Tundra has maintained leadership in California and has gained leadership in the Pacific Northwest.”
Sales of the pickup rose 43.2% in November, Carter says, adding that he expects the Tundra to close the year “strong.”

Overall, Toyota delivered 197,189 vehicles in the U.S. last month, including Lexus and Scion models, up 0.3% from year-ago. It was a record November for the Toyota Div., with total deliveries of 172,341 units, including a best-ever 98,749 car sales for the month.

Hybrids were hot, Toyota says. Camry Hybrid sales of 5,118 units marked a 65% jump from year-ago and Prius sales soared 109% to 16,737. Lexus RX hybrid demand increased 26% to 1,674 units, and the luxury brand delivered 170 high-priced LS 600h L hybrids.

Tundra on target.
Yaris sales declined 8.2%, a dip Toyota blames on incentives being used to clear the outgoing Corolla from stock. A revamped model is due for ’09 and slated to hit dealerships in February.

“We’ve had good aggressive consumer programs on the Corolla that may have shifted some buyers out of Yaris,” Carter says. “Once we introduce the new Corolla, you’ll see Yaris increase in volume.”

Lexus sales fell 7.0% to 24,848 vehicles, but it still marked the second-best November for the brand, Toyota says.

2008 Chevrolet Malibu Production

2007-12-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

Brisk Demand Spurs Malibu Production at Orion
By: James M. Amend

A better-than-expected sales month and the addition of a second production site for the ’08 Chevrolet Malibu indicates the market is responding to the extensively redesigned sedan.

GM’s Fairfax, KS, assembly plant serves as the primary manufacturing location for the vehicle. Although executives revealed in an Oct. 2 sales call that Orion Township, MI, would receive demand-based production of the redesigned sedan, the auto maker stopped short of officially naming it as a second site.

GM now confirms production in Orion following a celebration at the plant marking the occasion.

A GM spokesman tells Ward’s the plant should begin shipping to dealers this week.
The spokesman says GM established a “flex-link” between the two plants, allowing it to dial Malibu production up and down “like a spigot,” depending on demand.

Fairfax, which also builds the Saturn Aura, currently operates two shifts building roughly 48 vehicles per hour. Orion, which also builds the Pontiac G6 family of vehicles, presently runs two shifts at 60 vehicles an hour. Those hourly rates would mean Fairfax builds about 700 units per day and Orion cranks out 900.

GM does not make production numbers available by model, but according to Ward’s data Fairfax averaged 262 Malibu units per day in October. Ward’s forecasts Orion will build roughly 144 Malibus per day in December, a month shortened to 15 production days due to the holiday shutdown.

Orion Township, MI, employees celebrate production of ’08 Chevy Malibu.
Perhaps more importantly, the Malibu launch at Orion suggests consumers are receiving the vehicle as well as most media critics.

GM officials say the car enjoys a turn rate of about seven days, a brisk pace fueled by a combination of its favorable reception and limited availability. Turnover is even quicker on the West Coast, where a Malibu sits on a dealer lot for roughly six days before being sold.

Scott Daly, sales manager at Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix, AZ, calls the reception excellent. “We can’t keep them on the lot,” he says.
“It’s a winner,” agrees Hank Gaylor, sales manager at Classic Chevrolet in Grapevine, TX. “We need more.”

Mark LaNeve, vice president-sales, service and marketing at GM, says the new Malibu drove a 15.0% increase in Chevrolet passenger-car sales in November – the sedan’s first full sales month.

“We thought we would sell 1,000 units, and we actually sold 3,994,” LaNeve says during a sales call with analysts and journalists.

GM hopes the ’08 Malibu will provide a more solid entry into the highly competitive midsize passenger-car segment dominated by the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Early anecdotal evidence suggests Malibu is winning conquest sales, LaNeve says.

“There’s a lot of good stories,” he says. “Dealers tell us, ‘You wouldn’t believe who is buying them.’ We think we’ve got a legitimate contender.

“We’ve said all along (the) perfect Camry and Accord customer who buys five in a row is not our target,” he adds. “But the customers who buy (a Camry or Accord) that are indifferent, we think we’ve got a shot at those.”

GM has gone to unusual lengths to hype the Malibu on the Internet and television before its launch.

The auto maker declines to reveal its advertising budget for the ’08 Malibu but estimates it at about what was spent to launch the redesigned version of its bread-and-butter Chevy Silverado fullsize pickup last year.

Malibu production marks the first Chevrolet product for the Orion plant, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year. Throughout that time, Orion has built products for the Pontiac, Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Buick brands. The plant employs 2,059 hourly workers and 189 salaried personnel.

Should More Outsiders be Allowed in Automotive?

2007-12-28T08:52:00.000-08:00

Time to Allow More Outsiders in Automotive
By Drew Winter
WardsAuto.com

Conventional wisdom in the world’s automotive capitals stipulates that industry outsiders can’t run auto companies.

The automotive business is so unique, so infused with passion, impulse and history, that if gasoline has not been coursing through your veins since infancy, you are better off seeking employment elsewhere.

But as the economist John Kenneth Galbraith pointed out when he coined the term, “conventional wisdom” usually is more about convenience and maintaining the status quo than truth.

Mention industry outsiders in Detroit and you are likely to get a lecture about General Motors in the 1990s: It committed automotive blasphemy by hiring executives with backgrounds selling contact lenses, toothpaste and – oh, the humanity! – even diapers, to market its precious cars and trucks.

The much-maligned brand management concept at GM was pioneered by then-Chairman John Smale, a former Procter & Gamble executive, who used the concept with great success at P&G to sell consumer products such as soap and toothpaste.

At the time, it wasn’t a bad idea. GM’s brands were a mish-mash that needed sorting out. Unfortunately, GM’s version of brand management used focus groups, market research and brand positioning as a substitute for the creativity, intuition and passion of product-development veterans. It died an ugly death.

But that does not mean outsiders are not capable of fixing a troubled company.
Long-time observers love to say that all a struggling auto maker needs to be successful is great cars and trucks.

But when auto makers get into trouble today, whether they are based in the U.S., Europe or Asia, their problems are so multifaceted and huge that even a celebrated car guy with a golden gut may lack what it takes to turn around a company.
The problems of Ford, Chrysler and a growing number of others have metastasized far beyond mere product deficiencies.

They need top executives skilled at integrating and leveraging global assets on a massive scale, and who can take operations that look like medieval fiefdoms and turn them into worldwide production and retailing networks.

They need executives who can interpret the ebb and flow of the oceans of cash and debt these giant organizations create every day.

What auto makers don’t need is executives who know how to rebuild the carburetor on a ‘57 Chevy, or who can do a lap of the Nurburgring in less than eight minutes.
Alan Mulally is an engineer with decades of experience developing and marketing a long list of highly complex and successful airplanes for a global market, including the vaunted Boeing 777.

In the early 1990s, Robert Nardelli boosted General Electric’s locomotive business from 35% market share to 70%. After that, he turned around GE’s money-losing gas turbine engine business and a host of other troubled operations.

Neither Mulally or Nardelli – who now head Ford and Chrysler respectively – is steeped in automotive lore or restores classic cars in their spare time. It doesn’t matter.

If they are successful, which they are likely to be, we must start letting a lot more “outsiders” into the very big small town we call the auto industry. Conventional wisdom be damned.

Roger B. Smith of General Motors

2007-12-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

Remembering GM’s Roger B. Smith
By David C. Smith
WardsAuto.com

Roger Bonham Smith was not a CEO out of central casting.
Standing at medium height and with blond-reddish hair, a ruddy complexion and a rather high-pitched voice, he hardly fit the stereotype of a boardroom tycoon.

But that’s precisely what he was as chairman of General Motors Corp. from 1981-’90. He died at age 82 on Nov.30, and to the end remained silent about his 42-year GM career.

“I’m taking it to the grave,” he replied when repeatedly asked to tell of his time at GM.

Bright, warm with friends but tough on colleagues, Smith also was one of GM’s most controversial leaders. Few among his subordinates spoke reverently about him, and many privately branded him a tyrant.

Yet in heading what was then the world’s largest corporation based on annual revenues, he weathered some tumultuous times and took a series of bold steps into uncharted territory that those with less fortitude may never have taken – for better or worse.

Four of those moves stand out: Launching Saturn as an entirely new company to compete against Japanese models; acquiring Electronic Data Systems (EDS) from fiery Ross Perot; purchasing Hughes Aircraft Co.; and tying in with Toyota Motor Corp. to build GM and Toyota cars at a GM plant in Fremont, CA.

But he also made questionable decisions that still haunt GM today. One was the 1984 reorganization designed to streamline the company but, with GM’s ingrained bureaucracy, had almost the opposite effect. Organization and operations charts were tossed aside and new ones redrawn, resulting in near chaos down the ranks.

Some GM old-timers say the “reorg,” as they called it, set back GM’s core product development programs just when it needed to be paying much more attention to burgeoning competition.

Although Smith loved cars, he was not a “car guy” in the traditional sense. His career was almost entirely on the financial side, and an underling who didn’t deliver a strong business case for his project would find it to be a no-go.

Given his reputation as a “bean-counter,” it’s surprising that an engineer was named as his successor. Bob Stempel was no ordinary engineer, however. He was a “car guy” with a string of technical accomplishments as he rose to executive vice president. But he was never cut out to be the financial leader of a corporation that for decades drew its CEOs from the financial side. As GM’s woes mounted not long after Smith retired, Stempel was forced out, and GM reverted to tradition by naming Jack Smith, a Roger Smith protégé, to CEO and, eventually, chairman.

Few who didn’t really know Roger Smith would be surprised to learn he had a keen sense of humor and a common touch. He once described a reporter he especially disliked as having a brain that “wouldn’t fit the top of a common pin.”

And he liked to pique attention by slyly reminding reporters that he had a “lulu” he was about to disclose.

One of those lulus was Saturn. Top GM insiders of that era in the late 1980s still argue that Saturn was a $2-billion waste – that Chevrolet first, but perhaps the other divisions as well, could have used that cash to develop stronger competitive models.

Others, however, saw Saturn as symbolizing GM’s commitment to changing the way it addressed the market and customers.

Saturn reportedly seldom made money in its early years and only now – 20 years after it was conceived – does it appear to be routed toward success. What if, asked some close to GM at the time, the auto maker had pumped cash into Oldsmobile instead, rather than later killing it off?

Smith reportedly paid $5 billion each for EDS and Hughes, although he once confided the number was closer to $4 billion apiece. Both since have been spun off at a multiple much higher than GM had paid, which should go down as a plus in assessing Smith’s time at the top.

Smith got Perot in the bargain, as he joined GM’s board of directors. But their relationship was not without its ups and downs, breaking at one point into open warfare. Perot, alone among the board directors, voted against the Hughes acquisition and repeatedly attacked GM for failing to take his advice on numerous issues. Still, in EDS Smith infused GM with information technology it did not have, and from his viewpoint picking up EDS strengthened the auto maker.

Ford Motor Co. reportedly offered to buy Hughes, but Smith once chortled he had gotten the best of his cross-town rival. Both were especially interested in Hughes’ technical acumen, particularly electronics.

The Toyota deal resulted in the launch of New United Motors Mfg. Inc., aimed at assembling cars for both companies, with Toyota in charge.

Besides getting a source for compact cars developed by Toyota, Smith’s motive also was to learn first hand about the Japanese auto maker’s esteemed lean production system, then transfer this knowledge to GM’s own operations. In that he had limited success, running into some initial resistance back home. Although today’s GM manufacturing system and strategy probably can trace some of its lineage back to NUMMI, which remains a 50-50 JV.

A book may yet be written about Smith’s tenure at GM. Sadly, it won’t be a first-hand account.

– David C. Smith, no relation, interviewed GM’s Roger Smith dozens of times over 20 years as the former editor-in-chief of Ward’s AutoWorld.

Sonic hires Wesley Pandoff as Corporate Controller

2007-12-28T08:13:00.000-08:00

Sonic Automotive Announces Hiring of Corporate Controller
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: SAH), a leader in automotive retailing, announced today that Wesley Pandoff has joined the Company as Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller.

Prior to joining Sonic, Mr. Pandoff was with the Greenbriar Equity Group as CFO of its Commercial Truck investment group. Prior to that, he held a variety of senior finance positions at AutoNation and Ford Motor Company.

Commenting on Mr. Pandoff's new position, Mr. David Cosper, the Company's Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer said, "We are pleased that Wes has chosen to join Sonic and lead our field financial activities. Wes has a rare blend of retail automotive and large corporate finance experience. He is an exceptional leader and will help us drive operational and profit improvements across Sonic."

About Sonic Automotive

Sonic Automotive, Inc., a Fortune 300 company based in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States operating 174 franchises and 36 collision repair centers. Sonic can be reached on the Web at http://www.sonicautomotive.com.

SOURCE Sonic Automotive, Inc.

Sonic Hires Heath Byrd as Chief Information Officer

2007-12-28T08:12:00.001-08:00

Sonic Automotive Announces Hiring of Chief Information Officer
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: SAH), a leader in automotive retailing, announced today that Heath R. Byrd has joined the Company as Vice President and Chief Information Officer.

Mr. Byrd comes to Sonic from Gevity, an IT/HR outsourcing company, where he served as Vice President of Operations. Previously he worked for HR America as its President and CIO. He attended the United States Air Force Academy and received a Bachelor of Science degree from North Carolina State University and a Masters in Health Administration degree from Duke University.

Commenting on Mr. Byrd's new position, Mr. Scott Smith, the Company's President said, "We are pleased that Heath has chosen to join Sonic to lead our information technology efforts. As we continue to target new opportunities for growth, we believe information technology will play a significant and increasing role in our success. We look forward to Heath adding exceptional value to Sonic's business going forward."

About Sonic Automotive

Sonic Automotive, Inc., a Fortune 300 company based in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States operating 174 franchises and 36 collision repair centers. Sonic can be reached on the Web at www.sonicautomotive.com.

SOURCE Sonic Automotive, Inc.

CONTACT:
David Cosper
Chief Financial Officer
or
Greg Young, Chief Accounting Officer - Investor Relations
both of Sonic Automotive, Inc.
+1-704-566-2400

2007-12-27T11:48:00.000-08:00

Aimbridge’s Automotive Avenues launches Web site
Aimbridge Lending Solutions, an integrated provider of multi-channel, multi-lender auto buying and lending services, announced that Automotive Avenues has launched a new more interactive Web site intended to enrich the customer car buying experience. The site, www.autoaves.com, is designed to enhance Web-based decisioning during the car buying process and help credit unions capture more loan growth from their members.

The new Web site features improved functionality and easier navigation. Advanced features enable Automotive Avenues to cater to individual members while bringing credit unions another step closer to Web-based, fully automated purchases. Several key differentiators include:

• A private membership log-in where members can save personal information and manage their accounts;
• A custom program for members to build a new car to their preferences, have it priced and then order it through Automotive Avenues;
• Improved research and 360 degree views of automobiles’ interiors and exteriors;
• Auto check history reports and head-to-head comparisons; and
• Spanish-language version of inventory.

“Automotive Avenues’ new Web site brings us a step closer to a fully Web-based auto buying experience and, at the same time, enhances personalization for members,” said Bill Green, president of Automotive Avenues. “With almost 90 percent of the current car buying process being completed online, including research, credit submission and decisioning and a deposit payment, it was important that Automotive Avenues have a site that could fulfill what members wanted. The new site, and its many progressive features, contributes to our commitment of member satisfaction and give members a satisfying car buying experience.”

2007-12-27T11:44:00.000-08:00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Digital Dealer Magazine
Thursday, December 27, 2007 Issue 52 VOLUME 2 ISSUE 52

BMW launches new Web site
With an eye toward enhancing its relationship with owners and potential buyers, BMW of North America last week launched a new re-design of its Web site --BMWUSA.com. Using collected (artificial) intelligence technology, BMW says the site will continually personalize the user experience for each consumer.

Featuring extensive CGI capabilities offering more than 130 million options for users to configure a BMW, an efficient interface for sharing and saving videos, and future integration with several other BMW service areas such as BMW Assist and Financial Services -- the new BMWUSA.com offers a one- click-shop that will aim to provide BMW owners (and prospective owners) a seamlessly integrated and individualized online experience.

"Our relationship with our customers is of the ultimate importance to us here at BMW. Our new website is a reflection of that," said Jack Pitney, Vice President of Marketing, BMW of North America. "Today, a website can't just be a static, generic round-up of information. We know that to be valued by our customers -- and our potential customers -- we need to work hard to provide them the information they want and need, and nothing that they don't."

For example, AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) technology will increase the site's interactivity, speed, functionality and usability.

The re-designed Web site will also feature content ratings that consumers will use to leave their mark on the site, be heard, and in doing so, assist other site visitors and current or prospective BMW owners. These ratings will help BMW develop a vibrant online community among BMW enthusiasts.

"We approached this not as the re-design of a website, but rather as a full, 360-degree look at how BMW manages its relationship with its customers and potential customers," said Steve Thibodeau, President and Chief Relationship Marketing Officer, dotglu. "We know that for half of the buyers online, the website will be the first direct interaction they will have with BMW. We had to make sure that this interaction was as performance-driven as the cars themselves."

Throughout 2008, BMWUSA.com will be expanding profile management capabilities, building site-customized communication based on five user personas. Such personas will be activated by a collected (artificial) intelligence technology that will enhance and personalize the user experience.

Later in 2008, visitors will be empowered to enjoy a deeper level of interaction with dealers and garner information about dealer-installed accessories more easily than ever before. Every content feature of the new site will be available with one-click access, including user configurations, ratings, maps, videos and car maintenance tools.

Social network ad spending to grow 70% next year

2007-12-27T11:43:00.000-08:00

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Thursday, December 27, 2007 Issue 52 VOLUME 2 ISSUE 52

News
CarMax: Online hybrid car searches rising
CarMax, Inc. which is in a position to know as the nation's largest retailer of used cars, says carmax.com online searches for hybrid cars are on the rise. Examples of the most searched hybrid cars include the Ford Escape Hybrid, Toyota Prius and Toyota Camry Hybrid. Carmax.com says searches for hybrid cars have increased 10 percent over last year and 43 percent from October to November.
[FULL STORY]

Startup monitors traffic via Web providers
Privacy an issue

As Internet advertising is increasingly precisely targeted to meet consumers' presumed desires, the trick for advertisers is to sniff out people's interests and needs without riling their privacy defenses, The Detroit News notes in a recent story about a Silicon Valley startup, NebuAd Inc., that believes it has reached this balance with a new ad-serving system -- even though its system of peering inside Internet traffic might seem ominous.

Buzzing about battery power - Volt is big on the Web
The Chevrolet Volt is slowly consuming Lyle Dennis' life. A year after casually launching a blog devoted to General Motors Corp.'s ambitious efforts to build a battery-powered Chevy, Dennis, a neurologist from Suffern, N.Y., has become a cyber-celebrity of sorts, The Detroit News reports. "I just wanted to do anything I could to make it happen, and I thought it might be fun to have a blog," Dennis said. "I didn't expect all this. It can be challenging." His Web site, GM-Volt.com, gets about 100,000 visitors a month, he said. More than 7,400 people have signed a waiting list he's compiling that he says he'll send to the company to convince it that there's a market for the product. They will have to wait. The car is still years and some significant scientific advancements away from becoming reality, GM says. Still, the Volt is also showing up on other Web sites, forums and social networking pages such as Facebook.com.

Wired readers dis Tesla Electric Roadster
The Information Age publication Wired, like many others, has published an end-of-year Top Ten list. The difference here, notes EdmundsInsideLine, is that based on reader votes, Wired has called to its 2007 Podium of Shame 10 "most-prized products that were promised but never delivered." The name of the list: the Vaporware Awards. Number nine on the list is the Tesla Roadster, which, as the magazine says, "has been appearing everywhere...except the blacktop." The all-electric sports car, promised to be out by October, has had its release date pushed into 2008.

Toyota pegs worldwide '08 sales at 9.85 million
Toyota plans to sell 9.85 million vehicles worldwide in 2008, the company said Tuesday, setting an ambitious target despite worries about a slowing U.S. auto market as it tries to become the world's top automaker, according to wire reports from Japan. Toyota also said it plans to produce 9.95 million vehicles worldwide next year, up 5 percent from this year -- the same as the projected annual percentage jump for Toyota's global sales. Its recent growth has put Toyota Motor Corp. on track to top General Motors Corp. as the world's largest automaker by sales. GM has said it estimates this year's sales to total 9.3 million vehicles; Toyota estimates 9.36 million sales.

Swapalease.com selects DataScan Field Services
DataScan Field Services, the largest full-service automotive audit and inspection company in North America, has been selected as the exclusive vehicle inspection company for customers of Swapalease.com, the world’s largest online lease marketplace.
[FULL STORY]

Social network ad spending to grow 70% next year

Advertisers are avidly experimenting on Facebook, MySpace and niche social networks. In 2008, they are expected to spend $1.6 billion—a rise of 69 percent over the $920 million they spent in 2007, according to a new eMarketer report, Social Network Marketing: Ad Spending and Usage. Social networking may get more than its fair share of media attention, but it is not a fad, says Debra Aho Williamson, author of the report. “In 2007, 37 percent of the US adult Internet population and 70 percent of teens used online social networking at least once a month.” There is little to suggest that this activity will go away. eMarketer predicts that the total US social networking audience will grow by 46 percent over the next four years to 105 million in 2011.

'08 Toyota Sales

2007-12-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

Toyota pegs worldwide '08 sales at 9.85 million

Toyota plans to sell 9.85 million vehicles worldwide in 2008, the company said Tuesday, setting an ambitious target despite worries about a slowing U.S. auto market as it tries to become the world's top automaker, according to wire reports from Japan. Toyota also said it plans to produce 9.95 million vehicles worldwide next year, up 5 percent from this year -- the same as the projected annual percentage jump for Toyota's global sales. Its recent growth has put Toyota Motor Corp. on track to top General Motors Corp. as the world's largest automaker by sales. GM has said it estimates this year's sales to total 9.3 million vehicles; Toyota estimates 9.36 million sales.

Tesla Electric Roadster

2007-12-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

Wired readers dis Tesla Electric Roadster

The Information Age publication Wired, like many others, has published an end-of-year Top Ten list. The difference here, notes EdmundsInsideLine, is that based on reader votes, Wired has called to its 2007 Podium of Shame 10 "most-prized products that were promised but never delivered." The name of the list: the Vaporware Awards. Number nine on the list is the Tesla Roadster, which, as the magazine says, "has been appearing everywhere...except the blacktop." The all-electric sports car, promised to be out by October, has had its release date pushed into 2008.

Chevy Volt

2007-12-27T11:38:00.000-08:00

Buzzing about battery power - Volt is big on the Web

The Chevrolet Volt is slowly consuming Lyle Dennis' life. A year after casually launching a blog devoted to General Motors Corp.'s ambitious efforts to build a battery-powered Chevy, Dennis, a neurologist from Suffern, N.Y., has become a cyber-celebrity of sorts, The Detroit News reports. "I just wanted to do anything I could to make it happen, and I thought it might be fun to have a blog," Dennis said. "I didn't expect all this. It can be challenging." His Web site, GM-Volt.com, gets about 100,000 visitors a month, he said. More than 7,400 people have signed a waiting list he's compiling that he says he'll send to the company to convince it that there's a market for the product. They will have to wait. The car is still years and some significant scientific advancements away from becoming reality, GM says. Still, the Volt is also showing up on other Web sites, forums and social networking pages such as Facebook.com.

New Advertising technology for dealers

2007-12-27T11:32:00.000-08:00

Startup monitors traffic via Web providers to refine ad data, highlighting privacy struggle
BRIAN BERGSTEIN / AP Technology Writer

As Internet advertising is increasingly precisely targeted to meet consumers' presumed desires, the trick for advertisers is to sniff out people's interests and needs without riling their privacy defenses.

Silicon Valley startup NebuAd Inc. believes it has reached this balance with a new ad-serving system -- even though its system of peering inside Internet traffic might seem ominous.

NebuAd's system is designed to improve on Web sites' long-standing practice of dropping tiny tracking files known as cookies on visitors' computers. When those cookies indicate enough about a Web surfer's interests, related ads can be made to appear.

But the fact that you visited a site doesn't say as much about your interests as knowing what you did there and afterward. Did you read several articles or quit halfway through one? Did you leave the site to research the topic further on a search engine?

To glean those deeper insights, NebuAd installs equipment inside the facilities of Internet service providers (ISPs), which see everything their customers do online. NebuAd's boxes examine many of the sites people visit, what they do there and what they hunt for on search engines.

While some tracking mechanisms can ferret out an interest in travel or the outdoors, NebuAd says it can tell whether you are in the market for a trip to the south of France or snowboarding gear.

The company won't say how many carriers or advertisers it works with, though CEO Bob Dykes said Internet providers representing millions of customers run NebuAd's system to let it gather information. In return, they get a share of the revenue from advertising NebuAd places.

The only ISP known to be working with NebuAd is Monroe, La.-based CenturyTel Inc., which has 530,000 broadband subscribers scattered throughout the country. NebuAd says some of the largest ISPs are at least testing the service.

Aspects of NebuAd's technique are already in play. For example, besides cookies, many online retailers deploy "clickstream analysis" tools that monitor what customers do on a given site -- what they browse, what they read, which items they put in their shopping carts but fail to buy.

As a much wider-ranging eye in the sky, NebuAd could pique more worries about privacy. And its creators have taken steps to mitigate them.

Dykes pledges his company never creates a database that could leak or be subpoenaed. It doesn't compile lists of sites that people have visited or what they did online.

Instead, its system works somewhat like a huge set of meters: one measuring interest in travel to the south of France, another tallying curiosity about snowboarding, and so on and on and on. Whenever you do something online that is thought to reveal heightened or diminished interest in a subject NebuAd tracks, the meter ticks up or down.

The system measures interest in at least 800 marketing categories, Dykes said. But it is blind to online behaviors that indicate bedroom proclivities or medical conditions, because NebuAd doesn't take sex-related ads or promotions for what Dykes calls "sensitive drugs."

NebuAd also doesn't read e-mails or postings on social networking sites, which should help keep it out of privacy storms like the one that erupted last month on Facebook.

Also, while NebuAd follows users closely enough to match ads to their interests, Dykes said the company doesn't keep identifying information on them as individual people, even a numeric Internet Protocol address.

Once grabbed from an ISP's network, such details are fed into a cryptographic system known as a one-way hash, producing a string of code that supposedly cannot be reversed to identify a consumer. NebuAd's servers -- and snoops, presumably -- see only the hash codes.

"All they really have is (the equivalent of) a dot on a grid somewhere that says, 'It's time to get an ad to this dot,'" said Larry Ponemon, a privacy consultant who has advised NebuAd.

If that does not reassure consumers, Dykes said NebuAd requires ISPs to ask their customers whether they want to opt out.

However, that could prove contentious. Pam Dixon, director of the World Privacy Forum, said NebuAd should instead use an opt-in mechanism -- automatically excluding anyone who doesn't sign up. She said even if a marketing profile is anonymous, someone might be able to tie it to an individual Web user, if its details were as richly detailed as NebuAd indicates.

"For this particular business model ... it's got to be opt-in, because people's expectation of privacy is that this isn't happening," Dixon said.

The degree to which this privacy equation has been managed will likely be key for NebuAd.

In the company's favor, its unusual approach to gathering data could deliver better insights than traditional cookie-based systems, including those run by such powerful players as Yahoo Inc., Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, Microsoft Corp. or DoubleClick Inc., which Google Inc. hopes to buy.

Cookie networks capture information more sporadically, which is one reason "behavioral targeting" accounts for just 3 percent of spending on online advertising in the United States, according to eMarketer, a research group.

"No one has to go to every Web site, and everyone can turn off cookies, but everyone has to use an ISP to get online," said David Hallerman, a senior analyst for eMarketer.

NebuAd's system would be far less valuable, however, if not enough ISPs join the network. ISPs could get skittish if a privacy outcry erupted, justifiable or not.

"There may not be a real privacy violation, but if the individual thinks there is, then there is a problem," Hallerman said.

NebuAd also has to compete for advertising dollars increasingly being thrown at search engine result pages, where people often provide awfully clear signals about their consuming interests.

However, Tom Soevyn, CEO of Focalex Inc., a marketing agency that places ads with NebuAd, says NebuAd's system appears more cost-effective than search engine marketing, partly because it puts ads on multiple kinds of sites.

"When I've run on some of the ad networks I've had horrible results," Soevyn said. While his tests with NebuAd are still in "early stages," he added, "it seems to be working pretty well. ... We'll keep our fingers crossed."

Carmax Online hybrid car searches rising

2007-12-27T11:19:00.000-08:00

CarMax: Online hybrid car searches rising.

CarMax, Inc. which is in a position to know as the nation's largest retailer of used cars, says carmax.com online searches for hybrid cars are on the rise. Examples of the most searched hybrid cars include the Ford Escape Hybrid, Toyota Prius and Toyota Camry Hybrid. Carmax.com says searches for hybrid cars have increased 10 percent over last year and 43 percent from October to November.

"One of the ways we know that people are looking more for hybrid vehicles is by monitoring the search activity on our website," said Tom Folliard, president and chief executive officer of CarMax. "Hybrid cars are increasingly making an impression on car shoppers and searches on carmax.com are reflecting that."

The following hybrid cars experienced the largest increases in carmax.com search activity:

Make/Model October to November 2007 Increase
Ford Escape Hybrid 108%
Toyota Prius 56%
Toyota Camry Hybrid 48%

Online shoppers can use the carmax.com website to search the company's inventory of more than 25,000 used and new vehicles, including hybrid cars. The website showcases each vehicle with multiple photos, the no-haggle price and information on features, options, fuel economy and customer reviews.

In fiscal 2007, carmax.com averaged more than four million visits per month. Additionally, approximately 70 percent of in-store customers visited the website before coming to the store.