John Edwards: Fellow Americans, Sacrifice Your SUVs

Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards is calling for Americans to make a sacrifice for the environment by getting out of their SUVs and into more fuel-efficient vehicles.

"I think Americans are actually willing to sacrifice," Edwards told the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Wednesday. "One of the things they should be asked to do is drive more fuel-efficient vehicles."

It didn’t take long for one automaker to respond.

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Auto Sales Decline and Production Cuts Follow, Edmunds.com Forecast Says

Not surprisingly, based on the latest dreary economic news, August vehicle sales will be down, according to Edmunds.com’s forecast. Automakers report sales Tuesday.

Industry vehicle sales, including retail and fleet, are expected to be 1.42 million units, a 4.5 percent decrease from August 2006 and an 8.7 percent increase from July 2007. Big Three share is predicted to be below 50 percent for the second consecutive month.

"Early in August, sales were dismal," observed Jesse Toprak, Edmunds' executive directory of Industry Analysis.

"To generate showroom traffic, most automakers introduced incentives programs midway through the month," added Toprak. “That effort was relatively successful."

Still, noted Toprak, the uncertainty in the housing market is likely to continue suppressing consumer demand for new vehicles for some time.

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Posted by at 8:17 AM under Analysis, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us

Indian-Owned Jag, Land Rover?

It is looking increasingly likely that an automaker from India could become the new owner of the now Ford-owned Jaguar and Land Rover.

Two Indian automakers, Tata Motors Ltd., and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., are among the bidders for Jaguar and Land Rover, which Ford hopes to sell as a package. And they may well be the front-runners among the bidders.

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Posted by at 7:55 AM under Commentary, Ford, Personalities, Rumors | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Saab: GM Starting “To Get It” on Niche Brand Status

By Bill Visnic

Saying a planned new compact car coming in a few years is a “terrific opportunity for us,” Saab Automobile USA executives also claim owner General Motors is beginning to understand how to manage the niche brand -– just as the future of small-volume, premium brands such as Saab appears to be reaching a crucial juncture.

At a media event for the redesigned 2008 9-3, Knut Simonsson, executive director, Saab Global Sales and Marketing, tells AutoObserver that because of the increasing “globalization” of virtually everything –- common talk now is dominated by terms such as “global business” and even “global warming” –- consumers will increasingly gravitate toward brands that evoke strong images of heritage or national origin as a way to satisfy their desire for more “context” for their purchases.

That, says Simonsson, is an opportunity for Saab.

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Posted by at 7:24 AM under Featured, GM, News | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chrysler: Whole Lotta Shaking Up Going On

Cerberus Capital Management has owned Chrysler barely over three weeks with CEO Bob Nardelli at the helm during that time. Yet, there’s already a whole lotta shaking up going on at the auto company.

Chrysler made a number of significant moves this week:

* proposed plans to shed a couple of non-core operations –- Chrysler Transport and all or parts of Mopar;

* reshuffled the manufacturing management ranks, with some veterans taking retirement;

*appointed an up-and-comer to specifically be responsible for executing (and possibly accelerating and deepening?) the automaker’s recovery plan;

*held management meetings at which Nardelli shared his vision of Chrysler's future.

And the week's not half over.

These moves are but a precursor tremor to what is likely to take place in the future as Chrysler’s new owners attempt a quick turnaround of the automaker -– and likely sell it within the next few years.

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Posted by at 7:40 AM under Commentary, Companies, Featured | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

GM Gives Dealers Cash To Move the Metal

General Motors, in an effort to stop its sales slide and give model year-end sales a boost, is giving dealers of some of its brands cash awards according to an internal GM memo obtained by Bloomberg News.

GM will pay dealers $250 for each vehicle sale made from August 23 through the end of the month, according to the memo from Jim Bunnell, general manager of GM's Buick, Pontiac and GMC divisions.

Summer sales, so far, have been lackluster industrywide, and August will show no recovery, according to Edmunds.com, which releases its forecast for August sales on Thursday.

"After some of the worst June and July sales in the recent history, it does not look like we will see much of a recovery in August for new vehicle sales," said Jesse Toprak, Edmunds.com analyst. "Despite the production cuts, domestic automakers are starting to experience inventory build-up issues on slow-selling models.

"Although not ideal," Tropak added, "high incentives spending becomes the only way to get rid of this excess inventory as we go into fall clearance time. We expect incentives to increase incrementally for the rest of the year for the current model-year vehicles."

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Toyota: Not Everything Is Rosy

A group of Kentucky community activists, including labor and church leaders, are gathering outside Toyota's biggest U.S. assembly plant today to deliver recommendations to management, including limits on the use of lower-paid temporary workers, to improve working conditions at the factory, according to the Detroit News.

The appearance by the group, Kentucky Workers’ Rights Board, will be followed by a news conference. The United Auto Workers union is trying to organize foreign-owned plants in the United States to offset the drop in its membership rolls at Big Three plants. Toyota is its prime target, the newspaper reports. However, the UAW has not succeeded in past efforts to organize Japanese-owned plants.

Posted by at 7:46 AM under News, Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Isuzu, Toyota Cooperate on Green Diesels

Toyota and Isuzu announced Monday they will work together to develop a system to make diesel engine exhaust cleaner. Isuzu, an expert in diesel technology, will work with Toyota’s truck partner, Hino Motors on the green diesels.

Posted by at 7:14 AM under Companies, GM, Technology, Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

CAFE Bill Gaining Support , Dingell Says

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Dearborn, Michigan, told reporters Monday that 163 House lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors of a bill to require new cars to use fuel at a rate of from 32 to 35 miles a gallon on average, starting in 2022, less stringent than a plan approved by the Senate. Dingell pointed out that means lawmakers are adding their names to the measure at a rate of more than one a day.

Posted by at 7:13 AM under Chrysler, Ford, GM, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Guest Commentary: Why the West Need Not Fear China

By Richard Feast

The People’s Republic of China has set its auto industry the task of destroying the rest of the world’s automakers.

We know this is true because every newspaper, magazine, TV channel, Web site and blog keeps sounding the alarm these days. “Beware! The Chinese auto industry is coming,” is the dire warning.

Zap – there goes General Motors.

Bang – that’s Toyota finished.

Blam – good-bye, Mercedes.

This is PlayStation stuff, only less plausible.

It is time for a more level-headed assessment of the potential of China’s auto industry beyond the country’s borders.

In reality, China will have little impact on the West any time soon -– if at all.

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Volkswagen of America: On the Move?

Reports have circulated, but have not been confirmed, that Volkswagen of America is seriously considering moving both of its headquarters and the headquarters of both of its brands –- VW and Audi -– from the Detroit area to new headquarters...well, elsewhere.

The reports are so strong that word is Michigan GovernorJennifer Granholm intends to step in and try to convince VWoA to stay put. The company’s U.S. headquarters are in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, not far from Chrysler.

This is not the first time Volkswagen has been rumored to be leaving Detroit.

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Posted by at 11:58 AM under Companies, Rumors | Comments (11) | digg this | del.icio.us

Housing Slumps Deepens; Auto Sales Hurt

The housing slump is lousy for the auto business. And the housing market is worsening.

Some statistics that have got to be scary to automakers and automotive lenders came out of the National Association of Realtors’ monthly report on home sales Monday:
   · sales of previously owned homes fell to a five-year low in July;
   · the glut of unsold properties climbed to their highest level since 1991;
   · delinquencies on loans to subprime borrowers (people with poor credit) hit a five-year high in the first quarter;
   · the median price of an existing home dropped 0.6 percent in July from a year ago to $228,900;
   · new home starts in July hit their lowest level in a decade.

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Posted by at 11:32 AM under Analysis | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chrysler Lifetime Warranty: Short-Lived Buzz?

Chrysler’s recently announced lifetime warranty is quite the buzz in the industry and on the airwaves, but the buzz may be short-lived.

Trade journal Automotive News reports that Chrysler’s lifetime warranty has been met with near universal praise by dealers, who say it is generating showroom and online traffic.

“Our whole dealership is energized by it. Our customers are shocked by it. They don't believe it. You've got to explain it to them," Ralph Mahalak Jr., a Chrysler dealer in Monroe, Michigan, told Automotive News.

Indeed, explanation is required: Lifetime means not the owner’s lifetime but the lifetime of the Chrysler vehicle if that one person owns it. And those buyers are few and far between, according to Edmunds.com.

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Posted by at 7:36 AM under Chrysler, Commentary | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Saturn Prices Astra at Just Shy of $16,000

General Motors’ Saturn division announced its European styled and built Astra small car will start just shy of $16,000.

The 2008 Saturn Astra five-door XE, which is equipped with a five-speed manual transmission, starts at $15,995; the uplevel Astra five-door XR starts at $17,545; and the sporty Astra three-door XR starts at $18,495. All prices include delivery fees.

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Bad Credit: More Risk to the Economy than Terrorism, Survey Says

Bad credit has replaced terrorism as the gravest immediate risk threatening the economy, the National Association of Business Economics reported Monday to the Associated Press.

Borrowers' declining ability to pay their bills and the subsequent fallout in the credit markets this summer topped the list of short-term risks on peoples' minds, according to a survey of 258 members conducted by the Washington-based association. The survey showed 32 percent of its members cited loan defaults and excessive debt as their biggest near-term concern.

Only 20 percent of members cited defense and terrorism as their biggest immediate worry, down from 35 percent when the survey was last conducted in March. Credit risk also topped gas prices, inflation and government spending.

The greatest long-term risk facing the economy is still health care costs and the medical needs of an aging population, surveyed NABE members said.

Posted by at 6:50 AM under Analysis, Business | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Mercedes Drops Diesel – Temporarily – in Three More States

By Bill Visnic

It’s two steps forward and one step back for Mercedes-Benz USA, one of the primary players eager to promote new-generation diesel engines to U.S. customers: In a quirky interplay between automakers and regulators, the rollout of ’08 Mercedes models earlier this month forced the company to temporarily suspend diesel-vehicle sales in three states: Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Why? Beginning with ’08 models, these states officially adopt California’s emissions regulations, which currently are tougher on diesels than are federal emissions regulations. California’s emissions regulations already had been adopted by four other states, meaning Mercedes –- and Jeep, the only other brand selling a diesel-powered light vehicle for the ’07 model year -– had been selling diesel vehicles in just 45 states.

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Jaguar, Land Rover Sale Still Months Away; Volvo Fate To Be Decided Sooner

Ford’s sale of Jaguar and Land Rover will occur late this year or early next, while the decision to keep or sell Volvo will be made within the next two to three months, a Ford official said.

Lewis Booth, Ford’s executive vice president in charge of Europe, told reporters at a briefing Wednesday night that Jaguar and Land Rover would not be sold by the end of September, as many publications have been reporting. Instead, it may take until the end of the year or into 2008 to finish the deal.

At the same time, a strategic review of Volvo and its fate should be completed within three months, he said.

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Corvette Goes Midengine? Not So Fast.

Here we go again. Parts suppliers to automotive blog sites are atwitter about the prospects for a midengine Corvette. Indeed, that discussion –- which has occurred repeatedly since the 1960s -– is heating up yet again inside General Motors.

Automotive Web site AutoExtremist.com claims to have inside information that the C7 going midengine is nearly a done deal; a final decision is due next month, it insists.

Not so, say sources. Such a move is a long way from being a done deal with the C7 not due until mid next decade, and a decision to go midengine is not imminent. In the meantime, numerous enhancements will be made to the C6 Corvette before the C7 arrives, around 2013.

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Posted by at 7:12 AM under GM, Rumors | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us

Saturn, Edmunds Team in Contest; Prize Is Trip to Frankfurt

To build buzz for the upcoming launch of its Saturn Astra, based on the German-built Opel Astra, Saturn teamed with Edmunds.com for a contest. The grand prize is a trip to Frankfurt, Germany, in September to attend the auto show, test-drive the Astra and blog for Edmunds.com.

Contestants visited a specially designated page on Edmunds.com and submitted an essay of less than 500 words explaining why he or she should be chosen.

The winner, to be announced Friday, will fly to Frankfurt on September 9, returning September 13. The winner will receive media credentials, access to General Motors’ Premier Night and an invitation to Astra launch activities. While in Germany, the winner will write for Edmunds’ Straightline blog.

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Posted by at 5:01 AM under GM, News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Honda Lifts the Covers on the Accord

Old timers fondly recall the days when dealerships covered their showroom windows and tore the coverings away giving the crowds amassed outside their first look at that year’s new model.

The same thing happened this week in the virtual world as Honda lifted the covers, so to speak, on the popular Accord, redesigned for the 2008 model year. Edmunds.com’s forum visitors, in fact, waited up for the midnight lifting of the embargo Monday and provided instant feedback on the new model.

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Posted by at 7:20 AM under Commentary, Companies | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chevrolet Volt: 60,000 Copies a Year, Sources Tell Bloomberg

General Motors may build as many as 60,000 of its Volt electric cars for their inaugural year on the market, four times the sales of Toyota's Prius hybrid on its U.S. debut, people with knowledge of GM's plans told Bloomberg News.

Production at that level may allow GM to sell the plug-in Volt for less than $30,000 (the Prius starts at $22,175 with 60,000 a year sold in the U.S.), the sources said.

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Posted by at 6:36 AM under Commentary, GM, Technology, Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chevrolet Malibu: “Very Important” to GM and Chevy

Ask anyone at General Motors how important the upcoming 2008 Chevrolet Malibu is and you’ll likely get a rather reserved response.

Like the one Chevrolet General Manager Ed Peper (PEEP-er) gave AutoObserver in an interview Monday: “It’s a very important vehicle for us.”

That’s an understatement.

Still somewhat restrained especially for him, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz goes a tad further. In his GM FastLane blog, in which he wrote about his recent "weekend with a Bu," he called its introduction “one of the most important passenger car launches in recent General Motors history.” He added: “We’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this vehicle.”

GM executives’ caution is understandable and wise, since the automaker has oft been accused of over promising and under delivering. But the launch of the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu is beyond “very important.”

Let us count the reasons why:

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Posted by at 5:11 AM under Analysis, Commentary, Featured, GM | Comments (11) | digg this | del.icio.us

Consumers Drink in Less Mass Media

Automotive marketers take note of an interesting graphic in today’s New York Times that illustrates less consumer appetite for mass media:

* In 2005, the total hours of media consumed by each American adult: 3,548

* In 2006, the total hours of media consumed by each American adult: 3,530

American adults are watching less broadcast television, listening to less recorded music, and spending less time reading newspapers.

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Posted by at 10:32 AM under Analysis, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chinese Auto Profits Surge

Profits in the Chinese auto industry grew nearly 66 percent in the first half of 2007 compared with the first half of last year, according to the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Profits in the first six months of this year grew to $1.58 billion (U.S.). The largest automakers -– First Auto Works, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and Dongfeng Motor, all major partners with Western automakers –- showed the largest gains.

Posted by at 7:46 AM under Business | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Daimler Exec Appointed to Chrysler Board

Rüdiger Grube, the German strategist who helped put together the DaimlerChrysler merger in 1998 and then take it apart nine years later, will represent Daimler AG's remaining 19.9 percent stake as a member of the five-person board of Chrysler Holding LLC, the Detroit News reported.

Quoting unnamed sources familiar with the situation, the paper reported Grube's role will be to safeguard Daimler's interests and oversee cooperation between the two automakers.

The other roughly 80 percent of Chrysler is owned by Cerberus Capital Management Corp.

Posted by at 7:41 AM under Chrysler, Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Automakers Seek Electronics Experts

If The Graduate were remade today, the advice to Benjamin for a certain life of corporate success would center around “electronics” instead of plastics.

Indeed, about the only jobs in Detroit’s auto industry are in electronics to work on hybrids and the like.

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Posted by at 7:23 AM under Business, Ford, GM, Technology | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us

Auto Parts Makers: More Trouble Ahead

A number of North American car parts makers may miss sales forecasts this year as falling demand for cars and trucks force GM and Ford, particularly, to cut production, Bloomberg News reports.

"Hundreds or thousands'' of auto suppliers may go out of business in the next five years, Laurie Harbour-Felax, a Farmington Hills, Michigan, consultant who advises parts makers told Bloomberg. “Some of these suppliers will go into bankruptcy and be bought up in pieces; some will just go away. It will be devastating.''

Obviously, the most vulnerable are those who have hitched their wagons largely to GM, Ford and Chrysler. Conversely, the least vulnerable are those who supply Toyota and other import makes as well as those that have diversified into overseas markets like China.

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Posted by at 6:54 AM under Commentary, Companies | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

China Defends Product Quality Via TV

Chinese state television launched a weeklong series of programs called “Believe in Made in China” to defend the country's reputation as a safe maker of global goods, the Associated Press reported this morning. At the same time, New Zealand is investigating unsafe chemicals used on children’s clothing from China.

Automakers have been mum on the topic, but, hopefully, are quietly focusing more intently on quality controls of increasing number of parts they buy from China. Exports of auto parts from China are predicted to double to $40 billion by the end of 2010, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers forecasts.

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Posted by at 6:34 AM under Commentary, News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chrysler's Nardelli: "We're in Good Shape"

By Joseph Szczesny

In his first mingling with the masses after a couple of weeks on the job, Chrysler’s new CEO Bob Nardelli said the company has resources for its recovery plan without making capital spending cuts, and he gave his nod to Chrysler’s future product pipeline.

"We're in really good shape” in terms of funding, Nardelli said Thursday during an impromptu news conference outside Chrysler's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Nardelli was attending the 10th anniversary party for the Plymouth Prowler at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum. In the process of moving to Detroit, Nardelli brought his 2001 “Black Tie” Prowler that he had trucked in for the event.

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Posted by at 9:57 AM under Chrysler, Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Small Cars On Course To Set New Record, Says Ford Analysis

Small cars are on track for a record sales year this year and third consecutive year of growth, according to an analysis by Ford.

Last year, small car sales totaled almost 2.7 million, a record for the segment, according to the analysis done by George Pipas, Ford's U.S. sales analysis manager. In the first seven months of 2007, segment sales are up 3.5 percent, while the overall market for cars and trucks is down 4 percent.

Further, small cars, the largest vehicle segment for years until 2004, are on track for three straight years of growth. In addition, getting them while they're young is why foreign automakers, which by Ford's calculation, capture 76 percent of small car sales.

Ironically, Ford's only entry in the growing segment is the Focus, which is revised for the 2008 model year.

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Posted by at 8:07 AM under Analysis, Ford | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Three Bucks a Gallon and What’s a Car Company To Do?

By Bill Visnic

As the U.S. auto-buying public resigns itself to handing over $3 for a gallon of gasoline or more, automakers are hitting high gear to firm up alternative-power strategies that certainly seemed much fuzzier at this time last year.

It’s come time to decide how to best save fuel, and for the next several years, the battle will be between hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) and sophisticated new diesel engines.

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Posted by at 10:08 AM under Analysis, Chrysler, Companies, Ford, GM, Technology, Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us

Lexus Marketing Exec Headed to Chrysler

Lexus marketing vice president Deborah Wahl Meyer is headed for the top Chrysler marketing post.

Chrysler confirmed today that Meyer is the new vice president and chief marketing officer of Chrysler, effective Aug. 28.

Meyer, 44, is considered a marketing whiz kid; Chrysler needs some marketing magicand some first aid for its damaged dealer relations; new Chrysler owners are bound to sweep some current folks and bring in new troops to achieve its ambitious plan to turn the company around in three years.

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Posted by at 8:04 AM under Chrysler, Commentary, News, Personalities, Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us

Jaguar, Land Rover Suitors Are an Intriguing Cast

Ford’s proposed sale of its British marques –- Jaguar and Land Rover –- is growing more intriguing by the day.

We’ve got a couple of up-and-coming car companies from India looking to expand globally through the acquisition of the brands, and two former Ford execs bidding against each other.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:51 AM under Ford, Personalities, Rumors | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Tesla Management Shuffles

The big news kicking off this week is that Martin Eberhard, the co-founder and CEO of Tesla Motors, has been replaced as chief executive and will become the company’s president of technology, according to a statement on Monday on Tesla's Web site.

Eberhard will remain with the company as president of technology. Michael Marks, the former CEO of electronics assembler Flextronics and an early investor in Tesla Motors, will take the reins as interim CEO.

Question is, does the management change suggest the company is struggling, experiencing growing pains or simply growing up?

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:33 AM under News, Personalities, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

BMW’s Scorching New M3 Has Hybrid Side – Sort Of

By Bill Visnic

Over at Edmunds.com’s Inside Line, they’re in a lather about the sizzling performance of BMW’s all-new M3, which marks the first time the company’s famed Motorsports Division-tuned 3 Series has used V8 power.

But down deep in the specs for the 2008 M3’s new 420-horsepower, quad-cam 4-liter V8 is a nod to environmental awareness that portends of a coming trend: an innovative energy-management system that enables BMW to subtly eke out a little extra fuel economy without looking like an eco-weenie in front of the autobahn performance gods.

BMW calls the system Brake Energy Regeneration. And although this sounds a lot like the “regenerative braking” we’re always hearing about with “full” hybrid-electric vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius, the Bavarians’ BER system is much more a variation of the “mild” hybrid theme we’re going to be hearing more about in the coming months.

AutoObserver is told several automakers and major suppliers plan to unveil a host of similar new mild-hybrid components and systems at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show. Fuel-efficiency and reduction of carbon-dioxide emissions (cutting CO2 is Europe’s persistent bugaboo) are expected to be headline themes at the Frankfurt confab. These new innovations are geared toward delivering hybridlike benefits at a more palatable cost.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 7:28 AM under Analysis, Companies, Featured, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chevrolet Volt Generates Buzz From Gun Owners

Forget about granola-nibbling Californians as the mainstay of electric cars. Gun-toting pickup drivers want ’em, too.

AutoObserver’s entry on General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt electric car generated quite the buzz when it was picked up on a forum of a gun-owners’ Web site, billed as the “Home of the Black Rifle.”

The general consensus of those on the gun-owners' Web site was in favor of electric vehicles -- as long as they have the performance, range, price, etc. of their current vehicles. They want them not for highfalutin reasons like energy independence and energy security or environmental cleanliness but for gas and money savings.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 11:14 AM under Commentary, GM, Technology, Toyota | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us

Taking Heat for “Uncool” Minivans

My comment printed in the Wall Street Journal, and later picked up by other publications including the Detroit News, about minivans being considered uncool drew a lot of heat –- mostly from colleagues and friends who love their sliding-doored vehicles.

"Frankly, sliding doors are what give minivans open access, but that's what makes them uncool. Practical, yes, but uncool," I told the Journal reporter, a story on the introduction of Chrysler’s new minivans and the segment entitled  “The minivan is dead; long live the minivan?” The 2008 Chrysler Town & Country and the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan go on sale soon.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 10:11 AM under Chrysler, Commentary, In the Media | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us

Edmunds Revises Toyota Incentives Estimate

Edmunds.com has revised its True Cost of Incentives (TCI) for the Toyota and specifically the Toyota Tundra.

The Tundra’s TCI was reported to be $6,861 per vehicle sold in July. The correct number is $4,625. The original data suggested that the Tundra had the highest TCI of the large truck segment during July 2007; the corrected data puts the Tundra third in TCI.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 7:18 AM under Analysis, News, Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Chevy Volt: The Machine That Changes the World?

After announcing Thursday that it had signed a contract with a little-known Massachusetts company to develop lithium-ion batteries, General Motors hosted a dinner to introduce the growing team of engineers working on the electric-powered Chevrolet Volt and the newly signed-on battery makers.

David Cole, Ph.D., chairman for the Center of Automotive Research, which hosted the conference at which GM made its announcement, sat next to me. As the discussions with the engineers and, in particular, the battery developers grew deeper throughout the evening, Cole, a retired professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan, could not stop saying: “Wow.”

By evening’s end, Cole, who’s privy to lots of inside information at all the auto companies and has served on boards of technical companies, said he was now very optimistic about the future prospects for the Volt and subsequent GM electrified vehicles. “This is the game changer” unlike anything he’d seen in his long automotive career, he said.

Indeed, if GM succeeds with electrified vehicles like the Volt, the automaker may well turn the auto industry and nearly every business model within it on its ear –- from the kinds of cars we drive (electric versus gasoline) to the way consumers buy cars.

Cole sees the biggest risk to GM’s venture as something seemingly simple: cheap gas.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 5:01 AM under Analysis, Commentary, Featured, GM, Technology, Toyota | Comments (10) | digg this | del.icio.us

GM's Lutz Blasts Auto "Experts"

General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz blasted so-called automotive experts who refer to Big Three auto executives as "Detroit Dinosaurs" during his speech delivered to the Center for Automotive Research's annual management conference Thursday.

"We have been routinely dismissed as dumb, unprepared, anachronistic, an endangered species...

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Posted by at 2:23 PM under Commentary, GM, Personalities | Comments (12) | digg this | del.icio.us

Satellite Radio Installation Increasing

Nearly 40 percent of consumers report having satellite radio capability in their new vehicle’s audio system -- marking a considerable increase from 26 percent the previous year, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Multimedia Quality and Satisfaction Study released Thursday.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 1:57 PM under News, Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Auto Affordability Improves Slightly, Comerica Reports

The purchase of an average-priced new vehicle took 24.6 weeks of median family income in the second quarter, according to the Auto Affordability Index compiled by Comerica Bank in Detroit.

The latest reading is down 0.1 week from the first quarter, and is also down 1.1 weeks compared to a year ago.

Including finance charges, the total cost of buying an average-priced light vehicle was $28,479 in the second quarter, essentially unchanged from the prior quarter or from a year earlier. The median family income is estimated to have increased 4.2 percent from a year ago.

(Read more...)

Posted by at 9:29 AM under Analysis | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Ford Prices Sync: $395 Option

Ford has announced the price of its Sync option, an in-car communications and entertainment system developed with Microsoft, will be $395.

Sync will be available on a dozen 2008-models beginning this fall. It will be standard on Lincolns and widely available as standard or an option on Ford and Mercury models. Ford plans to offer it on nearly all Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models within two years.

Sync is voice-activated and accommodates Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones and digital media players.

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GM's Lutz Announces Battery Contract

On the day that the Wall Street Journal ran a story on Toyota delaying its advanced hybrids due to potential safety problems with its lithium-ion batteries, General Motors announced it will co-develop lithium-ion batteries with A123Systems Inc., of Watertown, Mass.

The agreement is expected to help speed up GM's electric plug-in vehicles and fuel-cell vehicles using GM's E-Flex architecture, introduced in January on the Chevrolet Volt, possibly ahead of Toyota.

GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, speaking at the Center for Automotive Research's annual management conference in Traverse City., Michigan, Thursday, said A123Systems uses nanophosphate battery chemistry that is not only powerful but also safe.

Lutz said the various batteries being developed through contracts GM has signed with suppliers would be ready for testing in October, installed in mule vehicles by year-end and be in demonstration vehicles by next spring. The next phase -- the most challenging phase -- will be to have them in showrooms by the end of 2010.

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Ford's Jaguar, Land Rover Sale Accelerating

Ford's impending sale of Jaguar and Land Rover is shifting into high gear, with participants who made it through the first round of bidding now receiving detailed financial information on the two British luxury brands, the Detroit News reports.

Ford reportedly wants a deal wrapped up by September 30.

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Buick, Lexus Tie for Top Spot in Vehicle Dependability

Buick and Lexus tied as the highest-ranking nameplates in vehicle dependability, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Vehicle Dependability Study released Thursday.

It marked the first time in 12 years that another brand tied with Lexus for the highest-rank position.

The study measures problems experienced by original owners of 3-year-old (2004 model year) vehicles. Buick and Lexus both had a score of 145 problems per 100 vehicles. They were followed in the top five rankings by Cadillac, Mercury and Honda, respectively.

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One-on-One With Toyota’s Jim Lentz

Jim Lentz, executive vice president for Toyota Motor Sales, discussed the opportunities and challenges of the auto industry during his speech to the Center for Automotive Research’s annual management meeting in Traverse City, Michigan, Wednesday. After his speech, he elaborated on those topics and others in an exclusive one-on-one interview with AutoObserver.

Are you spending more on incentives than you had anticipated on the Tundra?

Probably a little bit. But I think that’s a result of softness in the market. When we planned this launch, we had expected growth of the total market to be 200,000; instead, the market is 200,000 shy of last year. We also thought there would be growth in full-size trucks. We thought Chevy and Toyota bringing out new models and Ford introducing the Super Duty would stimulate the market. Instead, the segment is down.

What lessons did you learn from Tundra? Was it a tougher sell than you anticipated?

It hasn’t been tougher, but our biggest surprise was in dealing with conquest buyers. We didn’t realize they are really locked into a certain spec level and an exact vehicle.

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Hyundai Names New Car: Elantra Touring

Hyundai Motor America Vice President of Product Development and Strategic Planning John Krafcik, speaking at the Center of Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars, announced Hyundai’s new five-door compact will be named “Elantra Touring.” 

Elantra Touring, to be unveiled in November at the Los Angeles auto show, will reach dealers in the spring of 2008 as a 2009 model-year vehicle. It is Hyundai's first European-derived model, based on the i30, sold in the U.S.

And based on its success in South Korea, it could be hard to come by when it goes on sale.

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Toyota’s Lentz Forecast Tough But Promising Industry Future

Jim Lentz, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Sales, predicted a promising long-term future for the U.S. auto industry, with sales reaching 18 million vehicles a year. But along the way, he sees formidable challenges.

Speaking at the Center for Automotive Research’s annual management seminars in Traverse City, Mich., Lentz said sales this year likely will be 16.3 million vehicles, down about 2 percent from 2006. However, he forecasted a rebound in 2008 with steady growth into the next decade.

The major challenges facing the industry in the meantime, he categorized as politics and powertrains, pleasing new youth buyers and improving the industry’s retail reputation.

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Nissan Cuts Development Time

Nissan claims it is using a new product development process that puts vehicles into production faster and with higher quality.

The process, call V-3P, was detailed by Bob Sump, vice president of component engineering of Nissan’s technical center in Farmington Hills, Mich., at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars Tuesday in Traverse City, Michigan.

The process was used on the redesigned Infiniti G35, the G37 Coupe and the upcoming Nissan Skyline. When used to develop the small and relatively simple Nissan Note and Wingroad, vehicles sold in Japan but not the U.S., design to production took a scant 10.5 months, about half the time of the past.

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Japan: Land of the Shrinking Car Market

By Peter Nunn

Just recently I was up in Hokkaido, Japan’s scenic northern isle, driving the new Nissan Skyline Coupe -- Japan’s version of the highly rated new Infiniti G37 Coupe. Through the twists and turns of Nissan’s Hokkaido proving grounds, in bright summer sunshine, the V6 Skyline coupe was a total blast, and looked that way, too.

Then, at dinner, came the wake-up call. "Please write great things about car," urged one of the Nissan marketing execs, "and about cars in general, if the Japanese car market is going to survive into the future." Or words to that effect.

Que? This wasn’t the usual rosy, end-of-drive send-off for the press but something very different. Clearly some kind of warning and a pretty serious one at that.

Alarm bells, in fact, are now ringing throughout the Japanese car industry, because car sales at home continue to decline and the long-term future of the domestic industry is suddenly looking not a little uncertain. Yes, really.

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Toyota Tundra Customization: Beyond Gembutsu

Gembutsu. Translated from Japanese it means “go and see.” For Toyota, it is the part of the product development process during which Toyota designers and engineers go to their customers to see how they use their Toyotas.

With the new full-size Tundra pickup truck, Toyota product developers went beyond gembutsu, adding “do” to “go and see,” Michael O’Brien, Toyota corporate manager of product planning told attendees of a seminar on designing vehicles for customization at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars being held this week in Traverse City, Michigan.

Two-week, 1,000-mile long trips took Toyota engineers and designers from Japan and the U.S. to ranches, farms, mines, construction sites, recreational vehicle areas and snowplow factories to experience the kinds of equipment they add to their Toyotas when or after they buy them.

“We were often served coffee by big-haired waitresses who called us ‘hon,’” O’Brien quipped.

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Russian Billionaire Invests in GM, Report Says

China and, to a lesser degree, India have been the hot new players in the auto industry in the past few years. Now it is Russia.

Reuters picked up a story from Russian newspaper Vedomosti today that Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, owner of automaker GAZ, has bought about a 5 percent stake in General Motors. He's also been rumored to be making a bid for Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover, though he denies it.

And look for Chrysler to make a deal in Russia soon.

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American Big 3, Japanese Big 3 Profit Gap Widens to $3,814

The profit-per-vehicle gap between the American Big Three and the Japanese Big Three automakers soared 32 percent between 2005 and 2006 to $3,814, according to a new report.

The results of the report, done by financial firm Stout Risius Ross and its managing director, Laurie Harbour-Felax, were revealed at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars being held this week in Traverse City, Michigan.

Reasons for the widening cap are a lack of commonizing parts and platforms as well as lower sales and market share of the domestic brands. Of the Big Three, GM made the most improvement.

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Big 3 Won't Gain Much From Union Givebacks, CAW Says

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler would save only $500 a vehicle in production costs if they "get everything they are asking'' in U.S. labor talks, said Buzz Hargrove, head of the Canadian Auto Workers union, in a speech reported on by Bloomberg News Monday.

"Labor concessions cannot possibly have any meaningful effect on the Big Three's market share in their home market,'' Hargrove said at an analyst presentation in Dearborn, Michigan, according to a union summary of his remarks obtained by Bloomberg. Reporters weren't allowed to attend.

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GM Ends Olympic Sponsorship

General Motors said it would not renew its $1 billion sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Committee when its contract ends after 2008.

The automaker said its decision is a result of changes in its marketing strategy and came after GM evaluated the return on its advertising investment. The automaker said it has other avenues -– less expensive ones -– to reach the same audience.

The move is part of a bigger strategy of GM’s scrutinizing advertising spending and results of that spending. The examination covers digital, print, television and radio advertising, GM said.

Posted by at 5:03 AM under GM, News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us

Delphi Strikes Deals With Unions

Delphi Corp. announced Monday it had reached tentative deals with four of its U.S. unions as the auto supplier, removing more stumbling blocks from its road to emerging from bankruptcy.

Delphi already cut a deal with its largest union, the UAW. Delphi’s second-largest union, the IUE-CWA, had threatened to strike if an agreement was not reached. Details of the contract were not disclosed.

Next up is a contract with the United Steelworkers.

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EU Regs Stall Jaguar, Land Rover Sale

Uncertainty over how the European Union will apply new regulations on carbon-dioxide emissions is stalling Ford's effort to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover brands, according to unnamed sources quoted by the Financial Times.

Among parties seeking clarification of the new rules is former Ford CEO Jacques Nasser, now a managing director at One Equity Partners, a firm that invests on behalf of J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. and one of several groups in talks with Ford about purchasing Jaguar and Land Rover, the London newspaper reports.

The worry is that Jaguar and Land Rover -- niche makers of sports cars and sport-utility vehicles, respectively -- will be hurt because they don't have broader fleets including more-fuel-efficient cars to offset their less-efficient models, the paper said. The new regulations take effect in 2012.

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Chrysler Designer Gives Glimpse into Historic Day

As Ralph Gilles, Chrysler’s famous designer of the Chrysler 300 and now vice president of Jeep, truck and advance interior design, tooled into work Monday morning, he decided he ought to trade his music for AM radio -– something he never does.

But, this was a special day -- the first day of Chrysler’s new ownership and the celebration of that event.

He then heard the news that the press had broken the night before but he hadn’t heard: ex-Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli was his new boss as Chrysler’s chairman and CEO.

“I about fell off my rocker,” Gilles told the press at a Chrysler gathering in Traverse City, Michigan, where industry leaders are meeting for the University of Michigan's annual management conference and at which Gilles was scheduled to speak Monday on innovation.

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New Chrysler CEO's First Car Was a Dodge

When Ford held the first press conference to introduce ex-Boeing executive Alan Mullaly to the press, he was asked what kind of car he drove: A Lexus, he responded.

Today, ex-Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli was asked the same at his first press conference as Chrysler chairman CEO. He said he has a fleet of vehicles that includes some Chrysler products. Among them are a Jeep, a Chrysler PT Cruiser and a Plymouth Prowler.

“My first car when I graduated from high school in 1966 was a Dodge Dart GT,” Nardelli said at today’s press conference. “My first date with my wife was in that Dodge Dart GT. I thought I was Lee Petty.”

He said when his appointment to head Chrysler was announced, his wife sent him an email saying “it must be fate” that he got the job.

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New Chrysler: The Party Is Over Before It Starts

Even before the party celebrating Chrysler’s divorce from Daimler and its marriage to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management Corp. began for employees Monday, the party was over.

The late Sunday night announcement that the controversial former CEO of Home Depot, Bob Nardelli, is Chrysler LLC’s new chairman and CEO is an indication that business as those at Chrysler have known it is over.

Despite all of its claims of patience, being in for the long haul and seeming compassion, Cerberus has sent the clear message that it intends to move quickly -- and likely ruthlessly -- to turn Chrysler around. In fact, Nardelli’s compensation requires it.

No more status quo. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

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Posted by at 7:04 AM under Chrysler, Commentary, Featured, Personalities | Comments (7) |