November 2009
Fridays and November Not the Best Time for Car Deals, Edmunds.com Reports
By Michelle Krebs November 30, 2009If you thought you missed out on best-of-the-year car deals on Black Friday, forget about it. If last year is any indication, December is the best time to get a great deal. Neither Fridays nor November are the best times to get the biggest discounts on cars and trucks, according to Edmunds.com's analysis of the past four years of sales transaction data. Rather car shoppers can look for some of the best deals in December and January. more
Ford Says 2011 Mustang Will Pack 305-HP V-6 Achieving 19/30 City/Highway MPG
By Scott Doggett November 30, 2009Ford announced today that the 2011 Mustang will pack an all-new 305-horsepower V-6 engine achieving a best-in-class fuel economy of 19 miles per gallon in the city and 30 on the highway when paired with a six-speed automatic transmission. Those efficiency figures are substantially better than the current model's, which are 16 mpg in the city and 24 on the highway when mated to an automatic transmission. The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker attributes the improved fuel economy of the new 3.7-liter Duratec 24-valve V-6 engine to Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing, or Ti-VCT, which adjusts the valve train in microseconds. more
Supreme Court Denies Ford Explorer Appeal
By Michelle Krebs November 30, 2009The U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-ditch effort from Ford Motor Co. Monday to reverse an $82.6 million decision in a product-liability case involving the Ford Explorer, according to the Wall Street Journal. California resident Benetta Buell-Wilson and her husband sued Ford in 2002, the year the Ford Explorer Buell-Wilson was driving overturned on a highway. Buell-Wilson swerved to avoid a piece of metal, causing the Explorer to roll over and its roof to collapsed, crushing Buell-Wilson and rendering her a paraplegic. more
Back to the Future: Companies Go Vertical -- Again
By Michelle Krebs November 30, 2009Forward-thinking Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corp., recently told financial analysts he is taking a page from history past in creating a new business model for the high-tech company. Oracle is going vertical. And Ellison is not alone in turning back to the century-old vertical integration strategy whereby a company controls materials, manufacturing and distribution, according to a story on the trend in Monday's Wall Street Journal. Other companies, including General Motors and Boeing from which Ford CEO Alan Mulally came, are as well. more
Consumers Look for Holiday Bargains as They Have in Autos All Year
By Michelle Krebs November 30, 2009The conclusion by trackers of overly-hyped Black Friday holiday shopping revealed a trend seen in the auto industry all year: shoppers are looking but in the end, spending less and buying only when they find a bargain. Automakers monitor shopping patterns as consumer spending makes up 70 percent of the U.S. economy and plays a large role in how quickly the country can recover from a recession that began in December 2007. more
Lending Drops Most Since 1984
By Michelle Krebs November 30, 2009Lending by U.S. banks - the lifeblood of the auto industry -- fell 2.8 percent in the third quarter, the largest drop since at least 1984 and the fifth consecutive quarter in which banks have reduced lending, according to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued Tuesday and reported on by the Washington Post. The paper said the decline in lending is emerging as a serious impediment to economic recovery. more
Nissan EV Battery With Double Current Capacity, Same Cost May Be Ready by 2015
By Scott Doggett November 30, 2009Nissan Motor Co. is developing a lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles that can store electricity at double the current capacity, the Nikkei newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. Nissan aims to equip electric cars with the battery by 2015, the Japanese paper reported. The new battery will be able to power an electric vehicle for 300 kilometers (186 miles) on a single charge, about twice the distance currently possible, the newspaper said. The report states that Nissan plans to increase the power by improving the positive electrode, specifically using nickel and cobalt, as well as manganese more
After a Wooly Weekend, Saab Still in Play
By Michelle Krebs November 30, 2009Thanksgiving week saw the blow-up of yet another deal for a cast-off General Motors Co. brand, but unsurprisingly, nobody's yet declaring Saab Automobile a dead turkey. A Bloomberg News report from China early Monday had Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. (BAIC) president Wang Dazong insinuating his company is considering its own play for Saab after Sweden's Koenigsegg Group unceremoniously dropped its bid for GM's perennially money-losing Swedish auto division. BAIC was part of the consortium led by Koenigsegg that originally planned to take over Saab. And yes, venture capital - the reddest of flags for flailing auto companies - appears more
Electric Psychedelia Is Part of Chevy Volt's Design Scheme
By John O'Dell November 29, 2009Don't get us wrong, we kinda like it. The prototype 2011 Chevrolet Volt we drove Sunday had these unusual door panels - a sort of new age. electrified take on a psychedelic motif from the '70s, all hexagons and circles and swoopy lines. Chevy dealers will be able to offer several different designs, says Volt's chief engineer, Andrew Farah. Interior colors apparently will be various combinations of black, silver and white. The only thing we find iffy about the Volt door panel inserts (available on the front doors only) is that they are made of a very hard and more
Better Place Australia Finance Round Raises $25 Million for EV Infrastructure Project
By John O'Dell November 30, 2009Electric vehicle battery services provider Better Place said its Australian unit has secured an AUD$25 million ($22.9 million U.S.) initial financing round from a group of investors that includes the Canberra electric utility and was led by Lend Lease Ventures, a global investment firm. ---------- Proposed battery exchange station where drivers of cars with swappable batteries could replace depleted packs. ---------- Better Place Australia has announced a five-year plan to raise AUD$1 billion ($915.7 million U.S.) to fund deployment of an EV battery charging and battery exchange network. The initial funding will finance engineering, planning and project demonstrations.The initial commercial charging more