Volkswagen Getting Cozy with New Big Stakeholder
The Volkswagen Group and its recently acquired Porsche Automobil Holding SE, owner of Porsche Cars, said this week a delegation that included the German State of Lower Saxony traveled to the Emirate of Qatar to "intensify cooperation" with the Emirate in the areas of research, development and education.
Last year, the complex financial and investment arrangement that led to VW's takeover of Porsche (after an improbable attempt at the opposite was aborted) led to Qatar becoming VW's third-largest shareholder - after the Piech family and Lower Saxony - with about 17 percent of VW. Through the deal, Qatar also holds about 10 percent of Porsche Automobil Holding SE.
Volkswagen said in a statement, "Topics discussed included possible research cooperation into new materials, energy production and storage, fuel economy optimization in engines, and the medium-term openings for establishing a vehicle materials test laboratory."
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:12 PM under Business , Companies , News , Technology , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Grand Cherokee, Car Washes Don't Mix
If you're seeing a lot of particularly dirty Jeep Grand Cherokees these days, there might be a good reason.
Doug Newman, owner of conveyer-belt style carwash chain in Milford, Connecticut, told Bloomberg news last week the Chrysler Group LLC sport-utility is an unintended acceleration beast, accounting for all four of the unintended-acceleration incidents that have occurred at his operations since 2000.
Little more than a month ago, a worker piloting a 2006 Grand Cherokee at the Octopus carwash in Albuquerque, New Mexico, killed another worker after the driver said the Jeep accelerated uncontrollably, smashing the worker against a wall.
And a member at Edmunds.com's CarSpace social-media forum identified as Octo30yrs said the Grand Cherokee's unintended-acceleration reputation with the carwash community is such that some operations now are either pushing through Grand Cherokees or rejecting them altogether.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 6:57 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ex-GM's Stempel: From Gasoline to Batteries to Water
Robert C. Stempel, General Motors' CEO in the early 1990s, is joining the board of directors of Genesis Fluid Solutions Holdings, a water purification company in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Stempel was chosen for the company's board for not his automotive experience but his chairmanship of the Council of Great Lakes Industries. That experience provided him with valuable insight into the complex problems that plague America's largest bodies of water, said Genesis Chairman Michael Hodges in a statement.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:26 AM under GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Commentary: No Easy Answer for the Toyota Problem
Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl argues in a Washington Post OpEd that the U.S. 
Transportation Department and its National Highway Traffic Safety Administration should lead in coordinating an effort to get to the bottom of the industry problem of sudden acceleration. Here's his argument as published by the paper Monday:
Lately it seems that each day brings another report of a driver's terrifying experience with an out-of-control Toyota. There have been at least four congressional hearings in as many weeks.
Even the most confident consumer has to wonder what is causing all this and, more fundamentally, whether Toyotas are safe to drive.
The second question is easier to answer. Despite the flurry of reports, incidents with speeding vehicles are rare. And vehicles today, including Toyotas, are safer than ever.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:02 AM under Commentary , Companies , Featured , In the Media , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Former Administrator: NHTSA Needs R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief and longtime auto-safety 
advocate Joan Claybrook called for a doubling of the agency's investigational budget in order to equip NHTSA to more effectively police an increasingly technical and complex auto industry.
Claybrook was one of a number of witnesses at hearings held Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives examining the NHTSA's response to the recent high-profile recalls of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles for reports of unintended acceleration,
Claybrook and Ami Gadhia, policy counsel for Consumers Union and another witness in the House hearings, also called for Congress to consider drastically hiking the limit on civil penalties NHTSA can impose to help sharpen respect for the agency's rules.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:50 AM under Companies , Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota: Some Recall Fixes Done Improperly; Prius Runs Wild?
Well underway with the colossal job of attending to more than six million vehicles recalled to address either potentially sticking accelerator pedals or wayward floormats, a Toyota spokesman yesterday admitted some of the repairs may not be properly conducted.
The spokesman, in attendance of a media event where engineers demonstrated how unintended acceleration simulated by one researcher using a Toyota electronically controlled throttle system is virtually impossible to happen in real-world conditions, said the company is aware of multiple reports of continuing incidents of unintended acceleration in vehicles that had undergone the stipulated warranty repairs.
He added that only a few of the claims had been verified, but seemed to admit not all repairs are being properly carried out, saying that for some of the vehicles reported to still be accelerating of their own accord, "it had to do with the repair not being done properly."
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:39 AM under Business , In the Media , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Refutes Researcher's Simulation of Unintended Acceleration
Toyota Motor Corp. battled back yesterday against a hurricane of negative publicity and Congressional calls for action related to unintended acceleration in its Toyota- and Lexus-brand vehicles.
The controversy takes a new twist as Toyota and Exponent Inc., the high-profile engineering consultancy and troubleshooter the company has hired, demonstrated the unintended acceleration-causing conditions produced in a highly publicized test for Safety Research and Strategies Inc. conducted by Dr. David Gilbert, an associate professor of automotive technology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, are highly unlikely to occur under real-world conditions.
The Exponent team also showed that the design of Toyota's wiring for its electronically controlled throttle - the component suspected to be at the root of unintended acceleration - is engineered to prevent the potential for the kind of failure Gilbert's testing generated.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:58 PM under Featured , In the Media , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford, Porsche Make Enviro-Muscle Statements
The composting-saves-the-world neighbors won't be able to sneer (as much) at the gas-sucking muscle car in the driveway after Ford Motor Co. crowed today that a Mustang sporting the nameplate's new 3.7-liter dual-cam V6 churns out 305 horsepower - yet was just certified by the Environmental Protection Agency as earning a highway fuel-economy rating of 31 miles per gallon.
Ford says the car is history's first example of a production model that exceeds 300 hp yet also tops 30 mpg.
The number actually beat Ford's earlier expectations for 30 mpg from the V6 Mustang, the number the company was proudly promoting in January at the Detroit auto show.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:55 AM under Analysis , Business , Ford , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Reportedly Axes Cadillac Version of Chevy Volt
Several media sources reported late Monday General Motors Co. is dropping plans for a Cadillac-badged version of the high-tech Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle so Cadillac can focus on less-expensive plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles.
Apparently a Cadillac version of the Volt would be too weighed down by the expected luxury and comfort features to replicate the Volt's 40-mile electric-only driving range without extensive extra cost, a Bloomberg report said. Sources suggested achieving even a 20-mile driving range solely on battery power might require $30,000 of added cost, the report added.
The loss of the proposed Cadillac variant of the Volt casts more doubt on the near-term applicability of the Volt's battery-intensive, series-hybrid design.
Some GM executives had argued a Cadillac version of the Volt would help reduce costs -- mostly centered around the expensive lithium-ion batteries -- and speed wider adoption of the Volt's technology.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:03 PM under GM , In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Lux and Little the Focus at This Week's Geneva Motor Show
There aren't that many true concept vehicles slated for the Geneva motor show this week. The few that are unveiled are bookended by a heavy presence in two sectors: small cars and luxury models.
Most of the attention in Geneva is concentrated on the small-car sector, thanks to continuing environmental pressure on both sides of the Atlantic. Europe continues to press with carbon-dioxide reduction measures, while financially battered U.S. customers evidence a downsizing mindset and the nation glides inexorably closer to a 2016 deadline for all automaker fleets to average 35 miles per gallon.
So while the Geneva show is mostly about what makes sense for an auto sector evolving toward less dependence on fossil fuels, the makers of luxury performance cars continue to respond with their own individual visions of how that future will be addressed. In many senses, it's becoming evident the makers of premium vehicles may in fact have more of an opportunity to capitalize -- as customers able to spend but unwilling to compromise may represent the best market to accept pricey new fuel-saving innovations.
The possibilities for synergy between the environmental movement and the luxury auto market may be almost limitless: even Ferrari, after all, is showing a hybrid-electric concept at this week's Geneva show.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:00 PM under Analysis , Business , Companies , Featured , Ford , News , Technology , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Seems Exposed in Electronics Investigation Methods
With Congressional investigators saying Toyota Motor Corp. "failed its customers" and 
independent engineering experts testifying electronics and software programming for electronically controlled throttles perhaps are not as foolproof as Toyota believes, the first day of testimony in hearings about millions of recalled Toyota vehicles has Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration appearing incompetent, indifferent and perhaps even scoffing about potential dangers and consumer concerns.
Several members of the House of Representatves Committee on Energy and Commerce in a hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday are calling Toyota dismissive and NHTSA ill-responsive and blow-offish.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:09 PM under Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
NHTSA Investigates Toyota Corolla Steering
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is launching a formal investigation into 
consumer complaints regarding steering on 2009-2010 Toyota Corolla models, an investigation that may lead to a recall of the bestseller.
The agency said it had received 150 complaints. Toyota Executive Vice President Shinichi Sasaki told reporters in Japan this week that NHTSA had received more than 80 online complaints. NHTSA's inquiry will cover 500,000 vehicles.
The Washington Post cited one complaint on a 2010 Corolla read: "When driving on the highway (60+ mph), the vehicle will all of a sudden start to wander back and forth in the lane, for a few hundred yards. Then as quickly as it started, it stops. The wandering has almost created four collisions so far."
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:38 AM under News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyoda Leads Quality Task Force But Is a Washington No-Show
Toyota Motor Co. President Akio Toyoda, in a press conference held in Japan, said he would 
personally lead a global task force to improve quality-control management, but he would not appear at Congressional hearings in Washington next week.
In his third news conference in two weeks, Toyoda also said the automaker is examining steering complaints on its Toyota Corolla. A recall of the Corolla, one of the world's best-selling cars, is possible.
Toyoda further confirmed the automaker plans to install brake-override systems in its future models. He said Toyota also will make better use of the onboard black boxes in its vehicles to alert management to problems.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:58 AM under Featured , Personalities , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
COMMENTARY: Costs, Congress and Toyota's Fall from Grace
My boss reckons one consequence of Toyota Motor Corp.'s new and extraordinary quality-safety blunders is that the price of new cars is going to go up.
Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl suggests in a piece posted Thursday on AutoObserver that consumers should prepare themselves to pay for the increased safety the furor over the Toyota revelations seems to be demanding. And they will likely have to pay for the correspondingly amped-up regulatory oversight that also will be an inevitable outcome once Washington gets involved at the end of the month.
Our vehicles have become astoundingly, statistically safe. The question of the moment is: are we willing to pay whatever's required to move them closer to being absolutely safe?
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:00 AM under Commentary , Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Prices Take Some Hit, Edmunds.com Reports
Recalls, stop-sales orders and the accompanying bad press have put downward pressure on 
prices of new and used Toyota vehicles, but the hit is not as huge as might be expected, according to an analysis by Edmunds.com.
New vehicles specifically covered by Toyota recalls are selling for an average of 0.5 percent - or $150 per vehicle - less than earlier this year, according to the most recent adjustments made to Edmunds.com's True Market Value pricing.
Used Toyota vehicles covered by recalls are selling for about 3 percent less than earlier this year, according to Edmunds.com. However, dealers --- either being cautious or opportunistic -- are paying about 6 percent less for Toyota trade-ins than they did before the recalls were announced.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:51 AM under Analysis , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Recalls 437,000 Hybrids Globally, Including Toyota Prius
Toyota Motor Co., as expected, announced Tuesday the global recall of 437,000 hybrid 
models, including the Toyota Prius and Lexus HS 250h, to fix faulty braking systems.
The latest recall covers four models and brings the total number of recalled vehicles for various problems to about 8 million worldwide.
Toyota Motor Co. President Akio Toyoda announced the hybrid recall at a press conference in Japan Tuesday. As he did at a press conference last Friday, Toyoda, grandson of the company founder, apologized for causing customers to worry about Toyota's quality and safety and vowed to "redouble our commitment to quality."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:58 AM under Featured , News , Personalities , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Tiptoes Around Toyota Storm With Its Own Hybrid Fix
Careful -- at least at the moment -- what you call it when it comes to fixing hybrids. You 
might want to say "recall," but Ford's got a better idea, to coin a phrase.
Almost in lockstep with embattled Toyota Motor Corp. reportedly on the verge of announcing a recall or brake software recalibration on its Prius, Ford Motor Co. also announced a decision last week to reprogram the braking strategy for its Fusion Hybrid and Mercury Milan Hybrid.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:40 AM under Ford , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Will They or Won't They? Toyota Mum on Potential Prius Recall
The beat goes on for Toyota Motor Corp. and its problems with keeping vehicles on the 
acceleration or deceleration trajectories drivers desire.
After two recalls involving millions of conventionally powered Toyotas, the microscope has swung to the franchise player, the Prius hybrid-electric vehicle.
Reports are mounting that the new-generation 2010 Prius does not brake consistently -- and that Toyota knew about it without telling customers.
The company had identified a lag when the Prius transitions from the regenerative braking that recharges its batteries to the conventional friction brakes as the driver slows the vehicle.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:21 AM under Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Announces Fusion, Milan Hybrid Brake Fix
In response to customer complaints about unusual brake feel, Ford has announced it will update software on the brakes of some 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrids and 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrids.
"We have received reports that some drivers have experienced a different brake feel when the hybrid's unique regenerative brakes switch to conventional hydraulic braking," Ford's statement issued Thursday afternoon said. "While the vehicles maintain full braking capability, customers may initially perceive the condition as loss of brakes."
Ford's announcement comes as Toyota tries to figure out what to do about complaints regarding the Toyota Prius' brakes.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:56 PM under Featured , Ford , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Supplier 'Has Fix' For Faulty Accelerators
Elkhart, Indiana's CTS Corp., the supplier at the unfortunate nucleus of a massive recall involving eight Toyota Motor Corp. models and that also has forced Toyota to suspend production of new vehicles, reportedly has redesigned the component and is ready to begin production of the redesigned parts, according to a report from Reuters and confirmed by Toyota in a statement.
"We have the fix. It is a much more robust pedal that is meeting the tougher specifications from Toyota," CTS Chief Executive Vinod Khilnani said.
Not yet known, however, is if the redesigned accelerator pedal module also will be the remedy for the 2.3 million existing models affected by the recall.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 2:15 PM under Business , Companies , Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Clarifies Some Recall Info; Recall Expands to Europe, China
A top Toyota executive, in a briefing with Edmunds.com staffers, clarified some points of the 
automaker's recent actions regarding the recall and subsequent sales and production suspension of eight best-selling Toyota-brand models. He described symptoms that suggest unintended acceleration in these vehicles could occur and provided an update on a remedy for the problem.
Meantime, Toyota expanded its stop-sale to Europe and Asia as well as to the U.S. Toyota Corolla/Matrix-based Pontiac Vibe, a model from a brand that General Motors has discontinued. The Vibe had been built at the New United Motor Manufacturing GM-Toyota joint venture plant in Fremont, California, that is being closed by Toyota. Toyota also added about 1 million vehicles to the floormat recall initiated last fall.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:25 AM under News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Saab Revived, New 9-5 Coming to U.S. Next Quarter
General Motors Co.'s completion of a deal to sell its Saab Automobile AB unit to Dutch exotic-car 
maker Spyker will see production of the all-new 9-5 flagship begin in volume in April and U.S. sales in the second quarter.
"I'm happy for Saab employees and Saab customers all over the world," said John Smith, GM vice president, global planning and alliances.
Smith also said the Saab 9-4, a crossover based on GM's "Theta Premium" or TE platform that underpins the Cadillac SRX, also will soon be produced by the new company, although he was not specific about when the 9-4X will begin production.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:54 AM under Business , Companies , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM to Develop, Build Electric Motors
General Motors Co. announced Tuesday it will enhance its ability to develop and build future 
electric vehicles by designing and producing its own electric traction motors, effectively the "engines" that propel fully electric vehicles.
GM says the decision to design and manufacture its own traction motors makes it the first domestic automaker to make the commitment to in-house development. The company says it is investing $246 million in electric motor and electric drive facilities in the U.S.
Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman, global product operations, said in a media event with reporters the company believes committing to developing its own traction motors will save money, improve performance and allow better optimization of the entire electric drivetrain.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:30 AM under GM , News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Fusion Hybrid Beats Toyota Prius as Consumer Favorite Hybrid
The Ford Fusion Hybrid won the Consumer Favorite in Edmunds.com's hybrid vehicle survey, 
narrowly beating the Toyota Prius.
The Ford Fusion Hybrid earned 26 percent of the votes, closely followed by the Toyota Prius with 23 percent.
"Ford's midsize hybrid sedan, which helped boost Ford's overall sales performance in an otherwise dismal 2009, has been praised for its smooth operation, fuel economy, looks and interactive information system that helps drivers modify their behind-the-wheel behavior to increase fuel economy," according to Edmunds' GreenCarAdvisor.com Senior Editor John O'Dell.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:16 AM under Ford , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Detroit Show: Environmental Message Front and Center
This year was not one of the Detroit auto show's classic "horsepower and headers," over-the-top extravaganzas.
AutoObserver senior editor Bill Visnic points out that the 2010 Detroit auto show is rather unlike most Detroit shows past: while many manufacturers had horsepower on display, it was small and environmentally oriented vehicles that - almost by necessity - basked in the spotlights at Detroit's hometown show.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:40 AM under Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Buzz Kill for 2011 Honda CR-Z Sport Hybrid from Tokyo to Detroit
When the Honda CR-Z Concept was presented at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show last October, 
the reception among enthusiasts on Edmunds' Inside Line was upbeat and hopeful, with readers offering comments like "Woot!" and "Should get CRAZY high gas mileage!" and "This is the perfect car for me."
If there was a concern, it was only waiting for the production version to arrive.
Well, this week, it's here. Honda unveiled its showroom-ready 2011 CR-Z Sport Hybrid at the 2010 North American Auto Show in Detroit. Good news, right? Judging from the latest round of reader comments, maybe not.
Early reactions include, "Color me disappointed" and "They completely butchered the concept " and even "This makes my soul hurt."
So what happened in just three short months?
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:18 AM under Companies , Featured , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Makers Cautious as Subdued Detroit Show Starts Pivotal New Year
Most of the energy at this week's Detroit auto show epicentered at Ford Motor Co.'s display, 
with eddies splashing out to General Motors Corp.'s guardedly optimistic stand and Audi AG's gleaming base of operations.
But the majority of automakers were laying low, and media crowds were visibly reduced at the show with a reputation for over-the-top product introductions and boastful talk about the coming year.
There was no avoiding the 2010 Detroit auto show's subdued and geared-down mood, fashioned from the collective attitude of automakers licking their wounds and hoping the worst is past.
It also was yet another evolution of the show itself: there was plenty of room thanks to fewer automakers opting to display and fewer journalists opting (or fewer existing) to attend. A surprisingly expansive area of main-floor real estate was occupied by seemingly inappropriate electric vehicles of all manner, few of them of the road-going passenger variety.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:49 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Personalities , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Subaru Plots Follow-Up of 2009 Success
It was a great year in 2009 for Subaru of America Inc.: a new all-time sales record of 216,652 
units. And Subaru plans to keep it that way, avoiding sales peaks-and-valleys of the past.
Thomas J. Doll, Subaru of America Inc. executive vice president and COO, told AutoObserver at the Detroit auto show here that Subaru now is a better-placed, more-established brand than it was when it set sales records in the past.
In effect, Doll said Subaru's now a strong enough brand to sustain its plump new sales levels. And improve, even.
"We're kind of at the beginning of what this franchise is capable of doing," he said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:13 AM under Companies , Featured , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Taurus Wins First Edmunds.com Technology Breakthrough Award
The 2010 Ford Taurus is the winner of the first annual Edmunds.com Technology 
Breakthrough Award.
"The 2010 Ford Taurus offers a long list of high-tech features at a great price," said Doug Newcomb, Edmunds.com senior technology editor.
The award was given at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:52 AM under Ford , News , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Lutz Details Automaker's 2010 To-Do List
General Motors' Bob Lutz, in an editorial on AutoObserver's sister site, Edmunds' Inside Line,
lays out the automaker's 2010 to-do list.
Top to bottom of the list is a focus on product.
"GM builds cars and trucks and crossovers. That is what we do," writes Lutz. "In 2009, we were given an opportunity to continue doing so, and we must not squander that opportunity.
"Therefore," adds Lutz, "we are resolved, if you will, not to lose sight of the fact that if we don't build the best cars, trucks and crossovers on the planet, that opportunity will go for naught."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:53 PM under Commentary , GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Are Folks Getting Used To Driving Less?
Latest behavioral trend for automakers to fret about: For the second consecutive year, 
Americans are driving less.
Miles traveled in 2009 by passenger and commercial vehicles on U.S. roads dropped to 2.93 trillion from 2.94 trillion in the same period in 2008, the Federal Highway Administration said. The measured period for 2009 was the 12 months that ended in October, and travel through the rest of calendar 2009 was unlikely to reverse the trend.
Ballooning fuel prices in 2008 and the national economic meltdown in the fourth quarter of that year led to an expected decrease in U.S. driving, the first in a quarter century.
But when the bottom dropped out of fuel prices in 2009, it was expected driving would exceed the 2008 figure -- but rising unemployment and continued pressure on household budgets and commercial activity led to a second consecutive cutback in miles driven.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:31 AM under Analysis , Companies , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Edmunds.com Cites 10 Top Automotive Technologies of the Decade
Ten years ago, most people had never heard of many of the technologies that are mainstream today.
"In the '90s, satellite radio and iPods weren't around. Only hard-core computer geeks were tweaking cars to add MP3 capability, and navigation systems were still only available as expensive in-dash systems," remembered Edmunds.com Senior Technology Editor Doug Newcomb. "Bluetooth hands-free phones were still years away and Bose was the best known of only a handful of premium car audio offerings."
As the decade comes to a close, Edmunds.com has identified the following top 10 in-car technologies of the last 10 years.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:54 AM under Commentary , Companies , Ford , Technology | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
The Best and Worst Ideas of 2009
Desperate times require desperate measures, as the saying goes, and 2009 was about as 
desperate as it gets in the auto industry.
Companies sometimes do the most interesting things when they're desperate -- and that maxim seems particularly relevant to auto companies. Because their products are so visible, with such potential emotional impact. Because their executives and designers and engineers are in charge of the process that creates those products.
Desperation in 2009 -- as defined by coming up some 6 million sales short of the industry's glory days of just three years ago -- generated products and strategies that ran the gamut from ridiculous to sublime. Some ideas were inspired; some were just tired.
Here are a few of the best and worst ideas from the auto industry in 2009:
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:22 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
The Euro View on the Decade
We know our U.S.-oriented prism is limiting so we turned to Europe's Just-Auto.com for its view on the decade.
With the Just-Auto's blessing, we excerpt here Dave Leggett's take on the Top 10 things - people, events and trends that shaped the automotive decade.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:38 AM under Commentary , Companies , Ford , GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Mercedes Joins Engine Downsizing, Electric Trends
In the U.S., it's a looming 35-miles-per-gallon fuel-economy mandate. In Europe, it's 
continually tightening restrictions on carbon-dioxide emissions.
Whatever the case, even luxury manufacturers - who, at least in the U.S., used to simply pay the fines for non-compliance - have their backs against the wall when it comes to environmental correctness. Power and heavyweight prestige are what they sell, but soon, there will be no choice but to improve fuel economy and reduce the emissions.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:53 AM under Business , Companies , Featured , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Beijing Automotive Buys Some Saab Assets
General Motors confirmed Monday morning it had reached an agreement with Beijing 
Automotive Industry Holdings Co., Ltd. to sell some Saab assets to the Chinese automaker.
Meantime, talks with potential bidders to buy the rest of the Swedish automaker continue. The deal with BAIC could improve GM's prospects for finding a buyer for Saab, though Saab's survival remains questionable.
"This arrangement (with BAIC) is excellent for both parties, now and for the future," Jan Anke Jonsson, Saab Automobile managing director, said in a statement. "We have developed a good relationship with BAIC and look forward to working with them to integrate this Saab technology into their future vehicles."
No financial details were revealed.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:05 AM under Featured , GM , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
EPA Clears Way for CO2 Legislation
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Monday officially said it considers carbon dioxide potentially dangerous to the environment and human health. Its final ruling on the long- and still-debated issue sets the stage for coming regulation for passenger vehicles and other transportation sectors.
The European Union and other nations welcomed the EPA's action as the United Nations opened an important conference in Denmark dealing with climate change. The two-week conference will see representatives from some 190 nations attempt to create a global agreement on curbing CO2 output.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:26 AM under Companies , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Invests $336 Million in Chevrolet Volt Factory
General Motors announced Monday that it will invest $336 million in the Detroit-Hamtramck 
assembly plant to begin production of the Chevrolet Volt electric car in 2010.
GM said that brings its total Volt-related investments in Michigan to $700 million, covering eight facilities.
"We expect the Detroit-Hamtramck plant will be the first facility in the U.S. owned by a major automaker to produce an electric car, Jon Lauckner, GM vice president of global product planning, told the company and government officials gathered at the plant Monday.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:50 AM under GM , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Suzuki Reportedly in VW's Hands by Year-End
Maybe tiny Suzuki Motor Corp. no longer has to be concerned that sales for its American 
Suzuki Motor Corp. unit have been evaporating towards near-nonexistence: information from Europe says the burgeoning Volkswagen Group has plans to take over Suzuki by the end of the year.
A report in Britain's Car magazine, authored by Georg Kacher -- a writer with historically reliable and highly-placed sources -- says VW has been negotiating for months to acquire Suzuki and that the company had planned to announce the consummation of the deal at the Tokyo motor show in October, but last-minute contractual negotiations delayed the timeline.
Now, Kacher says in Car, VW should announce by the end of the year it's completed a deal to own Suzuki, making the Japanese minicar specialist VW's 11th brand.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:08 AM under Companies , Featured , GM , News , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
First Chevrolet Volts Go on Sale in California
General Motors' Bob Lutz said the first Chevrolet Volts will go on sale in California beginning 
late next year, fulfilling GM's long-held promise that the Volt would be in production by November 2010.
Lutz, speaking to the Motor Press Guild at the opening of the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show Wednesday, announced GM's new partnerships with three California utilities. Those utilities will receive a total of 100 Chevrolet Volts for their company fleets. He said consumers and fleets would take delivery roughly at the same time.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:18 AM under GM , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Geely Seeks $1 Billion from China Banks to Buy Volvo
Ford's sale of Volvo to Chinese automaker Geely appears to be edging toward completion, 
as major hurdles are cleared.
Geely, the preferred bidder for Ford's Volvo unit, reportedly is seeking at least $1 billion in loans from Chinese banks to finance its bid for the Swedish auto company.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:17 AM under Business , Companies , Ford , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Can 'Blue Drive' Be Hyundai's Next Big Marketing Win?
The "value" message always has been a given.
But now after seemingly completing its second major brand-co 
nfirming objective - convincing the public and third-party metrics-makers it builds quality products - Hyundai Motor America is off on its next mission: to become the industry's fuel-economy leader.
So says HMA powertrain director John Juriga after announcing last week Hyundai's newest engine family, a direct-injection variant of the company's global Theta 4-cylinder engine range, as well as a new 6-speed automatic transmission.
The new Theta-II 2.4-liter engine, said Juriga, will generate a class-leading 200 horsepower when it is launched with the all-new 2011 Sonata sedan, which goes on sale early next year.
The new Theta-II engine and 6-speed automatic are the early cornerstone's of Hyundai's "Blue Drive" initiative to achieve world-class fuel-efficiency and reduce carbon-dioxide emissions.
(Read more...)
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Latest Hybrids Probably Won't Help Build the Market
In order to prod soccer moms across the nation to plug a visit to the BMW dealership into their Blackberrys, BMW North America Inc. this week nonchalantly announced the price for its first "full" hybrid-electric vehicle, the ActiveHybrid X6: $89,725.
Welcome to hybridization as seen by German luxury marques, who, given their choices for showcasing hybrid technology, seem to be more intent on using their new hybrids to prove why their diesel-powered models make much more sense in terms of actually appealing to consumers.
At nearly $90,000, the ActiveHybrid X6 has a total of 485 horsepower, weighs more than 5,600 pounds, delivers a 2-mpg improvement over than the 6-cylinder X6 (4 mpg better in the city and 1 mpg worse on the highway than the V8 X6) - and still has plenty of extra-price options.
In the spring, BMW will follow up with the ActiveHybrid 7, the hybridized version of its 7-Series flagship. The car is certain to crack the 6-figure price barrier.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:30 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , GM , In the Media , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Tough New Roof Test Whittles Down Field of IIHS 'Top Safety Pick' Winners
A rigorous new roof-strength standard means a lot fewer new models earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's "Top Safety Pick" award for 2010.
This year, just 27 individual models were named Top Safety Pick by the IIHS, compared with last year's record 94 models that earned the award. Most of the reason so many new vehicles couldn't grab the brass ring comes down to a newly instituted roof-safety test presumed to indicate superior protection in rollovers, which are involved in about one-third of all fatal accidents.
"With the addition of our new roof strength evaluation, our crash test results now cover all 4 of the most common kinds of crashes," said IIHS president Adrian Lund in a release. "Consumers can use this list to zero in on the vehicles that are on the top rung for safety."
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:00 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , Ford , In the Media , News , Technology , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chevy Volt Less Than One Year Away
Engineers at General Motors Co. working on the 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle yesterday told the media development remains on track and that the start of production for GM's game-changing, fuel-saving 4-seater now is less than a year away.
When GM unveiled the Volt at the Detroit auto show in January, 2007, the promise of production seemed tantalizingly far-flung - and improbable, given the myriad technical problems GM admitted had to be solved. But chief engineer Andrew Farah says the accelerated development program is on schedule and GM will begin producing the Volt in less than a year's time.
And despite the recent drama involving the proposed sale of GM's Adam Opel AG European operations and the company's eleventh-hour decision to keep the division, Farah says Opel's version of the Volt, the Ampera, remains on target to hit showrooms about a year after the Volt.
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GM Shows Chevrolet Cruze at LA Show; Will Announce Volt Marketing Plans
General Motors Co will unveil the U.S. production version of its Chevrolet Cruze small sedan at the Los Angeles auto show in early December.
The Cruze goes on sale in the third quarter of 2010. GM boasts it will achieve highway fuel economy ratings of up to 40 miles per gallon. The Cruze already is on sale in foreign markets.
GM also said it will announce plans for initial retail markets for the Chevrolet Volt extended range car during the auto show. GM has promised the Volt will be on sale in November 2010.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:47 AM under GM , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Edmunds.com Recommends Shift From MPG Emphasis
Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver, late last week submitted a recommendation to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation to make fuel-economy information on new-vehicle window stickers more useful by shifting to a cost-of-energy figure rather than today's emphasized miles-per-gallon numbers.
Edmunds.com believes beginning to focus on annual or monthly energy-cost figures will better prepare consumers and the industry for the increasing number of alternative-propulsion vehicles coming into production. Fully electric, extended-range electric and plug-in hybrid models all will rely less (or not at all) on burning liquid fuel - and translating their energy usage to MPG equivalents so far has proven to generate unrepresentative numbers that make for difficult comparisons between different types of vehicles.
"Consumers have used the existing MPG ratings primarily to get a sense of the relative cost of operating a vehicle on a day-to-day basis," said Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl. "However, using energy equivalents can easily cause consumers to draw erroneous conclusions."
(Read more...)
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Nissan-Renault's Ghosn: World Ready for EVs Now
The Nissan-Renault alliance is making a major push to accelerate the adoption of fully electric vehicles despite persistent skepticism the public - and the world's vehicle infrastructure - is ready to adopt such a paradigm shift, says the alliance's chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn in a guest editorial at Edmunds.com's Inside Line enthusiast website.
In the exclusive column, Ghosn explains why Nissan-Renault is making a leap of faith for EVs and underscores that once all the environmental and energy-independence debates are set aside, he also believes EVs can provide a new style of emotion to the driving experience.
Ghosn also enumerates why Nissan-Renault believes it is well-positioned to hasten the adoption of EVs through its steady involvement in initiatives for developing and manufacturing high-performance batteries as well as infrastructure.
Ghosn said the company believes EVs could comprise as much as 10 percent of global sales by 2020. Research conducted by Nissan-Renault showed 9 percent of consumers in Japan would choose and EV as their next vehicle; 8 percent of consumers in the U.S. responded similarly.
Nissan Leaf electric vehicle (photo courtesy Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:52 PM under Companies , In the Media , Personalities , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
New-Gen Buick Midsizer Flaunts German DNA
General Motors Co.'s Buick division today released images and information for the 2011 Buick Regal and is openly billing the new-age Buick as a sport sedan.
Given the new Regal's origins with GM's second-generation global midsize chassis that was engineered by Adam Opel AG - the Germany-based European division GM just retrieved from the clutches of mega-supplier Magna and Russia's Sberbank - there might be reasonable credibility for the sport-sedan claim.
In addition to being based on the German-engineered Epsilon II architecture also used by the well-regarded new Opel Insignia (not to mention Buick's new LaCrosse sedan), the 2011 Regal also will be built in Germany at Opel's Russelsheim assembly plant.
The Regal's lines may be some of the crispest ever to be seen in a Buick showroom and GM is calling out the Acura TSX, Volkswagen Passat, Mazda6 and even the Volvo S60 as competitors. The Regal goes on sale in the second quarter next year - and in a significant sign of the times, only 4-cylinder power will be on offer.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:55 PM under Business , Companies , GM , News , Technology | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
BMW: Consumer Values Evolving - But Luxury Brands Will Survive
With luxury automakers taking a beating from the global recession and the geared-down "new" economy left in its wake, some are writing the epitaph for premium cars.
But in a meeting with the media this week, BMW North America LLC officials said that although the economic meltdown indeed has caused shifts in consumer thinking and "America has been changed by this recession," premium brands will continue to be a force in the U.S. market.
BMWNA president Jim O'Donnell said yesterday at the company's headquarters that "premium automakers will help shape the future of mobility" because high-end brands historically have been the first to develop and introduce new innovations.
And given the pressure for new solutions to the automobile's environmental impact, O'Donnell said, "It is our belief that the premium market - and the BMW Group as the leader of this segment - will continue to fill an important and necessary role of bringing innovation and technology to market to meet customer, social and regulatory needs and providing direction for the entire industry."
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Some Good Ideas from Chrysler's Turnaround Plan
After a day-long session in which executives from Chrysler Group LLC and its managing 
partner Fiat S.p.A. made public the company's financial and product strategies that will carry it forward for the next five years, the overall impression is of a plan based on optimistic growth assumptions combined with dubious new-product directions.
But not all of Chrysler's five-year outline is unreasonable or illogical. Some aspects, if executed properly and promptly, can help Chrysler distinguish itself from the competition. The three best ideas to come from Chrysler's new business plan: a diesel engine for Jeep; a revamp of Chrysler's mid-size sedans; and a plan to pay back government loans.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:54 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , Featured , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford's New Inflatable Seatbelts to Launch with Next-Gen Explorer
Hoping to mitigate crash-related injuries to a vehicle's rear-seat passengers, Ford Motor Co. 
unveiled what it is calling the auto industry's first seatbelts with integral air bags that inflate in an accident to provide additional protection.
The new rear-seat inflatable seatbelts will be offered for the new-generation Ford Explorer crossover, which begins production next year, said Sue Cischke, Ford group vice president of sustainability, environmental and safety engineering.
Although several automakers and safety-systems suppliers have in recent years shown concepts for inflatable belts, Ford claims it will be the first to use them in a production vehicle.
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AutoObserver Twittering from Chrysler Business-Plan Unveiling
Chrysler Group LLC is underway right now with what is one of the year's most crucial auto-industry events: the company's plan moving forward for the next five years under management by Italy's Fiat S.p.A.
Chrysler is revealing new models it's working on, how it plans to fix and improve its existing products and improve its quality and business practices.
AutoObserver is in attendance and editors will be Twittering with highlights throughout the day-long overview.
Follow on Twitter at @AutoObserver
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:56 AM under Chrysler , News , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Dodge Lays Out Future Product Plan; Hornet-Like Vehicle, New CUV
Ralph Gilles, Chrysler's head of design and CEO of the Dodge division, laid out the division's future product plan at the marathon meeting outlining Chrysler's five-year plan under Fiat.
The biggest news is that Dodge finally will introduce a new B-segment hatch in the vein of the highly acclaimed Dodge Hornet concept shown some time ago, and Dodge will debut a completely new seven-passenger crossover based on Fiat technology.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:35 AM under Chrysler , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
For Once, Rising Gas Prices Could Help Auto Industry
Don't look now, but gasoline prices have crept up to their highest level of 2009. Typically that means trouble for the auto business, but if gas prices stay high, this time the outcome may be different.
Demand for fuel-efficient vehicles seems to be, drastically more challenging nationwide fuel-economy standards are looming and most automakers are drastically retooling the model lines to answer.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:06 AM under Analysis , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fiat Engine Tech Impressive - But Would U.S. Buyers Accept the Cost?
In exchange for becoming the operating partner and 20-percent owner of Chrysler Group LLC, Fiat S.p.A. said it would work to incorporate its new efficiency-enhancing powertrain technologies into Chrysler-badged vehicles and other models the two companies may introduce into the U.S. market.
Fiat recently launched one such technology, showing the media the first car powered by an engine using the company's innovative "Multiair" variable-valve timing system.
The technology seems genuinely impressive - it cuts fuel consumption by a solid 10 percent while increasing power and torque by a similar amount - but the car in which the first Multiair 4-cylinder engines are launched, the Alfa Romeo Mito ("me-too") subcompact, are markedly more expensive than most Americans would consider reasonable for such a small car.
The mid-level Mito, with a 133-horsepower Multiair 4-cylinder that most closely matches the power U.S. buyers expect from the 4-cylinder engine in a compact car, costs about £14,645 in the United Kingdom, auto-enthusiast magazine Car reports. In straight exchange-rate conversion, that amounts to about $24,000.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:13 PM under Chrysler , Companies , News , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Wins Most Awards Ever from Popular Mechanics
Ford Motor Co. set a new record in Popular Mechanics Automotive Excellence Awards by 
winning more categories in a single year than any other automaker in the history of the awards.
Ford vehicles winning 2010 awards, which recognize the best in design, execution and technology, were the: 2010 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, Best Performance; 2010 Ford Transit Connect; Best Workhorse; and the 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, Best Off-Road Ability.
"Ford's sweep of three categories in this year's awards speaks to the onslaught of great products coming from Dearborn," said Ben Stewart, automotive editor, Popular Mechanics.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:41 AM under Ford , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Word on the Street: The Secret of Subaru's Success
It's no secret that Subaru has been one of the biggest automotive success stories of 2009. 
During one of the worst economies on record, the brand has bucked the industry's downward trend of sales to steadily gain U.S. market share, climbing from just 1.1 percent of all vehicles sold in January 2008 all the way to 2 percent in September.
But what's the secret to Subaru's success? Great products? Savvy marketing? Or perhaps just being in the right place at the right time? Car shoppers and enthusiasts on Edmunds' CarSpace Forums have been debating this topic at length over the last few months, and here's a peek at what they've had to say.
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'Old' GM May Offload Plant on New-Age Automaker
The "old" General Motors Corp. - now known by the name Motors Liquidation Co. - could be 
on the verge of completing a deal that would bring in some revenue to pay back some of the former GM's creditors, according to a report over the weekend from the Wall Street Journal.
Motors Liquidation reportedly is ready to sell its assembly plant in Wilmington, Del., to Irvine, Calif., new-tech automaker Fisker Automotive Inc. The company, whose CEO is Henrik Fisker, a former designer for BMW AG, has made headlines in recent years with his Fisker Karma extended-range electric vehicle, a slinky, nearly-$90,000 sport sedan set to go on sale next year. The Karma will be produced in Finland under contract with known low-volume vehicle assembler Valmet Automotive.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:22 AM under Companies , GM , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chinese Automaker Investment Pays Off for Buffett
A stake purchased in Chinese automaker/batterymaker BYD is paying off for billionaire 
investor Warren Buffett.
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. last September paid $230 million for a 10-percent stake in BYD. Since then, the stock has risen from the $1.21 a share that Buffett paid to $10.55 a share, the Detroit News reports.
The stock-run up has made company founder Wang Chuanfu the richest man in China, according to the Hurun Report, a list of the wealthiest Chinese.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:21 AM under Business , Companies , Personalities , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Manufacturers Offer Richest Incentives Since Cash for Clunkers
After dismal September car sales due to the hangover from the government's Cash for 
Clunkers program, auto manufacturers have ramped up incentives in October as they have ramped up production to refill the inventory pipeline, according to Edmunds.com.
The incentives show manufacturers are extremely eager to sell off 2009 models left in inventory. But automakers are also offering incentives on newly launched 2010 models.
"This year has been a wild ride for automakers, and it's not over yet," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. "No segment is unaffected by the current round of incentives, though luxury models and trucks are being discounted particularly heavily."
Low-interest financing, including zero-interest financing, and cash rebates dominate the landscape, but subsidized lease programs, almost non-existent in the past years, are proliferating as well.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:43 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Cultural Preferences Shaping Battery Business Relationships
At the first-ever "Business of Plugging In" conference in Detroit Tuesday, industry interests 
studying the development and marketing of plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles said the question of who is best to develop and manufacture batteries for plug-in hybrids for now seems to be determined by nationalistic preferences.
A panel discussing the future of development for the advanced batteries, which are critical to providing the electric-only driving distances desired for plug-in hybrids, mostly agreed specialist suppliers - not automakers - will be the best companies to develop and produce the batteries.
The differences come when talking about what role automakers will play, however.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:43 AM under Companies , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Plugging In Conference Kicks Off
"The Business of Plugging In" conference kicked off in Detroit Tuesday morning with about 600 people registered. The focus will be electric vehicles going mainstream.
AutoObserver's Senior Contributing Editor Bill Visnic will cover the converence for AutoObserver and Edmunds.com's Green Car Advisor. Catch his tweets from the conference at www.twitter.com/autoobserver.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:39 AM under Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Japan Makers Attending Party for Themselves: The Tokyo Motor Show
Imagine having a football, baseball or soccer game and the visiting team doesn't show up.
That's sort of what's going on this week at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, where thanks to global belt-tightening and the ever-present perception of the Tokyo show as a home-team-dominated affair, the major U.S. and European automakers are effectively not coming to the game.
Although carrying on with the show is up to them alone, the Japanese makers have toned down the Tokyo show's typical hyperbole - even for Tokyo's typically far-out concept cars, not to mention the production or near-production unveilings. Environmental themes will dominate and any ostentatious displays of power and performance will be limited.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:01 AM under Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Coskata Fires Up First 'Flex' Ethanol Plant, in Pennsylvania
Coskata Inc. has pushed toward the front of the pack of second-generation ethanol producers 
by firing up its new "semi-commercial" facility for manufacturing cellulosic ethanol in Madison, Pa., near Pittsburgh. The $50-million result of research and construction is 65 feet tall and includes an 8,000-degree torch that processes the pine chips which serve as a raw material.
The opening of the facility last week moves the Warrendale, Ill.-based company closer to building a full-scale commercial plant, which Coskata anticipates opening by late 2012.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:58 AM under Business , GM , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Aftermarket Maker, Apple Aim to Put Keyless Remote Suppliers Out of Business
Despair surely reigns in the electronics divisions of several major automotive suppliers with this week's unveiling of an Apple iPhone-based aftermarket system to remotely start your vehicle as well as perform all the functions of a traditional keyless remote.
After all, the electronics boffins have themselves already nonsensically eliminated the need for actual keys, so now Apple and the aftermarket are taking the exercise one step further, eliminating the need for OEM remote key fobs.
Directed Electronics said this week it has an iPhone app that will allow a vehicle properly wired with its Viper SmartStart hardware to be started remotely. The app also enables conventional door and trunk lock/unlock features and "panic" alarm operation.
And unlike current OEM and aftermarket remote starters, the company says the Viper SmartStart system allows the vehicle to be remotely started from almost any distance, provided both iPhone and vehicle have access to cellular signal.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:17 AM under Business , In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota-Subaru Sport Coupe To Break Cover at Tokyo Show
The affordable sport coupe that Toyota Motor Corp. desperately needs to prove it's still got passion is the same car that will symbolize how enmeshed giant Toyota has become with Fuji Heavy Industries Inc.'s tiny Subaru. And that car will be on display at the Tokyo motor show later this month.
Plans for the so-called "Toyobaru" coupe have been public since 2008, but reports of its engineering details have fluctuated and even its status as an approved production-car program has been questioned. Now with the FT-86 concept car, things seem to be solidifying, according to Peter Nunn's report at Edmunds.com's Inside Line.
Toyota may not have its version of the car in showrooms until late 2011, however.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:11 AM under Companies , Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Make Mercedes Payment Through iPhone App
Mercedes-Benz Financial boasts that it is the first automotive financial services company to allow 
customers to manage the account on their Mercedes car loan, including making a payment, using an Apple iPhone app.
The financial company is launching a marketing campaign called "The coolest way to pay."
The free download, available at the Apple App Store, allows customers to make payments, view their account summary and request payoff information on existing accounts on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Account holders must first register online at Mercedes-Benz Financial.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:37 AM under Companies , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Aftermarket Performance Icon Holley Goes Chapter 11 -- Again
In a tale that chronicles the dwindling generation of do-it-yourself auto modifiers, storied 
aftermarket performance-parts company Holley Performance, which made its name manufacturing carburetors bearing its name, last week filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in two years.
Holley, whose name became synonymous with carburetors for all manner of high-performance engines and later branched out to own a handful of brands well known for bolt-on performance parts, first entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 2008 and emerged later that year, transferring the company's equity to holders of its second-lien debt.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:22 AM under Business , Companies , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford's Turn To Scratch Microsoft's Back
Microsoft Corp. said Ford is among a handful of companies that will upgrade to the new 
Windows 7 operating system and help the company promote the new system that goes on sale next month.
Sounds like "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" deal.
Ford uses Microsoft's Sync communications and music system in many of its vehicles, and Microsoft, including its famous founder Bill Gates personally, has helped Ford promote it.
Now it's Ford's turn to help out Microsoft.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:49 AM under Companies , Ford , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota's Lexus Advertises on Paid CNN App
Toyota's luxury division Lexus is among initial marketers to advertise on CNN's iPhone and iPod Touch application, making its debut Tuesday.
CNN followed the Wall Street Journal in charging for news on such mobile devices. The one-time fee is $1.99 for the news feeds that can be personalized by location or topic and shared by email, Twitter and Facebook, CNN said. Content includes articles, videos, photos and user-generated material. CNN said it has taken almost six months to develop the app. The Wall Street Journal begins charging $2 a week for its mobile app beginning in October.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:28 AM under News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Industry EV Maneuvers Charging Up; Detroit Show to Feature Multi-Maker EV Area
With General Motors Co.'s India subsidiary this week inking an electric-vehicle development 
deal with an Indian EV specialist and once hybrid- and electric-averse European automakers unfurling serious EV plays, accelerating OEM and battery-making initiatives seem to demonstrate EVs are going to be more than a fad.
So much so that next year's Detroit auto show - in the home of the industry responsible for bringing internal-combustion personal transport to the masses - will prominently feature a first-ever, multi-maker display promoting electric cars.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:23 AM under Companies , Featured , News , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fuel-Efficiency Research Funding Approved by House
A bill to invest $2.9 billion for auto-industry research into technologies to improve fuel efficiency was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives this week in a move that could further help bolster the staggered U.S. auto industry, particularly the Detroit-based automakers.
The money is to be spent over five years, starting with $550 million next year, an increase of more than $100 million over funding that already was approved by the Obama Administration to hasten the pace of fuel-saving technologies and alternative fuels such as hydrogen and electricity.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:23 AM under Companies , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
VW Phaeton May Rise from the Dead
Volkswagen reportedly is considering bringing its Phaeton luxury car back to the U.S., but 
this time with a diesel engine, a top executive told reporters at the Frankfurt auto show.
Volkswagen Group CEO Stefan Jacoby said VW wants to bring back the Phaeton, which launched in the U.S. 2003, reached its peak of 1,939 sales the next year and was pulled out of the market in 2007 due to slow sales.
"I have to admit that it was a mistake to take this car out of the market," Jacoby said in a media briefing at the Frankfurt auto show as reported by the trade publication Automotive News. "We think that the Volkswagen brand is a good place for this. We are looking at various alternatives for the re-launch of Phaeton."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:43 AM under Business , Companies , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Confirms C-Max Coming to U.S.
At the Frankfurt Motor Show Tuesday, Ford Motor Co. said it will bring the new generation of 
its popular European compact people-mover, the Focus C-Max, to the U.S. sometime near the end of 2011.
The C-Max, the all-new generation of which was unveiled in Frankfurt, has been a widely acclaimed hit for Ford of Europe since the original went on sale in 2003.
Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president in charge of global product development, told a group of reporters at its Dearborn, Mich., headquarters Monday the initial U.S.-market C-Max will be the 7-passenger variant (to be called the Grand C-Max) that is longer and taller than the standard 5-passenger C-Max and has a sliding rear door on each side. Both are based on Ford's new global C-segment architecture, also used for the Ford Focus.
Ford marketing sources say it has not yet been decided how the vehicle will be badged in the U.S. - the Focus name, for example, may not be included in the car's branding.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:35 AM under Featured , Ford , Technology | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
Frankfurt Motor Show: Enviro Plays, Luxury the Big Question
Press days for the Frankfurt auto show, one of Europe's most important international auto 
shows, kick off Tuesday, and the lineup of production models and concept cars oriented largely for the European market evidence an auto industry anxious to continue moving the environmental needle - but also grappling with how to keep luxury relevant.
Luxury is where the big profits lie, but many industry analysts say consumers - pounded by the eroded global economy and wracked retirement accounts - are girding for a prolonged downshift in their automotive desires that may leave luxury marques sucking wind.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:08 AM under Commentary , Companies , Featured , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Hyundai, Mitsubishi Out of Chrysler Engine-Making JV
Two of the three partners in the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance are bowing out, leaving Chrysler Group LLC with a four-cylinder global engine family and lots of engine production 
capacity at a highly efficient plant in Dundee, Michigan
Hyundai Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. cut their ties with the GEMA venture last month, selling their shares to Chrysler for an undisclosed amount. The Dundee site began producing the jointly developed engines in October 2005. While two plants in Asia also produced the engines for Mitsubishi and Hyundai, the plan was for the two companies to also take engines supplied by the Dundee GEMA plant for vehicles Hyundai and Mitsubishi built in North America.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:16 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Magna Consortium Gets Opel, but GM Retains Large Hunk
General Motors Co. announced Thursday it will sell a majority interest in its European Adam 
Opel AG and Vauxhall units to a consortium comprised of Canada's Magna International Inc. and Russia's Sberbank.
But a key aspect not prominently discussed in GM's months-long process to shed its currently unprofitable European operations: The company will retain a significant 35 percent interest.
(Read more...)
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Ford Poised To Grab Medium-Truck Share With New Power Stroke Diesel
Medium-duty truck buyers are due for a potential treat when Ford Motor Co. launches 2011 
models of its Super Duty F-Series next spring powered by the company's all-new Power Stroke 6.7-liter V8 turbodiesel.
The new, in-house-developed engine ends Ford's decades-long supply arrangement with Navistar International Corp., a relationship that ends this year after a long and publicly nasty dispute.
The engine, which Chief Engineer Adam Gryglak said is a total clean-sheet design, is something of a technical tour de force: It has an innovative twin-turbocharger setup packaged as a single unit, a reversed exhaust-port design in which exhaust exits on the inner portion of the engine's vee and Ford's first medium-truck use of weight-saving compacted graphite iron for the engine block.
(Read more...)
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Mini Launches Mobile App for Roadside Assistance
The fun, sometimes frivolous but often helpful mobile-device applications just keep proliferating and BMW AG's Mini USA -- often an innovator in clever methods to bond with its customers -- is introducing an "app" for roadside assistance, an idea that is likely to be copied by other automakers and third-party road-service providers.
Available to Mini owners with iPhone or Blackberry devices, the Mini Road Assist app enables a one-button connect with roadside-assistance services and, most importantly, uses the devices' built-in location identification software to relay the exact position of the disabled vehicle.
Although many onboard services such as General Motors Corp.'s well-known OnStar offer the same capabilities, they often aren't much use if locked out of the vehicle or the battery is dead.
(Read more...)
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New Cadillac GM Pondering the Diesel Equation
WARREN, MI - Bryan Nesbitt has been on the job as Cadillac's new general manager less than a month, and at a recent media event here, the former vice president of General Motors Co.'s North American design isn't afraid to admit he's still getting up to speed on direct product issues for the company's premium-vehicle division.
One, he told AutoObserver, is diesel engines.
GM product-development higher-ups are adamant that diesels are too costly for the U.S. market. They require complex and expensive exhaust aftertreatment ("onboard chemical factories" is one term repeatedly employed) to comply with the world's toughest diesel-emissions standards - and U.S. diesel fuel is not taxed advantageously, as it is in Europe, where diesels have captured more than half of the region's light-vehicle market.
That includes an outsized presence in Europe's premium sector, where diesel has made distinct inroads because of its combination of efficiency and primary technical advantage: huge torque output, the perfect attribute for engines used in heavy and large luxury models.
(Read more...)
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COMMENTARY: Two Dozen New Models May Overcrowd GM's Four-Brand Garage
It's not unusual for General Motors Co. and other big car companies to show the media a 
couple year's worth of pending new models. The difference this week was that GM showed the goods - and allowed reporters to tell all about what they saw.
With the U.S. Treasury Department holding some $60 billion of its markers, GM must quickly convince all its stakeholders the company's got stuff people will want to buy. Good stuff - better than the stuff it insisted was good in the past. The kind of stuff that generates revenue that pays back the kind of debt GM's run up.
Notwithstanding the 230-miles-per-gallon Chevrolet Volt coming next year, GM brags it has some two dozen new-model launches scheduled between now and 2011, but this quantity indicates nothing about the more-important factor: whether a significant number of these new models are winners.
What GM wouldn't allow was photography. But we'll describe with a division-by-division analysis of the new products, most of which are coming by 2011:
(Read more...)
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Updated Data Revises Some Hybrid Payback Times
Armed with more detailed 2010 model-year data regarding hybrid-electric vehicle pricing,
incentives and equipment levels that affects payback times, data analysts at Edmunds.com
are issuing revised payback times recently listed for several hybrid models.
Most notably, the battle between Toyota Motor Corp.'s new Prius and the equally new 2010 Insight from Honda Motor Co. Ltd. draws considerably closer than Edmunds.com's analysis originally reported.
(Read more...)
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Feds Push National Texting-While-Driving Ban
Using the often-played bargaining chip of federal highway funding, the U.S. Senate is pushing
a bill for a nationwide ban on text messaging while driving.
Thirteen states and the District of Columbia already have such laws, but the bill proposes a two-year time frame for the remaining states to adopt similar laws and formulate a penalty structure.
Virginia Tech's Transportation Institute this week released the "duh" results of a study showing commercial truck drivers were 23 times more likely to crash or experience a near-miss accident if texting.
(Read more...)
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Another Cash for Clunker Glitch: Mileage Ratings Change, Disqualifying Some Deals
The qualifications for the Cash for Clunkers program, officially known as the Car Allowance
Rebate System (CARS
) that launched Monday, apparently are a moving target, Edmunds.com
has learned.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed that last Friday -- the day the rules for Cash for Clunkers were released and dealer sign-up opened -- the agency "refreshed" its combined mileage ratings. It is the combined mileage ratings of the vehicle being traded in as a clunker and of the new vehicle being purchased that determine if the deal qualifies under the program that gives a $3,500 or $4,500 voucher toward the purchase of a new vehicle.
In some cases, the "refreshed" ratings show the potential trade-ins with a higher mileage rating than previously indicated by the EPA, and make them ineligible for the Cash for Clunkers program.
(Read more...)
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"New" GM Has Busy First Week
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT - The "new" General Motors, which emerged from bankruptcy just last Friday, had a busy first week
The automaker announced a series of executive retirements, departures and re-assignments, likely the first of many as it sheds about a third of its executive ranks. The top three executives, it was revealed in government filings, will retain their previous pay. Unretired executive Bob Lutz had his first misstep in the communications role he now heads. And the automaker got back to the business of building, promoting and selling vehicles
(Read more...)
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GM's "Mr. Environment" Retires, Report Says
DETROIT - Larry Burns, General Motors vice president of R&D and strategic planning, plans
to retire from the auto company. His departure is the one of many upcoming retirements and involuntary departures as the new GM sheds a third of its top executives.
Burns informed GM CEO Fritz Henderson of his decision to retire a month ago, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday.
Dubbed GM's "Mr. Environment" in a 2007 profile by The New York Times, Burns was the automaker's most visible spokesman on green issues, long before it was trendy and often when it was at odds with more traditional-minded executives.
Burns is considered a pioneer in the development of hydrogen-powered fuel cells for vehicles. His group oversaw the development of such vehicles as the GM Hy-wire with its by-wire operations and skateboard chassis containing fuel cells a hydrogen tanks; the also hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Sequel; and the recent Segway-based GM P.U.M.A., unveiled at this year's New York auto show.
(Read more...)
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New GM Goes High-Tech, High-Touch
DETROIT -- The new General Motors will be closer to the customer and will employ high-tech as well as low-tech ways to do so.
Next week, the new GM will launch a "Tell Fritz" Web site that allows consumers and others to send ideas, questions and concerns directly to GM CEO Fritz Henderson.
"I will personally review and respond to some of these every day and will encourage other executives to participate as well," Henderson said at a Friday news conference.
(Read more...)
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New GM Experiments With Car-Selling on eBay
DETROIT -- The new General Motors that emerged from bankruptcy Friday is planning
an
experiment with eBay for online car buying.
"We're working on new ways to make car buying more convenient for our customers, including an innovative new partnership with eBay in California to revolutionize how people buy vehicles online," GM CEO Fritz Henderson said at a press conference.
(Read more...)
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GM's Opel Still Up for Grabs; BAIC Offer in Contention
General Motors is seriously considering an offer for its Opel unit in Europe from Chinese
automaker Beijing Automotive as talks with Canadian auto supplier Magna International and the German government continue.
BAIC made a non-binding offer for Opel this week that requires less government help, cuts fewer jobs and provides for expansion of Opel in China more than an offer by Canadian auto supplier Magna International.
(Read more...)
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Best Buy Gearing Up Electric Vehicle Sales
Best Buy, the nation's largest consumer-electronics retailer, has quietly begun offering
electric-powered scooters, bicycles and Segway Inc. transporters in 19 locations in California, Oregon and Washington, the Wall Street Journal
reports.
Best Buy told the newspaper that its electric vehicles push is part of a re-imagining of the company's product mix involving a corporate division known as Best Buy Labs, which is looking to make better use of the company's Geek Squad electronics technicians.
Industry experts told the Journal that electric vehicles won't be a cash cow for Best Buy anytime soon. But many concur that the investment could prove wise over time, noting that Best Buy has a history of sharp turns that have kept it ahead of competitors.
(Read more...)
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How's This for Energy Policy?
Portugal said today it is preparing to install some 1,300 electric-vehicle recharging stations in the next two years as the country moves aggressively to gain energy independence.
The initiative's first phase encompasses installation of charging stations in 21 of the country's major cities and most densely populated and trafficked rural areas, reported the Associated Press. The stations will be located in parking areas, shopping malls and gas stations.
Portugal has almost no significant internal energy sources such as coal or petroleum, yet it says it now has renewable-energy sources to supply 43 percent of its electrical demand.
With the charging stations, the country is attempting to prod demand for affordable, mass-market electric vehicles projected to go on sale next year. By 2020, officials claim Portugal could have 180,000 EVs in use and 25,000 public charging sites.
Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:15 PM under In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Government Launches Cash for Clunkers Web site; Rules Being Written
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government launched a Web site Monday to provide consumers
with information on the so-called Cash for Clunkers legislation passed last week.
The site, www.cars.gov
, explains how the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) program works, provides a list of frequently asked questions and the verbage of the law, links to the government's fuel economy ratings on vehicles
and allows consumers to sign up for updates.
The rules for the program have yet to be written, a process likely to take 30 days.
(Read more...)
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New Incoming Rounds in Hybrid War
By Bill Visnic
When gasoline prices plunged early this year, sales of hybrid-electric vehicles went South, too.
Quickly.
The timing may be unfortunate, but major hybrid players Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. launched new hybrids this spring -- and both seem determined to grub out a larger portion of the yo-yoing hybrid market. That battle, the latest summertime jump for gasoline prices and the U.S. auto market's continuing gyrations are once again cranking up the attention on hybrids.
(Read more...)
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Miata Designer Matano, T. Boone Pickens Part of Start-Up Car Company
MONROE, La. -- Mystery solved. Or at least the players behind it.
Mazda Miata designer Tom Matano and Texas billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens are key figures behind a car plant being established in Louisiana to build environmentally friendly vehicles by a start-up company that has never before built cars.
V-Vehicle Co., of San Diego, is a start-up company being financed by California venture capitalists. Its CEO is Frank Varasano, a former executive vice president of Oracle Corp. who is described as the project's visionary.
Company chairman is Ray Lane of the California venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, which has been extensively involved in environmentally friendly projects and companies, including Fisker Automotive. John Doerr, a managing partner with the California venture capital company, is a V-Vehicle board member. Former Vice President Al Gore recently joined the firm. Matano will direct design.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:23 PM under Business , Companies , Featured , GM , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Mystery Company To Assemble Cars in Louisiana
Baton Rouge, La. -- A company described as a well-financed start-up reportedly is close to
choosing a shuttered north Louisiana site to start a new automobile manufacturing facility -- its first, creating up to 1,500 jobs, two elected officials from the region told the Associated Press.
A formal announcement on the mystery company could come Wednesday from Gov. Bobby Jindal, Rep. Jim Fannin told the wire service.
Fannin said the vehicles would be the company's first, they would be fuel-efficient ones and they will be built at a former Guide Corp. plant.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:08 AM under Business , Companies , GM , Rumors , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chevrolet Ready To Be Lead Horse in GM Revival
By Bill Visnic
PLYMOUTH, Mich. -- Through the months of the unfolding General Motors Corp.'s bankruptcy story, one plotline has been clear and unwavering: the Chevrolet brand will be the backbone -- and linchpin -- of GM's attempt to restructure and revitalize with a lot fewer brands and a lot smaller operational footprint.
At an event this week to launch the new 2010 Equinox compact crossover, Chevrolet North America Vice President Ed Peper reiterated GM isn't planning to wear the bankruptcy label for long, and added that Chevrolet is ready to drive GM's recovery. He said Chevrolet is loaded with coming products that should resonate in the new patterns of the U.S. auto market.
(Read more...)
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Lexus Says Luxury Car Sales May Be Coming in From the Cold
By Bill Visnic and Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- Admitting the industry and economic downturn has taken a hard toll on luxury-car sales and possibly altered, at least for awhile, customers' thinking about their "wants" versus their needs, the sales boss for Toyota Motor Sales USA's Lexus luxury division says the worst may have passed.
Mark Templin, Lexus group vice president and general manager, says luxury has been beaten down -- maybe even disproportionately in relation to the battered overall auto market -- but he believes customers will come back to luxury cars, despite enduring a once-in-a-generation recession.
(Read more...)
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GM Pulls Plug on 2010 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid
DETROIT - General Motors has pulled the plug on the 2010 version of the Chevrolet Malibu hybrid
due to slow sales and high inventory levels, the Wall Street Journal
reports.
A GM spokesman told the paper the automaker has a "sufficient stock of 2009s" and starting up production in the near future is "possible, but not likely."
(Read more...)
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Penske: Envisioning Saturn as a Global Motors
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- Roger Penske's dealership group doesn't hold a single Saturn franchise, but now he's offered to buy from General Motors the whole kit and caboodle.
Penske's vision, as he laid it out in an exclusive interview with Edmunds' AutoObserver.com Friday shortly after GM and the Penske Group announced they had made a deal for Saturn, is twofold: to sell GM-made models in Saturn showrooms while shopping the globe for other vehicles to sell, eventually convincing the offshore manufacturers of those vehicles to make them in the United States.
(Penske announced on Sept. 30 it terminated discussions with GM for the purchase of Saturn.)
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:49 AM under Business , Companies , Featured , GM , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Diesel-Fuel Price Plunges; Will Engines Be Revived?
By Bill Visnic
The price of diesel fuel dipped to less than the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline earlier this month, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The price inversion followed what the EIA said is a "traditional" spring transition for the price of the two fuels. But it also ends extensive auto-industry hand-wringing about the price of diesel, which for some time has not followed historic patterns and many blame for derailing ambitious plans to launch diesel-powered light vehicles in the U.S. market.
(Read more...)
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VW Links With China's BYD for Hybrid or Electric Cars; Ford May Follow
Volkswagen has signed a letter of intent with China's BYD on hybrid or electric cars. Ford
and another European automaker are rumored to be working on similar arrangements with BYD.
BYD, which stands for Build Your Dream, has been a Chinese company to watch. Formed in 1995, BYD is now the world's second-largest producer of lithium-ion batteries, mostly for cell phones, and has been making cars only since 2003.
The company has been displaying a plug-in hybrid, the BYD F3, at global auto shows, including one in Detroit.
(Read more...)
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Fuji Heavy To Sell Hybrid Car, Introduce New Diesel
Subaru parent, Fuji Heavy Industries, may introduce a hybrid vehicle by 2012 and will develop a new diesel engine by 2011 or 2012 to meet more stringent environmental standards, company president Ikuo Mori told reporters in Tokyo, according to Bloomberg News. The automaker has said it plans to use a hybrid system developed by Toyota, its biggest shareholder.
Mori also said Subaru in the U.S. is encouraging its dealers dualed with Chrysler to switch to Fuji Heavy's finance company; there are about 20 dealers that handle both brands.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:24 AM under Companies , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford: Perfect Timing for EcoBoost Celebration
By Michelle Krebs
Once again, Ford has lucked out in terms of timing.
As President Obama was announcing stricter fuel economy and emissions standards in Washington, D.C., Ford was celebrating the production of its new EcoBoost engine in Cleveland.
The opportunity to promote Ford, which has tried to set itself apart from General Motors and Chrysler by not taking government assistance -- and staying away from bankruptcy -- was not lost on company CEO Alan Mulally, who flanked President Obama at his White House press conference.
(Read more...)
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New Fuel Rules: Automakers May Build Them, but Will Customers Buy Them?
By Michelle Krebs
President Obama declared the new combined fuel-economy and emissions standards historic. In a press conference in the White House rose garden, surrounded by environmentalists and captains of the global auto industry, Obama said the new rules mark the nation's first comprehensive effort to curb vehicle emissions while cutting dependence on imported oil -- a turning point toward a "clean-energy economy."
Still, the new standards fall short on one critical element: What will make consumers buy the new clean vehicles required by the law?
The government can dictate that automakers build highly fuel-efficient vehicles that emit few pollutants, but will customers buy them? Recent history illustrates that customers are not stirred by their conscience but by their wallets, buying smaller, fuel-economy cars only when gas prices rise to the point of hurting them financially.
"Defining what should be built does not create demand," asserted Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl. "There are tons of great fuel-efficient cars out there today but most consumers aren't interested, and the new fuel-economy standards don't appeal to deal with the demand side at all."
(Read more...)
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President Obama To Announce Fuel-Economy, Emission Standards Tuesday
WASHINGTON -- President Obama is expected to announce new fuel-economy and greenhouse-gas standards at a White House press conference Tuesday.
The new standards are expected to raise fuel economy for cars to 35 mpg by 2016, Washington sources are saying. That's four years earlier than federal law had required.
The trade-off is that the state of California apparently has agreed to back off from its effort to establish its own greenhouse-gas emissions standards for automobiles, sources are saying. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to attend President Obama's press conference, the Web site Politico.com reports.
(Read more...)
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Chevrolet Volt: First Media Test Drives Given
The dance of the seven veils continues as General Motors recently began offering early, early test drives of its highly anticipated 2011 Chevrolet Volt.
Edmunds' Inside Line Senior Editor Dan Pund was among the early test drivers of the engineering development car, commonly known in the industry as a "mule."
Pund called his test drive more of a progress report than a final assessment and reports its development is coming along nicely. But much more is yet to be known about the Volt, that is supposed to come out near the end of 2010.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:19 PM under Commentary , GM , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Nissan: EV Business Will Be "Real" Business
By Bill Visnic
NOVI, Michigan -- Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. is ratcheting up its electric vehicle talk and expanding pilot programs around the nation in preparation for a battery-powered electric car it plans to mass-market sometime around 2012.
And Larry Dominique, vice president-product planning for Nissan Americas, promises that unlike previous efforts to mainstream somewhat weird electric vehicles, Nissan plans a full-blooded sales and marketing effort -- and that the still-unseen vehicle will be no oddity.
(Read more...)
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Edmunds.com Jumps on the Earth Day Band Wagon With Tire-Check Marathon
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- On Earth Day, drive into a Santa Monica automotive business and get your tire pressure checked. The city is seeking the Guinness World Record for number of tires checked and properly filled in a day, and attempting to educate local residents about the importance of this simple task.
"Our studies show that a driver wastes $800 per year on fuel when driving on a severely under-inflated tire," reported Edmunds.com Senior Editor and "Green Team" committee member Joanne Helperin. "With approximately 250 million vehicles on the road in the United States, and a government estimate that the average vehicle tire is under-inflated by 26 percent, there is remarkable potential for saving billions of dollars and tons of fuel."
(Read more...)
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2010 Toyota Prius Priced Above 2010 Honda Insight
TORRANCE, California -- Toyota announced pricing on its 2010 Toyota Prius that puts it
higher than the 2010 Honda Insight.
The 2010 Toyota Prius will start at $22,750, including a $750 destination charge, when it goes on sale in late May, putting it higher than the 2010 Honda Insight, which starts at $20,470 and went on sale March 24.
However, Toyota's pricing strategy includes the rollout later this year of the 2010 Toyota Prius I, a stripped-down base model that will start at $21,750 -- still more expensive than the cheapest Insight.
(Read more...)
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Toyota Prius Beats Honda Insight in Edmunds' Inside Line Comparison Test
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- The 2010 Toyota Prius beat the 2010 Honda Insight in a
comparison test conducted by Inside Line
, Edmunds.com's
online enthusiast car magazine.
"The 2010 Toyota Prius is quicker, it stops shorter and, with its smoother ride quality and quieter cabin, it's the one you want to be in when commuting," says Erin Riches, Edmunds' Inside Line senior editor.
In the comparison test, the 2010 Honda Insight was praised for its steering and for the responsiveness of its continuously variable transmission (CVT).
(Read more...)
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One Million Plug-In Hybrids by 2015? Maybe. Profitable? Probably Not
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT -- Most members of a panel of electric vehicle and battery experts at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress here say President Obama's goal of having 1 million plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles on the road by 2015 is possible -- but will be difficult.
But when asked if automakers or battery suppliers will be able to make a profit on the coming generation of electrified vehicles -- hybrids, plug-in hybrids and extended-range electric vehicles such as General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Volt and others -- that need advanced (but more expensive) lithium-ion batteries, the chances are even slimmer.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:54 AM under Business , Companies , Featured , GM , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
BMW Gets Loopy - and It's Not Even Octoberfest Yet
By Bill Visnic
Maybe they're growing the hops just a little too close to the medicinal marijuana over there in Germany. A media report this week says BMW AG is considering abandoning its legendary inline six-cylinder engine design in favor of a V6 layout.
A V6 in place of the magnificent inline six-cylinder engine design on which the very foundation of the company was built? Magnifying the madness, the proposed sacrilege comes from no less than BMW's high-performance Motorsports division.
Yes, the M division is considering ditching the hallowed I-6 when it's time for the next-generation M3 around 2013, Ludwig Willisch, top dog at BMW's M division, was reported as saying at Motor Trend.com.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:47 AM under Commentary , Companies , Featured , Rumors , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Smallest Cars Perform Poorly in Crashes With Bigger Cars, IIHS Confirms
WASHINGTON -- Turns out, auto engineers have been right all along: size matters and you
can't defy physics in crashes.
The latest report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that even the best small cars do poorly in head-on collisions even with only somewhat bigger midsize sedans from the same manufacturer.
"Minicars as a group do a comparatively poor job of protecting people in crashes, simply because they're smaller and lighter," Adrian Lund, president of the insurance industry-funded group, said in a statement. "In collisions with bigger vehicles, the forces acting on the smaller ones are higher."
The IIHS notes that frontal crashes are the most dangerous traffic accidents, causing about 15,000 out of roughly 40,000 U.S. traffic deaths annually.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:29 AM under Analysis , Companies , News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Global News: UK Electric Car Subsidy Criticized; Nissan, Renault Do Electric Cars in China; Tesla Opens EU Stores; Australian Sales Fall
In global news, the auto industry criticized Prime Minister Gordon Brown's subsidy for electric cars, Nissan and Renault announced plans to supply China with electric cars by 2011; U.S.-based Tesla is expanding to Europe; and vehicle sales in Australia tumbled in the first quarter.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:38 AM under Companies , Ford , GM , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Tom Stephens: Lutz Successor Is a Serious Engineer - and Serious Enthusiast
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT -- The ouster of General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner grabbed all of the headlines at the start of this month, but, at the same time, another changing of the guard was taking place quietly inside the auto company.
GM career engineer Thomas G. Stephens took over April 1 for the industry's most consistently anointed "car guy," Bob Lutz, who stepped down from daily responsibilities and will remain a GM advisor until his official retirement at year-end.
Stephens is an executive with no paltry credentials -- and plenty of his own car-guy chops.
(Read more...)
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New Toyota Prius Has To Address Tough Market and Tough New Rival
By Bill Visnic
ORLANDO, Florida -- Acknowledging that low gasoline prices have hampered hybrid sales growth and that rival Honda Motor Co. could be a threat to its dominance in the hybrid-electric vehicle market, a Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. executive says the company remains confident hybrids are a strong growth opportunity.
At a media preview of the heavily redesigned 2010 Prius hybrid here, Ed La Rocque, Toyota's national car marketing manager, confirms Toyota has a plan to address Honda's new Insight hybrid, the recent U.S. launch of which has whipped analysts and industry watchers into a frenzy because the Insight's base price ($19,800) undercuts the current Prius by thousands.
(Read more...)
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New York Auto Show: VW's Jacoby Sees Little Recovery Until 2010
NEW YORK -- U.S. car and truck sales may come in at under 10 million units this year and may not rebound until next year, said the head of Volkswagen's North American operations.
"We may not see a recovery until the end of this year, or even into next year," Stefan Jacoby, president of Volkswagen of America, said in a speech Wednesday at the New York auto show.
(Read more...)
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New York Auto Show: Chrysler's Press Plays Up Fiat Alliance Benefits
By Michelle Krebs
With the tiny Fiat 500 as his prop, Chrysler President Jim Press used the stage of the New York auto show to play up the benefits of a proposed alliance with Italy's Fiat.
"Imagine the possibilities this marriage could have," said Press. "This car is roughly the same size as [Chrysler's] Hemi engine," Press quipped of the 500. "It's the perfect car to get around New York City."
(Read more...)
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Chrysler Selects A123Systems as Battery Supplier
By Bill Visnic
With barely three weeks to concoct a workable alliance with Fiat S.p.A lest the Feds roll out the bankruptcy carpet, Chrysler LLC had enough extra time on its hands this week to announce its latest team-up: a strategic alliance with Massachusetts-based battery developer A123Systems.
Chrysler said in a press release that the deal "reinforces both companies'" commitment to expand battery manufacturing technology in the United States, reducing dependency on foreign sources of energy and greenhouse gas emissions."
(Read more...)
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Cadillac Put Out of Some European Markets by Distributor's Woes
The future of General Motors' Cadillac division in Europe is becoming increasingly cloudy,
with the automaker reportedly withdrawing its luxury brand from half of Europe's 25 markets due to the financial struggles of its distributor, the Netherlands-based Kroymans Corp.
In another blow to its European aspirations, Cadillac confirmed to AutoObserver earlier this week that it has shelved plans for a new long-needed diesel engine for its rear-drive cars, like the CTS and STS, sold in Europe, where diesels are a must-have for luxury cars.
(Read more...)
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China's Geely Buys Ford Supplier; Close To Buying Volvo?
HONG KONG -- China's Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., known to be in talks with Ford to
buy Volvo, announced Friday its purchase of Australian partsmaker Drivetrain Systems International, claimed to be the world's largest supplier of automatic gearboxes. Ford is among Drivetrain's customers.
Geely, China's largest private carmaker, is believed to be furthest along in talks to buy Volvo from Ford. Ford confirmed earlier this week that it was in talks with multiple interested parties about purchasing Volvo.
(Read more...)
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Cadillac Kills Crucial Diesel Engine for Europe
By Bill Visnic
General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac division, long ambitious to expand its brand in Europe, has canceled a long-needed diesel engine that was earmarked to power Cadillacs sold in that market.
The loss of the diesel engine -- currently a virtual requirement to successfully compete in Europe, particularly in premium-vehicle segments -- is another blow to Cadillac's European aspirations and is certain to cause a serious setback and realignment of Cadillac's strategy. Or even an outright surrender in Europe.
GM and Cadillac sources confirm the diesel for Europe has been canceled, but division spokesperson Joann Krell said the engine's official status, as with many diesel engine programs recently shelved, is "indefinitely delayed."
(Read more...)
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Global News: Volvo Cars Has Poor Resale Value; GM Guarantees Technology for Saab; Porsche Secures $13.5 Billion Loan
In Global News Wednesday, Ford Motor Co. is negotiating with three bidders for Volvo, General Motors and Saab agree to share technology for five years, and Porsche obtained $13.5 billion in financing.
(Read more...)
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Abu Dhabi Investor Becomes Daimler's Biggest Shareholder
By Michelle Krebs
Even the seemingly strong and mighty need help in this dismal economic environment as was proven over the weekend when Germany's Daimler AG, parent of Mercedes-Benz, sold nearly $3 billion worth of shares to an Abu Dhabi investment firm. The stock sales will generate much-needed cash for the automaker and give Daimler a single large shareholder to ward off any potential takeover by an outsider.
The two companies announced Sunday night that Aabar Investments PJSC would buy 96.4 million of new Daimler shares for $2.7 billion. Aabar, with a 9.1 percent stake in Daimler, now becomes Daimler's largest shareholder.
(Read more...)
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Obama on Leno: Talking Auto Industry
By Michelle Krebs
President Obama didn't spend much time during his historic appearance on The Tonight Show
talking about the auto industry to car-crazed host Jay Leno. But what he did say made it sound like he understood that new-car sales are simply too low for the industry to be successful.
President Obama noted that the U.S. car sales are running at an annual rate of 9 million vehicles, well below even the usual rate of replacement for worn-out vehicles, and that 14 million new cars a year would be more normal.
(Read more...)
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Global News: Toyota Prius Plug-In Trials in France; Chinese Cars in Israel; Canadian Economy to Shrink
In news from around the world Wednesday, Toyota has partnered with French utility company EDF to road test the plug-in Prius, a Chinese vehicle brand is set to launch in Israel, and Merrill Lynch forecasts dramatic retraction of Canada's economy in the first quarter of 2009.
(Read more...)
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Global News: Mazda Seeks Government Help; Toyota To Slash Prius Price; China Incentivizes Rural Car Sales; Kia Cuts Russia Sales Targets
In global news Tuesday, Mazda said it was seeking financial help from the Japanese government, China is giving incentives to rural dwellers to buy cars, and Kia slashed its forecast for Russia.
(Read more...)
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Daimler Shops for Michigan Property, Tax Incentives
DETROIT -- German automaker Daimler AG plans to locate an engineering center near Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan, to develop hybrid technology, if it receives tax incentives and finds suitable property, state and local officials say.
The subsidiary, to be called Mercedes-Benz Hybrid LLC, would employ about 223 engineers and technicians and would receive tax credits valued at $7.5 million over 10 years.
(Read more...)
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Except for Europeans, Vehicle Manufacturers Ditch Diesel Plans
By Bill Visnic
Plans to use clean-running diesel engines for U.S. passenger are being shredded almost daily as troubles in the auto industry deepen, with the latest backtracking said to be coming from Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.
Nissan confirmed in early 2008 it would launch a sophisticated 3.0-liter V6 turbodiesel -- developed by partner Renault S.A. -- for the U.S.-market Maxima flagship later this year. That plan now is likely to change, as industry sources speculate Nissan will join several other makers to recently retreat on diesel-launch strategies.
(Read more...)
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BMW Still Likes Hydrogen - Sans Fuel Cell
By Bill Visnic
BMW AG, long a promoter of hydrogen fuel for fairly conventional internal-combustion engines, said this week its engineers, with the help of other technical partners, have developed a hydrogen-fueled IC engine with diesel-like thermodynamic efficiency.
BMW said the engine, which uses high-pressure injection of gaseous hydrogen directly into the specifically designed combustion chamber, is up to 42 percent efficient, which rivals contemporary diesels, which represent the current top of the combustion-engine food chain -- not to mention most other propulsion alternatives.
(Read more...)
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Development of Cancelled GM Diesel Was Complete
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT - General Motors Corp. caused a stir when it confirmed yesterday that it is shelving an innovatively designed diesel engine that was earmarked to provide something of a fuel-efficiency revolution for its light-duty pickup trucks and possibly its full-size SUVs.
The Duramax 4.5-liter V8 diesel design "was complete," according to a GM spokesperson, who added that GM engineers "were doing the vehicle engineering development work associated with integrating the diesel into the vehicle." GM had billed the Duramax as a 2010 engine and was set to begin building the engine at a longstanding powertrain manufacturing site in Tonawanda, New York.
(Read more...)
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GM Cancels Smaller Diesel for Light-Duty Pickup Trucks
General Motors has put on "indefinite hold" its previously announced plan to add a Duramax
4.5-liter V8 diesel engine to 2010 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra light-duty trucks.
The ailing automaker cited the current economic climate as the reason for the decision, adding that it "remains optimistic that the Duramax 4.5-liter V8 diesel may be a viable option in its future portfolio," according to the company's statement.
(Read more...)
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Ford Builds 100,000th Hybrid; Honda Prices Insight Below Prius
KANSAS CITY, Missouri -- Ford produced its 100,000th hybrid vehicle Tuesday. The silver Escape
Hybrid rolled off the assembly line at the carmaker's Kansas City Assembly Plant.
At the same time, Honda announced that its 2010 Honda Insight will cost more than $2,000 less than the least expensive 2009 Toyota Prius.
Ford has built the most hybrids of any of the Big Three, but still trails Toyota and Honda. In 2008, Ford sold 19,524 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids. Toyota sold almost 159,000 Prius hybrids. Still, as Edmunds' Green Car Advisor reports, Escape hybrid sales bucked the industry's downward sales trend in February with a 55-percent sales increase.
(Read more...)
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President Obama's Auto Advisors Visit Detroit
DETROIT -- Representatives of President Barack Obama's automotive task force are visiting
Detroit Monday. Their trip includes a tour of a Chrysler assembly plant and General Motor's Technical Center and a test-drive of the Chevrolet Volt.
All the while, auto company executives will try to convince them further federal assistance is a worthwhile investment for taxpayers.
Their visit comes as Republicans cranked up the volume on their opposition to support Detroit automakers and yet another survey showed the American public generally is opposed as well.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:59 AM under Business , Commentary , Companies , Ford , GM , Personalities , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Fusion Ads Break, Focusing on Fuel Economy
By Michelle Krebs
DEARBORN -- Think Ford and most consumers don't think cars first. Or fuel economy.
Ford marketing executives hope to reverse both notions with its massive ad campaign for the 2010 Ford Fusion and the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid that kicks off this week. Quite simply, Ford bills the Fusion in all of its forms -- from the four-cylinder to the V6 to the hybrid -- as the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan in America.
In a campaign that's as large as that for the Ford F-150 pickup, Ford focuses mostly on fuel economy as well as technology, including Ford Sync, in its print ads, that began running in newspapers this weeks, and on television commercials, the first of which air Tuesday evening on American Idol.
(Read more...)
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GM Defends Chevy Volt; Calls Critical Study Faulty
By Bill Visnic
A study by engineers from Carnegie Mellon University examining the economics of electricity-intensive "plug-in" hybrid-electric vehicles - a coming class of high-efficiency models typified by General Motors Corp.'s 2011 Chevrolet Volt - bases its primary argument on an outdated assumption, said one of GM's highest-ranking engineers.
The Carnegie Mellon study concluded that plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEVs) using large, high-capacity battery packs to enable propulsion for comparatively long distances solely on electric power are not the most economically viable path to higher-efficiency vehicles. It said PHEVs with more modest and less-costly battery capacity are the optimum approach.
GM's highly publicized Chevrolet Volt is categorized by the company as an "extended-range" electric vehicle, but in effect is a PHEV with the kind of large-capacity battery capability the Carnegie Mellon study said is not a cost-efficient solution.
(Read more...)
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Study Short-Circuits Chevy Volt as GM Stock Yo-Yos
By Bill Visnic
Shares in General Motors Corp. got on board for another broad U.S. stock market plunge Monday as a new study from researchers at uber-egghead Carnegie Mellon University says electricity-intensive hybrids such as GM's Chevrolet Volt "extended-range" electric vehicle won't be the ultimate environmental answer GM touts.
The Carnegie Mellon study, reported on by Edmunds Green Car Advisor Friday, is another setback for battered GM, whose stock price last week briefly visited a low -- $1.52 -- not seen since just after the Great Depression and today was again struggling to stay above the $2 mark as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid to its own new lows. GM last week also reported an annual loss for 2008 of $30.9 billion, an amount exceeded in GM corporate history only by the $38 billion GM lost in 2007.
(Read more...)
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Toyota Says Market Has Room for 2010 Prius and New Honda Insight
By John O'Dell
Gas is down around $2 a gallon again. Honda is about to introduce a $19,000 (give or take) hybrid. The economy's in the tank. People are pinching pennies like crazy. And new-car sales are at their lowest levels in decades.
Sounds like a great time for Toyota to hit the market with its third-generation Prius, a car likely to be priced thousands of dollars above its prime competitor, the new Honda Insight hybrid.
But that's exactly what Toyota's doing. Toyota expects the 2010 Prius, which arrives in showrooms in June, will reverse the model's sliding sales and bring 100,000 buyers into the market in the last seven months of this year.
(Read more...)
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Beijing Auto Denies Interest in Chrysler
Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive Industry Co. denied Monday that it was in talks with 
Chrysler about buying assets or technology from the Detroit automaker, Reuters
reported.
The denial came in response to a Chinese Business News report, citing an unnamed executive at Beijing Auto, that the companies had initial talks.
Though Chrysler no longer has a car-making venture with Beijing Auto, the Chinese company still produces Chrysler 300 models for the local market.
(Read more...)
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Toyota Hits Global Loss, But Exec Says Pent-Up Demand in U.S.
By Bill Visnic
Saying the company expects auto sales levels to begin recovering in the second half after "bouncing around the bottom" the first six months of this year, Don Esmond, senior vice president, automotive operations, Toyota Motor Sales USA, says the industry seasonally adjusted selling rate should begin to rise toward more tolerable levels later this year.
After recording January sales, the U.S. industry's SAAR projected to less than 10 million units. And Toyota today reported the global auto sales plunge that began in the second half of 2008 will drag it to its first net operating loss in 59 years, as the company expects to record a loss of some $3.85 billion for the year ending in March.
The loss comes on the expectation Toyota will sell nearly 1.5 million fewer vehicles around the world than it originally projected.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:17 AM under Featured , In the Media , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Plant for Cruze, Volt Engines Delayed Again
General Motors confirmed Wednesday it extending the delay in construction of its four-
cylinder engine plant in Flint, Michigan. The plant is to build the 1.4-liter engines for the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt.
Last month, work was suspended pending a review in the first quarter, GM said at the time. No specifics about the most recent delay were provided.
GM insists the engine plant should be done in time for the start-up of production of the Cruze at the Lordstown, Ohio, plant and the Volt at the Hamtramck plant in Detroit.
(Read more...)
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Chrysler-Badged Fiats Two Years Away
Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press announced at the National Automobile Dealers Association gathering in New Orleans this weekend that a Chrysler-badged Fiat could be introduced in less than two years. The company is reportedly looking at the Fiat 500, Panda and Punto models, but has not decided on a platform.
At the same time, Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli sent a letter to company employees Friday confirming the development of a new Dodge Durango SUV as well as a Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedan.
(Read more...)
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Speedway Adds Testing for Connected Vehicles
DETROIT -- The Michigan Department of Transportation and Michigan International
Speedway (MIS) announced Monday a partnership for research and development of connected vehicle technologies.
The Brooklyn, Michigan, track, which hosts various racing events including NASCAR, will be offered to automakers, supplier and aftermarket companies and government agencies that manufacturer, develop and test technologies that allow cars to communicate with one another to prevent collisions and improve mobility and fuel efficiency. The track will allow testing in a closed and safe environment before the technologies go onto public roads.
(Read more...)
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Diesel Pickups Dumped By Detroit?
By Bill Visnic
Remember those diesel-engine light-duty pickups we're supposed to be seeing this year? Get ready to hear the words "back burner" in relation to those product plans.
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC all said as long ago as 2007 they would have diesel engines, respectively, for the GMT 900 pickup line (Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra); the Ford F-150 and the Dodge Ram. GM is developing an in-house 4.5-liter V8; Ford, an in-house 4.4-liter V8 derived from a European diesel and Chrysler said it would collaborate with longstanding diesel-engine partner Cummins Inc. to produce a V6 diesel.
(Read more...)
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GM Initiative To Be Incubator for Battery-Engineering Education
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT -- In announcing a plan to assemble in Michigan the lithium-ion battery packs for the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle, General Motors Corp. also is forming an education cooperative that aims to train a new breed of engineer that can commingle electrical and automotive knowledge.
Part of GM's multi-faceted approach to build a foundation for the domestic development and supply of advanced batteries for the auto
industry is a $5-million, five-year program that establishes at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor the GM/U-M Advanced Battery Coalition for Drivetrains (ABCD).
(Read more...)
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Buffett Invests in RV Business
By Michelle Krebs
As investor Kirk Kerkorian was selling off the last of his shares in the U.S. auto industry, another elder American investor was easing into the business.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. reported to government regulators Monday that it had purchased $40 million in recreational vehicle maker, Coachmen Industries Inc., which assembles Viking travel trailers in Middlebury, Ind.
(Read more...)
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Ford Promises Big Slim-Down With Next-Gen Platforms
By Bill Visnic
DEARBORN, MI -- Already talking big about the efficiency gains projected from its new downsized engines and six-speed automatic transmissions, Ford Motor Co. will engage a full-scale war against weight in its next product-development-led gambit to become the green-focused car company executives believe Ford must become to reemerge as a success in the U.S. and global auto markets.
The big cut in ever-bloating vehicle weight will come as Ford phases in the next-generation platforms for its product range, says Derrick Kuzak, group vice president of global product development.
(Read more...)
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Toyota Delays Mississippi Plant Launch; Slashes Forecast, Details Cost Cuts Next week
Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it is delaying plans to open its newest U.S. plant in
Mississippi, which was to have built the next-generation Prius hybrid.
Citing the steep decline in the auto market, Toyota said it would complete construction of the building but would hold off on installing equipment, delaying the start of production that was slated for 2010.
The delay of the Mississippi plant is part of a massive cost cutting the Japanese automaker has undertaken. Next week, Toyota is expected to slash its 2009 sales forecast by at least 1 million vehicles and outline plans to cut costs at its year-end news conference December 22, Reuters news service reports.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:51 AM under Analysis , Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
7 Myths About Detroit Automakers, Detroit Free Press
The debate over aid to the Detroit-based automakers is awash with half-truths and misrepresentations that are endlessly repeated by everyone from members of Congress to journalists. Here are seven myths about the companies and their vehicles, and the reality in each case.
This column by Detroit Free Press auto critic Mark Phelan originally was published on November 17 and was updated last Friday to debunk the myths as Congress was about to fashion an automotive rescue package.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:33 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Commentary , Ford , GM , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford, Rivals Stress New Parsimony to Congress
By Bill Visnic
Scrambling to enlist the aid of the federal government in surviving the nation's drastic economic downturn, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC are submitting today their restructuring "blueprints" that will have at least one element in common: symbolic pay cuts for their chief executive officers and pledges to accelerate the introduction of higher-efficiency models and technologies.
Ford CEO Alan Mulally will work for $1 per year, Ford announced, and it is believed GM CEO Rick Wagoner will do the same when his company releases details of the company's plan later today. Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli already had offered to work for $1.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:47 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Detroit Three: Making the Sales Pitch of a Lifetime
By Michelle Krebs
The Detroit Three are putting the finishing touches and obtaining the blessings of their boards and upper management for the biggest sales pitch of their lives this week. They are preparing the viability plans due to Congress on Tuesday in order to obtain the $25 billion in bridge loans they are seeking.
Executives from General Motors, Ford and Chrysler worked through the Thanksgiving holiday putting together plans after Congressmen criticized them for lacking such plans in the last round of hearings. While each company's plan is individual to their unique circumstances, all are expected to detail even deeper cuts, including executive compensation and perks, than have already been made and an acceleration of environmental and fuel-saving initiatives. Their plans also are expected to include even more concessions from the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
Meantime, the Detroit Three's plea for help is likely to get a boost from the continued deterioration of auto sales in the U.S., where automakers report November results Tuesday. Sales are expected to hit 25-year lows. That sales slide is spreading globally with a number of markets reporting dismal sales on Monday.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:04 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Honda Planning V8 -- but Not Until 2015
By Peter Nunn
Maybe dreams do come true, after all. Americans who have long yearned for Honda to develop a production-car V8 engine may finally be getting their wish -- if recent comments made by Honda president Takeo Fukui are any guide.
In a recent media interview, Fukui was quoted as saying that Honda was now planning to strengthen the Acura brand with a production V8.
Why? Because the 3.7-liter V6 currently installed in the newly face-lifted RL, the range-topper for Honda's upscale Acura sales channel -- wasn't "sufficient" to compete with other premium brands, he said.
Just don't take it to mean a Honda V8 is around the corner.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Analysis , Business , Featured , News , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
In the Background, Cellulosic Ethanol Moves Forward
By Dale Buss
It's hardly front-page news at a time of high drama over the entire future of the domestic auto industry, but the cellulosic-ethanol business is advancing by baby steps at a time of significant financial peril for many of its members - and for the entire economy.
Startups linked with General Motors Corp. represent a huge microcosm of the unevenness of the so-called "second-generation" - non-food-based - ethanol business. Coskata Inc. has just inked a major deal with U.S. Sugar to site a 100-million-gallons-a-year ethanol plant in Florida that will use sugar-cane leftovers as the raw material.
But competitor Mascoma Corp. just laid off 10 percent of its executives and workers.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Business , Featured , GM , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Nissan-Renault CEO Ghosn Supports Retooling Loans
Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said he supports the idea of
government-backed, low-cost loans to help carmakers retool to produce more-fuel-efficient vehicles, and said Japan and Europe should offer such programs.
Ghosn, who is the keynote speaker for the opening press day of the Los Angeles auto show Wednesday, also told the Wall Street Journal that the global credit crunch hasn't eased, and he warned that Nissan's profits will likely go to "zero" in its fiscal second half. Renault's operating profit margins for 2008 will be well below earlier goals.
"We have to recognize 2009 will be one of the most challenging years for our industry and the whole economy in the last 50 years," he said.
(Read more...)
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Don't Be Lulled Again by Cheap Energy, Report Says
By Bill Visnic
The International Energy Agency has issued a warning that failure to invest globally in trillions for new-energy exploration in the next 20 years could lead to a fresh global energy crisis.
The IEA says that despite worldwide efforts to reduce energy usage, consumption of crude oil, for example, is forecast to climb from today's 85 million barrels per day by more than 20 percent to 106 million barrels per day by 2023. The agency urged energy giants - and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) - not reduce expenditures in oil exploration and production in the face of plunging crude-oil prices.
(Read more...)
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BMW: Plump Price Premium for U.S. Diesels -- but Tax Break, Too
By Bill Visnic
Sure, BMW North America Inc. is going to charge more for the diesel-engine versions of the 2009 3 Series sedan and X5 crossover when they show up in U.S. dealerships late this year.
Whether the diesel price premium is reasonable or outrageous depends on what you're using for comparison.
In a Web teleconference with automotive reporters, BMW announced the diesel-powered 335d, which delivers 23 mpg in the city and a fat 36-mpg highway rating and runs a six-second 0-60-mph time, will start at $44,725. That's $10 grand more expensive than the least-expensive 3 Series, the $34,225 328i.
(Read more...)
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Now That Gasoline Prices Are Plunging...
By Bill Visnic
Even those predicting a retreat from this summer's $4-per-gallon fuel prices didn't call for prices to plunge so far, so fast.
Regular unleaded gasoline in some parts of the country once again begin with a "1." The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last week's national average for regular unleaded was $2.40, but even that number reflected a drop of some 61 cents from a year ago and a crash of 25 cents in just a week.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:54 AM under Analysis , Companies , Featured , Ford , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Want the $25 Billion? Here Are the Hoops To Jump Through
By Bill Visnic
The U.S. Department of Energy Thursday issued the draft rules for automakers seeking the long-ballyhooed $25 billion in loans Congress recently approved for automakers (and suppliers) to retool factories to produce a new generation of more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Sure, strings had to be attached, or the automakers would burn through the dough like sailors on shore leave. But saying there are hoops to be jumped through in this "interim final rule" is an understatement.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:07 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Ford , GM , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
New 'Juice' for Chevy Volt Development
By Bill Visnic
General Motors Corp. reportedly has settled an important matter in the development of its Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle: the company is said to have decided on the supplier for the critical lithium-ion batteries necessary for the Volt to travel as far as 40 miles on a single charge.
GM reportedly will award the high-profile contract to Michigan-based Compact Power Inc., an arm of South Korea's LG Chemical. The company has been in competition for the Volt battery contract with a different, competing lithium-ion chemistry developed by Massachusetts-based A123 Systems and its systems integrator, Continental Automotive Systems.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:32 AM under GM , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler Hybrids Dead With Plant Closure
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT - Chrysler hybrids, we hardly knew ye.
Just a week after Chrysler LLC gets final Environmental Protection Agency confirmation of mileage for its first-ever production hybrid-electric vehicles, the 2009 Dodge Durango Hybrid and 2009 Chrysler Aspen Hybrid, the company has announced it is accelerating the closure of the Newark, Del., assembly plant that builds them.
Edmunds.com blogsite Edmunds Green Car Advisor reports the models have been in production for only a couple of months, adding that a Chrysler spokesman says the company is hastening the closure of the Newark plant because of freefalling sales of fullsize SUVs. Production at Newark ceases Dec. 31, almost a full year ahead of Chrysler's previously announced schedule.
(Read more...)
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I Drive, Therefore iDrive, Other Auto Electronics, Must Improve
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT - At the Convergence 2008 Conference here, a biannual gathering of the auto and electronics industries that examines issues of meshing the two industries, automaker representatives agree electronics content in automobiles will continue to increase - while simultaneously insisting they must safeguard quality.
The quality issue resonated for most participants in a Convergence panel addressing broad issues regarding electronics usage in the auto industry.
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2008 Paris Auto Show: Similar Shapes of Things To Come
By Bill Visnic
PARIS -- There's a lot of talk these days about how auto styling is converging -- or being ripped off.
At the 2008 Paris Auto Show earlier this month, there wasn't much mistaking the distinctive shapes presented by France's home-market biggies, Citroen and Peugeot; French styling remains unique (and largely uncopied, perhaps for a reason).
But a number of vehicles on display at the show looked strikingly similar to other vehicles on the show floor -- or ones we've seen elsewhere.
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Chrysler Venture for Fuel-Saving Transmission Likely Dead
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT -- A cornerstone of a heavily hyped Chrysler LLC initiative to develop a host of fuel-efficient technologies is on the skids, as Chrysler acknowledges it now is taking legal action against the partner enlisted to help it manufacture advanced, dual-clutch automated manual transmissions.
Chrysler announced last week it is suing Getrag Transmission Manufacturing LLC and its German parent company for misrepresenting Getrag's ability to secure financing for a $455-million joint venture between Getrag and Chrysler to build the fuel-saving dual-clutch transmissions at a new plant in Tipton, Indiana.
Asked if the lawsuit means the venture is dead, a Chrysler spokesman told AutoObserver, "'Dead' might be a little harsh. The matter is in litigation. Hopefully it will be resolved there."
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2008 Paris Auto Show: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
By AutoObserver Staff
PARIS -- Everyone loves coming to the Paris auto show. Mostly this is because it is not the
Frankfurt auto show, with which it alternates on the yearly schedule of auto shows.
When you go to the Frankfurt auto show, it is all about the Germans. It is all about BMW and Mercedes, really. They're telling you, "We understand machines and technology, and that's why we own the history of the automobile. You can buy a ticket if you wish and come visit us in our big tents in Frankfurt and worship the spectacle of our technical competence."
Paris is the City of Lights, and the French car manufacturers like to demonstrate that they have the same competence as the Germans, only with romance and flair. The French tell you, "Yes, our cars might look funny, but we understand joie de vivre, the joy of life. Of course our cars might look freaky and whacked out, but you are stupid if you don't understand."
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2008 Paris Auto Show: Mood in the City of Lights Is Dark
By Bill Visnic
PARIS - This city is supposed to be about celebration, but automakers stuffing their wares into the Paris motor show's vast exhibition halls were hardly in a gay mood last week. As the press crowded in to take the auto industry's temperature, the patients responded like they were suffering from a year-long head cold.
The rows of gleaming product - white seemed to be a favorite color - couldn't brighten the mood of automaker executives now burdened not only with the certainly of aggressive European carbon dioxide-curbing legislation but with an increasingly constricting sales environment and the ominous undertow of the U.S. financial-sector meltdown.
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Got CO2? They Definitely Do at the Paris Auto Show
By Bill Visnic
PARIS - Yes, there are some who doubt the science of global warming. Not to mention the probable connection of man-made carbon-dioxide (CO2) and rising global temperatures.
But there's no doubt automakers in Europe - and European auto buyers - are deadly serious about CO2 emissions. Particularly following last week's ruling in the European Union that set presumptive "limits" of 120 grams per kilometer of CO2 emissions as a fleet average all automakers selling in Europe must meet beginning in 2012.
At last week's Paris auto show, we lost count of the vehicles that were in some fashion emblazoned not with horsepower figures or even attractive prices, but CO2 emissions. Often those on-vehicle billboards were presented at a size and prominence that could be considered slightly more than eye-catching.
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2008 Paris Auto Show: Renault Unveils Truly Green Concept
By Nick Kurczewski
PARIS - This year's Paris auto show has seen many almost every major car manufacturer go green, as electric and hybrid vehicles seem to cover every square inch of the exhibition halls. But Renault has taken a strangely literal twist to the eco-friendly theme. The French company has installed green-tinted windows in the electric powered Z.E. Concept that made its debut here in Paris.
Exactly why the Z.E. sports this toxic-green-colored glasswork, we're not sure. An interactive information center off to the side of the chunky-looking concept was pretty sparse with specifics. What we did learn is that the Z.E. is powered by lithium-ion batteries that have a six year lifespan.
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Automakers Ask European Union for $55 Billion in "Green" Loans
Automakers doing business in Europe have requested of the European Union 40 billion euros ($55 billion) in low-interest loans to help them develop fuel-efficient vehicles. The loans are patterned after the $25 billion signed into U.S. law by President George Bush last week.
The group of 15 carmakers requesting the funds - those that make up the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) -- include Volkswagen, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Fiat and Renault as well as General Motors, Ford and Toyota.
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European Carmakers Want "Green" Loans - Theirs and Ours
European automakers plan to ask the European Commission for $55 billion in loans to develop environmentally-friendly vehicles, similar to loans approved this week by the U.S. government, to put them on a level playing field. At the same time, however, some European automakers also want a piece of the U.S. funds, the Financial Times reported in Friday's edition.
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said unanimous agreement exists among automakers to ask the European Union's executive body for the loans. "We will approach the European Commission for a similar idea to the U.S. Forty billion Euros ($55 billion) is a good number given the bigger size of the European industry. We need a level playing field," Marchionne told the Financial Times in an interview on Friday.
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Honda Aims to 'Mainstream' Hybrids with Coming Insight
By Bill Visnic
PARIS - Honda Motor Co. Ltd. is taking the hybrid fight directly to chief rival Toyota Motor Corp. when it launches its all-new Insight hybrid-electric car in April: the Insight will be "substantially" less expensive than any other hybrid currently sold in the U.S. - including Toyota's market-dominating Prius and Honda's own Civic Hybrid.
Calling the original Insight - a quirkily styled, limited-purpose two-seater - a pioneer that introduced hybrid-electric technology to the U.S., Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said at the introduction of the near-production Insight concept at the Paris auto show that the new Insight "will also be our pioneer to take hybrid technology into a new era of affordability." The best development and sales path for hybrids, he added, is to make them affordable enough that hybrids are attainable by "mainstream customers."
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Small Cars and Hybrids - What Else? - Headline This Week's Paris Show
By Bill Visnic
In the first major auto show since the bottom dropped out of the U.S. economy and the industry ponders a summer of dismal sales in both the U.S. and Europe, the Paris auto show
opens to the media on Thursday, where the most prominent wares will be small, fuel-efficient cars and hybrid-electric (or fully electric) vehicles.
What's it all mean? Consumers are downshifting their consumptive habits, and the auto industry is scrambling to adjust - particularly for the U.S., which unlike Europe has little experience with exorbitant fuel prices and the vehicles required to answer the issue. Trucks and SUVs? What are those?
Everybody wants to see smaller footprints; that will be reinforced at the Paris show. The fact that most new production models unveiled at Paris will remain rather conventional demonstrates the industry's "transformation" to more electric-intensive propulsion systems is merely beginning.
Nonetheless, hybrids and so-called "extended-range" electric vehicles are certain to grab the lion's share of attention.
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China's BYD Gets a Boost From Warren Buffett Investment
By Michelle Krebs
China's fledgling battery maker-turned-automaker got a huge shot in the arm Monday when a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced it will buy a stake in company.
Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings will pay $230 million for a 10-percent stake in BYD to support its "green" technologies, the company said told Reuters news service.
The deal gives MidAmerican a foothold in the Hong Kong-listed company, which is developing electric-hybrid cars it expects to start selling in China later this year, Europe and Israel by 2010 and North America thereafter. It gives the Chinese company a much-needed boost in funding for further development and credibility.
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September Vehicle Sales: Lowest Level Since Early '90s, Edmunds.com Forecasts
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - September vehicle sales to be reported by automakers on Wednesday are expected to drop to their lowest monthly level since 1993, Edmunds.com forecasts.
September new vehicle sales, including both retail and fleet sales, are expected to be 1.05 million units, a 19.7 percent decrease from September 2007 and a 15.7 percent decrease from August 2008, Edmunds.com predicts.
"February 1993 was the last time that fewer than one million new vehicles were sold in a month, and we're coming remarkably close to that volume again," said Jesse Toprak, Edmunds' executive director of Industry Analysis. "Traditionally, October sales are even worse than they are in September, so we don't likely have much to look forward to next month."
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Detroit Three Closer To Obtaining $25 Billion
Detroit automakers moved a step closer to obtaining the $25 billion in loans to re-tool their factories to make more fuel-efficient vehicles.
On Wednesday, the U.S. House passed a bill by a 370-58 vote that included a low-interest federal loans to automakers. Congressional leaders took steps to fast-track the money. The Senate was expected to pass the bill Thursday and President Bush is expected to sign it.
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Chrysler To Go Electric Across the Line
By Michelle Krebs
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Chrysler unveiled a trio of all-electric and extended-range electric cars Tuesday and announced it would eventually offer some type of electric version of every model in its line.
Chrysler said the trio of electrified vehicles displayed Tuesday at its corporate headquarters and provided them for media test drives. Chrysler executives said one of the models shown would go into production and on sale to consumers in 2010 in the U.S. followed by sale in Europe. The automaker would not identify which one would be first. Chrysler further said it would offer an all-electric or range-extended electric version of every model in its product portfolio in the next several years, though they gave no specific timeframe.
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Public Opposes Automaker Loans, Survey Says
Not that it matters at this point, but almost two out of three people surveyed oppose government loans to help automakers, according to the latest Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll released Wednesday.
Congress could vote on as early as today - and likely pass -- a bill that includes $25 billion in low-interest loans to help General Motors, Ford and Chrysler develop more fuel-efficient vehicles.
At the same time, the Bloomberg/LA Times as well as a new Washington Post-ABC News poll show Americans growing increasingly pessimistic about the economy. Auto execs are the first to say consumer confidence is a key indicator for where auto sales go.
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Congress Tunes-in To Plug-Ins
By Bill Visnic
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed an expansive tax bill that had many automakers on full alert because it included provision of a tax credit for hybrid or fully electric vehicles with batteries that can be recharged from the electric grid - so-called "plug-in" vehicles.
If passed by the House, which is expected, the bill provides for as much as a $7,500 tax credit for purchasers of a plug-in vehicle. The credit, starting at $2,500, would increase in proportion to the vehicle's installed battery capacity up to the $7,500 maximum.
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GM Chooses Its Best-Ever Cars; Money-Making Trucks Noticeably Absent
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT - As part of its GMnext centennial celebration which concluded this week, General Motors Corp. released a list of its "Top 10 Production Vehicles" from the thousands of models it has developed since the company's inception in 1908.
And the "Like a Rock" crowd won't necessarily be pleased - although GM's full-size pickups often were best-sellers and profits from pickups and SUVs filled the corporate coffers for much of the 1990s and early part of this century, there's nary a truck or SUV on the list.
GM says the choices were selected by company archivists and historians and reviewed by "GM senior leaders." None of them must have been truck guys. Or Camaro guys. Or - okay, you get the idea: the list may be skewed by a kind of historian's mindset, and is unlikely to fully please even the most ardent GM supporter.
The company avoided further controversy by refusing to actually pick a No. 1 model. Instead, it lists the 10 most significant models in chronological order:
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GM's "Future Leaders": Christopher Borroni-Bird
By Dale Buss
With so much pressure from every quarter on General Motors and other automakers to make huge leaps forward in fuel-efficiency -- and now! -- Christopher Borroni-Bird has become a major player on the most important stage in the global automotive industry.
And he understands the urgency of the task.
"There's more urgency than even six months ago," said the 43-year-old U.K. native, who is GM's director of advanced vehicle technology concepts in Detroit.
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GM's Day-Long Anniversary Fete Highlighted by Volt, Lots of Chat
DETROIT - By lunchtime on the day General Motors Corp. chose to celebrate its 100th anniversary with a massive celebration here and an ambitious interactive program on the Web, it was apparent the world's largest automaker had the tech requirements figured out. There were no major glitches and GM deftly executed a global multimedia presentation - drawing from four additional regions around the globe - that would have done Microsoft proud.
The culmination, however, was the official unveiling of the vehicle that has emerged as the symbol - and rallying point - of GM's drive to remain as pertinent in the next 100 years of personal transportation: the Chevrolet Volt "extended-range" electric vehicle.
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Chevy Volt Styling Is A Short-Circuit
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT - If images circulated on the Web
this week are representative of the Chevrolet Volt General Motors Corp. plans to deliver in two years, the General had better hope potential customers appreciate the engineering - because the Volt's design is a corporate brownout.
AutoObserver's all-day cruise around auto-related Web sites noted heavy-traffic comment about the leaked images of the Volt extended-range electric vehicle; some are mildly complimentary, but critics seem to outnumber approvers by at least four to one.
The most common reactions range in a bandwidth from disappointment to derision. The Volt concept car was widely applauded, and although GM subsequently warned certain aggressive aspects of the Volt concept would be sacrificed on the altar of production-car realities, the overwhelming blandness oozing from the images of what is purported to be the production Volt is inescapable.
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Whatta Re-Voltin' Development: Chevy Volt Images 'Leaked?'
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT - Media manipulation or "human error?" Only General Motors Corp.'s public-relations office knows for sure.
Either way, images of the production version of the Chevrolet Volt "extended-range" hybrid-electric vehicle - possibly the most heavily hyped, highly anticipated vehicle in GM's history - made it to the Web Monday in what GM reputedly attributed to an accident. Until now, the Volt - which remains under a pressurized development schedule and is not slated to reach showrooms for more than two full years - had not been fully seen in final production form.
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Honda Stabs At Toyota with New Prius Rival
Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s made it official, showing today an image of the all-new Insight, a hybrid-electric vehicle that, while carrying the same name as the company's first-ever production hybrid (1999), is an entirely different vehicle.
The new Insight is not a 2-door commuter car; instead, it is a 5-door hatchback that Honda says will use a less-costly version of the company's Integrated Motor Assist system to help markedly undercut the price of the market-dominating Toyota Prius. Honda says the new-generation Insight will debut at the Paris International Auto Show on Oct. 2 - and be on sale in the U.S. next spring.
The car will be built at Honda's Suzuka, Japan, assembly plant, and Honda projects sales of 200,000 units annually, half of which are earmarked for North America. The new Insight reputedly will be positioned lower than the existing Civic Hybrid, and will be part of a multi-vehicle hybrid strategy Honda proposes to combat rival Toyota, whose name is becoming synonymous with hybrid technology.
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Six Other Ways Auto Marketers are Taking it to the Internet
By Dale Buss
Automakers are moving forcefully into the online-marketing arena using a number of innovations in which their industry, arguably, has become the leader.
In Wednesday's part two of this three-part series on Internet marketing, Edmunds.com's
AutoObserver
featured six ways that automakers are succeeding online. Here are the remaining six:
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U.S. Market Shift Structural, Not Cyclical, Ford Exec Says
By Michelle Krebs
MAASTRICHT, THE NETHERLANDS -- The recent and rapid downshifting of U.S. consumers from large pickup trucks and SUVs to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles is not a cyclical but a structural change, says Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice preident of Global Product Development.
Kuzak, speaking to media in Europe at a drive of Ford's small cars, including the all-new Fiesta, disagrees with some contrarian analysts who believe Americans, as gas prices drop, will return to buying big fuel guzzlers. Instead, he sees Americans' sensitivity to the environment and concerns for energy security combined with stricter government regulations on emissions and fuel economy driving a permanent shift toward fuel efficiency.
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Auto Marketing on the Internet: Six Ways It's Getting Done
By Dale Buss
Over the last year or so, automakers have moved closer to the forefront of big-brand marketing online as they dramatically increase their expenditures on Internet advertising.
In doing so, OEMs are drawing on a dozen methods. Here are six of them. Look for the other six on Thursday in part three of this series on Edmunds.com's
AutoObserver
:
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Questions for General Motors' Troy Clarke
Is the current downturn cyclical or are fundamentals changing so that the market will never return to normal?
We think there are cyclical elements of it and some structural elements of it, and we think there are more structural elements than cyclical elements at this particular point in time. When I say that, though, I'm talking about a market that should be running in the 14-million unit range, not a market that's running in the 12.7-million unit range... We think that is still somewhat of an anomaly...We think the market should be running probably just a little north of 14 million units."
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Cadillac Busts A Fuel-Saving Move, Will Go Four-Cylinder
By Bill Visnic
Signaling fuel-economy concerns are making an impact in the luxury market, General Motors
Corp.'s Cadillac division let it be known last week - in the midst of the snobby Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance, no less - that Cadillac will be using four-cylinder power for its upcoming new entry-level model.
The use of four-cylinder engines is something of a line in the sand in the luxury market, an option consumers in the past have embraced with mixed results. And believing four-cylinder engines imply a frugality and dearth of "power" inconsistent with the nature of the beast, many luxury marques - in recent years of low U.S. fuel prices, at least - have steadfastly refused to cross the line into small-engine territory.
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Argentum Motors: Little-known Indian-French Company Could Upstage Toyota Prius, Chevy Volt
By Nick Kurczewski
SURAJPUR, INDIA - Like the sort of whisper quiet electric car it aspires to build, Argentum Motors has been operating in near total silence as it plots its course in the Indian automotive market, and finalizes plans to manufacture electric vehicles.
During an exclusive interview with AutoObserver, B V R Subbu, founder and board member of Argentum Motors, and former president of Hyundai Motors India, said that the company's electric car could be on sale in Europe and North America as early as next year and could debut at the upcoming Paris auto show.
If this happens, Argentum's electric car would beat range-extender Chevrolet Volt and next-generation Toyota Prius to the U.S. market by one year. The Indian company would also have a three-year head start on the electric vehicle program being developed by Renault-Nissan, which promises global sales of an electric car by 2012.
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GM Stock Price Jumps on Glimpse of Volt
By Bill Visnic
Think General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Volt concept car has lost some of its power as a supercharged hype-machine?
Hardly.
GM director of advanced design Bob Boniface this morning displayed mere images of the production-representative front and rear of the advanced "extended-range" electric vehicle at the annual Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars, a longstanding elbow-rubbing confab of industry big wheels.
Result: by 1:00 p.m., GM's stock price soared by as much as 15 percent, ending the day hiked by a still-healthy 10 percent.
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Honda: Core Values Seeing it Through These Troubled Times
By Bill Visnic
TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan - Honda didn't bother with fullsize pickups and SUVs. It didn't do fleet sales. It's never seen the need for a V8 engine.
The company's corporate willpower may have exposed it to criticism and cost it some sales - particularly at the acme of the pickup and SUV craze. But those core values - what American Honda Motor Company Inc. executive vice president Richard Colliver calls its "north star" - have sustained the company during the U.S. market's sprint away from large, thirsty vehicles, and straight back to the compact cars and fuel-efficient light trucks Honda's always been producing.
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33,000 Potential Buyers Raise Hands for Chevy Volt - Symbolically
More than 33,000 people have signed up on a symbolic waiting list to buy a Chevrolet Volt.
Lyle Dennis, a New York neurologist, created the customer sign-up on his GM-Volt Web site
in May to show GM that the Volt would be in high demand. Tuesday he announced 33,000 people had signed up on his waiting list.
Now Dennis is on a crusade to push GM to compel GM to build enough Volts, available initially only in modest volumes, "to build enough cars for us."
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Toyota Ready for Challenge of U.S Market Swing
By Bill Visnic
TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan - Admitting that even famously "flexible" Toyota Motor Corp. was caught by surprise by the speed and intensity of rising fuel prices in the U.S., one of the company's top manufacturing executives says the company nonetheless reacted quickly to rapidly altered consumer demand and is rapidly making adjustments in its massive manufacturing structure.
Steve St. Angelo, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky Inc. and senior vice president-Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc., also told AutoObserver the company's major strategic moves to address shifting consumer desires in the U.S. - pulling the trigger on U.S. production of the Prius hybrid-electric vehicle for 2010 and drastically ramping down production of the Tundra full-size pickup, which started this month - demonstrate Toyota's confidence in its renowned manufacturing flexibility.
And the willingness of the company's Japan-based senior management to react appropriately to rapidly changing market conditions.
(Read more...)
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Ford: Fuel-Saving Business Case Lies With Gasoline Engines
By Bill Visnic
DEARBORN, MI - At a press event here to showcase its '09 models, Ford Motor Co.'s top engine-development honcho says the company's gambling its development dollars on gasoline engines, not diesel, as the best path to improved fuel economy and improving the company's sustainability "profile."
Dan Kapp, director-powertrain research and advanced engineering, said Ford essentially is betting the farm on its upcoming "Ecoboost" suite of gasoline-engine enhancements to improve fuel economy, reduce emissions, and, by definition, jack up the company's Corporate Average Fuel Economy numbers towards the eventual federally mandated goal of a 35-mpg fleet average by 2020.
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Engine Sharing: Even Desperate Times Don't Call for This
By Bill Visnic
Alert to the American medical community: new evidence proves severe lack of corporate operating capital causes dull and even impaired judgment.
How did I arrive at this breakthrough mental-health discovery? Reading early this week that General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. reputedly are considering co-development of engines.
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GM Ready for Smaller Engines When Customers Are
By Bill Visnic
PONTIAC, Michigan -- The world's largest car company is ready to respond to the public's newfound craving for increased fuel economy with a range of smaller engines. But customers are going to have to indicate they're really serious about downsizing their powerplant expectations.
Thomas G. Stephens, General Motors Corp.'s executive vice president, global powertrain and global quality, said at the recent inauguration of the company's new Powertrain Engineering Development Center here that he's delighted with the engine options at his disposal for answering growing demand for better fuel economy. But that's going to mean U.S. customers will have to signal their readiness to accept smaller engines -- in effect reversing a long trend for ever-larger engines and more horsepower.
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Diesel's U.S. Success Still in Doubt, But VW Says No Delay
By Bill Visnic
Although German powerhouses BMW AG, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and perhaps most importantly, mainstream maker Volkswagen AG, all are ready to launch in the U.S. a new generation of diesel-engine vehicles, the once seemingly assured "breakout" of new-age diesel technology in North America now is clouded, thanks largely to the persistently high price of diesel fuel.
But there's another factor: comparatively unremarkable "official" fuel economy figures that may not be the game-changer some advocates had hoped. Fuel economy - the diesel engine's traditional trump card - may be taking a hit because of technical changes required to make the new-age diesels complaint with nationwide emissions regulations.
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GM Eyes UK Plant for Volt
General Motors reportedly is considering a plant in England for the European production of
its innovative Volt.
The Financial Times reports in Wednesday's edition that GM is considering its Vauxhall Ellesmere Port plant on Merseyside as the possible European production center for Volt.
The London paper said the prospect of the Merseyside plant being used for the venture was raised on Tuesday by GM Europe President Carl-Peter Forster after meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the British motor show, which opened this week.
(Read more...)
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Harbour-Topping Chrysler JV Engine Plant Attracting Foreign Attention
By Bill Visnic
The Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance engine plant in Dundee, Mich., currently is one of the auto-manufacturing sector's more intriguing stories. Currently making three variants of the 4-cylinder "World Engine" for one-third owner Chrysler LLC, GEMA also happens to be North America's most productive powertrain plant, according to the industry-benchmark Harbour Report.
But despite its Harbour-topping performance, some inconvenient circumstances have conspired to make GEMA barely half-utilized - and foreign auto companies sniffing for North American engine-making capacity are taking notice. Sources say several automakers may have toured the GEMA facility - including one name that keeps popping up: BMW.
Regardless of who's interested in GEMA, one thing is certain: its vast amount of unused capacity, combined with industry-leading productivity, has made GEMA an extremely tempting prize in a country that - thanks to the ever-dwindling value of the dollar - has emerged as a low-cost manufacturing region.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:47 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Rumors , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM: Remapping for a More Euro-Style Vehicle Landscape
By Michelle Krebs
The days of the U.S. being out of step with the rest of the world in terms of the vehicles Americans drive are nearing an end.
"We were the anomaly. We were the region with the artificially cheap fuel that created huge -- you could say unhealthy demand - for very large vehicles. But that has flipped," said Bob Lutz, General Motors' vice chairman in charge of product development, in a conference call with bloggers, including AutoObserver
, Tuesday.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 2:46 PM under GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Bob Lutz Runs Out of Juice
GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is the greatest champion for the Chevrolet Volt, which runs on electricity but has a back-up gasoline engine to generate power for the battery. He became even more of a fan of the concept when his battery-powered motor scooter ran out juice.
In June, Lutz took delivery of a Vectrix electric scooter, an event captured on YouTube as he took his first test drive.
However, one on of his first solo, long-distance rides, Lutz ran into trouble. "The gauge showed I had 19 miles of power left," Lutz related on a conference call of bloggers Tuesday. "But when it hit 17, it came to a complete stop. I had no battery left.
(Read more...)
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Renault-Nissan Plots its Electric Car Future, One Small Country at a Time
By Nick Kurczewski
LISBON, Portugal - Renault-Nissan continues to hinge its very big plans for its future electric vehicle on the cooperation of some of the world's smallest countries. The auto giant recently announced that it will market its upcoming zero-emission electric car in Portugal, beginning in 2011.
This is the third phase in Renault-Nissan's military-like electric car strategy, which targets small countries where the usual limitations of an electric vehicle (short driving range, limited recharging points) are less of an obstacle.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:35 AM under Business , Companies , Featured , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Hybrid Vehicles Not Best Value Over Time, Edmunds.com Finds
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- High gas prices, the housing crisis and general economic
uncertainty are motivating consumers to look for the least expensive cars to own and operate. But a new study by Edmunds.com
shows that many compact and subcompact vehicles are actually better choices than hybrids for consumers looking to save money.
The Chevrolet Aveo topped the list of best values based on Edmunds' True Cost to Own data, which accounts for total vehicle costs over a five-year period. No hybrids made the top 10 list.
"When consumers think about cars that will save them money, hybrids are typically top of mind because of their fuel efficiency," said Jesse Toprak, Edmunds.com executive director of Industry Analysis. "But when you take a look at the real-world costs of car ownership, you realize that many subcompact and compact cars are actually a much better value proposition."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:20 AM under Analysis , Companies , Featured , GM , Technology , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Tata, Chrysler Connect on $5,000 Electric Vehicle
The buzz is increasing on expanded collaboration between Chrysler and India's Tata Motors, which was catapulted on the world's automotive map with its announcement of the $2,500 Nano earlier this year.
India's Economic Times reports that Tata and Chrysler's Global Electric Motorscars (GEM) have developed an electric-powered version of the Tata Ace delivery vehicle with plans to sell it in U.S. The price being bandied about is $5,000 U.S.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:38 AM under Chrysler , Rumors , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Mercedes Confident Fuel Prices Can't Scuttle New Diesels
By Bill Visnic
MANCHESTER, Vermont - Mercedes-Benz's silent and strong 3-liter V6 diesel now is 50-
state emissions-compliant and generates about 20 percent better fuel economy than a comparable gasoline engine. The problem for Mercedes: in many areas, diesel fuel is more 
than 20 percent more expensive than gasoline - effectively erasing the advantage of the fuel-efficient engine on the buyer's bottom line.
Not to worry, said confident Mercedes executives and engineers at the worldwide launch of the '09 ML 320 BlueTec, GL 320 BlueTEC and R 320 BlueTEC here. The reason for their optimism is twofold: first, diesels still offer a financial gain. Second, they expect diesel fuel prices to retreat.
(Read more...)
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Honda Hybrid May Be Called Insight; Set To Out Prius the Prius
By Peter Nunn
TOKYO -- Surging gas prices, global warming and the need to go green make this absolutely the most perfect time for Honda to roll out an all-new, cutting-edge gas-electric hybrid. Honda's eagerly awaited, long overdue rival for the Toyota Prius is set to land in American driveways in the first half of 2009.
Smaller than a Civic and with a unique five-door hatchback style, Honda's "New Dedicated Hybrid Vehicle" may well revive the Insight name when it goes on sale. Strong rumors in Tokyo also suggest that this "new Insight" will adapt and repackage the Civic Hybrid's IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) front-drive powertrain and first appear in public in concept form at this October's Paris Auto Salon, ahead of its full official launch at the Detroit auto show in January.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:17 AM under Analysis , Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Said to be Studying Crash-Dive Retooling Program
By Bill Visnic
In a move that was not entirely unexpected, Ford Motor Co. reportedly is studying a plan to implement a hasty and wide-ranging retooling of many of its North American assembly plants, shifting them from production of large pickup trucks and SUVs to smaller, lighter and more fuel-efficient vehicles.
The Detroit News
reports manufacturing executives and local labor leaders will meet in Dearborn on Friday to discuss the plan, which reportedly centers on retooling several plants from production of traditional body-on-frame pickups and SUVs to models and vehicle architectures currently being used in Europe.
It is a strategy many industry analysts have said must be undertaken by all the truck-reliant Detroit automakers. The only surprise, perhaps, is the haste with which Ford is reacting -- a lightning stroke relative to past Detroit responses to major macroeconomic and consumer-preference shifts.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:20 PM under Analysis , Business , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Technology , Toyota | Comments (7) | digg this | del.icio.us
German Supplier ZF Watching Exchange Rates
By Bill Visnic
LAURENS, South Carolina -- It hasn't yet made any major moves, but German Tier 1 supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG has its eye on the fluid currency exchange-rate environment, conceding the eroded dollar means the U.S. now can be viably considered as a potential low-cost manufacturing region.
ZF, primarily known for its transmission development and manufacturing, also is a prime maker of all manner of chassis, driveline and steering components, and already has more than 20 facilities in North America, said Paul Olexa, vice president of driveline sales, ZF Group North American Operations, at a recent media event here.
But Olexa said ZF is carefully watching the currency situation -- and the moves of several German automakers that long have been the company's chief customers. ZF has considerable content in Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and BMW AG vehicles built in the U.S. respectively at Vance, Alabama, and Spartanburg, South Carolina -- and both companies have jacked up plans for U.S. production in response to the weak dollar.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:44 PM under Business , Companies , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Where There's Smoke There's Nickel-Metal Hydride
By Bill Visnic
For months, somebody on Wall Street has been convinced something's going on at Rochester Hills, Michigan's, Energy Conversion Devices, parent company of the Cobasys LLC joint venture that develops and produces nickel-metal hydride batteries for all manner of consumer devices, including some of General Motors Corp.'s hybrid-electric vehicles.
Despite the fact ECD stock has no earnings, pays no dividend and the company's operations have not had positive cash flow for the past five years, the stock price has tripled since January and gained almost another 10 percent yesterday with reported news GM may be trying to acquire Cobasys.
(Read more...)
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Toyota Considering California Production of Prius, Report Says
Toyota reportedly is talking with General Motors about producing the hybrid Prius at their
joint production plant in California, Japan's Tokyo Shimbun
reported Friday.
Toyota did not confirm the report. A company spokesman told AutoObserver: "We are always considering what should be the optimum structure of our production efforts. But nothing has been decided about building the Prius
at NUMMI."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:21 AM under Rumors , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fuel Economy Emergency: Six-Speed Transmissions to the Rescue
By Bill Visnic
Automakers scrambling for quick fixes to polish up vehicle economy numbers in the eyes of fuel-price-fatigued U.S. customers are reaping real results from their -- and the supplier community's -- investments in the new generation of six-speed automatic transmissions.
The powertrain sector's shift to six-speed automatics has been coming since as early as 2001, but $4-per-gallon gasoline and $5 diesel fuel has turned up the heat on vehicle engineers to deliver more or less immediate efficiency enhancements for existing vehicles.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:39 AM under Analysis , Ford , GM , Technology , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
With Turbos, New All-Wheel Drive, Saab Sitting Better
By Bill Visnic
BOSTON -- Buyers in Saab's single largest market suddenly are very concerned about the price of gasoline, and there's maybe no premium brand in the industry better positioned to give 'em what they want, said Roger McCormack, Saab Automobile USA's new marketing director.
The big players such as Ford Motor Co. and even Saab's ever-patient owner, General Motors Corp., are all starting to talk about what it's going to take to improve fuel economy, and a big chip on the table is smaller "downsized" engines strapped with turbochargers to help mimic the performance of the big V8s and V6s from which Americans are starting to wean themselves.
That's a tune Saab's been playing for 30 years, says McCormack, who believes it may help give the niche Swedish maker a leg up in the coming fuel-economy wars -- a leg only a tiny number of buyers cared about during the horsepower wars that dominated the U.S. market for nearly the last two decades.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:20 AM under Business , Featured , GM , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Honda Goal: Offer More Hybrids; Sell More Hybrids
By Michelle Krebs
Despite its mixed results with hybrids in the past, Honda sees the future being hybrids, and ultimately fuel-cell vehicles.
To that end, Honda plans to introduce four new hybrid models by 2015 to meet its eventual goal of selling 500,000 hybrid vehicles a year, a nearly tenfold increase from its current hybrid volume.
Speaking in Tokyo at the company's mid-term business meeting, Honda President Takeo Fukui confirmed what has long been known -- that Honda is working on its own take on the Toyota Prius, an affordable hybrid-only car, which Fukui said will be launched in the U.S., Japan and Europe in early 2009. He also announced Honda will introduce a hybrid version of the sporty CR-Z (pictured) and add a hybrid version of the tiny, already fuel-stingy Fit.
"It is important to move hybrid vehicles, from the current image-oriented stage to the new stage toward full-scale penetration," Fukui said in his speech.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:12 AM under Companies , Featured , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
U.S. Breaking Foreign Oil Addiction, Report Says
As oil hovered around the record mark of $127 a barrel, the page one lead story in London's Financial Times' Tuesday featured this bold headline: "U.S. begins to break foreign oil 'addiction.'"
Based on a Department of Energy report, the article claims the U.S. is starting to break its addiction to foreign oil as more efficient cars proliferate and the use of ethanol expands, cutting the share of U.S. oil imports for the first time since 1977.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:17 AM under Analysis , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Battery Boss Running on Full Charge
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT -- General Motors' Denise Gray talks a little fast, a little earnestly. We don't think it's because she's nervous -- more like she's got a lot to tell you about things you likely don't understand, and she figures her time is limited.
In a way, her time is quite limited -- Gray is in charge of delivering the most critical component for one of the highest-profile vehicle-development projects GM has ever undertaken, the Chevrolet Volt "extended-range" electric vehicle.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:39 AM under Featured , GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Prius: 1 Million Sales and Counting
By Michelle Krebs
The Model T of hybrids.
That's how a former Toyota executive described the Toyota Prius.
And, today, as the Prius hit a hugely significant milestone -- 1 million plus sales since going on sale in 1997 -- that title seems all the more appropriate.
Toyota said Thursday it had sold 1,028,000 Prius cars worldwide -- it is sold in 40 countries -- as of the end of April.
Like the Model T, the Prius has become a brand on its own. Yet, Toyota is looking for even bigger things from the little car -- 1 million sales annually and the introduction of the next-generation model next year reportedly arriving in a number of variations.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:00 AM under Analysis , Technology , Toyota | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chevy Volt: Traveling Public Roads and Hitting Its Mark
By Michelle Krebs
WARREN, Michigan -- General Motors inched closer to making the Chevrolet Volt a reality in November 2010 as the vehicle's innovative gas-electric powertrain is being test-driven for the first time on public roads and is hitting its target of 40 miles on pure electric power.
"Today is a big day," GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told Edmunds' AutoObserver in an exclusive interview Tuesday. "Today is the first day it is running on the street on battery power."
Lutz said the Volt's powertrain, comprised of an advanced lithium-ion battery and a small gasoline engine, was installed into a mule vehicle and is being driven on public roads around the automaker's proving grounds in Milford, Michigan. More important, Lutz said, the battery is hitting GM's goal of 40 miles on pure electric power.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:57 AM under Companies , Featured , GM , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Hewlett-Packard Buying EDS, Once GM Owned
Wall Street is abuzz with the news that Hewlett-Packard is buying Electronic Data Systems for $12.6 billion.
Old-timers in the auto industry may remember that General Motors, with the late and controversial Roger Smith at the helm, purchased EDS, founded by H. Ross Perot, in 1984 for $2.6 billion. GM's purchase of EDS along with Hughes Aircraft and a host of small high-tech companies was part of Smith's vision to create the high-tech 21st Century car company.
It didn't work out that way. Perot, who served on the GM board, complained all too publicly of how hidebound and slow to act GM was, prompting GM to buy out Perot, who went on to form another company and run for U.S. president, and spin off EDS. GM remains one of EDS's largest customers; EDS employees occupy two towers of downtown Detroit's Renaissance Center, purchased last week by GM and used as its corporate headquarters.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:40 AM under Companies , GM , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
'Big Auto' Lobbying Fares No Better in CA Than in D.C.
By Bill Visnic
Senior representatives from several major automakers comprising the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers met in California yesterday with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, hoping to twist the strong-guy governor's arm about the state's ongoing and uncomfortable pressure on the federal government to allow California to set its own carbon-dioxide emissions standards.
California's proposed standards would require better fuel economy improvements, on a quicker time line, than the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy mandate approved by Congress earlier this year -- and which the auto industry largely resisted. Most automakers would rather not -- to put it mildly -- see California permitted to adopt an even more rigid regulation, so they loaded up the lobbying plane in hopes of doing better in California than they've done in Washington, D.C.
Schwarzenegger, however, appears to have resolutely rebuffed the Alliance and its representatives.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:50 AM under Companies , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Hybrids "Paying Off" More Quickly, New Edmunds Data Shows
By Bill Visnic
As gasoline prices go higher, many hybrid-electric vehicles currently on sale are proving to be even wiser investments, says new data from Edmunds.com.
Considerable past discussion about hybrids has focused on "payback" time, or the period required for savings from a hybrid's enhanced fuel economy to recoup the initial higher purchase price a hybrid commands. Detractors often claimed that, from a strictly fiscal view of hybrids, most vehicle purchasers would never save enough in gasoline costs to recover their investment in expensive hybrid technology.
But with every increase in gas prices, the hybrid payback time becomes consequently shorter - to the point where some popularly priced hybrid models can pay back their owners' investment in as little as 18 months, according to the new Edmunds.com study.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:40 AM under Analysis , Featured , GM , Technology , Toyota | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chery Partners With Arizona Chipmaker for Hybrids, Fuel Technologies
Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. is partnering with a Phoenix, Arizona-based high-tech company, Freescale Semiconductor, to build a research facility in China to develop hybrids and other fuel-efficiency technologies.
"Through joint research and development, Freescale and Chery intend to drive breakthroughs in next-generation automotive system designs," Paul Grimme, Freescale senior vice president, told the Arizona Republic.
Chery also has an affiliation with Chrysler that is moving forward. Freescale supplies, among other things, advanced automotive chips for the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon 2-Mode hybrids. Chrysler is about to launch the same 2-Mode technology, cooperatively developed by General Motors, Daimler and Chrysler with BMW, in its 2009 Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:04 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Biofuels Stakes Rise for GM and the Nation
By Dale Buss
With its second major equity investment in a biofuels startup company in the space of five just months, General Motors is moving front and center in what may become a pivotal global economic development of our time: the rapid rise of the cellulosic-ethanol industry.
GM’s announcement on Thursday that it has made an equity investment in a Boston-based company, Mascoma Corp., is a bookend to its January deal to help fund Coskata Inc., based in Warrendale, Ill. The two companies, partially nurtured by academics, use two different processes to yield similar crucial results: the production of ethanol for fuel from non-grain, essentially waste sources.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:10 AM under GM , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Partners With a Second Cellulosic Ethanol Maker
General Motors plans to announce Thursday a second partnership with a cellulosic ethanol maker. The automaker is providing no further details until GM President Fritz Henderson makes the announcement in Washington, D.C.
GM already has announced a partnership with an Illinois-based cellulosic ethanol maker, Coskata Inc., and last week said Coskata was establishing a pilot plant in Pennsylvania to demonstrate its innovative process of converting a variety of materials, from garbage to agricultural waste, into ethanol.
GM's partnerships for developing cellulosic ethanol come against a backdrop of increasing outcry for the industry to quit using corn-based ethanol, as food prices rise.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:54 AM under GM , News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Camry Hybrid Outselling V6 Models
By Bill Visnic
Yet another sign consumer interest is turning from horsepower to fuel economy: the hybrid-electric version of the Toyota Camry, one of the nation’s best-selling cars, is outselling V6-powered Camrys by a solid margin.
For March, Edmunds.com data indicate sales of the Camry Hybrid set a new record: 6,930 units, or a considerable 22 percent of Camry’s 31,310 sales last month. Camry Hybrid monthly sales eclipsed 6,000 units only once since the car’s launch, in May 2007, when the 6,853 sold represented slightly more than 17 percent of total Camry sales.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:15 AM under Analysis , Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Prius: Next Chapter Opens in January
By Peter Nunn
Imagine a Toyota Prius, but faster, cleaner and greener. Such a car is coming soon and will launch at the Detroit auto show in January 2009.
America has fallen for the Prius in a big way, no doubt about that. Five years on, through an extraordinary combination of style, engineering and marketing, Toyota's fuel sipping hybrid remains the absolute gold standard for eco cars in the industry.
The next generation, however, has all the makings of an even bigger hit. That's because it will be a touch bigger so offering more space. It will come with stronger 1.8-liter hybrid performance yet at the same time boast even better economy and class leading emissions, if early word is correct.
In other words, everything Americans like now about the Prius, including its unique design and crusading eco image, but in a 'smarter,' more high-grade package.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:08 AM under Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (32) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Ethanol Partner Announces Pilot Plant
By Bill Visnic
PITTSBURGH – Coskata Inc., developer of a unique process that uses specialized bacteria to produce cellulosic ethanol – and with whom General Motors Corp. formed a partnership last January – announced Friday it will begin construction near here for the first production facility to demonstrate the process.
The demonstration plant, Coskata says, will start early next year and run 24 hours a day to produce about 40,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol derived from almost any organic waste material, including agricultural waste and municipal garbage that might normally be placed in landfill.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:34 AM under Featured , GM , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Strategies Changing Quickly in the Green Game
By Dale Buss
As Earth Day comes around once more, there are a few different scoreboards for tracking the relative progress of automakers in their attempt to win the green derby.
According to Toronto, Canada-based consumer-research firm BrandIntel’s recent survey of online discussion, for example, Toyota, Honda, Mercedes and Volkswagen have the most “green credibility†due to their hybrid and diesel vehicles. General Motors and Chrysler have been stuck among the least-credible because of their large fleets of trucks and SUVs and weaker lineups of hybrids and diesel options. Ford sits in the middle.
But several automakers are forging strategies for changing such scoreboards in their green credentials. A look at a few:
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:46 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Ford , GM , Technology , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler, Getrag Shift Into Drive for New Fuel-Saving Tranny
By Bill Visnic
Getrag Corporate Group and Chrysler LLC have signed the “definitive agreements†for the development, manufacturing and supply of Getrag’s high-tech Powershift automated-manual transmission earmarked for future Chrysler vehicles, Getrag announced earlier this month.
Getrag’s Powershift transmission incorporates the dual-clutch electrohydraulic components designed and developed by BorgWarner Automotive Inc. for its ground-breaking DuoTronic technology, first deployed in production vehicles by the Volkswagen Group, marketed as the Direct Shift Gearbox.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:55 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
For Automakers, Green Mantle Could Become a Golden Cloak
By Dale Buss
Toyota clearly donned it for awhile. Ford tried it on for size. American consumers seem to think it fits Honda pretty well these days. But no one covets it more now than General Motors.
We’ll call it the “green mantle:†a figurative decoration on the shoulders of automaker that tells the world, and competitors, that their company is the most environmentally renowned in the industry, both for their products and technologies and – perhaps even more important – in the public’s overall regard.
And taken particularly in the context of an annual worldwide recognition such as today’s Earth Day, it seems at least as important for any corporation to earn the perception of environmental responsibility as to actually be doing something tangible.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:31 AM under Business , Companies , Ford , GM , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM to Introduce Buick LaCrosse Hybrid in China
By Michelle Krebs
BEIJING -- General Motors will begin selling the industry's first mainstream hybrid car by the time the 2008 Olympics opening ceremonies are held here. The hybrid system will go into the popular Buick LaCrosse sold in China.
Chinese production of the hybrid LaCrosse begins in June with sales following in July. Specifications on the car, which likely uses the same hybrid system as the U.S.-sold Chevrolet Malibu and Saturn Aura hybrids, will be disclosed at GM's auto show press conference Sunday. They did say the LaCrosse hybrid achieves fuel efficiency 15 percent better than the non-hybrid LaCrosse sold here with 15 percent lower emissins. Price has not been revealed though it will be higher than the non-hybrid model.
The hybrid LaCrosse is part of a grander GM scheme to go green in China, which if confronted with energy and environmental issues of monumental proportions.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:18 PM under GM , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota-Subaru Coziness Could Yield Retro-Corolla, Celica
By Bill Visnic and Peter Nunn
Normally stolid Toyota Motor Corp. hasn’t been shy in doubling of its stake in Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. and openly admitting the two will jointly develop new vehicles – including an all-new rear-wheel drive sport coupe on a dedicated platform.
Whew. Quite un-Toyotalike. This is the company that rarely “buys†anything or anybody, preferring joint ventures, particularly when it comes to vehicle development and vital components. When it decided to build cars with General Motors, Toyota bought nothing; it established New United Motors Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) in California, which jointly makes vehicles for Toyota and GM.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:22 AM under Commentary , Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler, Nissan: Could More Product Swaps Be in Store?
By Michelle Krebs
When Chrysler and Nissan announced their latest model-sharing plans Monday, company executives hinted they were leaving open the door for further product discussions. The initial opening that led to the Chrysler-Nissan small-car-for-big-truck swap had been cracked in January when the two companies announced Nissan would supply Chrysler with a version of the Nissan Versa to sell in South America.
"We agreed to an open dialogue [in January] to continue to explore future product development and sharing opportunities," Dominique Thormann, Nissan's North American senior vice president for administration and finance, said in a conference call Monday. "And today is one milestone and a culmination of that intention."
One milestone? Could there be others? What could be next?
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:48 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford, Microsoft Find They're in â€Sync’ with Young Buyers
By Dale Buss
One of the few highlights of the industry’s dismal sales picture in recent months has been the Ford Focus.
In an otherwise dismal month and quarter for industry sales, March retail sales for the Focus marked their highest level for any month since August 2005 – with retail sales up 36 percent in March and 35 percent in the first quarter compared with the same periods a year ago. Counting fleet sales, Focus sales were up 24 percent in March and 23 percent for the quarter.
The reason for higher retail sales, Ford says, is in large part because younger consumers were flocking to buy Sync, the in-vehicle connectivity system that has been featured lately in marketing for the subcompact car.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:16 AM under Business , Companies , Ford , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota, Subaru Are Becoming Increasingly Entwined
By Peter Nunn
TOKYO — Japan is buzzing with news that Toyota plans to raise its stake in Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru's parent company, from 8.7 percent up to around 17 percent.
The story was broken by the Nikkei, Japan's well-connected business newspaper, has since been picked up by other media, not denied
by either Toyota or Subaru.
Indeed, a spokesman from one of the companies admitted privately "the Nikkei got a scoop." All of which seems to back up the Nikkei's claim that Toyota will pick up 64.25 million shares in FHI for around ¥30 billion (some $306 million).
Ever since Toyota became the leading shareholder in Fuji Heavy Industries in October 2005 in the wake of the company’s hasty divorce from General Motors, many in Japan believed it was simply a matter of time before Toyota upped its stake.
So why now? Because up to a point, both companies need each other.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:16 AM under Analysis , Companies , Featured , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Capacitors Get a Boost from Suzuki
By Bill Visnic
Battery talk has become favorite dinnertime discussion throughout the industry.
It’s been that way at least since General Motors Corp. started pumping up the volume about its Chevy Volt — a so-called “extended-range electric vehicle†concept car everyone wants to see come to production. But it won’t unless battery developers now working feverishly to perfect lithium-ion chemistry can whip up the right formula to allow the car to run for 35 or 40 miles purely on battery power.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:09 AM under Analysis , Companies , GM , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Says 40 Miles Doable, but the â€Business’ of Chevy Volt Battery Just Beginning
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT — General Motors Corp. executives and engineers said Thursday they’re confident they can hit the ambitious target of 40 miles of battery-driven range for the company’s high-profile Chevrolet Volt “extended-range†electric vehicle.
What the company’s not saying is which of its competing lithium-ion battery developers — Compact Power Inc. (using cell technology developed by Korea’s LG Chemical) or Continental Automotive Systems (cells from Boston’s A123 Systems) — might prevail.
(Read more...)
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Think City, the Electric Car that Could Change Everything
By Nick Kurczewski
MONACO -- Jan-Olaf Willums, CEO of Think Global and the driving force behind the company’s new electric car, looked like his own batteries were nearly flat by the time AutoObserver sat down to chat with him at the EVER Monaco ecological car show. Held March 27-30, EVER Monaco is an annual exhibition of alternatively powered vehicles and energy systems. After a full day of interviews and roundtable discussions, Willums’ eyes looked weary, his tie was undone, and he bravely tried to stifle a yawn as we began the interview.
Five minutes into our conversation, the fog had lifted and Willums had hit his stride. His eyes were sharp, and the professorial-looking automotive CEO made it clear Think will not be content to simply reignite interest in electric vehicles. Think wants to revolutionize how customers buy a car, how they consume energy and even how they interact with their vehicle.
(Read more...)
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Citroën Shows Its Many Shades of Green at EVER Monaco
By Nick Kurczewski
MONACO -- With Citroën’s history of avant garde design and outrageous concept cars, we were surprised to find its stand at the EVER Monaco ecological car show as daring as a navy-blue suit.
Though many exhibitors during EVER Monaco, held March 27-30, chose to showcase vehicles loaded with high technology, or huggably cute city cars, Citroën’s surprisingly subdued approach proves alternative energy doesn’t always need a fancy wrapper.
(Read more...)
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Nissan’s Electric-Powered Future
By Nick Kurczewski
MONACO -- Kazuhiro Doi can engineer you a boring electric car if you want it, but he’d prefer not to. As Nissan’s general manager and technology chief, Doi has the inside line on Nissan’s work in everything from electric vehicles to hybrids, and advanced safety features.
Under Doi’s leadership, Nissan developed a vehicle th at can detect when a driver is too intoxicated to drive. One of his latest projects is the Nissan Mixim, which was at the EVER Monaco ecological car show, held March 27-30.
(Read more...)
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Venturi Automobiles: Homefield Advantage at EVER Monaco
By Nick Kurczewski
It’s rare that an interview has to be postponed for royalty. But as Prince Albert of Monaco made his way through the displays at this year’s EVER Monaco ecological car show, that possibility was business as usual for Venturi Automobiles, the world’s only Monegasque car company.
AutoObserver caught up with Venturi’s charismatic CEO, Gildo Pastor, to discuss his tiny company’s latest electric, solar, and even wind-powered automotive technology projects. One eye scanning the floor to make sure Prince Albert’s entourage was not approaching, he also provided us with a few tantalizing hints as to what lies ahead regarding Venturi’s push into the American market.
(Read more...)
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Toyota Denies Japanese Government Helped with the Prius
Toyota Motor Corp. denied Wednesday it had received any funding from the Japanese
government to develop its Prius hybrid, The Associated Press reported.
Former Toyota executive and board member Jim Press, now vice chairman and president of Chrysler, had been quoted in the March 24 issue of Business Week magazine as saying, “The Japanese government paid for 100 percent of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius."
(Read more...)
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Sparking Controversy, and Confusion, at EVER Monaco
By Nick Kurczewski
The REVA 2.0 electric car proves even tree-hugging technology is not immune to the dirtier world of design infringement, and the confusing cross-pollination between Chinese companies and the electric vehicle marketplace.
Displayed for the first time at the EVER Monaco ecological car show, held March 27-30, the REVA 2.0 is a direct copy of a Smart Fortwo city-car. But the bright-yellow 2.0 on display in Monaco is actually built in China, while REVA Gmbh is based outside of Stuttgart, Germany.
(Read more...)
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Chinese Engine Maker to Build First Diesels for Domestic Market
By Bill Visnic
Diesel envy officially hits China with the announcement from China Yuchai International Limited that it will assemble the first diesel engines earmarked for passenger cars in the Chinese domestic market.
China Yuchai, which said in a release it is the nation’s leading manufacturer and distributor of diesels, has broken ground for an the new engine-making facility for Jining Yuchai Engine Company Ltd., a joint venture formed between China Yuchai and domestic automakers Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd. and Zhejiang Yinlun Machinery Co. Ltd.
(Read more...)
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Toyota Plans Research Institute Near Detroit
Toyota announced Tuesday it is establishing a North American research institute at its Detroit-area facility and plans to spend $100 million during the next four years on advanced research.
The Toyota Research Institute of North America initially will employ 35 researchers and staff in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Toyota already has a technical center, and plans to add 10 researchers this year and 20 more by 2010. Toyota hinted the institute will be used for its environmental efforts.
(Read more...)
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"Green" Convenience Stores, Chevy Dealer Aim To Boost E85 Availability
By Bill Visnic
A Delaware startup company is fronting an ambitious plan to construct 1,000 “Go Green Station” convenience store/fueling stations on the East Coast that will sell only ethanol-based E85 and other alternative fuels.
Alternative Fuel Distributors, created last year to “develop, construct, own and operate convenience stores dedicated to supplying alternative fuels to retail customers,” said it expects to have 100 of the company-owned and trademarked Go Green Station convenience stores open by first-quarter 2009 in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware.
(Read more...)
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BMW Hydrogen 7: A Surreal World Trial Run
By Nick Kurczewski
MONTE CARLO, Monaco — A hydrogen economy might still be a decade or more into the future but that hasn’t stopped BMW from continuing its real-world hydrogen trial run, courtesy of some surreal clientele. Prince Albert II of Monaco was handed the keys to a BMW Hydrogen 7 sedan at this week’s EVER Monaco ecological car show.
He joins an elite list of roughly 100 celebrities and VIPs who have been loaned one of BMW’s Hydrogen 7s. The average loan extends from six to eight weeks. A BMW spokesman at the EVER Monaco ecological car show confirmed Prince Albert would have a Hydrogen 7 for a two-month trial.
(Read more...)
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Turning to Turbo
By Kate McLeod
The clock is ticking loudly toward 2011. That's when Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations will mandate increased miles per gallon for light trucks and passenger cars.
We know automakers are working all the angles to meet these new higher fuel economy goals. Diesels are tough because Detroit doesn’t make them and the Japanese don’t like them — although diesels that comply with 50-state regulations promise to be on sale later this year.
Hybrids have proven they work, but they are a costly solution to the problem. There’s a third option: the turbo-charged gasoline engine. It is cheaper than diesels — which are themselves all turbocharged — or hybrids.
(Read more...)
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Leave the Lamborghini at Home. Electric Vehicles are Big News (and Big Business) at the EVER Monaco Ecological Car Show
By Nick Kurczewski
MONTE CARLO, Monaco — Corporate raiders and business tycoons beware, the supercar-saturated streets of Monte Carlo are about to be flooded with environmentally friendly automobiles. But don’t worry: A weak American housing market, collapsed banks and the falling dollar have nothing to do with the world-famous principality’s sudden change from its usual chest-thumping four-wheeled displays of wealth.
The EVER Monaco ecological car show opened its doors Thursday; it will run through Sunday. Now in its third year, the annual green-car show is dedicated to all forms of transport powered by fuels offering environmental benefits. The show is proof that, even in the glitzy confines of Monaco harbor, Earth-friendly automobiles are making big waves.
(Read more...)
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Sirius-XM Merger Clears Antitrust Hurdle
The U.S. Justice Department has approved the $5 billion buyout of XM Satellite
Radio by Sirius Satellite Radio, saying the merger of the nation’s only two satellite-radio companies does not pose antitrust problems. The two have plenty of competition from other radio and entertainment outlets now and Internet outlets will provide even more in the future, the department ruled.
The deal now requires the approval of the Federal Communications
Commission. Shareholders of the two companies, neither of which has ever turned a profit, approved the merger in November. The companies say the merged entity will save hundreds of million in operating costs, which will benefit customers.
Consumer groups and the land-based radio industry opposed the merger.
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Saturn Pilot Program to Push Online Shopping
By Dale Buss
General Motors’ Saturn division plans to launch a pilot program within three months that is intended to allow integrated online execution of just about every aspect of a vehicle purchase that can be legally and physically accomplished outside a dealership.
AutoObserver has learned that Saturn’s test — with as many as 10 dealers nationwide — will allow customers to perform several functions on a dealer’s Web site that currently either must be handled in the showroom or executed only piecemeal online, including checking dealer inventories, applying for credit and scheduling a test drive.
The pilot also is expected to test ways to use the Internet to facilitate the evaluation of customers’ trade-in vehicles and to negotiate price using online chat and e-mail between dealership personnel and customers.
(Read more...)
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Shifty Events from New York Auto Show
By Bill Visnic
NEW YORK — There was plenty of industry chatter this week about the connotations of the New York auto show. Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp.’s Pontiac decided to headline a couple of muscle cars that raised hypersensitive environmental eyebrows, not to mention a handful of low-volume, less high-profile models that didn’t issue a particularly positive sustainability message, either.
Lost in the hubris over whether the likes of the Pontiac G8, Dodge Challenger and BMW M3 Convertible are politically correct endeavors were interesting developments in the greasy regions that could end up saving more fuel than a healthy fleet of hybrid-electric vehicles.
(Read more...)
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New York Icon Getting a Makeover
By Kate McLeod
NEW YORK -- New York City’s bright-yellow taxicab is so entwined with the Big Apple’s identity that tourists put hailing a cab on their to-do lists, along with riding the subway and seeing a Broadway show. A cab ride in New York is a singular experience; it has character.
Now, it appears, the New York taxicab will be reinvented. The deputy commissioner for public affairs at the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), Allan Fromberg, recently released a request for information (RFI) asking for proposals to redesign New York’s taxicab fleet.
(Read more...)
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Edmunds.com’s Car Stock Exchange Off to a Running Start
By Dale Buss
Edmunds.com’s new Car Stock Exchange already is exhibiting some “natural resonance†with online automotive enthusiasts, which “suggests that it may catch on†for the long term, said CEO Jeremy Anwyl.
Less than two weeks after its official launch, the Car Stock Exchange — where consumers invest virtually in the sales performance of their favorite vehicles — “is running ahead of what we thought,†said Anwyl.
“There’s already a lot of buzz building that we didn’t necessarily anticipate right away. There are some small but rabidly loyal audiences (of car enthusiasts) that are already chattering about this thing quite a bit.â€
(Read more...)
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Audi "Positioned Well" for Coming Fuel Economy Crunch
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT — Audi of America Inc. is ready for a projected shift in consumer demand toward more fuel-efficient vehicles, said its top technical executive.
At the recent Detroit auto show, Michael Dick, Audi AG’s member of the board of management for technical development, told AutoObserver, “I think we are positioned very well†for any increased focus on fuel-efficiency in the U.S.
“Our history is to make highly efficient cars,†Dick said, noting Audi and its parent, Volkswagen Group, were the first European automakers to introduce new-age, direct-injected turbocharged diesels to the passenger-vehicle market in 1989.
(Read more...)
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Automakers Flexing Their Green Thumbs
By Pál Négyesi
With the European Union trying to compel automobile manufacturers to reduce their products'
carbon-dioxide emissions to an average of 120 grams per kilometer by 2012 it is no wonder the halls at the Geneva International Motor Show were echoing with announcements of new technologies to help companies achieve this ambitious target.
(Read more...)
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Geneva Auto Show: If These are Eco-Friendly, Sign Us Up
By Bill Visnic
The Geneva auto show turned out as expected: It was a singular stage featuring fuel-efficiency and carbon-dioxide-reducing abilities as essentially the only act. Most automakers showed up in Geneva with actors capable of assuming roles in this new-age play. Those without the talent promoted the understudies’ virtue, that primarily being performance.
But what we liked most about the eco-positive hardware fronted in Geneva is how visually and intellectually appealing some of it turned out to be. In no particular order, our green favorites:
(Read more...)
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GM Charged Up About Li-ion for 2010 â€Mild’ Hybrids
By Bill Visnic
General Motors Corp.’s hybrid electric vehicle engineers announced at the Geneva auto show today they will have advanced lithium-ion batteries ready for the company’s next generation of “mild†hybrids coming in 2010.
The batteries, which GM says are being developed by Japan’s Hitachi Vehicle Energy Ltd., will improve performance and efficiency of the Saturn Vue Green Line and Aura Green Line and the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, GM sources say. Fuel economy, for example, will be some 15 to 20 percent better than the same vehicles with conventional gasoline-engine powertrains.
(Read more...)
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Mercedes "Breakthrough" Battery Developer Also GM Volt Supplier
By Bill Visnic
Our editor in Geneva, Switzerland, says this week's international auto show there is buzzing about Daimler AG’s reputed breakthrough in the development of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid-vehicle applications.
Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz unit is claiming the “first patented integration of a lithium-ion battery into a series-produced passenger car†when it launches the Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHYBRID starting in 2009.
Mercedes’ 2009 rollout, in effect, trumps the earliest-known planned deployment of lithium-ion for production vehicles, believed to be General Motors Corp. for its own hybrid applications in 2010, and Toyota Motor Corp, also sometime in the 2010 timeframe. GM, of course, most famously promises its own lithium-ion battery breakthrough for its highly promoted Volt “extended-range†electric vehicle (E-REV), which also is earmarked for introduction around 2010.
(Read more...)
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Porsche Becoming Volatile Over CO2 Limits
By Bill Visnic
The globe allegedly is warming up, and so are tempers in Europe as the
Continent’s ongoing dialog regarding carbon-dioxide emissions is
beginning to draw some acrimonious battle lines.
If the questions hit the sore spot, the issue could provide fireworks
at the Geneva auto show, where CO2 is expected to be a prime
topic at nearly every automaker’s display.
(Read more...)
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Bush Comments Lend Another Boost to Cellulosic Ethanol
By Dale Buss
The politicians in Washington aren’t on the same page on every issue with the U.S. auto industry. But it’s increasingly clear the most important of them see eye to eye with some major automakers when it comes to cellulosic ethanol.
Remaining presidential candidates have made a point of touting cellulosic ethanol — which can be made from a number of sources other than corn — as an important alternative fuel. On Thursday morning President Bush added to the chorus of support at his White House news conference. He emphasized cellulosic ethanol as a crucial part of the short-term answer to problems of fuel pricing and availability, as well as a long-term solution.
(Read more...)
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Fuel-Cell Experiment Misses the Bus
By Bill Visnic
Some cost and durability figures for operating hydrogen fuel-cell powered buses have leaked out, and from them it appears the best thing that can be said is it’s a good thing it’s a demonstration program.
To fulfill a California Air Resources Board requirement that operators of large bus fleets participate in a Zero-Emission Bus demonstration program, in 2005 the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority purchased three buses powered by early versions of fuel cells developed by Ballard Power Systems Inc. of Vancouver, Canada.
Green Car Journal reports a memo directed to the Santa Clara VTA’s board of directors indicated operating the buses has cost the Santa Clara VTA a staggering 32 times more than the overall running cost for comparable diesel-engine buses.
Cost per mile for to operate a diesel bus: $1.61. Cost per mile for the fuel-cell buses: $51.66.
(Read more...)
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Hyundai Is Working on the Next Great Niche
By Bill Visnic
CHICAGO — Even before unveiling its redesigned Sonata sedan and a low-slung hydrogen fuel-cell concept car at the recent Chicago auto show here, John Krafcik was already talking about Hyundai Motor America’s next big ideas.
Agreeing the company appears to have most conventional U.S. market segments covered, Krafcik, HMA’s vice president of product development and strategic planning, told AutoObserver the company now is under way with an advanced-planning initiative to identify — or create — new market niches and evaluate the potential for Hyundai to develop appropriate new vehicles.
(Read more...)
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Hydrogen-Powered Cars: 16 Million on Europe’s Roads by 2030, Report Says
A new report by the European Union (EU) estimates 16 million hydrogen-powered vehicles will be traveling European roads by 2030, dramatically reducing oil consumption but requiring lengthy and expensive infrastructure changes.
The use of hydrogen fuel is a realistic alternative to fossil fuels and could cut oil consumption by 40 percent by 2050, but infrastructure investments could cost the equivalent of nearly $90 billion (based on today’s exchange rates), says the EU’s research, reported on by Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday.
(Read more...)
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Sirius’ Boost in Subscribers Narrows Loss
Sirius Satellite Radio, which is offering its services in a increasing number of car models, got a boost in the number of people who subscribe to its service, which helped lower its costs and helped narrow its fourth-quarter loss, the New York-based company reported.
(Read more...)
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Toyota to Seed More U.S. Research
By Bill Visnic
News from the U.S. financial media cites a report from Japan as saying Toyota Motor Corp. plans to fund several new advanced-research groups in the U.S.
Media in Japan are reporting Toyota will establish new U.S.-based research teams for alternative energy, safety and advanced materials. The company typically has engaged such long-term research only in Japan.
(Read more...)
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Audi: Diesel Is the Practical Choice
By Michael Jordan
Now that BMW has officially announced it will introduce a diesel-powered sedan for America, the German carmakers finally are making good on their promise to bring diesel to the U.S. as a clean-air solution.
BMW certainly isn't alone; Audi plans to announce the introduction of a diesel-powered Audi Q7 for the U.S. Johan de Nysschen, Audi of America's executive vice president, notes diesel-powered vehicles will play an important role in his company's attempt to expand its annual sales to 200,000 -- a long way from the less than 100,000 vehicles the company will have sold during 2007.
(Read more...)
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Venturi’s Electric Eclectic, Version 2.0
By Nick Kurczewski
MONTE CARLO, Monaco — As the only automobile company to call the glamorous enclave of Monaco home, it’s no wonder Venturi has turned environmentally friendly vehicles into green-themed status symbols.
The second generation of the company’s successful solar-electric Eclectic model is due later this year.
First seen at the 2006 Paris auto show, the Venturi Eclectic certainly lives up to its name. Looking like a cross between a dune buggy and a lunar rover, its design evolved around the 2.5 square meters of solar panels on the roof. The Eclectic seats three, and when fully charged has a range of 30 miles.
(Read more...)
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Are Customers Finished Buying Tickets to the Horsepower Race?
By Bill Visnic
The evidence is mounting. Big engines and huge horsepower no longer are the keys to the car-buyer’s heart. In fact, it quickly may become the opposite.
Installation rates for V8 engines -- the bread-and-butter powerplant for the horsepower wars that have dominated the U.S. market for more than a decade -- are dropping. And data from Edmunds.com extrapolating the purchase intentions of consumers actively shopping for a new vehicle show those potential customers are markedly less interested in V8 power.
Certainly, it’s a time of deep but swift transition for the U.S. light-vehicle market. At the recent Detroit auto show, there were numerous examples of high-horsepower wares, but they most decidedly were presented in modest tones, taking a back seat to whatever fuel-efficient and eco-friendly model or technology was available. The chest-thumping days of explosive, twin-Hemi concept SUVs are done.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:19 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Featured , Ford , GM , Technology | Comments (17) | digg this | del.icio.us
2009 Acura TSX: European Flavored
By Peter Nunn
TOKYO - Acura's redesigned 2009 TSX sports sedan has broken cover, weeks ahead of its official intro at the New York International Auto Show.
In what's shaping up to be a busy year for Acura, Honda's premium brand, this new TSX announcement comes just days after the revised 2009 Acura RL flagship was unveiled at last week's Chicago Auto Show. Acura has also said it will debut an all-new TL performance luxury sedan later year as Acura's model lineup gets a substantial revamp.
Indeed, John Mendel, executive vice president of automobile operations for American Honda Motor Co., had promised last summer that 2008 would be the year of laying out Acura's new direction.
(Read more...)
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Acura Won’t Shy Away From Size
By Bill Visnic
CHICAGO – Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s upmarket Acura division doesn’t appear to be afraid to buck indications that American customers may be ready to accept smaller vehicles in exchange for better fuel economy.
At the Chicago Auto Show, Dick Colliver, Acura executive vice president of auto sales, flatly said Acura intends to market comparatively large vehicles — and for that reason, amazingly has no plans to sell hybrids. Instead, Colliver said, Acura will use diesels to provide its customers with an environmentally responsible, fuel-efficient powertrain option.
(Read more...)
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GM About Energy Solutions, â€Building What Customer Wants’
By Bill Visnic
CHICAGO – Kicking off media days at the Chicago Auto Show, Troy Clarke, General Motors Corp. group vice president and president, GM North America, said GM, like the presidential candidates in the news, has a new platform in order to win the “vote†of U.S. customers. That platform: “energy solutions.â€
Clarke said GM is determined to proceed with future vehicle-development programs that focus on “what people want to buy, not what we may want to sell them.â€
(Read more...)
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GM Duramax Investment Presages Diesel Power for Suburban, Hummer
By Bill Visnic
General Motors Corp.’s announcement this week of a large investment to produce a new variant of its largest diesel engine, one that complies with
emissions standards in all 50 states, likely foretells GM’s plan to use the engine for the Chevrolet Suburban SUV, in addition to other large SUVs, pickups and vans already using the current 6.6-liter Duramax diesel V8.
Currently, even the largest versions of the Suburban have made do with GM’s gasoline 6-liter V8. The gasoline-engine Suburban 2500’s 12 mpg city and 17 mpg highway fuel-economy ratings appear to be an increasing liability, however — a liability diesel power could help to alleviate.
But there’s a new complication: Current federal Tier II emissions standards created a new category of vehicles — Medium Duty Passenger Vehicles, which, beginning in 2009, must meet the same emissions standards as every other passenger vehicle on the road.
(Read more...)
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First Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Begins Production; Will Fuel Sebring Race
By Bill Visnic
Ethanol derived from cellulosic “waste†sources –- rather than the corn-based stock that produces almost all of the ethanol used today –- takes a big step this week, as the nation’s first cellulosic ethanol plant begins production.
The cellulosic ethanol plant, engineered and operated by KL Process Design Group of Rapid City, S.D., is located near Upton, Wyo. The plant processes soft waste wood into ethanol and is the result of a 6-year cooperation between KL and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Cellulose is the primary structural component in all green plants.
(Read more...)
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Diesel, Hybrid Dodge Rams on Tap
In unveiling the 2009 Dodge Ram at the recent Detroit auto show, Chrysler said two more versions of the revamped full-size pickup truck are on tap.
A Cummins diesel version arrives in 2009. It will be followed in 2010 by a hybrid. The hybrid will use the 2-Mode hybrid technology cooperatively developed by General Motors, BMW, Chrysler and Daimler.
That technology already is installed in the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon. It goes into the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango by year-end 2008, a date pushed back from the original plan of first-quarter 2008.
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Cadillac To Sell CTS-V Overseas
In unveiling the Cadillac CTS-V at the recent Detroit auto show, General Motors announced it would -– for the first time ever -- sell the performance sedan outside of North America.
The 2009 Cadillac CTS-V will be sold in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
(Read more...)
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Gas Prices Rise; Hybrids Win Big, Says Edmunds Study
By Bill Visnic
If you’re one of those cynical types who think people are buying hybrid-electric vehicles mainly to demonstrate their environmental hipness, results of a new fuel-price study by Edmunds.com indicate hybrid buyers may not be nearly so superficial:
They’re buying hybrids to save gas.
Edmunds analyzes the number of visits for every vehicle in the market to that model’s Vehicle Details page at Edmunds.com. It correlated those visits to extrapolate what would happen if the price of gasoline rose from its $3.01 price in December to a theoretical $4 per gallon.
Bottom line: Online vehicle shoppers flock to hybrids. And flee traditional midsize SUVs.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:56 AM under Analysis , Companies , Featured , GM , Technology , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chevy Volt Web Site Generates Buzz
A Web site for fans of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, which GM hopes to have in production by the end of 2010, says it has now collected the names of more than 10,000 people who want to buy one of the cars, according to Edmunds’ Green Car Advisor.
In an item posted on its site Saturday, GM-Volt.com said it is logging more than 100,000 "visitors" a month and has a "waiting list" that has surpassed the 10,000 mark.
The site was started by New York physician Lyle Dennis within days after GM introduced the Volt as a concept car in January 2007 at the Detroit auto show.
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Fisker Eyes Detroit To Build Hybrid Sports Car
Fisker Automotive, which unveiled its Karma luxury sports car at the Detroit auto show earlier this month, said it is considering building the plug-in hybrid in the Detroit area.
Former BMW and Volvo exec, Vic Doolan, now Fisker's director of retail development, told the Detroit Free Press the Southern California company is attracted to Michigan for its experienced workforce, unused production capacity, and supplier network.
(Read more...)
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Ballard Sale of Automotive Fuel-Cell Assets Approved
Ballard Power Systems Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, said shareholders have approved the previously reported transaction to sell the company's automotive fuel-cell assets to automakers Daimler AG and Ford, Dow Jones reported.
The hydrogen fuel cells said 97.8 percent of shares voted were in favor. The transaction is expected to close January 31. The company said the transaction would lower its risk profile and enable it to concentrate on growth in the fuel-cell market.
Chris Guzy, Ballard’s chief technology officer, told AutoObserver in November the new Daimler-Ford ownership moves commercially viable fuel cells for cars closer to reality.
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New Delhi Auto Expo: Hydrogen’s Three-Wheeled Future in India
By Nick Kurczewski
NEW DELHI, India -- Squeezing into the non-existent passenger space of a vehicle built for one turned out to be the easy part. The driver, seated in the center, and directly behind what looked to be a set of motorcycle handlebars, attempted to fire up the engine once again. A sputter, a grumble from the exhaust, one or two feet of forward motion, and then nothing.
The bright blue three-wheeler came to an abrupt stop.
India’s hydrogen-powered future faces similar false starts and the occasional stumble. But the fact that the world’s third largest economy (in purchasing power) has a roadmap for hydrogen in the first place – not to mention a Ministry of New and Renewable Energy – might come as something of a surprise to those who expect the country’s emissions regulations to be woefully outdated.
(Read more...)
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GM Go-Fast Guy to Lead New Hybrid, EV Development Team
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT – General Motors Corp. this week put its top performance-vehicle
development engineer in charge of a new global team oriented to going fast in another fashion: speeding development of GM’s new hybrid-electric and so-called “extended-range” electric vehicles – and the critical battery-storage technology to enable those next-generation vehicles, like the Chevrolet Volt.
Robert Kruse, executive director of vehicle engineering for hybrids, electric vehicle and batteries, is running the new engineering team. Kruse, most recently head honcho at GM’s Performance Division, is well-regarded in the GM empire and should be an ideal engineer-executive to direct GM’s efforts to implement high-tech, electrically oriented powertrains.
(Read more...)
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Nissan-Renault's Ghosn: Fuel Costs Will Stay High
DAVOS, Switzerland -- Don’t expect low fuel prices to drop again anytime soon, Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn told Dow Jones on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Friday.
“The assumption is fuel prices will remain high," said Ghosn.
Ghosn is at the conference to tout Nissan’s commitment to bring out a mass-market, zero-missions electric vehicle by 2010. Consumers will be attracted to the car not just because it saves money on gas but because it is environmentally friendlier, too, said Ghosn.
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Subaru Boxer Diesel Is One-of-a-Kind
By Peter Nunn
MALAGA, Spain -- Never one to run with the crowd, Subaru has just released the world’s first 2.0-liter Boxer Diesel engine in European versions of the Legacy and Outback.
A Boxer Diesel?
Think of it as a brand-new, clean sheet, four-cylinder horizontally opposed turbodiesel engine, developed completely in-house by Subaru and conceived exclusively for European markets.
(Read more...)
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Nissan Needs "Interesting" Cars, Wants To Reinvigorate Maxima
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT –- Tom Lane, Nissan Motor Co. corporate vice president of the product strategy and product planning division, wasn’t much in a mood to mince words when AutoObserver spoke with him at the Detroit auto show. He says Nissan needs more small cars.
More importantly: “I would like to have more interesting small cars.â€
(Read more...)
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Renault Develops an Electric Vehicle for Israel, and a Small Car Strategy for the World
By Nick Kurczewski
PARIS -- Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn sees Israel as the perfect test bed for selling electric vehicles, due to the country's small size and its residents' driving habits.
Renault has announced an ambitious project to market electric vehicles in Israel by 2011. Powered by a lithium-ion battery pack developed by Nissan, the car will have a range of 60 to 100 miles between recharges. The fully-electric vehicle will be built in Europe and sold in Israel, before eventually arriving in Asia, Europe and the U.S.
The car will be badged as a Renault or Nissan depending on each market.
(Read more...)
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Detroit Auto Show Hangover: Impressions from Press Days
By AutoObserver Staff
DETROIT – The Detroit auto show party’s over – at least for the media; it only just begins on Saturday for the public. The confetti, which came in the form of cattle droppings this year, is cleaned up. The cars and trucks are locked so the public won’t steal radio knobs.
So what did we come away with? Automaker execs always ask: what did you think of the show? What did you like? What didn't you like? What did you think of this or that?
After another spin around the floor, here are some unvarnished impressions of the show from AutoObserver’s writers:
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Michelin Challenge Design Rewards "Smaller, Safer, Better" Concepts
By Jane Nakagawa
DETROIT - Each year the Michelin Challenge Design exhibit at the North American International Auto Show showcases specialty vehicles and technology from around the globe in support of a specific design theme. This year, 272 entries were received from 51 countries. Visitors to Cobo Center will see three full size models, eight scale models and 18 drawings, all representing this year’s finalists.
The theme for 2008 is “Smaller, Safer, Better.†Designers were challenged to come up with innovative solutions to reconcile the inverse relationship between convenience and crash worthiness of small vehicles. How ironic it must have been for the eight-person international jury as they reviewed the entries in this land of abundance.
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GM Launches Partnership With Coskata To Pursue Its Ethanol Dreams
By Dale Buss
WARRENVILLE, Ill. –- Here in a cluster of tiny laboratories, in a nondescript one-story office building, in a cookie-cutter industrial park in suburban Chicago, scientists and engineers –- as of Sunday, officially partnered with General Motors –- may be coming up with one of the most feasible solutions yet to the wrenching problem of global dependence on oil for gasoline.
It’s called cellulosic ethanol. It’s created by proprietary strains of bacteria that convert farm waste, wood chips, old tires, landfill plastic and a whole bunch of other organic materials into ethanol. The process was licensed and is being commercialized by a startup called Coskata Inc.
Specifically, the promise is that Coskata plans to produce enough cellulosic ethanol here by later this year to begin fueling the GM test fleet at the Milford (Michigan) Proving Grounds. And if that works, Coskata projects that it could be running its first commercial-scale plant, producing 50 million to 100 million gallons of ethanol annually, by 2011 –- including the two years it will take to build the plant.
“This can revolutionize the transportation-fuel business,” said Bill Rowe, a three-decade veteran of the water-treatment and process-chemical industry who now serves as Coskata’s CEO. “Just as important, it’s a speed-to-market play.”
(Read more...)
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Automakers Hope Sparks Don’t Fly After Latest Laptop-Battery Flareup
By Bill Visnic
In a story posted on Edmunds’ Green Car Advisor, automakers voice their concern that recent laptop computer battery fires don’t lead to safety concerns for batteries in hybrid cars.
The latest such incident, reported earlier this week, was with a computer outfitted with a lithium-ion battery manufactured by Korea’s LG Chem – one of two battery makers General Motors Corp. has charged with developing the lithium-ion battery pack for a production version of its tirelessly-touted Chevrolet Volt hybrid-electric vehicle.
(Read more...)
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Ford Dishes Up News Tidbits
Ford’s sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to India’s Tata Motors should be wrapped up by the end of March, a rear-drive Lincoln is in the works and the automaker’s future growth will come from outside of the U.S.
Those are just a few of the news tidbits that came out Tuesday during one of the dinner/press briefings Ford CEO Alan Mulally and his management team occasionally host.
(Read more...)
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Chevy Volt Developer: Don’t Overanalyze CEO’s Tempering Remark
By Bill Visnic
LAS VEGAS -– Is General Motors Corp.’s timeline for development of a production version its Chevrolet Volt hybrid-electric concept car a little too aggressive?
Break out your corporatespeak decoder ring for an answer.
GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner set off an explosion of speculation last week when he said in an online chat session –- kicking off GM’s 100th anniversary celebration -– that he “can’t guarantee at this time†the 2010 production launch of the Volt. The 2010 target long has been a cornerstone talking point for Volt chief proponent and GM Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz.
Don't read too much into Wagoner's comment, the engineer in charge of the Volt told AutoObserver.
(Read more...)
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Ford’s Better Idea: Smaller but Technology-Laden Engines
By Bill Visnic
It’s far from new, and it’s not exactly unique, but Ford Motor Co. announces this week that within the next five years, it plans to fit more than a half-million vehicles annually with comparatively smaller engines boosted by turbochargers and fueled by injecting gasoline directly into the cylinders.
Ford’s turbocharged and direct-injected “EcoBoost†four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines are good for up to 20 percent better fuel economy vaguely compared with “larger displacement†engines, Ford promises, not to mention a 15 percent cut in CO2 emissions.
(Read more...)
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Chevrolet Volt: Is Intro Time Slipping?
By Dale Buss
GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said on Thursday that the company is “currently benchtesting batteries†for Chevrolet Volt and added that, while beginning Volt production in 2010 “would be great,†he “can’t guarantee it at this time.â€
GM previously has indicated that it will launch Volt around 2010, though some outside observers are skeptical that GM will have the batteries ready for the plug-in hybrid.
(Read more...)
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GM’s Dream of Mid-Engine Corvette Not Off the Table
By Bill Visnic
With General Motors Corp. unveiling the ultra-high performance ZR-1 and its six-figure price, the possibility of the next-generation Chevrolet Corvette moving to a more exotic mid-engine configuration still is being discussed at the highest levels of GM engineering, planning and marketing, sources close to the situation tell AutoObserver.
The iconic Corvette has used a classic front-engine/rear-drive layout since its inception in 1953. But some factions within the company believe the car should migrate to a mid-engine design for a variety of reasons, not all of them engineering-related.
It is a virtual assurance, however, that a mid-engine design would dictate a price point well in excess of $100,000 – a matter many at GM believe jettisons the Corvette’s heritage for quasi-affordability.
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Nissan GT-R Goes Underground
By Peter Nunn
TOKYO -- Deep underground, the guests and media throng were waiting. Then, suddenly with lights ablaze and engines roaring, two Nissan GT-Rs sped past in the semi-darkness, sending a flurry of excitement through the crowd lined up against the wall.
A film? Some kind of fantasy? Nope, this was the “Tokyo Underground Night Nissan GT-R X Shutoko Yamate Tunnel,†a full-on media whiz-bang staged on the eve of the new Nissan GT-R super coupe that went on sale in Japan this month.
It’s not every day a new car gets to be launched at night in deep mid-winter in a yet-to-be-opened roadway tunnel in Tokyo, but then the new GT-R is no ordinary car.
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Chevy Volt Designers: Shape, Not Weight, Is More Important
By Bill Visnic
WARREN, Michigan –- General Motors Corp. designers and engineers say they will have to figure out ways to seriously cheat physics if a production version of the company’s Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid-electric concept car is to deliver on the promised driving range of 40 miles propelled solely on battery power.
GM designers revealed at a media event here they have embarked on an all-out battle to minimize efficiency-reducing aerodynamic drag. And the company recently commissioned a new studio and a 45-strong staff dedicated to developing hybrid and full electric vehicles using its E-Flex “modular†propulsion system. Right now, that means the full staff is working on just one vehicle: the Volt.
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Toyota Prius: Outselling Entire Brands
The Toyota Prius has become a brand unto itself; the single hybrid car is outselling entire brands with
their full lines of models.
The Prius more than doubled sales in November compared with November 2006. Prius outsold the entire Acura, Saturn, Buick, Subaru and Mercury brands. It came close to outselling the Cadillac and Volkswagen brands.
That's to name only a few. (See chart below)
And November wasn't even Prius' best month. In November, Toyota sold 16,737 Prius hybrids; in May, Toyota sold more than 24,000.
(Read more...)
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GM Design Expands to India and Possibly Dubai
General Motors opened a full-fledged design studio in India this week and is considering a design studio
in Dubai.
GM officially opened GM India Design Studio in Bangalore this week, and GM executives have been on recent scouting missions to Dubai for a possibly design studio focused on luxury vehicles there.
GM Design Chief Ed Welburn told AutoObserver he wants GM’s designers in India to become more involved with actually designing vehicles for their home market, one of the world’s fastest-growing car markets. The India studio will help with designs of future products for global markets, mostly small cars.
(Read more...)
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Bose Shops Suspension System to Automakers in '08
BOSTON – After 27 years and $100 million in investment, Bose Corp. is ready to fit its innovative sound-wave suspension system into an upcoming luxury car – if it can find an automaker willing to joint venture with the Boston-based maker of premium audio systems.
Dr. Amar Bose, said in an interview with AutoObserver.com
Tuesday at the New England International Auto Show, that the company would be going out to talk with automakers in the coming year about doing a joint venture to put the innovative suspension system into future cars. Bose said likely candidates for the system will be top-of-the-line luxury cars that are being newly developed.
Bose has been personally interested in developing a new kind of suspension system since the 1950s, one that would deliver the passenger comfort of a luxury sedan with the vehicle control of a sports car. His privately held company has been working on such a system for 27 years, investing $100 million.
(Read more...)
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Ballard-Ford-Daimler Venture Speeds Fuel Cell Progress
By Kate McLeod
SHANGHAI, CHINA -- Whiz-bang press conferences on fuel cell technology have been part of the auto show circuit for at least a decade. Journalists have been driving fuel cell cars around parking lots in New York, LA and Chicago for years. Interesting enough, but where’s the beef? When is the public going to be offered a car that is powered by hydrogen?
In a pairing of seemingly strange bedfellows, Daimler and Ford have now formed a joint venture to become more involved in the automotive fuel cell business of Vancouver, Canada-based Ballard Power Systems.
The move suggests a fuel cell car just might be getting closer to the showroom.
(Read more...)
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India’s Mahindra & Mahindra: Seeking a U.S. Engineering Firm
Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. is eyeing the acquisition of U.S. companies involved in automotive engineering services and aerospace engineering, company official told reporters Monday, according to Dow Jones Newswire.
Company President Hemant Luthra said Mahindra has identified potential target companies and is currently in talks with them. He wouldn’t name them, so the guessing game starts.
Mahindra & Mahindra, like its prime competitor, Tata Motors, in India has ambitious global plans. Both companies are said to be among the frontrunners to purchase Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. Mahindra & Mahindra has sites set on selling cars in the U.S.
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Ford Forms Advisory Council for Environmental Matters
Ford Motor Co. announced the formation of Transformation Advisory Council that consists of Ford
senior executives as well as outside thought leaders to explore solutions to energy independence and global warming.
Initial outsiders selected for the council are big names -- Amory Lovins, Paul Hawken and Peter Senge.
“This is the start of a world-class group of innovative thinkers who will help propel us along the road to sustainability,†said Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford in making the announcement made Tuesday.
(Read more...)
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Chevrolet Volt: It Won’t Look Like the Concept
By Kelly Toepke
Did you like the way the long-slung Chevrolet Volt looks?
Well, forget about it. The production version won’t look like that concept. It's not aerodynamic enough.
"The final version of the Volt won't look like the concept,†General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told reporters attending the Los Angeles show at a dinner Tuesday night. “In the wind tunnel it was a cruel disappointment. We probably would've gotten better drag coefficient if we put it in the wind tunnel backwards. "
(Read more...)
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Chevrolet Malibu Again Takes Over Online
By Dale Buss
Today’s the day designated for a second “takeover†of online advertising by the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu –- although this invasion will take a few days, unlike the car’s one-day blitzkrieg on October 17.
Having pronounced its earlier takeover a blazing success, Wednesday Chevrolet also planned to make it nearly impossible for Internet surfers to ignore its new midsize sedan. Chevy bought advertisements that occupy many of the highest-traffic home pages ranging from Yahoo.com to Amazon.com to FoodNetwork.com. Connected to the online effort is a big advertising push for Malibu on and around the Country Music Awards telecast tonight on ABC.
(Read more...)
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Hillary Clinton Backs 40 MPG Standard
She wasn’t going to get many votes from the captains of Detroit’s auto industry anyway, but now Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has guaranteed they won't vote for her as she upped the ante in the fuel economy debate.
On Monday, Clinton called for a 60 percent increase in fuel economy standards by 2020 for a combined fleet average of 40 miles per gallon and a combined fleet average of 55 miles per gallon by 2030. To soften the blow, she also called for $3 billion in battery research and $20 billion in government-backed “Green Vehicle” bonds to help automakers shift to more efficient vehicles. She also promoted tax breaks for plug-in hybrid and government purchases of plug-in hybrids -– 100,000 by 2015.
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GM Takes Delivery of Advanced Batteries for Chevy Volt
The Chevrolet Volt moved yet-another step closer to reality Tuesday when, as scheduled, General
Motors took delivery on the first advance lithium-ion batteries to go into E-Flex operating system that powers the Volt.
The battery delivery buoyed the confidence of GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, who told the Detroit Free Press in an interview that he hoped GM would build as many as 100,000 Chevrolet Volts in the first year of production, set for around year-end 2010.
Lutz told the newspaper that the first-generation production version of the E-Flex will appear in a vehicle that will be called the Chevrolet Volt and will look similar to the concept car unveiled at the Detroit auto show earlier this year.
(Read more...)
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Tiremaker Michelin Launches Green Campaign
By Bill Visnic
NEW YORK -- Global tire giant Michelin kicks off a high-profile campaign here to promote a wide-
ranging new initiative to improve the efficiency of automotive and truck tires, promote “green” tire choices and to reduce the impact on the environment of tire production.
Michelin’s efforts are likely to have a significant impact on both consumers and the automaker and truckmaker customers it supplies.
Starting on the evening of October 30 and running for four days, Michelin has enormous “green meters†on New York City’s NASDAQ and Reuters electronic billboards displaying reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions attributable to the company’s “green energy saving†tires for passenger cars and commercial trucks since the launch of the first generation of the tires in 1992.
Electronic billboards in Paris, Shanghai and Berlin also will display the worldwide savings, which amount to a staggering 11.6 gallons of fuel and 240 pounds of CO2 every second.
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Edmunds.com Forecast: Housing Market Woes Continue to Affect October Car Sales
October’s new vehicle sales are expected to be 1.24 million units, a 2.4 percent increase from October 2006 on an unadjusted basis, according to a forecast by Edmunds.com. Automakers will report October sales results on Thursday.
This October had 26 selling days, one more than October 2006. When adjusted for this difference, sales decreased 1.6 percent from October 2006. (The chart below sets forth other adjusted and unadjusted comparisons.)
"Sales are strong for vehicles at the far ends of the price spectrum, as consumers affected by the housing market bust seek bargains while luxury buyers are largely untouched," observed Jesse Toprak, Edmunds’ executive director of industry analysis. “Meanwhile, sales of midrange vehicles like large cars and minivans are suffering."
(Read more...)
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Dueling Fuel-Cell Cars: GM Vs. Honda
TOKYO –— Honda announced at the Tokyo Motor Show that at the upcoming Los Angeles show it will
introduce a new hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicle based on the FCX concept, displayed here and at past shows. Honda will begin deliveries of the car to customers in the U.S. and Japan next year.
Honda executives on the sidelines were quick to point out that it will allow customers — both retail and fleet — to actually lease the fuel-cell vehicles on their own in contrast to General Motors’ recent program.
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Tokyo Auto Show: A Race Between Green and Performance
TOKYO – Even before Wednesday’s first press day for the Tokyo Motor Show, the themes of the event were obvious -- and opposite: green and performance.
And on day one, performance outpaced green.
Nissan won hands down for most crowded press conference at which it unveiled the long-awaited GT-R. Even an hour before the designated starting time, the Nissan conference was jammed with no spots available remotely close to seeing the stage for the unveiling. Media excluded from seeing the unveiling, clamored for the highly sought after press kit., which Nissan refsed to distribute until after the press conference.
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Tokyo Motor Show: Technology, Environment, Performance and Showmanship
By Peter Nunn
Over the coming days, many of the industry’s leading lights will be boarding flights to Japan for the 40th Tokyo Motor Show, which opens its doors to the world on Wednesday, October 24.
What will be big in Japan this year?
First, technology and plenty of it, much of it geared inevitably toward the environment through a fresh array of plug-in hybrids, electrics, clean diesels and more.
Next, speed and excitement, courtesy of a new wave of Japanese high-performance cars, led by the Nissan GT-R and new Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
Third, plenty of show concepts, (28 at the last count), some serious, some less so, and as ever it’s the latter than helps give the Tokyo Show its unique fun and fantasy feel.
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Chevrolet Malibu Day Is Today – Online
By Dale Buss
Today, on the Internet, Chevrolet begins to find out whether its hugely ambitious strategy for the new Malibu sedan is getting some traction. General Motors’ top sales division planned what it not so modestly is calling a “takeover†of online advertising in what really may be the most ambitious such effort yet by any major marketer.
“This will be the largest home-page takeover ever,†crowed Bill Ludwig, vice chairman and chief creative officer of Campbell-Ewald, Chevy’s longtime advertising agency.
The idea is to make the completely new vehicle unavoidable online and lend some early credibility to Chevy’s marketing theme for the 2008 Malibu: “The Car You Can’t Ignore.â€
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Et Tu, Tom Friedman!
In his October 3 column entitled “Et Tu, Toyota?” New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman expresses his shock and utter dismay that his beloved Toyota is siding with Detroit automakers in what he calls a Michigan-style “assisted suicide” –- opposing stringent fuel-economy standards proposed by the Senate.
In previous columns, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Friedman advocated Toyota take over General Motors and rule the automotive universe on the basis of its pioneering leadership in fuel-efficiency as expressed through a single model, the Toyota Prius hybrid.
Now, Friedman is disappointed and stunned: Toyota, along with GM, Ford and Chrysler, is opposing the tough mileage standards in the U.S. Senate’s draft version of the energy bill, and are lobbying for another bill that is more stringent and separates cars and trucks.
Toyota wasted no time in responding to Friedman's column. General Motors has as well. And so have other industry watchers, including columnists from Motor Trend and Fortune magazines
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Chevrolet Volt: Where Will It Be Built?
Now that General Motors has said it is proceeding with production
of the Chevrolet Volt, the question is where will it be built?
That question may have been answered by negotiators for GM and the United Auto Workers union as they hammered out a new four-year contract overnight.
The UAW gave GM the union-managed health-care fund the automaker wanted, in exchange for GM's commitment to build some future models in U.S. plants by UAW workers. Among those future vehicles was believed to be the Volt.
No word yet on which plant won the prize.
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Design and Engineering Students Unveil Their Bone-Exposed Concepts
After scanning this press release, I knew I had to post it. Two of
those mentioned in the release -– Tyler Mars and Nicolas Ren Stone -- were in students in my Business Practices class at the College for Creative Studies last year.
Mars (right) and Stone (center) are two of the three CCS design students who were paired with three University of Michigan engineering students over the summer in the 19th annual automotive design internship sponsored by the American Iron and Steel Institute. The students’ models were unveiled in a special presentation Wednesday night and will be displayed at the Detroit auto show in January.
This year’s theme was “Inside Out.†In other words, students were supposed to allow the cocoon of steel to show rather than hide it under a skin. The result was three very different concepts:
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Honda’s John Mendel: Redefining Acura
When Honda renamed the former Arrowhead Pond entertainment and sports
venue in Anaheim, California, the Honda Center, the automaker did what it does with its car owners: it asked customers what they thought.
Specifically, Honda asked what patrons thought about the center’s name change. But, the company got more than what it asked for: it got comments like "now that Honda runs the center, the food will be better and the bathrooms will be cleaner."
“Holy s---,†John Mendel, who was promoted to executive vice president of automobile operations for American Honda Motor Co. this year, recalls thinking as he read the survey responses. “Now we’re being held responsible for hot dogs, beer, bathrooms and everything else.
“But,†he adds philosophically, “that’s the power of the Honda brand. You put the Honda name on something, and there’s a certain level of expectation.â€
(Read more...)
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Saturn's Plug-In Hybrid Due Around 2009
Saturn will sell General Motors’ first plug-in hybrid –- a Vue compact SUV that can run up to 10 miles solely
on electricity and switch to an engine for longer trips -– “very quickly,” Brand General Manager Jill Lajdziak told the Detroit Free Press
in Frankfurt Wednesday.
“In 2009-ish,†Lajdziak said of the plug-in's introduction. The Vue plug-in will become the third hybrid version of the SUV. It will combine lithium-ion batteries and GM’s two-mode hybrid system, which can be recharged from a 110-volt household current.
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Frankfurt Auto Show: Who Will Pay for Going Green?
On the first press day of the Frankfurt auto show Tuesday, automakers unveiled a steady stream of
vehicles in various shades of green -– diesels, biodiesels, bioethanol, E85, hybrids from mild to full, electrics and hydrogen fuel cells.
Automakers boasted of their miles –- or kilometers –- per gallon along with their grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, as European regulators measure emissions. In some cases, automakers continued to brag about horsepower, insisting that increasingly demanding consumers will not trade-off performance for green.
But being green is neither easy nor cheap. Automakers collectively -- and some individually –- are investing billions in green technologies, and most are developing multiple technologies simultaneously to hedge their bets.
The question being asked is who will pay for going green? Will automakers eat all of the enormous additional expense? Or will customers be willing to kick in to pay a premium for driving green –- or not?
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:33 PM under Business , Featured , GM , Technology | Comments (2) |
