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January 23, 2012

Today in automotive history: on this day in 2006, "Who Killed the Electric Car?," a documentary about the aborted attempt by the auto industry to create an electric vehicle, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) GM again world's largest on strong Chevy sales
General Motors Co. says it sold more than 9 million cars and trucks worldwide last year -- a 7.6 percent increase that allowed the company to reclaim the title of world's largest automaker. The company said those gains were driven by the Chevrolet brand, which sold nearly 4.8 million vehicles in 2011. That was a record for the brand, which has become the focus of GM's global expansion efforts. "Chevrolet's impressive growth in both established and developing markets is the result of a strong new product lineup that meets the diverse needs of consumers around the world," GM CEO Dan Akerson said in a statement released Thursday. "In addition to Chevrolet's record-setting sales, the entire lineup of GM vehicles is meeting customer needs for fuel-efficient cars and work vehicles as well as unmatched luxury." But analysts said GM also benefited from the string of natural disasters that afflicted its archrival, Toyota Motor Corp. Like other Japanese automakers, Toyota's production was dramatically disrupted by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the island nation last March. Then, just as its factories were getting back up to speed, flooding in Thailand forced key suppliers to suspend parts shipments. Toyota, which snatched GM's crown in 2008, saw sales tumble in the United States and other key markets. Now, GM appears to have taken it back. Toyota has yet to report its full-year tally, but its sales in the first three quarters of 2011 were down 8.8 percent. For a while, Volkswagen AG appeared to be outselling both GM and Toyota, but it ended the year with 8.16 million vehicle sales.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Global influence hits car design
Nicholas David, a young designer from the General Motors studio in Los Angeles, was explaining his Chevrolet Tru 140S concept car at the Detroit auto show when the energy secretary, Steven Chu, passed by. The car, painted a sensual, velvety white, has a dramatic wedge-shaped body. David was telling a journalist that the Tru represents the "affordable exotic" that future car buyers are dreaming of. The energy secretary paused briefly, looked impassively at the car and then moved on with his entourage. David seemed relieved that Chu, a recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics, remained just out of earshot and had not heard the designer describe the Tru as "a $20,000 Lamborghini." But in his interview David also emphasized the car's practicality. "With a 1.4-liter Ecotec engine," he said, "it gets about 40" mpg. If wild, experimental concept cars were scarce at Cobo Center, it may be because designers have been coming to terms with a new automotive world order. Their horizons have expanded for several reasons: Not only are the Detroit companies selling more cars outside the United States, but one of them, Chrysler, is controlled by a foreign automaker, the Fiat Group. Also, the most successful examples of smaller, efficient cars are found overseas.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) GM picks N.Y. man's ad to air during Super Bowl
General Motors Co. has picked an independently produced ad to air during Super Bowl XLVI. "Chevy Happy Grad," submitted by 26-year-old Long Island resident Zach Borst, beat out submissions from other independent filmmakers from around the world in a contest sponsored by the company. "We asked filmmakers to depict life's journey and how Chevrolet is there along the way," said GM Chief Marketing Officer Joel Ewanick in a statement Thursday. "When I saw Zach's spot, I had to laugh, because the situation is something many families can relate to -- expectation and reality. 'Happy Grad' clearly shows the passion that Chevrolet elicits." Borst is an aspiring filmmaker who started his own production company, Goat Farm Films, in New York. His spot is expected to reach an estimated 110 million viewers during the big game. "My dad was a cop and worked real hard to be able to buy his kids their first cars. They were used, but mine meant the world to me," Borst said. "Then I wondered what it would look like if I got a brand new Camaro? I mean, after all, who wouldn't want a Camaro as a graduation gift?" General Motors is also releasing an Android app that will allow viewers to play trivia games, interact with each other via Twitter and participate in polls during the broadcast.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Chrysler Group plans to unveil new four-door Fiat 500 at Geneva auto show
Hoping to garner more sales, the Chrysler Group has announced it will be unveiling a four-door model of its two-door Fiat 500 city car at this year's Geneva auto show, scheduled for March. Speculation has the new four-door 500 being larger overall than the current model, possibly using the same U.S.-specific platform as a planned Fiat-based replacement for the Jeep Compass/Patriot. Whatever its size, the new 500 model is expected to go on sale in North America in 2013.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Average age of U.S. vehicles hits record 10.8 years
That clunker in America's driveway has reached a record old age, but there are signs that people may be growing confident enough in the economy to get a whiff of that fresh car scent very soon. The average age of a car or truck in the U.S. hit a record 10.8 years last year as job security and other economic worries kept many people from making big-ticket purchases such as a new car. That's up from the old record of 10.6 years in 2010, and it and continues a trend that dates to 1995, when the average age of a car was 8.4 years, according to a study of state vehicle registration data by the based Polk automotive research firm. However, Polk analyst Mark Seng says that a rebound in sales last year and expected growth for the next couple of years will likely lower the average age of cars as a whole in America. The aging of the American auto fleet has been a big boon for repair shops and companies that sell replacement auto parts.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Give in to the 'bark side': Volkswagen teaser ad goes to the dogs
Volkswagen has kicked off the Super Bowl ad race with a pooch-filled clip gaining steam on the Web. After garnering critical praise for its Darth Vader-inspired ad at last year's Super Bowl, VW looks like they'll be sticking to the Star Wars theme this year. In the teaser clip, dubbed 'The Bark Side', 11 dogs are featured in a canine choir barking along to Darth Vader's theme, the Imperial March. Volkswagen is keeping mum on what this is all about, saying "Keep an eye out for our 2012 Game Day commercial -- it will all make sense."   [more]   [top of page]

DESIGN WEEK (LONDON, UK) Ex-BMW designer Chris Bangle launches car design competition
Car designer Chris Bangle is inviting design students to compete for a chance to have their work featured in his fictional account of the car industry, set 25 years into the future. Open to students in all areas of design, successful entrants to Illustrate the Future will be designing cars for the prologue of Peter Teuful: A Tale of Car Design in Three Parts, written by former BMW design chief Bangle. On offer is a 2000 Euro prize or the chance to visit Bangle's CBA studio in Italy and attend a design workshop with the designer. Competition winners will also see their work published in the second edition of the ebook series, which tackles Bangle's concern with the status quo in the culture of car design.   [more]   [top of page]

January 16, 2012

Today in automotive history: on this day in 1997 comedian and TV star Bill Cosby's 27-year-old son Ennis Cosby was murdered after he stopped to fix a flat tire along California's Interstate 405 in Los Angeles. Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Kicking off the auto show in style
Throngs filled Cobo Center at Friday's North American International Auto Show Charity Preview, the black-tie event that kicked off the auto show in high style. The shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, filled with auto executives, local luminaries and more, made previous years look lean. People stood on tippy-toes to get a peek at the cars, as the thick crowds made navigating the floor difficult. Call it a comeback. The success of the Charity Preview, which sold 12,000 tickets and raised $3 million for local children's charities, was another indicator of the auto industry's resurgence. And it was a reason to celebrate. "Today, it's like we are totally back. No one is looking backwards," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing. "It really is the Big Three again." Ralph Gilles, president and CEO of the SRT brand and head of design for all Chrysler groups, said he didn't remember seeing a crowd as big at the Charity Preview since 2007. Not only were dealers there, but their wives were, too. "That's a good sign, when they bring their wife," Gilles said.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) EV designers choose fancy or familiar
A century ago, when electric cars were popular -- especially in cities and among women drivers -- they looked discernibly different from gasoline-powered automobiles. In the age of the horseless carriage, the transportation historian James Flink wrote, electric cars looked even more like carriages. Those early electric cars were upright and boxy, just the look that today's designers are trying to avoid. The electric cars on display this week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit are adopting one of two overriding design philosophies: Make it exciting, or make it familiar. Joel Piaskowski, Ford's director of exterior design for the Americas, says both approaches are valid. "Some people want to stand out and make that an expression," he said. "Others want to be discreet." While the electric design studies of the recent past were often futuristic pods, the designs of the latest production models are dictated largely by one mundane factor: where the batteries go. The most common solution, in the vehicles' floor, usually establishes what designers call the small-tall format. Fitting the elements of electric drive into a conventional body can limit range or passenger space, and the small-tall configuration isn't inherently stylish. The challenge, said Adrian van Hooydonk, head of design of BMW, is to present the small-tall configuration in an attractive way. Many designers have resorted to visual tricks to keep electrics from looking gawky or humpy. In an effort to reduce the car's apparent height, the designers of the Chevrolet Volt, a General Motors team lead by Robert Boniface, worked to fool the viewer's eye. They artificially lowered the beltline -- essentially, the baseline of the car's windows -- by putting shiny black trim under the greenhouse. They added dark glass beneath the spoiler to make the rear seem less high-set. Nissan designers kept the Leaf from looking goggle-eyed by reducing the headlights to blisters that swell above the hood. The designers also rolled the tail of the car backward and downward in an effort, not wholly successful, to hide its awkwardness.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) UAW leader lauds occupy movement, calls for economic justice
UAW President Bob King called for economic justice, a stand for immigrant rights and the re-election of President Barack Obama on Saturday as he spoke to fellow labor leaders and activists during an AFL-CIO luncheon in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Bob King spoke during a luncheon for the "We Are One" conference that began Thursday and runs through Monday at MotorCity Casino Hotel. King told the audience that this weekend's events should inspire them to listen to the civil rights leader's sermons or writings. He said he listened to "The American Dream" speech on his way to the conference. "So much of what he says is the same today, is about the world today," he said. "We're at very difficult times in the United States of America right now. We're at a time of great injustice and growing injustices. Thank God for the occupy movement and the young kids that are out there." King expressed his displeasure with what he says is a concentration of wealth with 1 percent of the population and an attack on the working class. "We should be angry about that," he said. "I know we're angry about that. Look at unemployment in this country. Thirty-five straight months of 8 percent or higher unemployment, and that's counting those that are reporting. We should be outraged." He urged the audience to speak up for immigrant rights and to not accept unemployment and foreclosures. "We can not cut ourselves to prosperity," he said.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Breaking down the Detroit auto show
The Wheels team was on the floor at North America's largest auto show. Here's what you can expect from the annual showcase in Detroit. Acura NSX hits home run at Detroit show -- Not much new with these luxury car debuts -- 5 new cars aim to make driving fun again -- Acura RDX, Audi Q3 Vail draw gasps -- Hybrids, EVs everywhere at Detroit auto show -- Cars becoming better connected -- Photos: Hottest wheels in Motown -- More videos from Wheels.ca and our partners   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Hybrids, EVs everywhere at Detroit auto show
Ten years ago, only two gasoline-electric hybrid cars were displayed at the North American International Auto Show, Jim Lentz, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Sales, said earlier this week when he unveiled his company's latest versions of the technology. How things have changed: Hybrids are everywhere at the show's current edition, and most carmakers are also showcasing plug-in hybrid and/or all-electric models. "Hybrid technology has arrived" and "engaged our industry," Lentz declared. Whether it will engage consumers remains to be seen. Conventional hybrids are still a tiny segment of the new-car market and the more advanced alternatives sell only in the thousands. There is the promise of choice now, although many manufacturers are offering only concepts or prototypes. Some are hedging their bets, waiting to see how the market develops before committing to production. Here is what's gleaming under the show's brilliant lights: Plug-in hybrids: Chevrolet's Volt is in attendance, although no longer attracting much media attention. It has been on sale for more than a year, selling about 7,600 units. It promises up to 60 kilometres of all-electric driving on a fully-charged battery and around seven litres per 100 kilometres gasoline consumption in hybrid mode. It's an "extended range" hybrid, meaning that most of the time, its three-cylinder internal combustion engine runs a generator to charge the battery, rather than directly powering the wheels. The Canadian price starts at $41,545, before incentives. Toyota's Prius plug-in is to be sold in 13 American states this year, and the rest of the country in 2013. It will travel up to 20 kilometres on battery power and achieve fuel consumption of less than four litres per 100 kilometres in hybrid mode. The base U.S. price will be $32,000 before any green incentives, and an upscale version -- same power trains but extra bits of technology and luxury -- will sell for $39,525. Plans and pricing for Canada aren't yet set. A plug-in variant of Ford's restyled mid-size Fusion is to arrive early in 2013. It will share electric components with the C-Max five-passenger crossover, on a similar timetable. The company is offering few details, but says the Fusion Energi will achieve the electric equivalent of 2.3 litres per 100 kilometres during the brief periods it operates on battery power alone. Prices haven't been announced. BMW is still tweaking its i8 sports car, due in early 2014. This sleek beauty has electric motors to power the front wheels and a three-cylinder gasoline engine for the rear. The result is a claimed zero-to-100 acceleration under five seconds, and less than three litres of fuel consumed per 100 kilometres. Also key are a carbon-fibre passenger compartment and aluminum chassis. Mercedes-Benz is displaying a range-extended plug-in, the B Class E-Cell. It claims a 100-kilometre range under lithium-ion battery power. When the battery runs low and the car is traveling below about 60 kilometres per hour, the three-cylinder internal-combustion engine runs the generator. At higher speeds, both the electric and gasoline motors directly drive the front wheels. It's to go into production in 2014. No prices yet. Volvo's XC60 concept promises about 60 kilometres of all-electric driving and 4.7 litres per 100 kilometres in hybrid mode. This gasoline-electric technology follows the diesel hybrid V60, which is only for Europe. The XC60 is a crossover, but the technology could be used in other Volvo models. Timing and prices aren't yet available. Volvo will seek consumer information in the United States and China "for a business case," a spokesperson said. He wasn't sure where Canada fits. Honda unveiled a conventionally powered Accord coupe concept at the media preview and said a plug-in hybrid sedan will follow in about a year. It will run for up to 22 kilometres of city driving, with a top speed of 100 kilometres per hour, under the power of its six-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. For longer distances, the electric system will be joined by a two-litre, four cylinder i-VTEC gasoline engine. For highway cruising, only internal combustion will drive the wheels. Again, no prices or Canadian plans. Utah-based VIA Motors is offering a plug-in, half-ton pickup truck and a three-quarter ton van. The company takes Chevrolet vehicles with the smallest available V6 and adds a powerful electric system. It's an extended-range configuration, like a Volt but able to handle vehicles up to 3,200 kilograms. Via says the trucks will lease for about $300 per month in the United States but can save operators up to $700 in fuel and maintenance. Plans are to make them available to individual consumers. Some 33 prototypes are being tested. Commercial production is to start this summer of a planned total of 2,000 this year and 20,000 in 2013. Battery Electric: Nissan's Leaf has been on the market for a year, selling 21,000 globally, and, like the Volt, seems to be being taken for granted despite the exceptional technology that takes it up to 160 kilometres between charges. The Leaf, which starts at $38,395 in Canada, will get upgrades when production begins this year in Tennessee, including a more powerful onboard charger -- 6.6-kilowatt instead of 3.3 -- to reduce recharging times. Nissan's plans also include a version for its upscale Infiniti brand. It might be unveiled at the New York Auto Show, in April. Nissan is also displaying the NV200 concept, a boxy electric van with curvy design flourishes, to be launched in 2014. A spokesperson says it's intended mainly for commercial use -- it has a 680-kilogram payload -- but might be suitable for some families. It's based on Leaf technology and makes the same range and speed claims even though it's much larger and 40 kilograms heavier. A gasoline version is already sold in 40 countries. Also on display, and arriving next are Toyota's RAV4, to be built in Ontario, the Ford Focus EV, which began production in December, Honda's Fit and the Smart Electric Drive. All will be available this year, although in limited markets and numbers. The Fit starts going to California lease customers in July and the company expects to produce 1,000 units -- at U.S. costs of $399 per month or $33,000 purchase -- by the end of the year. The third-generation Smart EV goes in sale in the United States this fall at a price that hasn't been announced but, a spokesperson said, would be below the Leaf. The new version is more powerful that the previous prototypes, with the motor boosted from 30 to 55 kilowatts, a top speed raised to 125 kilometres per hour, and a stronger, safer battery pack. After using cells from Tesla, Smart now gets its batteries "practically in-house." Hyundai says the 80-kilowatt motor and lithium-polymer battery in its Avante EV, based on the compact Elantra, will deliver a 180-kilometre range between charges and a top speed of 145 kilometres per hour -- if and when it's built. It's not even a concept yet, a spokesperson said. "It's technology in development. We're trying to gauge interest... what people are looking for." Chevrolet promises an EV version of its tiny Spark, possibly in 2014, but no details are available. "It's not a car yet," a spokesperson said. "They've announced it's coming" but "it doesn't exist yet." A spokesperson for Toyota's Scion brand said its IQ electric model is in a similar situation. So, too, is Audi's A3 e-tron crossover. "Plans haven't been released," a spokesperson said. Tesla has a Model S prototype on hand. The California company says it has sold out its first-year run of 5,000 cars even though production hasn't yet started. Deliveries are to begin in early summer, and Tesla is taking orders for cars that will be ready next year. The Model S is the champion of range claims, with a top distance between charges of 480 kilometres -- for those who buy the biggest of three battery sizes, at a U.S. cost of nearly $80,000. BMW's i3 urban car is to be available by the end of next year. Its most distinctive features are the carbon-fibre passenger compartment and aluminum chassis, designed to reduce weight and boost safety. It's designed to go 160 kilometres between charges at a governed top speed of 150 kilometres per hour. About 80 per cent of the concept version will survive to the production model, but the battery and other components are still being tweaked. Fuel Cell: The Honda Clarity fuel cell car is looking dated and worn after so many auto show appearances. About 27 are still in use, on lease, in California. The company has no production schedule, a spokesperson said. Hyundai's Tuscon fuel cell crossover and a new concept from Toyota, based on technology tested in the Highlander prototype, are due in 2015 but in limited numbers, spokespeople said. California-based Coda Automotive announced it will offer two battery sizes for its EV sedan. The original is said to provide up to 250 kilometres of range and, in the U.S. will cost just under $40,000, before incentives. The range of the new, smaller-battery option is 190 kilometres, at $37,250 (U.S.), the company says. Coda's main distinction is a thermal management system intended to let the battery work more efficiently at more extreme temperatures. Production began in November; American deliveries start this month.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Auto technology shows improvements at Detroit
There were no technological breakthroughs in evidence at this year's Detroit auto show. No water-powered engines, no crash-proof cars, no physics-defying suspension systems. There was, however, ample evidence that the steady but relentless process of technological evolution is proceeding apace. Apart from the ongoing proliferation of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicles, reported on elsewhere in Wheels, two trends seemed to dominate most new-vehicle introductions: improved fuel-efficiency and greater connectivity. Neither trend is new. But the fervour with which they are now being pursued is unparalleled. In their quest to reduce fuel consumption, which is driven by ever-tightening government fuel-consumption standards, engineers increasingly are going back to basics. To that end, there is nothing much more basic than removing weight from our cars and trucks. The lighter the vehicle, the less fuel it consumes, all else being equal. Not surprisingly, then, almost every new-vehicle introduction included an emphasis on reducing weight -- without sacrificing strength, rigidity or crash protection. That's the challenge. The most common approach to achieving that goal is the increased use of aluminum. (The aluminum industry must be booming!)   [more]   [top of page]

YAHOO! NEWS (USA) Woman drives 18 miles down wrong side of highway
A woman in Washington State drove 18 miles on the wrong side of the highway going up to 100 miles an hour. "She didn't even know she was on the freeway and at first she couldn't grasp that had happened," State trooper Guy Gill said. Police unsuccessfully tried to stop Olympia schoolteacher Pamela Drawsby, 60, by using their sirens, spotlights and even a PA system, according to the Bend Bulletin. A trooper even drove alongside Drawsby's Lincoln LS, attempting to warn her that she was headed for danger. Police were only able to stop Olympia schoolteacher Pamela Drawsby, 60, by closing down I-5 at the main gate of a joint Army and Air Force base, Lewis-McChord, using spike strips to puncture her tires. And at first, even the tire spikes were unsuccessful, "because the driver was all over the place, using all the lanes," said Gill. Amazingly, no one was hurt, despite several "near misses," Gill said. Before she was stopped Drawsby headed down the southbound lanes of I-5 at 2 a.m., reaching speeds of 100mph.   [more]   [top of page]

January 8, 2012

Today in automotive history: on this day in 1929, Walter Chrysler, the founder of the Chrysler Corporation, one of America's Big Three automakers, was featured on the cover of Time magazine as its Man of the Year. Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) 10 things to know about year-end vehicle sales, and some auto show insights
The last month of 2011 has come and gone, and this week kicks off the North American International Auto Show. So instead of simply offering the year end results, as provided by AutoData Corp., I've tried to add a few insights to last year's sales figures and how this year's auto show might impact next year's. To start things off, let's look at the final sales figures of the most prized title from last year's auto show: The North American Car and Truck of the Year winners. The Chevy Volt was Car of the Year; at least it had that title. Chevy sold 7,671 Volts during the year, which didn't even hit General Motors Co.'s goal of 10,000. The Ford Explorer, which nabbed Truck of the Year honors, had a much better year, becoming the top-selling midsize SUV with 135,704 units sold and beating out the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which hit 127,744 and had a record December. It just goes to show you that impressing judges doesn't always impress consumers. This year, my money is on the Ford Focus and the BMW X3 winning those honors (I am not a judge for the group) but no one will know until Monday morning. Meanwhile, perusing the numbers from December sets up a very interesting January. December brought us a new top-selling minivan, new top-selling SUV and even a new top luxury brand. The Toyota Camry remained the best-selling vehicle, and BMW outpaced Mercedes-Benz as America's No. 1 luxury brand.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) More hybrids, EVs to debut at auto show
Automakers aren't easing off the throttle in unveiling new electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in 2012, despite industry speed bumps last year for EVs. At the North American International Auto Show press preview days in Detroit on Monday and Tuesday, several automakers plan to show off electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. There's some urgency in the development of these fuel-efficient cars: Automakers face tough rising fuel efficiency standards and will need to build more EVs and hybrids to meet them. Over the next two years, according to a worldwide survey of 200 top-level auto executives by the professional services firm KPMG, more than 80 percent of automakers will increase investment in e-motor production and battery technology. "What's interesting is that automakers are placing bets across the board, and large bets at that, because no one knows which technology will ultimately win the day with consumers," said Gary Silberg, National Automotive Industry leader for KPMG LLP. Ford Motor Co., Honda Motor Co., Volvo Cars, Toyota Motor Corp. and others plan to unveil more details at the Detroit show about their EV strategy. About 20,000 full-electric and plug-in electric hybrids were sold in 2011.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Occupy Detroit, labor group target Auto Show
A small group demonstrated outside the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center Sunday, calling for higher pay and better working conditions in factories. The Autoworker Caravan, a group made up of current and retired autoworkers, joined members of the Occupy Detroit movement for Sunday's protest. "There's a lot of talk about the recovery of the auto companies, but it's been at the expense of the autoworkers," said Frank Hammer, an organizer for the Autoworker Caravan and retired General Motors employee. "It's not enough to look at the shiny new cars at the Auto Show -- people need to know how those cars are made. Conditions in those auto plants aren't so rosy." Lower wages and a two-tiered pay system were among the issues being protested by the group of about 20. "In some plants, workers are getting only $9 per hour," Hammer said. "That kind of poverty wage isn't going to help families. There's a lack of justice when multimillionaires are paying auto workers these kind of poverty wages. The workers should benefit from the recovery, too." Nina Chacker of Occupy Detroit, said the Auto Show represents "the big disparity between these big corporations that have managed to get rich off the very people who built this country."   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Eight auto industry trends to watch for in 2012
Several weeks ago, I reviewed the top trends that impacted the retail auto industry over the past year. Today, I want to examine some of the important trends looming on the horizon for 2012. 1. Pent-up demand. A surge in new car sales at the tail end of 2011 highlighted a growing trend to discard older vehicles. 2. Smartphone revolution. According to comScore, smartphones account for 40 per cent of the cell phone market in Canada and that trend will continue to climb. 3. Targeted communications. Mobile smartphone applications, text messaging, e-marketing campaigns and social media platforms are some of the unique ways that dealers are using to digitally connect with customers. 4. China and India. These two countries continue to exert a powerful influence on the global automotive market (in 2009, China overtook the U.S. as the world's top seller of automobiles). 5. Traffic to dealerships. Walk-in traffic has declined slightly in recent years. 6. Increase in MPG. For more than a year, the average fuel use by new vehicles has been declining. 7. Gas-powered engines. Although hybrids, electric vehicles and diesel-powered models are available, gasoline-powered engines will continue to dominate the Canadian market. 8. The re-invention of the automobile. The auto industry is in the midst of a total transformation, with new methods being developed to deliver power to the wheel.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Is the electric car dead? It's too soon to tell
A recent story in U.S.A. Today began with this: "Rather than electrifying auto buyers, the plug-in car revolution is feeling more like a fizzle." Several other media outlets have declared Chevrolet's Volt and Nissan's Leaf among the big flops of 2011. Give me a break. Obviously 2011 wasn't a watershed year in which Electric Vehicles gained mass appeal. Battery power barely registered in North America's new-vehicle marketplace, and there are bleak portents. Volt sales will fall about 25 per cent short of the 10,000 forecast for 2011. Surveys by American pollster CNW Research suggest interest in the vehicle is sagging. Last July, about 1 per cent of respondents said they'd consider buying a Volt. Later in the year, after one caught fire following a safety test, the figure dropped to 0.6 per cent. Nissan has sold 21,000 Leafs worldwide, but in the U.S., the numbers slipped below 1,000 during each of the past three months. EV-makers Aptera and Think filed for bankruptcy. Reviews typically concluded that while plug-ins are comfortable and perform well, they're not competitive with increasingly efficient internal-combustion products. Among many gloomy reports, a U.S. study said gasoline would have to hit the equivalent of $1.35 per litre before most Americans would give EVs a thought. The price has occasionally approached that lofty height here, but, apparently, not for long enough to spark a stampede to the new technology. Or perhaps the tipping point is $2, or $3, or more. Even so, it's ridiculous to so quickly consign EVs to history's crusher.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Mitt Romney slams the Chevy Volt
When it comes to the American auto industry, Mitt Romney believes its investment in a fuel-efficient future is a joke. The 64-year-old Republican presidential candidate and former governor of Massachusetts responded with dismissive laughter when recently asked what he thought of the Chevy Volt, adding that the plug-in hybrid is an "idea whose time has not come." His campaign later went on to defend the statement as reflective of the car's slow sales -- but critics were quick to pounce. United Auto Workers Local 22 President George McGregor says Romney should think before bashing innovation born in Detroit. "It's not an idea that is ahead of its time," he said on a conference call with reporters. "It's behind its time. It should have been here (years ago), so we wouldn't be dependent on foreign oil. We want to promote innovation like the Chevy Volt," he said. "We want to promote manufacturing and innovation. We don't want to look at ways to criticize it and stifle it." Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, also responded, posting on her Twitter account: "My blood is boiling: Romney attacks the Volt, a FANTASTIC U.S. car made in his home state by American workers." As AutoblogGreen points out, Romney has long been critical of President Obama's support for Department of Energy loans to companies like Nissan, Ford and Tesla Motors, despite the fact that the program was started under President George Bush.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Ultra-cheap ride costs $2,700. But is it a car?
India has a new ultra-cheap small car. Well, sort of. The company that introduced it Tuesday, Bajaj Auto, best known for making motorcycles and motorized three-wheeled rickshaws, does not even call its newest product, the RE60, a car. Bajaj prefers the generic term four wheeler. Executives say they have no plans to market it to average consumers. Instead, they are aiming for drivers of rickshaws, which are powered by motorcycle engines and operate as short-distance taxis in India. The RE60 offers features not found on current rickshaw models, including seatbelts, doors and a hard top. It will have windows, ones that fold out rather than roll down. The company did not say how much the RE60 would cost when it hit showrooms this year. But a rickshaw costs about 120,000 rupees, or $2,200, and one auto analyst estimated that the RE60 would be priced 25 per cent higher than that, or about $2,750. But the RE60 was expected to be more than a souped-up rickshaw. It was widely anticipated as Bajaj's answer to the Tata Nano. The Nano, which its maker, Tata Motors, introduced in 2009, was billed as a people's car that would bring mobility to India's masses. It sells for a list price of about $2,600. But the analyst, Hormazd Sorabjee, said the RE60 would pose no challenge to the Nano, which itself had attracted only a fraction of the buyers for which Tata had hoped because of production delays and safety concerns.   [more]   [top of page]

January 1, 2012

Today in automotive history: on this day in 1919, Edsel Ford, the son of Model T inventor and auto industry pioneer Henry Ford, succeeded his father as president of the Ford Motor Company. Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Vehicle sales for 2011 near 13M units
U.S. automobile sales are expected to total nearly 12.8 million units for 2011, making this the best year the industry has seen since 2008. And 2012 is looking even better. "This year, new car sales are up year over year for every major automaker except Honda and Toyota," analyst Kristen Andersson of automotive research site TrueCar.com said in a report this week. The report put the December sales tally at just over 1.2 million cars and trucks -- an 8.1 percent gain over the same period last year and 24.4 percent higher than November's total. The actual results will be released Wednesday. It's already clear that all three Detroit automakers made big gains in 2011. That was partly a testament to the improving quality of their vehicles, and partly the result of the March earthquake and tsunami that disrupted production in Japan and left many Japanese manufacturers without sufficient inventories to meet consumer demand. On Friday, Ford Motor Co. announced that sales of its Ford brand topped 2 million for the first time since 2007, making it the winner in the perennial contest with General Motor Co.'s Chevrolet brand.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Drivers change oil too often, California officials say
Many automobile owners are spending more than they need on motor oil, believing that it should be changed every 3,000 miles even though almost no manufacturer requires such an aggressive oil-change schedule. The long-held notion that the oil should be changed every 3,000 miles is so prevalent that California officials have launched a campaign to stop drivers from wasting millions of gallons of oil annually because they have their vehicles serviced too often. "Our survey data found that nearly half of California drivers are still changing their oil at 3,000 miles or even sooner," said Mark Oldfield, a spokesman for the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery, which has launched the Check Your Number campaign to encourage drivers to follow manufacturer recommendations. Improvement in oils, friction proofing and car engines have lengthened the oil-change interval, typically 7,500 miles to 10,000 miles for most vehicles. Changing motor oil according to manufacturer specifications would reduce motor-oil demand in California by about 10 million gallons a year, the agency said. The state has created a website, CheckYourNumber.org, where drivers can look up the suggested motor-oil change interval number for their vehicles. The agency and other groups said slashing motor-oil consumption would be good for the environment and won't hurt the longevity or reliability of autos.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) High-tech cars raise possibility of cyber-attacks
Imagine this nightmarish possibility: Al-Qaida terrorists cause thousands of motorists racing down a freeway during the morning commute to suddenly lose their brakes, leading to massive chaos, death and destruction. Implausible? Maybe not, some experts warn. As cars and trucks have become laden with brainy devices to control everything from their air bags to their crash-avoidance systems, the vehicles have become increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks, according to recent studies by university researchers and security companies. One found that a car's computer controls could be remotely accessed through their Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or OnStar connections, potentially allowing terrorists to simultaneously disable the brakes of numerous cars, corporate spies to eavesdrop on a motoring executive's phone calls, or thieves to electronically locate, break into and start cars they've targeted to steal. Another showed how a car's tire pressure warning system could be wirelessly tricked into sending false alerts to drivers, which could prompt them to stop and fall prey to robbers following them. Speculating that villains might short sell an auto-company's stock and then cause widespread problems in its cars, Ryan Permeh, a principal security architect at Intel's McAfee division, added, "I can definitely imagine organized crime or potentially even nation states leveraging weaknesses in these functions to cause different kinds of havoc." Although instances of car hacking have been extremely rare, the threat has gotten the attention of automakers. "We are very, very concerned," said Chrysler spokesman Vince Muniga, adding that it is consulting with computer experts to identify "things that may be vulnerable in the future." Similarly, Ford "is taking the threat very seriously" and "working to ensure that we've developed a product that is as resistant to attack as possible," said Rich Strader, the company's director of information technology, security and storage. The subject also has gotten the federal government's attention. "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is aware of the potential for hackers and is working with automakers to better understand what steps can and are being taken to address the problem," the agency said in a statement, adding that it has asked the National Academy of Sciences to look into the matter. Because of consumer demand for entertainment, convenience and safety features in cars, automakers in recent years have greatly beefed up the technology in their vehicles. It's not unusual for luxury autos to sport 70 computerized control units that monitor everything from the engine, transmission and headlights to the cabin temperature, air bags and cruise control. Some cars even park themselves, or automatically brake to prevent collisions. But their various wireless connections can enable hackers located some distance away to electronically infiltrate an automobile and take virtual control of it, experts have determined. In a September report about the "emerging risks in automotive system security," McAfee described the case last year of a disgruntled former employee of a Texas used-car dealership. By accessing the system the dealership used to remotely deactivate cars whose buyers failed to make payments, he created mayhem by blaring the horns and shutting off the engines of more than 100 vehicles. Other problems could be coming down the road. In a study last year, University of South Carolina researchers in one vehicle caused the tire-pressure warning system of another to send bogus alerts to its dashboard. Because such alerts could prompt drivers to pull over to check their tires, the researchers warned, "this presents ample opportunity for mischief and criminal activities." Another troubling flaw was uncovered by a security tester hired by an unidentified U.S. city, according to the McAfee report. After hacking into police-car camera recorders, it said, "he was easily able to upload, download and delete files that stored months' worth of video feeds." Still more weaknesses were detailed in a study in August by the Center for Automotive Embedded Systems Security, a collaboration between the University of California-San Diego and the University of Washington. It concluded that thieves could wirelessly command groups of cars to report their GPS coordinates and vehicle identification numbers, enabling the crooks to learn the year, make, model and location of the most expensive ones. Then, it said, they could steal those autos by issuing other wireless commands to disable their alarms, unlock them and start their engines. Using a related technique, the study warned, corporate spies could listen in on the phone conversations of a motoring executive, or, more disturbingly, terrorists who previously had infected numerous cars with malicious software could later command the vehicles to "simultaneously disengage the brakes when driving at high speed."   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Civic hybrid owner to battle mighty Honda
Heather Peters is an angry consumer who knows she has little chance of winning a war with Honda Motor Co. and its army of high-price lawyers. The Los Angeles resident is miffed that her 2006 Honda Civic hybrid doesn't get its claimed fuel economy. And she isn't satisfied with a proposed class-action lawsuit settlement that would give trial lawyers $8.5 million while Civic owners would get as little as $100 and rebate coupons for the purchase of a new vehicle. But Peters believes that she found a venue where she can win justice and where Honda can't spend a single dollar on legal help. On Jan. 3 she'll take her case to Small Claims Court in Torrance, where California law prohibits Honda from bringing an attorney. She's asking for the maximum of $10,000 to compensate her for spending much more on gasoline than expected. Honda said the Civic would get about 50 miles per gallon, but because of technical problems the car gets closer to 30 mpg. What's more, Peters is urging Honda owners across the country to do the same. Peters' www.DontSettleWithHonda.org website and a DontSettleWithHonda Twitter account include a link to state-by-state instructions for filing these lawsuits, which have low fees and minimal paperwork. Honda sold about 200,000 of the hybrids over a six-year period, and because of resales, as many as 500,000 people are eligible to file claims against Honda. "I want them to know they can file in Small Claims Court and that it is not so scary," Peters said. If she's successful in getting others to follow her example, Peters could inspire a whole new litigation strategy in the auto industry and other businesses. Working together but filing lawsuits independently, consumers could force companies to go mano a mano with individual plaintiffs in far-flung courtrooms nationwide. Call it a small-claims flash mob.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Popemobile may get green upgrade
Pope Benedict XVI's popemobile may be getting an ecological upgrade. Young car designers participating in an annual auto style competition are being asked to design a low-emission popemobile that meets the Vatican's high security standards. The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano announced details of the competition Friday, saying the green popemobile will be one of the proposed projects of the 2012 edition of Autostyle International Design Competition. Italian auto parts maker Berman organizes the competition each year, selecting 12 students from universities and auto design schools from around the world to submit designs for particular projects. Winners are selected each October at the Autostyle show held in a monastery in the tiny town of San Benedetto Po, near Mantua, where top automakers like Nissan, Ferrari, Bentley and Toyota show off their wares. The best eco-popemobile designs will be compiled in a book published by the Vatican publishing house, L'Osservatore said. Benedict, 84, is known as something of a "green" pope because of his environmental concerns; under his watch, the Vatican installed photovoltaic cells on its main auditorium to convert sunlight into electricity as well as a solar cooling unit for its main cafeteria. It has joined a reforestation project aimed at offsetting its CO2 emissions. For the pontiff, it's a moral issue: Church teaching holds that man must respect creation because it's destined for the benefit of humanity's future.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) China rivals Germany for luxury cars
Here's some irony: The high demand for BMW and Audi vehicles in China may help that country overtake Germany as the No. 2 overall luxury car market in the world, right behind the United States. In a Bloomberg report, Audi -- the luxury-car sales leader in China -- saw its sales through the first 11 months this year grow 35 per cent to 283,600. BMW sales through November have risen 40 per cent, to 200,699. Audi is counting on China's desire for its vehicles to help it surpass rival BMW as the global No. 1 luxury brand by 2015.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) A weird and wacky year for cars
It's hard to believe another year is almost over and, with it, another year of auto oddities. Over the last 12 months, various owners' manuals, news reports and the odd lawsuit made for some interesting items in 2011. Dave shouldn't be here, man... Last December, a man driving from British Columbia to Newfoundland followed the shortest route given by his GPS unit. He crossed the border into Maine, where customs agents found half a kilogram of marijuana in his truck. He said he never intended to enter the U.S. and thought the border post was just a toll bridge. We forgot about that: A Chevrolet Cruze advertisement in Motor Trend magazine asked, "Why bother with an expensive hybrid when 40 mpg is available at an affordable price?" In a follow-up letter to the editor, a reader wondered if GM had forgotten it also needs customers for its $40,000 electric Volt. That's not all that isn't firmly attached: A Kansas motorist angry with his state's mandatory seatbelt law took to wearing a homemade version buckled around his waist when driving. When he received a ticket, he argued that the law doesn't specifically state that the seatbelt must actually be attached to the car. The judge disagreed and upheld the fine. And it even pats your back for you: Porsche Cayenne's owner's manual states, "Judging by the car you have chosen, you are a motorist of a special breed, and you are probably no novice when it comes to automobiles." Don't back into your closet: Honda Odyssey's rear sensors may not be able to detect "sonic-absorptive materials such as snow, cotton or sponge." Does whatever a spider can: In February, Mazda6 models were recalled for the possibility of spiders weaving webs in a vent tube, altering pressure in the fuel tank and potentially causing it to crack. Animal rights group PETA responded by asking drivers with arachnophobia to donate their cars for animal rescue work. It's smarter than you are: Mercedes-Benz's B-Class warns, "Do not leave the SmartKey in the cargo compartment. You could otherwise lock yourself out." That was easy: The manual for the Mercedes-Benz B-Class points out several potential problems and their solutions, including this: "Problem: A side window cannot be closed because objects are trapped between the side window and the door frame. Remove the objects. Close the side window." Maybe he planned to buy a car with the money: In April, a 42-year-old Connecticut man allegedly pedalled a bicycle up to a Dunkin' Donuts drive-through, threatened the clerk and rode off with a wad of cash. He was arrested shortly afterwards when he narrowly missed riding into a police officer who was responding to another call. Insult to injury: The Hyundai Equus manual warns, "A seatbelt should be used when an injured person is being transported." Work it, baby! Planning Perspectives, a survey company that rates how well automakers interact with their suppliers, reported that "the U.S. automakers, realizing that an adversarial approach to working with suppliers won't work, have been working hard to work more collaboratively with their suppliers." Making a clean start: Nissan Quest warns, "Do not wash (the key) in a washing machine." When real isn't real enough: Mercedes-Benz offers a new unfinished wood interior trim package in its M-Class for customers who complain that passengers think the high-gloss wood option is plastic. Walk softly and carry a big stick: When an 82-year-old woman had her purse snatched in Pennsylvania in June, her 89-year-old friend swung her cane at the getaway car. Police later identified the vehicle by the dent and arrested the occupants. And yet she still loves him: In possibly the most bizarre automotive marriage of all time, Aston Martin -- whose cars run from $135,000 to more than $300,000 -- offers a gussied-up version of Scion's iQ subcompact. Called the Cygnet and priced around 30,000 euros, it's meant to be a second car that the company likens to "a tender to a luxury yacht." Racing legend Stirling Moss buys one of the first as a birthday gift for his wife. Let's do crunch: In July, a woman driving a $360,000 Bentley Azure convertible lost control of it in Monaco's ultra-chic Place du Casino. The fender-bender took out a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Ferrari F430, Porsche 911 and Aston Martin. The total value of the cars involved topped $1 million, and it's estimated she caused $60,000 in damages. Always sit up straight: Ford Explorer's manual warns, "Ensure that the seat is unoccupied when folding it down. Folding the seat while occupied could result in occupant injury or damage to the seat." They have minds of their own: Fiat warns that you should "Never allow your fingers... to project through the sunroof opening." A really hot performer: Mazda5's manual warns, "Do not use a match or live flame in the engine compartment." It's scary they have to warn you: Hyundai's manual suggests that you "do not inhale exhaust fumes" and "never attempt vehicle repairs in the traffic lanes of a public road or highway."   [more]   [top of page]

December 26, 2011

Today in automotive history: on this day in 1956, the visionary carmaker Preston Tucker died of lung cancer. He was just 53 years old. Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Congress ends corn ethanol subsidy
The United States has ended a 30-year tax subsidy for corn-based ethanol that cost taxpayers $6 billion annually, and ended a tariff on imported Brazilian ethanol. Congress adjourned for the year on Friday, failing to extend the tax break that's drawn a wide variety of critics on Capitol Hill, including Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Critics also have included environmentalists, frozen food producers, ranchers and others. The policies have helped shift millions of tons of corn from feedlots, dinner tables and other products into gas tanks. Environmental group Friends of the Earth praised the move. "The end of this giant subsidy for dirty corn ethanol is a win for taxpayers, the environment and people struggling to put food on their tables," biofuels policy campaigner Michal Rosenoer said Friday. The subsidy has provided the oil and agribusiness industries with 45 cents per gallon of ethanol blended into gasoline. By some estimates, Congress has awarded $45 billion in subsidies to the ethanol industry since 1980.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Nissan says tsunami tested electric Leaf safety, durability
Nissan inadvertently gained some valuable insight into the durability of its electric car, the Leaf, when about two dozen of them were destroyed in the tsunami that ravaged Japan in March. None of the cars caught fire, and their batteries remained fully intact, shielded by an airtight steel exoskeleton and two other layers of protection that surround the 660-pound packs. "Considering how they were tossed around and crushed, we think that is a very good indication of the safety performance of that vehicle," said Bob Yakushi, the director of product safety for Nissan North America. Nissan's decision to encase the Leaf's battery in steel may help explain why federal safety regulators investigating postcrash fire risks in the Chevrolet Volt do not have the same concerns about the Leaf. General Motors packages the Volt's battery cells on a T-shaped steel tray with a plastic cover.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Honda battles Internet vendor
In another sign of the Internet's increasingly influential role in auto sales, dealers are in the middle of a fight between Honda and TrueCar.com over prices displayed online. American Honda Motor Co. has told its dealers that it won't give them advertising allowances if they offer vehicles below invoice on TrueCar, the fast-growing online auto sales service. The Japanese automaker believes that disclosing cut-rate prices damages its brand and makes its dealers compete with one another for buyers rather than with other automakers. In a typical showroom transaction, the price a shopper pays for a vehicle is negotiated in a private setting and is hidden from people looking at the same model. But on TrueCar, the price at which dealers are willing to sell cars is transparent to all who visit the site. The TrueCar system also is used by several large auto shopping referral services, including those operated by Consumer Reports and USAA, which provides financial services to members of the U.S. military. Part of the appeal of shopping the online service is that it features a number of dealers that offer guaranteed pricing near or even below a vehicle's invoice, which many consumers believe represents the price the dealer paid for the auto. But because of various back-end allowances and payments, the dealer cost of a vehicle can be 5 percent or more below the invoice, according to auto industry executives.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Ten events that shaped the car industry in 2011
Although the new car market improved slightly in 2011 (Canadian vehicle sales rose 1.8 per cent), with November being a particularly good month (sales rose 4.4 per cent), this year has been unpredictable at best. There was exciting news from the auto industry. Auto shows in Tokyo, Frankfurt and Los Angeles highlighted new modes of transportation and the reinvention of the automobile in the years ahead. But this news was punctuated by unfortunate events at home and abroad, from the lowering of consumer confidence in Canada and natural disasters in the Far East to the ongoing debt crisis in Europe and political unrest in the Middle East. Here are 10 events that had a significant impact on the retail car market in 2011.

1. The elimination in Toronto on Jan. 1 of the Personal Vehicle Tax ($60 for vehicles, $30 for motorcycles). It would be presumptuous to declare that the "war on cars" is over, but the removal of this unpopular tax was definitely a welcome relief for car owners.
2. The Canadian International AutoShow in February. In terms of exhibitor participation and general attendance, this TADA-produced show was a resounding success and provided a tremendous boost for our industry.
3. The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan greatly affected the global car industry, with inventory shortages and supply chain disruptions. Manufacturers and suppliers that were impacted are only now returning to pre-disaster production levels.
4. Social media/e-marketing. A handful of Canadian car dealers are experimenting with social media and e-marketing (Facebook, YouTube, electronic newsletters). But compared to dealers in the U.S., we are novices when it comes to utilizing these technologies to their full advantage.
5. Alternative fuel technologies. Electric vehicles stole the spotlight this year (Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt). But diesel cars continue to make impressive gains, thanks to new turbo injection technology, improved gas mileage and lower C02 emissions. Ethanol, flex-fuel, biodiesel and hydrogen are other alternative technologies that manufacturers have been experimenting with.
6. On Nov.18, the TADA-sponsored TADA Gift of Life Wing officially opened at Ronald McDonald House Toronto, making this Ronald McDonald House the largest in the world. This level of community support set a new benchmark for the retail car industry in Canada.
7. Low interest rates. The cost of borrowing remained at historic lows throughout 2011. On the plus side, low interest rates made car ownership more affordable for thousands of Canadians. Canadian banks are expected to hold rates low until the global economies improve.
8. Provincial election. The Liberal Party under Dalton McGuinty is governing under a minority position for the first time. The Premier has indicated that he will continue to work with the auto industry and other stakeholders by providing much-needed investment dollars. His government has recognized that the 90,000 jobs that the auto sector supports in Ontario are worth fighting for.
9. Lower consumer confidence. The Conference Board of Canada reported that consumer confidence fell 3.3 per cent in October (its lowest level since May 2009), and the Royal Bank of Canada has reported that Canadians are still worried about the economy and their financial situations. As a result, many Canadians have delayed purchasing large-ticket items, such as vehicles. This trend has kept many would-be car buyers out of showrooms.
10. The used car market. Acquiring quality vehicles for resale is still a challenge for dealers. This shortage of used vehicles has driven prices up, making it a challenge to offer a used vehicle while remaining competitive in price or payment compared to a new vehicle, with all of the programs and incentives offered by the manufacturers.

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WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) GM veto sinks Saab
Saab Automobile filed for bankruptcy on Monday, giving up a desperate struggle to stay in business after previous owner General Motors Co. blocked takeover attempts by Chinese investors. Saab CEO Victor Muller personally handed in the bankruptcy application to a court in southwestern Sweden, ending his two-year effort to revive the carmaker that over more than six decades has become known for its rounded sedans and quirky design features. The Vanersborg District Court was expected to approve the application later Monday. "This is the most unwelcome Christmas gift I could have imagined," said Fredrik Almqvist, 36, who has worked at Saab's assembly line for nearly 17 years. While experts say the company is likely to be chopped up and sold in parts, local officials in the town of Trollhattan, where Saab employs more than 3,000 people, were holding out hope that a new buyer would emerge to salvage the brand.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Reckless driver sends car flying 100 feet in air
Police responding to a burglar alarm found a car crashed through the roof of a Santa Fe business. Investigators say the car was traveling at a high rate of speed about 2 a.m. Saturday when the driver failed to negotiate a turn. KTRK-TV reports that the vehicle left the roadway and travelled up a railroad track embankment, which caused it to go airborne. It flew about 100 feet through the air and crashed through the roof. The blue Subaru landed nose-first inside Gulf Coast Aerobic Services, causing more than $25,000 in damage. The driver of the car was gone when police arrived. Detectives say they are confident the driver will be found and arrested. Santa Fe is south of Houston.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Man crashes $380,000 Lamborghini 6 hours after winning it
A Utah man who won a $380,000 Lamborghini in a convenience store chain's contest crashed the sports car six hours after he got it. The lime green Murcielago Roadster was set to leave for a Las Vegas body shop Wednesday for repairs, just days after Santaquin resident David Dopp won it in Maverik stores' "Joe Schmo to Lambo" contest. "Yeah, I got it on Saturday and I wrecked it on Saturday," Dopp told KSL-TV. He said he was taking friends and family on joy rides that evening on the outskirts of town. He said he took a curve at 40 or 50 mph when the vehicle hit ice or loose gravel and started spinning. The car crashed through some fence posts before coming to rest in a field. Dopp wasn't injured, but his wife said she was shocked. "My heart pretty much fell out," Annette Dopp told KSL. "They said they were OK. Then (came), you know, that feeling when your heart drops and you're like, 'Oh, my gosh. What do we do now?'" The 640-horsepower Lamborghini has front-end damage, a punctured wheel and scratches along the passenger side. The vehicle is insured. David Dopp was videotaped last month jumping up and down and hollering in speechless disbelief when contest officials announced during a college football game that he won the car. The giveaway, which awarded participants for using a rewards card at Maverik stores, was co-sponsored by nonprofit organization "teamgive," which raises awareness about rare neurological diseases. David Dopp said it was strange seeing the flashy, exotic car in his humble driveway. He told ABC 4 in Salt Lake City that he plans to sell the vehicle to pay off bills and buy his wife another car -- as soon as the Lamborghini's drivable again. "It's going to be all nice and pretty here in a couple of months, I'm sure," David Dopp said.   [more]   [top of page]

December 18, 2011

Today in automotive history: on this day in 1968, the musical film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" opened in New York City. Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) 'Old GM' buried with bad assets of '09 bankruptcy
General Motors Corp., once America's largest corporation, died Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. It was 103 years old. The automaker faded into business history following a long and painful period, during which plants were forever closed, investors wiped out, 1,700 dealerships shuttered and tens of thousands of workers let go. The automaker was preceded in death by three of its brands: Pontiac, Hummer and Saturn. A fourth former brand, Saab, is in dire straits. No one was there to mark the company's passing. Spokesman Tim Yost confirmed Friday that the company ceased to exist Thursday and was officially dissolved. Until The Detroit News contacted him Friday, no one had even inquired about its status. On Friday morning, lawyers filed a court stipulation acknowledging the automaker's demise. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber confirmed the company's liquidation plan in March, and set Dec. 15 as the deadline for it to go out of business. The Detroit-based company, known in its final years as "old GM" but officially renamed Motors Liquidation Co., is survived by General Motors Co., a company born after its ancestor's 2009 bankruptcy filing, and through the inheritance of old GM's viable remaining assets and a $49.5 billion government bailout.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) GM CEO Dan Akerson touts Volt plans
The work has just begun for Dan Akerson, who took the job as chief executive officer 15 months ago at General Motors Co. And it hasn't gone totally as planned. He's being tested by a federal investigation into battery fires after crash tests in the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car, and he's grappling to fix GM's high-cost European operations, which are losing money. GM's chairman spoke with the Associated Press in New York. Excerpts of his comments about the Volt and the future of electric cars appear below, edited for length and clarity. Q. Would you recall all 6,000 Volts to strengthen the battery? A. If we find that is the solution, we will retrofit every one of them. Q. Do you think the news about the Chevy Volt will harm sales of electric vehicles? A. This car is safe. There is nothing happening immediately after the crash. I think in the interest of General Motors, the industry, the electrification of the car, it's better to get it right now, when you have 6,000 -- instead of 60,000 or 600,000 -- cars on the road. We're not the only car company that has liquid-cooled batteries out there. There are many. So we think this is the right thing to do for our customers, first and foremost, and it was the right thing to do for General Motors and the industry.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Ford Focus is car finalist for 2012 Car and Truck of the Year
Detroit's automakers are making a comeback and clawing back market share -- but they are a distinct minority in the list of finalists for the 2012 North American Car and Truck of the Year. The Ford Focus is the only domestic in the final three for car of the year. The other two, announced Thursday in Detroit, are the Hyundai Elantra and Volkswagen Passat. Last year's winner was the Chevrolet Volt, which beat the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Sonata. It was the first electric car to win. Truck finalists are the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, BMW X3 and Honda CR-V -- a far cry from last year when Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC had a lock on all three spots. The Ford Explorer beat the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango. In 2010, Ford took both truck and car honors with the Transit Connect and Fusion Hybrid. General Motors Co. had two finalists. But in this 19th year of the award, domestics are outnumbered. "We're thrilled we're a finalist with such tough competition on the car side," said Ford spokesman Matt Leaver, adding that the Elantra "has given us good competition all year." Hyundai spokesman Miles Johnson returned the compliment and said he was not surprised the Alabama-built Elantra pushed through to the finals. "We really value the award and if we win, we will use it in our marketing strategy," Johnson said, which was the case when the Genesis won in 2009.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Focus EV will get 100mpg-e: Ford
Set to go on sale next spring in Canada, starting at $41,199 (not including an $8,000 Ontario government rebate), the new Ford Focus electric vehicle will break the "100-mpg-e" barrier, its manufacturer claims. Not to be confused with miles per gallon, "mpg-e" stands for "miles per gallon-equivalent", the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new way to measure cars that are primarily powered by electricity, not gas. For example, the Chevrolet Volt hybrid scores a 94 mpg-e when in EV mode, and the Nissan Leaf EV is rated at 100 mpg-e. Nissan's still deciding on its next EV. Nissan has just started selling its first pure-electric car this year in Canada, the Leaf. But the automaker is in discussions about launching up to three more EVs for North America. An Infiniti luxury sedan version of the Leaf, and a small electric commercial van and taxi have already been confirmed. But a report in Automotive News says the automaker is considering either a small city car, a small sports car or a small crossover as its fourth EV. After that decision is made, Nissan will continue with its commitment to EVs with more models. "We think that, after that fourth car, it will be time to start pushing the envelope again to continue our leadership," said Andy Palmer, Nissan's executive vice president for vehicle planning. BMW and GM to partner on fuel cell cars. Apparently going green is an expensive proposition. A recent report in the German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche said that General Motors and BMW would collaborate on hydrogen fuel-cell technology for passenger cars. A GM official said that the automaker's efforts were focused on containing the costs until it could be scaled to higher volumes. BMW would contribute toward research costs in exchange for existing technology developed by GM. "Finding others who can use the fuel-cell systems we've been working on for 15 years is a good way to advance it," GM's executive director for fuel-cell activities, Charles Freese, told the New York Times.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) 2011's most stolen cars revealed
Bad news for Toyota Venza owners -- the 2009 edition of the crossover SUV is the new hot target for Canadian car thieves. The Toyota model tops the Insurance Bureau of Canada's top 10 most frequently stolen vehicles in Canada. The 2009 Venza replaces the 2000 Honda Civic SiR, which was last year's No. 1 stolen vehicle and drops to third place this year. In at second this year among car thieves is the 1999 Honda Civic SiR two-door. Rounding out the top five are the 2006 Ford F350 Pickup Truck 4WD in fourth place and the 2002 Cadillac Escalade EXT four-door AWD in fifth. The insurance bureau says high-end vehicles are often targeted by criminal organizations that strip them for parts or resell them to unsuspecting consumers. "Consumers need to be aware when they're in the market for used vehicles or parts," said Rick Dubin of the insurance bureau. "Generally, Quebec stolen vehicles -- like the Venza -- are ending up in the Port of Montreal, as thieves appear to be seeking a quick distribution of the vehicles," Dubin said. While auto theft is a big business, Dubin said the numbers are dropping. "The good news is that statistics show that in 2010, the number of stolen vehicles in Canada -- approximately 93,000 -- was down 15 per cent from 2009," Dubin said. "The bad news is that recovery rates for stolen vehicles are continuing to decline," he added.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Ban all non-emergency cell phone use, U.S. safety board urges
States should ban all driver use of cell phones and other portable electronic devices, except in emergencies, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday. The recommendation, unanimously agreed to by the five-member board, applies to both hands-free and hand-held phones and significantly exceeds any existing state laws restricting texting and cell-phone use behind the wheel. The board made the recommendation in connection with a deadly highway pileup in Missouri last year. The board said the initial collision in the accident near Gray Summit, Mo., was caused by the inattention of a 19-year-old pickup driver who sent or received 11 texts in the 11 minutes immediately before the crash. The pickup, travelling at 90 km/h collided into the back of a tractor truck that had slowed for highway construction. The pickup was rear-ended by a school bus that overrode the smaller vehicle. A second school bus rammed into the back of the first bus. The pickup driver and a 15-year-old student on one of the school buses were killed. Thirty-eight other people were injured in the Aug. 5, 2010, accident. The accident is a "big red flag for all drivers," safety board chairman Deborah Hersman said at a meeting to determine the cause of the accident and make safety recommendations. "It's not possible to know from cell-phone records if the driver was typing, reaching for the phone or reading a text at the time of the crash, but it's clear he was manually, cognitively and visually distracted," she said. "Driving was not his only priority," Hersman said. "No call, no text, no update is worth a human life."   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Do we really need Facebook and Twitter in the car?
I heard a commercial on the radio that made me hit the roof. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was an ad for a new 2012 BMW and it started with the customary list of safety features that come with the car. The ad used the term "intelligent" BMW for the new vehicle's sophisticated electronic features, which include stability control and the ability to access Facebook and Twitter. Wait, what? Did I hear that correctly? Driving experts and safety advocates have been doing their best to help motorists and truckers understand that being distracted by cellphones, texting, conversations or just plain day dreaming is not in anyone's best interest. Our government has also stepped in to make it illegal and police are trying to wean the public off using electronic devices while driving. So why would a reputable automotive manufacturer like BMW make it possible for a driver to access Facebook or Twitter while driving? I contacted BMW Canada to seek answers to this madness. Barb Pitblado, Director of Corporate Communications, returned my email and set up a meeting with myself and Kian Mirandi, ConnectedDrive Specialist, who could answer questions about this system. We walked out to a 2012 5 Series BMW and sat down in the wonderfully comfortable seats and began accessing the ConnectedDrive system, BMW's in-car communication platform. Mirandi scrolled through and came up with the BMW Apps menu and lo and behold there it was -- access to Facebook and Twitter as advertised. Then I asked the question. "Does this allow the driver to access their Facebook or Twitter account while driving?" I heard the answer I had dreaded: "Yes." To which I automatically blurted out, "What on earth is BMW thinking?"   [more]   [top of page]

December 11, 2011

Today in automotive history: on this day in 1962, the New York City Board of Estimate unanimously voted against a plan for a $100 million elevated expressway across the bottom of Manhattan. The road, known as the Lower Manhattan Expressway, had been in the works since 1941. It was supposed to link the Holland Tunnel on the city's West Side with the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges on the east side, slicing right through the neighborhoods now known as TriBeCa and SoHo. Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) NHTSA proposes standardizing keyless ignition systems
The Obama administration proposed standardizing keyless ignition controls -- and to require audible warnings for drivers who fail to use the push-button system properly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a proposed regulation released Friday that it wants to mandate noise warnings for drivers who try to turn off their vehicles before putting them in park, exiting vehicles without moving them to park or exiting a vehicle without first turning the car off. NHTSA wants to standardize the length of time necessary to push the controls to stop the engine -- as part of an effort to help a panicked driver shut down the vehicle in an emergency. The safety agency is proposing a standard half-second hold time to shut down vehicles, less than the three seconds some automakers have used. The engine would have to stop running within a second of the initial push of the stop control. The rules could also prevent rollaway vehicles, thefts from motorists who forgot to stop cars and carbon monoxide poisoning. NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said Friday the rule is aimed at helping drivers quickly shut off vehicles. "Keyless ignition systems have evolved considerably over the years and our proposal is an important step forward to improving our existing standard," Strickland said. "We learned through our investigation of unintended acceleration in certain Toyota vehicles that keyless ignition systems can exacerbate unintended acceleration incidents if, for example, the driver cannot quickly shut off the engine." Push-button start systems have grown from 5,000 vehicles in the model 2002 year to over 1.2 million vehicles in the 2008 model year. Different automakers have different systems. Some require a momentary tap; others require longer hold times to turn off a vehicle. The only change will be the incremental cost for changing the software coding and testing the new procedures, the agency said. NHTSA will give automakers at least two years lead time; the rules aren't expected to take effect until September 2015. The agency cited the August 2009 fatal crash of an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer that left four people dead. The loaned Lexus ES-350 had an entrapped floor mat and eventually sparked Toyota Motor Corp.'s recall of more than 10 million vehicles for trapped pedals and sticky pedals. The Lexus required the driver to hold the stop control for as long as three seconds to cut the engine power. A similar crash occurred in July 2007, when a Honda Accord driver attempted to turn off the power several times but failed to do so. NHTSA said its proposed regulation would also help prevent carbon monoxide incidents for drivers who didn't realize they had left the vehicle on. Four drivers told NHTSA over the last decade their carbon monoxide detectors in garages went off after they accidentally left the car running. The owner of a 2007 Lexus LS460 told NHTSA it was a danger because the vehicle is very quiet when idling. Toyota still requires holding the button down for at least three seconds on all models.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) BMW will work with GM on fuel cell technology, WiWo reports
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is close to signing a deal to work with General Motors Co. on fuel-cell technology, WirtschaftsWoche reported, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the agreement. BMW will get access to GM's fuel-cell technology and in return will help cover research and development costs, the magazine reported on its website. The two carmakers plan to sign a memorandum of understanding following the car show in Detroit in January, the magazine said. GM declined to comment to WirtschaftsWoche while BMW confirmed it is in negotiations with a U.S. carmaker, without going into details, WiWo said.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Mentos/Coke Zero-powered car travels 239 feet
The Maine guys known for creating colorful geysers from Diet Coke and Mentos candies say they've set a distance record for a vehicle with soda-and-candy-powered propulsion. Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz created a single-seat rocket car powered by 54 bottles of Coke Zero and 324 Mentos. They say the Mark II traveled 239 feet, improving upon last year's 220 feet with only half the fuel. They posted video of a 209-foot attempt online. Voltz said Thursday they incorporated a simple piston-and-cylinder mechanism to get the vehicle moving. He says it's powerful enough that people shouldn't try the experiment at home. The Buckfield-based entertainers shot to fame five years ago when they wore lab coats and goggles during their online videos demonstrating elaborate geysers set to music.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Too quiet? Silent electric car knocks over pedestrian in Paris
A noiseless electric car, lorded for its role in a brand new car-sharing program in the French capital, has knocked over a pedestrian -- who apparently didn't hear it coming. Police say she was struck Monday as she crossed a street against the light, hours after the Paris' Autolib' program started. The woman was hospitalized, but police say her life is not in danger. Le Parisien daily cites police as saying she didn't hear the car coming. The fleet of small electric cars was introduced with great fanfare on Monday, a follow-up to Paris' hugely successful bike-rental program. Police are investigating the exact circumstances of the accident.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Texting while driving up 50 per cent in U.S.
Texting while driving increased 50 per cent last year and two out of 10 drivers say they've sent text messages or emails while behind the wheel despite a rush by states to ban the practice, the National Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday An annual study conducted in 2010 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of drivers observed at selected stoplights and intersections found that at any given time just under 1 per cent were texting or manipulating hand-held devices, such as using a Web-capable smart phone or cellphone to view travel directions, check emails or calendar appointments, or surf the Internet, manual dialling, playing hand-held games, and holding phones in front of their faces. But the activity increased to .9 per cent of drivers, up from .6 per cent the previous year. The share of drivers speaking into headsets was also, 9 per cent and had increased by the same amount. But drivers talking into hand-held cellphones remained flat at 5 per cent. Eighteen per cent of drivers said they've sent text messages or emails while driving, according to the results of a national telephone survey by NHTSA of over 6,000 drivers aged 18 or older. The survey was conducted a year ago and released Thursday. Among drivers 21 to 24 years old, half said they've texted behind the wheel. The survey also found that most drivers will answer a phone call while driving and most will continue to drive after answering. The increase in texting while driving came despite a rush by states to ban the practice. Last month, Pennsylvania became the 35th state to impose a ban.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Sky's the limit for parking in this luxury New York building
Now, this is living in the lap of luxury. A new 19-storey apartment building in New York City offers the usual spate of particulars required for upscale city living: floor-to-ceiling windows, thousands of square feet of space and a beautiful panoramic view. Oh, and, it also features a futuristic "sky garage." While other buildings require residents to park their cars underground, this new building allows denizens to park their car literally outside their own front door. It's all made possible thanks to a car elevator that lifts cars from the ground up and allows residents to park in a specially designed garage space. Of course, getting access to one of these posh Manhattan units won't come cheap. A three-bedroom apartment in the building is currently on the market for $7 million. This appears to be a luxury trend that's slowly catching on. In Miami, a new $560 million condo complex, the Porsche Design Tower, has also been outfitted with elevators that take residents and their cars right to their units.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Markham man charged after 170 km/h chase with child, 10, in truck
Provincial police say a 10-year-old child was among those in a vehicle that led officers on a high-speed chase Monday morning. Police say an officer attempted to stop a speeding pickup at about 1:30 a.m. on Highway 7, east of Highway 28, near Peterborough, Ont. Police say the vehicle was swerving and travelling in excess of 170 km/h on wet roads in heavy rain. Officers used a spike belt to bring the truck to a halt as it turned onto Highway 115 and the driver was arrested following a brief struggle. Investigators say five other people, including the child, were in the vehicle during the incident. Jaden Mark Peschynski, 26, of Markham, Ont., is charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, flight from police, resisting arrest and racing a motor vehicle.   [more]   [top of page]

December 3, 2011

Today in automotive history: on this day in 1979, the last Pacer rolled off the assembly line at the American Motors Corporation (AMC) factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) GM exec promises speedy fix to Volt battery, if needed
General Motors Co.'s head of global product development says the issues with the Chevrolet Volt are no different than those encountered during the introduction of other new automotive technologies, but she added that the company will make changes to its battery design if they are deemed necessary. "I have engineers working shoulder-to-shoulder with the NHTSA engineers right now," said Mary Barra, vice president of global product development for GM. "We are looking to say, 'Are there some design changes that we can make -- something more robust in this location or that location or this component?'" The Chevy Volt is GM's first extended-range electric vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the safety of the Volt's lithium-ion battery pack; two have caught fire following crash tests. Barra said there is no way of knowing how long the investigation will take, and she stressed it's too early to tell whether any changes to the Volt's battery pack are even warranted. But if they are, she said GM will waste no time making them. "If it's something we feel is important to the safety of the vehicle that we want to do right away, we'll figure out a way to do it," she told journalists at an Automotive Press Association luncheon in Detroit on Friday. "That's not where we see it right now."   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Consumer Reports: Chevrolet Volt owners love their cars
Chevrolet Volt owners love their cars, according to the latest annual owner-satisfaction survey by Consumer Reports magazine released Thursday. The Volt is a $40,000 plug-in hybrid with a gasoline engine that kicks in when the batteries are drained. Of Volt owners who responded to the survey, 93 percent said they would buy one again. That kind of love beat out the 91 percent of owners of the Porsche 911 and Dodge Challenger with a V-8 that said they would repeat their purchase. But the Volt figures come with some caveats. The much-hyped car had only been in showrooms a few months when the survey was conducted and early buyers of high-tech vehicles tend to be enthusiasts. The survey also was completed before a federal safety investigation was opened into two fires sparked by Volt batteries after crash tests. General Motors Co. on Monday said it would provide free loaner vehicles to Volt owners who are nervous about driving their hybrid until the issue is resolved. And the editors at Consumer Reports say it remains to be seen whether the score will hold up when sales include a wider audience and owners spend more time with the vehicle that can be plugged in to recharge its lithium ion batteries. But the Volt's strong results do not come as a surprise. "These models reflect a larger trend we've seen in recent years: Sporty cars and fuel efficient cars with alternative drivetrains tend to generate more enthusiasm and loyalty than most other types of vehicles," said Rik Paul, Consumer Reports automotive editor.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) An oasis of autos pays tribute to art deco era
With the only navigable port between Los Angeles and San Francisco, it figured that this agriculturally endowed valley in Ventura County would become a commercial center, home to everything from California's largest strawberry and lima bean fields (and childhood home of Cesar Chavez) to a factory that processed sugar beets and, more recently, the place where BMW automobiles roll off ships and onto West Coast highways. It also was here, in a nondescript building in yet another nondescript industrial park, that Otis Chandler, long-time publisher of the Los Angeles Times, housed his personal and extensive collection of cars and motorcycles. After Chandler's death and the disbursement of his collection, another car collector, Peter W. Mullin, bought the building. Except for new signage and a roof that includes solar panels and wind turbines and a living green garden, all designed to minimize the museum's environmental footprint, the building remains nondescript on the outside. But inside, well, as noted on its tri-fold tourism brochure, the Mullin Automotive Museum is "an oasis of art and automobiles paying tribute to the art deco era when industrial themes blended with design innovations." Like cracking open a geode, a rock that looks like a mud ball until you open it up and see the sparkling gems inside, to open the museum's glass doors and step inside is like walking into another world, into one of the Paris Auto Salons of the 1930s. The decor is art deco, right down to the riveted steel support beams that hold up that environmentally friendly roof. Actually, the rivets and sculpted ceiling supports are just extremely well done fiberglass covers hiding typical industrial-building roof support posts. But they enhance the theme and are perhaps the only faux aspect of the place. The furnishings and the art are authentic -- Mullin's fascination with pre-war Paris extends to more than automobiles. And the cars on display not only are real, albeit with one recreated exception, but include some of the beautiful and rarest of their era.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Toyota Prius takes off as an affordable plug-in
Toyota began taking orders Tuesday for the plug-in version of its hit Prius hybrid, announcing efficient mileage and a relatively affordable starting price of 3.2 million yen ($41,000 US), which comes down with green vehicle subsidies. Toyota is targeting Prius Plug-in sales of 35,000 to 40,000 a year in Japan, and 60,000 globally. The car is set for delivery in Japan in January. With subsidies the cost comes down to 2.75 million yen ($35,200 US). It starts at $32,000 in the U.S. and 37,000 euros in Europe, according to Toyota. Japan's top automaker says the plug-in, which it calls the Prius PHV, is for those who want something more innovative than a regular gasoline-electric hybrid, but are worried about running out of power on the road, as can happen with pure electric vehicles. When a plug-in runs out of power to keep the electric vehicle going, it becomes a hybrid. "The plug-in is the premier next-generation ecological car that will follow the hybrid," said Executive Vice-President Takeshi Uchiyamada, the Toyota Motor Corp. engineer known as the "father of the Prius." The Prius Plug-in has an estimated electric vehicle cruise range per charge of 26.4 kilometres (16 miles), according to Toyota. Its mileage is estimated at 61 kilometres per litre for Japanese test conditions, which converts to a whopping 143 miles per gallon. Such numbers vary depending on road conditions. Toyota is promising 87 mpg for the U.S. Prius Plug-in, which will be delivered starting in March. Orders are already being taken online in the U.S. Green cars such as the Prius Plug-in are expected to take centerstage at the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public this weekend.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Toyota, BMW to work on cleaner car batteries
Auto giants Toyota and BMW said Thursday they have agreed to collaborate on research for cleaner, next-generation car batteries, underlining the growing push in the industry for green technology. The agreement brings together Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's No. 1 carmaker and a leader in gas-electric hybrids, and BMW AG of Germany, a European maker that has a strong luxury brand image in both Japan and Europe. "We are now joining forces to further develop environmentally-friendly technologies and to expand our innovation leadership in each of our segments," Norbert Reithofer, chairman of BMW, said in a statement. The two automakers will also work on improving lithium-ion battery technology, typically used in batteries for electronic gadgets and relatively new to autos. Toyota has struggled to find a good lithium-ion battery for its green cars and is using technology from Japanese electronics maker Sanyo Electric Co. in its latest plug-in hybrid, for which Toyota has recently started taking orders. Toyota had worked with Panasonic Corp. on a battery before the electronics maker acquired Sanyo, partly to get better lithium-ion technology. "This collaboration will allow for the development of the next-generation battery faster and at a higher level," Toyota Executive Vice-President Takeshi Uchiyamada told reporters at a Tokyo news conference.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) MIT figures out a way to predict red-light runners
What if your car warned you of an approaching red-light runner before you entered an intersection? New research may soon make that a reality. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have come up with an algorithm they say predicts when an oncoming vehicle is most likely to run a red light. Jonathan How, professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, says his team's algorithm can predict if an oncoming car will run a red light one or two seconds before a possible crash. Not much, but just enough to prevent a deadly collision. The algorithm can make complex calculations based on the rate of a car's deceleration as it approaches an intersection and its distance from the traffic lights. The team tested out the algorithm by applying it to data collected from more than 15,000 cars approaching a Virginia intersection. The result? The algorithm was able to accurately identify red-light violators 85 per cent of the time, an astonishingly high success rate. The system was also able to identify the offenders a good few seconds before a crash would've happened, giving other drivers enough time to react. The team says such calculations could be incorporated in future vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems to warn drivers. "If you had some type of heads-up display for the driver, it might be something where the algorithms are analyzing and saying, 'We're concerned,'" How said in a news release. "Even though your light might be green, it may recommend you not go, because there are people behaving badly that you may not be aware of." Vehicle-to-vehicle communication, or V2V technologies, isn't too far off. Both the U.S. Department of Transportation and Ford Motor Company are currently investigating the new technology. The results of the team's research will appear in the journal IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Toyota concept car resembles smartphone
Toyota's president unveiled a futuristic concept car resembling a giant smartphone Monday to demonstrate how Japan's top automaker is trying to take the lead in technology at the upcoming Tokyo auto show. Toyota Motor Corp. will also be showing an electric vehicle, set for launch next year, and a tiny version of the hit Prius gas-electric hybrid at the Tokyo Motor Show, which will opens to the public at the weekend. But the automaker's president, Akio Toyoda, chose to focus on the experimental Fun-Vii, which he called "a smartphone on four wheels" at Monday's preview of what Toyota is displaying at the show. The car works like a personal computer and allows drivers to connect with dealers and others with a tap of a touch-panel door. "A car must appeal to our emotions," Toyoda said, using the Japanese term "waku waku doki doki," referring to a heart aflutter with anticipation. Toyota's booth will be a major attraction at the biannual Tokyo exhibition for the auto industry. Toyota said the Fun Vii was an example of what might be in the works in "20XX," giving no dates.   [more]   [top of page]

November 27, 2011

Today in automotive history: on this day in 2007 the Brazilian racecar driver Helio Castroneves and his partner, professional ballroom dancer Julianne Hough, won the fifth season of the TV show "Dancing with the Stars." Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) U.S. opens formal probe into Chevrolet Volt for battery fires
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday it is opening a formal safety investigation into General Motors Co.'s extended-range electric Chevrolet Volt after additional tests sparked a second fire and raised more questions about the safety of the vehicle's lithium-ion battery packs. NHTSA said it was opening a preliminary investigation into about 5,000 Volts. Concerns were initially raised about fire after a May 12 crash test of the Volt by NHTSA. The agency performed a side pole impact test, followed by a post-impact rollover test on a Volt at a testing facility. Three weeks later, the unattended parked Volt caught fire. During that test, the vehicle's battery was damaged and the coolant line was ruptured. NHTSA has concluded that damage to the vehicle's lithium-ion battery during the crash test led to the fire. Last week, NHTSA performed three more crash tests simulating the damage to a battery pack observed from the first incident. On Thanksgiving Day, seven days after one of the Volts was tested, the car caught fire. That prompted NHTSA to open the formal investigation on Friday. On another car, smoke and sparks were reported after the crash test, but the vehicle "self-extinguished." In the car that caught fire on Thanksgiving the temperature of the battery briefly rose after the initial crash test. "The agency is concerned that damage to the Volt's batteries as part of three tests that are explicitly designed to replicate real-world crash scenarios have resulted in fire," NHTSA said in a statement. No fires among consumer-owned Volts have been reported, and no complaints of fires have been made. The government has not asked GM to halt sales of the Volt as it investigate.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Daimler to drop Maybach brand, focus on new Mercedes S-Class
Daimler AG will shut down the super-luxury Maybach brand to end almost a decade of losses from an auto that sells for more than $350,000 when a revamped version of the flagship Mercedes-Benz S-Class comes to market in 2013. "It would not make sense to develop a successor model," Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said in remarks confirmed by Daimler spokesman Marc Binder. "The coming S-Class is in such a way a superior vehicle that it can replace the Maybach." Daimler hasn't made a profit on the Maybach after deciding to reintroduce the 1930s-era marque in 2002, Zetsche said. Mercedes will double variations of the $95,000 S-Class to six as it seeks to boost annual vehicle sales by at least 10,000 a year and step up its challenge to Bayerische Motoren Werke AG as the world's top luxury-car maker. BMW and Volkswagen AG's Audi have grown at more than five times the pace of Mercedes over the past decade by adding new offerings faster. The 125-year-old manufacturer, which has also dropped to third in profitability, lost the luxury-car sales lead to BMW in 2005 and slipped behind Audi this year. "Mercedes is now also mounting the attack in the high-end segment," Zetsche said in comments to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, to be published Saturday. "We have always dominated this segment and that should continue to be the case. We don't want to wait until the others pull ahead." Daimler held extensive internal discussions on "which route promises the greatest possible success in the luxury segment," before concluding that sales prospects were better at Mercedes than at Maybach, the CEO said.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Once-in-a-lifetime Centennial Corvette Z06 too powerful to tame
It took Chevrolet 100 years to come up with this car: The 2012 Chevrolet Centennial Edition Corvette Z06. It was definitely worth the wait. Just look at it. Its Carbon Flash Metallic paint shines like icing on a cake that you can't stop devouring. It's temptation on wheels. And those are wheels with red trim and beefy calipers bulging under the silky black satin cast-spun aluminum. (The front wheels are one inch smaller than the back wheels, and they look wider than the Detroit River.) Every piece of this car just looks a little meaner: The big, chin-scraping splitter below the bumper, the flash of a carbon fiber stripe on the hood, and little details that are once-in-a-century kind of things. This Chevy includes a small graphic on the B-pillar of Louis Chevrolet -- the brand's namesake. Even the traditional Corvette racing flag gets a one-time adjustment, with Chevy adding the number 100 for the occasion. After all, you only become a centenarian once in your life. But most things turning 100 don't come with a 7-liter V-8 under the carbon-fiber hood. Maybe they should. This car is frightful on the road. It's an angry machine that you try taming only a little. You're never going to break it like so many mustangs or other wild ponies. You grip the wheel with as much fear as you do joy when you're tearing around town. And there's really no other way to drive it. It shreds highways.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Car buying still a hassle for women, survey suggests
According to the Wall Street Journal's Market Watch, buying a car remains a hassle for women. A recent poll conducted for CarMax, Inc., the largest retailer of used cars in the United States, suggested more than a quarter of the women surveyed felt they were not getting an effortless and quick transaction. A fair trade-in value and trustworthy salespeople were also cited as the other missing factors when buying a vehicle.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) World's cheapest car gets a makeover
Tata Motors released an upgraded Nano model, the company said on Monday, as it looks to improve on well below-estimate sales of a product touted as the world's cheapest car. Tata has sold around 130,000 Nanos since the car was launched in April 2009. The four-seater car costs as little as 140,000 rupees ($2,730 US), and was launched in a blaze of publicity in price-sensitive India. Sales have underperformed expectations, as rising input costs forced the firm to increase the car's price, and a land dispute at the model's original factory forced Tata to move production to an alternative site. In November, Tata offered Nano owners the option to install safety protection in their vehicles after local media reported that seven cars had caught fire. The carmaker said it was not a recall as the fires were specific to the units. The new Nano boasts increased fuel efficiency, a more powerful engine and new interiors, the company -- India's third-largest carmaker by domestic sales -- said in a statement. The new engine will be boosted by three horsepower to 38. The company also said the car's interior will be quieter. A "racier sounding exhaust" has also been added to give the car "a more assertive road presence."   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Sticky goo on Pennsylvania highway disables 150 cars
A flood of gooey black muck dropped from a tanker truck disabled about 150 cars and damaged an unknown number of other vehicles along a nearly 40-mile stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, officials said. A leaking valve on a tanker spread driveway sealant over the eastbound lanes of a long stretch of the Turnpike between New Castle and the Oakmont Service Plaza on Tuesday night, Turnpike spokesman Bill Capone said. Turnpike operations officials on Wednesday said 150 or more cars were disabled when the sticky goo covered their tires and wheels. Some state police and turnpike maintenance vehicles had to be towed away after getting stuck in the tarlike substance, according to the turnpike operations centre.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Man facing charges after ambulance taken for joy ride
A man who thought being in the driver's seat of an ambulance is better than riding a stretcher in the back is in custody after a wild ride in and around Edmonton. Police say an ambulance crew was attending to other duties at the city's University Hospital Wednesday night when a man hopped into their vehicle and took off. The ambulance clipped another vehicle during the getaway, but no one was hurt. Officers caught up to the fleeing emergency vehicle in a southeast neighbourhood and the RCMP joined the pursuit when it crossed into nearby Strathcona County. The vehicle came to a stop in an industrial area and the driver, who is in his 50s, was arrested. He's facing charges that include impaired driving and criminal flight from police.   [more]   [top of page]

November 20, 2011

Today in automotive history: on this day in 1923 the U.S. Patent Office granted Patent No. 1,475,074 to 46-year-old inventor and newspaperman Garrett Morgan for his three-position traffic signal. Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas wins Green Car of the Year
The 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas was named the Green Car of the Year on Thursday at a ceremony at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The Civic beat out a diverse field of finalists: the Ford Focus Electric, Mitsubishi i, Toyota Prius V and VW Passat with a diesel engine. The finalists, in conjunction with new models and concept cars shown by other automakers, represent virtually the full spectrum of green technology available on the market today. Michael Accavitti, vice president of marketing for American Honda Motor Co., said of the honor, "This, to Honda, is everything." "Environmental awareness is right in our wheelhouse," he said. Last year's winner was the Chevrolet Volt extended-range hybrid. This year, General Motors Co. had no finalists, nor did Chrysler Group LLC. The Civic is the fifth-generation model to run on natural gas. "There is no other vehicle like the Civic Natural Gas on American highways, and this recognition has been a long time coming for Honda," said Rob Cogan, editor of the Green Car Journal. The Civic Natural Gas debuted in 1998 but was largely a fleet vehicle. A few years ago, Honda started selling some to retail customers in four states. But with the redesigned 2012 model that went on sale last month, the automaker is expanding distribution to 200 dealers in 36 states. Honda is targeting 2,000 sales a year initially, but expects that to double, Accavitti said of the $26,155 car that gets 38 miles per gallon in highway driving and can be filled at home. A tank of compressed natural gas provides a range of about 240 miles.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Ferrari's 458 Italia fast, fun, supremely nimble
It's 9:30 on Friday morning and the call comes: My Ferrari is outside. I bound downstairs to find a huge delivery truck outside my Manhattan apartment. Nestled inside is a new 458 Italia mid-engine coupe, in dark gray, with an interior of tan leather. The driver slowly backs it onto the street as a crowd gathers. Then it's mine. Until Monday, anyhow, when it must return to Ferrari's northern New Jersey headquarters. If I'd actually bought this $225,325 car -- not including the extra $57,000 in options and a serious markup at the dealership -- and then waited for six months to a year, it would show up on my doorstep just like this. The 458 Italia is Ferrari's latest mid-engine, V-8 supercar, the successor to the extremely successful F430. Of the current lineup, it's the Ferrari I'd most want. I already know it's fast, fun and supremely nimble, having tested it last spring around the company's factory in Maranello, Italy. I've always wondered what it'd be like to own a Ferrari in New York City. Over four days and three nights, I'll find out. I consider a road trip, then decide that would be selfish. I've promised numerous friends a Ferrari ride and it's nearly impossible to lay hands on this rare beauty. My building's super, Namko, was snapping cell-phone photographs as the car was delivered, so he gets the first shot. Petting the lovely tan leather seats, he says, "This is more comfortable than my bed." Then I step on the gas and we shock forward. "My kids are not going to believe this," he shouts.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Study: Hybrid owners less likely to be injured in crash; pedestrians not as lucky
Hybrid vehicle owners are 25 percent less likely to be injured in a crash than their conventional counterparts, a new study found. But hybrids are 20 percent more likely to be in a crash with a pedestrian because they can be harder to hear. The Virginia-based Highway Loss Data Institute said the fact that hybrids are 10 percent heavier than traditionally powered vehicles is a big factor. "Weight is a big factor," says Matt Moore, HLDI vice president and an author of the report. "This extra mass gives them an advantage in crashes that their conventional twins don't have." Other factors, such as how, when and by whom hybrids are driven, also may contribute to the findings. Hybrid owners may be more safety conscious than non-hybrid owners since they are placing a premium on getting top fuel efficiency and may be more likely to drive more cautiously. The new finding is more good news for green-minded drivers who don't want to trade safety for fuel economy, the group said. "Saving at the pump no longer means you have to skimp on crash protection," Moore says. A Honda Accord hybrid weighs up to 3,600 pounds, while a traditional Accord weighs as much as 480 pounds less. A hybrid Toyota Highlander SUV weighs about 4,500 pounds, while a traditional Highlander weighs about 4,170 pounds. The study didn't look at the nation's best-selling hybrid -- the Toyota Prius -- because Toyota doesn't sell a non-hybrid version. In a collision involving two vehicles, people in the smaller, lighter vehicles are generally at a disadvantage. Automakers have been adding lots of extra air bags to small cars, hybrids, plug-in hybrids and EVs. Hybrid injury odds were 25-27 percent lower for collision claims, based on a review of insurance claims data. But the study found that hybrids may be as much as 20 percent more likely to be in a crash with a pedestrian. That may be because hybrids are in electric mode, they are harder to hear. "When hybrids operate in electric-only mode, pedestrians can't hear them approaching," says Moore, "so they might step out into the roadway without checking first to see what's coming." President Barack Obama in January signed the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010. The law requires the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to ensure that electric and hybrid car manufacturers add noises that alert the blind and other pedestrians. Because these cars operate so quietly, particularly at low speeds, they are involved in more accidents with pedestrians and cyclists who can't hear the vehicle coming, NHTSA has found. Congress asked that electric and hybrid vehicles emit a sound at low speeds so pedestrians recognize when a vehicle is approaching. In the tests, NHTSA said it is "trying to find the right balance between quiet roadways and pedestrian safety."   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Photo radar raking in the cash in Quebec
The Quebec government insists its use of photo radar is meant to save lives, but it's also proving pretty profitable for provincial coffers. A report by a legislature committee looking into the use of the 15 devices installed on Quebec roads since August 2009 says they have already generated $4.8 million in revenue for the province. But they're also credited with helping to reduce accidents with injuries and are dramatically reducing speeding in areas where they were set up. The photo-radar program cost $13.4 million to set up and by Sept. 30 of this year it has brought in $18.2 million in fines. Photo radar is also used in other Canadian provinces, including Ontario. Quebec Transport Minister Pierre Moreau insists the province isn't looking at photo radar as a cash cow and says it is helpful in making drivers slow down and reducing the number of accidents. Money from the program goes toward road safety. The legislature committee looking at the photo-radar program's future recommends the installation of more photo-radar traps in areas where there are a high number of crashes, or spots that are difficult for police to patrol. Officials added that police patrols are still the best way to enforce traffic laws.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Here's why I leave my bike at home
I live during the week in a downtown condo that's only two kilometres from here at the Toronto Star. I own a bicycle and am an experienced cyclist. But I do not ride it to work -- it's just too dangerous. It's not the cars or the trucks, although the taxis are always a threat. It's the other cyclists out there that clip by at speed, cutting off my options. It's the people who pedal up beside me at the lights and literally push their way through on the green. And a month ago, it was the guy who nipped past on my left side just as I was approaching a cab parked in the bicycle lane. I didn't see that cyclist when I did the shoulder check before pulling out around the cab -- it was after dark and he wasn't using a light. I almost -- this close! -- went into the back of the taxi. That was the last time I cycled to work. Now I walk, or drive my car. When I do ride, I don't cycle slowly; there are plenty of other bicycles out there travelling at half my speed. But it's a free-for-all on Toronto's city streets among cyclists that drivers witness every day: deking around parked vehicles that might open their doors at any moment, back and forth between lanes; blowing through stop signs and red lights because they don't want to waste momentum. The worst offenders, of course, are the couriers, but at least they have a reason for their apparently erratic cycling. Actually, they're very focused, concentrating on their task. They're supposed to cut through the traffic as quickly as possible, and when they park, they don't get in anyone's way. Bicycle couriers are mostly good at what they do. I have no argument with them. The slowpokes aren't a problem, either. They hug the curb and stand out among the traffic. If you want to cycle past them, just give them a wide berth, ding your bell when you're close and call out, "On your left!" That's the way it's supposed to work, anyway. That's what cyclists do on country roads, where there's more asphalt available and fewer potholes, and no streetcar tracks or swerving taxis. But it's different in the city. Nobody's ever called out to me, except for the guy who cursed as he flew by when I pulled out to pedal past a labouring woman on a one-speed. What was I supposed to do? Tuck in behind her and slow down because he wanted to pass from way back and was going more quickly? Wait your turn, buddy -- I was there first.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Justin Bieber drops $160,000 on new customized Range Rover
Justin Bieber has splashed out more than $160,000 on a customized Range Rover. The 17-year-old singer is hoping to impress his girlfriend Selena Gomez with the purchase of the 'Project Kahn' car, which has a sound system worth $80,000, leather interior, modified paintwork and a Cosworth engine. A source told The Sun newspaper: "Justin loves his motors even though he's barely old enough to drive." "His girlfriend Selena Gomez will be well impressed with his latest. It's the business." The 'Never Say Never' hitmaker is set to get the vehicle shipped from Bradford, west Yorkshire, Northern England, where he purchased the motor from the 'Project Kahn' operation -- whose previous customers have included England soccer star Wayne Rooney and TV star Katie Price -- to his Los Angeles home. He will add the motor to his fleet of vehicles, which includes a Batman-themed customized Cadillac and a Ferrari. Last month, he was pulled over by police in Los Angeles in his Batmobile-inspired Cadillac after he reportedly cut off an officer. He was given a warning and allowed to carry on his way. Earlier this year, the teen heartthrob was unhurt after being involved in a minor car crash when his Ferrari --- which he is thought to have been driving alongside an unnamed passenger -- collided into a Honda Civic at the Studio City area of Los Angeles.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Buyer of used minivan stunned after finding $500,000 cocaine stash
A California man was stunned to see what a previous owner of his minivan apparently left behind: $500,000 worth of cocaine jammed in the door panels. San Jose psychologist Charles Preston says the cellophane-wrapped cocaine was found when he took the van to a mechanic. Police were immediately notified. Preston says he noticed the driver's side window wouldn't go down all the way, but he figured he would live with it because the Town and Country van had a good air conditioning system. The San Jose Mercury News says Preston paid $14,000 to Thrifty Car Sales in Santa Clara for the 2008 white van in May 2010. Thrifty Car Sales owner Ron Battistella says he's willing to replace the van with a drug-free ride.   [more]   [top of page]

November 13, 2011

Today in automotive history: on this day in 1974 28-year-old Karen Silkwood was killed in a car accident near Crescent, Oklahoma, north of Oklahoma City. Silkwood worked as a technician at a plutonium plant operated by the Kerr-McGee Corporation, and she had been critical of the plant's health and safety procedures. In September, she had complained to the Atomic Energy Commission about unsafe conditions at the plant (a week before her death, plant monitors had found that she was contaminated with radioactivity herself), and the night she died, she was on her way to a meeting with a union representative and a reporter for The New York Times, reportedly with a folder full of documents that proved that Kerr-McGee was acting negligently when it came to worker safety at the plant. However, no such folder was found in the wreckage of her car, lending credence to the theory that someone had forced her off the road to prevent her from telling what she knew. Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Auto safety regulators probe Volt battery fire
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday it is investigating fire risks in the electric Chevrolet Volt because one caught fire three weeks after its battery was damaged in a government crash test. The Volt fire has prompted NHTSA to take a broader look at the safety and procedures for dealing with electric-vehicle batteries after crashes. NHTSA and General Motors Co. officials said they were unaware of any other fires in the 5,000-plus Volts that have been sold. The Volt has earned a five-star overall crash rating, the highest available. News of the fire comes as automakers try to convince American motorists that electric cars are a viable alternative to traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. General Motors Co. and Nissan were first to get them into showrooms, but other carmakers are rushing their own electric vehicles to the U.S. market. Although October Volt sales were the strongest since the car's introduction in December, the Detroit automaker is struggling to meet its 2011 sales target of 10,000. The fire took place in early June, after a May 12 side-impact test intended to replicate a crash into a tree or pole. After the crash test, NHTSA found a damaged battery and coolant leak and sent the car to a storage lot. Unlike a crash test with a gasoline engine, where the tank would be drained, the battery remained charged. GM believes that after sitting for three weeks, exposed to the weather, the coolant crystallized and interacted with the battery, causing the fire, said GM spokesman Rob Peterson. In a normal crash, the coolant interacting with a Volt battery would not cause a fire, he said. GM's protocol is to drain the battery of energy after a crash, but the automaker hadn't informed NHTSA at the time of the test, the company said.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Ford to unveil Evos in Vegas
Ford Motor Co. has chosen the 2012 International Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas to offer North Americans their first look at the Ford Evos concept, a plug-in hybrid with gullwing doors. The CES crowd, instead of visitors to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, will see the concept Jan. 10-13. The car made its global debut this fall at the Frankfurt auto show. Ford CEO Alan Mulally will be a speaker at CES for the fourth consecutive year. The Evos was designed to telegraph the future of Ford global design, with a sleeker profile, smaller headlamps and a new design for the iconic blue oval. The design will influence Ford cars and crossovers for the next five years. Some design cues are expected to be on display in Detroit when Ford unveils the new Ford Fusion. But the Evos also provides a glimpse of future technology for Ford, including the use of cloud computing to better connect the driver and data in the car with the rest of their world via smartphones and other devices. "The car gets to know you and can act as a personal assistant to handle some of the usual routines of a daily commute," said Paul Mascarenas, Ford chief technical officer. "The Evos concept changes the paradigm of how you interact with your car. Our vision is that the car should seamlessly adapt to the driver, taking the driving experience to a whole new level of personalization and convenience." Today's cars also have technologies to monitor the health of occupants, everything from heart rate monitoring to reminders to check insulin levels to allergy alert messages when driving through a high-pollen area. "Our wellness research and technologies are focused on relieving driver stress and enhancing a driver's situational awareness," Mascarenas said. "Drivers around the world are spending more time behind the wheel, and the car should not be another stress point in their lives." The Evos also relies on the cloud to make adjustments to the plug-in hybrid, which runs on lithium-ion batteries. The car can switch between running on battery or engine power to conserve energy according to how the car is being driven.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) As Fiat struggles in Italy's financial storm, Chrysler makes the difference
If Italy succumbs to the financial turmoil generated by the travails of the euro single currency zone, maybe there would be a silver lining to that cloud for Fiat. What if Italy followed Greece out of the euro, wouldn't that (after some initial aggravation) offer Fiat a get-out-of-jail card? Fiat, which now owns 53.5 percent of Chrysler, would get an instant boost to its business plan from what would be a huge currency devaluation, allowing it a massive price advantage as it reverted to the lira, and turning its Italian manufacturing into a huge profit maker at a stroke. Fiat's Italian manufacturing would become a jewel in CEO Sergio Marchionne's crown, lending instant credibility to his plan to break even in Europe by 2014, rather than its traditional role as a drag on the company which needs to be moved to some more benign location at the earliest opportunity. The short answer is; no chance, although every day's shock-horror newspaper headlines suggest the unthinkable could happen. Italy's exit from the euro zone is still unlikely, and Fiat will have to find some other way to break even by 2014. Few think it has much chance to do that, either, given its chronic shortage of new products, and a lack of money to design new ones. Fiat hasn't disclosed the extent of its European loses and doesn' break down results by region, but the company lost about $1.4 billion last year there, according to stockbroker Sanford C. Bernstein. This year European losses are said to be a bit less at $1.1 billion. Fiat Europe is effectively kept afloat by profits from its Brazilian operation, which, according to Bernstein analyst Max Warburton, generates about 150 percent of its annual EBIT (earnings before interest and tax). In Western Europe, Fiat sales, including its Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Chrysler and Jeep brands, fell 11.6 percent to 724,900 in the first nine months of 2011, according to Automotive Industry Data. Western European market sales overall slipped just under one percent.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Toyota recalls 550,000 cars globally for potential steering problem
Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it is recalling about 550,000 vehicles worldwide -- mostly in the United States -- for problems that could make it harder to steer. The recall affects 447,000 vehicles in North America, as well as 38,000 in Japan and another 25,000 in Australia and New Zealand, said Toyota spokesman Dion Corbett. In Europe some 14,000 vehicles are being recalled along with 10,000 in the Middle East and 14,000 in Asia outside Japan. Toyota has received a total of 79 reports about the defect dating back to 2007, said Corbett. There have been no reports of accidents or injuries related to the problems, he said. Toyota's reputation has taken a hit over the last two years due to a string of huge recalls that have ballooned to 14 million vehicles over that time, including millions recalled last year for acceleration problems. It faces damage lawsuits and lingering doubts in the U.S. about whether it had been transparent enough about the recall woes. Japan's largest automaker has been trying to communicate better with customers and empower regional operations outside Japan to make safety decisions. The news comes a day after Toyota said its July-September profit slid 18.5 per cent to 80.4 billion yen ($1 billion) on plunging sales caused by parts shortages from the tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan. It now faces such uncertainties from flooding in Thailand, where it has many suppliers and three assembly plants, that it declined to release an earnings forecast for the full year through March.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Ontario facing $1 billion in unpaid fines for traffic tickets, other offences
Ontario needs tougher penalties -- such as seizing cars and income tax refunds -- to deal with the $1 billion in unpaid fines from traffic tickets and provincial offences such as driving without insurance over the years. That was the push Wednesday from the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards after completing a 26-page white paper on the problem at the request of Premier Dalton McGuinty's administration. About $300 million is owed to the City of Toronto, now desperately looking for ways to raise revenue and cut costs. With governments at all levels facing a cash crunch, the money from scofflaws is needed to pay for programs and to ensure justice is not undermined, said Alok Mukherjee, president of the association representing civilian police boards across the province. "Our estimate is that the collectable amount is in the hundreds of millions of dollars," he said at Queen's Park. Toronto is due $36 million from 2009 alone -- part of $100 million in province-wide fines in default that year and enough to cover the projected shortfall in the 2012 TTC budget, the white paper says. For 2009, charts in the report show York and Durham regions are each owed almost $4 million, Brampton $5 million and Mississauga $2 million. One-third of fines are simply not paid after conviction and action is "long overdue," added Mukherjee, noting the problem rose "exponentially" after responsibility for collecting fines was downloaded to municipalities by the province in the late 1990s.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Man arrested after vehicle stopped going wrong way on Highway 407
Ontario Provincial Police arrested a 44-year-old man after he was spotted driving in the wrong direction on Hwy. 407 at 3 a.m. Wednesday morning. The driver was travelling eastbound in the westbound lanes and was stopped at Jane St., said OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford. "He was arrested for impaired driving," said Woodford. "He's being held for bail." The driver is expected to appear in court today. Police will release the driver's name and charges he faces after he appears before a judge in Newmarket. On Monday night, an 83-year-old Guelph man driving in the wrong direction died in a head-on collision on the QEW near Burlington.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) 9-year-old girl in tears as she testifies about driving accused drunken dad
A 9-year-old girl cried Tuesday as she explained how she drove a full-size van in suburban Detroit while her father sat in the passenger seat after a night of drinking whiskey. The girl said her dad, Shawn Weimer, asked her if she wanted to drive in the wee hours of Oct. 8. "I said yeah but I'd be a little scared," she said. Weimer, 39, was charged with child abuse after police in Brownstown Township stopped the van and found the girl behind the wheel. A judge will decide Nov. 15 whether he will stand trial. The girl cried throughout her brief testimony. Judge Michael McNally tried to calm her and offered a soft drink before calling a recess. Weimer sat at the defence table with his hands pressed together in front of his face. His daughter testified that he drank half of a bottle of whiskey and threw the rest away earlier that night. "Was your dad drunk?" assistant prosecutor Keisha Glenn asked. "He told me he was," the girl replied. The judge listened to a 911 call and also watched a portion of a surveillance video from a gas station where Weimer bragged about his daughter's driving skills while she munched on a candy apple. "Nine years old -- 9," Weimer said in the gas station. "We're leaving and she's driving. I'm drunk." Charles Girardot, a customer at the gas station, decided to call 911 and follow the van. He said the girl never swerved, stayed in her lane and even used turn signals before a police officer stopped her. "She's driving pretty good. I can't believe it," Girardot told a 911 dispatcher. McNally delayed his decision so defence attorney David Steingold could file objections to the felony child abuse charge. Steingold acknowledged to reporters that a 9-year-old can't legally drive in Michigan but said that's not the issue. To send Weimer to trial, the prosecutor must persuade the judge that his actions were likely to cause death or serious injury to his daughter. "Possible, yes. Likely, no," Steingold said after the hearing. "This young girl was very proficient" at driving small ATVs and mini motorcycles.   [more]   [top of page]

November 6, 2011

Today in automotive history: on this day in 1998 President Bill Clinton declared that part of Detroit would become an "Automobile National Heritage Area." Read more about this day in history at The History Channel.

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) Ten Things I Think I Learned from October Auto Sales
Car sales just don't make sense. Occupiers have taken over cities, no one can sell their house, the stock market offers more roller coaster rides than Ceder Point and everyone seems to think the entire U.S. economy is in the tank. But not car sales in the U.S. They just keep cruising along at a very healthy pace. Through October, U.S. sales have topped 10.5 million vehicles, that's a jump of a million vehicles compared to last year, or a 10 percent increase, according the AutoData Corp.'s figures. So what's going on? Here's my personal theory. People have money. Yes, unemployment continues to hover around 9 percent, but that also means the other 91 percent are still working, and those are the people buying cars and trucks. Take home sales out of the equation, which people aren't buying, and that means they've got even more money for cars. It makes as much sense as some of the other theories floating around trying to explain why car sales continue to climb despite all of the reasons they shouldn't. And one thing few seem to point to is that despite these tough times, carmakers are adding jobs, creating great vehicles and contributing more to our economy than just about any business around.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) GM could oppose sale of Saab to Chinese investors
General Motors Co. said Friday it might block the sale of troubled Swedish automaker Saab Automobile AB to a Chinese consortium. Saab, which is reorganizing in Sweden under court protection from creditors, has faced mounting financial problems since earlier this year as several funding sources fell through. It has built few vehicles since late March. "GM would not be able to support a change in the ownership of Saab which could negatively impact GM's existing relationships in China or otherwise adversely affect GM's interests worldwide," said GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem. GM is Saab's former parent company, and it was one of four brands GM opted to get rid of during its 2009 bankruptcy restructuring. GM owns the technology Saab uses to produce two key models, which gives GM the upper hand. Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. said last week they had agreed to buy Saab from its Dutch owner Swedish Automobile NV for $140 million, which bought Saab from GM in 2010. GM is the largest automaker in China through its joint ventures, and is concerned about the intellectual property it has licensed to Saab.   [more]   [top of page]

DETROIT NEWS (MICHIGAN, USA) NHTSA releases car theft lists
The Audi S8 topped the government's list of highest theft rates among new cars in 2009. And the Toyota Camry, which was 2009's best-selling car, was the most-stolen new car that year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tracked the theft rate among all new 2009 passenger vehicles stolen in 2009, and just released its report. The Audi S8 had the highest theft rate: 8.81 thefts per 1,000 vehicles produced. Just two out of 227 cars produced were stolen. Ford Motor Co.'s Shelby GT Mustang had the second highest theft rate with 8.61 vehicles per 1,000 stolen; five out of 581 total cars were stolen. Rounding out the top five: BMW M5 (7.58 per 1,000), Dodge Charger (6.47 per 1,000) and Honda S2000 (5.60 per 1,000). In sixth was the Mitsubishi Galant (5.11), followed by the Chrysler 300 (4.57), Infiniti M35/M45 (4.32), Cadillac STS (4.28) and Mercedes CL-Class (3.91). The report doesn't track light trucks, which include most SUVs, pickups and minivans. The Cadillac Escalade has typically topped the overall list of most-stolen vehicles, according to surveys. NHTSA said the overall theft rate declined to 1.33 per 1,000. It was down 21.3 percent from 2008's 1.69 per 1,000. "The agency believes that the theft rate reduction could be the result of several factors including the increased use of standard antitheft devices, vehicle parts marking, increased and improved prosecution efforts by law enforcement organizations and increased public awareness," NHTSA said.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Here's what we can learn from speed-hungry Germans
A pleasant Sunday morning outing to drink hot chocolate in a scenic setting. As we head in late January along Autobahn 81 toward Rheinfall, 170 kilometres away across the Swiss border, Marcus Breitschwerdt apologizes because the winter tires mean we can't exploit the full potential of his S-Class Mercedes. Given that I'm already doing 210 km/h, I'm hardly likely to pout. This is faster than I've ever driven on a highway and more than twice the legal limit in Ontario. Stunt driving? Street racing? Whatever they called it, they'd probably lock me up and throw away the key. Yet I'm well within my comfort zone, relaxed and confident. More to the point, my two passengers are happy, too. They're not bracing themselves (the driver can always tell) for imminent disaster. There's no sense of drama or of overwhelming speed. I'm looking well ahead, reacting early and giving myself plenty of time and space. As I close on a slower vehicle, it invariably moves to the right. No one's hogging the left lane or weaving about the road; no one's tailgating or neglecting their mirrors and being taken by surprise. We reach Rheinfall in about an hour and a quarter. The return trip takes a little longer because traffic is building. Including negotiating downtown Stuttgart and chatting briefly with a border guard, we've driven the equivalent of Toronto to Brockville in less than three hours. No muss, no fuss. In most other parts of the world, no way! Germany approaches driving holistically. Fast motoring demands high levels of skill, good highways and well-engineered cars. No one gets a licence without extensive training, both in theory and practice, and hefty taxes pay for autobahn upkeep. Not that they're all superhighways. Autobahn 81 has two, occasionally three, lanes in each direction and a narrow central reservation with, as Breitschwerdt puts it, "bulletproof" impact-absorbing fences. The surface is superlative. No expansion joints, no rough patches, no monotonous "ba-bump, ba-bump" to mark your progress. "We have relatively high gas taxes, which go toward the cost," says Breitschwerdt, a native of Stuttgart who recently stepped down as head of Mercedes-Benz Canada to take over M-B in Britain. "We have very few toll roads," he continues. "Germans are unforgiving toward the government for that sort of thing. They feel they pay enough in taxes."   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) New media are changing how dealers connect with customers
In September, I attended a conference in Las Vegas called the Digital Dealer Conference and Exposition. Before I arrived, I half expected the uber-geeks and technobabble to drive me to the nearest roulette table. Although I encountered a lot of technobabble, the central message came through loud and clear: it's a brave new world in communicating, and customers and companies that choose to get on board will achieve greater market share and customer loyalty as a result. One of the most consistent messages from the conference was the skyrocketing popularity of digital technologies (smart phones, text messaging, mobile marketing, location-based marketing), and how they are revolutionizing the way businesses communicate and stay connected to their customers. For new car dealerships, this shift towards digital communications has huge implications for their businesses. Some enterprising dealers have embraced new technologies by developing smart phone apps, publishing electronic newsletters and creating conversations on Facebook and Twitter. But the vast majority of dealers -- and I include myself among them -- are still finding it challenging to keep up with the latest technologies when it comes to engaging with customers online. Dealers who continue to rely exclusively on traditional forms of advertising (print ads, radio, TV, direct-mail) are missing the boat on a growing segment of the population that feels increasingly comfortable with the notion of sharing information and doing business electronically. In 2010, Forrester Research conducted a survey to determine the popularity of digital tools and technology among different generations. It concluded that a generational divide still exists between Boomers and Seniors, and Generation Xers and Yers. "Gens X and Y," the report concluded, "are setting the example of how future digitally native generations will live... and (are) outpacing Boomers and Seniors on almost everything technology-related." If further proof were needed about the influence of new media, last year Ford launched its new Explorer on Facebook and generated more traffic than a Super Bowl ad. And 90 per cent of consumers today trust peer recommendations, whereas only 14 per cent trust advertisements.   [more]   [top of page]

WHEELS.CA (ONTARIO, CANADA) Too old for the road: When should drivers hang up their car keys?
So when, exactly, should elderly drivers hang up their car keys? Right now, there's no national standard for evaluating them, something researchers at Candrive, a program drawing on scientists from 10 Canadian universities, hope to help fix. They're currently working on developing a reliable way for doctors to figure out which seniors can be safely on the road. Malcolm Man-Son-Hing, one of the program's principal researchers, says that in seven of the 10 provinces, physicians are legally responsible for evaluating their patients and reporting them to the government. Those decisions affect who will and who won't get to slide behind the wheel. "Yet there is very little scientific evidence on which to base the decision and that's led to a variation in practice across the country," Man-Son-Hing said in a telephone interview from Campbell River, B.C. Some doctors are more strict than others, he said, "and that leads to basically having your driver's licence often being based on who your physician is rather than any medical condition." Man-Son-Hing, who is affiliated with the University of Ottawa, noted that a certain percentage of the participants are expected to crash their cars during the study's five-year duration. One of the study's main objectives is to determine the characteristics of who gets involved in an accident and who doesn't. "We would be able to develop a screening tool to help clinicians, including family physicians, determine among their patients who are safe and not safe to drive," he said. In fact, the driving records of the participants for the three years prior to starting the program made up part of the research material studied by the scientists. "Interestingly, their crash rate is exactly the same as you would expect in the overall older population so that gives us some reassurance that we're getting a reasonably representative sample of older driver," he said. "Seventy-year-olds, per mile driven, are one of the highest crash-rate groups per age group similar to those of teenage drivers," Man-Son-Hing added.   [more]   [top of page]

YAHOO! (ALABAMA, USA) Owner of car dealership labelled "Taliban Toyota" wins millions
The owner of a large southwest Alabama car dealership derided as "Taliban Toyota" by a competitor has been awarded $7.5 million in damages after a jury trial for his slander claim. Iranian-born Shawn Esfahani, owner of Eastern Shore Toyota in Daphne, Alabama, sought $28 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Bob Tyler Toyota, claiming employees at that Pensacola, Florida-based dealership falsely portrayed him as an Islamist militant to customers. "The feeling I received in the courtroom for the truth to come out was worth a lot more than any money anybody can give me," Esfahani told Reuters on Tuesday. Esfahani's lawsuit said that Bob Tyler sales manager Fred Kenner told at least one couple considering buying from Eastern Shore Toyota in 2009 that Esfahani was of Middle Eastern descent and was "helping fund the insurgents there and is also laundering money for them." Esfahani, a naturalized U.S. citizen, fled his native Iran in 1980 following the Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah and swept Shi'ite Muslim clergy to power, his lawsuit said. He opened his car dealership in 2007. The Taliban, by contrast, are hardline Islamists in the central Asian nations of Afghanistan and Pakistan who follow an austere interpretation of Islamic law. A Bob Tyler salesman was accused of telling the same couple that Esfahani was from Iraq and calling him a "terrorist" who put soldiers including the salesman's brother in harm's way. "(Esfahani) is funneling money back to his family and other terrorists. I have a brother over there and what you're doing is helping kill my brother," the salesman told the couple when he called them on the Eastern Shore sales floor, according to the suit. The jury deliberated for three hours before awarding Esfahani $2.5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages on Monday evening.   [more]   [top of page]

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