GM's cross-brand cannibalization continues. The inbred Lambda triplets (Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook) now have a fourth sibling: meet the Chevy Traverse. To accommodate the family shopper-required third row, it looks pudgy and pregnant the way the Enclave does, except with a giant Chevy bowtie on the front. Since Ford's Edge outsells any of the Lambdas (and almost outsells them combined) and there were issues with supply for the Enclave, GM's reasoning for introducing this crossover behemoth escapes this writer. "Because some customers want Chevy products" is not an explanation. Engines and options are the same as the other siblings. Even the name is bad: with the TrailBlazer name familiar to many, and the TrailBlazer itself in a permanent vegetative state, there's no reason for Chevy to introduce yet another new product name. But above all else: didn't GM promise to stop with the senseless rebadges?
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What looks like a Chrysler, smells like a Chrysler, and has Plastech plastics like a Chrysler? It's the VW Routan minivan, a sad rebadge job that would make the boys at The Buslab, a Berkeley California VW bus specialist, cringe into their bean bag chairs. It looks like a giant bloated Chrysler minivan in person, and what's worse is that VW's hallmark high quality interiors go out the window in favor of a hallmark Chrysler interior. They've added buckets of chrome and it doesn't do any good whatsoever. The engine and transmission are also from Chrysler, so don't go expecting VW's 3.6 liter V6 or anything. I don't have much left to say except that it's an abomination.
One of the big car news events of the year has been the Hyundai Genesis. First, the details you need: RWD, three engine options (3.3 liter V6 from the Sonata with 240-ish hp, 3.8 liter V6 from the Azera with 270-ish hp, and the big boy 4.6 liter V8 with 380 horses). They still won't give any info on price other than "approximately what a 3-Series costs." And since that ranges from $32,000 to $50,000 (not counting the M3), that means about nothing. Now in terms of the vehicle itself, it has a general luxury-generic look, and the interior has well done parts (leather stitched on the dash) and some embarrassingly bad elements (fake wood a la 1994). The Hyundai PR flackers were totally tight lipped about a luxury brand in the US , and insisted they wanted to show people what Hyundai is capable of. Except that they aren't putting a logo on the front of the car, making it completely anonymous. It's hard to sell a "luxury" car alongside a 1.6 liter Hyundai Accent, and I think VW proved with the Phaeton that this kind of wild product diversity is a mess.
We stumbled upon GM's NA VP of Design Bryan Nesbitt in a small, windowless room semi-populated by a brown-nose of bloggers (infiltrated by TTAC in search of free food). Justin and I arrived just in time to hear Nesbitt explain why station wagons are cool in Europe: because everything is smaller there and they shop more often and something about old guys not hang-gliding off of Mont Blanc. Anyway, the confab broke-up and I asked Nesbitt what he thought of fake hood scoops. After a moment of PR-related facial rictus, Nesbitt said he didn't personally like them, but you gotta keep the customer satisfied. Hence the new Z28 Camaro will have a massive [functional] hood scoop. Yes, but what of the Pontiac G8 faux intake? Nesbitt said that GM's design studio is at the mercy of its customers, specifically dealers demanding extra bling. For example, Lund Cadillac Hummer Saab (Phoenix) retrofitting the 9-7x with a 3X-sized Saab badge, telling Nesbitt to get with the program (sacrilege!). Nesbitt admitted that a large part of his job is making the best of an ugly situation. "I may not like Hawaiian shirts, but I can make sure it looks as good and fits as well as it can." Let's call it aloha aesthetics.
Kind of an ugly sucker, no? And before you start groaning, Motor Authority reports the proposed Raptor can also run on regular gasoline. Obviously, Saleen already has the manic, monstrous S7 hypercar (which creates so much downforce it can be driven upside down) in its stable. Only problem there is, the massively scalloped S7 retails for $600,000. The S56 Raptor however, should it see the light of day, will sticker for "just" $190,000. And what does the monetary equivalent of a five-bedroom house in Albuquerque get you? A mid-engined, supercharged 5.0-liter V8 than can summon 650 horses and 630 lb-ft of twist. That will equate to a 0-60 time of 3.2 seconds and a top speed in the 200 mph 'hood. Our favorite part? It's getting a six-speed manual instead of some high-falutin' flappy paddle misnomer. Will they build it? Don't know. But you can never have too many supercars, now can you?
Automotive News [sub] reports that Chinese-owned Korean automaker Ssangyong has announced plans to offer the first production diesel-hybrid powertrain on the market come 2010. The hybrid technology was developed in Korea, and will be mated to a Mercedes-sourced 2.7 liter diesel engine and offered in the Merc ML-based Rexton SUV. We reported earlier that European manufacturers were the first to show near-production diesel-hybrids, but the Asian upstart looks set to beat them to the market. Of course these plans don't preclude a Citroen-like reversal, but then Ssangyong isn't dependent on government development funds. Don't expect the powertrain to appear stateside though, as Ssangyong tells Reuters that it has no plans to bring any of its vehicles to the United States. The firm is focusing on the European, Korean and Chinese markets, blaming "market conditions" (read: sagging demand and a weakening dollar) for preventing it from becoming the first firm to offer Chinese-built cars in the states.
First on the hit parade this morning was Acura's entry-level sedan. With sharp steering and a just-right size, it's what many of us used to really like about the Accord before it became a ginormous Buick. The TSX is unfortunately taking the same route. It loses the first generation's nicely-trimmed physique for Acura's new "pleasantly plump" design motif. In person, it's not as nice as the current TSX but a huge improvement over the Accord sedan. Best summed: inoffensive. The interior is bland and Accordian, and the back seat is tough for even a scrawny 5'7" guy (me) to get out of. The 2.4-liter four-cylinder carries over with approximately 200 horses and a tiny bit more torque than before. The notion of a V6 is still off the table (which is just fine) but I can't help but think the turbocharged four-banger out of the RDX crossover would have been a torque-steering hoot to drive. SH-AWD is also not coming to the TSX in this generation. That makes sense to keep the weight and cost lower, but it does limit how much power can go through those front wheels while maintaining the feedback that makes the TSX Acura's best driving car. Price should stay the same as the current car. While suffering from bloat, I still think this is the truest "Acura" that Acura makes.
Forbes reports that the latest showdown pits Porsche against the German state of Lower Saxony, which holds just over 20 percent of VW stock and is determined to maintain VW jobs in Germany. Porsche wants Volkswagen bylaws amended to remove remaining provisions from the "VW Law" which had protected the firm from takeover, but was struck down by a European High Court last year. The move is aimed at breaking Lower Saxony's de facto veto power, by abolishing the 80 percent threshold for important decisions and a 20 percent cap on voting rights. Meanwhile, Lower Saxony argues that the court decision only proscribes the combination of these two measures, and supports a new draft law which would maintain its veto power. Meanwhile, VW CEO Martin Winterkorn has accused Porsche of bringing labor (and by extension, Lower Saxony's) opposition upon itself, telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (via Reuters) that "Porsche scared employees unnecessarily at the beginning. To speak of 'sacred cows' — perhaps that wasn't very clever." How much more collegial can things get?
Volkswagen has three major products to show at the New York Auto show. First is the Passat CC (which doesn't mean coupe-convertible as in Europe, but just indicates a four-door low-profile sedan like the Mercedes CLS). It's great looking in person and beats the heck out of the dowdy regular Passat sedan. But it's Audi A4 money (high twenties into the forties in price), and anyone over 5'8" is going to have a heavy metal head-banging time in the back seat. Lovely car, but how does this fit with VW's mainstream image? I dunno. The Tiguan crossover is also on display, and it's coming to dealers in May. It's poorly packaged – despite loads of headroom, I'd reckon it has comparable cargo space to a 5-door Grabbit (Golf/Rabbit). Finally, I cornered VW PR Manager Keith Price and fired off questions about diesels. The plans are to have the 2.0 liter, 50-state diesel (no urea to refill) Jetta sedan and wagon in dealers during the summer. Mileage will be over 40 city, over 50 highway. The engine thumps up an impressive 236 lb ft of torque and will be available with this writer's all-time favorite transmission, the DSG. No plans for a diesel Rabbit in America, which I think is a mistake. VW of America wants to put the 2.0 liter diesel in the Tiguan as well, but the European market's demands are taking all the capacity for it, and the US is not as high a priority for oil burners. In spite of that, the Touareg gets a 3.0 liter diesel V6 next year.
Land Rover has announced that its LRX concept "cute ute" will be available in showrooms sometime in 2010. Auto Express tells us (over the sounds of retching from the Berkowitz household) that the name "Freelander Sport" is likely to grace the road-oriented, strangely-styled ute. Why would a firm which built its rep for utter capability off-road bring out such a compromised interpretation of its brand vision? It's the ecology, stupid. We're told that both the 2.2-liter diesel and the 3.2-liter V6 will be equipped with stop-start technology as the brand struggles to prepare itself for new EU CO2 average emissions standards which go into effect in 2012. There's even talk of a hybrid powertrain down the road. So, think of this as Landie's answer to Ken Livingstone's crusade against "Chelsea Tractors." It's more of a "Chelsea Riding Mower," really
Ford CEO Alan Mulally told Bloomberg that the Blue Oval is prepared to cut more jobs if their employee buyout package fails to meet its goals. Coming the day after the close of the buyout package, Mulally's comments indicate that the effort was not a stunning success. "We don't have all the data yet," Mulally said of the buyouts. "This is just one step in the process. We have a lot of different mechanisms to right-size the place.'" Mullaly declined to provide further details, preferring that industry watchers simply savor the delicious irony of that classic euphemism "right-sizing." If the buyout package has indeed failed to reach its 8,500 minimum-taker mark, it wasn't for lack of Ford's efforts to convince its employees to run while they can. "The old ways of doing business are gone," wrote manufacturing chief Joe Hinrichs and VP for labor affairs Marty Mulloy in a cheerful op-ed which was distributed to newspapers in Ford factory towns. "We must continue to downsize and simply will not have enough jobs for all of our current hourly workers."
It is no secret that the premium sedan market is a German playground. No matter how hard the outsiders try, they have a real tough when it comes to beating Audi, Mercedes, and BMW at their favorite game. French manufacturers strive to address this issue by throwing in their well-known non conformism. Citroen, a traditional individualist, seems to be the best at this with their luxury-hatch, the C6. Renault used the same hatchback approach in the VelSatis, unfortunately in a less inspired way. The only French manufacturer to stick to the traditional tricorp body is Peugeot with the 607. This doesn't seem to be a very successful solution either. Maybe the best way towards a successful French sedan is a compromise between the aforementioned. Peugeot showed us what the future is going to look like last year in Geneva with the 908 RC Concept. I tried to see how the futuristic lines of the show-car can be translated onto a production version. Does this stand a chance against a 5-Series or an A6? I don't really think so, but it's a noble effort.
[For more Avarvarii photochopistry, click here]
Green Car Congress reports that Subaru will announce testing of its R1e electric vehicle (EV) tomorrow, 20 March 2008, and will subsequently display a prototype at the New York International Auto Show. They will also provide two R1es to the New York Power Authority for evaluation. Subaru claims that the 40kW drive motor will give the two-seater R1e a top speed of 65 mph and range up to 50 miles. NEC, NEC TOKIN and Nissan have formed a joint-ventur, Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC), to provide automotive lithium-ion batteries. AESC's 346V battery pack uses lithium manganese oxide spinel (LiMn2O4) as the cathode's active material. Besides recharging to 80 percent capacity in 15 minutes, the battery should be resistant to overcharging and thermal instability. At least that’s what they say.
Holy midnight, Batman! Porsche has 777 sinister Caymans heading out of the Batcave, but only 250 will make it here to Gotham cities. Bloomberg describes the new black-on-black, limited edition from Porsche Design Studio as having Batmobile looks – but claims the design inspiration was the Chronograph 1 wristwatch, the Studio's first design. Starting at $69,900, the body, door handles, air intakes, striping and Design Studio logo are a variety of matte and shiny blacks. Nineteen-inch Turbo wheels are silver and active suspension is standard. Interior is – you guessed it – black leather, soft-touch black-painted metal, and black Alcantara (faux suede) steering wheel, gear shift and handbrake. For chasing bad guys, the 3.4 L, 295 hp six goes 0 to 60 in 5.1 seconds reaching 171 mph. And 18 mpg in traffic and 26 mpg on those long pursuits means you won't need Bruce Wayne's credit card to pursue justice.
KFOR reports nearly a year and half since the last Trascendavoy rolled off the assembly line, GM is finally unloading selling their Oklahoma City Assembly Plant. In what might be termed a mini government bail-out, Oklahoma County Commissioners are asking voters to approve a $25m bond to purchase the defunct plant. Oklahoma County has talked extensively with Tinker Air Force Base officials in the hopes Tinker will lease the gigantic space to expand the OKC Air Logistic Depot (an aircraft refurbishment center where KC-135 Tankers, B-2 Stealth Bombers, B-1's, and my own E-3 Sentry AWACS are stripped and rebuilt to fly again). Lets hope for my own safety, the Ghosts of GM Past have left the building so Tinker doesn't rebuild my jet to TrailBlazer levels of quality. Oklahoma County residents vote on the bond on May 13th.
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