News of someone stealing a car and leading police on a wild-ass chase is fairly common. However, KPRC in Houston, TX reports that just such an incident in southeast Texas has an unusual twist: reporter Mariza Reyesthe says the driver of this stolen car was "barely old enough to see a PG-13 movie, much less have a drivers' license." Montgomery County sheriff's deputies say a 13-year-old boy stole a car from his girlfriend's parents' home in Willis, TX, at about 2 A.M. Police chased him on the North Freeway southbound, with Harris County deputies joining the chase at about 3:45 A.M. The Houston police joined the fray when the chase entered that city. The pursuit ended on I-45 (Gulf Freeway) when the teen sideswiped another vehicle and crashed into a concrete barrier. The driver of the other vehicle was not injured. The teenager was arrested and could face charges of reckless driving, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and driving without a license. I wonder what Caitlin Flanagan would say about this young man's "dangerous night" out?
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The Detroit Free Press reports that Alvaro de Molina has been named to replace Eric Feldstein as CEO of GMAC "because of rising mortgage defaults and slowing auto sales." The Cerberus-owned finance company lost $2.3b last year and things don't look so hot this year, either. So where is Feldstein going? As seems to be the trend nowadays with execs who lose billions, he's being bumped up the corporate ladder where he will "will advise Cerberus on investments in financial services companies" according to a GMAC statement. Yep… sounds like just the guy I'd trust for advice on financial services.
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GM won't make the Easter deadline to have a Volt test mule on the streets. Nor will they make the April deadline Car Czar Bob Lutz revised it to. CNNMoney reports he's now saying they're looking at two competing battery developers and they want to "run the two in parallel a while longer" How much longer? Lutz didn't say, but he still insists they'll launch the Volt in "late 2010." The two companies, Compact Power and Continental Automotive Systems, are in what Maximum Bob termed a "horse race" to see which they'll go with. He also insists "the battery technology is working great" and the development problems "aren't fundamental electrochemical problems [but] simple engineering problems." He estimates by 2015 between a quarter and a third of GM's production will be hybrid-electric or alternative-drive vehicles to meet the new CAFE standards. Keep in mind, though, that this comes from a grown man who still believes in the Easter Bunny .
As the American Axle strike stretches into its fourth week, GM still maintains it's not affecting them. Not that they'll admit, anyway. With truck sales (real trucks, not them sissified half-breed crossover things) down 20 percent last month, they've weathered the storm pretty well with what they had on hand when the strike started. As the strike progresses and the inventory starts getting picked over, they're going to start feeling some pain as buyers look elsewhere for their $50k crew-cab, long-wheelbase, four-wheel-drive, six liter commuter vehicles. Since The General counts a "sale" when they ship a vehicle to a dealer, this quarter's sales will look really bad (but they'll have the strike to blame it on). Once production resumes and they start stuffing the supply channels again, you can bet GM'll be bragging about their best truck sales in years. But now CNNMoney reports Standard & Poors placed GM's ratings (as well as those of American Axle, Lear and Tenneco) on "creditwatch with negative implications" because they "believe the strike has gone on long enough to possibly begin to affect the financial resources of GM and those suppliers most exposed to the automaker." I wonder how Rick Wagoner will spin that one!
For rich, impatient people that think $40 grand is a fair price for a Dodge (regardless of the 425 horses under the hood), the Challenger SRT8 does the job. For the rest of us, there are "regular" Hemi and V6 versions of the uber-retro pony car. They look quite good – better than the SRT8, I'd wager – and they pack a triplet of drivetrain options. The base engine is the 3.5 liter V6 with 250 horses and a, gulp, 4 speed auto. Next up is the 5.7 liter Hemi we all know and mostly like, with a 5-speed auto and 370 horses (an increase over the 340-350 in the Charger, and 9 more than GM's G8 GT natch). Finally, if you get a 6-speed "pistol grip" manual transmission, the most phallic gear lever in a universe of phallic gear levers, you can have 375 horses, and the privilege of filling up with premium gas. Prices aren't out yet, and the interior still is an unfortunate retro joke.
The best and worst aspects of Pontiac's Solstice roadster are that it's a convertible and that it's a convertible (yes, I said this before). With the embargo expiring at 12:01 AM on Wednesday, the first press day of the NY Auto Show, the bloggers with pictures (not us, we would have just posted them when we got them) have revealed to the world the new Solstice Targa. It's a hardtop, it's a convertible, it's a targa. The center roof panel, in either solid material or fabric lifts out for a more convertible-resembling experience. If you think of it as a convertible, it totally sucks. However, if you think of it as a coupe that happens to have a nice large sunroof (a la the Corvette), then it makes a lot more sense. I just hope that the hardtop fits in the trunk and allows space for a packet of gum or other luggage. Somehow I doubt it. Everything else remains unchanged, and we'll have live shots throughout the day.
When I drove a Buick Terraza around Berkeley last fall, I was overwhelmed by the sense of occasion that came with it. The car had so much ghetto cachet I almost fell in love with it. It reinforced all of the car enthusiast prejudices I harbored about minivans (i.e., they suck). And for that, I thanked it. The Toyota Sienna, on the other hand, proved to be a bigger challenge. Each time I wanted to hate some aspect of the minivan, I found myself pleasantly surprised. I don't think I'm giving anything away saying right from the outset that the world's most boring carmaker has made the best example of the world's most boring type of car.
Montreal's largest French language daily has published a study on its site comparing 250 vehicles available for sale in Canada on the basis of MRSP, city fuel consumption, highway fuel consumption. Even better, La Presse published the numbers in a Microsoft Excel file where the findings & methodology are bare for all to see, giving full license to challenge the article's findings. (Imagine Car & Driver or Consumer Reports doing this!) For example, the study's author, Canadian auto-journalist Alain McKenna, states that American cars top the study by having the lowest operating cost per year. When I sorted the file, I noticed the top three cars were The Chevrolet Aveo, the Pontiac Wave and the Suzuki Swift+. If by "American", he means "Captive Korean imports badged by General Motors", I suppose he has a point. He also fails to consider depreciation and maintenance expenses, which tend to be much higher on domestics. Still, it's quite an interesting spreadsheet to review if you're a numbers geek like I am. McKenna also points out that some of the cheapest vehicles are not what you'd expect, noting that three pick-ups, The Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Colorado and the Mazda B2300, all beat out the Toyota Prius. Speaking of the Prius, where did it end up? In 67th place, just edging out the V6 Mustang by $0.04/100 km of operation.
Anybody remember California's ambitious Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) program? State regs mandated that ZEVs had to account for five percent of all new vehicles sold in California by 2001, rising to 10 percent by 2003. The ZEV program was eviscerated in 2003; automakers were required to sell just 250 ZEVS per year AND they could receive credits for Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) and hybrids. Despite record gas and oil prices and CA's ongoing battle with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over tailpipe emissions, the California Air Resources Board is about to reduce the ZEV requirement to 150 ZEVs per year until 2015. Citing Gov. Schwarzenegger's signing of the nation's first global warming law and the Million Solar Roofs Plan, nonprofit PlugIn America is urging the Governator to strengthen the ZEV program and save the electric car. Celebrities and environmentalists– including the oddly but appropriately named Ze'ev Drori, CEO of Tesla Motors— either cosigned, emailed or faxed letters of support. Even though Arnie's got a Roadster on order, the chances of him intervening are only slightly better that he'll get his EV next week (year?).
Back in July, we brought you news of Honda's plans to build a new V8 engine for its passenger cars. Once again the rumor mills are milling away, with Edmunds' Inside Line reporting that Acura will be bringing a 400+ horsepower V8 luxury sedan to market, with a speculative price tag of $70k. Acura's image problems aren't just that they don't sell a car that's truly competitive with the E-Classes and 5-Series of the world. It's that they aren't viewed as a truly top-tier luxury brand. Just because they price a car in that category, it doesn't mean they'll become part of the German trifecta overnight (see: Cadillac). The near luxury gig works well for Acura, and I argue that there's no shame in topping-out your model line at $45k (other than a future NSX)– and making money while doing it. Rather than another BMW pretender, most enthusiasts would probably prefer the return of truly enjoyable, affordable, and maintainable cars like the Integra and Legend.
Recordnet.com reports on a new trend: "green" auto shop. To wit: Mark Armstrong's students at Santa Rosa Junior College have upgraded dozens of cars to run on biodiesel. They've converted five cars to run on vegetable oil, modified one to use ethanol and transformed three into electric vehicles. Mike Yonan and his automotive seniors at the Weber Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology modded a fire-engine red 2002 Neon to run on eight lead-acid batteries. Armstrong, who owns a heavy equipment repair business, believes the work teaches his charges self-reliance, resourcefulness and [left coast] Yankee ingenuity. "If we really want alternative fuel vehicles, let's get off the couch and start making them." Yonan says amen to that, and counsels his fellow students to learn the value of simple persistence. "Thinking hurts. Sometimes it gets so frustrating you don't really want to do it. But you think about what it's going to be like and keep going."
Hyundai sales executive Young-Key Koo revealed to China Daily (via MotorAuthority) that the Korean carmaker will be spinning off a new luxury brand. The new nameplate caps Hyundai's steady upmarket climb, and could well compete with Acura, Infiniti and Lexus in the not-too-distant but not-anytime-soon future. The brand will be officially launched in 2010. New luxury models will hit China first. A sportscar and V8-powered "flagship sedan" are set to arrive in the Middle Kingdom next year, with a CUV to follow. News of a new name and logo has our hopes high for something hilariously generic, yet totally inappropriate. "The all new Smegma V8" sounds good to me, as does "The European-Inspired Ennui Roadster." So we put it to you, TTAC's Best and Brightest. What should Hyundai call its new luxury brand?
Previously, on "this is going to get really bad," analysts had predicted that the U.S. new car market in '08 would crater to 15.7m units. According to Dealer magazine, J.D. Power's mob have had another look at the situation and shaved another 800k units from the annual sales forecast. J.D. reckons the industry will only shift 14.95m "light vehicles" (cars, SUVs, minivans, etc.) this year. To put that in perspective, U.S. dealers moved some 16.15m light vehicles in 2007; down 2.5 percent from 16.56m in 2006. Or, less statistically, "New-vehicle sales in 2008 are expected to reach their lowest levels since 1994." J.D.'s executive director of automotive forecasting says the trend established in the last two months is a sign of things to come– only more so. "While the automotive industry's slow performance in January and February certainly contributes to the anticipated drop in new-vehicle sales," Jeff Schuster warned. "Declining consumer confidence and spending, as well as turbulent financial and economic market conditions, are primarily driving the decline." The good news: J.D. is predicting a "slow rebound" in auto sales during the second half of '09 into '10. The bad news: they could be wrong.
Longtime readers of this website may recall my antipathy towards auto shows. I view the opportunity to watch new product reveals (and attendant spin mongery) with about much relish as I anticipate So You Think You Can Dance? And yet, I'm off tomorrow, dancing with suits. I'm Acela Expressing to the Big Apple to meet-up with Justin for the New York Auto Show. My goal: to ask the tough questions that my colleagues are unwilling or unable to posit. Suffice it to say, I don't think I'll be making any friends. But that's not my nature nor my vocation. I am concerned only with our mutual desire to discover and share the truth about cars. In this, I am your (I swear) humble servant. If you have any suggestions for lines of inquiry, please share them here. Meanwhile, wish me luck.
After nine thousand righteously violent miles, I had to slap a new set of Goodyear Eagle F1s on my WRX. I suppose if I had behaved, the previous set would have lasted (much) longer. But after giving them a good inspection this weekend, I noticed massive tread wear and a sidewall blister the size of my big toe. Eight months ago, all four tires plus installation cost me $644. This time 'round? $685. But hey, who's counting? Well, actually, me. As the WRX takes nothing but the good stuff, I'm now paying $3.99 per gallon. Then there's the monthly car payment, outlandish insurance (you try being a single male in LA with a turbocharged car and a ticket or three) and my propensity to mash the front of my car against, um, rocks. And let's not forget $60 bucks every 5k miles for synthetic oil. And car washes, tuneups and after-market mods that I don't really need. All said and done, I'm broke. Contrast the above with my buddy Dylan's bio-diesel powered Ford F250. During a recent cruise in his French fry-powered Ford, I was struck by the fact that his motoring didn't cost him a red cent. The truck is paid for, the tires will never wear down and all the Asian restaurants in the East Bay are happy to give him their old Frialator oil. So I'm asking: how much are you spending on your car/cars?
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