Eight years ago I was looking at the exact same speedometer in a Honda Helix scooter. No joke. The speedo in the Helix and Insight are absolutely one and the same. Now most of you may not know what a Honda Helix actually is. Fair enough. It’s a very large scooter that can go 70 mph, get 70 mpg, and puts you in a near recliner position when on the road. Honda happily made them for 20 years. The Insight? Well multiply the Helixes $5000 cost by five and you pretty much get all that and the most fun to drive hybrid on the road today.
The Toronto Star reports that Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) president Ken Lewenza is repeating his call for import restrictions to protect his members’ livelihoods. But the chairman of the union’s bargaining committee isn’t making it a “do or die” precondition for Canadian bailout bucks for GM. “The union has repeatedly told Ottawa to fix the trade problem and limit imports, but Buckley would not comment on whether the federal and Ontario governments should refuse GM’s current requests for loans if the company plans to increase imports here.” Meanwhile, Lewenza said there are “multiple proposals for active workers which are much different” than what Chrysler employees recently accepted—so that company could qualify for Canadian aid. That said, “We are close to the end of our ability to give . . . Sooner or later, GM and the federal and provincial governments will realize that.” Reassuringly enough, there is some common ground: both (all?) sides agree that GM’s pension plan is in far worse shape than Chrysler’s after years of minimal contributions, made possible by a special provision in provincial legislation. See how that works?
Three years ago yesterday, on a Jalopnik-TTAC joint podcast, a certain Robert Farago foresaw the rise of a “hybrid aesthetic” in automotive design. In order to break into the consumer psyche, went his logic, a hybrid car must look unmistakably like… a hybrid. Fast forward to 2009 and the new Honda Insight seems to confirm that looking like a hybrid means looking like a Toyota Prius. Chevy’s Volt might someday become the third member of the Prian party, while the forthcoming Lexus HS250h looks to be a Prius rebadge of GM-level laziness. If hybrids are the cars of the future, are we doomed to inherit a world of identical, beetle-shaped rides?
Speaking with the New York Times, Ford Marketing maven Jim Farley had some soothing words for Ford dealers: we’re not going to cap yo ass [paraphrasing]. Yet [extrapolating]. Farley’s also taking the opportunity to hammer home Ford’s mantra: we didn’t take government money, so we’re cool, right? This time, Farley went further, predicting that FoMoCo could benefit from the death of those Detroit automakers who did/do. “Mr. Farley was particularly critical of the Chrysler plan, noting how it would affect millions of consumers with little warning. ‘It seems very abrupt and unplanned,’ he said. ‘You don’t orphan four million customers overnight without some fallout.’ Some of those customers, primarily those in rural areas, will migrate to Ford dealerships, he said. ‘It really depends on how G.M. and Chrysler handle these orphan owners,’ he said. ‘If they don’t give them a lot of attention, it will result in consumers going to other brands.’” Hint. Hint. Of course, there be dragons. And Farley knows it.
I own a 1999 Honda Accord EX V6 Coupe with 103k miles. Should I sell it now or keep it?
The Positives:
1) Purchased new with 9 miles on the odometer.
2) Used Mobil 1 synthetic oil changed at 5k intervals.
3) Stays in a garage at night.
4) Reliable with only Delphi alternator failure outside of warranty.
5) Still looks good.
The Negatives:
1) Design defects in automatic transmission.
2) Only drained and replaced transmission fluid at 90k miles per manual instructions. Should have replaced earlier.
3) Due for expensive timing belt replacement.
Normally a fairly well maintained used car is worth more to its original owner than to someone else, but the 1999 Accord has an unusual combination of a high resale value combined with significant transmission problems. Looks like a case where I should sell it now before I have to spend more money on the car. Any thoughts?
According to Forbes, German automaker Daimler has purchased a 10 percent stake in Silicon Valley’s EV sweetheart, Tesla Motors. “The two companies are already working together on using Tesla’s lithium-ion battery packs and charging electronics in Daimler’s electric version of its two-seat Smart car. The stake’s value was not disclosed, but [Daimler’s R&D meister Thomas] Weber said it was in the double-digit millions.” Don’t you just love it when German managers go all coy about their American acquisitions, like, say, when Daimler bought Chrysler? Of course, we mustn’t forget Musk. Announcing the news, Elon did what he does best: pile on the hype. “Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a statement that the partnership would help it bring the Tesla Model S car to production faster and ‘ensure that it is a superlative vehicle on all levels.'” Excuse me? Other than providing cash for battery packs for the Smart, where’s the bit about Mercedes helping Tesla develop the Model S? Oh maybe it’s something to do with this . . .
The fact that Chrysler is [still] offering buyouts to its United Auto Workers (UAW) employees is not news. The fact that this money is coming from the federal government is also no biggie, actuality-wise. I mean, whose money did you THINK they were using? But the Detroit Free Press report that ChryCo has upped its cash-and-a-car offer to its unionized veterans—to convince them not work at the bankrupt automaker’s closed factories—is a bit odd. Yes, “The autoworkers are now being offered up to $115,000 plus a $25,000 vehicle voucher to leave Chrysler voluntarily. The larger lump-sum payment, which was increased from $75,000 in earlier buyouts, is available to workers under 50 years old who have 10 or more years of seniority. Workers 50 or older who qualify for some pension benefits won’t receive that type of onetime payment. But those with 30 years, or whose age and years together exceed 85, will receive $50,000 plus the $25,000 voucher for a new Chrysler vehicle.” And here’s the kicker . . .
Residents fed up with the promotion of red light cameras and speed cameras in Longview, Washington are looking to cut off the ability of city council members to impose the technology. Local activists Mike Wallin and Dave Grumbois last week announced a drive to collect the 2786 signatures needed to give voters a chance at the ballot box to block the expected installation of automated ticketing machines in the community of 35,000. “We have heard enough from The Daily News, city staff and the city council, so we are inviting the community to listen to our perspective of the use of traffic cameras,” Wallin said in a statement. “We can’t sit idly by and let the city’s desire for more revenue trump common sense and conventional wisdom. We the people must act now.”
From the 1970s to the 1990s, Honda earned a reputation as the most technically innovative and ecologically sensitive Japanese automaker. Honda introduced the first hybrid to the American market. Unfortunately, its rep for green tech leadership took a big hit when the original Insight, an EV1ish tear-drop-shaped two-seater, was totally eclipsed by Toyota’s Prius. Hybrid versions of the Civic and Accord did little to stem Toyota’s PR gains. For 2010, Honda has introduced an all-new Insight hybrid. Does this car have a shot at ending Toyota’s dominance of the green car mindscape?
The Porsche/Piech family feud has reached high politics and the gutter—which, according to some views, is about the same. Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the “hot phase” of the (European, ho-hum) elections, notably in Wolfsburg, seat of Volkswagen.
She was flanked by Christian Wulff, premier of Lower Saxony, owner of 20 percent of Volkswagen. Also there—unusual for a campaign rally—VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, and VW’s workers’ council chief, Bernd Osterloh. A show of unwavering unity, a signal to Stuttgart. Their contribution to the election that sends representatives to Brussels? A salvo in the direction of Brussels: “We are fighting for a Europe that doesn’t interfere with all decisions,” said the Chancelloresse. “One of these sacrosanct decisions is the VW-Law.” The very law that keeps Lower-Saxony in the driver seat of VW and keeps the riff-raff from Stuttgart from taking control of Volkswagen. Premier Wulff said it more clearly: “The sole dominance of VW by Porsche has failed.” And it’s getting steamier . . .
I’m no stranger to this ungodly hour. Having raised four daughters, I know why the early bird gets the worm: Lumbricus Terrestris hasn’t had time for a cup of coffee. Still, needs must. TTAC may have crested 1m viewers per month, but we’re still eyeball based. Our survival still depends on ad revenue. So we need to give as many potential readers as possible a “taste.” Hence the early hour. I’m about to get picked up by a local car service to take me to a radio station to argue against CAFE standards and for a gas tax. Should be fun. Tell all your friends! Well the ones with small children. Thanks. [click here to listen to the interview on WNYC Radio and Public Radio International’s “The Takeaway”]
The chief engineer on GM’s Volt project may have admitted that the new Chevy Cruze isn’t “pretty,” but it still has to be a big deal for GM. Korean-built Cruze was recently launched in China, with the star of the show Prison Break as its spokesman. The interesting part is that, according to Automotive News [sub] “the actor is famous in China even though the series has never aired officially in the mainland, a sign of how entrenched intellectual property theft is in China.” If that’s not an auspicious start, it’s hard to say what is. Angus Mackenzie of Motor Trend got to tool around in a China-spec Cruze at the launch, and the best he gives it is “good in parts.” His unconvincing conclusion is that “the good news is the basics are there. Now GM must sweat the details.” Oh boy.
The folks at Mashable love to measure buzz, twits and general internet exposure, and they’ve come up with a few graphs that show how the automakers are weathering the current unpleasantness. And they show that (by the numbers, anyway) Ford is the most new-media savvy of the American automakers. Which means that on the straightforward (and questionably effective) metrics, Ford comes out on top. Most Twitter followers. Most Twitter updates. Most Youtube video tags. Most Flickr photos. Stop me if you’re getting too excited. But despite the huge numerical advantages that Ford boasts in the YouTwitosphere, the most interesting fact is that Ford is the least-covered automaker in actual news stories but most-covered in blog posts. Which means a lot of Ford’s measurable popularity might be attributable to the lack of bad news about it in the mainstream media. Not taking a bailout probably helped, too. Either way, you can’t help but wonder what the benefit really is of most of this “new marketing.”
Politics is the art of the possible. In other words, it’s the art of manipulating expectations. In other other words, Barack Obama didn’t achieve the highest office in the land by doing things. He became president by promising to do things. And now that he’s actually got to do stuff, Obama must resort to the politician’s best weapon in their endless fight to reconcile expectations and reality (i.e. special interestes): loopholes. Those exquisite exceptions that allow those supposedly affected by a piece of legislation to avoid the law’s intent—to the point where you wonder why anyone bothered to write it in the first place. Only the answer to that question is obvious: so that the politicians who crafted the law could be seen to be doing something that meets with public approval. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the new CAFE standards.
Recent Comments