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Official Department of Transportation stats as of 4:00 p.m. on Monday, August 3, 2009.
Dealer Registrations:
Number Submitted – 24,238
Number Approved – 20,495
Dealer Transactions:
Number Submitted – 133,767
Dollars Submitted – $563.8 million
Arizona’s Department of Public Safety frequently issues press releases with the boast that it’s running the “first ever” freeway speed camera program in the United States. This, of course, is not true. The state of Illinois began allowing a private company to deploy speed camera vans on freeways in May 2006. The true claim to the title, however, goes to the state of Hawaii. The Aloha state’s speed camera program lasted five months—before intense public pressure sent the camera vans packing.
Rick writes:
I was walking home and passed an independent mechanic shop. He appeared to be passing something like a black light (rectangle case with a “purple” cylindrical bulb) over the rim or tire of an older BMW 3 Series. What’s up with that?
FYI: while I enjoy the column and the rest of the writing, I suggested online that there is some follow up to the problems. I’ve learned a lot about what might be wrong but not so much about what was wrong. Thanks for reading.
So the GM board met last night to decide on Opel’s fate. Did we say yesterday, “You won’t hear a decision?” You won’t. They couldn’t even bring themselves to a recommendation. “General Motors is taking more time to negotiate with Magna and RHJ International over the planned sale of its European arm Opel,” Reuters reports. Anybody surprised?
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First impressions last. Except when they don’t. A few years back, I didn’t think the new-generation Accord was all that special. The enlarged Honda mid-sizer did the monkey-making thing; ascending the sales charts to become America’s top-selling mid-size family sedan. My first impression of Kia’s all-new Forte: it’s a hit. The Kia Forte’s a cheap (as in inexpensive), safe, somewhat stylish, fuel-efficient sedan that transports up to four adults in perfect comfort, without driving like a penalty box. In fact, this car is good enough that it could be a turnaround product for Kia, which has struggled to establish its place on the American automotive scene. But will it? What am I, psychic?
Back in 1937, who could have predicted Toyota would replace GM as the world’s largest automaker? Does that make Toyota the new GM? Perhaps. Meanwhile, after today’s sales stats, I reckon Hyundai is the new Ford. GM’s the new Hyundai. Lexus is the new Buick. Scion is the new Pontiac. Your suggestions below.
The Detroit News reports that New GM’s latest buyout offer to its [old] employees has been, as the Brits say, a bit of a damp squib. In fact, New GM wants to cut 21,000 hourly jobs (code: union) this year. So far, just 13,000 have headed for the door. Once again, still, the DetN puts a brave face on the bad news. “The total, announced Monday morning, helps GM cut hourly costs, close the gap in pay with foreign automakers that build vehicles domestically and could clear the way for GM to eventually hire lower-paid workers. Since 2006, about 66,000 U.S. hourly workers have accepted buyouts and early retirements.” Yes, well . . .
A little insight into Rattner’s past, his high stakes poker with Chrysler’s bondholders and his fall from grace (a fixer too far). New York magazine presents at least one interesting factoid. Apparently, the Presidential Task Force on Automobiles (PTFOA) was deadlocked at “4-4 on the issue” of whether or not they should save Chrysler (page five). Huh? I was under the impression it was a twenty-five member mob. So assuming the Quadrangle guy was part of a quorum, it was Steve “Chooch” Rattner, Ron Bloom (now head of the PTFOA) and who else?
You can argue with The American Thinker’s politics, but they’ve got a point: there’s a spooky parallel between Robert A. Heinlein’s “The Door Into Summer” and the current Cash for Clunkers (a.k.a. C.A.R.S.) program. [thanks to fincar1 for the link] Grok this:
The job I found was crushing new ground limousines so that they could be shipped back to Pittsburgh as scrap. Cadillacs, Chryslers, Eisenhowers, Lincolns—all sort of great big, new powerful turbobuggies without a kilometer on their clocks. Drive ’em between the jaws, then crunch! smash! crash!—scrap iron for blast furnaces.
Analysts (this armchair pundit included) are busy re-calibrating their expectations of the U.S. new car market post-Cash for Clunkers (a.k.a. C.A.R.S.). The big question hanging over the proceedings: has Uncle Sam [re]created a new car bubble? And, if so, what happens when it bursts (as bubbles are wont to do)? And if so, when? Meanwhile, we’re getting answers to some of the other ponderables, such as who benefits most from taxpayer largess? In a nutshell, not the domestics. Credit Suisse First Boston weighs-in with their take on the C4C tsunami.
We’ve reached the end of our 1971 six small car comparison at last. And what a winner we have indeed! Without giving too much away, let’s just say this car runs, was for sale, and I was sorely tempted to buy it. Let’s also say that since many of you probably know our not-so-mysterious winner by now, that what we’re looking for are pithy, profound and insightful comments to explain the significance of the setting and background of where I discovered this very rare car.
Hyundai and Subaru are beginning to be familiar faces near the top of the monthly “who’s losing least” numbers. Sure, everyone expected Hyundai to cash in on the clunker sales boomlet, but who’d have thought Subaru would log its best sales month ever? Tribeca was down for Subie, but everything else was up by 33 (Outback) to 41 (Impreza) percent. Forester is still the top dog though, at 7,574 units. That’s almost as much volume as Hyundai‘s Accent (+13 percent), which was part of the expected Hyundai clunker boom along with Elantra (+30 percent) and Sonata (+17 percent). Santa Fe barely moved at 6,793 units, but the Genesis is anemic at 2,015. Volkswagen sales fell just over one percent, buffered by TDI sales that made up 30 percent of total deliveries. 80 percent of Jetta Sportwagons and 40 percent of Jetta sedans are being chosen with oil-burner engines. Otherwise, VW sales look dreary. Nissan‘s sales (-25 percent) are distinctly “meh,” with only the Rogue (+4 percent), Versa (-2 percent) and Cube (3,293) looking remotely assertive.
Toyota‘s Yaris and Corolla models did not receive much in the way of a sales boost from the government’s cash for clunkers program, recording 36 percent and 14 percent declines respectively. Nor did Honda‘s Fit, which slid 28 percent to 8,876. Prius, however, did. America’s hybrid grew its sales by 30 percent compared to last July. It also creamed Honda’s competing Insight, 19,173 to 2,295. Prius alone now sells as well as Buick, Cadillac and Saturn combined. Hail to the king, baby.
Although GM’s sales are down nearly 20 percent compared to last July’s poor showing, your federally-owned General Motors is staying upbeat. More accurately, Mark LaNeve wants to keep his job (and, logically, the government cheese flowing).
Our performance is being driven by the outstanding products in our core Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick brands. While still challenging, the market is firming and GM sales are still tracking ahead of what we projected in our reinvention plan. In July we are projecting our retail market share to exceed our year-ago performance. From great new products, like our Cadillac SRX and CTS Sport Wagon, Chevrolet Camaro and Equinox, to attractive financing and new leasing opportunities and to the Cash-for-Clunkers program that helps reduce the cost to buy a new vehicle — customers have unprecedented opportunities to get into a new GM car or truck. We anticipate an additional sales lift in August if Congress approves more funding for the wildly-popular Cash-For-Clunkers economic recovery program.
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