You don’t have to be a poli sci major to figure-out that the German government wants the Obama administration to strong-arm GM into sell its ailing Opel division to a consortium of Canadians and Russians (Magna, Sberbank and GAZ). The fact that the Germans are talking to the Americans about the deal is proof enough that high-level pressure is the order of the day. In other words, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck doth protest too little. “Speaking at a press conference following the meeting of finance ministers and central bank heads from the Group of 20 largest economies, [Steinbrueck] said his impression is that the U.S. government will leave the decision about Opel with the General Motor’s board of directors,” CNNMoney reports. “And won’t exercise ‘massive influence.'” Just enough influence, then?
Yup, Honda’s a glutton for Facebook punishment. After pulling the previous page to remove literally hundreds of disses against HoMoCo’s new Crosstour, the brand’s webmasters have gone for the red, red whine. The new images on the new page show the red Crosstour featured on the company’s official website. Which seems to have changed precisely nothing about autoblogosphere’s opinion of the CUV’s ugly ass—I mean, “controversial” styling. “New pictures prove to be more horrible than the first,” Facebooker Lewis Desoto opines, re-opening the decidedly one-sided “debate” dogging the, uh, you know. Punctuation-challenged Terrence Lee says, “the new pictures just shows how uglier this car can get !” Ditto Honda’s ongoing PR debacle.
I’m not so sure if I’d add this humongous Anglo-German two-door to my fantasy garage. It’s just not . . . something enough. And a little too . . . you know. More to the point, a nice 1935 Auburn Boattail Special can be had for roughly the same money. I know, I know: at that level it’s not either or. Still, I’d rather go motoring in something with more pizazz or, alternatively, less likely to attract the wrong kind of attention (e.g., Mercedes CL65 AMG). You?
GM is taking decisive action to rectify safety issues stemming from the sale of roughly 200,000 Chevrolet Malibus, Cobalts and Impalas without “standard” side airbags. The cars in questions were sold to fleet buyers with the bags deleted, saving purchasers $145 per vehicle. They then found their way into the resale market, including GM-certified franchises, where they’ve been sold as side airbag-equipped. No more, from one end of the food chain to the other. “Brian Latouf, director of GM’s Global Structure & Safety Integration Center, said the company wouldn’t allow the airbags to be deleted from the list of features available when they are bought by fleet buyers,” reports Detroit News. “He also said that vehicles without side airbags are clearly marked in the owner’s manual.” As for the cars already out there, somewhere, GM is making moves to address labeling issues for used car buyers. . .
We haven’t been posting on all the twist and turns of this story and certainly not with the flair and insight of former TTACer and current Autoblogger Jonny Lieberman (nor his Knight Riding cohort Mr. Nunez). But the gist is simple enough: 1. Honda designs an ugly CUV. 2. Honda releases images of ugly CUV. 3. The internet explodes with surfers crying “Whoa, Dude! That CUV is UGLY!” 4. Honda’s Facebook page is inundated with posters informing the company of this opinion 5. Honda blames its own photographs, claiming the ugly CUV looks better in the flesh 6. Honda tries again, with photos of a red-colored example of their ugly CUV. 7. No one is convinced. The internet sniggers at Honda’s Old School PR efforts. 8. Honda removes the pictures from Facebook, clears off their entire wall and prevents new posts. 9. Honda leaves the “new” images on their main website under “future cars.” Talk about managing expectations. Or not.
AZ Central reports that the usual logic—the worse the economy the higher the crime rate—doesn’t apply to this current, uh, economic downturn. Especially when it comes to grand theft auto. “Automotive theft stands out as having decreased most sharply,” the e-paper reports. “Thefts are fallen by about a fifth. So far this year, 243 autos have been stolen in Peoria, down from 305 in the first half of 2008.” Obviously, there are LOTS of variables in this sort of thing: population trends, policing, etc. But at least one insurance biz guy reckons car thieves are losing the battle between genetics and anti-theft technology.
Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the National Crime Insurance Bureau, said the decrease in auto thefts is consistent with national trends and signifies that the market for stolen cars is changing.
As newer cars become harder to steal, “fewer garden-variety knuckleheads” are going to be able to take them, Scafidi said.
It’s the Audi version of the swine flu: foot in mouth disease. It has reached pandemic proportions at the four-ringed brand. First, Audi of America’s Prez Johann De Nysschen called (rightly or wrongly) the Volt “a car for idiots,” insulting green leanings and national pride. Now, Audi Finland’s sales chief Esko Kiesi forgot that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. In an interview with the Finnish woman’s magazine, Anna, Audi’s Finnish sales chief revealed that “Technical jobs can’t be mastered by women without the help of a man.” And that was one of the more benign statements. In a woman’s magazine.
My 2006 Corolla CE is what it is – it gets me where I’m going with no muss, no fuss, no excitement, no drama, no fun. But hey, it runs.
Problem is, every time I do a road trip in the thing, my ass hurts. The driver’s cloth seat feels like wood. Should I go to Walmart and buy the aftermarket cushions, etc. or does anyone have a recommendation for good comfortable aftermarket replacement seats? Or get another car?
I am, of course, urging Roman Mica of tflcar.com to take a little more time for his reviews, deploy a few metaphors and tell us how he really feels. Remember: this internet deal is a two-way thing. If you’ve got some pointers for our budding videographer/reviewer, share them here. As with written work, TTAC welcomes new video contributors without regard to their editorial slant. All I ask is that the overall production quality meets the standard set by Mr. Mica and that you do NOT sound like a fanboy or a total asshole (that’s my job). Send an embed code (from YouTube) to farago@ttac.com.
This is a tale from my youth, a very confusing period of my life, including the habit of drinking myself into a drunken stupor just for the fun of it, reckless driving of Jack Baruthian proportions, and generally excessive wanton behavior. In short, a day in the life of an average college kid, knee-deep in a period of sturm-und-drang. I was young, I was stupid and I had a death wish none of this world. I usually spent more time at the local café than in school, and I was out partying five days a week. I was twenty years old, I went to college, I had an apartment of my own, and I was the proud owner of a car, minus the driving license.
Ford has announced that its 3.7-liter V6 will power the base (in the entry level sense of the word) Mustang for the 2011 model year. The Mustang Source reports that the mill will produce 315HP, which represents a 105 horsepower boost over the current V6-powered Mustang. That’s also 11 horsepower better than the Chevrolet Camaro V6, for those of you who think the term “Pony car wars” doesn’t sound like something you’d see on Cartoon Network. There’ll also be a 400 horsepower “Coyote” 5.0-liter V8 on offer, mated with a six-speed manual transmission, s’il vous plait. As for an EcoBoost (nee Twin Force) option, fuhgeddaboutit. Apparently, a 365HP EcoBoost powerplant wouldn’t leave enough marketing daylight between the base V6 and the Coyote-powered GT. One thing: Coyote, Road Runner, inevitable failure. Anyone else see a marketing problem here? Nope, didn’t think so. Carry on.
GMI claims The General has yanked Buick Allure badging in favor of the the US-market LaCrosse moniker—after an unknown number of 2010 Allures have been sold. GM is apparently offering to rebadge already-sold Allures as LaCrosses. Why the jerking around? It seems GM is no longer scared of the LaCrosse name in Canada. Why they waited to change their mind until cars were on lots and in driveways is anyone’s guess. Throw another log on the LaCrosse launch bonfire of vanities. [Hat Tip: Richard Chen]
Chrysler spokesman Shawn Morgan on Bloomberg‘s revelation that the Department of the Treasury has sent a notice of default to Old CarCo (AKA Bad Chrysler) for $3.34B worth of bailout “loans.” Surprised? You shouldn’t be.
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