In my CC hunts, I come across quite a few Lincolns with air suspension issues. Usually, they’re just hunched down on the suspension stops in a Citroen DS or lowrider imitation. But this one has been catching my eye for quite some time, because it gets driven like this. I suspect it’s not intentional, but I do tend to lag in my awareness of the latest automotive cultural fads. Given that this Mark VIII is also lacking a rear window adds to my theory. (Read More…)
Courtesy of saabsunited.com comes this letter from Saab’s Swedish employees to General Motors.
[the following section was originally written in English]
To our owners, General Motors
We at Saab have lived with our brand and our cars for more than 60 years. It is a brand that accommodates great passion. Ever since the beginning in 1947, when engineers from the aircraft industry were lying on the floor outlining the body lines of the first prototype, we have been bearing the stamp of new thinking, desire for continuous improvement, willpower and commitment.
We call that “the Saab Spirit”, and during the last year it has been more evident than ever. We have not given up. In times of extreme uncertainty we have delivered and created new prerequisites for our company, and we have built a new vision where to bring our brand and our products. We believe in our future. We know we have the ability.
Trust us. Don’t count Saab out. Allow us to bring our roots into the future. It is not only important to us, but also to our 1.5 million customers around the world and all of those people passionate about our cars and our brand.
In times like these, folks keep their cars longer (just ask Comrade Fidel’s oppressed masses of loyal subjects). Unfortunately, faster-spinning odometers have the nasty side effect of more quickly chewing up your car’s normal wear items. Some of these components (like brakes) can get downright demanding as they die. Others, like shock absorbers and their MacPherson strut cousins, just blend into the woodwork and stay there. Much like the guy in your high school yearbook that you can’t remember, your vehicle’s shocks and/or struts get Rodney Dangerfield-levels of respect and even less attention. Symptoms of worn shocks or struts include excessive floating after traversing even small bumps in the road, greater-than-normal body roll during cornering, increased braking distance, and extreme front end dive under moderate-to-hard braking.
(Read More…)
Ben writes:
Hello Sajeev, my father owns a 2005 Ford Focus wagon. The car has 100,000 km’s on it (Canadian) and it has been well maintained. The car has never given him any issues and runs very well but the paint is in horrible condition. He purchased the vehicle after the lease was up and soon after the paint started peeling. He didn’t think too much of it, but recently it has gotten much worse… Ford did not apply primer on the car.
What do you say about a purported “Total Value Index” that includes such notable turkeys as Honda’s Insight, Mercedes’ R-Class, and Chrysler Aspen? No seriously, what do you say? Did nobody at Strategic Vision notice that the Aspen has been discontinued or that the Insight is actually less compelling than a Civic Hybrid? Besides, can we be done with surveys that find different ask people how much they love the car they just dropped a load of money on? If you’re dumb enough to spend money on an Aspen, you’re dumb enough to say it has more “total value” than any other mid-size ute. But why does SV have to give your dumb, self-justifying opinion even the thinnest veneer of credibility? Here’s what Strategic Vision’s President has to say about the list:
Durability alone and simply satisfying customers is not enough for buyers who demand both immediate and long term Value. Customers no longer feel constrained to consider only the ‘usual suspects.’ Because of increased quality, competitive prices and manufacturers fighting for their lives to provide Loveworthy℠ vehicles, this is truly an exciting time for car buyers, today and in the near future. Manufacturers are listening and reacting quickly to stay competitive.
By discontinuing models that appear on the list? Sigh. Match these vehicles against their sales numbers, and you’ll see that the only consumer opinions that count (i.e. the ones backed by purchases) are very different than this list.
It’s heartbreaking. To see a major company that literally carried a healthy portion of America’s heartland go up in Euro-flames. I remember the beauty of it. The 1990’s minivans that completely obliterated their competition. LH sedans that were state of the art for their time. Cloud cars that had more power and road feel than their American brethren. Neons that were so good that even Toyota was jealous. Believe it or not, I still think the talent base of Chrysler is there. But to get it out…
After we reported yesterday that the talks between Geely and Ford about Volvo are intensifying, China’s Xinhua news agency runs a terse one-liner today: “China’s Geely Holding Group said Friday it was having a detailed and in-depth discussion with Ford over relevant terms and contracts about acquiring Volvo.” That’s it. Short, sweet, and to the point. (Read More…)
There still is faint interest in Saab after Koenigsegg had pulled out. China’s BAIC, Merbanco Inc. and Renco Group Inc. have made advances to GM about Saab, says Bloomberg, quoting the usual “two people familiar with the situation.”
(Read More…)
Roland Koch, the premier of Opel’s home state Hesse is pissed. GM’s plans to cut 2,500 jobs there are “completely unacceptable.” Koch said that Nick Reilly had told him just 24 hours earlier that GM’s restructuring plan would “in principle” orient itself on job cuts agreed with Canada’s Magna.
We know what Reilly will say. The Magna plans called for 10,000 cut jobs all over Europe, GM wants to cut only 9000, so “in principle” that’s a better deal. Except for the Germans.
(Read More…)
Invasive species can impart devastating effects when the indigenous species haven’t evolved the proper defenses. Two Beetles stowed away on a ship bound for the US in 1949. There wasn’t anything remarkable about them that would suggest their future impact on revolutionizing the largest automobile market in the world. But like a pair of termites, they multiplied and steadily chewed their way through the framework of an industry that thought itself invincible. Eventually, the Bugs got forced out by other small foreign critters, but when the hollowed-out Fortress Detroit finally crashed into smithereens, the Beetles’ teeth marks could be seen everywhere. (Read More…)
Well, it’s that time of year when we call a quick time-out here at TTAC and retreat to our families to celebrate Thanksgiving. Having already celebrated their Thanksgiving, our crack Canadian tech team will be taking advantage of our holiday lull to perform some maintenance behind the scenes. TTAC will be down for several hours today, but we’ll be back to our usual coverage tomorrow, barring any tryptophan-related brain damage. On a final housekeeping note, our moderator team will be trying out a new tool known as disemvowelment, for comments that straddle the line of acceptability.
With that out of the way, thank you all for reading and supporting TTAC. Thanks to our talented contributors, our brilliant commenters, our dedicated moderators and our patient owners. A special thanks is owed (once more and always) to Robert Farago for creating this amazing community. Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s the day after the Saab-bomb exploded in Sweden, and the media are pouring all over it. Of course, all kinds of “car experts” and “auto analysts” are having their say. Saab workers are expectedly sad and disappointed. And everybody’s blaming everybody and anybody. The unions blame the government, the government blames Koenigsegg, Koenigsegg Group are blaming time and bureaucracy, and the public is generally pretty pissed off with GM. And it all seemed to have come as julekvelden på kjerringa. But what on earth happened? Who pulled the plug? Who said enough is enough? And why now, all of a sudden? The EIB loan was allegedly just around the corner. Will anyone else buy Saab? What about the Swedish government? GM? Does anybody even care? Well, the 500 or so who bought a new Saab in October care – what about their warranties?
Last year, Porsche gave Magna an eight-year contract to build the Cayman and Boxster models from 2012 on. Magna engineers immediately went to work and toiled with tricky tasks, such as the stiffening of the Boxter’s body. Which they say wasn’t, well, stiff enough. Then Porsche went to Volkswagen. Then Opel came and went. Finally, Volkswagen bought parts of bankrupt Karmann and needed to use the capacity. Cayman and Boxster will be built in Osnabrück, Instead of the Boxster body, Magna was stiffed and asked to pound sand.
(Read More…)
While bumbling GM so far hasn’t closed any of their cast-off brands deals, Ford’s Volvo sale to Geely appears to progress quietly, but steadily. The usually well informed and reliable China Car Times says that Geely is “feeling secure about the Volvo purchase.”
Ford has enlisted JP Morgan and Citigroup to assist with the sale, Geely has employed Rothschild. The deal is expected to close soon, “before the start of 2010.”
According to CCT, Geely is working off a seven point checklist:
(Read More…)
Pontiac was declared “officially almost all the way dead” at about 12:45 p.m. today, when a white, G6 sedan rolled off the assembly line in Orion Township. The Detroit News reports a distinct lack of “cake or commemorative banner or senior GM official on hand.” Media was not invited. The DetN notes:
Unlike the last Oldsmobile, an Alero signed by hundreds of plant workers and donated to the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum in Lansing, the final G6 models will be sold as part of a fleet order.
Nearly unbelievably, Pontiac’s “officially official” demise will be even more depressing: a Mexico-built G3 Wave (neé Aveo) to be sold to a lucky Canadian. For real.
[Hat Tip: supremebrougham]
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