Green Car Congress has digested the EPA’s Report on Vehicle Fuel Consumption and CO output for the period covering 1975 through 2008. For the fifth consecutive year, fuel economy of light-duty vehicles has improved. This trend reversed a long period of declining efficiency, which started in 1987, the all-time peak year for maximum economy (22 mpg average).  Model Year 2009 economy is estimated to be 21.1 mpg. The period from 1975 through 1981 saw the most rapid increase in efficiency, starting at 13.1 mpg. A  chart highlighting the changes in weight, horsepower, performance and economy follows: (Read More…)

It’s time to get to know each other a little better. So which car best describes you? Pretend you’re on Dr. Freud’s couch and take your time, unless you’re impulsive of course. Me? I spent almost a half hour tossing this around while still in bed this morning, but here goes: a Mercedes 300 TD 4-Matic Wagon, late eighties vintage (W124): Germanic, pretty solid and trim for an oldster, a touch arrogant, thrifty but like not poky (turbo diesel), practical, versatile and everything still works! It’s a variation of one I had, and it did feel like an extension of my personality. Now I’m not sure this exact combination was ever made, but it’s good enough for this exercise. Since we’re throwing in a little wishful thinking, how about an adjustable suspension, since I spend a lot of time on hiking trails. For bonus points, name a new car if your first choice was an out-of production car; or conversely, a vintage car if your first pick was a new one. For me, that would be a VW Tiguan TDI.

The weekend of October 24-25 was the third running of the 24 Hours of LeMons at Motorsport Ranch in Houston, TX. TTAC was there for the insanity.  And it was the fourth time our LeMons race car, a 1972 Datsun 240Z hit the track.  I was an honorary “penalty” judge this time ’round (props to Autoblog’s Jonny Lieberman and LeMon’s Founder Jay Lamm for that), so I did the best I could for my teammates when they got black flagged. But I’m no crooked judge, Jonny said I was too nice to other teams, too. No matter, it wasn’t enough for us to come close to victory. Then again, the Datsun Z is the butt of many a LeMon’s joke. What’s up with that?

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“Rolls-Royce said Friday the market for its super-luxury cars was picking up dramatically across Asia as the effects of the global financial crisis recede,” says AFP.

“We’re fast coming out of the financial crisis and China and India look like they will lead the way out in 2010 on a feel-good factor,” quoth Rolls-Royce Asia-Pacific regional chief Colin Kelly.

Rolls-Royce expects sales in the alleged poorhouses of China and India to grow to three-quarters of its total business in the Asia-Pacific region.
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Former Lancia CEO Gianmario Rossignolo has bought the De Tomaso trademark, says Der KFZ-Betrieb in Germany. In a former Pininfarina plant near Torino, 8000 De Tomasos are planned to be produced. A new De Tomaso will be shown at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show.
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Nine months ago, German Karmann declared bankruptcy. The maker of the venerable Ghia, and until recently contract manufacturer and specialist for ragtops, fell victim to the sad fact that Fahrvergnügen doesn’t agree with carmageddon.

Now, Volkswagen, one of Karmann’s main customers, picked up the core pieces of the maker. Volkswagen isn’t taking over Karmann (that would mean assuming the liabilities.) Volkswagen is buying assets: Plants, machinery, real estate. Production in Osnabrück will go on. At a much smaller scale than before.
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We didn’t want a big fleet of electric vehicles. We’re only just over two years or so away from the games and time is running out to create a viable network. Many of the vehicles will be used for around 18 hours a day. It’s hard graft, and we knew BMW could supply the vehicles to meet these demands.”

Paul Deighton, CEO of the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) explains to Autocar why the games won’t be relying on electric vehicles in 2012. Nissan had presented a bid to be the games’ official vehicle supplier which proposed using Leaf EVs for over half the planned fleet. A “small proportion” of BMW’s winning fleet proposal will be electric MINI Es, and all proposals were required to achieve a fleet average of 120g/km of CO2. But that hasn’t stopped Nissan from getting petulant.

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All the hot air about the MDI air car may experience a sudden cold downdraft. Not that cool breezes questioning its efficiency weren’t already wafting in the air. But now there’s a genuine academic study questioning the questionable. The NYTWheels has mined a study by the University of California at Berkeley titled “The Economic and Environmental Evaluation of Compressed-Air Cars,” which concludes that the air car “fared worse than the battery-electric vehicle in primary energy required, greenhouse gas emissions and life-cycle costs, even under very optimistic assumptions about performance. Compressed-air-energy storage is a relatively inefficient technology at the scale of individual cars and would add additional greenhouse gas emissions with the current electricity mix.” (Read More…)

After the 1 series, BMW pretty much committed themselves to the smallest car, because it was the smallest number, they were going to make under the BMW marque. Or did they? You see, there is actually another number lower than 1 and BMW plan to release a series of cars based on that number. Now we’ve known this for some time, but Car-Chat.info put forward a very real scenario. Since the 0 series will be smaller than the 1 series, that means it will go head to head with BMW’s other marque, the Mini. Now, one could be optimistic and say that 2 cars under different brands could grab a bigger slice of the market or, one could be realistic and say that cannibalisation is afoot. BMW aren’t stupid, which brings forward the very real possibility that BMW could phase out the Mini brand. At top production rates, Mini produce 240000 vehicles a year. That’s niche levels. And who wouldn’t want a BMW badge instead of a Mini? Yes, there may be a few “Italian Job” fans upset and a couple of “Germans kill iconic brand” headlines in the UK gutter press, but when you think about it, it kind of makes sense. At least as long as a front-wheel drive BMW doesn’t strike you as too blasphemous (and BMW doesn’t seem to have a problem crossing that Rubicon). So now TTAC posits a question to the B&B: Does the world really need Mini? Are we hanging onto a brand which doesn’t fit viably in the today’s market?  Or is an FWD BMW the real mistake?

Our twice-weekly urban hike from our house to the top of Skinner Butte, which marks the geographic center of Eugene, affords some nice views. But not just  from its peak, because along the way when we have to pass the Sports Car Shop. Owner Bob Macherione’s crew does superb restorations along with sales and service of exotics. But I make a point to keep my camera in the pocket as Stephanie and I ogle his current offerings, because that’s just straying too far from the CC ethos. But when I poked my head into the passenger compartment of this recently completed Allard K2, I just had to share this with you via an Outtake. First, feast on that delicious exterior; then, prepare yourself for the worlds most contorted shift stick: (Read More…)

We got a good giggle (and several excellent limericks) out of Chery’s Bentley-aping Riich brand logo back in March, so we thought we’d show off a peek at what qualifies as upmarket for Chery. Priced at about $8,165, the Riich X1 makes do with an 84 hp, 1.3 liter engine which motivates the tiny crossover to 60 mph in a very un-upmarket 16 seconds. Which is no big deal, considering top speed is rated at about 93 mph. The X1 does offer alloy wheels, climate control, parking sensors and mp3 connectivity though. As tempting as it is to simply laugh off at the Chinese version of upmarket branding, a look at this advertisement for the X1’s sibling, the Riich M1, shows a young professional-oriented vibrancy that’s become rare in US-market auto advertising. What the Chinese market clearly lacks in technology and expectation, it makes up for with an enthusiasm born of seemingly limitless potential. [via Automotorundsport.de]

Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, sure seems to think so. “I think long-term, Prius as a nameplate could even outsell Camry as a nameplate, into this next decade,” he tells Wards Auto. When asked if the Prius’s success would trade off with the Camry, he replied in the negative, saying “I think Prius will become just that much stronger.” But it’s been a long time since a Prius-sized vehicle, let alone a hatchback, has been the best-selling car in the US. And perhaps Lentz was merely making the case for a full line of Prius-branded vehicles, an idea he says has not been approved, but remains his “dream.” Prius will need something to push it past its larger sibling. Both models set their all-time annual sales records in 2007, when the Camry sold 473,108 units, while Prius sold only 181,221 units.

The long-rumored Chinese invasion may be coming sooner than we expected. Automotive World reports that Chinese automaker Brilliance has signed letters of intent with 36 US dealers in preparation for a US market launch. According to the report, Brilliance intends to launch products in the US as soon as it acquires 100 dealers. Apparently Brilliance’s US distributor is targeting former Saturn dealers, Roger Penske’s US network, Hummer dealers and the Galpin group. Rumors are even swirling that Brilliance could buy the Saturn name to re-brand its US-market products.

While Ford are making some headway in North America, their real Western Hemisphere focus is on the growth market of Brazil. Bloomberg reports that Ford will invest 4 billion Brazilian Reals (that’s $2.3 billion to you lot, I only deal in UK pounds) on Brazilian production capacity. Naturally, Ford aren’t doing this alone, the Brazilian government are offering the usual (as yet undisclosed) state and federal tax breaks to Ford. The investment will add to Fiesta capacity at the Camacari factory and help modernize the Troller plant that builds utility vehicles. Ford’s Q3 pretax profit in South America fell nearly in half to $247 million, as revenue dropped 22 percent to $2.1 billion. Though Ford blames currency issues for the drop, soon-to-expire government incentives have been keeping the Brazilian market afloat. Maybe it’s not “Fiesta” time yet.