First of all, nitpickers, I know that unununium was renamed Roentgenium in 2004. Atomic Number 111 will always be unununium in my heart, and (as soon as I can find a cheap source for the stuff) it will be used to stamp out the Murilee Martin Legends of LeMons awards for the most psychotic inspiring 24 Hours of LeMons racers of each season. The ’10 season produced a bumper crop of LeMons Legends, but only four received the coveted Unununium Medal. Let’s see who they are! (Read More…)

Remember this hilarious photoshop? Remember when gas cost upwards of four dollars per gallon? We’re not trying to predict anything or depress anyone, but with oil headed towards $100/barrel, this hypothetical isn’t as outlandish as it might seem. So let’s do this mental exercise: if you woke up tomorrow and gas were five dollars per gallon, what would you do, and what would you expect from others?

Chrysler has just released pictures of its drop-top 200 (neé Sebring), and we want to know:  Would you pay a Dollar (or Thrifty)  for that?

Mitsubishi is set to release a “mid-term” global business plan in the coming weeks, and the company says it will use that opportunity to resolve the lingering questions about its Normal, Illinois plant. Automotive News [sub] reports that four midsize (PS) platform vehicles currently built their will give way to a “new family of vehicles” based on the firm’s compact (GS) platform that currently underpins the Lancer, Outlander and Outlander Sport. The only problem: Mitsu’s midsizers will have to struggle along until April 2013, by which time the model changeover will be complete. Mitsubishi Motors North America has dismissed the report as “speculation,” but frankly, wouldn’t you be more surprised to see a new “family” of compact Mitsus in less than two years? Meanwhile, breakeven at the 240k unit capacity Normal plant has already been lowered to 70k units, but only about 27k vehicles were built there last year. With less than ten percent of Mitsubishi’s global sales volume coming from the US, maybe it would be better if Mitsu simply called it a game… but instead the firm is “planning” to quadruple sales volume. And hey, why not?

Bloomberg reports that Toyota’s engineers have reached an “advanced stage” of research on a new “induction”-type electric motor which holds the promise of freeing the Japanese automaker from dependence on so-called rare-earth materials. These elements, including neodymium and dysprosium, are used to strengthen the magnets used in traditional electric motors and generators, and are crucial to the production of everything from electric and hybrid cars to wind turbines and guided missiles. China currently controls over 90 percent of the world’s supply of rare-earth materials, and has recently cut exports quotas, raising tensions between China and Japan.

(Read More…)

Yesterday’s release of the Congressional Oversight Panel report on the auto bailout pointed out several fundamental problems with the government’s intervention in the auto industry, all of which stem from what the report termed the “mutually exclusive” goals of the Treasury in overseeing its investment in the industry. But that report focused entirely on the post-bailout management decisions by Treasury, ignoring the decisions made during the bailout itself. And though the White House has, in recent months, redefined its goals in bailing out GM and Chrysler to focus on the improved financial performance of the bailed-out automakers, this is clearly a recent recalibration of its political message. As I pointed out in my latest New York Time Op-Ed,

what Mr. Obama called his “one goal” — having Detroit “lead the world in building the next generation of clean cars” — is nowhere near being achieved.

And, as it turns out, the Administration’s actions in the bailout will inevitably come up well short of that goal in at least one important respect.
(Read More…)

Following the disastrous launch of the Chrysler Pacifica, which was supposed to take that brand upscale, Chrysler (the company, not the brand) did a 180 and started developing the cheapest, least refined, and least attractive vehicles sold in the U.S. End result: Chapter 11. But even before the bankruptcy Chrysler once again changed course, and […]

Are you interested in owning your own 7.5-mile high-speed oval and five-mile road course? What about an off-road racing course for motorcycles and Baja trucks? It looks like Honda’s finally come up with a product that appeals to enthusiasts… but they only have one of them, and the pricing is likely to be even more outrageous than the window sticker on the ZDX. Check out the listing here.

Now that Atlanta is shut down, I can answer at least a few recent questions from the Best & Brightest. Over the weeks there have been emails sent to me that didn’t a require a five paragraph essay. In fact the answers would reflect the quick and easy answers preferred by the bridgekeeper of Monty Python fame. So before I decide to ponder the differences between an African or European swallow, here’s a few car related queries and quips.

(Read More…)

Reuters reports that GM is upping its sponsorship and promotional spending, as it seeks to re-establish its media presence which retracted considerably during and after its bailout and bankruptcy. In addition to boosting sports sponsorships and

co-producing TV shows, like a documentary about a year in the life of a Detroit fire station or a three-part Discovery series on the city,

GM has another strategy in mind as well: product placement for the Chevy Volt. According to the report

GM also is in talks with a reality TV producer about the inclusion of the automaker’s new plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt car in a show under development

but what about movies? After all, if Chrysler (which has plans for only one niche electric vehicle, the Fiat 500 EV) can feature heavily in a movie which was promoted using the line “Electric cars are gay” (see video above), surely GM could get a movie made called “Range Anxiety” in which the Volt rescues the President’s daughter from an evil, but range-limited foreign car by driving farther than 100 miles. Subtle, right? Why don’t I just stick to blogging and let you come up with Volt product placement ideas.

The last time we checked in on the Renault EV Spy Scandal, the French automaker appeared to be backpedaling the seriousness of the affair, claiming all technical secrets were safe. But be that as it may, the WSJ reports that the firm has still filed a criminal “complaint against persons unknown” in the case

for acts constituting organized industrial espionage, corruption, breach of trust, theft and concealment.

The complaint comes after Renault met with its three suspended managers, who tell the press they are accused of “serious wrongdoing” but insist that they are innocent. A lawyer for at least one of the accused Renault employees says she is not even aware of what exactly Renault is accusing her client of. Reuters adds that “a private company in a foreign country” is named in the complaint, which now goes to the State Prosecutor of Paris, who will determine whether or not to investigate the complaint. In an effort to backpedal Renault’s apparent suspicion of a Chinese-based conspiracy, the Prosecutor’s office demurred

We never within the government mentioned such a possibility… It’s Renault’s position. They don’t cite a foreign power, they only cite private persons.

China has already denied any involvement in the affair, and Renault’s Chief Operating Officer alleges that the case involves

an organized international network and that technology leaked involved the architecture and economic model of electric vehicles.

Recently the ethanol industry has “suffered” from a problem that epitomizes the problematic nature of government subsidies. Known as the “blend wall” this obstacle was created not by negligence on the part of the industry, but by the fact that its lobbying efforts have been far more effective than its marketing efforts. The problem, in a nutshell, is that the 2007 Renewable Fuel Standard mandates a steady increase in the amount of ethanol blended into the national fuel supply, from 9 billion gallons per year (BGY) in 2008 to 36 BGY in 2022… but with gasoline consumption falling and with standard pump gasoline capped at a maximum of ten percent ethanol (recently raised to 15% for vehicles built after 2007), the industry that’s supposed to get America off gas needs more gas to blend its ethanol into. As a study in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics puts it

Total national consumption of gasoline in the United States has been about 140 billion gallons in 2010 and is expected to fall over time due to increasing fuel economy standards. Thus, at present, if every drop of gasoline were blended as E10, the maximum ethanol that could be absorbed would be 14 billion gallons. In reality, 10% cannot be blended in all regions and seasons. Most experts consider an average blend of 9% to be the effective maximum, which amounts to about 12.6 billion gallons. U.S. ethanol production capacity already exceeds this level. Thus, our ability to consume ethanol has reached a limit called the blend wall.

The solution: well, the EPA’s ruling allowing 15% ethanol blends was supposed to fix the problem, but according to this report, that “fix” would only buy some four years before the industry is back to bumping against the blend wall. The solution?

With ethanol as the primary biofuel and either blend limit (E10 or E15), a substantial increase in E85 would be required to fulfill the mandate.

(Read More…)

One of my favorite features of my beloved Z3 M Coupe is that it offers a snug, driver-oriented coupe cabin without the hemmed-in claustrophobia of most sporting two-doors. But not everyone (or, more precisely, almost no one) is willing to put up with a honking hatchback on their sportscar in order to add an airy ambiance to its cabin. Which is where Mercedes’ new SLK comes in. Not only does it offer a retractable hardtop, which sends it from confined coupe to open-air roadster in minutes, but it even offers a glass roof for maximum top-up natural lighting. And that’s not all: the 2012 SLK, which skipped NAIAS to debut at Mercedes’ 125 year anniversary gala, even offers a “magic roof” option, which electromagnetically darkens the glass roof at the touch of a button. Necessary? Not exactly. But it does help break the perception that sporty coupes must make their owners feel like bunker-dwellers.

Europe’s car manufacturer association ACEA finally got around to tallying-up the car sales in all 27 EU states, and while they were at it, those of the EFTA (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland) as well. Overall, the EU market is down 5.5 percent – compared to 2009. In 2009 many EU states had pushed up the market with generous cash for clunker money. Most of these programs came to an end in 2010, just not at the same time everywhere. The picture tells it best. (Read More…)

Here is some good news for all of those who are afraid that China’s ravenous appetite for cars will drive the cost of gasoline to obscene levels. The Chinese government is seriously attacking the infrastructure conundrum that plagues EVs: By 2020, China wants to have at least 10 million car parking spots for electric vehicles. (Read More…)