Adam writes:

I’ve been mulling over a car-buying decision, and see you post similar things to the main page from time to time. Here’s my dilemma if you need some more copy.

I have a 1995 Jeep Cherokee Sport 5-spd as my skiing, biking and camping car. My mom got it new, and I bought it from her in 2000. It now has almost 200k miles, but it has led an easy life- it still has the original clutch. Oil has been changed every 3500 miles or so, and it’s been generally reliable, but it has the brake-pulsation problem I can’t track down, several rapidly worsening oil and coolant leaks (main seals, oil pan, valve cover), all the rubber parts on the car are rapidly deteriorating, and it needs tires, some front end work, etc. Figure about $1500 in repair. However, then I’ll still have a 16 year old 200k car I’m relying on to get me 150 miles home from the mountain on a 15 degree snowstorm. I’m afraid electronic parts and sensors may soon leave me stranded. It’s worth high $2000 range- it runs fine; the body and paint are very good.

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Volvo has come to the kind of conclusion we haven’t heard from an automaker in some time: it’s selling too many models. With nine models currently on the market, the Chinese-owned Swedish automaker has opted to cut that number by “five or six” nameplates, and will rebuild its US lineup around its XC60 and XC90 crossovers, and S60 sedan. As a Volvo spokesman explains to Bloomberg

We have to focus on the key segments with significant volume potential.

The first model to go from the lineup will be the V50 station wagon, but from there it’s anyone’s guess. To help kick off the speculation, we present the graph above, charting the recent sales fortunes of the nameplates that Volvo is considering for death. Since the one model on the chart that has already been marked for death (the V50) has the lowest volume, it might be safe to guess that the next model up the volume ladder (C30) will be the next to die. From there, it’s a lot more complicated. Last year the S40 moved 5,623 units, the C70 sold 5,263 units, the XC70 sold 6,626 units and the S80 sold 7,724. In terms of sheer volume, there’s reason to kill every one of these nameplates… but strategically there’s just as much of an argument for investing in any one of them. Too bad there’s only marketing resources for “five or six” nameplates. So, which models would you kill?

We used to call Logandale Auto Auction the red light district. In the auction business, when a red light flashes above the auction block, that means the vehicle is selling AS/IS. Once you become the high bidder, you own it. Along with any and all parts that may fall off the vehicle once it exits the auction barn. I have sold vehicles that literally gave up their last gasp right in front of the auction block, and Logandale was the absolute king of these “crap auctions”.

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With California’s Air Resource Board and the EPA set to unleash new 2016-2025 CAFE standards, the Alliance of Automotive Manuacturers, which represents foreign and domestic automakers, is lashing out, telling Automotive News [sub]

We all want to put the most fuel-efficient vehicles as possible on the road, but for the 2017 rulemaking, policymakers still need to gather and analyze much data to determine the maximum feasible fuel economy standards that avoid negative impacts on affordability, safety, jobs and vehicle choice. No one knows what the 2025 target should be yet, and the data needs to drive the rulemaking.

But not everyone in the industry is on board with the AAM’s CAFE-skepticism. Already, Hyundai Motors USA CEO John Krafcik tells TTAC his firm plans to “Overcomply” with the coming CAFE standards, and now Toyota is joining Hyundai in breaking ranks, with Jim Colon, VP for Product Communications saying

The administration is engaged. That’s the direction Toyota is already going. Whatever goal they establish, Toyota will be prepared to meet. If it’s 62 miles a gallon, we’ll be able to achieve that.

IGA Automobile, a new closed-end partnership fund, is planning on investing $150m into “a collection of 20 to 40 trophy marque vehicles with distinguished race or ownership histories” which it claims will appreciate some 15 percent over the next seven years, according to the Detroit News. Though collective buying of super-exotic cars is not new in itself, IGA Automobile fund Director Lancaster claims

This is the first classic-car fund that’s purely for financial returns, rather than passion

The fund, which is advised by Pink Floyd drummer and car nut Nick Mason, has identified several “potential acquisition targets” including the Ferrari 250 GTO, Aston Martin DB4 Zagato, Ford GT40, McLaren F1, Shelby Daytona Coupe and Porsche 917. And, since investors in the fund will be shelling out a minimum of half a million dollars to buy cars that they won’t even be able to keep in their own garage, the investment had better have a chance of making some money. And the fund’s managers think they can make that pitch, as

The Hagerty’s Cars That Matter “Blue Chip” Index, based on the values of the 25 most collectable postwar vehicles, has increased 67 percent from September 2006 to the end of 2010… The Historic Automobile Group International (HAGI) Top 50 index of exceptional classic-car prices was up 6.6 percent in 2010, lower than its average annual growth of more than 12 percent from 2003-08.

That’s better than plenty of investments did over a similar time period… but luxury-goods speculation still has a shaky track record. Besides, doesn’t it seem just a little bit wrong to treat these epic classics like a bond certificate, keeping them stashed away in a vault somewhere? Here’s hoping there’s room in the business plan for some kind of museum.

Rep Sander Levin (D-MI) has introduced legislation which would increase the cap on consumer tax credits for plug-in electric vehicles.The current subsidy allows consumers to take a $7,500 taz credit, but caps the number of qualifying credits at 200k per manufacturer, but Levin’s bill would raise that to 500k units. Said Levin in a statement

Green vehicles represent the vanguard of automotive innovation, but they have to be economical for consumers and profitable for manufacturers. Raising the cap on this credit will help carmakers reach the demand and production scale necessary for long-term viability.

To which, his brother Senator Carl Levin, adds

The U.S. auto industry is poised for a technological explosion that promises to fundamentally change transportation here and around the world. But if we fail to support this revolution, workers in China, India, South Korea and our other competitors will build these vehicles instead of American workers.

The call to raise the cap for EV consumer tax credits was first publicly raised by GM’s Tom Stephens, who argued that 200k units was inufficient government support to keep the Volt viable until the second generation comes out. At the time, Rep Debbie Stabenow argued that credits should be “front-loaded” and deducted from the price of the vehicle at the dealership, but that proposal seems to have fallen b the wayside.

Andy writes in

Hi – I wonder if you can help a confused Scotsman who is coming across for a 3 week holiday (flying into Boston) in September.

Four of us are going to drive around New England and we would like to hire a comfortable SUV or Crossover but we are not familiar with your models.For example I could have gone for a Chevy Uplander but I understand it is a complete dog. In Scotland we have a Jaguar XJ and a Merc 320ML so we want something that drives nicely and preferably has ”armchair” type seats in the second row so that our wives don’t moan too much. Can you help??

Chevy dusts off its “may the best car win” theme with a series of videos “daring” consumers to compare the Cruze… with its outgoing competition. The absurdity of the alleged
“comparison” is probably best highlighted in this video, in which the 2011 Cruze takes on a 2010 Elantra… even though an all-new 2011 Elantra is already at dealerships. With a much-improved 2012 Focus coming soon as well, a similarly rigged bashing of the outgoing Focus is made only slightly less unfair by the fact that the Focus isn’t available yet. Ditto the Honda Civic smackaround. And the Corolla. It’s almost as if Chevy knows that the Cruze is about to face some of the toughest competition in the industry… with a design that has been produced since 2008. Too bad the bowtie brand doesn’t seem willing to face the challenge.

Which are the safest cars you can buy in Europe? The results of Euro NCAP tests will rattle established Euro carmakers: Out of 5 categories, 2 were won by a Japanese car, one by a Korean car. In 2010, Euro NCAP crash tested twenty nine vehicles. 65 percent received  five stars.

Here are the best-of-class cars, according to Euro NCAP: (Read More…)

Volkswagen captures the schizophrenia of the SUV phenomenon by offering the Qatar auto show two ways to Touareg: the rugged rally-raid fantasy of its Dakar racer-for-the-street “Race Touareg” and the status-seeking bourgeois bling of the Touareg Gold Edition. Which raises an interesting question: if both were offered for sale, which would sell better? I’m sure most of TTAC’s readers would join me in saying I’d buy the Race Touareg but sell the Gold Edition. After all, urban posing is the mass-market reality underlying the rugged outdoorsy fantasy of SUV marketing.

Troubled BYD has even more problems: Dealers defect the Chinese car maker, because the alleged master of the electric vehicle has perfected one ancient tradecraft: The art of channel stuffing. A Beijing BYD store switched to another brand because BYD required them to carry a whopping six times the monthly selling rate on the lot. The poor dealer that moved 70 BYDs in a good month was sitting on a steadily restocked inventory of 400 units.

Even that generous inventory strategy did not help: (Read More…)

The US Court of Appeal for the Eighth Circuit on Monday overturned the sentence of a man convicted based on questionable testimony about a traffic stop. Despite clear evidence that a police officer contradicted himself regarding the reason he pulled over Ronald Prokupek on February 29, 2008, a magistrate in Nebraska and a federal district court judge still found him guilty. The three-judge appellate panel strongly disagreed, noting the rarity of the situation where it was forced to declare the lower court judges guilty of “clear error” in their decisions.

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GM has just dropped a press release [in .docx format here] announcing that it has withdrawn its request for $14.4b in low-cost government retooling loans through the Department of Energy’s “Section 136” or ATVM loan program. Says CFO Chris Liddell

This decision is based on our confidence in GM’s overall progress and strong, global business performance. Withdrawing our DOE loan application is consistent with our goal to carry minimal debt on our balance sheet. Our forgoing government loans will not slow our aggressive plans to bring more new vehicles and technologies to the market as quickly as we can. We will continue to make the necessary investments to assert our industry leadership in technology and fuel economy.

Color us stunned. The “136” loan program was nearly used as a slush fund to bail out GM and Chrysler before President Bush ruled that the automakers qualified for TARP relief. Shortly after the bailout, GM said that the loan program was “one of the sources of liquidity GM is factoring into its plans in order to meet its capital requirements in the future.” More recently, it seemed that the loan program was on hold while GM and Chrysler were qualifying for loan requests that would have drained the program of funds. Now, with GM’s request dropped from the queue, there could be as much as $10b left for other manufacturers. Plus, by turning down cheap government loans, GM has made its first major (voluntary) step towards beating back the Government Motors moniker. Good for them.

“First smart ED Delivered in America.” (Read More…)

Some of you may be more familiar with this friend of the catering and drinking-water industries in its Chevrolet Step-Van guise, but I’ve always preferred GMC’s name: Value Van! I ran across this fairly complete example in my local self-service wrecking yard, quite close to the Simu-Wood™ LeBaron Town & Country wagon. Me and the Value Van, we have a history! (Read More…)