A breeze of fresh air for Volkswagen’s program: The Wolfsburg company shows a new Golf Cabriolet convertible at the Geneva Motor Show. No stop and squeeze your fingers while folding the roof in this one. The Golf has an electro-hydraulic drive that takes down the Golf’s top in a 9.5 seconds flash. If you attempt any motorized folderol at speeds above 30 km/h (19 mp/h), the roof will refuse. It would turn into a giant air brake otherwise. (Read More…)
Let’s face it: if you’re considering an Aston-Martin, you’ve got pretty refined taste. You’ve got the resources to scoff at the mere 470 horsepower offered by the DB9, but you aren’t enough of an ostentatious bore to jump for a 510 horsepower DBS. What to do? Luckily Aston has heard your subtle yet distinctive cry for help, and is exhuming its Virage nameplate just so you can enjoy a thoroughly respectable 490 horsepower in your coupe or roadster. Because any more would be obnoxious and any less would just be pathetic.
You’d think that a place with “taxation without representation” on its license plates would pay close attention to fiscal decisions, but according to a fascinating Washington Post story, when it comes to cars, all bets are off. District of Columbia Council Chairman Kwame Brown has claimed for months that his leased Lincoln Navigator was simply issued to him by the District, but thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, it has been discovered that Brown simply bullied his way into a $1,900/month “fully loaded” Navigator lease that had to be sourced all the way from Kansas City.
The story might just seem aggravating if you may be asked to pay for D.C.’s $440m budget shortfall, but it’s also a fascinating insight into government vehicle sourcing. We’ve covered some strange government vehicle purchases before, but we’ve never before seen exactly how politicians go about securing their unnecessarily flash rides. The key: just insist on the best and don’t take no for an answer. Read the whole thing. [Hat Tip: Brady Holt]
Though it appears that it may take even more government stimulus to achieve President Obama’s goal of putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015, online auto juggernaut Edmunds has come out against existing EV tax credits in a commentary by CEO Jeremy Anwyl. Anwyl’s argument is rooted in the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy‘s finding that the tax credit-qualifying Chevy Volt is only the 13th-greenest vehicle on the market while its greenest, the natural gas-powered Honda Civic GX, remains unsubsidized. Anwyl argues
The problem is this: When the government picks a technology, it crowds out development of other, potentially promising alternatives, like the natural gas engine used in the Honda Civic GX (above). LNG is not a new technology. I had friends who converted their vehicle to natural gas back in the Seventies. But how much are we hearing about it today? Or what about hydrogen fuel cells? A few years back, they were the stars of the major auto shows. Were any fuel-cell vehicles on display at the recent Detroit auto show? No. Every automaker was busy touting EVs.
Lamborghini was clearly hoping to tease its fans with a long, drawn-out release of pictures of its new Murcielago-replacing Aventador, as pictures of the supercar’s greasy bits were released today. But, in the era of global media, even the most-complicit outlets can accidentally let loose images of new supercar hotness… and that’s apparently what happened with the latest Lamborghini. EVO Magazine’s Croatian edition leaked the first image of the Aventador to Car and Driver, and it’s now making its way across the web. But really, aren’t the pics featuring the Aventador’s carbon fiber tub, pushrod suspension and other non-styling features the more interesting photos?
TTAC Commentator Astigmatism writes:
Dear TTAC: After six months of commuting by bus from New Jersey to Manhattan, I’ve decided to treat myself by buying myself a car (my wife commutes with our 10-year-old RX300), getting a monthly parking space through my company and driving into work every day. Please don’t try to talk me out of this decision: the buses are routinely late, stop at every corner between my house and the highway, take me to the wrong part of town, and generally take at least twice as long all-in as driving in the few, blessed days when I’ve driven to the office.
Initial reports of a diesel version of the Chevy Cruze coming to the US market cited GM management sources who apparently told workers at the Cruze’s Lordstown, OH assembly plant they would begin building the diesel-powered Cruze for the 2013 model-year. But GM spokesfolks tell the Youngstown Vindicator.
GM has some of the most capable engineers in the world and very capable engineering in Europe. If and when the time comes, there is no doubt GM will be able to produce a diesel engine in America,
The implication being that a diesel Cruze is not imminent… but that doesn’t mean it will never happen. Local UAW boss Dave Green clarifies
I did see the report. I read where we may be getting some diesel-powered Cruzes, but we have not gotten word of that from our corporate offices
So… call the diesel Cruze a big maybe. At some point. Perhaps Chevy is waiting for the Cruze five-door to come online before making an all-out bid for America’s “Mr Euro” market with a diesel hatchback.
When should you not buy a used car? Try right now. From mid-February thru early-June, the auto industry goes through an event called tax season. Folks receive their refund checks from the IRS, which in turn creates a nice little bubble of activity in the used car industry. Which is a good thing. Except that bubbles always have nasty repercussions down the road. (Read More…)
Nissan raised a tempest in a chatroom (or 20) when it claimed a 7:29:03 Nürburgring lap time for its GTR, and taunted Porsche that this time beat its 911 Turbo. Porsche took the bait, claiming that its drivers couldn’t replicate the GTR’s lap time and that Nissan must have used non-stock tires. Nissan fired back, and as the controversy became mired in he said-she-said nonsense, the fanboys gradually lost interest. And now, years later, Nissan is literally shoving the controversy into the faces of Porsche owners in hopes of getting even more mileage over one of the sillier controversies in the world of performance cars. But can you imagine this nearly three-year-old taunt actually stinging Porsche owners into considering a GTR?
Daihatsu has dusted off its most unfortunate nameplate for a rather unfortunate rebadge, as Autobild reports that the outgoing Toyota Yaris will be sold in Europe as the Daihatsu Charade starting this year. The 99 HP Charade will be sold for less than the European Yaris, which will be replaced shortly with the model that was recently launched in Japan. So, did Daihatsu’s engineers work out all the “Buru-buru” and “hyoko-hyoko” (“walk with a tremor” and “unsteady steps”)? Or is this just a cheap way to snag some of the low-cost sales that helped Hyundai pass Toyota as the best-selling Asian brand in Europe? Clearly the bosses at Toyota are still struggling with the dynamic that Paul Niedermeyer identified in his Curbside Classic on the Charade, when he wrote
Toyota took a minority ownership stake in Daihatsu in 1967, and upped that to 51% in 1999. Daihatsu was the source for kei-cars for Toyota, allowing it to not spread its resources into that narrow segment. But there has always been an overlap with Daihatsu’s larger cars, many of them having been Toyota rebadges. That’s not the case with the Charade, but Toyota’s Tercel was clearly stepping all over it, especially in the US. It begs the question as to whether Daihatsu has a real future as a word brand, or whether it will eventually be absorbed fully into the Toyota family.
A group of motorists earlier this month filed a federal class action lawsuit against Florida’s toll road system for detaining motorists who attempt to pay the tolls with cash. About 600 miles worth of toll roads and bridges are under the jurisdiction of The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), which hands operational duties over to the private firm Faneuil, Inc., which is responsible for the toll collectors. The complaint charges both firms with false imprisonment and other civil rights violations.
“For approximately four years, FDOT and Faneuil have engaged in a practice of detaining motorists and their passengers on the Turnpike System until such motorists provided certain personal information in exchange for their release,” attorney James C. Valenti wrote on behalf of the plaintiffs. “The motorists and passengers have been detained without their consent and without legal justification.”
What ever happened to the fabled Japanese job security? Instead of kaizen (continuous improvement), there is continuous change. A week ago, The Nikkei [sub] predicted that Toyota will cut its sprawling board from 27 members down to a more manageable 10-15. The announcement will most likely come at a press conference on March 9. The announcement hasn’t even been made, and Honda is already following suit by reducing its number if suits. (Read More…)
It’s a set piece, as predictable as the Beijing Opera: A rumor, confirmed by company insiders, followed by a denial, followed by – who knows. The Jaguar Land Rover flirt with China’s Great Wall enters stage 2: Never heard of it. (Read More…)
“Russia is an up and coming country with a sudden influx of foreigners,” says my favorite mail-order bride site. “there is a great deal of fascination about foreigners.” No kidding. The world’s automakers must be on a speed-dating jaunt through Russia. Today, Reuters reports that GM and Russia’s Avtotor are in joint venture talks. The plan: At least 300,000 cars per year. It’s not all idle talk, because Valery Gorbunov, Avtotor’s chief executive, told Reuters that a JV is definitely in the cards. (Read More…)
Recent Comments