(or, the interior monologue of a tech geek thinking about buying an overpriced electric car)
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A great month for Jaguar, which posted a 59 percent bump in sales, year-over-year. Strong sales of pickups helped the Big Three post some solid gains. Transaction prices were up $617 year-over-year, with an industry average of $31,125. Table below, courtesy of Automotive News.
It’s said that only 5 R63 AMGs ever made it to Canada. They all must be in Toronto. I know of two in the neighborhood I grew up in, while another one was for sale a few months ago in Oakville (and still is). Meanwhile, this one just popped up for $31,000. According to the ad “ONLY SERIOUS BUYAER FOR MORE INFO PLEASE ONLY CALL. ANY TIME”. So, go do that. I would, if I had the extra cash. Then again, financial responsibility is overrated.
Reuters takes a look at GM’s attempts to turn around their decades-long slog in Indonesia, with this gem highlighting the nature of their struggle.
“We started in Indonesia in 1938. We have been so successful, we have seven-tenths of a point of market share in 75 years. Are you (kidding) me?” Tim Lee, head of GM’s international operations, said in an interview. “That is not constancy of purpose.”
It’s been a bad week for PSA, but at least they’ve got something to celebrate about. French driver Sebastian Loeb, behind the wheel of a Peugeot 208 T16, broke the record for the fastest time up Pikes Peak, at 8 minutes, 13.878 seconds, beating the old record by 92.286 seconds.
Your Author, All American Boy
July 4th is almost upon us and all you bashers of things American made can suck it. We won the wars with our All American can-do attitudes, our American know-how and our All American steel. If it wasn’t for us you’d all be speaking German and Japanese and be using the metric system to measure things other than just cocaine. We are the most powerful nation to ever stand astride the Earth and the best part about us is that, no matter who you are or where you live, our government is interested in what you are doing and will take the time to listen to everything you have to say. (Read More…)
Japanese carmakers are not out of the woods yet in China, and might be in the thick of things again if matters flare up. The other day, 30 right wing Japanese activists had to be kept away by Japanese Coast Guard, while the US and Japan held war games in preparations for a possible Chinese invasion of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. (Read More…)
France’s PSA has been all over the world with hat in hand, looking for a charitable donation that may keep the carmaker alive a little longer. Things are so dire that it is news when PSA does not ask a carmaker for a donation. That carmaker is Fiat, itself short of funds. (Read More…)
In Germany, Europe’s largest car market, sales were down 4.7 percent in June. In the first six months of the year, sales in Germany were down 8.1 percent. Opel’s June sales were down 10.1 percent in Germany, Chevrolet’s sales plummeted 17.1 percent, but those of Ford rose 8.7 percent. Peugeot sales plummeted 26.5 percent.
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Having dangled the GTD in front of us for so long, Volkswagen has finally confirmed that the diesel powered sports Golf will come to America, according to Automotive News.
While Volkswagen claimed to have had a business case for the car, it wasn’t quite a done deal for the 7th generation Golf. VW is on track to sell 100,000 TDI cars this year, and thinks that the $27,000 GTD could account for 5-10 percent of diesel Golf sales. The GTD will go on sale in the summer of 2014.
When it comes to fuel cell technology, everyone seems desperate to hop into bed with everyone else. The past 12 months has been a whole number of alliances; the start of 2013 saw an announcement between Toyota and BMW to partner on hydrogen technology, while Daimler, Ford and Nissan also banded together on their own fuel cell project. Now we can add Honda and GM to that list.
Sales of all new motor vehicles in Japan were down 10.8 percent in June, continuing a down trend after the Japanese government discontinued subsidies on eco-friendly cars in September last year. Sales of minivehicles, and especially sales of imported cars softened the blow. (Read More…)
Aside from the fame, fortune and talent, my design school stylings were criticized much like the early works of one Mister Lenny Kravitz. I felt, as idiotic as it seems now, both of us were pigeonholed for our unabashed use of “influence” in our art. Kravitz overcame. I left the College for Creative Studies to pursue a less interesting career. A career that makes me travel. With rental cars.
How fitting that I’d be blessed (cursed?) with The Son of Aston: the Ford Fusion Hybrid for 8 days and 800 miles. (Read More…)
This year’s sales race in the mid-size segment is one of the most competitive in recent memory. 5 of the top 10 best-selling cars in America are mid-sizers, and automakers are pulling out all the stops in an effort to unseat the Toyota Camry from its standing as America’s best-selling car. But Toyota isn’t going down without a fight.
Jack Baruth is no stranger to driving fast on public roads, and he’s not afraid to go public with his exploits. Over at Road & Track, our man JB reflects on some of his own mis-adventures while pondering the death of Giorgi Tvezadze, the Georgian fellow who became YouTube famous for his own dangerous driving stunts behind the wheel of a BMW E34 M5. As far as I’m concerned, a guy like this is better off dead. But Jack has a much more eloquent take on things, while managing to weave in references to Hume and DeNiro.
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