The Detroit News reports that GM is removing its “Mark of Excellence” badges from its entire lineup, starting with the new Chevy Equinox. “We are just really focused on the four core brands and this provided us with another opportunity to make sure they were at the forefront,” say GM spokefolks. “Plus people on Twitter were making fun of them.” Okay, so the last part is made up. Still, about time, no? As industry commentators never tire of mentioning, consumers don’t buy GM as a brand, they buy Chevys, Buicks, Cadillacs and GMCs. Okay, they buy Chevys. Anyway, what’s the point of having four separate versions of every platform if there’s a badge reminding everyone that they’re all basically the same? Don’t answer that, it’s a rhetorical question. Instead, hit the jump to learn how to de-Mark of Excellence your ride.
[ED: Our doctors tell us we need to write at least one “positive” post per day. A feature is born.]
Fiat is introducing a “World Class Manufacturing” campaign at Chrysler plants which will radically transform Chrysler’s manufacturing process. After all, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne takes the moral aspects of manufacturing very personally. “Waste is unethical,” he is known to have said; so why wouldn’t the Detroit News simply repeat it? And Fiat is famous for operating the most efficient, Dr. Seussian factories in the business. Like the Fiat of Brazil paint shop pictured above (more images of the plant here). Who wouldn’t want to be productive and/or hallucinating in that kind of working environment? The only disheartening element of this story is how far Chrysler’s plants have to come. Pop an extra Xanax and hit the jump to find out.
“To better meet the high demand we’re experiencing, we have temporarily shut down the service so we can expand our capacity to more quickly serve your requests. Please visit the site at a later time. We apologize for any inconvenience,” is the website’s current position, according to dealers quoted in AN. Having endured the odd server meltdown here at TTAC, we sympathize. Popularity has its downsides.
We have run out of patience. We have been calm so far, listened diligently and made comments, but that is over now. If nothing changes from General Motors’ side by the end of this week, then we will be active, and there will definitely be spectacular measures from us.
Opel Work Council (Labor Union) Boss Klaus Franz glowering on German radio (via Automotive News [sub]). Meanwhile, anonymous GM sources tell the Financial Times that “Germany have expressed interest in having Magna, but there might be other [financing] sources. This is what we are currently exploring.” It doesn’t sound like anyone is anticipating peace for our time.
GM-volt.com‘s Lyle Dennis got a test drive of GM’s two-mode plugin CUV at GM’s recent PR event. First planned as a Saturn Vue (canceled due to the Saturn spin-off), then planned as a Buick rebadge (only to be murdered by Twitter), the two-mode plugin is currently homeless. Will it ever see the showroom floor? Which brand will it be sold as? How long will it take to restyle it in such a way that even the biggest fanboys won’t diss it as an obvious rebadge? Even GM executives probably don’t know yet.
We’ve missed the actual anniversary- Japan’s first “kei car” specifications were first announced on July 8 1949- but Japan’s city cars still deserve a party.Auto Motor und Sport has a 51-image gallery of Kei-cars throughout the years that is sure to delight fans of tiny, sub-liter whips. For those unfamiliar with the Kei class, can get an update at wikicars, but here are the broad strokes. Original Kei-cars were limited to 2.8 meters in length, 1 meter width and 2 meters in height, and could have no more than 150cc of displacement. The latest rule changes (in 1998) limited Keis to 3.39m in length, 1.48 meters in width and 2 meters height. Displacement is now limited to a heady 660cc, and thanks to Japanese OEM mastery of tiny engines, horsepower must now be limited to 64 hp. Otherwise, the tiny rides come in a staggering array of flavors, from work trucks to baby exotics. Though they’ll never be a viable option on American roads, let’s thank the gods of automotive diversity that these weird whips have flourished with such vigor.
“The work that Crispin did was memorable and award-winning, but they have to sell cars. They’re not going to leave any stone unturned,” an unnamed marketing expert tells Automotive News [sub]. Except, of course, for the stone that has VW’s high-tech European engines under it. The big news is that a TDI Golf will be available in 2010, but if the unlovable 2.5 is the only the only gas engine on offer, VW will remain in the wilderness for some time.
After years of driving on one side of the road, Samoans are making the switch. The tiny Pacific island nation has become the latest country to change traffic patterns (the last was Ghana in 1974), but Samoa’s change-up is unique in that it is actually switching from right-hand traffic (used by 70 percent of the world’s nations) to left-hand traffic. Why? Supposedly to improve access to used vehicles from Australia and New Zealand. But as the Wall Street Journal reports, not everyone is happy with the switch. The People Against Switching Sides, or PASS campaign has held protests, villages have refused to change over and petitions have been signed. The problem with debates about traffic, though, is that compromise isn’t exactly an option.
Honda will be showing a prototype electric car at the Tokyo Auto Show in October, as the EV-adverse automaker prepares to offer a battery-electric option. And though development is going forward now, according to reports from Automotive News [sub], the Honda EV won’t be reaching the market until 2015. Honda had previously committed to its nickel-metal hydride battery technology (along with its hydrogen fuel cell system), and it’s not clear that this new vehicle represents a shift to lithium-ion technology. That might explain the long delay; Nissan’s Leaf EV and GM’s Volt EREV are supposed to go on sale in late 2010. But Honda’s not slacking, it’s just doing things the old-fashioned way. The Motor Company will be releasing electric motorcycles around the same time the Leaf and Volt come out and building from there. Sound familiar?
More details about the Volt’s charging system emerged at a GM FastLane livechat with charging equipment engineer Gery Kissel. Kissel reveals that the Volt will have 120V and 240V power chargers, but the 240V unit will be wall-mounted and hard-wired. Though the 240V charger will refill batteries much quicker (3.3 kW), it won’t be portable. Though the 120V will be able to plug into any outlet, it will charge more slowly (1.2 kW) and the cord will only be 20 feet long. Kissel said code required the cord to be under 25 feet or have some kind of management system to keep it off the ground. A retractable cord has been ruled out, and a decision hasn’t been made to allow the cord to lock to the vehicle while charging.
It’s a confusing world out there. Which is why TTAC makes frequent use of a “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” category. Here’s an “exclusive” look at Purolator’s newest “Purism” ad, the latest in a series that begs the question “what are they trying to sell anyway?” Like the man’s metaphor though, sometimes a swing and a miss is more entertaining than, well, an actual advertisement.
There are two sides to the auto insurance business: the repair side and the insurance side, and for the industry to function the needs of both must be balanced. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is accused of upsetting that balance by replacing a long-standing member of Massachusetts’ Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board with an executive from Progressive insurance. Patrick responds to the accusations by arguing that Karen Mills’ replacement of Joseph Valarioti (owner of Central Auto Rebuilders) actually returns balance to the board.
The Detroit News can’t seem to decide. On the one hand, they say, “the White House next month will name its top auto adviser to oversee an effort to boost the sagging manufacturing sector.” On the other hand, they quote White House spokesfolks as saying, “Ron Bloom is doing a great job on the auto task force. There are no plans to shut down or repurpose the auto task force, and we expect Ron to continue to do a great job.” So what happened to rumors that the Presidential Task Force On Autos (PTFOA) will be gone by September? The DetN is too worked up about the bright future of US “manufacturing policy” to care. And with GM and Chrysler out of bankruptcy court, one has to assume that the focus will be shifting away from the auto industry. At least until the next bailout.
Dodge doesn’t compete in NASCAR to test new technology. Nor does NASCAR highlight fundamental attributes of Dodge vehicles the way, say, Subaru’s rally competition does. So why stick around when resources are so tight? “NASCAR fans love performance and Dodge fans love to win,” explains Michael Accavitti, Director of Dodge Brand and SRT Marketing at Chrysler Blog. “It’s always been a match made in heaven and we intend to remain involved in the NASCAR sport for the foreseeable future.”
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