Rick Hamilton writes in:
I am seriously considering buying a Factory Five or Superperformance Cobra. I would like to know if there is any real downside to owning one (lots of maintenance, cramped foot area, etc). I noticed one seller said “if you are over 5′9″ do not buy this car.” Somewhere else I read “some models are 4″ longer to accomodate taller drivers.” Is that really a factor to consider at 5′10″?
The Brazilian-market 2010 Chevrolet Agile has debuted, possibly providing a preview for the forthcoming Aveo replacement.
Women are responsible for an increasing number of drunk-driving arrests, according to data released today by the NHTSA. FBI statistics (PDF) show that DUI arrests of men fell 7.5 percent between 1998 and 2007, while the arrest rate for women climbed by nearly 29 percent in the same period. In absolute terms though, men still drink and drive far more: 626,371 DUI arrests of men were made in 2007, compared to 162,493 for women. According to NHTSA’s new Alcohol Impaired Drivers Involved In Fatal Crashes study (PDF) though, state-by-state analysis confirms that women are working towards evening the score.
Anonymous sources tell the Wall Street Journal that former Toyota executive and current Chrysler Deputy CEO Jim Press will leave the Pentastar by the end of November. Press, who currently serves as a special adviser to Sergio Marchionne tells the WSJ ,”I don’t think anything has been released about management changes,” echoing Chrysler’s official “no comment.”
Chinese battery/auto firm BYD has been on a roll since Warren Buffett took a ten percent stake in it last year. BYD recently snagged a technology-sharing agreement with VW, and just agreed to supply SAIC with its batteries. In fact, in the nine months since Buffett invested in BYD his $230 million investment has increased its value by an estimated $1 billion. Which is a good enough return for Buffett’s Berkshire-Hathaway Co-Chairman Charlie Munger to call BYD CEO Wang Chuan-Fu “a combination of Thomas Edison and Jack Welch—something like Edison in solving technical problems, and something like Welch in getting done what he needs to do. I have never seen anything like it.”
According to Wired Magazine, the Chinese Taikonauts of the Shenzhou 7 mission have each purchased a Chinese-market Volvo S80L because “the car is safe, built locally, and the ‘brand image expresses premiumness and is not ostentatious.’” You know, as opposed to “because they were compensated for their marketing pull.” “We are very proud to have the four astronauts as Volvo owners,” enthuses Volvo Cars China CEO Alexander Klose. “Volvo will convoy these heroic astronauts on land, with our premium quality and holistic top notch safety. We look forward to their greater contributions to China’s space cause.”
The AP [via Google] reports that 13.9m shares of Old GM were traded last Thursday alone, raising the obvious question: why? “There are people who think they are buying the new General Motors. Stop. You’re not. You’re buying the detritus,” says Harlan Platt, a finance professor at Northeastern. And Old GM’s spokesfolks agree. “We’re not in any way promoting the trading of it,” says Old GM spokesman Tim Yost. “We have no legal right to stop the trading. That’s well beyond the purview of any given company.” And though some are trading Old GM for short-term profits, a number of traders seem to be buying Old GM stock out of ignorance or unfounded optimism. One Detroit-area investment advisor explains: “the thing about people in the Detroit area is we’re homers,” he said. “We want to root for the home team. A lot of times people will do that, more with their heart than with their head.” But does Detroit’s hometown loyalty extend far enough to motivate people to buy stock in a liquidating company?
At least 20 of the 789 dealers cut by Chrysler during its restructuring are still owed money for vehicles they sold before their wind-down. According to FOX Business News, NADA has been receiving complaints from the dealers. “This situation is unacceptable,” says a NADA spokesman. “The dealers got 26 days notice they would be closing. It’s been two months now and to not pay dealers even a portion of what they are owed is outrageous.” Chrysler’s response? Be cool. “All dealers will be paid monies due to them for incentives and warranty work,” Chrysler tells FOX Business. “On July 28 Chrysler notified its former dealers that the payments were delayed, due to unforeseen complexities as a result of the bankruptcy reorganization, but they will receive final monies due to them.” Unforeseen complexities? Oh, boy . . . .
There is nothing in the record that suggests that plaintiff’s (Lamson’s) particular act — refusing to report to work because unlawful trade practices might occur there — enjoys high social value.
Oregon Supreme Court Justice W. Michael Gillette in his opinion finding that whistleblower protection does not apply to “business practices that pose no threat to public health or safety.” The business, in this case, being the selling of cars. Kevin Lamson was fired from Crater Lake Motors in Medford, Oregon, for (allegedly) refusing to participate in a sales campaign led by Real Performance Marketing that (allegedly) used deceptive and misleading tactics. According to Gillete’s opinion (by way of the AP/Google), Lamson’s suit “did not involve interests of sufficient public importance to support a claim that plaintiff (Lamson) was discharged for fulfilling an important societal obligation.”
The national frenzy that is Cash for Clunkers will end Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern, according to the government’s CARS website. “It’s been a thrill to be part of the best economic news story in America,” Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood enthuses in a press release (PDF). “Now we are working toward an orderly wind down of this very popular program.” Though LaHood is able to put a happy face on the program (it’s what he gets paid to do), evidence suggests that there are still a number of headaches to work through.
A BlueSport-based sub-Boxster? A “Roxster” Cute Ute based on the Tiguan? A Panamera coupe? VW CEO Martin Winterkorn’s interview with Manager Magazin is sure to make Porsche purists sweat. Sure, he says “a Porsche must remain a Porsche.” But how else does Winterkorn expect the Zuffenhausen boys to sell 150k units per year by 2012, let alone 200k by 2018? Just as a reminder, Porsche currently sells about 75k units per year, Cayennes and all. But, as Winterkorn modestly asks, “who plays the multi-brand game better than us?” Yikes!
Motor Trend has replaced its “best handling car” with a “best driver’s car” competition. Is this an opening for the Camaro? Not so much. The new SS model placed dead last in MT‘s comparo, which was won by the Porsche Cayman S. And if you think the Camaro was simply there to serve muscle car whipping post duty, check out the rave reviews that the Shelby GT500 picked up. On the other hand, the fastest car around Laguna Seca, the Corvette ZR1, ended up in 6th place. There’s just no way to hide the fact that “best driver’s car” will always be a subjective award.
GM’s experiment at selling cars in California on eBay has logged 45 sales in its first nine days, reports Automotive News [sub]. After announcing the program to considerable hype, GM is giving initial results a cool reaction. “It’s way too early in the program to have any concrete understanding of what’s going on,” say spokesfolks. No wonder they’re a bit confused: the eBay experiment received 630,000 visits and more than 960,000 searches of listed vehicles in its first week. “I’ve sold some vehicles to people that saw the vehicles on eBay, but they didn’t buy them on eBay. They called, came in and bought them,” says one dealer. Still, without a number to quantify the amount of leads that generated sales, it’s hard to point out the program’s redeeming qualities. Especially considering that GM didn’t receive a single offer for a vehicle at its listed price. Which means either GM or its dealers are missing out on profit on every vehicle sold through the eBay listings.
If you hate Hondas you’ll love watching them being repeatedly crashed and crunched. If you love Hondas, you’ll note that they do remarkably well in crash testing. And if you hate Coldplay, you’ll want to turn down the volume.
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