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.

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.

GM has just dropped a press release [in .docx format here] announcing that it has withdrawn its request for $14.4b in low-cost government retooling loans through the Department of Energy’s “Section 136” or ATVM loan program.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

Toyota “Lessons” TV Spot from electrocinema on Vimeo.

Edmunds’ has looked over its in-house shopping patter data, and has some bad news for the number one automaker in the US:

In December, 17.9 percent of car shoppers considered Toyota vehicles — 2.3 percentage points below levels seen in December 2009, before the 2.3 million-vehicle recall for potentially sticky accelerator pedals. Overall, Edmunds finds that 2010 consideration for Toyota vehicles was down about 3.8 percentage points year over year…

Evolving cross-shopping patterns on Edmunds.com also demonstrate the diminished power of Toyota’s brand. Consumers interested in traditional competitors like Nissan and Honda considered Toyota vehicles less often in 2010. Meanwhile, Suzuki shoppers – who qualify for higher interest rates, accept longer loan terms and make lower down payments, suggesting a lower economic status — increased their Toyota shopping considerably in the last year.

In recent months, though, some specific Toyota models are elbowing back in on traditional competitors. The rate of Edmunds visitors cross-shopping the Nissan Altima with the Toyota Camry, for example, has approached levels seen before the reports of unintended acceleration captivated the media and its audience last year.

The car-shopping site’s takeaway: Toyota isn’t just struggling against negative perceptions brought on by last year’s unintended acceleration recall… it needs new products. Which means Toyota’s plan to unveil 11 new or refreshed models through 2012 is coming just in the nick of time. Still, if those products don’t actually wow consumers rather than simply skating by on Toyota’s faded reputation, Toyota’s greatest strength, the trust and loyalty it enjoys from consumers, could be slip away. And given how disappointing the refreshed Corolla seems (at first blush… testing is still needed) in comparison to its hot-and-fresh competitors from Ford, Hyundai and Chevy, there’s a real risk that this could happen. Scandals come and scandals go… but resting on laurels is what really kills in this business.

After receiving an award from the Italian car magazine Quattroruote, Ralph Nader used the opportunity to tell the assembled crowd that

Now that Fiat has purchased Chrysler, it has the moral obligation to remedy the deadly fuel tank design in the Jeep Grand Cherokee before more innocent victims are burned today, not only in the United States, but also in Europe,

Nader’s beef according to Automotive News [sub]: the 1993-2004 JGC

“is a modern-day Pinto for soccer moms” because the fuel tank is behind the rear axle below the rear bumper… In addition, the 1993-98 Grand Cherokees are flawed because the filler hose goes through the frame rail and is pulled out of the fuel tank

NHTSA has been investigating the 3m or so Grand Cherokees built with this “design flaw” since August, based on evidence that this issue played a role in 22 “fiery crashes” and 14 deaths. Initial NHTSA reports claim the JGC has no disproportionate risk of fires, but Nader contests the claim, arguing that some 44 crashes involved the “design flaw” which he argues caused some 64 deaths. Given the many problems with NHTSA’s reporting system, it’s tough to tell who has the truth on their side in this conflict, but Chrysler insists that the investigation should end even though

it moved and shielded the fuel tank, starting with 2005 models

I know fanboyishness is frowned upon in this establishment, so let me make this brief: what Pagani has achieved over the nearly 20 years of its existence is one of the most inspiring stories in the car business. The number of people who decided to get into the supercar game since 1992 could fill books, and yet among them all, Pagani alone seems to have carved out a truly sustainable niche in the business. Built one at a time with creativity and flair, Pagani’s creations boast all the supercar must-haves like power, performance and presence, but add something that is increasingly absent from modern cars: character. It’s an overused phrase to be sure, but Pagani’s Zonda could not only go toe-to-toe with Ferrari and Lamborghini’s finest, they make some of the most exotic metal look and feel, well, a bit ordinary… cynical, even. In an age when even the most super of supercars have been commodified, Horacio Pagani’s love of materials, dedication to the complete car, and unconventional but classic tastes have vaulted his firm to the top of the supercar heap. His latest car, the Huayra, a 700HP carbon-fiber beast some seven years in the making, seems to be more than capable of continuing that legacy.

As the world’s first commercially-available (ish) plug-in hybrid, the BYD F3DM is one of the few modern cars that can legitimately claim a piece of automotive history. In full knowledge of this fact, a younger, more innocent version of myself once sent a number of emails to every possible BYD PR contact I could find, in hopes of securing an early review of the car that ushered in the plug-in automotive age. Needless to say, I never heard back from BYD… but I expected that. What I didn’t expect is that, years later, I still wouldn’t be able to find a real in-depth review of this mysterious yet potentially groundbreaking vehicle. Apparently BYD is either extremely cautious about letting writers experience its vehicles outside of convention hall laps and round-the-block drives… or the automotive media has a very poor sense of history. Or, as is most likely the case, both.

Either way, this strange state of affairs just got stranger: thanks to plugincars.com, we now have the first report of the F3DM’s performance on American roads… from an LA Public Housing Authority inspector. Yes, really.

(Read More…)

It probably won’t come as too huge of a surprise to many of TTAC’s regular readers that the first car blog I ever read was Pete DeLorenzo’s Autoextremist.com. This was years ago, years before I ever imagined that I would get pulled into the crazy world of the auto industry, and at the time I was deeply impressed. Here was a guy who, having seen the Detroit machine from the inside, was documenting the self-destruction of an industry with an unmistakable bravado and flair for storytelling. In retrospect, it’s strange to realize that my tastes for automotive coverage were well-defined before I ever considered entering the profession.

In any case, writers are forever challenged when the stories they grow to love take a turn for the unexpected, and DeLorenzo seemingly abandoned his caustic style by the time the auto bailout hit. But cheerleading never quite sounded right coming from the man peddling “bare-knuckled, unvarnished, high-octane truth,” and TTAC took the Autoextremist to task for some of his more brazen pom-pomery during the fevered bailout debates. Still, when the bailout-era wagon-circling was over, DeLorenzo could no longer contain the angry spark that once inspired TTAC’s founder to offer to post Autoextremist rants on this very site. And after warming back up over the past year by using Ed Whitacre as his rhetorical punching bag, I’m pleased to say the Autoextremist is back to his bombastic pre-bailout form. His inspiration: the leadership (or lack thereof) of GM’s latest CEO, “Lt. Dan” Akerson…

(Read More…)

With a new year, the do-gooders at Advocates For Highway and Auto Safety have produced a new rating of states performance in adopting the safety laws they espouse, including open-container laws, mandatory motorcycle helmets, ramped-up privileges for teen drivers and booster seat standards.  If you buy into the idea that more laws equals more safety, this iconographic is all you need to determine how “safe” your state is. If, on the other hand, you believe that some of AFHAS’s recommended laws are better than others, you’ll want to go through their complete report [in PDF here] to see whether your state’s laws measure up to your expectations. Sorry, but Democracy still isn’t a spectator sport.

With worrying news breaking recently about Nissan’s slow rollout of its Leaf EV, Toshiharu Sakai, a senior VP at the Japanese automaker reassures the Nikkei that

We initially planned to produce 10,000 this fiscal year, and we can meet (this target) by the end of March.

Sakai insists that the Leaf’s production has not been interrupted, and that the Oppama plant would produce 3,000 units in February before ramping up to its capacity production of about 4,000 units by March. Leaf production at Nissan’s Smyrna, TN plant will begin late next year, and will produce as many as 150k units per year (and 200k battery packs per year), while Nissan’s Sunderland, UK plant will be producing another 50k Leafs and 60k battery packs annually starting in 2013. All told, Nissan will have about 250k units of Leaf production when the Sunderland plant reaches full volume, which puts it on track to a commanding lead in global EV production… now it just needs the market to start demanding that many cars. Meanwhile, a minor issue with the Leaf’s ownership experience has raised its head and deserves a little attention.

(Read More…)

Volkswagen’s 2002 “One Liter Car” was a classic project of the firm’s legendary chairman Ferdinand Piech. The grandson of Ferdinand Porsche was taken to setting staggering tasks for his engineers, who dutifully turned out such mechanical wonders as the world’s fastest car (Bugatti Veyron), the first car to achieve 1 liter per 100km fuel economy (the so-called “One Liter Car”), and the world’s most unnecessarily expensive Volkswagen (the Phaeton). Though it was never introduced for production, the One Liter Car convinced VW that diesels could be as efficient as any hybrid, and became a point of great pride for the company. A few years ago, there was even a rumor that a limited number would be made for sale to the public, but only an updated concept and vague talk of 2013 production ever materialized. And now, VW has introduced a new One Liter Car, called the XL1, in Qatar of all oil-rich places.

This time, the XL1 seats two side-by-side and has a plug-in hybrid drivetrain featuring a two-cylinder diesel making 47 HP and a 26 HP electric motor hooked to a Li-ion pack with up to 22 miles of EV range. The concept can reportedly hit 62 MPH in 11.6 seconds and has a top speed of 99 MPH. A 2.6 gallon tank gives the XL1 a 341 mile range, thanks in part to the low overall weight of 1,753 lbs. And with its larger, more conventional layout, VW isn’t being shy about the fact that this One Liter car represents a step closer to production.

Hard on the heels of yesterday’s story on Hyundai’s preparation for CAFE standard ramp-ups comes this counterpoint, courtesy of the Detroit Free Press. Walter McManus, director of automotive analysis at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute, did his own study on a possible 43 MPG 2020 standard and his findings, as presented at a Citi Investment Research conference call, seem quite positive for American-based automakers. McManus’s research took several  basic assumptions for granted in order to reach his conclusions, namely that

• Gas prices will average $4 a gallon between now and 2020.

• Industry sales will be 16.3 million vehicles in 2020.

• Every manufacturer complies with 2016 CAFÉ standard.

• Plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles will be less profitable than gas-engine vehicles.

Now, right off the bat it’s possible to take exception to some of those assumptions. If gas doesn’t crack four dollars per gallon before 2020, for example, this blogger will be one confused student of history. Also, predicting over 16m units of new car sales is by no means a sure thing. Though a comfortable industry assumption based on the “old normal,” there aren’t many indications that 16m+ annual new car sales was a sustainable level for the US economy. Still, Mr McManus has been doing this for a while, so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. So, given his assumptions, what does he foresee for Detroit as it moves to meet a 43 MPG standard by 2020? In two words: great success.

(Read More…)

Typically when an automaker launches its first EV, the standard procedure is to spend a lot of time talking about how this car will change the world. Not so with Audi. Having created an “e-tron” EV concept version of its Auto Union Type C pedal car, Audi is backing up its modest EV ambitions with some tough talk from CEO Rupert Stadler aimed at putting EVs in their proper place. Stadler tells Automotive News [sub] that

We are still in the early phase with the electric vehicle, in terms of commercialization and whether the cars will be sold or leased, or will just be a collector’s car. First of all we have to industrialize the lithium-ion-battery. This is happening with the hybrid cars which now have the role of a bridge technology. We should not overplay euphoria for electric vehicles. Our industry is in the middle of a system change and we still have a lot of challenges to solve.

And, just as its CEO admits, Audi still has real issues with the commercialization of EVs: for one thing, even its e-tron kiddy car is still a one-off modification of its €9,700 pedal-powered Type C racer. Audi currently has no plans to commercially produce the 1.5 HP, 25 km range EV sportster. Perhaps its too early to say for certain that Audi will be able to knock Tesla off its solitary spot atop the EV sportscar world.

Remember how the government bailout team forgot to make sure its “Irrevocable Ecological Commitment” from Fiat was measured in “adjusted” Miles Per Gallon, using the EPA test cycle that provides your window sticker number? Well, the same “unadjusted” MPG number Sergio Marchionne used to his advantage is used to calculate the CAFE ratings that have the industry in such an tizzy. Well, the official lobbying parts of the industry, anyway [see also, here]. Hyundai has been saying for some time that it is targeting a 50 MPG fleet average by 2025, although CEO John Krafcik said as recently as August that he didn’t know how the automaker would reach that goal.  Now, however, it looks like he’s found a way to bring 50 MPG within reach: use CAFE’s “unadjusted” standard. Just like Sergio. Follow along as Hyundai shows that 50 MPG isn’t as far off as many seem to believe.

(Read More…)