But really, they say, it's not a concept. The Transit Connect compact van (already confirmed for the U.S.) will be a taxi, especially in the taxi capital of America, New York City. With the Crown Victoria going out of production, Ford needs a big car to take its place in the taxi lineup. So it's a hybrid, right? Wrong. Despite Mayor Mike Bloomberg's insistence that all NYC taxis must be hybrids by 2012, the Transit Connect taxi is internal combustion as usual. It'll have the same 4-cylinder gas engine, front wheel drive, and not-cutting-edge 4-speed automatic as the private sale versions of the TC. Still, it makes a fantastic taxi because it is so easy to get in and out of, and it's loaded with legroom. Sliding doors will be especially welcome on Manhattan's absurdly clogged streets, and it's one of the nicest things about the Toyota Sienna minivans already on the road. Ford's reps also confirm that the wheelbase of all American TCs will be stretched from the standard short wheelbase on sale in Europe. Pity it only seats 4 passengers but a third row was probably a bit of a stretch.
Posts By: Justin Berkowitz
This is the first anniversary of the Ford Flex [not being on sale]. Ford debuted a concept that looked production-ready at last year's NY Auto Show. This year, it's pretty much ready to go, in finished pre-production form, and off to dealers this summer. Ford's PR folks, who join Toyota in warming up to TTAC, gave me a 20 minute ride in the Flex. Without driving it, what I can say hit me the most is how it feels fully thought through, as opposed to previous cars in which someone started a good effort and then went out to lunch (the Mustang's missing interior, e.g.). The seats are extremely comfortable, and the prepro car was silent inside – which is a feature I hope stays on the actual production models. It's very heavy on creature comforts and goes as far as having a compressor-driven refrigerator as an option, so odds are that it'll be heavy in general. Fit and finish is a huge improvement over most other Ford products, and there's even some character – the cloth version's seats were described as having a tweed pattern. Huh? Engine will be the 3.5 liter V6 from the Flex and Taurus, although one of the marketing guys admitted he wishes Ford's 2.7 liter diesel from Europe would be available. In the future though, the EcoBoost version will be available with a turbocharged V6. Sadly, the packaging isn't what we hoped for, because while the seats totally fold flat, this still ain't rivaling a minivan or the Expedition for space. For example, the third row is still only for children and Napoleonic adults (like me). Looks slick in person, so much so I don't have any idea why Ford's going to sell it alongside the extremely similar Taurus X.
Suzuki, despite its 55 percent market share in India, is not the most exhilarating brand in the United States. Their best car in production, the Swift, isn't even sold here. So to entice all the journos to hit up their press conference, they gave out free lunch. At their new concept car unveiling, they showed us a new D-segment sedan concept (Accord/Malibu/etc competitor) that looks fantastic and a little like the Lexus LS460 from the side. What percent production ready is it? Hard to cut through the PR talk, which says it communicates a new design language, yada yada yada. It's front wheel drive, has a 3.6 liter V6 (sound like any General Motors cars you know?) and a six-speed automatic transmission. The concept car has AWD, though whether that comes through in a production model is questionable.
Not to be confused with Reagan's Surgeon General, Dr. Koop, Kia debuts the Koup concept car today. It's a real classic "beats the Scion tC at its own game" by being a reasonably nicely shaped four-seat FWD sport coupe. The concept engine – which Kia says is real and functional – is a hopped-up turbo four with 290 horsepower …. routed to the front wheels. What this concept should mean to you is a realistic preview of the upcoming (and disappointingly not revealed this week) Kia Spectra sedan and coupe. Considering the current model has been on sale since 2000-2001, it's about frickin' time. Still, if they can bring something that looks like this into actual production, PR Dir Alex Fedorak's hope of "standing out in traffic" might inch closer from PR dreamland to real life.
Despite some, ahem, similar products like the Kia Optima/Hyundai Sonata, Kia Rio/Hyundai Accent, Kia Sportage/Hyundai Tuscon, Kia's Director of Public Relations Alex Fedorak says "the two companies' products are apples and oranges." In an interview with TTAC today, he outlined Kia's future product strategy. Kia is meant to be oriented toward youth, and sporty, with edgier designs, and more performance. In contrast, "Hyundai is more luxury oriented." Which is why yesterday Hyundai introduced the new Genesis coupe by doing burnouts on stage. What the heck? But really, the Kia brand is evolving – the next Spectra will come as a sedan and coupe. "In sum," Mr. Fedorak said, "we are going to be design led." Look, I love the Rondo, but that ain't no beauty queen winner.
Honda officially showed the second generation Fit to the world today, For a B-segment car, it's something of a looker. Power rises to a useful 118 horsepower from a new 1.5-liter engine, and the optional automatic transmission (befitting a car that will spend time in congested urban areas) gains a cog (for a total of five). Honda's also hoping to convince buyers of its cheapest car to spring for high-profit-margin items like the optional navigation system. Interior plastics are improved, and the flexible seating returns. Honda calls the latter "Magic Seat." While useful, if this is Honda's impression of magic they should probably stop going to prestidigiation performances at the airport motel. Honda forgot to release the Fit's crucial MPG figures. Since these are the most important stats for this car (besides price), you'd have thought Honda would have remembered not to remember to forget.
At a special session for bloggers– accessed by TTAC after RF's personal appeal to Maximum Bob– GM Car Czar Bob Lutz said he's "given up on a thirty-thousand dollar Volt." In fact, even priced closer to $40k "we're not going to make a dime on the Volt for years." Lutz dismissed any concerns about profitability, labelling the electric – gas hybrid "an eco-flagship." The new pricing strategy: a tax credit or rebate to get the consumer's out-of-pocket expenses in the "lower thirties." While millionaire bankers and movie stars have flocked to the Prius for its earth-saving cred, the real reason for its strong sales numbers: the price starts in the low twenties. So Lutz' dream– that consumers will pay $35k+ for a grocery-getting Volt– seems a little… futuristic.
Think Maximum Bob has maximum final say at GM? Uh, no. In response to a blogger's question about the lack of paddle shifters on the G8, Lutz responded "The marketing guys didn't want it. Some things we don't necessarily agree with, we have to do." Welcome to WTF country. Marketing input is absolutely critical, but Lutz and GM's golden circle of executives shouldn't be allowing the "marketing guys" to nix anything. Did they have access to a survey showing people were offended by paddle shifters? Did the gear lever manufacturer lobby interject about the threat paddle shifters posed to their business? Otherwise, it's a shock that they are able to give GM's "Car Czar" a headache and even twist his arm into doing anything.
GM's cross-brand cannibalization continues. The inbred Lambda triplets (Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook) now have a fourth sibling: meet the Chevy Traverse. To accommodate the family shopper-required third row, it looks pudgy and pregnant the way the Enclave does, except with a giant Chevy bowtie on the front. Since Ford's Edge outsells any of the Lambdas (and almost outsells them combined) and there were issues with supply for the Enclave, GM's reasoning for introducing this crossover behemoth escapes this writer. "Because some customers want Chevy products" is not an explanation. Engines and options are the same as the other siblings. Even the name is bad: with the TrailBlazer name familiar to many, and the TrailBlazer itself in a permanent vegetative state, there's no reason for Chevy to introduce yet another new product name. But above all else: didn't GM promise to stop with the senseless rebadges?
What looks like a Chrysler, smells like a Chrysler, and has Plastech plastics like a Chrysler? It's the VW Routan minivan, a sad rebadge job that would make the boys at The Buslab, a Berkeley California VW bus specialist, cringe into their bean bag chairs. It looks like a giant bloated Chrysler minivan in person, and what's worse is that VW's hallmark high quality interiors go out the window in favor of a hallmark Chrysler interior. They've added buckets of chrome and it doesn't do any good whatsoever. The engine and transmission are also from Chrysler, so don't go expecting VW's 3.6 liter V6 or anything. I don't have much left to say except that it's an abomination.
One of the big car news events of the year has been the Hyundai Genesis. First, the details you need: RWD, three engine options (3.3 liter V6 from the Sonata with 240-ish hp, 3.8 liter V6 from the Azera with 270-ish hp, and the big boy 4.6 liter V8 with 380 horses). They still won't give any info on price other than "approximately what a 3-Series costs." And since that ranges from $32,000 to $50,000 (not counting the M3), that means about nothing. Now in terms of the vehicle itself, it has a general luxury-generic look, and the interior has well done parts (leather stitched on the dash) and some embarrassingly bad elements (fake wood a la 1994). The Hyundai PR flackers were totally tight lipped about a luxury brand in the US , and insisted they wanted to show people what Hyundai is capable of. Except that they aren't putting a logo on the front of the car, making it completely anonymous. It's hard to sell a "luxury" car alongside a 1.6 liter Hyundai Accent, and I think VW proved with the Phaeton that this kind of wild product diversity is a mess.
First on the hit parade this morning was Acura's entry-level sedan. With sharp steering and a just-right size, it's what many of us used to really like about the Accord before it became a ginormous Buick. The TSX is unfortunately taking the same route. It loses the first generation's nicely-trimmed physique for Acura's new "pleasantly plump" design motif. In person, it's not as nice as the current TSX but a huge improvement over the Accord sedan. Best summed: inoffensive. The interior is bland and Accordian, and the back seat is tough for even a scrawny 5'7" guy (me) to get out of. The 2.4-liter four-cylinder carries over with approximately 200 horses and a tiny bit more torque than before. The notion of a V6 is still off the table (which is just fine) but I can't help but think the turbocharged four-banger out of the RDX crossover would have been a torque-steering hoot to drive. SH-AWD is also not coming to the TSX in this generation. That makes sense to keep the weight and cost lower, but it does limit how much power can go through those front wheels while maintaining the feedback that makes the TSX Acura's best driving car. Price should stay the same as the current car. While suffering from bloat, I still think this is the truest "Acura" that Acura makes.
Volkswagen has three major products to show at the New York Auto show. First is the Passat CC (which doesn't mean coupe-convertible as in Europe, but just indicates a four-door low-profile sedan like the Mercedes CLS). It's great looking in person and beats the heck out of the dowdy regular Passat sedan. But it's Audi A4 money (high twenties into the forties in price), and anyone over 5'8" is going to have a heavy metal head-banging time in the back seat. Lovely car, but how does this fit with VW's mainstream image? I dunno. The Tiguan crossover is also on display, and it's coming to dealers in May. It's poorly packaged – despite loads of headroom, I'd reckon it has comparable cargo space to a 5-door Grabbit (Golf/Rabbit). Finally, I cornered VW PR Manager Keith Price and fired off questions about diesels. The plans are to have the 2.0 liter, 50-state diesel (no urea to refill) Jetta sedan and wagon in dealers during the summer. Mileage will be over 40 city, over 50 highway. The engine thumps up an impressive 236 lb ft of torque and will be available with this writer's all-time favorite transmission, the DSG. No plans for a diesel Rabbit in America, which I think is a mistake. VW of America wants to put the 2.0 liter diesel in the Tiguan as well, but the European market's demands are taking all the capacity for it, and the US is not as high a priority for oil burners. In spite of that, the Touareg gets a 3.0 liter diesel V6 next year.
For rich, impatient people that think $40 grand is a fair price for a Dodge (regardless of the 425 horses under the hood), the Challenger SRT8 does the job. For the rest of us, there are "regular" Hemi and V6 versions of the uber-retro pony car. They look quite good – better than the SRT8, I'd wager – and they pack a triplet of drivetrain options. The base engine is the 3.5 liter V6 with 250 horses and a, gulp, 4 speed auto. Next up is the 5.7 liter Hemi we all know and mostly like, with a 5-speed auto and 370 horses (an increase over the 340-350 in the Charger, and 9 more than GM's G8 GT natch). Finally, if you get a 6-speed "pistol grip" manual transmission, the most phallic gear lever in a universe of phallic gear levers, you can have 375 horses, and the privilege of filling up with premium gas. Prices aren't out yet, and the interior still is an unfortunate retro joke.
The best and worst aspects of Pontiac's Solstice roadster are that it's a convertible and that it's a convertible (yes, I said this before). With the embargo expiring at 12:01 AM on Wednesday, the first press day of the NY Auto Show, the bloggers with pictures (not us, we would have just posted them when we got them) have revealed to the world the new Solstice Targa. It's a hardtop, it's a convertible, it's a targa. The center roof panel, in either solid material or fabric lifts out for a more convertible-resembling experience. If you think of it as a convertible, it totally sucks. However, if you think of it as a coupe that happens to have a nice large sunroof (a la the Corvette), then it makes a lot more sense. I just hope that the hardtop fits in the trunk and allows space for a packet of gum or other luggage. Somehow I doubt it. Everything else remains unchanged, and we'll have live shots throughout the day.
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