Now that the 2008 Honda Fit's scooped fourth place on TTAC's Ten Best list, it's time for the winner to get evicted. Buh-bye! The 2009 Honda Fit goes on sale in the U.S. next week; Honda's already introduced the model in other markets. The next gen is slightly larger and better packaged than its predecessor, with the Magic Seat able to drop into the floor without having to slide the front seats out of the headrests' way. Honda's boffins have bumped the 1.5-liter powertrain to 117bhp. The five-speed auto gets slightly better fuel economy (28/35), while the stick-shift Fit and Sport– with wider tires and spoiler– suffer a one mpg drop on the highway cycle (27/33.) The Sport gets a nifty USB audio interface for direct control of iPods. The Sport is also available with a touchscreen navigation system plus ESC, for an MSRP over $18,500. The Fit's rear torsion bar suspension and drum brakes remain, but the whimsical blue dot in "Fit" is gone. But not forgotten.
Posts By: Richard Chen
CNet News reports a FasTrak/EZPass exploit from the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. Millions of older transponders in use have unencrypted RFID chips, allowing a malicious individual to steal ID's and use those accounts to get free tolls using a "cloned" transponder. Transponders can also be reprogrammed on the fly, wreaking all sorts of havoc down at Billing Central. Also, an "electronic alibi" could be created that could have a miscreant listed in the system has having paid a toll at a particular place and time when they were elsewhere. Newer transponders do have some security to prevent reprogramming, although this was also defeated. The hacker involved suggests inserting a switch to the keep the transponder from automatically activating, the less convenient alternative being the bag the unit came in or an aluminum foil wrap.
Martin Eberhard now has driven 1000 miles on his Founders Series Tesla Roadster. Tesla's first CEO (now punted) took delivery of his lithium-ion-powered sports car two weeks back. (It's got orange stripes on grey, if you're in his neck of the woods and want to flag him down.) Eberhard estimates the Roadster's range at 125 miles on the "normal charge" settings, and 160 at "max range". "The 'normal charge' setting (accessed via the touch screen) limits charging the battery to something less than full. (I guess they go to 85 percent) and limits discharging to something above fully-depleted. The max range setting allows full use of the battery, though it warns you that doing this often will cause reduced battery life. It also reduces torque noticeably." And there you have it. He also notes that the rear suspension is harsh on sharp bumps, but that's to be expected from the Kim Kardashian version of the Lotus Elise.
The crossover– crudely defined as a SUV-styled car– hasn't fared well in the Great Sales Meltdown of 2008. The Wall Street Journal reports that the segment slipped 11 percent from last year. Thanks to a combination of high gas prices, atrocious SUV trade-in/resale values and generally high CUV prices, SUV owners are trading down to cars, rather than across to CUVs. Uh-oh. Carmakers were counting on larger profit margins on those CUV's to keep them afloat in these lean times. Even sales of small and relatively fuel-efficient CUV's (a.k.a. "cute utes") are lackluster. The Toyota RAV4 (12,006) is down 20.7 percent [unadjusted for sales days is how we roll]. Honda's CR-V (17,419) tumbled 15.3 percent. There are a few bright spots in the CUV market: the Nissan Rogue (6,525) and Subaru Forester (5,559). But their combined sales generated about the same volume as the RAV4. The Dodge Journey, at 3,306 sales last month and 26,180 for the year, is already is selling for thousands below MSRP. [BTW, the brand new Ford Flex barely edged its outgoing platform-mate Taurus X, 2,204 vs. 2,034.] Even with gas prices dipping, the CUV genre seems stillborn. GM identified the fourth Lambda-platformed Chevy Traverse (post-Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook) as the only key product launch in North America this fall. Not good on stilts.
Despite predictions to the contrary, Honda reported a sales loss this month compared to July 2007, down 1.63%. Total car sales went up 14 percent, but were outweighed by a 22 percent drop in truck sales. Accord sales led the pack with a very healthy 41,382, Civic further behind 29,125, and both up over the year before– but not enough to boot Ford F-Series from the sales throne. Fit posted an all-time high at 12,266, and Acura's sole bright spot was a 25.6 percent rise in TSX sales. Almost every other vehicle was down by double digit percentages, including all CUV's.
No excuses needed here. Nissan's sales are back from the dead. (Did someone say truck incentives?) Even with three fewer selling days for July 2008, Nissan division sales were up 9.9 percent (unadjusted) over last year. Versa and Sentra's double-digit percent sales increases led the pack, Altima sales were basically unchanged at an impressive 24,429, and the brand spanking new Maxima was up a few percentage points from last year. Truck/CUV sales were up, thanks to sales of the new Rogue as well big gains by the Frontier, Pathfinder, and Quest (all three vehicles were roadkill last month). On the other hand, Infiniti sales were down 2.9 percent; all cars save the G Coupe had declining sales. Rising sales of the new(ish) EX and FX CUV's were not enough to offset the drop in cars sales.
University of Minnesota's Center for Excellence in Rural Safety (CERS) has unveiled a new web site using Google Maps to display 2006 NHSTA motor accident data. SafeRoadMaps.org's widget lets you search the accidents by state or street address. [NB: The site's just been launched; it's a bit slow and kludgy.] The data shows the type of vehicle involved, whether or not a seatbelt or helmet was used, the presence or absence of alcohol, and speeding. CERS is hoping to "create greater levels of awareness, commitment, and informed decision making at all organizational levels, contribute to a change in thinking about the nature of the problem of road traffic injuries and what constitutes successful prevention, and strengthen institutions and create effective partnerships to deliver safer road traffic systems." Whew! But why the emphasis on rural safety? "Half of the 42,000 crash-related fatalities in the United States each year occur on two-lane rural roads."
You know it's a slow news day when a Ford press release touts a wheeled-brick's aerodynamics and the story (such as it is) is picked up by a blog. Granted, we've just done juts that. And Ford needs every little bit of help it can spin to launch their 2.25 ton, 6.5 foot wide Taurus X derivative— especially in this dismal economic climate. "Boxy is the New Swoopy" gushes Edmunds. Our pals quote Ford's press release liberally, "revealing" how squaring the Fairlane's roof and bumper (among other equally subtle changes) gives the Flex a 0.02 aerodynamic edge (so to speak) over the Toyota Highlander and GMC Acadia. FoMoCo claims a one mpg advantage over the competition. Fueleconomy.gov has the Flex FWD pegged at 17/24. As well as the 2009 Acadia FWD with its new DI 3.6L V6. Oops. Nowhere in Edmunds/Ford gusher is the Flex's pesky frontal area number. Nor is mention made of the 500lbs. weight gain over the Freestyle, or the Freestyle's EPA 18/25 rating (2008 corrected #'s). We expect selective stats from Ford. But Edmunds? Yeah, OK, Edmunds too.
iCasualties.org reports 4118 U.S. military deaths in Iraq from March '03 to July '08. In 2005 (the last year where full data is available), 43,443 American died in road accidents. The rate of deaths per 100 million miles driven has steadily decreased. But the increasing number of miles driven means that the total number of fatalities hasn't changed much over the past few decades. Get those drivers to drive less… ScienceDaily reports that Michael Morresey put together some tables on the topic. The public health professor at the University of Alabama reckons a 10 percent rise in the cost of gas trims traffic by 2.3 percent. His calculations suggest that $4/gallon gas equals 1k fewer monthly U.S. road fatalities. It's not clear if Morresey's assumptions factor in the effect of automobilists switching to a pair of wheels (with a much higher fatality rate per miles driven). It'll be a few years before we get the bottom line.
Jim Majeta at Kicking Tires reports a change in GM's upcoming hybrid electric – gas hybrid Chevrolet Volt's fuel tank size. The 12-gallon tank with a 600-mile projected range is no more. GM's not saying by how much they're shrinking the tank, but the new projected range is 360 petrochemical miles. As that's just over half the previous gas-only range, a straight division yields a 7.2-gallon tank. Per the article, "GM says because most cars [will in theory] travel 40 miles or less each day, there was really no need to have a 12-gallon fuel tank – and the added weight – to extend the range by 600 miles." Translation: "We have problems meeting weight and packaging requirements, big time. Besides, the only range we have to beat is the Tesla Roadster's." Speaking of another manufacturer suffering from premature specification…
Word has leaked out that the next-generation Toyota Prius will offer optional solar cells on the roof manufactured by Kyocera. Yahoo! News reckons the new system, rated at least 2kW, should be capable of powering the air conditioner unit. The current Prius and other Toyota hybrids already have an electric AC unit. "Adding solar panels to a model targeting mass consumers would mark a first for a major automaker", The Nikkei said. Ahem. Let's flashback to fall 1991, courtesy of the New York Times archive. The last generation Mazda 929 had 500W solar panels on the sunroof. The cells ran exhaust fans in conjunction with the AC unit (the Mazda's chiller wasn't electrically powered). The rooftop solar system could trickle-charge the battery from dead to full steam ahead in one week– assuming the 929 was parked in Arizona during the dry season. The old system was perfect for the airport long-term parking lot. It'll be a lot harder for the Prius to make this work on a daily basis, but the PR benefit for both the ToMoCo hybrid– and solar technology in general– is literally priceless. Even before it turns a wheel, the next gen Prius has trumped Chevy's plug-in electric – gas hybrid Volt.
According to the The Guardian, a [formerly] secret study completed by the World Bank has concluded biofuels are responsible for \75 percent of the recent run-up in world food prices. [A yet-to-be-released British Study reportedly came to the same conclusion, contradicting a U.S. government study concluding that food-for-fuel accounted for just two to three percent of that increase,] According to the British newspaper, the World Bank withheld the study to avoid embarrassing President Bush and the U.S. Government at next week's [non-Pontiac] G8 summit, at which Uncle Sam has full veto powers (sort of like Ford Motor Company and the few fortunate recipients of Crazy Henry's genes.) Leaders at the summit will be under pressure to cut back their biofuels mandates to avoid worsening the ongoing food shortage, which has been called "the first real economic crisis of globalization." The truth will out?
Nissan's numbers are finally available, and they're not looking hot, either. Unadjusted ('cause that's how we roll) June sales are down 17.7 percent overall, with trucks taking a 37.9 percent hit. Bright spots included the new Rogue CUV and a slight bump in Versa sales. Most cars held their own, with single digit percentage sales drops. Exceptions: the outgoing Maxima (uh, okay) and the incoming Murano (uh-oh, down 24 percent). Truck and minivan sales drops were impressive and as bad or worse than the other top six. Frontier led the way (-58.1 percent), followed by Quest (-62.3 percent), Armada (-63.4 percent), Xterra (-68.3 percent), Titan (-71.4 percent), and Pathfinder (-71.7 percent trailing. [Pause for picking your jaw up off the floor.] As bad as these numbers appear, the horrifying percentages were offset by Nissan's relatively small sales volumes; their truck line sold just 19K units last month. Still, Nissan has some production shifting to do, just like everyone else.
Spaghettification as named by Stephen Hawking is the extreme stretching of objects into its components by a extreme gravity field, to the point of becoming but a thin strand of elementary particles. As forecast by Chrysler plant cutback and closing yesterday, the maker most dependent on minivan and truck sales is definitely getting the stretch this June, with sales down 36 percent (unadjusted). Surprisingly, car sales dropped even further, down a whopping 49 percent. Grand Caravan sales are a bit of bright spot: up 52 percent. But GC sales are still down 27 percent year-to-date, warranting the closure of the St. Louis plant.. Not surprisingly, the outgoing Ram is down 48 percent, The Caliber and Compass took hits of 44 percent and 39 percent respectively, the complete opposite of just about every other manufacturer's small car lineup. The press release contained paragraphs of spin, announcing that the $2.99/gallon fuel promotion will continue through the end of the month. Frankly, there's no escaping this gravitational sinkhole.
Click here for Chrysler's Press Release, which uses sales adjusted numbers.
As expected, Honda dodged the gravitational pull of Black Hole Tuesday. Automotive News [sub] reports Honda's sales rose 1.1 percent [unadjusted] in June, up 4.1% year-to-date. Needless to say (but what the Hell), every single Honda and Acura SUV, truck and van suffered a sales shock. Yup, even the big H couldn't scratch out a sales improvement; sales of the new big-nosed Pilot were down 21 percent for the month. Once again, the Honda Civic and [Edmunds' AutoObserver's "future flop"] Accord narrowly beat Ford's F-series for the "most likely to get bought" sobriquet. Both Honda cars racked-up almost 40k sales apiece. Fit sales are up 100 percent– despite the model being on its last legs. It's a great time to be a maker of four-cylinder cars. It's an even better time not to be reliant on trucks and SUVs to make your nut.
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