A bit of bad news from the Continent: Audi CEO Rupert Stadler is cautioning that Western Europe’s auto market will not recover before the end of the decade.
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Posts By: TTAC Staff
It’s one thing for Tesla Motors to be the Apple of motoring. It’s another for Apple to be the Apple of motoring. The solution, according to one analyst: Apple should buy Tesla to remain profitable long after the gold rush of smartphones and tablets has disappeared from the rear view mirror.
Over a month ago, we brought you news on the upcoming arrival of Kia’s rear-driven K900 sometime in early 2014. If you can’t wait to see the car in the flesh, however, the car will make its debut in November during the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Fiat is now the proud owner of VM Motori after acquiring the remaining 50 percent of the diesel engine maker from General Motors for $47.1 million.
The first half of VM Motori was purchased by Fiat in 2010, with GM exercising a put option to purchase the remaining half. VM Motori now supplies diesel engines for the forthcoming Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 EcoDiesel – an engine originally developed for the European Cadillac CTS.
A second Tesla Model S has burned following an accident, this time near Merida, Mexico. Tesla Motors issued a statement saying the customer was unhurt after crash in which the Model S hit a concrete barrier. The accident occurred on October 19 according to local news reports that say that the luxury electric car was speeding and “hit a raised pedestrian crossing and briefly took flight before crashing into a wall and tree.” Photos and video posted of the crash’s aftermath show the front end damaged and flames burning the car.
When one thinks of General Motors’ relationship with China, Buick flashes into the mind like a brake light in the Beijing smog. Sometimes, Cadillac comes up, as well. However, with Volkswagen preparing to slingshot past them in a manner akin to Danica Patrick being flung toward the front of the pack with help from Tony Stewart, CEO Dan Akerson is planning to aggressively push Chevrolet through the choking air, and into as many Chinese garages as he can find.
The Spanish government is extending its own version of “Cash for Clunkers” for the fourth time, as Spain tries to boost sagging car sales in the midst of a severe recession.
From remarks by Alfa Romeo executives it appears that the Fiat owned brand is going to distinguish itself from competitors by what it doesn’t plan to offer: advanced electronic aids that could possibly interfere with the emotional part of driving enjoyment. Maurizio Consalvo, in charge of product planning for Alfa Romeo was quoted in Autocar as saying, “Customers want a mechanical car with minimal electrical interference.” In addition Alfa Romeo’s head of marketing, Alberto Cavaggioni, said that the brand’s commitment to drivers’ emotional connection to their cars means that it may not offer some advanced safety features like autonomous emergency braking. (Read More…)
While the all new 2014 Impala is impressing reviewers, like Consumer Reports calling it this year’s highest scoring sedan, General Motors has decided to keep the outgoing Impala as a low cost option for fleet customers until 2016. According to Automotive News, the automaker had originally planned to keep the old Impala, branded the Impala Limited, in production for rental operators as well as government and corporate fleet customers, into next year. “The Impala Limited has done extremely well. Our fleet customers know the car and like it,” a GM spokesman said last week. “It’s a business opportunity that we want to continue to fulfill.”
The continued production of the Impala Limited means that the Oshawa Car Assembly plant in Ontario will remain open until at least 2016.
(Read More…)
What has the shutdown (and near-meltdown) of the United States government wrought in its wake? Delayed unemployment reports, a belated spotlight upon the broken ACA website, and of course, apprehension among customers looking for their next car to lease or buy. But now that the cans have been kicked hard down the road… again, the showrooms are back in business as if our elected leaders hadn’t gone mad in the first place.
The Subaru Tribeca and TTAC have a long history together so it is with some sadness that we have to announce that Subaru has formally decided to end production of the mid-sized crossover next January. The last deliveries of the Lafayette, Indiana built Tribeca will be made to dealers in February 2014.
Company executives have indicated for a while that the replacement would be a larger three row, seven seat SUV but a company spokesperson wouldn’t release any more details. Subaru has sold only 78,000 Tribecas since it went on sale in the U.S. in 2005, with only 1,247 deliveries so far this year, down 19% from last year. Slow sales have been attributed to quirky styling and a lack of rear seat space.
In an e-mailed statement, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that it has decided against launching a formal investigation into the Washington state fire early this month involving a Tesla Model S. The electric car ran over some metal debris that punctured the front battery pack, sparking the fire. NHTSA said that it found no evidence of violations of federal motor vehicle safety standard or that the fire resulted from a vehicle defect. (Read More…)
Ford Motor Co. has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit over claims that the Navistar made Power Stroke diesels in its 2003-07 Super Duty pickups and E-series vans were defective. The 6 liter V8 diesel engines, now discontinued, had a variety of problems involving the fuel system, turbochargers and other components.
The settlement covers anyone who bought or leased a ’03-’07 Ford truck equipped with the 6 liter Power Stroke.
According to the settlement, any U.S. purchaser or lessee of a 2003-07 Ford vehicle equipped with the 6-liter Power Stroke diesel engine is covered if the vehicle’s exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler and EGR valve, oil cooler, fuel injectors, or turbocharger was repaired, replaced or adjusted prior to 135,000 miles or six years. Ford will reimburse deductibles paid under the trucks’ original five year / 100,000 mile drivetrain warranty, up to $200. (Read More…)
Just days after the 2015 Hyundai Genesis was spied in the flesh, these renderings were revealed. The car will get its official debut at NAIAS in January, 2014. Unlike the last generation, the new Genesis will have AWD.
Honda’s rear-driven products built for two tend to be motorcycles, scooters and ATVs for the most part, but every now and again the company will unveil a roadster whose name begins with an S, and ends with the number of cubic centimeters the engine provides.
Such a car is set to return soon to the showroom floor, and will make its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in November: The Honda S660.
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