The economics of EVs simply don’t work. On the 500 that (Chrysler) will begin selling in the U.S. next year, we will lose over $10,000 (per unit) despite the retail price being three times higher [than the gas version].
Like, Zoinks! I spent some time in a Cinquecento last weekend, and though it made a great little LeMons pace car and is honestly quite fun to drive, it’s not much car for the $15k-$19k+ Chrysler wants for a 100 HP version. Spending three times that amount for a money-losing electric version simply boggles the mind. Or do they celebrate April Fools Day in Italy?
When Chevrolet announced a few months ago that its new Cruze compact sedan would start at $16,995, more than a few people (who likely had not had a chance to personally experience the new car) were shocked. The Cobalt, which the Cruze replaced, had been priced nearly $1,300 lower—and had required incentives to sell at that price. Now Ford has announced pricing for the totally redesigned 2012 Focus, and it starts at…$16,995. Read More >
There is was a new ad out in Brazil. 1 minute 39 seconds long (at least in its director’s cut Youtube version). For 1 minute and 26 seconds, it shows the Ford Focus. Only a short 13 seconds long it shows the Nissan Tiida (better known as the Versa in the U.S.). The full length of the ad is paid by Nissan. Nearly one and a half minutes of free advertising for Ford. And is Ford happy? No, they are hip-hopping mad. Read More >
Now that the economy is recovering and Hyundai has a new generation of more upscale offerings on its dealers’ lots, the automaker’s job-loss-protection program is going away, reports Automotive News [sub]. The one-year protection will be available on Hyundais purchased through the end of this month, but as sales boss Dave Zuchowski puts it
We actually see the elimination of the job-loss program as a sign of a recovering economy and we had never anticipated that this would be an enduring program. We welcome the day when it’s really no longer as relevant in the showroom or as required in the marketplace.
Chrysler is coming down hard on some of their Jeep dealers. The Monroe Dodge Superstore in Monroe, MI, just down the road from Toledo, wanted to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Jeep. The first Willys-Overland Jeep was built 1941 at their plant in Toledo. The good folks at the Monroe Dodge Superstore thought hard about a good catchphrase. Then, the lightbulb went off. Presto, 600 T-shirts were printed, emblazoned with “Imported from Toledo.” They immediately heard from Chrysler. Not in a good way. Read More >
Think BMW sells a lot of cars in the US? The German automaker may have registered nearly 20,000 “sales” in the US last month, but according to the analysts at Polk, over 50 percent of its “sales” in 2010 were actually leases. No wonder BMW’s best-seller, the Dreier (3 Series), occupies a nearly unique position on the price-volume frontier. And apparently BMW will continue to look to non-sales for future sales growth, as Automotive News [sub] reports the firm has launched a new car-sharing joint venture in Europe aimed at bringing in a million new customers by 2020. The pitch: sleek new Bavarian metal, as well as the ability to pick up and drop off vehicles anywhere, thanks to smartphone vehicle tracking. But the biggest pitch, say BMW sources, is to people who would never buy a new BMW… or even lease one. And they’re not just talking about poor folks either…
This is not a test. Do not attempt to adjust your display. What you are watching is an advertisement for a new car. But before you hit the jump and find out what car this is supposed to make you want to buy (trust me, you won’t be able to tell by watching alone), see if you can guess the answer. Read More >
Now and then a story comes along that’s right in a writer’s wheelhouse. Yesterday, Chrysler filed a lawsuit in US District Court alleging that Pure Detroit, a small chain of gift shops specializing in Motor City memorabilia, was infringing on their trademark “Imported From Detroit” tagline, popularized in Chrysler’s Super Bowl ad starring rapper Eminem. Pure Detroit started selling their version of the shirts on Feb. 7th, the day after the Super Bowl, followed by Chrysler’s own shirts a few days later, which sold out in short order. Chrysler is donating the profits from those sales to Detroit area charities, and the company says that it tried to work out a similar arrangement with Pure Detroit. Pure Detroit did agree to stop online sales, but they continued to sell the shirts in their retail stores, resulting in the lawsuit. Courts have been pretty consistent that owners of intellectual property have to diligently defend it. According to a leading intellectual property attorney, in this case the courts should side with the Auburn Hills automaker, not the small stores in downtown Detroit.
I’ve dispatched one of TTAC’s writers to get to the bottom of the copyright fight that’s surrounding Chrysler’s “Imported From Detroit” tagline, as Reuters reports that Chrysler’s claim to the line may not actually hold up.
Chrysler applied to trademark the slogan for use on clothing, bags and other wearable items in January. An attorney for Pure Detroit said the company did not start selling the T-shirts until after the ad aired in early February.
[Moda’s] attorney, John VanOphem, said Chrysler cannot trademark the phrase because it is “merely descriptive.”
“Our position is that Chrysler is trying to claim ownership of something it doesn’t have a right to own,” VanOphem said. “They do not own any exclusive rights to the ‘Imported from Detroit’ phrase.”Chrysler applied to trademark the slogan for use on clothing, bags and other wearable items in January. An attorney for Pure Detroit said the company did not start selling the T-shirts until after the ad aired in early February.
But the attorney, John VanOphem, said Chrysler cannot trademark the phrase because it is “merely descriptive.”
“Our position is that Chrysler is trying to claim ownership of something it doesn’t have a right to own,” VanOphem said. “They do not own any exclusive rights to the ‘Imported from Detroit’ phrase.”
Meanwhile, another battle over automotive copyrights may yet be brewing: Saab has introduced its own answer to SYNC and Onstar, named IQon, a term which may be in conflict with Nissan’s display technology used in the Juke, named I-Con. Hit the jump to see a video of the Nissan system in action, and let us know if you think Saab is going to have to come up with a new name, or if copyright law will let both of these naems coexist. Read More >
Acura is giving away a TSX wagon as part of some new media/action sports hybrid marketing bullshit. New media because it’s on FB, action sports because they’re giving it away to somebody who participates in picturesque young-people activities like kayaking or snowboarding. Ridiculously, Acura doesn’t see fit to include any form of auto racing in their list of action sports.
I want to make them pay for this oversight. And I want a new TSX wagon. But mostly I want to make them pay. If I win, I’m going to race it any way I can — auto-x, rally-x, road racing, drag strip if I have no other options.
Remember the Saturn Vue? The Theta-based crossover is known around the world as the Chevrolet Captiva (or Daewoo WinStorm… yes, really), and soon it will be known in the US as GM’s latest fleet queen. With some 86% of GM’s fleet sales last year coming from Chevy (about a 35% mix for the brand), GM is apparently trying to insulate its newer products from the fleet queen image, and as a result it’s decided to import the Captiva Sport from Mexico in order
to help satisfy growing demand for compact crossovers by fleet customers.
Keep in mind, this is not the latest Captiva to come out of GM-DAT, but rather the outgoing model that has been in production since 2006. But, according to GM’s release, this isn’t a weakness. Alan Batey, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet Sales and Service explains
It says a lot about our ability to draw on international programs and proven, quality crossovers that we were able to identify and federalize a strong new entrant such as Captiva Sport for the U.S. market. We turned to our global network for a solution to quickly meet the rising demand from local fleet customers and continue to meet strong retail demand for the Equinox.
And if this attitude seems shocking, it’s time to start getting used to it: GM is rumored to be planning this same strategy when it releases its updated Chevy Malibu next year. According to long-standing whispers, the outgoing model will continue to be produced as a fleet-oriented “Classic” model. Perhaps it’s time for GM to roll out a fleet-only brand?
Tesla has made much of the fact that its next model, the Model S sports sedan, will be half the price of its $110k Roadster and be built in far greater volume… but it turns out that both of these goals are going to take just a little bit longer than Tesla thought. Though the Model S will be offered at a base price of $57,400 with a 160 mile range, that version won’t be built until after the firm produces its first 1,000 units. Those first thousand models of the 5,000 unit 2012 production run will be loaded “Signature Series” models that will cost at least $77,400 (the base price for all Model S versions with 300 miles of range). According to Tesla, versions with a 230 mile range will start at around $67,400.
And with 20k units of production planned for 2013, Tesla had better not run into any delays as it won’t build its firs “production intent” (known internally as “Beta”) models until late this year. That gives the firm only about 6 months to validate the production-intent version, tool up and build the thing for its mid-2012 launch. And with a first run of expensive, loaded models planned, customers will definitely expect the kinks to have been worked out. This is going to be interesting…
What if Gawker redesigned their sites and people stopped coming? It’s a question being asked with more and more seriousness as the nice people at Sitemeter continue to display some genuinely terrifying statistics regarding pageviews for Jalopnik, io9, and the rest of the cutesy-name sites in the Denton Media Mafia, er, Family, er, Domestic Partnership. One recent chart suggests that Jalopnik readership has dropped by a staggering seventy-five percent since what’s been called “the worst site changes in human history, I mean, this makes that one crazy bridge somewhere that, like, wiggled and broke look like the Pyramid of Khufu, solidity-wise, kinda, uh, is my latte ready yet?”
Read on for the big picture and an alternative explanation for the crazy stats… Read More >
I have a confession to make: the first time I saw the Acura ZDX in the flesh, I actually liked it. Brooding by itself on the edge of a local auto show, the thing stood out in a sea of late-model sameness, a mood-lit, drama-drenched oddity of an automotive mash-up. Ridiculous? Sure. But what’s a semi-practical yet stylish grand touring crossover “aimed at couples” to do?
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