Yesterday, the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee held a hearing to look into executive compensation “at bailed-out firms that is egregiously out of line with what the President committed to the American people,” as Chairman Jim Jordan said. Jordan recalled that the President had committed “that top executives at firms that receive extraordinary help from U.S. tax payers will have their compensation capped at half a million dollars.” That clearly wasn’t the truth. Yesterday, we heard that GM CEO Dan Akerson, for example, made $9 million in 2012 and wanted $11.1 this year. Jordan said that “Treasury’s failure to protect tax payers is part of a disturbing pattern in which this administration makes promises to the public but the does not live up to them.” That’s not the only pattern that is disturbing. Read More >
Category: News Blog
Tesla announced plans to pay down their $465 million dollar Department of Energy loan in 5 years or less, as Tesla seeks to achieve profitability.
Just as McDonald’s resturants successfully introduced themselves into food-conscious Europe, another American-derived invasive species could be entering and killing off the native fauna.
Our man Derek Kreindler lives in Canada. That means his life is enriched by things we Americans can only imagine, such as Tim Hortons and the phrase “Bob’s your uncle.” Also, politeness.
With Nissan bringing Leaf production to Japan and the United States, the next stop on their localization train is Europe. The Sunderland, UK plant will begin in the spring, and along with European production will be a series of tweaks for that market.
There is a majesty in Formula One that is rarely found elsewhere. This six-minute film documents that majesty in completely convincing, and satisfying, fashion.
BMW executes on its plan to bring at least one new MINI to every show it graces. In Geneva, it is the MINI John Cooper Works Paceman, a.k.a. the MINI with the maxi name. If we believe the press release, the car “combines mouthwatering sporting flair and inimitable style to usher in a new dimension in driving fun.”
What’s more, “the new model sees the compact Sports Activity Coupé concept wrapped up in an extra layer of muscular proportions and dynamically stretched lines.”wait, there’s … Read More >
Brandon writes:
Sajeev,
I own a 2010 Cobalt SS and I’ve been having random problems with it. I’ve tried checking the forums and I haven’t found any information that matches my car’s problems. It seems like most of the posts on the Cobalt SS forums are by people with modified/tuned cars, and mine is completely stock. Read More >
When I helped Volkswagen launch its Golf GTI in 1976, Volkswagen wanted to make only 5,000. They wanted to make even less, actually, but 5,000 were needed for homologation as a racer. Volkswagen was convinced that no mentally stable person would be nuts enough to buy a little car like that with a 110 hp engine. Boy were they ever wrong. It took well into the 80’s for the Golf GTI to come to America. When I said “Americans love muscle cars,” the answer was: “Haven’t you heard? 55 miles an hour.” Wrong again. Today, Volkswagen shows the seventh generation of the archetypical hot hatch. at the Geneva International Motor Show.
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BMW has its M-series, Mercedes has its AMG, Audi has its R. Now, Nissan has its NISMO. Like most in-house speed shops, NISMO has its roots in a factory racing department. “NISMO is the first true performance brand of Japan’s major makers,” as Nissan’s marketing chief Simon Sproule tells me at NISMO’s new headquarters in Tsurumi, near Yokohama, today. “The others are only playing around.” Read More >
Some things never change. Lying politicians, for example. And racist YouTube commenters. But also the JD Power Long-Term Vehicle Dependability Study, which was just released for 2013. Like always, Lexus and Lincoln were near the top, proving that old people can’t figure out in-car computer systems well enough to give them low ratings. Porsche was also near the top, proving that at least one German brand still has some idea what it’s doing.
The U.S. Treasury has begun a sale of its remaining stake in General Motors, with a goal of selling its remaining shares by March 2014. Currently, the government owns more than 300 million shares in the auto maker, equivalent to a 19 percent stake.
Yesterday, we wrote about Susan Docherty’s grand strategy for Cadillac: Make Cadillac great in Europe to convince the Chinese to buy Cadillac. Clever strategy. But what if it fails in Europe? Trust me, its European failure is assured. In the meantime, the story has landed in Europe. Germany’s premiere car dealer magazine Der Kfz-Betrieb runs with the story today (with a nice shout-out to TTAC, Danke.)
The experts at Der KFz-Betrieb give the grand Cadillac strategy only passing mention and recommend to check with TTAC if someone wants an assessment. What the magazine is most interested in are Docherty’s comments about the “lackluster performance of Chevrolet in Europe.” Read More >
Descent into the Columbia river gorge on I 90 during summer
A few miles East of Ellensburg, WA, on the long winding descent into the Columbia river gorge, the little car, too small to run smoothly in both sets of the deep ruts that the semi trucks had worn into the pavement of Interstate 90, rolled from groove it had been following on the left side of the lane and dropped abruptly into the groove on the right. The lateral movement of the car within the lane was not great, maybe a foot or two, and I accounted for the motion with a simple counter of the steering wheel as I speed steadily along through the dark winter night.
Even though we’re subjected to relentless claims that the golden age of automobiles has long passed us, I can think of worse things than a 900-horsepower supercar with C02 emissions comparable to a Scion FR-S.
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