Devoid of any exciting product, Honda is trotting out its now-dead S2000 sports car for the upcoming 2013 Tokyo Auto Salon, with a host of cosmetic enhancements that make the car look like a cross between the Moss Motors catalog and a bad acid trip.
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GM reports “the company’s highest December sales in five years,” with deliveries up 5 percent to 245,733 vehicles. For the year, GM’s U.S. sales are up only marginally. They rose 3.7 percent to 2,595,717 units. In a market expected to be up around 14 percent, this will translate into a serious drop of market share. Read More >
The German car market ended the year with a bang – to the chin. Germany had shrugged-off the European contagion for most of the year, but in December, sales sagged by an unfestive 16.4 percent. Read More >
It’s the first sales day of the year, where automakers report their sales for the month, and in this case, for the whole last year. Chrysler is first out of the gate with the good news that December group sales rose 10 percent for the strongest December since the heydays of 2007. Read More >
Although the TWATs are still going strong, it’s nice to take a break every now and then and appreciate the cars that manage to excel in an era of homogenous designs and an overarching emphasis on efficiency and profitability. An informal poll of TTAC editors revealed a wide range of opinions on what the most enjoyable drive of 2012 was. And since some didn’t submit their nominations on time, you, the readers, can leave your own suggestions below.
Sajeev and Steve – A close friend’s 2001 V6 Galant developed a death rattle and two reputable shops said the engine is toast. She’s currently driving my Volvo 940 Wagon I just got until she figures out what to do (paying it forward). She doesn’t have much free cash flow at the current time.My knowledge of cars is pretty extensive, but my mechanical knowledge of DIY fixing and repair is in its infancy, thus I’m a bit stumped and I hate to give bad advice. She’s been quoted ~$2500 for a running junkyard motor with <100k mi, and in excess of $3000 if she replaces key wear items on the new motor while its out of the car. Read More >
Good news for Lafayette, Indiana: Fuji Heavy will spend $230 million to increase the capacity of its Subaru of Indiana plant by about 30 percent, says The Nikkei [sub]. Subaru’s sole overseas plant currently works at full tilt, and about half of the 330,000 Subarus sold in the U.S. must be imported from Japan. Read More >
As part of the publicity campaign to promote the upcoming Barrett-Jackson charity auction of GM CEO Dan Akerson’s personal 1958 Corvette to benefit Habitat For Humanity in Detroit, GM Design chief Ed Welburn brought that car along with three Corvettes from GM’s Heritage collection to the Big Dog Garage for an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage. I have a ton of respect for Leno and not just because we both own Lotus Elans (in Leno’s case, he owns two, one a 26R racer that he’s restomodding, mine is in pieces, in what is now my ex’s garage). He’s a knowledgeable car guy whose collection is broader and deeper than that of many car museums. Sure, he’s promoting himself, and helping GM promote itself as well, but then that doesn’t hurt when Jay wants a one-off eco supercar. Still, PR aside, Leno loves cars and it shows in which of the four Corvettes most catches his fancy. In addition to Akerson’s ’58, Welburn brought one of the first Corvettes, a 1953, a perfect ’63 split window coupe, and the 1959 Stingray race car, Leno’s apparent favorite. He refers to it as “the rarest and most valuable” Corvette there is, though it wasn’t officially a “Corvette”. Watch Leno grin as he listens to the engine roar after Welburn lets him fire it up.
It’s hard enough to find a decent used car for $3,000. Nissan’s new line of Datsun cars are being designed in mind with a starting price of $3,000, and there’s only one way to make sure the cars come in at such a rock-bottom sticker – use a pre-existing low-cost platform.
Flashes and pulses.
I was staring at an archaic diagnostic system on a 1992 Volvo 940 wagon. It was located underneath the hood, inside a plastic cover, with six little holes for each one of the six digits, along with a cheap plastic wand.
What came out was morse code. Three little reds, stop. One little red, stop. Two little reds, stop. Code 312. Time to visit the brickboard, where the code could be translated to about fifteen different potential issues.
21 model years later, and we’re still not quite there yet.
Auto sales are expected to have ended the year up by around 5 percent. This according to analysts at Scotiabank and elsewhere. China, where a quarter of the world’s automobiles are sold, is probably up 4 percent, Europe is expected to be down some 8 percent. Auto sales in the U.S. on the other hand are seen to have risen some 14 percent for the year. More precise data are expected within hours or days, so let’s have a look forward. Read More >
Renault COO Carlos Tavares may not be exaggerating when he calls Dacia a “cash cow”. A report in Automotive News suggests that the low-cost marque may be as profitable as some premium brands.
Zipcar, the leading player in car sharing in North America, is about to be acquired by Avis Budget Group for $500 million in cash. The rental car firm will pay $12.25 per share, a whopping 49 percent premium relative to Zipcar’s closing price on December 31st.
It’s time to make a confession to the good folks at TTAC.
The mileage game is rigged.
How so? Well, approximately two-thirds of the vehicles that reach the 300k+ mark at an auction I attend will usually belong in one of four categories.
Sajeev writes:
The holidays, no matter your religion (or lack thereof), is a time when many a car freak has the downtime to think of something they’d really want. Another car? Maybe. More cars? Possibly. But I suspect many a Piston Slap reader is all about doing something to their car over the break. Here’s one of my projects: the Talking Lincoln Mark VIII, or MK-T for short. Read More >
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