The V6 Mustang reviewed yesterday wouldn’t be the car it was without the Track Package, which provides pretty substantial upgrades to the brakes and suspension.
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Category: News Blog
Well, we knew this one was inevitable. A compliant filed in Ohio court against Hyundai and Kia due to their overly optimistic fuel economy claims.
Wondering when the automatic gearbox arms race will end? 8 speeds? 9 speeds? Even 10 speed gearboxes have been thrown out as grist for the automotive rumor mill, but one exec apparently has the answer.
Gamblers, speculators, automotive industry sadists, and TTAC Best and Brightest™: welcome to the selection of the next candidates for Death Watch, where you get to have a say on which brand we should promote to the Throne of Irrelevancy.
More than 300 Karma plug-in hybrids fell victim to super storm Sandy, Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher told Reuters. The cars sat in a storage lot in Port Newark, New Jersey, which was inundated by Sandy. Among the lost Karmas are 16 that went up in flames. One car caught fire when seawater caused a short circuit. Winds spread the fire to 15 other cars.
The VW Tiguan is strong but soft. The Mazda CX-5 is firm but weak. Might the new Ford Escape combine their strengths while avoiding their weaknesses?
Renault opened negotiations on a new labor deal for France with a big squeeze, Reuters reports. Renault wants pay and working time concessions from its French workers. If Renault doesn’t get a good deal, jobs could go elsewhere. Read More >
The situation in Europe is “very volatile”, Ford CEO Alan Mulally told Reuters today in Berlin. “We don’t know whether it the European economy will stabilize or hit bottom or not because it’s continuing to decrease.” Read More >
GM told Reuters that it won’t build the next-generation Chevrolet Cruze in South Korea. Reuters says this is “raising the possibility that GM might shift the assembly to Europe to help boost efficiency at its money-losing unit there.” Read More >
Here is one car company that didn’t profit from Japan’s losses in China: Mercedes sales in China were down 3.9 percent to about 15,900 units in October, Reuters says. Daimler blamed the “very strong” sales of October 2011. Read More >
When the news came out last night of American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC) filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, I was glad to be validated in my suspicions, but sad that a potentially great opportunity had been wasted due to mismanagement and short-sightedness on behalf of its Japanese management.
In other regions, Suzuki does an excellent job catering to the needs of each domestic market. In India, through their long time partnership with Maruti (which has since turned into full ownership of the once state-owned automaker), Suzuki enjoys double digit market share that is the envy of every other automaker in the country. Maruti Suzuki has control over product, they understand the needs of Indians looking for new cars, and they have enough financial input into SMC’s bottom line that the executives in Japan have no choice but to listen.
Quattroporte literally means “four door” in Italian. A rather uninspiring name for an exotic car like this Maserati. The new QP will be unveiled in January at the North American International Auto Show. No technical specs were revealed but bet on this; 8 cylinders and two pedals.
Late last night, we were contacted by an employee of American Suzuki Motors Corp, who reached out to TTAC to vent his frustrations regarding the downfall of ASMC’s auto business. The picture painted by this employee is one of a highly dysfunctional operation, focused only on tomorrow and never beyond that, a revolving door of Japanese management and deep antipathy for American workers.
Though we’ve confirmed the identity of this Suzuki employee, they wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of their remarks.
Timothy Cain’s sales numbers for the UK provide a pretty sobering snapshot of Lotus and its quest for survival. Year-to-date, the brand is dead last in the UK sales rankings, outsold by such luminaries as Perodua, Ssangyong and Proton.
Even now-defunct Saab is handily beating Lotus. In October, 16 Saabs were sold, versus 2 Lotus cars. YTD, 231 Saabs have been sold versus 122 Lotus cars. Time for some drastic action, no?
For a number of years, Cadillac has been carefully cultivating its angular look, with cars like the CTS and XLR setting the tone for the brand’s designs. In America, the “Art & Science” look was greeted with enthusiasm. But Chinese consumers aren’t so receptive to it, and that’s bad news for a brand that’s pinning its expansion hopes on China.
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