Looks like the Dodge Dart will apparently break 40 MPG adjusted in the end…but you’ll need a special option package to do it, just like its chief domestic rivals, the Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze.
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Could BMW be acquiring the soon-to-be-shuttered Nedcar plant, which formerly built the Volvo S40 and Mitsubishi Colt? Dutch website Nu.nl seems to think so.
Forbes predicts that the U.S. will bypass China this year as the world’s largest auto market. Forbes does that because it employs as its China expert one of the lousiest forecasters in the business. Regular Forbes columnist Gordon G. Chang published a book in 2001, titled “The Coming Collapse of China.” In it, he predicted that China would implode by 2006, if not earlier, due to the mass of non-performing loans. China did not implode. Instead, non-performing loans brought the U.S. banking system and the world to the brink in 2008. In 2006, Chang wrote the book “Nuclear Showdown.” In it, he predicted that North Korea would rain nuclear missiles on Japan. Has not happened either. Now, Chang predicts that China will no longer be the world’s largest auto market when the year is over, and that the title will go back to the U.S.
By making this prediction, Chang shows that America is a land of opportunity: People who can’t count and aren’t really bright can become famous columnists at Forbes. Read More >
Beijing authorities have slapped organizers of the 2012 Beijing Auto Show with a “serious reprimand” for featuring scantily-clad models. Read More >
Here some background on the GM/Isuzu tie-up. Japanese wire services such as The Nikkei [sub] and Jiji report that GM approached Isuzu and “informally proposed acquiring a stake” in the Japanese truck maker. The source is an unnamed executive of Isuzu.
According to The Nikkei [sub], GM and Isuzu will start negotiations in early May for a roughly 10 percent share. If the negotiations are successful, Isuzu President Susumu Hosoi and GM CEO Dan Akerson could meet this summer to sign the agreement. Read More >
Peugeot might be one of the biggest car makers in Europe, but it has absolutely no presence in the Indian market. With the Indian car market growing bigger day by day, there is no big automaker which doesn’t have the presence in the sub-continent. The most recent car maker to set up operations in India is Porsche, which used to import vehicles through a third party. So why doesn’t Peugeot have a presence in India? Read More >
Uh oh. Here we go again. GM apparently wants a 10 percent stake in Isuzu to build commercial vehicles.
There are some cars that no one will appreciate… but the owners. A bad brand name. Fatal and expensive defects from times past. Even a body style made of a designer’s frump can turn a brilliant vehicle into a showroom relic. This week I majored in buying unloved cars. Seven cars. Seven sins. More than likely seventy-seven plus days on the pavement.
We ran into Darryl de Souza and his 1962 Mercury Monterey at many car events this past summer. The two constant companions every time were his donkey hood ornament and his prehistoric man skull replica. On more than one occasion, there also was Darryl’s most important companion: His wife. Read More >
Each Saturday morning, at a somewhat ungodly hour, drivers of always beautiful and often rare cars congregate on Mazda’s parking lot in Irvine, CA. Read More >
It’s impossible for a government to do anything with a market, for example, regulate, tax or subsidize, without distorting that market. Whether or not those distortions are necessary is a matter of public policy debate, but they’re a fact of life. Another fact of life is that if you make your business plan dependent on governmental policies, subject to the ebb and flow of politics in democracies, you may find your enterprise becoming a controversial topic of political debate. That can hardly be good for business. That may explain why Coda has withdrawn their request for $334 million in Department of Energy loans. It also pretty much describes Fisker’s current situation as a political football.
Looks like I have my work cut out for me yet again; the new Mitsubishi Mirage will be coming to Canada, but Mitsubishi may not bring their new small car to the United States. Yes, I’ll take time to review it.
A reader sent us this photo, explaining the “success” of the Smart Fortwo in Canada. It’s not because of rising gas prices or Canadian small car love. The real reason is that the Fortwo is just so easy to park in the tight confines of Toronto!
If you are an automotive journalist who socializes with people who don’t have a bizarre fascination with the automobile and its associated trivia (there’s not many of us, believe me), you will inevitably be asked a few stock questions at parties. Among them;
1) Wow, you have the best job in the world, don’t you? (The answer is, no, not really, but working at TTAC is great)
2) What’s the fastest you’ve ever driven? (The answer is, 30 thousand, 100 million)
This article answers another common question – “What do you think of (insert car here)?”, and more specifically, what happens when expectations and reality are not the same.
Vice-President Joe Biden has been talking about the auto bailout frequently as the campaign for his re-election heats up in the coming months. A speech to NYU had him tout the record of the Obama administration, while also criticizing Gov. Mitt Romney’s famous “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” op-ed.
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