Not to inflame the passions brought on by our CAFE regulations and pickup trucks article, but take a look at this still from a movie called “The Dentist 2”. Keep in mind, this is the very old second-gen Explorer that is busy dwarfing a GMC C-20 full-sized pickup; the modern, D3 unibody 2011 Explorer is a foot longer and three inches taller.
If you had to guess what vehicle underpins this Guangzhou GAC Trumpchi, what would you guess? Here’s a hint: if you’re basing your answer on exterior styling, you will definitely get this one wrong…
20 years. Most marriages and capital offenses don’t have that level of commitment. To think of how long that is for any daily driver, consider what was not in most cars back then. Airbags, anti-lock brakes, cd players… heck ‘premium sound’ usually landed you nothing more than a cassette deck and four speakers. Now consider that this one owner 1990 Buick Century has a design dating all the way back to 1982. We’re talking about a period of design where the world’s most popular entertainment consisted of Pac-man & Atari 2600’s. Ancient times. Good times. But bad times for Detroit. Very, very bad times.
When I attended the launch of the Buick Regal, Buick’s product reps were anxious to talk all about the forthcoming Buick Regal GS, the high-performance version of the Opel Insignia-based sedan. At the time, the Buick Boyz were anxious for input; what, they asked, would enthusiasts prefer: a manual transmission or all-wheel drive. My answer: all of the above. Surely, I thought, Buick would be bringing a rebadged version of the Opel Insignia OPC, with AWD and the GM 2.8T V6 from the Cadillac SRX Turbo and Saab 9-5 Aero. No, came the answer. The 2.8T was not approved for use in a Buick. Stung by past oversharing between divisions, GM had decided that the 260-325 HP, Australian-built LP9 engine would be limited to applications in Caddys and Saabs. But now, it seems that GM may have penned some kind of deal with Saab, as GMInsideNews reports that the LP9 has been discontinued from its last remaining Cadillac application, the SRX Turbo.
As this is both the end of the week and the beginning of the year, let’s reflect, scratch our heads and ponder: Who won’t survive 2011? Car brands never die, they just go to a new owner. (Not always…) So let’s make that: Who won’t survive 2011 with the same owner? Read More >
Yo, wazzup?`Want to get your hands on Russia’s first homegrown hybrid, yo? All you need to do is get yo sorry azz over to Moscow, dat Russia for you, yo. According to Itar-Tass, the Russian yo-Auto company shows their “yo” hybrid at the yo-mobile pavilion in downtown Moscow from January 2 through 11. Yo, dat’s right. Read More >
Do you live in a challenging neighborhood, like, say, Afghanistan, Sudan, Downtown Detroit, or St. Louis? Then you’ll like Land Rover’s latest offering: The new Discovery 4 Armored, a car impervious to road rage of all kinds. Read More >
There’s a slightly used 1977 Peugeot 504 on the market, and the last bid stood at one million $.
One owner only: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His car was put on an international auction this Saturday, Iranian state media reported as per the Business Recorder. According to Iran’s official IRNA news agency, the bid came from an Arab country. Read More >
So. Yesterday, Jan 1, was the first day of the grand car rationing in Beijing, China. From now on out, only 20,000 new vehicles per month are allowed onto Beijing’s roads. (If you trade old for new, this rule doesn’t apply.) And what did Beijingers do? Take a taxi? The subway? No, they swamped the system. Read More >
The ritual torching of cars has become a New Year’s tradition in France. Last New Year ’s Eve, 1,137 cars went up in flames in France, a tad less than the 1,147 set ablaze the year before. This year? We’ll never know. Read More >
Bloomberg has it that Tata’s Nano sales are rebounding after the parent has given the little car some TLC and attention. The Nano sales rose 1136 percent from the month before. In real numbers: 5,784 in December after 509 in November. Read More >
We are picking up more and more signs of an impending revival of assumed dead fuel cell technology.
Here is another one: The Nikkei [sub] says that the Japanese government is supporting an initiative to draw a hydrogen from a surprising source: Oil refining. And they need to be ready by 2015. Read More >
The EPA has not yet listed the 2011 Chrysler 200’s MPG rating at fueleconomy.gov, but based on this screen grab at Chrysler.com, the Pentastar boys know what to expect. Which is a good thing, because their claimed mileage numbers are definitely a bit confusing. For example, why does ChryCo’s 2.4 liter 4-banger base engine get the exact same rating (21/30) with a four-speed auto as with a six-cog slushbox? And while we’re at it, why does the “model overview” section of Chrysler.com show the 200 getting 20/31 MPG with the four-banger? Plus, how does the convertible have the same rating as the sedan? But perhaps the most confusing part of all this is the fact that the “new” four-cylinder 200 still gets worse fuel economy than Camry (22/32), Accord (23/33) and Sonata (22/35). The 200’s available all-new Pentastar V6 fares only slightly better, rated just below the Accord V6 (20/30) and Sonata Turbo (22/33), about the same as Camry V6 (20/29), and better than Malibu (17/26) and Fusion (18/27). In short, the aspects of the 200’s efficiency rating that aren’t confusing are just plain disappointing.
Mass SUV consumption may have been weaned over to car-based Crossovers, but pickup trucks are still hugely popular and a major challenge for automakers facing steep increases in government CAFE standards.The average 2010-model American pickup truck weighs nearly 5,000 lbs, making it some 22 percent heavier than its equivalent ten years ago. Thanks to that weight gain, average pickup truck efficiency has improved by a paltry two percent since 2000. This year, the fleetwide light truck fuel economy standard was 24.9 MPG, but by 2016 light trucks will need to average about 30 MPG to comply with already-set CAFE increases, and could face another sharp increase by 2025. As a result, it seems that the era of cheap pickups may be coming to an end. Though the Detroit automakers say hybrid and plug-in drivetrains will help, it’s clear that more than anything else, trucks need to lose weight. That’s where things start getting expensive…
Phew.
Did you hear that? That was a sigh of relief, emanating from the few souls that are still holding the fort at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg and Porsche in Zuffenhausen. The sudden release of long held breath was caused by U.S. District Judge Harold Baer, who dismissed a lawsuit by 10 hedge funds who accused Porsche of securities fraud during the Wiedeking/Härter hijinx. The hedgies claimed more than $2 billion in damages, which gave Volkswagen pause in fully absorbing Porsche. Now, they can floor it.
What tripped the claimants? Read More >
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