Autocar can’t decide. But then, Alfa’s denial, “No front-wheel drive or four-wheel drive Alfa Romeo will use a engine larger than a V6,” is pretty cagey. But leave dreams of three liter turbocharged “Multiair” V8s to the European gossip-mongers. Our wild-ass guess is that the only Alfa V8s the US market will be seeing will part company with their Hemi bretheren at the engine-cover stop on the assembly line in Brampton. That thing got Italian engineering?
Ford has announced that research conducted jointly with Auburn University shows the promise of GPS in enhancing active safety features like stability control. According to Ford’s press release:
Researchers have found potential for a GPS satellite to act as an early warning system that detects when a vehicle is about to lose control and communicate with the vehicle’s stability control systems and other safety features to prevent a rollover or other serious accident…Virtual reality tests show that GPS satellites can precisely monitor a vehicle’s motion, which could improve the speed and effectiveness of electronic stability control systems.
Must make it harder, must make it harder…
Joe Chiaramonte nailed the Fiesta on the third guess. Or were the first two just comments? All right, you expert grillers, let’s see what you can cook up on this baby. Just make sure you clean up after yourself, because we want to keep this one bright and sparkly.
I don’t think Automotive News [sub] knows what to make of Chrysler. Applying the “anyone with half a brain” test to their ChryCo reportage, we can see that AN possess the requisite 50 percent cranial capacity. And yet, for better or worse , Detroit’s denizens are their homies. So, really, AN’s never too far from the Kool-Aid dispenser. The tension between what is and the hagiography surrounding Chrysler’s tight-lipped Canadian CEO is obvious in this morning’s article about management disco in Auburn Hills (DO the shuffle). “In June, CEO Sergio Marchionne elevated Peter Fong and Michael Accavitti to lofty positions in the new Chrysler Group — Fong as CEO of the Chrysler brand and Accavitti as CEO of Dodge. They lasted only four months before resigning last week. The abrupt changes signal that the hard-charging Marchionne doesn’t play by Detroit’s old-boy rules in his attempt to revive recently bankrupt Chrysler.” Either that or . . . chaos. [Your guess here.] Check this out, revealed in the irony-free subhead “Machionne’s Gospel” . . .
If cocaine is God’s way of saying you have too much money, a Ferrari is God’s way of saying you have too much money and too clean a driving license. Of course, there are plenty of good reasons to buy a bit of Maranello magic. The average Fezza makes Marissa Miller look like Hagrid. While a Ferrari will kill you dead with snap oversteer, right up to that point, they handle like a Camillus Sizzle Folding Lockback. The cars smell like sex and sound like . . . sex. Well, someone having sex. Someone LOUD, experiencing a great deal of echt pleasure. Of course, there are plenty of reasons NOT to buy a Ferrari. Chief amongst them: attempting to light a box of wet cigars with hundred dollar bills is a more financially rewarding pursuit. But if you should be considering the possibility of owning a Ferrari, even from afar, here’s something to keep in mind: it will not get you laid. In fact, there was only one time I ever saw a woman put out for a Ferrari owner. It was a key scene in Peter North’s short-lived Maximum Thrust series. And I got the distinct impression that the woman in question (and the man in the woman in question) would have done the wild thing if they’d used a 1967 Camaro as the bait car. Keeping in mind the whole scene was fictional. Well, in terms of motivation. Anyway . . .
She’s young, used to getting her way, and she wants her Regal. But what are the odds of this scene repeating itself in America?
The Freep reports that the Opel Insignia-based Buick Regal has been officially approved for the US market. Says GM’s Susan Docherty, “the transformation of Buick began with our luxury crossover, the Buick Enclave and continued this year with the launch of the 2010 LaCrosse premium sedan. We’re thrilled to announce that the Regal will be the next member of the Buick family.” Expect GM’s 2.4 liter engine to come standard, and be prepared for it to be the only option. GM’s mid-sized sedan offerings are stacked up like hotcakes, and the Regal has two other Epsilon-based competitors in its own brand to contend with. Fanboys are being asked to keep GNX requests to themselves.
Meet the Peugeot Bipper Tepee. That’s right, Bipper Tepee. Volkswagen, take notice: the weird name bar has been raised. [via Autocar]
“Should I buy a Saturn car?” asks Consumer Reports’ blog of itself in the wake of Penske’s takeover interruptus. “In a word,” comes the answer, “no.” Though other GM dealers will be able to honor warranties and service Saturns, CR worries that there are “practical limitations to parts inventory and technician training.” Normal servicing shouldn’t be a problem, but major repairs could take more time and money, particularly for low-volume Saturns like the Sky and Astra. And of course there’s the unavoidable fact that reliability studies indicate that many Saturn models will be in for repair on a fairly regular basis. Though they conclude that it’s difficult to predict exactly what the Saturn ownership experience will be like over the next decade, “there are simply better alternatives that are more reliable, have lower owner costs, and do not carry undue risks.” We would agree.
A few weeks ago we heard that Chrysler would be rehiring designers and engineers to help kick-start the companies product refresh-a-thon. After all, seven major reskins in 18 months weren’t going to happen with Chrysler’s bankruptcy-level staffing, which saw some departments covered by “only a few people.” Well, according to the Freep, Chrysler has hired back a total of 14 UAW-represented white-collar staff. And that’s it. Per a Chrysler statement:
Chrysler Group continually evaluates its human resources with the goal of assuring that its workforce is well-qualified and effective. At this time, no decisions have been made regarding an increase in salaried staffing levels.
Let us begin with the money shot, courtesy BiofuelsDigest. “If it were up to me, I would put every cent into electric cars.” That would be the US Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Ch, at a meeting on alternative fuels, according to “a source present at the meeting.” As a part of an administration whose election campaign received cash and free jet travel from ethanol producer Archer Daniel Midlands—not to mention political support from farming states for whom the term “pork barrel” seems to have been invented—Chu’s remarks were, shall we say, politically inadvisable. And so the DOE’s Director of Public Affairs swung into damage control mode: ”I can’t verify the quote you are using from an undisclosed source at an undisclosed meeting, which is at best wildly out of context,” Dan Leistikow backpedals. “Secretary Chu talks about the potential of biofuels in nearly every public speech, as well as on Facebook and Youtube.” Thanks for the YouTube link Danny. Meanwhile, the only Facebook page I can find is “The fans of Steven Chu,” which celebrates “the erudite hotness of Nobel Laureate/eco-warrior Steven Chu.” Strangely, there’s no mention of the torrid subject of bio-fuels to be found.
I love stability. Give me a world where folks can put forth a solid effort in their work and not worry about their future, and I’ll gladly join it with membership in hand. But then with too much stability also comes mediocrity. In times of yore, a lot of folks could simply get by with offering products and services that were less than world class. To put it kindly, they sold crap. But they also benefited from a playing field where the strongest and fiercest were kept far from the action and their kids inevitably got the education needed to make the laggard company successful. Auto Companies in South Korea, Japan and now China have benefited from protectionist policies that offered different degrees of medium-term stability and long-term learning for their once weak automakers. Should we follow suit?
On this Wednesday’s wailing wall, Autoextremist.com lambastes Motown’s marketeers for their cowardice and creative poverty—without naming names, providing egregious examples or suggesting rectification. “Automotive marketers are too often squeamish, risk-averse or clueless. There, I said it. Yes, at least 75 percent of the people involved in automotive marketing don’t know what the hell they’re doing – it’s a pathetic fact but it’s the High-Octane Truth.” Not in these parts it isn’t. You want the truth? DeLorenzo is guilty of the same timidity that he assigns to unnamed auto execs and their equally unidentified ad agencies. Where’s the indignation at GM for cutting Caddy’s cutting-edge ad agency adrift? Or some good-old-fashioned finger pointing at Bob Lutz, for his infinitely asinine decision to put Chairman Wiseacre at the front of the nationalized automaker’s laughable “May the best car win” ad campaign? Where’s Chrysler? What’s up with Ford’s epic failure to figure-out Lincoln? Someone show DeLorenzo how to sample crickets chirping. Meanwhile, truth be told, DeLorenzo’s dissing the competition for no greater goal than feathering his own nest . . .
Until recently, popular wisdom had it that Germans would rather not eat than give up their cars. According to lore, Germans even eschew back seat loving – because it might spoil the immaculate interior. Horrors of horrors: The Teutonic automotive love affair may be losing its lust. Nearly one third of Germans contemplate getting rid of at least one of their cars in the next six to twelve months. This according to a study commissioned by Europcar, a large European car rental company that has a vested interest in these developments. The shocking study has been published in Das Autohaus.
Last year, only 17 percent of the Germans had announced they would dump their cars and switch to public transportation, car sharing, rental cars, or mopeds. Never mind that they didn’t follow through. According to the ever so efficient Kraftfahrtbundesamt, Germans bought 26.1 percent more cars in the first nine months of 2009 than in 2008. Sales of used cars dropped by only 1.6 percent. Europcar hopes that a new trend is their friend: All indications say the German Abwrackprämien-powered sales orgy is about to experience a sudden interuptus in October after the financial lube has dried up. But a third of German cars being retired and not replaced next year? A rental car company’s wet dream.
China’s auto sales have most likely broken the 10 million unit sound barrier at the time of this typing. This according to educated estimates of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) via Gasgoo. The association expects annual sales for 2009 to surpass 12 million.
In September, China’s auto sales had soared 78 percent (compared to September of the prior year) to 1.33m units. Sales of passenger cars, including sedans, SUVs and MPVs, rose 83.6 percent to 1.02m units. September marked the seventh straight month in a row that China’s car sales exceeded one million units a month.
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