TTAC contributor Robstar sent us the heads-up on this New York Times Freakonomics post. The blurbette was plenty prescient; it was posted a few days before the death of a Toronto cyclist in an altercation with a zealously anti-street-racing former Ontario Attorney General. After revealing the startling fact that 52,000 bicyclists have been killed in U.S. traffic over the last 80 years, “the hidden side of everything” offers some non-startling analysis, based on a bicycle-biased source (projectfreeride.org) and an undated DOT report. Apparently, it’s all our fault. Well, mostly . . .
AutoExpress never met a car they didn’t like. Or, if they did, they kept that opinion to themselves. In keeping with the advertiser-pleasing house style, the British car mag offers readers a “review” of the Vauxhall/Opel version of the Chevy’s Hail Mary-shaped plug-in electric/gas hybrid. Despite the fact that the car isn’t in production, regardless of the company’s ongoing refusal to let anyone test the car in extended range mode (i.e., when the ICE kicks in), AutoExpress gives the Ampera . . . five stars! Other than than a quick kvetch about the price and an unquestioning reference to the Lutzian crock about “the gas going stale in the tank,” Paul Bailey is a booster. Still, at the end of the proverbial English day, “the project raises more questions than it answers.” Such as: will European governments buy into the Volt-as-savior meme that found such fertile ground in the US? You don’t hear the Germans talking about it . . .
According to a recently released Costa Mesa (CA) city council report, the total number of accidents at intersections equipped with red light cameras has increased. The city report did not provide a complete analysis of results at every monitored intersection throughout the past six years. Instead, it cherry-picked data from just two intersections, Harbor Boulevard and Bristol Street and Bristol Street and Anton Boulevard. It then chose four intersections without cameras and compared their performance between 2001 to 2003 (before cameras) and 2006 to 2008 (after cameras). Even with cherry-picked locations, the total number of accidents increased 13 percent while the camera-free intersections experienced a five percent decrease. Rear end collisions also jumped 20 percent with cameras, and dropped 10 percent without; a finding consistent with a number of independent studies of the effects of red light camera use (view studies).
I hope our good friends over at Autoblog don’t mind me stealing their headline, but it illustrates my point about domestic automakers and their camp followers: they are seriously deluded. While you can’t fault New GM, New Chrysler and Mortgaged-Up-to-Their-Logo Ford for seizing good news like an iron chef stumbling over a plump, truffle-snuffling pig, the future’s not bright and they’re still wearing shades. While surveys like Consumer Reports headlined above may contain a kernel of truth and rally the troops, taking them as gospel instills, reinforces, and engenders company-killing complacency. I invite TTAC’s Best and Brightest to data dive this bad boy. Meanwhile, Michael Karesh: “Automotive News [sub] notes that, while Asian brands’ market share is 48 percent so far this year, only 47 percent of survey respondents reported that they would probably consider an Asian brand car in their next purchase. Two steps up the purchase funnel (might consider ⇒ do consider ⇒ buy), the percentage should be much higher than the final percentage. That it’s not suggests a sampling error.” Also, define “considering.”
Old GM Liquidator-in-chief Al Koch tells Detroit News that there exists some unknown level of interest in The General’s cast-off assets. But he’s only saying that the level is greater than zero. “It’s not possible, until the process unfolds for a little bit, to tell the shoppers from the buyers,” Koch enthuses. “These are very, very large facilities. So the likelihood of finding a single user at any of these industrial sites — it’s not impossible — but it’s a relatively small buyer universe.” Universe? Wouldn’t it the list of buyers for outdated factories in perma-union states in an oversupplied market be more . . . sandbox-sized? A list of analyst-approved GM plants “for interest/sale” and an opportunity for wild speculation after the jump.
“Culture change is not simple to do,” GM CEO Fritz Henderson tells Bloomberg. “In the end, if you reinforce what you want in how you behave and how you act, the organization picks it up.” But Fritz isn’t merely turning GM around by example. “You’ve got to get your people involved,” he explains. “You’ve got to get your leadership involved, you have to be consistent, you have to be simple and have everyone understand what you’re trying to get accomplished.” And just what is Henderson trying to accomplish? Nothing less than a total change in perspective . . . in 50 employees.
The voice says Germanic been-there-done-that authority. The use of phrases like “sportif” and “bella macchina” say classic Italian flair. Meanwhile, the shirt, hair and necklace say “woah, brah, let’s hop in the Italia and score some babes.” If there’s a better encapsulation of Ferrari’s internationally recognizable combination of heritage, racing wonkery and nouveau riche gauche I have yet to witness it.
A former Ontario Attorney General who made a career crusading for severe auto safety laws is being held after witnesses say he killed a cyclist with his Saab convertible, according to the New York Times. Onlookers say Michael Bryant hit cyclist Darcy Allan Sheppard in downtown Ontario Monday evening, causing Sheppard to grab onto Bryant’s vehicle. Bryant then ran his Saab onto the sidewalk, apparently trying to knock Sheppard off by running him into streetlights and sign posts. He succeeded when Sheppard reportedly hit a mailbox and died. Bryant was best known for a 2007 law defining driving faster than 50 km/h as “street racing” with penalties including vehicle seizure. At the time, Bryant described cars as being “as dangerous as explosives.” Savor the irony.
[Thanks to TMcA for the link]
Update: According to the CBC, Sheppard may have grabbed Bryant or his car’s steering wheel and the two may have been struggling for control of the car.
Automotive News [sub]: “Drawings of the redesigned 2011 Hyundai Sonata reveal a dramatic style shift from conservative to sleek and fluid, drawing inspiration from the Genesis sedan.” TTAC: Yes, well, in theory. In practice, the actual, honest-to-god, in-the-flesh Hyundai Sonata will look nothing like this image, front or rear [after the jump]. Why would it? In fact, why would do carmakers release preposterous concept-stage renderings when the eventual car can’t bear more than a passing resemblance to the adolescent imagineering (think: practicality, safety regs, cost, etc.)? Sure the pretty pics make the car look sexy. But didn’t 60s and 70s public architecture already die for that sin? And, by the way, if this isn’t the most derivative design I’ve ever seen, I don’t want to see the one that is. Oh wait, Genesis. Snap!
One of the lingering holdovers from the Daimler-Chrysler era, Sprinters at the Dodge dealer, is coming to an end. Automotive News [sub] reports that the commercial/recreational vans will be yanked from Dodge dealerships starting January 1, and will be sold at 150 select Mercedes dealers going forward. 45 Freightliner dealers will continue to sell Sprinters under the Freightliner brand, but all remaining Sprinters will be sold as Mercedes models under the new distribution plan. Which begs the question: why?
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