Evening time. Time for conversations, drinks, jokes and . . . spreadsheets? Apparently so. I’ve caught this nasty computerized bug lately. The symptoms are harder to shake than swine flu and almost as appealing. It’s figuring out my ‘cost to own’ for a variety of cars. The goal: get my cost down to 10 cents a mile. Three hours and too much wine later, I wondered. “Can it really happen in this world of $3 gas?” With purchase price, insurance, gas, opportunity cost, maintenance, repairs, and government fees aplenty, not to mention a junker selling price with inflation to boot, I wasn’t quite sure. In fact my head was spinning. The final answer?
Fresh off a recent discussion at TTAC on the menace of brake dust, the NYT reports that the phenomenon made an impact on the recent JD Power Initia Quality Survey. Apparently consumers are complaining about brake dust in their IQS surveys, and it (among other things) knocked the Jag XF down a spot on the final standings. “A lot of the problems that might seem somewhat trivial from an engineering standpoint -– and brake dust is a good example –- are not necessarily trivial from a consumer’s standpoint,” says Powers’ David Sargent. “The perception is that the brakes are not performing properly, which is false, but in the consumer’s mind it is reality,”he explains. If brake dust isn’t an actual malfunction, why is it included in the IQS survey?
“I’m sure in the fullness of time we’ll all look back and think of things that might have been done differently, or perhaps should have been done differently.”
Presidential Task Force On The Automobiles Steve Rattner in an Automotive News [sub] piece on potential conflicts of interest created by the auto industry bailout.
The marketing mavens at GM commissioned a Youtube video of two “bumblebee boys” washing a Camaro for Chevrolet’s “Gay Days At The Movies” promotion. The bankrupt automaker pulled the ad after a single day for being “tasteless.” (As the Chinese market ad in the post below proves, using sex to sell fast cars is never OK.) Only yesterday, GM’s Dave Barthmuss told USA Today that the video might surprise some “because you don’t see it in the mainstream.” But the ad would “make sense for this particular audience.” Today, Barthmuss tells USA Today that “the video was not appropriate and not in good taste.” The only problem was that (apparently) nobody at GM had actually seen the video. The spot has been yanked from YouTube; it’s internet MIA. So why spend (taxpayer) money on ads like this if you aren’t even going to use them? And what about the video makes it any more tasteless than, say, a Camaro in Harvest Gold or It’s A Girl Pink?
If you didn’t get the memo, this website gets a lot of grief for its negative outlook on American cars. We cannot change the harsh reality of the situation, but we will lead a (bankrupt) horse to water. And make it take that all important first sip. That’s the plan: TTAC is campaigning for a Real American Car.
Our pals at Automotive Traveller snapped a few pictures of MINI’s forthcoming Cute Ute in psychedelic camofluage. Under the skin it should be quite similar to BMW’s X1, and it will forgo the Clubman’s barn-doors for a proper rear hatch.
My wife and I purchased a low mileage (50k, now at 70k) 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan two years ago when our fourth came along. We understand that the Siennyssey twins boast better build quality, but we didn’t have to finance the Dodge. Plus, we figured that Dodge had been building the Caravan long enough that they had worked out most of the larger Q/A issues. So far that appears to be true. However, there is one issue we’ve witnessed that I don’t understand. Every now and then (once a month or so) all power will momentarily cut off while the engine is running.
Who will end up owning Opel is turning more and more into a brawl along party lines. Officially, the seller is GM. The final arbiter will be the German government because they foot the bill to the tune of billions. Trouble is, the German government is divided. It is made up from a coalition between the center-right CDU and the center-left SPD. Both run the country. Both are on each other’s throats. Both are in a bitter fight for votes in the September national elections. Several states are also up for grabs. It’s a “super election year.” Both have their favorites. So who will it be? Read More >
The AP reports that GM design chief Ed Welburn is heading a group studying name and logo changes for the General. What, like “Precision Motors“? “Changing the background of the familiar square blue-and-white GM logo has been discussed,” according to the AP’s anonymous sources, but nothing has been decided yet. The same anonymous sources do indicate, however, that “the company is looking into changing the background color of its corporate logo from blue to green in an effort to show consumers that it is leaner and greener, more focused on fuel efficiency and better able to make quick decisions.” And remind consumers, no doubt, that GM is fully committed to covering up fundamental problems with quick, cosmetic fixes. Now more than ever.
Passing committee is just the first of many steps on the way to a complete episode of Schoolhouse Rocks. And the way Automotive News [sub] tells it, the latest iteration of the Great Dealer Restoration may just face a rocky path. The substance of H.R. 2743 has been attached to a 2010 financial services spending bill that passed the House Appropriations Committee. The problem is that this amendment represents a policy change, in that it would cut funding to the automakers if they refuse to reinstate dealers as ordered. Such policy changes are not technically supposed to be attached to spending bills. No worries though. According to AN’s paraphrase of Rep Steven LaTourette (R-OH),
“Some lawmakers will ask the House Rules Committee early next week to issue a rule to protect the bill from so-called ‘point of order’ challenges that would spike the dealer provision”
And that’s why I’m so particularly fond of Porsches.
China’s passenger-vehicle sales skyrocketed a frightening 48 percent in June, the most stratospheric ascent since February 2006. According to Bloomberg, this “helped the nation extend its lead over the U.S. as the world’s largest auto market this year.” The car-nage in Bloomberg’s own words: Read More >
The Standard Of The World (so to speak) may have found its long-awaited flagship in China, reports Car and Driver. Dubbed the SLS, this stretched (four inches longer than STS) Sigma platform beast was developed for the Chinese market by Shanghai GM. Previously available only in China and Middle Eastern markets, the SLS is a great excuse for GM to not develop a new flagship. C&D does note that a “reskin” and an LS V8 will make the model distinct to the US market. Meanwhile, the return to bad habits continues across Cadillac’s product planning.
Recent Comments