Pop quiz: how many XL7s has Suzuki built at its CAMI plant this year? Answer: four. Seriously. Compare that with the 5,687 built in Q1 2008, and it’s pretty clear that there’s something rotten in the province of Ontario. Especially when you consider that GM is still using its CAMI capacity to pump out 2009-model Chevy Equinox and Pontiac Torrent CUVs. According to the Financial Post, Suzuki will not be be building any more vehicles in North America in 2009. Which means ’09-built XL7s are set to become one of the rarest vehicles in the world. But the firm is committed to its CAMI plant, with CEO Osamu Suzuki telling the FP that “the possibility that CAMI would be forced into closure or a production stop is 120% impossible. It is a central pillar in the reconstruction plan, so I am not worried about it.” Which means CAMI should survive any GM bankruptcy. Suzuki may be sitting out the NA market in 2009 (while nursing its Indian market profits) but when it brings its CAMI capacity back online, it will likely be in support of its ambitious Kizashi mid-sized effort. Too bad, then, that the fanboys are already calling BS on Suzuki’s pledge to bring the Concept 3’s bold styling to the streets with the Kizashi.
Memo to senior executives at GMAC reading TTAC. Perhaps you can answer a few simple questions. Why do you require all lease returns to be taken back to the auction? Why not let your dealers buy inventory at wholesale prices if they want when the car grounds at their stores? Don’t you realize that this policy only forces more supply into the sale and depresses prices? Better yet, why don’t you negotiate with me a more realistic buy-out price of my 2007 Saab 9-3 lease return? Instead, your firm insists that I pay the stated residual price which is currently approximately $9,000 more than the wholesale value. (I’d be a moron to do that. Maybe some people are. But I think most aren’t.) So you’ll take back another unit to the sale—and there won’t be any miracle on pricing there. So here’s an idea . . .
I recently received an email from former Saab blog owner, current Saab blogger and past TTAC contributor, Steven Wade. Mr. Wade wants to know who TTAC’s Best and Brightest would like to see taking over Saab in the future. He also asked me to ask you who you think WILL take over Saab in the future. [Answers below please.] As part of our exchange, I teased Mr. Wade into admitting he was wrong to disparage me for disparaging GM’s pre-C11 turnaround plans. But don’t get to thinking Wade is ready for his Cassandra Watch. Oh no, far from it. In his most recent entry on Saabs United, Wade put his imprimatur on a wild ass rumor of Olympian proportions. Swedish newspaper Expressen suggests that GM CEO Fritz Henderson is reluctant to sell Saab to, uh, anyone because the new 9-5 is so good he’s afraid it will compete with post-C11 GM’s offerings. Apparently.
I have a ’99 Nissan Maxima purchased new with 124,000 miles which runs like new. I have had to recently replace the starter/battery and it has had several electrical issues in the past such as starter coils. Engine oil is changed at 5,000 miles with synthetic and book is used on all other fluid changes.
The total repair costs have been averaging app. $1,000 per year for at least 2-3 years now. Since major parts are original such as transmission, water pump/radiator, etc., I feel it is only a matter of time that a big item will require a major repair bill.
At what dollar price point is it reasonable to keep spending money on repairs for a 10 yr old car, per year? I am not mechanically handy.
Currently, there are numerous bills in Congress that relate to cars. So many, in fact, that it’s near impossible to keep track of them all. The fine folks at govtrack.us have developed some tools that are enabling TTAC to stay informed on just what’s happening on the Hill. We thought you’d want to know, too. We’re mainly concerned with the scrappage schemes proffered by our representatives, but we’re tracking any bill that has to do with cars or driving.
The list is long. Really long. And growing. But, just because a bill has been introduced doesn’t mean that it will become law. Most bills never make it out of committee and die at the end of session. As we reported earlier, regarding the cash-for-clunkers bill, “Assistant to the Speaker Van Hollen suggested a vote might not take place this year.”
Wired Autopia has a video of Better Place’s prototype $500,000 quick battery swap station. Think of a Jiffy Lube station but much slicker and no scruffy guys in the basement. Driver pulls up, automated lift unscrews discharged battery from beneath and slides it down a conveyor belt, and then another battery is bolted in. Total time is a few minutes, similar to a gas tank fillup. The conventional-looking Nissan EV’s battery goes in where the gas tank was and has a similar shape. Tesla is to have their own battery swap setup that’s not compatible with that of Better Place. Let the hypothetical swappable battery wars begin!
Yesterday, we had a post about far-reaching plans of GM. They wanted to sell exactly 17,335 made-in-China cars in the U.S.—by 2011. And triple that audacious number (51,546) by 2014. Or so they say in a (supposedly) confidential 12-page presentation to members of Congress. Trouble is, nobody really knows who will make the cars.
Gasgoo says today, “Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (Group) (SAIC), GM’s Chinese partner, said it hasn’t got such information from GM yet.” Mei you! Never heard of it. Could it be that someone just wants to rattle the UAW’s cage? If that’s the case, then the colleagues in Shanghai blew their cover. Or, less sinister, but more likely, does the left hand have no knowledge of the actions of the right? Or maybe, the cuts are so deep that they sent the P.O. by slow boat to China?
“8 Mile” rapper, Eminem, may not be Detroit’s most famous son, but it’s not for lack of trying. Or, for that matter, posturing. The recording artist has decided that the effect of the Motown meltdown on the working stiff is top notch fodder for the hang dog (or is that Snoop Dog?) side of his public persona. Marshall Mathers was born in a pleasant middle class suburb and earned $18 million or so last year notwithstanding. Obviously. But penning a paean to pistonhead paradise lost isn’t enough for our boy, he’s got to bring it. Well, them. Two hundred of them. TV Squad [via Yahoo! via the Detroit Free Press] reports that Eminem is transporting 200 unemployed Detroit workers to the set of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” this Friday just to prove a point: he’s a man of the people and his new album is dope. No, wait; that’s not it. I’ve got it! Wall Street has screwed all the selfless, salt of the earth automotive workers who’ve never heard of Eminem and, other than the free food, booze, and flight this stunt entails, wouldn’t cross the street to give Marshall the time of day. Nor him them. So I guess it’s a wash. Peace out, yo.
“You don’t need banks and bondholders to make cars.”
—Anonymous White House official to the Wall Street Journal‘s Neil King Jr. and Jeffrey McCracken. Check out their detailed breakdown of the White House/Chrysler Bondholder negotiations at the WSJ.
Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages: we give you the first Chevy Volt jingle, courtesy of Sarah Spiegel (shown here interviewing former CEO Rick Wagoner) and gm-volt.com! Listen to the ditty at the link and for lyrics hit the jump.
Cruisin’ with the Chairman - kewego GMnext host Sarah Spiegel chats with GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner about the leading the GM Century Cruise Parade, his favorite car, and what it’s like to drive the Corvette Z06 E-85 Pace Car.
Of course not. It’s going to take a whole fistfull to make this spaghetti western happen. The Freep reports that when he replaces Bob Nardelli as Chrysler CEO, Marchionne will remain an employee of Fiat to avoid Treasury limits on executive compensation at firms receiving “extraordinary assistance.” Under these rules, compensation of Chrysler’s top executive is limited to $500,000 excluding restricted shares of stock. Marchionne earned around $4 million last year. Citing bankruptcy documents, the Freep explains that “under the deal, any of Chrysler’s top officers can be deemed a Fiat employee who’s “seconded” to Chrysler, and therefore take pay from Fiat beyond the Treasury cap.” Since Chrysler does just about everything “in consultation” with the Treasury these days, it’s hard to understand why Geithner’s own rules are being so blatantly flaunted. Oh well.
The AP (via Yahoo!) reports that Chrysler will ask Judge Gonzalez to cancel “at least” 800 dealer franchise agreements on Thursday. The news comes from lawyers of Cincinati firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, who are organizing opposition to the move. Automotive News [sub] has more on the effort, reporting that the National Automobile Dealers Association is soliciting $4,000 contributions from members to create a legal defense fund. Also, just because a dealer doesn’t get the axe on Thursday doesn’t mean they’re out of the woods yet. Mother Fiat is sees dealer cuts as business item number one for its new Chrysler division, and Thursday’s cuts are being called “preliminary.” Dealer cuts “won’t be a huge catastrophic number,” Jim “It’s Always Sunny In Auburn Hills” Press tells Bloomberg. After all, about 50 percent of Chrysler’s 3,188 dealers generate 90 percent of its retail sales.
The Ford-as-Survivor meme has properly takenhold in the mainstream media. But how much of the cheerleading is wishful thinking? Matt Debord of thebigmoney.com figures there’s no reason to get to excited about Ford’s $300 million stock offering, and indeed Ford’s stock is down considerably today. But Ford’s troubled supplier Visteon turned a $2 million Q1 profit, insists the Freep. The first quarterly profit since 2006! What you have to read in the whole piece to find out is that the profit comes courtesy of Visteon’s spun-off and bankrupted UK facilities. Meanwhile, Automotive News [sub] reports that Visteon financial filings admit the firm’s “ability to continue operating as a going concern is, among other things, dependent on the success of discussions with the lenders.”
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