New Car Reviews, Ratings & Pricing, Auto News for New Models

Only The Pointless Die Young

By Edward Niedermeyer
January 6th, 2009 -

Pickuptrucks.com has learned that the Pontiac G8 ST has been canceled. Incidentally, Automobile Magazine is reporting that the Suzuki Kizashi has not been canceled, but will debut in production form at this year’s New York Auto Show.

Posted in Australia | Future Vehicles | News Blog | 39 comments

Honda Curbs Its Enthusiasm

By Edward Niedermeyer
January 6th, 2009 -

As Martin Schwoerer has pointed out, Honda is in the midst of a green-oriented rebranding. Formula One efforts and the NSX “replacement” have already been canceled, as we’ce reported. According to Autocar, more enthusiast-oriented programs are being slashed as weak markets meet green branding initiative. Planned rear-drive Acura models, including development of a V8 engine are off the table due to poor demand for luxury models. These models were planned to compete with BMW’s 3,5 and 7 series. Honda has also canned plans for a S2000 replacement, leaving it without any kind of sports car in its portfolio. Though the eagerly-anticipated CR-Z coupe is still a go, a convertible roadster version will not be pursued. This isn’t great news for enthusiasts, who have long seen Honda as the most sporting of the Japanese big three. In reality, Honda has been steadily moving away from its enthusiast roots for years now.

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Posted in Future Vehicles | Green | News Blog | 28 comments

Bailout Watch 321: UAW Boss: “GM, Chrysler May Not Need More Bailout Bucks”

By Robert Farago
January 6th, 2009 -

At first glance, this makes no sense: the head of the United Auto Workers (UAW) telling the world that GM and Chrysler are done feasting at the bailout buffet. “If we can get by without more money, that’s what we want to do,” Big Ron Gettelfinger told Automotive News [AN, sub] in an interview at Solidarity House. And if I could convince my Lexus dealer to give me a new IS-F with a handstand, that’s what I’d want to do. Clearly, Ron Gettelfinger is promising someone a rose garden– while he’s painted the ailing automakers into a corner. Ish. First, this is what car salesman call an “if then” close. Second, Ron told AN that “how well the money holds out will depend on sales volume this year.” Gettelfinger is hopeful that “sales will not dip more than 1 million units below 2008’s depressed 13.1 million.” So, IF U.S. new car sales DON’T dip below 12.1m per year, THEN GM and Chrysler recover without any more federal funding? Nonsense. Make no mistake: Ron’s statement is part of a calculated plan to avoid making any concessions during the federally-mandated negotiations to reduce his members’ pay and benefits. In other words, the UAW doesn’t need to make concessions because everything’s going to be alright. It is, in fact, Ron’s opening gambit. And it’s not bad. But shame on AN for swallowing the union boss’s bait; hook, line and sinker. I mean, what is this…

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Posted in Bailout Watch | News Blog | Union News | 18 comments

Question Of The Day: Wait a Second… We Didn’t Build The Best Cars in the World?

By Jonny Lieberman
January 6th, 2009 -

Pop top worm can time. Yesterday’s QOTD (essentially) poised the question how a big a boot in Detroit’s ass will it take to get American back to building the best cars in the world? And your answer was (for the most part) that we never built the best cars in the world. Insert sound of car screeching to a halt here! Say what? Are you telling me my childhood was a lie? All my old man’s stories about his dad’s Buick Roadmasters and Cadillac Eldorados — they were fibs? That article about Zora Arkus-Duntov and the Corvette Gran Sports that all of us have read in one form another ninety billion times — it’s a lie? Hell, the articles I’ve written about Shelby’s Cobras — not true? And, am I blind? Cause I got Ken Steacy’s book Brightwork about classic American car ornamentation as a Hanukkah gift and I realized that more thought used to go into a single hood ornament than Buick has put into its entire lineup over the past twenty years. See, Alfred Sloane had the formula figured out — Post-War Americans only wanted three things when it came to cars. 1) Styling 2) Automatic transmissions 3) High compression, high output engines (aka POWA!). Obviously GM had no trouble with two and three, and Sloan brought in coach builder Harley Earl to address number one. And he was, to a very large extent, right. Go ahead, look at a 1954 Pontiac Star Chief and tell me I’m wrong.

Posted in News Blog | Question of the Day | 41 comments

Hoping Against Hope

By Edward Niedermeyer
January 6th, 2009 -

There’s an eerie thread of optimism weaving through a number of post-bailout, post-December bloodbath stories lately. Sure, hope dies last and all that, but as Studs Terkel put it, “hope has never trickled down, it has always sprung up.” And most of this fresh-faced optimism seems to have trickled down directly from GM PR. Take the headline “‘Happy Days’ Return For Domestic Car Dealers” over at Dealersedge.com, for example. If the use of scare quotes in the headline isn’t enough to set your PR-friendly hackery alarm ringing, well, that’s why we’re here. The entire piece is based on quotes from employees and owners of three dealerships, two in New Hampshire, one in Michigan. These ecstatic, old-timey song-referencing folks spout anecdotal evidence of a new influx of floor traffic, offering no dissent from the opinion that “happy days” are indeed here again. And why wouldn’t they say that zero percent terms on Trailblazers and Saabs have Americans flooding the showrooms?

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Editorial: The Truth About Chrysler and GM Bankruptcy Fears

By Richard N. Tilton
January 6th, 2009 -

A recent NY Times op ed gave plaudits to a Senate investigation held in the 1930’s to discover the causes of the Great Depression. But the power of congressional investigators is vastly overstated and overrated. They can be stymied by resourceful, deep-pocketed corporations. Considering the current attitudes of US automakers, it's unrealistic to expect any voluntary disclosure to Congress, any meaningful disclosure to taxpayers. But, as the Bermie Maddoff liquidation shows, bankruptcy court is another matter entirely. The trustee in the Madoff liquidation/investigation can ask the bankruptcy court to authorize subpoenas, which can be used to compel production of documents and to compel witnesses to testify. The prospect literally scares GM and Chrysler witless.

Editorial: The Truth About Chrysler and GM Bankruptcy Fears continued »

Posted in Bailout | Editorials | 16 comments

Ask the Best and Brightest: Who Has the Best HVAC Controls?

By Robert Farago
January 6th, 2009 -

You may recall that TTAC reacted to the plethora of top ten automotve lists proliferating on the web by running a list of the ten best cupholders. Now that Forbes Autos has gone to the big cache in the sky, the number of top ten lists-makers has dropped significantly. But they’re still out there, somewhere. And they’re still annoying. All-Stars? Pretty much says it all. So we turn again, from the ridiculous to the sublimely ridiculous. We ask you, our Best and Brightest to name the best Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) controls of any car sold in America as new. Please send an email with a jpeg to robert.farago@thetruthaboutcars.com. Put “HVAC” in the subject bar. In the body of the email, please write your screen nic, which car’s climate controls I’m gazing upon and why they deserve to be honored as one of the ten best HVACuees. The winners will be chosen by Eddy and myself through the usual arbitrary process. Thanks for your help.

Posted in Ask the Best and Brightest | News Blog | 38 comments

The Truth About Saturn

By David Holzman
January 6th, 2009 -

When I went car shopping in the early ‘90s, my priorities were fun-to-drive, reliability, and economy. Style— not so much, or so I thought. But the first time I saw a Saturn, I knew instantly what it was, although I’d never seen a photo, since the car was conspicuously absent from the ads. As soon as Consumer Reports gave Saturn a preliminary blessing for reliability, I gave it my consideration. Ultimately, I became so smitten that I didn’t bother to re-look at the Integra after I discovered to my great chagrin, in the dealer’s lot, that the turning circle was nearly as big as the namesake planet’s diameter.

The Truth About Saturn continued »

Posted in Editorials | Industry | 55 comments

Innovation Strikes! In-Car Microwave Now Available

By Edward Niedermeyer
January 6th, 2009 -

According to the Daily Mail, you can now buy a microwave that plugs in to your car’s 12v socket. Because you need that hot pocket when you’re commuting. Because talking on your cell phone while driving is only so distracting. And because that cell phone only delivers minimal electromagnetic radiation risk. The $190 appliance made by Maplin Electronics is small enough to stash in the boot of car, features a robust steel construction with heavy duty handle and is operated by a LED touchscreen. According to a company rep, “you no longer have to worry about searching for places to eat as the microwave ensures you can plan your day as you want to and eat when you’re hungry. It gives you the flexibility and freedom to enjoy hot food wherever and whenever you wish.” Be still my fat-clogged, barely-beating heart.

Posted in Gizmology | News Blog | 21 comments

Chrysler’s “Free” Cars Inflated December Sales

By Robert Farago
January 6th, 2009 -

A TTAC commentator who wishes to remain anonymous raises a good point about Chrysler’s sales: “imagine Chrysler’s sales last month if ex-employees didn’t ‘buy’ their cars with Chrysler’s money. People who took the buyouts all got a free car as well. You know how people will ask… would you take a Chrysler car for free? (well, you still gotta pay the tax since Uncle Sam hates freebies). The answer is a resounding Yes! Because you can still flip the car for another brand and come out ahead after all the taxes. Anyway, approximately 5,000 of those Chrysler sales last month were paid for with Chrysler’s own money. Most were Wranglers, Grand Cherokees, and LX cars since those vehicles let you extract the most value out of your ‘free’ car.”

Posted in Chapter 11 | News Blog | Sales | 9 comments

Bailout Watch 320: What’s Not To Like About The GMAC Bailout? How Much Time Do You Have?

By Edward Niedermeyer
January 6th, 2009 -

The New York Times’ Dealbook blog takes it to the GMAC bailout with TTAC-like zest today, methodically doling out blame to all sides of the deal. Many of their points have been covered in TTAC’s ongoing coverage of the deal, but the Dealbook post does a good job of summarizing everything there is to hate about the handout. For one thing, there’s the fact that (unlike other TARP packages) the Treasury failed to secure warrants backed by GMAC common equity. This means that we the American taxpayers have no upside to the deal beyond earning back our money with eight percent interest. Furthermore, the warrants that Treasury did receive are worth only five percent of our $5b investment in GMAC, far less than the 15 percent warrants required of other TARP borrowers. Oh yeah, and the $1b that GM received to invest in GMAC is secured only by GM’s stake in GAMC. Not only do these considerations increase taxpayer risk, they also destroy the “our bailout is better/more fair than theirs” relativism that the auto biz rode into Bailout City.

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Posted in Bailout Watch | High Finance | News Blog | 4 comments

UK Set to Ban this VW Golf Ad

By Robert Farago
January 6th, 2009 -

Posted in Media | News Blog | UK | 25 comments

New Dodge Ram Grabbed .2% Market Share

By Robert Farago
January 6th, 2009 -

If a fish had brains and saw someone holding a shotgun, would it choose to swim in a barrel? Why then would Mike Accavitti, director-Dodge marketing, say this to Ward’s Dealer Business, which has all the sales data on everything. “Accavitti notes the ’09 Ram, which he describes as Chrysler’s ‘bread and butter,’ is grabbing more market share than its ’08 predecessor. Since the October sales launch to mark the ’09 model year, the Ram owned 4.1% of the light-duty truck market, an increase of 0.2 share points over the ’08 model year, according to Ward’s data.” Yes, well, the article was written before December’s sales results; where Ram sales tanked by 48 percent vs. last year, down 31 percent for the year. I wonder how much that market they own now. In any case, it appears Dodge blew the launch.

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Posted in Marketing | News Blog | Sales | 14 comments

Porsche High Stakes Poker Claims A Life

By Bertel Schmitt
January 6th, 2009 -

When Porsche, led by Wendelin Wiedeking and his CFO Holger Härter engineered the classical short squeeze, when they drove the VW share into the stratosphere and hedge funds into deep losses, the men received applause. Hedge funds are supposed to know what they are doing. And no kittens were harmed.

Yesterday evening, a 74 year old man walked in front of an oncoming train near the German city of Ulm. He used to be a billionaire. He used to be on the 94^th place of Forbes’ list of richest people. Adolf Merckle had placed his bets on the wrong side of the Volkswagen game.
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Posted in Germany | News Blog | 24 comments

Subaru Wins 2008

By Edward Niedermeyer
January 6th, 2009 -

Finishing 2008 with positive sales growth was basically unheard of this year in the US car market. Titans like Toyota, hot brands like Audi, nobody is safe from the sales downturn that is crunching the biz. Except Subaru. The all-AWD boys managed a narrow 0.3 percent sales bump for 2008, as strong Forester sales (up 62.8 percent in December, 36.4 percent on the year) helped limit December bloodletting to a 7.7 percent downturn. So even though Subaru literally sold only 491 more cars in 2008 than it did in 2007, you can’t help but call it a win. Unsurprisingly, Tribeca and Outback are the big losers, dropping 52.1 and 30.3 percent in December and 34.6 and 22.8 percent on the year. And Subaru’s short-term positioning continues to look good. Though the summer gas shock had consumers scurrying for Fits and Priora, leveling prices and a harsh winter make Subaru’s products look like a smart step for the downsizing SUV-as-luxury crowd. Subaru’s out of the WRC championship, and the Toyobaru coupe has been canceled (it should have been the Tribeca!), but in the US market Subaru looks as good as can be expected.