Referenced articles
emptywheel: Biden To Announce Fisker Auto Plant In Wilmington Delaware' [...]
Referenced articles
emptywheel: Biden To Announce Fisker Auto Plant In Wilmington Delaware' [...]
But [...]
4,500,000
All the way back to when Clinton was in office! Sweet mercy that's a lot of Fords. There's a good chance the tech [...]
That car helped kill Pontiac and Saturn. No, it did not single car-ily kill both companies, but it was a great example of why both companies failed.
Why DeLorean [...]
Is Chrysler going to spin off the Challenger, too? Oh, look, [...]
So what happens now? Saturn just closes and "the dream" dies. GM never gave Saturn a solid shot. Oh, they started' [...]
How did Honda fall so far so fast? With the release of the photos of the Crosstour, one has to wonder who quit in the last few years since the original Acura TL was released.
Seriously, how many ugly vehicles does Honda (we're including Acura) make now?
Accord Crosstour Pilot Insight Element (which we sorta like, [...]Saab is dead. GM killed it. Long live Saab!
Referenced articles
Autoblog: By the Numbers' [...]
Referenced articles
gizmodo: How Many Folding Bikes Does It Take To Fill a Parking Space? [...]
Who in their right mind would buy a car company that sold 22 cars a day in July? But you say, "So what if they don't sell a lot of 'em. Profit it profit, dear Cars! Cars! Cars! writer." First of all, that's "writer." Second, doeth:Trollhaettan, Sweden-based Saab has been [...]
This is how to park!
[...](Bumping into GM)
Cars! Cars! Cars!: Hey, GM!
GM: Cars! Cars! Cars!
C!C!C!: Wow, you look fantastic. Did you lose weight?
GM: Billions worth!
C!C!C!: Nice!
GM: What's up with you? No updates?
C!C!C!: We forgot how to log in.
GM: Seriously?
C!C!C!: Let's move to another topic.
GM: OK, I'm thin and hot.
C!C!C!: True dat. (leans in) Is that' [...]
WiFi in the minivan? A "VW" minivan? Will Brooke be there to make sure our IP addresses are correct? You know, nothing comes between us and Brooke.*
Referenced articles
Electronista: VW Routan gets in-car Wi-Fi
*Well, nothing that isn't sticky.
' [...]Scene: Walking along some street in Detroit
Cars! Cars! Cars!: GM!
GM: Cars! Cars! Cars!
CCC: Long time no see, how you doing?
GM: Doing OK. Long time no post, what up?
CCC: Eh. All's been eerily quiet on the auto front. Like nothing's going on.
GM: Uh... yeah.
CCC: What you been up to?
GM: Uh, [...]
Scene: Taxpayers run into Chrysler after a long absence (no emails, txts, phone calls)
Taxpayers: Hey! C! Where you been?
Chrysler: Oh, hey. (looks around)
T: So, how you doing? I know things were looking tough.
C: Right. Well, we met someone.
T: Great! That's so... great!
C: Yeah. He's Italian.
T: Oh, wow! I'm so happy' [...]
Now we're not saying there's def an issue here, but the first time we saw a hybrid turn off the engine and still do stuff... well, friggin' bicycles are louder.
Will silent cars kill? Will hybrids be forced to make artificial noise like digital cameras do? Will Alison Krauss* finally, [...]
Everyone knew Pontiac was over and that Saturn was likely to go away, but holy shit, GM is canning Saturn this year? 2009 is the last model year for Saturn.
We suppose we shouldn't be taking it this hard because no one is buying any Ions. Or Vues. Or the other' [...]
This summer GM is planning on shutting down for a while. You know, in order to lower inventory. You know, in order to build confidence from consumers that they'll be in business for a long time to come. You know, by not building cars.
Instead maybe they'll make pies.
Mmmm, Chevy Monte [...]
Man, we could have come up with all sorts of headlines!
Ford Meets The Big O Screw Chrysler Is Ford The Missing Piece? Ford Gets Big Sale From Government Because They Are Fiscally More Sound And Don't Make Nearly As Many POS As Other American Car Makers Ah Ha! Fusion!' [...]Sorry, the minivan was "cool" and the Grand Cherokee sure looks swell (and we also liked the Prowler), but it's over.
And way to screw over the shareholders.*
Referenced articles Washington Post: Sources: Chrysler Turned Down Government Loan Over Limits on Executive Pay
[...]So say an insurance group. It's not pointed out specifically how many accidents occur as head-on, but it's hard to miss the point that should one occur and you're in a tiny bugger you are bummin'.
Is the answer a bigger car?
Referenced articles
NY Times: Study Says Small-Car Buyers Sacrifice Safety [...]
Well, the 2009 Auto Show is on and we went, sat, talked, ate, oggled at Jill and honestly came back less than impressed. It makes total sense that the 2009 NY Auto Show be somewhat low-key, but come on! While we could go on about this, we did find some [...]
In a very surprising turn of events, sitcom character Maude has purchased all outstanding shares of General Motors and has taken the company private.
In a very brief press conference, Maude popped in an 8-track and played:
Rick Wagoner was an automaker,
He didn't care if anyone bought.
Bob Lutz' [...]
OK, now we're just gettin' all silly. Today's announcement that Barack Obama is going to personally fix your car while Tim Geithner brings you a cup of steaming joe is just insane.
Now, we're all for competition and the government helping out when regular people can't (building roads, national health care), [...]
Don't tell us Fritz. That's bullshit. Fritz didn't can Rick Wagoner. If we were at all real writers and knew how to do research, that's the question we'd ask.
It's not so much that we feel badly for Mr. Wagoner, but we don't understand why the United States government is calling' [...]
Oh, a pretty graphic about it all. Is GM going to file for bankruptcy?*
Referenced Article
Mint: The Fall of GM: A Visual Guide
*Duh, yes.
[...]Man, dissed by your own country of origin. No more Kronors for everyone? What will happen to Saab now? And why did anyone think Swedishlandia would want 'em anyway? Duh.
Referenced articles
NY Times: Sweden Says No to Saving Saab
We clearly meant to mention Saab in the Volvo article, but' [...]
We don't own one or about to/thinkin' 'bout buying one. But many people should.' [...]
Everyone knows it's ugly. Everyone. Every. Single. Person. Knows. It's. Ugly. Check out this made-up overheard on the street:
Cars! Cars! Cars! representative: Hi, do you know...
Dude on street: The TL is ugly.
CCC: Really? What else?
Dude: And it will hurt sales.
CCC: Is this a secret?
Dude: No, everyone knows' [...]
Take a previously popular vehicle and continue to enhance it despite the fact that its time is over. Hey, Toyota, why not shove a V8 in there while you are at it. Oh, you did. Well, a V10 then! More! More! More!
We mentioned the Tundra was going to turn out [...]
Ah, memories. There was a time when Volvos were, dare we say it, cool. Anyway, our buddy Philip finds a restored ES1800 that so reminds us of the current C30 from Volvo. We love the ES1800 just as we love the C30.
Speaking of which, is the C30 even selling? Some, [...]
Ah, tis the season of selling off things you screwed up. So, Saturn has a few interested buyers? Yeah, sounds like a lot like the "Saab's being courted by everyone" dealie we heard yesterday. We really, really don't believe it.
Why? Sales. Folks aren't interested in Saturns they way they used [...]
Ford has a plan to maybe sell Volvo to a Chinese company? Well, maybe they will, but you want to see sales fall faster than what GM has managed to do to Saab? No one will buy a Swedish car from a Chinese company. No one.
We also love that these [...]
Saab has identified five potential buyers? You gotta be kidding us! Saab sold 20 cars a day during February. Twenty. That means some sphync who sold two Saabs in a month was friggin' king of the world! No one is interested in buying a company that sells 20 cars a' [...]
Ha! Everyone go home. Just go read it!
Referenced articles
CNNMoney: GM offers buyouts to all hourly workers Ha! All of 'em. Isn't it cool to offer up a car, too? Ha!
Thanks to Eschatonblog for the link.
[...]Hey, this is funny stuff: Take money from party A and use it to sue party A. Go, free market!
Referenced articles
MSN Money: GM, Chrysler suing taxpayers with taxpayer money
We realized the linked article is not a news story, but it was still funny anyway. And, besides, we can link [...]
Man, harsh made-up words from Ford! Tellin' the new gov'ment to keep their stinkin' loans 'cause we got it all going on. That's not only all made up, it's an abbreviated retelling the story that we just made up.
Anyway, go, Ford! Also, did you take a look at the upcoming [...]
Wow, seems like Fiat is doing more than sniffing around. Fiat is apparently looking to gobble up 35% of Chrysler. Well, it doesn't seem like Fiat is interested in buying Chrysler for the products (they want the plants so they can make them some mo' Fiats).
OK, these aren't all car billboards, but the car ones are especially good. Yay for creativity!
[...]Eh, so we were wrong. No congressional bailout. What happens now? Well, if we were car shopping, we'd probably pick up a Fusion over a Malibu (even if we like the color schemes in the Malibu better). See how we didn't say, "We'll def. get the Sebring!" The world won't [...]
The UAW did not cause the problem Detroit is facing. Look, unions (especially the UAW) can be as corrupt as any other big organization. And the UAW should not get a pass just because they are a union. But in this particular case, the blame shouldn't be on them.
Sure [...]
Because nothing will change. Check out the nuts... We mean Lutz:
Let me just get one thing straight here: There’s a lot of talk about well, General Motors doesn’t make the right kind of cars or General Motors built trucks too long. At $1.50 per gallon, the American public wants sport [...]
There should be no bailout for automakers. Before we get too far into this, our love affair is with cars*, not the makers. Their short-sighted motives for high-profit (and low fuel economy) vehicles have created a mess that they themselves are responsible for and we see no reason to foot [...]
GM's stock is under $3. Plenty of talk that they're over. Does that stop you from buying a GM product?
[...]Boy, what do you do when you find yourself in a heap of trouble and your uncle won't help?
We don't know, either, but the U.S. government has denied GM's request for ten thousand million dollars in order to "merge" with Chrysler. We haven't commented on this before now because we [...]
So, Frank Rhodes, the grandson of ol' Walt (that Walt would be Walter P. Chrysler) offered a little advice to Chrysler bigwig Bob Nardelli. The advice goes like this (among other bits):
No fancy radio? [...]
New (to us) site alert! No, not the Alison Krauss with whipped cream site. No, not the Summer Glau literally terminates a chub site. It's a site that shows what folks paid for the cars they bought.
That at least gives you some idea of how well you should be able [...]
OK, Cars.com came out with a list of "scary" features. And it's so incredibly fail that it should get its own category. Fail. That should be the category. And the lede for this bit would also go into the same category.
Seriously, you gotta be kidding us! Seats and windshield wipers [...]
Finally, a fun car story. We'd so love to be a part of this, but alas we have no:
Anyway, thanks Mr. Alterman. That was a good read.
Referenced Article
NY Times: When Life Hands You Lemons, Race Them
This is just horseshit. We made the vehicles that made us the most profit, didn't invest the moolah in anything but big and it backfired on us, save us. This just goes to show you there is no free market.
What's a good analogy to this story? Ah, how about... What [...]
While it may not happen in our lifetime (yeah, you, you old SOB you), it will certainly happen during the lifetimes of the children being born today: Electric cars will get most people from here to there.
And, really, there are no downsides to this. We'll still have road freedom, but [...]
Can't any of us travel more than thirty feet without paying for another friggin' toll?
The Bush administration unveiled a plan to impose new tolls on freeways and encourage more private investment to finance road and mass-transit projects...Ha! Freeway! That's funny stuff right thar!
Between tolls and higher fuel prices, why [...]
No, not with Lightning McQueen and good ol' Mater, but a movie about a man and his battles with the auto industry.
About windshield wipers. Really.
Referenced article
Movie trailer for Flash of Genius
Washington Post: Accomplished, Frustrated Inventor Dies
Eschaton makes a good point with his "Driving Less" post. Essentially, places that can be made more walkable, should be.
[...]Thanks to researchers in Ohio, our waste heat might not be so wasted any more. Well, it's not ready yet, but the long-haired thinkers out in Oh Aych Ten have figured out something with something and then, boom, you gots yourself from power from garbage.
Yeah, we didn't get it either. [...]
So you leased your SUV rather than buying it? Turns out that was a smart move. For you!
What's gonna happen when folks start turning in these SUVs? We'll tell you: pain. These SUVs are just going to sit and rot because no one's gonna want these gas gobblers. Even if [...]
So, big announcements from Ford today. Which of these is worse?
Toyota got some mo bigga!
Toyota Motor sold nearly 300,000 more vehicles than General Motors in the first half of 2008 and appears to be on its way to ending G.M.'s 77-year reign as the world's largest automaker.Our guess is the rest of the year will play out the same way, [...]
Man, it's all plug in, all the time! Lately, anyway. This totally makes sense as every current hybrid sold is really a regular car first and a hybrid second (meaning it really relies on the old-style engine we all know and use the battery system -the hybridy part- as supplemental [...]
The entire editorial team at Cars! Cars! Cars! wants their new rides to have push button start. Gawd, that's awesome. Yeah, it's another gadgety kinda thing, but it's cool (it's even available in the Versa fer cryin' out loud!)
Which makes us think of more gadgets and more gadgets and more [...]
Man, talk about alternative fuels! Here's a car that runs on compressed air. And, in India anyway, will cost just $2 to fill up.
Compressed air has been talked about before, but this is the first one that we know of that is production ready. As a commenter posted (follow the [...]
We're not on this image's politicalness, we're just focusing on prices. Do you remember the days of 89 cents a gallon? Oh, awesome days.
[...]When we find ourselves lost (daily) we have to turn off the radio in order to get our bearings. We're not sure what we'd have to turn off to (cue on the dramatic music) dive on the (start music) The Most Dangerous Roads in the World
For the record, #2 [...]
So, the top 100 most influential taglines have been posted (doesn't matter who, just as long as someone made a top X list of something!)... Here are the automotive ones
#26. The Ultimate Driving Machine, BMW
#59. Like a rock, Chevy Trucks
#66. Think small, Volkswagen
#73. Quality is job one, Ford
#74. Drivers Wanted, [...]
We all know GM is about to (ed note: pick one before publication*):
But in recent news could it be that GM is also considering axing another brand? Or brands?
We got an exclusively [...]
Before you nay-sayers, uh, nay say on the whole idea of running the A/C via solar panels (i.e. what if it's hot and cloudy?), we say, "Rock on, Toyota!"
Great ideas often start small and this is the kind of movement forward we need. Yes, it's a start. Now let's see [...]
We are so overdue for an oil change. And so is the Cars! Cars! Cars! mobile. Har, we're here all week (no promises about posting all week).
Anyway, the three thousand mile oil change is quickly going the way of, hell, freedom and democracy.
Referenced article:
lifehacker: The 3,000 Mile Oil Change [...]
Or, you know, car of the future. We give Honda a lot of credit for actually get the FCX on the road, but we're not making bets that hydrogen-based cars will be in our future.
Referenced articles: Newsweek: The Car of the Future
[...]Assuming Ovlov means something along the lines of, "We're so getting sold, dudes. Bork! Bork! Bork!"
In fact we figured this would happen sooner or later (again, we pointed folks to an autoblog post): BMW Wants Volvo, yadda
Referenced articles
autoblog: Ford to make fewer Volvos, possibly in prep [...]
Check it, yo. Buy a Chrysler and get guaranteed $2.99/gallon gasoline for three years.
Pros: Gas is going to get silly spendy and you'll have a fix price
Cons: Have to drive a Chrysler. For three years. Three real-time years... not TV years where in one frakkin episode all of a [...]
No, they weren't using peanut butter in the fuel cell thingies, it was something else. And, turns out, it was pretty inefficient. Using some long-haired books, the folks at MIT (fyi: do not send them a photo of you writing your admissions essay while wearing only a motherboard from [...]
Why oh why oh why oh why?
Two recent articles tried to explain why:
Guest Blogger Tom Kloza: Why Oil Prices Are Going So High
Who's to blame for $4 gas
The thing is, neither (unless we missed it -- which is highly likely) mentioned this as the reason [...]
More supply means lower prices. He didn't do it.
Related articles
NY Times: THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE TEXAS GOVERNOR; Bush Would Use Power of Persuasion to Raise Oil Supply
Oh, man. Can you imagine finding a fillin' station that literally couldn't charge what they were supposed to?
Sure, fill 'er up and throw in some Suzi-Qs, too!
What are we talking about? This:
As many as 8,500 of America's 170,000 service stations have old-style meters that need to be fixed -- about [...]
Along with McMansions and obscenely big hamburgers our vehicles have grown and grown.
When SUVs first hit the scene, the Japanese car makers were caught off guard and soon rolled out with what they thought made more sense. And thus the term "cute-ute" war born.
Anyone else remember when the [...]
New car criteria
Fun driving factor? Check
Great utility (wagon)? Check
Kick-ass fuel economy (60 mpg)? Check
Would you buy that? Yeah, we would, too.
Referenced articles:
Gas 2.0: 2009 Jetta BlueTDI Comes to US This Summer, Sports 60 MPG and Cleaner Emissions
[...]On second thought... Doeth!
Can you imagine the flips who went and bought those big-ass SUVs only to find not only can they not afford to fill 'er up, but now can't afford to sell them? And if they can't afford to sell them, how they gonna buy another one? [...]
Have you been driving less? We heartell that folks all over America are actually driving less because of skyrocketing fuel prices.
Weak. What kind of Americans are they? Don't they care about Exxon Mobil's bottom line? We bet they don't wear a flag pin on their lapels, either. Commies.
Referenced articles:
USA [...]
Ford: We're gonna need a bigger boat!
GM: (crickets)
Chrysler: Hey, maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!
Referenced articles
autoblog: Toyota expecting profit drop in 2008
Ford should be ashamed. And sued.
This faulty switch stuff has been going on for (roughly) nine years now and it's still not solved.
The [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] says it can connect 65 fires to switch failures, but the problem could be far greater: the agency received 1,472 complaints [...]
Here's an idea: take a ridiculously expensive car and make it impractical. Brilliant! Now, instead of selling 100 cars a year, they'll sell 101! Way to use all that R&D money for good use.
The world has been clamoring for a big limo that is also a semi convertible. Is this [...]
Hot damn, what's up with The Truth About Cars? Are they gettin' all soft in their old age?
We're referring, of course, to their ratings of the most recent vehicles they've been blowing red lights in. Here's a sample:
2009 BMW X6
4 of 5 stars
2008 Pontiac G8
4 of 5 [...]
Man, talk about talking it across the face! The economy is going down the toilet (free market, ha!), salaries are falling (or, at the very least, not keeping up with inflation) and now management is back at the bargaining table.
GM has managed to convince UAW to work for less -- [...]
Not only have I starred in several TV shows and one kick-ass movie, I've now bought a popular car blog (and with it, a devoted writer group!).
So, starting tomorrow, we'll redirect the traffic from this site over to my main site. The issue initially was "Will [...]
As in, you get more miles per gallon, but also more dead per mile. Here's the brilliant logic, debunked: Norquist: 'More People Will Die' Because Bush Raised CAFE Standards.
[...]One: Chrysler's boss Bob Nardelli gave a speech that was so uninspirational that we plotzed. We're fairly certain that if Mr. Nardelli's M.O. is to read a boring teleprompter to inspire anything... well, Chrysler is screwed. On the flip side, they didn't release a car/truck. Caruck!
Two: Acura. Ack-ya-ruh. Not Ackra. [...]
Yeah, so it's 100% true. Pontiac introduced the G8 truck! Yeah, a truck. But with the front of a G8. How awesome is that?
The world has been yearning for a car truck since the dawn of time. And even though Subaru sold one recently and discontinued it [...]
When a writer begins to stray from the topic:
Today on Mother Proof: 2008 Audi A8 Reviewed. Hey, we're not throwing stones, we do it, too, but we expected more from Mother Proof. If you are dropping this kind of coin on a car, the kids ride with the [...]
