And the answer to the big question above?  Chrysler.

Ouch.

See, this is doubly unnerving after discovering that, yesterday, they were still trying to get a cohesive corporate strategy together and won’t actually have one until sometime later today.  Or at least not one they want to tell their franchisees about, who are probably all looking at this news with a kind of confused rage and just longing to scream various epithets at anyone who’s in charge over there.

Chrysler needs a comeback, plain and simple.  So what they’ve got to do is offer stuff you can’t get anywhere else.  Frankly, I have a hard time imagining just what it is they CAN do.  I drive a Chevy, myself, a wonderful if aging Monte Carlo, and my folks drive Ford Explorers.  There’s not a whole lot of taste issues as I’m considering switching to a pickup fairly soon anyway, and chances are I will go either Ford or Chevy.

Chrysler needs to get some new and interesting product, or it doesn’t matter how many bailouts it gets–it’s still done for.

Tags: Business, Chrysler, Ford, GM, improvement, lagging, Toyota

Honda Siel has unveiled a couple of new Honda CR-V models today, varying in terms of engine capacity: 2.0-2.4 liters. These new variants carry a price range between Rs 21.9 lakh and Rs 24.12 lakh. Over 12,500 units of these Honda sports utility vehicles have been sold in India since it opened shop in 2003. The Honda CR-V sales have been dwindling from the past months, selling only one unit in September. Some form of reprieve came in October occurred though as they were able to sell 47 units, which is not really that impressive to offset administrative and operations cost.

(Source) Business Standard

Tags: Honda, honda cr v, honda siel, honda sports, India, lakh, liters, models, reprieve, rs 21, sports utility vehicles

Yeah fellas, keep waiting.  I got a feeling that, before you get a viable strategy out of Chrysler, Hell will be a Frigidaire dealership.

But there’s a vague glimmer of hope here, as Chrysler franchisees will now be getting their marching orders from Fiat SpA rather than Chrysler proper.

Now, ordinarily, I’d laugh myself stupid at the thought that somehow Fiat (widely known by the acronym for Fix It Again, Tony) would be able to generate a more viable corporate strategy than Chrysler, but hey…I’m laughing out the other side of my face today as it becomes clear that Fiat outlasted Chrysler.  And in business, survival is the only real judge of viability.  If you’re still in business tomorrow, then your business model works.

So what will that strategy be?  We won’t find out until at least Wednesday, when the franchisees get the word.

Tags: Business, Chrysler, Fiat, fiat spa, merger, strategy

A contest has been announced by 4 Wheel Drive Hardware is giving its customers a chance to take home a brand new custom built 2010 Jeep Wrangler. The contest is open to anyone and starts today. Joining is quite simple. All you have to do is cast a vote on which Jeep parts should be installed in the vehicle and that will automatically be an entry. All votes can be entered here.

Votes can be cast once a month and will run until September 15, 2010. Cast your vote now and get a chance to win this 2010 Jeep Wrangler. Absolutely nothing to lose!

(Source) Press

Tags: cast your vote, grabs, jeep parts, jeep wrangler, wheel, wheel drive hardware, wrangler jeep

The world wide auto industry is making the push towards greener and more fuel efficient vehicles. One of the key components currently used in these green vehicles are lithium-ion batteries which are currently manufcatured all over the world.

Today, a country that you probably wouldn’t expect to be a key player in the game has announced that they will be producing their own lithium-ion batteries by 2018. That country is none other than Bolivia.

The purpose of producing their own lithium-ion batteries is so they could bypass the costly expenses of imported batteries made elsewhere. Smart, huh?

via laht

Tags: batteries, bolivia, lithium ion

Remember when I told you about that idea Delphi was working on, about how you could drive your car from your iPhone?  Seems that the Germans were working on that idea too as part of a US Military sponsored self-driving car contest.

In fact, from what I can tell, this particular version is just an iPhone app connected to some hardware in the car that works almost like Super Mario Kart on the Wii, in which you tilt your iPhone left or right to work the steering wheel, and press the brake and accelerator buttons on your iPhone display to make the car go faster and slower.

But I haven’t even told you the best part yet–there’s a YouTube video out that shows this system in operation.  You can check that out directly below, and wonder with me how long it’ll be before they hook this to a GPS and we finally, FINALLY, get the autodrive system.

Tags: delphi, iPhone, iPhone app, iphone driving, super mario kart, wii

Some of you may remember Edward Norton’s nameless character in Fight Club as an inspector of vehicle accidents. You may have noticed that he did not explain what motor company he worked for, other than it was “a big one”.

Perhaps he worked for Tata, because there have been three reports of overheated steering columns of the Nano. These are reportedly the result of faulty wiring in the ignition switch.

I’m guessing Tata is running the numbers on the equation Edward Norton discussed in the aforementioned classic film, but it doesn’t appear that Tata is looking at a recall notice as yet.

Source

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Every former president always sees fit that he should give advice to the current administration, probably because they are the ones who can understand what Obama is going through.

George W. Bush has recently spoken to the Montreal Board of Trade and has said that the Obama administration should “get out of the private sector”.

continue reading "Bush Jr. to Obama: “Leave the Auto industry”"

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It’s a strange dilemma China has on its hands.  And most Chinese will probably never even see this blog due to the massive censorship on its hands.

We all know that China’s so polluted that their air makes Los Angeles smog taste like a crisp mountain stream.  So naturally, they’re really putting the push on to go green and get some more electric cars on the market.

Well, they’re not the only ones there, but China’s got a SERIOUS problem.  Where most of us have been driving cars for a long time, and are starting to seriously think about going green just by ourselves, the Chinese have not had cars all that long.  Well, not INDIVIDUAL Chinese, anyway.  Individual Chinese haven’t had cars all that long and now that they’ve got them, they mean to keep them.

Now along comes the government telling them, oh, yeah, I know you’ve had this car like all of six weeks but we need you to give it back to the state.  Oh, don’t worry–we have electric cars coming out.  When?  Um…soon.  And they’ll only cost as much as what you paid for the last car!  Subsidies?  Um…look…just get back to work, okay?  Or we’ll kill your children.  You know how this works by now.

It’s a tough road China’s got to drive to get its citizens to go green, and there are plenty of ruts and bumps in it.

Tags: china, Chinese, electric cars, Gas, gas cars, going green, green cars

From the Much Ado About Nothing department, the Progressive Automotive Insurance X Prize committee has announced that the next round of competitors for the big ten million dollar prize has moved on to the next rank.

Only forty three out of the original one hundred eleven teams are still in the running for this title, in which teams are competing to develop a mass production capable car that gets a hundred and ten miles per gallon.  Turns out that this isn’t the only X Prize out there, but this is the one we care about.

Check out some of the project’s goals for winning that ten million:

Safety, Emissions: Vehicles must be designed so that a production vehicle would likely be able to meet U.S. safety standards and U.S. emissions standards.

Manufacturability, Cost: Vehicles must be capable of being manufactured in quantities of 10,000 per year, with vehicle production costs within levels consistent with historical examples of comparable vehicles.

Features: Vehicles must be desirable, addressing the most important features and factors consumers consider when purchasing an automobile.

Business Plan: There must be a credible plan to manufacture, sell, and service 10,000 vehicles (or conversions) per year by 2014. The plan must show that the national fuel infrastructure will support the vehicles, especially if any non-standard fuels or fueling-methods are to be used.

We’ve got a ways to go yet, so keep it here for all the latest X Prize news.

Tags: auto insurance, progressive, progressive insurance, ten million, X Prize

The Reva Electric Car Co. is bringing its act to New York, reportedly set to build a new fleet of electric cars to be situated in the Syracuse area. The company will be in cahoots with Bannon Automotive where they will assemble the three-door plug-in hatchback at a site somewhere in the Syracuse area. The plant is expected to be officially announced at a news conference and will open next year with an initial workforce of 100 people.

(Source) WKTV

Tags: cahoots, electric cars, fleet, news conference, nxr, reva electric car, reva electric car co, syracuse area, workforce

I was actually reading about this idea elsewhere, and frankly, it’s too good not to bring up here.  See, solar power fans are going to be jumping for joy over this one, but even if you don’t happen to drive an electric car, chances are you’re still going to love what Dell did to its parking lot, which you can see at right.

Dell put in a bunch of solar panel structures in its parking lot, which serve two basic functions:  one, it provides free electricity to the parked cars.  If you ever needed a jump and couldn’t find another car, well, the Dell lot’s got you covered.  And of course, anyone who drives a plug-in hybrid or full electric vehicle is also covered.

But what most gas car drivers will get out of this is one very rare thing in a parking lot: shade.

We’ve all suffered through a hot car in summertime, sitting in that boiling heat box until the air conditioner can finally overcome the  stifling heat in your car.  But with shaded structures like this, you can park underneath them and keep your car cool.  Meanwhile, free electricity!

That’s a win-win for everybody no matter what kind of car they drive.

Tags: Parking, parking lot, shaded parking, solar panels, solar power

…it’s the government’s fault.

Okay, I know, it’s something of a non sequitur to launch right into blaming the government with absolutely no preamble, but that’s cool.  Because I’ve got the backing to support it.  It’s not ALL the government’s fault, of course, but there’s blame enough for everybody.

One, a huge problem is regulation.  As it turns out, most of those “good, small diesels” I reference above are too small for most American markets.  They have really slow zero to sixty times, which doesn’t work out too well for Americans who actually NEED rapid acceleration for things like merging and making left turns in congested areas.  So the power on most diesel over here is ramped up accordingly and from there, boom.  There are also problems with the various filter systems and a surprising difference between United States and European emissions laws.

Suddenly the emissions are too nasty, and the model is useless here.

Two, there’s a huge cost problem.  Diesel engines are, by their very nature, more expensive to build than regular gas or flex-fuel vehicles, and then when you have to add that power boost, there’s an extra cost tacked on besides.

So between these two factors, good, small diesels are downright hard to come by out here in the States.

Tags: cost, diesel, emissions, emissions standards, government, regulation, small diesel

The Lotus Scura is now on sale packed with a mean black-finish. The Scura features carbon fiber splitters, oil cooler inlet vanes and side airscoops. And while it does look like a mean machine similar to supercars in the market, it does have a touch of eco-friendliness to go. The Lotus Scura is lightweight and should address fuel consumption concerns for interested parties. There will only be 35 of them available and each retails for about 45,000 British Pounds.

(Source) Examiner

Tags: british pounds, carbon fiber splitters, friendliness, fuel consumption, interested parties, Lotus, mean machine, oil cooler, scura, vanes

The Lotus Evora beat out 29 other cars to win the title of Performance Car of the Year for 2009 from Car Magazine. The list included marquee car brands like Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Porsche, giving you an idea of what this vehicle brings. All 30 cars went through subjective and objective testing on the driving roads of Great Britain. Among the highlights of the Lotus Evora during this event included the smooth navigation and steering.

And to refresh your memory, the Lotus Evora features a 280HP 3.5 litre V6 petrol engine paired with a 6-speed manual transmission gearbox.

(Source) Auto Spies

Tags: car brands, car magazine, Cars, Evora, great britain, Lamborghini, Lotus, manual transmission, memory, performance car of the year, petrol engine, Porsche, smooth navigation, transmission gearbox