Chrysler got a new lease on life some months back with regards to its current financial standing. Now it seems that they have totally forgotten how to redeem itself from their poor showing as the company is still mum on what it plans to do with their current product line. There has been no word on new vehicles that would be coming out and yet we are nearing the close of 2009. Has Chrysler totally lost it?

Unlike Ford which has put much of its weight on their electric car, the Volt, Chrysler has not leaked or shown any new car models to look forward to. Rather they are providing customers with perks like car leasing and specialized features. How long can they do that? Unless they start getting their act together they are better off closing the company or perhaps selling it to someone else. They do have plans of a brand makeover but time is essential. Apparently Chrysler forgot all about that.

Tags: auto chrysler, available resources, car industry, car leasing, car models, Cars, Dodge, doors, economic turmoil, electric car, Ford, makeover, market position, models, new blood, new car, new direction, new lease on life, new vehicles, quick time, rebates, signs of life, special offers, trucks, Volt, waste of time

Continue reading...

For the mechanics and the motorists who want an organized garage, here is something you can place inside your garage. Car Guy Garage releases new stainless steel garage storage cabinets which can be handy in storing old parts and tools that are needed during car repair activities.

The doors are made out of 304 grade stainless steel, the stainless steel contains 18% chromium and 8% nickel. Very strong stainless steel, perfect for use as doors and for the ease that they can be welded. This allows these doors to take a lot of punishment without having to worry that you are going to dent them. They will keep their shine as long as you own the cabinets, if kept clean.

This comes right in time with the aggressive push towards car maintenance activities preferred by car owners to date. And to aid them, proper storage is needed unless you want a messy garage with all those parts and tools lying around and making it hard for you to find and use them once the time arrives.

(Source) Press

Tags: car guy, car maintenance, car owners, car repair, chromium, doors, garage storage cabinets, maintenance activities, mechanics, motorists, nickel, proper storage, stainless steel

Continue reading...

Much has been said about the celebrated Cash for Clunkers program and now, there is one company that has officially announces entertaining customers who wish to avail of such a program. Hyundai, known to be among the first in business and a lot of unique programs to entice sales breaks the ice as being the first official company to entertain customers who will avail of the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS).

In fact there was already a first customer. Katherine Michon of Arlington, Virginia was the first to trade-in an eligible clunker for a new Hyundai, replacing her 15 mile-per-gallon 1995 Ford Explorer with a 26 mile-per-gallon Hyundai Elantra Touring, at Alexandria Hyundai in Alexandria, Virginia.

Hyundai buyers will receive the full rebate allocated under the CARS program (also known as “cash for clunkers”) when an eligible trade-in is exchanged for a qualifying Hyundai model. Hyundai is the first automaker to extend the government incentive to consumers, accelerating its implementation by several weeks by backing dealerships with short-term cash advances as the government organizes the rollout of the program industry-wide.

(Source) Press

Tags: 1995 ford explorer, alexandria virginia, arlington virginia, automaker, car allowance, cash advances, clunker, consumers, doors, ford explorer, government incentive, hyundai elantra, implementation, mile per gallon, new hyundai, rebate system, rollout

Continue reading...

For the Volkswagen who have always had problems getting the right parts for their car, the opening of this new state-of-the-art parts center by Volkswagen of America should settle all those issues in Jacksonville, Fla. Other than putting to rest on how hard it is to get parts, this is also a sign that Volkswagen plans to expand their business in the U.S.

“Volkswagen knows that environmental responsibility requires much more than increased fuel efficiency and fewer emissions. We consider the environment in everything we do, including this distribution center, which uses new technologies to reduce energy consumption and increase efficiency.”

Features of the new center include:

• Dock doors with special insulation to prevent the loss of heating and cooling;
• Equipment chargers designed to reduce energy consumption by more than 25 percent;
• Advanced fluorescent lights linked to motion sensors that reduce electricity consumption by up to 60 percent; and
• Nearly 50 skylights providing natural lighting.

With more than $18 million in inventory and nearly 50,000 unique part numbers, the new center is larger than the former Jacksonville parts distribution center that was put up before. Construction on the new facility began in November 2007.

(Source) Press

Tags: chargers, distribution center, doors, efficiency features, electricity consumption, emissions, energy consumption, environmental responsibility, fluorescent lights, fuel efficiency, heating and cooling, insulation, jacksonville fla, motion sensors, natural lighting, skylights, state of the art, volkswagen, volkswagen of america

Continue reading...

If you could sum it all up, the current issue surrounding the negotiations and restructuring proposals on the part of bondholders has not been moving well. And while GM is aggressively trying to come up with an acceptable deal that will benefit all, it is common logic that no bondholder at this point would want something lower than what they had invested to come back to them.

The “offer” to individual GM bond investors is ridiculously lopsided because it arbitrarily favors other groups, at the expense of the legal rights, under the U.S. Constitution, of hundreds of thousands of individual GM bond investors.

True enough, this has become the reason for the stalemate. On the part of bondholders, it is understandable that they will not accept and be given a mediocre promise. Then again, with such as stand-off at the moment, would they not end up getting nothing else in return should GM close its doors?

For now it seems like a waiting game. Similar to a chess game, the bondholders and GM are trying to find a great solution to satisfy all parties involved, including the U.S. government.

(Source) Press

Tags: bond investors, chess game, current issue, doors, GM, gm bond, government source, negotiations, proposals, restructuring, waiting game

Continue reading...

It is practically the call for most automobile manufacturers today to employ a sense of eco-friendliness in their daily operations. As far as General Motors is concerned, it is all about re-engineering and use of materials within their premise before releasing the final product.

QuietShield is an eco-friendly material developed by Federal-Mogul, to absorb noise in a vehicle. It starts as cardboard packing material, at a General Motor’s stamping plant, and is then baled and taken to a facility were it is shredded. From there, it is loaded into the processing line, combined with other recyclable materials and molded into the Buick LaCrosse’s headliner.

According to GM, they have not only reduced their environmental footprint but will be the first to use QuietShield. In the future, the padding could potentially be used in doors, headrests, shelf panels and trunk liners.

(Source) Press

Tags: automobile manufacturers, Buick, buick lacrosse, cardboard, doors, environmental footprint, federal mogul, friendliness, General Motors, GM, greener cars, headrests, packing material, padding, premise, recyclable materials

Continue reading...

Car dashboard technology seems to be all the rage at the CES and one device that has gained some headway is the Chrysler 200C dashboard. For one, you can practically manage you home while you are mobile. In cases where you forget to turn off the lights or lock the doors, with the Chrysler 200C Dashboard, you can do this remotely.

And that is not all. By using a system similar to social networking websites, drivers can see the location of their buddies, share directions or music and even send instant messages.

Now how is that for having a great device to practically run all your needs eh?

(Source) The Age

Tags: buddies, car dashboard, CES, Chrysler, doors, instant messages, social networking

Continue reading...