Blog Profile / The Truth About Cars
| URL : | http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Vehicles / Automotive Industry News | |
| Posts on Regator: | 23504 | |
| Posts / Week: | 85 | |
| Archived Since: | March 2, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
Treasury Unloads GM Stock
Now that the GM share finally is trading a wee bit above its IPO price, The Treasury is eager to bail from the bailout. The government’s fiance department announced “plans to sell 30 million shares of General Motors Co common stock as part of its ongoing effort to wind down the government’s stake in the [...]
The NHTSA And Chrysler. Or: Some Pigs Are More Equal
In a letter sent (“VIA FEDERAL EXPRESS AND ELECTRONIC MAIL”) to Chrysler on Monday, the NHTSA requests that “Chrysler initiate a safety recall on MY 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee and MY 2002-2007 Jeep Liberty vehicles and implement a remedy action that improves their performance in rear-impacts and crashes.” The NHTSA illustrated its request with pictures [...]
Musk Blames Car Dealers For Lackluster EV Sales
Tesla’s Elon Musk found someone to blame for the lackluster sales of EVs, and the death of some EV makers: Car dealers, and their National Automobile Dealers Association NADA. “The auto dealers association is definitely creating some problems for us, making it harder to get things done,” Musk said at Tesla’s shareholder meeting with Reuters [...]
Dad, Is This How Vipers Really Go Together?
The longer I do this, the more I realize that it’s about people, not machines. Don’t get me wrong, I still think that cars are way cool, something only human beings could create, but it’s those human beings involved in that creation that make stories worth telling and hearing. When my son, my only son, [...]
NHTSA Asks Chrysler To Recall 2.7 Million Jeeps, Chrysler Says “No”
In a rare display of defiance, Chrysler is refusing to comply with NHTSA’s request to recall 2.7 million SUVs, and is publicly challenging NHTSA on the validity of the recall. NHTSA asked Chrysler to recall Grand Cherokee models made between 1993-2004 and Liberty models made between 2002-2007, due to a defective fueling system that can [...]
Piston Slap: Better Steering without the Better Car?
Oliver writes: Sajeev, In December of 2011, through an unfortunate chain of events, I became the not-so-proud owner of a 2007 Malibu. True to its origin as an ex-fleet car, it is saddled with the miserly 4-banger engine rather than the still-slow-but-adequate V6. The only positive attributes of this car are its cheap cost to [...]
Toyota Looking For Government Cash To Help Sustain Australian Operations
Australian media is reporting that Toyota is next in line for some government cash, following Holden’s deal with the government to keep production of the Commodore and other models in Australia. Toyota currently builds the Camry and Aurion (a V6 powered sedan based on the Camry, pictured above) at a factory near Melbourne, and a [...]
Living With an EV for a Week – Day Six (Don’t honk at me, I’m saving the planet)
Day six brought a typical Northern California morning: it was 41 degrees, foggy and raining in my forest. But because I was driving an electric vehicle, a squirrel greeted me at the doorstep to thank me for saving his home and a group of hummingbirds dried my charging cable with their tiny wings so I [...]
I Flew Twelve Thousand Miles To Accidentally Meet My Biggest Fan
Devoted readers of my personal site, if any such individuals actually exist, know that I’m currently in Malaysia for the purpose of compromising the international dignity of the United States by acting like a member of the “Duck Dynasty” in a time-trial series. The past week’s been fairly intense, to put it mildly. (And if [...]
Chevrolet SS Only $7,525 Less Than A Corvette
$44,470 will buy you a Chevrolet SS when it goes on sale later this year. That’s about $7,500 less than a base model, no-options C7 Corvette Stingray $5300 less than a Chrysler 300C SRT8 and $2995 less than a Dodge Charger SRT8. The SRT8 cars have more power, but the SS does have a couple [...]
The Growing D-Pillar Epidemic
Today, I’m going to talk about SUVs. This will annoy some of you out there in readerland because I’ve talked about SUVs a lot lately. First, I posted a story about hybrid SUVs, which was largely ignored by the automotive community but caused me to chuckle several times as I wrote it. Then, I posted [...]
Cain’s Segments:Truck, Truck, Hooray!
U.S. sales of pickup trucks rose 19% in May 2013 despite the disappearance of 6175 Ford Rangers, Dodge Dakotas, Suzuki Equators, Chevrolet Colorados, and GMC Canyons. So strong were sales of the remaining trucks that these deficits weren’t simply accounted for, they were overcome to the tune of 32,144 extra sales. Overall, the auto industry [...]
Germany In May 2013: Abwärts, Bitte
After Germany’s sudden 3.8 percent sales rise in April, this site did not buy into the sentiment that the worst is over in Europe. It’s not. After the calendar-induced April fool’s gold, the German market continued its downward run, with the rest of Europe sure to follow. Germany in May is down 9.9 percent [...]
Lincoln Cuts Free Maintenance Program In Half
Lincoln is cutting their free maintenance program in half, from 4 years/50,000 miles to 2 years/24,000 miles. Automotive News reports that dealers were informed of the change last month. In a May 6 memo sent to dealers, Lincoln said the revised program “complements short-term 24-month leases.” In a statement, Lincoln said the new program is [...]
50 Jahre 911
The swan song of the 996 Porsche 911 was the “40 Jahre 911“, designed to commemorate the car’s 40th anniversary. Although it was a rear-drive, naturally aspirated Carrera, it shared the widebody look of the all-wheel drive and turbo cars, and inspired legions of badge concious buyers to check the option box the the “911? [...]
GM Wants To Nearly Double Its Exports From China
A few weeks ago, GM’s spokesman Greg Martin said: “There will be no exports of these cars built in China. Cars that are built in China are sold in China.” No true, said GM China head Bob Socia to Reuters today, reiterating former statements that GM’s Chinese export machine is in full swing: “GM [...]
Volvo Bets Big On Chinese Factories
Volvo’s global sales are on a downward trajectory. The Geely-owned Swedish marker saw its 2012 global sales drop 6%. In the first four months of the year, sales were down 6.4 percent. Two new factories in China are supposed to bring the turn-around, a feature in Reuters says. A new plant in Chengdu is [...]
Former Porsche CFO Fined $820,000
Porsche’s former high-flying finance chief Holger Härter was been fined 630,000 euros ($820,000) for misleading French bank BNP Paribas in loan negotiations in early 2009. This despite testimonies by bank representatives who said BNP did not feel misled. A criminal court in Stuttgart, Germany, on Tuesday sentenced Härter “for making incomplete and wrong statements about [...]
Vellum Venom Vignette: Auto Dealership Design?
I enjoy highlighting automotive design, yet cars aren’t everything: architecture happens. So let’s combine ‘em for the world of automotive retailing. Witness a perfect moment in A.D.D. (Auto Dealer Design): the Mid Century Modern design of Duffield’s Lincoln-Mercury paired with a suicide door Continental. Photographer Julius Sherman did a solid to both man-made, Mad Men [...]
The Greatest Spectacle in Racing – Indianapolis 500
Having just attended the 97th Indianapolis 500, I’m feeling especially passionate about telling others to get there in person someday. I believe Indy to be one of those special experiences that you have to see in person to appreciate. I’ve attended IndyCar, NASCAR, American LeMans, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, and many other [...]