For fans of working-class superhero sportscars like the all-conquering Nissan GT-R, you can rest assured that Nissan isn’t going to rest on its laurels or let the current recession kill their plans to replace the current R35 model. They’re already hard at work on the next model, the R36, according to Nissan’s VP of global product planning Andy Palmer. They’re pegging the product cycle’s length to that of it’s arch-nemesis (on the ‘Ring, at least), the Porsche 911.
Image: egmcartech.com
As you might expect, Saturn dealers are none too happy that Penske backed out of buying Saturn after being unable to secure a commitment from an unnamed foreign manufacturer to provide cars for rebadging. That means unless new money is thrown down the hole into the marquee, 350 Saturn dealerships and (according to a Saturn dealer group) 13,000 jobs will be lost. All they need, according to those same Saturn dealers, is a $250 million cash infusion from Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (better known as “the Bailout”).
If James Glickenhaus gets his way, NART, Ferrari’s North American Racing Team, might be making a comeback. If you don’t know the name, you probably know about his custom Ferrari P4/5, a rebodied Ferrari Enzo one-off that he commissioned from Pininfarina. Now Glickenhaus has dropped to the media that he wants to build another P4/5 car, a “competizione” version, and take it racing, reviving the idea of an American Ferrari team running factory-supported World Sportscar Championship-type cars for the first time since 1973.
The Cash for Clunkers news coming out over the last few days has felt like a bit of a rollercoaster. Yesterday reports hailed the program for raising new car average gas mileage significantly. Today, the news is that overall new car sales have declined to pre-Clunkers levels, but that’s not the whole story. The real story is that among the individual manufacturers, there are some significant winners and losers. GM and Chrysler were hit the hardest, suffering a 45% and 42% decline from the same time last year, which is significantly off their sales numbers during the Clunkers program.
It’s been a rough week for Toyota. The giant automaker has been slapped with a restraining order by a Texas judge to prevent the company from potentially destroying any information about an alleged spate of rollover accidents. The plaintiff in the case, Dimitrios Biller, alleges that there is “a Watergate style cover-up underway at Toyota to undermine the American legal system.” Biller claims that Toyota has been conspiring to conceal evidence about the relative safety of their vehicles, and might destroy the documentation. If the allegations are true, Toyota might be in the midst of another safety-related fiasco, especially in light of the “floormat inferno” scandal raging at the moment. Is Toyota engaged in nefarious doings, or is it just so large now that it’s an easy target for frivolous suits? More and a press release from Biller’s attorney below.
GM’s announcement that they’re closing the Pontiac (the city, not the defunct brand, in Michigan) truck plant after 37 years puts a big fat “!” at the end of news that truck sales have fallen off to their lowest point since Reagan was in office. High margin pickup trucks were the bread-n-butter of Detroit’s strategy since car buyers defected to the Japanese in the ’80s and ’90s, making up 15% of all light passenger vehicles being sold. That percentage has now dropped to 10% of the market, and unless something drastic happens those numbers are expected to slide further.
Maryland-based Genovation Inc. is rolling out their “new” “PHEV” car, the G1. I wish i didn’t have to use so many quotation marks, but there’s a reason for that. First of all, the G1 isn’t a new car – it’s a conversion based on the old Ford Focus. That’s not a bad thing, but it ain’t “new” by any stretch of the imagination – plus you’re supplying the accident-free Focus, and THEN forking over $22,000 for the conversion! Then there’s the issue of the PHEV – Genovation says that you’ll have a choice between a purely electric drivetrain or a hybrid gas-electric setup that’ll use your choice of fuels. Of course, no details are available as to what those auxiliary engine choices are, which to this skeptical car nut raises some red flags. Namely, if they aren’t talking specifics, it likely doesn’t exist yet and your pre-purchase deposit is probably being counted on to fund the R&D And we haven’t even gotten to the vaporware G2 yet … make the jump for more.
The continuing saga of the Cash for Clunkers plan has gotten more interesting as new reports emerge that suggest that the program has actually increased the average gas mileage of all new cars sold during that period to a record 23 MPG. That’s an 8% increase from 21.2 MPG in August 2008 and the best numbers recorded since gas hit $4/gallon back in the dark days of 2007. So should we celebrate or sagely shake our heads? More after the jump.
Apparently Kuwaiti oil wealth isn’t enough to prop up the ailing luxury marque Aston Martin, as reports are swirling that the fund that owns half of it, Investment Dar of Kuwait, is having some trouble with creditors. In fact, it’s signed a deal with them staving off their claims while they buy some more time to flee the country come up with the dough. The Warwickshire automaker has already let go 600 people, or a third of its workforce, last December. Unless Investment Dar comes up with some cash, there might be further trouble for Aston.
If a Lamborghini employee called me on the phone and offered me free a behind-the-scenes tour of the Sant’Agata factory, it would take me about 0.00003 seconds to say yes. Unfortunately, I’m in San Francisco and Lamborghini is located in that country shaped like a boot across the pond. Thankfully the National Geographic Channel have solved the age-old conundrum, sending the team from their series called “Ultimate Factories” off to Italy. The new episode that follows the construction (all by hand, of course) of a brand new Murciélago SV from start to finish. I secured a few short clips that speak for themselves, so make the jump for a preview of the episode (which airs October 1st on the National Geographic Channel).
