Four of ‘ full-size truck plants, three of them in the U.S., will go intermittently silent for a total of 21 weeks in order to retool for 2013 model year production. The and plants have both been in the news lately as recipients of multi-million dollar investments for just this purpose.
Fort Wayne will shut down for nine weeks over the course of 10 months, from January to October of 2012, while Flint will stop production for seven weeks from June to November, and the Arlington, Texas facility will be quiet from June to December for five weeks. The Mexico plant in Silao will find out its shut-down schedule next year. GM has been stockpiling a 90-day supply of its and pickups to make up for the loss of production.
When the 2013 models arrive, we can expect a new forced-induction V6, the continuation of the 5.3- and 6.0-liter V8s, and the 6.2-liter V8 going into the heavy-duty versions exclusively.
It’s never too late for some Christmas cheer from the Formula One team, and it’s certainly not too early to hear about what it expects to do in the 2012 season. After a brief intro, the 15-minute(!) video turns to Ferrari CEO and Luca di Montezemolo’s musings on 2011, starting with “I’ve been extremely unhappy with what happened” this year, admitting he still has nightmares about the last race of 2010.
Team drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa also get a chance to discuss their seasons and aims. Naturally, it boils down to they “want to be perfect every race in a competitive car,” but don’t let that stop you from checking out the Santa-laced video .
It’s been a serious year for automotive advertising. From dancing hamsters to big-name talent like Jennifer Lopez, Eminem and Dr. Dre, we saw automakers go all out in an attempt to lure buyers to their showrooms. But which spots garnered the most eyes? SkiddMark.com has taken the time to rank the top ten most popular automotive commercials of 2011 on YouTube, and it likely comes as no surprise that took the top spot with its commercial. The spot debuted during the Super Bowl and featured an adorable Darth Vader. The combination was good enough to win the company a staggering 47.5 million views and over 4.8 million shares.
By contrast, drug home 13.1 million views and 2.1 million shares to take home second place. That’s a massive gap, though Block also took the fifth and eighth place spots with his and , respectively. Not too shabby for selling sneakers.
Other winners included the and the Eminem Super Bowl Commercial. Head over to for the full list.
2012 will be the first year that the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be held on an entirely paved road, and while many who have long been involved with the event are bemoaning the loss of the gravel sections, the full tarmac course has peaked interest in the race. In fact, event organizers are considering adding a second race day for 2013. This time last year only 46 racers has expressed interest in participating in the event, but that number is already up to 170 for next year’s race.
“The interest is astronomical compared to last year,” says Tom Osborne, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb board chairman. “We’re seeing all kinds of unique new cars.” Osborne says that the race will likely have to hold a qualifying for 2012 to limit the number of entries into each class.
While you can count us in the group that will miss the gravel, we’re duly excited to see what sort of new cars show up to Pikes Peak in the next several years.
We were pretty surprised to find out just a few days ago that ’s new rally team had, for some reason, for next year’s World Rally Championship. “Inexplicable” is what we called it at the time, but the latest reports coming out of the UK where the team is based could serve to cast some light on the situation.
Not only has the outfit – run by the rally gurus at Prodrive (who have, in the past, run Subaru’s rally team, as well as and works efforts at Le Mans) – missed the filing deadline, but they’ll also reportedly let their best driver go. The reason? Funding, apparently. Although the team supposedly benefits from factory backing, a lack of sponsorship has reportedly left the team strapped for cash.
As a result, Northern Irish driver Kris Meeke – who was called up to the WRC team after claiming the 2009 title in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge – and his co-pilot have reportedly been released from their three-year contract after only one year. Meeke’s seat will reportedly be auctioned off to the highest bidder – that is, whoever comes with sponsorship dollars, pounds or euros already lined up. Former Citroën WRC driver Dani Sordo, however, will reportedly carry on with the team, assuming it can secure its entry for the upcoming season.
How a factory-backed team like Mini’s could find itself without enough funding has us scratching our heads, but our compatriots over at Autocar point to parent-company ’s costly new entry into DTM next season as a potential answer.
makes a whole mess of different crossovers, and not just the ones we get here in North America. Overseas, the Japanese automaker has even more, like the Qashqai, the Koleos (sold by sister-company Renault) and the vehicle you see here, the X-Trail.
Not to be confused with the , the X-Trail is a small but rugged-looking little ute built atop the same platform that underpins the and the . Though its not exactly what you’d call cheap, it is more affordable than most other crossovers on the market overseas, but Nissan is now bridging that gap by offering a new premium version called the Platinum edition.
The special model is visually distinguished by the extra protection plates on the bumpers front and rear, and the chrome side steps and door moldings. Inside the Platinum gets leather trim and motorized, heated front seats, touch-screen infotainment system and a back-up camera displayed in the rearview mirror.
A 2.0-liter diesel pulls all those luxury touches along with 170 horsepower, in a package limited to 200 examples selling for about £30,000 (depending on whether you take the automatic or manual transmission option). That’s nearly $47k at current exchange rates, and includes the UK’s relatively high Value-Added Tax.
We like us some matte finish here at Autoblog, but we have to admit that the usual smattering of matte black vinyl wraps leave us a bit in the dark. That’s why our eyes pop just a little wider when we see a car that cuts the glare but keeps the palette. That’s also why the storied brands of the Fiat group are getting top marks in our books these days.
At the 2010 , the group’s top brand showed off a with regenerative braking and a delicious matte green finish. The following year at the same venue, Alfa Romeo lifted the veil on the tempting in a beautiful shade of matte red. And at the Bologna Motor Show earlier this month, their sister brand showcased this special in matte blue.
The car in question is a unique GranTurismo S Limited Edition exclusive to the Italian market, limited to only twelve examples to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification. It also packs carbon spoilers front and rear, as well as carbon side mirrors and door handles, with matte black side skirts and headlamps, and black 20-inch rims with polished aluminum brake calipers. Check it out in the press release and the high-res images in the gallery for a closer look.
hits the matte with exclusive GranTurismo S Limited Edition
A new study by Warranty Direct in the UK claims makes vehicles that are the least-susceptible to damage from potholes. According to the company, only 1.4 percent of Honda owners submit a warranty claim for repair due to pothole damage. Compare that figure with the 12.2 percent of owners who submit claims – the American automaker found itself the least resilient to pothole damage alongside luxury makes like , , and . Surprisingly enough, Smart actually landed itself in second place for the number of claims submitted as a result of pothole damage.
Economical brands like , , and all fare well against rough pavement, however. We’re not surprised by the outcome. Luxury vehicles are more likely to be equipped with low-profile tires and large, expensive wheels that can easily be bent or broken under the right circumstances. Budget vehicles, meanwhile, make due with meaty sidewalls and sturdy steel wheels. Head over to for the full rankings.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation concerning sedans from the 2003 and 2004 model year. The government organization has reportedly received 43 complaints about inaccurate fuel gauge readings, and in 26 of these cases, the improperly calibrated fuel gauges have led to instances of engine stalling.
According to the NHTSA report, “The complaints show an apparent increasing trend, with most received within the past year.” This investigation will encompass approximately 8,100 M45 models.
Speaking to Inside Line, an Infiniti spokesperson says that the automaker is aware of the NHTSA investigation and will “work to address any issues that arise from it.” to read the official NHTSA statement.
How many sports cars can one automotive group offer? Just ask the people at , whose various divisions – , , , – churn them out like you and I would write Christmas cards. (Or Hannukah cards, anyway.) And the group is right behind their German counterparts, with and keeping the upper crust of the market satisfied, and now Alfa Romeo and Abarth filling a more accessible – but potentially no less exciting – niche.
Recently we brought you a progress update on the Alfa Romeo 4C, a concept mid-engine sports car that’s now apparently been green-lit for production. In the ruminations of its potential roadworthiness, there was speculation that Abarth could get a version of its own. But those rumors have existed for longer than the 4C concept, and will now appear to outlast it as well.
According to the latest reports, Abarth is pitching a project that would see it develop its own sports car. But while the 4C would be priced similarly to a or , the Abarth would be positioned lower – maybe at the or the new /Scion FR-S/Toyota GT-86. It would also likely be front-drive, with between 200 and 250 horsepower, and draw its inspiration from the 1968 Abarth Scorpione pictured at right.
Whether it comes to fruition or not remains to be seen – not to mention its potential arrival in North America – but the prospect of another Italian sportscar isn’t something we’d turn down.
Like so many of you, we’re spending the holidays with family and friends. Regardless, we’ve got a few posts scheduled for you the rest of today and tomorrow; the normal daily grind resumes on Tuesday. You’ll be hard-pressed to find two better links to peruse and read in your downtime today, however, then the ones we’re about to show you.
The most fun thing about the annual “Happy Holidays” post is finding a suitable lead image for it. Many readers will doubtless recognize the wintry scene above, depicting a 1970 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400, as the work of Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman. The two (Mr. Kaufman painted the scenery and people, Mr. Fitzpatrick the cars) are best known for their works – so excellent that for years, per John Delorean’s orders, they were the only images authorized for use in Pontiac advertising (no photos allowed) – but their decades-long collaboration also produced images for other brands as well. Fitz and Van started collaborating in the 1950s on , then moved to General Motors to work on , which led to the iconic Pontiac run, as well as similar works for Opel during Bob Lutz’s tenure there in the 1970s. We remember reading somewhere that Lutz has one of the Fitz and Van originals for Opel hanging in his home.
Your mission today, between good times and great meals with friends and family, is to , where you can scroll through most of the 285 works the pair created for the late, lamented performance division. From there, head to , for an excellent bio and more work examples, some that you’ll recognize from recent years. We promise you’ll be engrossed.
All of us at Autoblog wish you a happy and healthy holiday, whether you’re celebrating a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Festivus (for the rest of us), or just sitting at home and enjoying some well-deserved down time. Have a wonderful holiday – and as always, please drive safely while you make the rounds today.
In car design circles, the name Chapman may be inexorably tied to the famous Colin of fame, but these days the name is hoisted by another influential automotive designer. And he’s just been poached by .
A Southern California native, Christopher Chapman started out with Isuzu after graduating from the Art Center College of Design. But since 1994 he’s been at , working his way up the ladder until he was named its director of automotive design (in 2002) and all of the group’s transportation design (in 2008). Along the way he’s been credited with designing the , , and , to say nothing of several conceptcars.
In his new capacity at Hyundai, Chapman will serve as the Korean automaker’s chief designer in America, overseeing and directing the styling of Hyundai’s new production and concept vehicles from its facility in Irvine, California. Details in the press release .
Ever thought about how much CO2 is being emitted from Santa’s reindeer? Neither have we, but Ford has. The folks at the Blue Oval figured out that Chris Kringle’s road crew drops a knee-wobbling 214,670 tons of CO2 each year while delivering presents to 267 million homes.
Those are sobering statistics, so Ford decided to fight back with EcoBoost power. The Ford design team started with the morphed into an imaginary Santa-worthy sled. Under the hood rests a 123-horsepower, 125 pound-foot 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine that reduces CO2 by 191,843 tons. This new sled is obviously good for the environment, but we’re guessing the reindeer union is going to lose its lunch over this one.
Ford also interviewed Mrs. Claus for her thoughts on the new sled. Santa’s significant other likes the boosted 1.0-liter and even pointed out that the new sled would afford The Big Guy extra time to reconsider the naughty list, meaning there’s still a glimmer of hope for the MyFord Touch team.
Click above for a high-res image of Santa’s turbo sled, and hit the jump to read how Ford came up with those fantastic numbers.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love. That’s what The Carpenters would tell you, anyway – but we beg to differ. What the world needs now, in our opinion, is four-door convertibles. Because while many have experimented with the idea in recent years, and built them many decades ago, there just aren’t any on the market these days.
That’s where comes in. Rather than take the parade-car approach, this Dutch project is more like a four-door supercar roadster. On acid. The initial Roadyacht GTS version packs the 7.0-liter V8 from the Z06 tuned to the tune of 600 horsepower and a four-seat cabin that’s more similar in approach to that of a speedboats, but is accessed by some of the most imaginative doors we’ve ever seen and covered by a giant retractable hard-top.
It sounds strange, we know, but it makes a lot more sense once you see the . What makes less sense is the plans to make a GTR version limited to track use that reportedly aims to take the Nürburgring lap record for four-doors, but after first reporting on the upstart nearly three years ago, we’ll wait a little while longer to see how this plays out.
is recalling just over 14,700 vehicles from the 2011 and 2012 model years over faulty bolts in the engine. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “bolts that connect the engine oil cooler and the engine oil filter to the engine in these vehicles may have been manufactured to below specification strength.”
Affected Nissan vehicles include the 2011-12 , 2011-12 , 2012 and 2012 . Additionally, the 2011 and 2012 are being recalled for this issue.
The NHTSA report states that if there is an engine oil leak, pressure would drop and the engine could possibly seize. Bad news all around.
The recall is expected to kick off in mid-January, and Nissan dealers will replace the connector bolts free of charge. To read the full NHTSA report, .
Eight-hundred horsepower. 0-60 in 3.1 seconds. $235,000. Given those numbers, you’d think we were talking about a supercar, right? Well we are, if by supercar you mean something with otherworldly performance capabilities. But this is no two-seat roadster. This is a .
To be more specific, this is the latest Hennessey HPE800 Twin Turbo, a new rocket sled based on the . That model usually packs a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 – which is already big by any measure – but Hennessey’s bored it out to a nice round 7.0 liters and bolted a pair of turbochargers to it.
Along with the substantial engine mods, the HPE800 also gets an upgraded transmission and torque converted (it is a conventional automatic, after all), plus 20-inch wheels on a lowered suspension with 15.1-inch Brembo brakes, and a reworked fascia with a carbon fiber splitter up front.
Of course, if the high price of entry doesn’t keep out the riffraff, the limited quantities being built surely will: only 24 examples are earmarked for production, so even at the pace at which these beasts will cover all manner of terrain, they’re not likely to run into one another once they’ve left the factory. Press release .
The emphasis, in this case, rests heavily on the word “could.” The mere question of a bet between two folks at Sawicki Motors in Rochelle, Illinois ultimately resulted in the dealership’s general manager, Ron Matula, offering anyone a free car if the Chicago Bears can shut out the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day.
The tiny little hook: you’ve got to buy your , or before the game, and if Chicago manages to make such magic you will receive a full refund. But that’s nothing compared to the large hooks: da Bears are 13-point underdogs; they’ll be starting their third string quarterback, Josh McCown, who in nine years has been on seven NFL teams and one CFL team, with the stats to make it clear why; da Bears will be without playmakers Matt Forte, Marion Barber, Johnny Knox and probably Devin Hester; and that depleted lineup is playing the 14-1 Green Bay Packers.
History might be on the side of the Bears and Sawicki customers, though: , “The Packers are one of five teams in NFL history to open a season 13-0 and then lose in their 14th game. All four of the other teams lost their 15th game, too.” That’s still a long way from holding Green Bay scoreless, but in the words of Jim Carrey in Dumb & Dumber, we’re saying there’s a chance.
So if you’ve been in the market for a model that Sawicki sells, no matter what happens with the Bears at least you can’t lose – as long as you buy today.
According to The Detroit News, the has finally stumbled out of production.
When the Caliber first rolled onto the scene for the 2007 model year, we didn’t quite know what to make of it. Replacing the long-serving Neon, the Caliber sported polarizing styling, available all-wheel drive and a taller-than-average ride height. To some, it looked like an aggressively styled tonic to the frankly outdated and somewhat cutesy Neon, while others remained suspect of the car’s quasi-SUV aesthetic and intrinsic goodness.
It didn’t take long for the reviewers to pile on, however. Pundits argued that the delivered a lackluster driving experience thanks to an unsorted chassis co-developed with , an unlovable Jatco-sourced CVT and a coarse interior that was later freshened but never truly fixed. In the end, the doubters appear to have won out, as the Belvidere, Illinois-built compact garnered little critical or popular praise. While the Caliber opened to reasonably strong sales traffic, yearly totals quickly collapsed despite steep discounting and the introduction of a powerful SRT-4 performance variant.
As part of its arrangement with new parent company , has developed the Alfa-Romeo-based Dart as the Caliber’s replacement, and expectations are running high ahead of its debut next month. The Dart will need to be excellent, as it faces a veritable murderers’ row of competitors, ranging from strong new models like the , and to well-sorted mainstays like the – not to mention perennial sales darlings including the and .
Battery maker A123 has announced that batteries it supplied to for its range-extended luxury sedan might have “misaligned” hose clamps for the cooling system, which could cause coolant to leak. Unabated, A123 admits the leak could cause an electrical short-circuit.
According to Bloomberg-BusinessWeek, the company has a fix for the issue, and luckily the issue was discovered when there are no more than 50 Karmas needing the repair. A123 provides batteries to several other OEMs, but only Fisker’s batch appears to suffer from the cooling issue.
In-car point-of-interest and Google searches are all well and good, but it’s hard to decipher what restaurants, bars and other local businesses are worth your hard-earned bucks while you’re on the go. Yelp for ConnectedDrive solves that problem.
Whatever your view of Yelp is (and there are many), the crowd-sourced business rating site is still the go-to source for many looking for up-to-date, relevant rankings of what’s nearby. And with the latest update from BMW Online, drivers of most 2009 and later models can benefit from the service.
Additionally, you can email business listings to yourself or a friend, and BMW’s infotainment system can also read off the three latest reviews so you won’t be staring at the screen while trying to find a suitable sushi joint. for the official details and a list of vehicles included in the update.
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