You wouldn’t think $7.7 million is something to complain about, but then again, you’re probably not in the running to be CEO of General Motors. Despite the fact that GM is no longer the largest company in the world – or, depending on whom you ask, even the largest carmaker – it’s a big job. On most days, we imagine it’s a pretty thankless one too. So when you compare the salary of GM CEO Dan Akerson to that of his cross-town rival at , perhaps $7.7 million does seem like chump change compared to Alan Mullaly’s .
And according to a report in The Detroit News, GM apparently isn’t happy to see its CEO sitting in third place among Big Three CEOs when payday comes. GM’s proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday said that the company is having an “extremely difficult” time hiring qualified executives because of limits to compensation set by the U.S. Treasury Department. The Treasury has capped the amount Akerson and other execs can make as part of GM’s 2009 bailout.
Here’s a thought: Maybe GM just needs to do a better job emphasizing all the benefits that come with working for the General, like getting to drive a gratis.
The new Opel minicar has been so long in gestation that it has worn three names (so far). From the Junior and Allegra, we are now being told that it will now be called the Opel Adam, no doubt a nod to company founder Adam Opel.
Still clothed in enough camo to hide a barn, we can’t tell much about how it looks, but with the latest spy shots we do know its sporting chops have been tested at the Nürburgring. That’s a necessity since a longer version of the Adam’s platform will go under the next Opel/Vauxhall Corsa. Beyond that, we aren’t sure what will power it at launch but three-cylinder engines co-developed with are . The electric version, however, .
At 3.70 meters, the Adam extends 15 cm beyond the Volkswagen Up! but is smaller than the Opel Agila. It is expected to go on sale in the Spring of 2013 for a base price of under €10,000 (Roughly $13,000 USD). If it does, that would be a turnabout from last year when former Opel chief Nick Reilly said the “Junior” and cost more than the larger Agila, which currently ($14k), but still wouldn’t to the .
Stay tuned, for those and other mysteries will begin to be solved on May 8, which is when Opel will officially announce the car. So the rumors say. The showcase reveal will come at this year’s .
We’ve had the good fortune of getting up close and personal with quite a few of Icon 4×4’s creations, from their off-road wares like the and to one-off restomod hot rods like their . While few people may be able to afford the company’s offerings, the creativity and thought that goes into each of their vehicles is something everyone can appreciate.
We have a particular affection for Icon and its latest project, the Bronco. We went for a brief drive in the very first example just before it made its debut at last year and fell in love with every detail of the modernized off-roader. Every trim piece on the car has been laser cut or machined from stainless steel. The unique gauge cluster is inspired by Bell & Ross watches. The interior aluminum is the same found on the inside of luxury skyscraper elevator doors. The Icon Bronco is capable of proving its worth both on and off-road too, thanks to an Art Morrison chassis, custom-built Dana 60 and 44 solid axle assemblies, and a 5.0-liter V8 under the hood.
Jonathan Ward, creator of Icon, recently invited a documentary filmmaker inside his facility to take a closer look at the Bronco. The resulting film will give you a better idea of what went into developing the Bronco as well what makes Ward tick as both a designer and a builder. If you’ve like any of Icon’s creations, it’s definitely worth a watch. Just and hit play.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration head-honcho David Strickland is big on emerging vehicle-to-vehicle communication, according to The Detroit Free Press. As a keynote speaker at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit this week, Strickland lauded the technology, saying it could eliminate up to 80 percent of crashes.
We’ve recently heard General Motors speaking enthusiastically about , using portable devices like smartphones to share information about traffic conditions and what’s going on in nearby vehicles to alert drivers and even pedestrians and cyclists. GM has been talking about vehicle-to-vehicle communications for a few years now, incorporating the idea into its like the one pictured above, “cars” that promise a future in which autonomous driving is a reality.
More immediately, Strickland said NHTSA will be “finalizing a rule to improve rear visibility in passenger vehicles,” and that the agency is “beyond proof of concept” for a system to prevent an intoxicated person from driving, according to the report.
It was only a matter of time, folks. As soon as finalized its of the brand, we knew to expect a slew of comparison tests pitting the German automaker’s finest wares against the two-wheeled exotica rolling out of Italy’s .
The scribes from Germany’s Auto Bild have indeed taken up the challenge. But what machinery to choose? Naturally, the mind first turns to the supercar and its -derived V10 engine, but, in reality, Audi officials have conceded to us that its 360-horsepower is actually quicker around most race tracks. So, the all-wheel-drive it is.
Holding the mantle for Ducati is none other than the 1199 Panigale – an easy choice, as this is the marque’s premier superbike for 2012. Sure, there was a replica MotoGP machine a few years back called the Desmosedici RR, but that bike is sold out and the Panigale is likely faster in the hands of all but the most talented riders anyway.
So, who wins? You’ll have to and watch the video to find out, but suffice it to say that it wasn’t even close.
Say goodbye to the Maserati Kubang, and say hello to…well, we don’t know what it’ll be called yet, but we’ll be seeing it come January 2014.
According to Automotive News Europe, will unveil the production version of its SUV – complete with a new name – at the 2014 , a little over a year and a half from now. In the meantime, however, the Kubang concept (pictured above) that previews its form will be put into retirement.
This after the concept has made the rounds on the international circuit including the (where it was first unveiled back in September), in Dubai (where it was shown to a large portion of its target market), at the (near where it will be built alongside the on which it is based, with engines shipped in from Italy) and at the , where it is currently on display for what is reportedly the last time.
In the high-stakes world of performance cars, horsepower is king. It’s the first stat bragged about by owners trying to explain why their , or is better than their foes’, and it’s the headline figure promoted by the automakers themselves year after year.
When announced that the would be punishing the pavement with , the world stood up and took notice. Remember, though, these were just estimated figures, as the car had not yet been SAE certified. If reports from the Team Shelby message board prove accurate, the 2013 GT500 has finally gotten its official figures.
How’s about 662 horsepower and 630 pound-feet of torque?
Yep, that’ll do. It’s notable that these figures represent increases of 12 horsepower and 30 lb-ft over the earlier estimates, and they also put even more distance between Ford’s top-performing Mustang and Chevy’s 580-horsepower . It also means the Shelby lays down considerably more ponies that the and its 638 horsepower and 604 lb-ft.
Now, will we see a corresponding horsepower-addled response from or ? Only time will tell.
Auto sales in California are red hot right now. The Detroit News reports that sales of new vehicles are up 17.7 percent in 2012, outpacing overall U.S. growth, which sits at a still healthy 13.3 percent. And since gas prices are still extremely high, cars accounted for a reported 62.7 percent of sales, while SUVs dropped to only 24.4 percent.
The car versus-SUV-paradigm isn’t all that surprising given the price of petrol, but what is surprising is the brand that has received the biggest sales increase on a percentage basis. The brand (aka the , and ) is up a whopping 222 percent through March.
That’s a shockingly big bump, but perspective comes with a glance at 2011 numbers. Last year, Chrysler sold just 2,470 vehicles in the largest car market in the U.S., compared to 7,955 sales in the first three months of this year. Chrysler has been so bad in California that in 2011 it reportedly accounted for only one percent of overall sales.
We don’t know how much of this increase is accounted for with fleet sales of the Town & Country and 200, but at the very least it’s probably safe to assume that rental car companies probably don’t make up anything close to the 222 percent increase. It seems Chrysler may have a (somewhat muted) pulse in Cali after all.
So, we think the crew at our sister site have lost their minds. Either that or they’re trying to steal our jobs.
While nominally a show and blog about mobility, most weeks Translogic is discovering all manner of geeky automotive technology, while driving alternative-fuel vehicles powered by , , , or they can find. This week, however, for the 100th show, they straight-up went to the track to drive supercars. At Disney World. Speedway.
Take that, greenies and transportation wonks. Everyone loves to flog roadgoing sex from and , even – make that especially – Translogic host Bradley Hasemeyer.
The latest hotted-up safety car for DTM is the . If we’d been in a racing accident, we’re not sure we’d trust the men who stepped out of a car that’s half steroids, half Satan, but after 12 years of providing the safety cars (along with ) for the German touring car series, we’ll assume knows what it’s doing.
The most powerful ever will rush to the scene with 517 horsepower, an “aerodynamically optimised light bar” and other Christmas lights, AMG Track and Aero packages and an AMG-specific exhaust.
The safety car is more powerful than the 500-horsepower Mercedes actually racing in the series, so if it weren’t for the extra weight it’s carrying, it might even beat the other cars to the scene of the accident. You can read all about it and peep it in the high-res gallery of images.
had nothing but good news to share this morning as it has reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2012. The headline-hogging number is that the automaker’s first quarter profit quadrupled from $116 million a year ago to $473 million this year. All that was on the back of U.S. sales that increased 39 percent year-over-year. The rise in sales also resulted in Chrysler Group increasing its market share in the U.S. from 9.2 to 11.2 percent.
With such an impressive first quarter, Chrysler is targeting an equally impressive year. Its forecast for profit in 2012 has been set at $1.5 billion, while last year it earned just $183 million.
Here are the rest of Chrysler’s first quarter financial highlights:
Net revenue for the quarter was $16.4 billion, up 25 percent from $13.1 billion last year
Has $1.3 billion in free cash flow, ended the quarter with $11.3 billion in cash, up from $9.9 billion last year
Net industrial debt was reduced to $1.3 billion from $3.4 billion last year
Worldwide vehicle shipments for the quarter were 607,000, up 25 percent from 485,000 last year
Fleet sales were 31% of total sales, flat versus Q1 2011
Highest Canadian market share of 15 percent, first time ever
International sales of Chrysler Group vehicles rose 80 percent to 67k
There has been a lot of discussion from industry analysts about who will replace CEO , but he’s not the only CEO of a major American automaker that will eventually need a successor.
, CEO of since shortly after its emergence from bankruptcy in 2009, told Automotive News in an interview that he hopes his successor comes from within the automaker’s ranks, as opposed to bringing in an outsider. Candidates are said to include GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky, North American head Mark Reuss and global product leader Mary Barra.
Interestingly, Akerson himself was imported from a private equity firm called The Carlysle Group, and he has indeed had to learn how the auto industry operates, as he told AN:
“This is the funniest industry. Most industries people are straight up with it. Here everybody slaps everybody on the back, you just got to make sure they don’t have a knife with it.”
Despite this acknowledgement, Akerson is still not one to pull punches. GM’s CEO , “They are trying like hell to resurrect . Well, I might as well tell you, you might as well sprinkle holy water. It’s over.” And he’s not backing down. “A little bit of holy water wouldn’t hurt, I won’t back off that.”
If a rumored and a is to “holy water,” we’d say Ford must agree with Akerson’s assessment.
Have you ever bought a brand new cars only to forget where you put it? How about 300 of them? Probably not – unless you’re Miami-Dade County, which was recently reunited with 298 vehicles it bought brand new between 2006 and 2007.
The county “discovered” this fleet of no-mileage vehicles after reading about them in a there (see the source for more images). Most of the misplaced motorcade is made up of hybrids whose warranties either expired with very few miles on the odo or will very soon.
Looking to save some face, the county has rushed at least 123 of the hybrids into service. The warranty covered the hybrid bits for eight years or 100,000 miles, but we’re not sure if that covers cars parked for five of those eight. We’re also not sure what that much time in Miami heat and humidity does to an unused hybrid powertrain, but it can’t be good.
The county, as you probably guessed, is looking into how it lost so many cars. The leading theory is that they might be part of Carlos Alvarez’s time as mayor. He was the mayor during the period the Toyotas were purchased, but a 2011 recall election successfully removed him from office. Apparently the voters “felt, among other reasons, that he had been behind multiple acts of misappropriation of funds.”
We’ve tried to contact Toyota to see what kind of warranty support these cars will get but haven’t had any luck so far. We’ll update with their response.
Beneath the gorgeous and impossibly long looking hood of the Mazda Takeri Concept lies plenty of real estate. By our estimation there’s room for any number of powerplants, from a high-revving to a twin-turbo V6. However, when launches the new 2014 , which will , it will only contain a measly little four-cylinder, according to Autoweek.
So that’s being a bit harsh, as despite the reported demise of a V6 engine option for the Mazda6, at least it will be getting a four-banger, according to the report. Skyactiv is, of course, Mazdaspeak for its suite of technologies that includes its next-generation powertrain with direct injection and a fancy new automatic transmission design, a combination we when we sampled it in the .
With , , and having dumped their V6’s in favor of an all-four-cylinder lineup for their midsize sedans, we’re not surprised to see Mazda follow course. We do, however, wonder how the intends to compete when it comes to performance.
With 155 horsepower and 150 lb-ft of torque, the 2.0-liter Skyactiv four in Mazda’s new crossover isn’t particularly powerful, so we hope we might see a slightly larger displacement version with a few more ponies for the bigger sedan. Or one with forced induction. Or how about a diesel engine option? Mazda has promised a diesel for North America, though it hasn’t specified which vehicle it will arrive in. The automaker has making 173 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque for the CX-5, at least in Europe. Now that might be just the ticket to make a top-trim Mazda6 get up and go.
and Pure Detroit have agreed to a settlement in the legal wrangling over Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” tagline. According to The Detroit News, the automaker and T-shirt purveyor have asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuits against one another. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Chrysler had sued the entrepreneurial company in March 2011, after Pure Detroit sought to cash in on the popularity of the phrase following last year’s . Chrysler has its own line of “Imported” merchandise, which it has used to . Pure Detroit counter-sued and went on selling its wares after a judge against the smaller company in June 2011, according to the report. Pure Detroit maintained that Chrysler’s campaign “amounts to false advertising,” said the News, because none of the vehicles (the , and ) shown in the ads are built within Detroit proper.
The pair of legal combatants had in March. Their resultant deal should preempt a trial that would have taken place in August.
Imagine you’re a spy shooter at the Nürburgring. You’ve got your ancient Scorpio parked nearby, but you’ve hoofed it up to the top of a hill in the hopes of getting the perfect angle on the track. Three heavy cameras are strung about your body like you’re a contestant in The World’s Strongest Man competition. It’s early and you are tired. And cold. The morning temperature was in the single digits Celsius, and while you’re not exactly sure what that translates to in the Fahrenheit scale, this certainly ain’t Miami.
Your job is boring. Boy racers driving all manner of would-be performance cars squeal by, inexpertly holding a line that betrays their inexperience. “Go back to your videogames, kids,” you think as you nurse your cramped and sore legs. You shift your position and the wait resumes. Sport bikes zip by and the wail hurts your ears. You get up and stretch before resuming your regimen. A momentary break in the traffic causes you to do a mental rehearsal, double-checking your gear.
Then you hear it: The tires, disembodied from the roar of an engine, but creating their own . You reach for the camera with the longest lens and barely get it up to your eye as the whooshes towards you, followed by the loud rumble of something more internally combusted. The camera is now firing on all cylinders as you expertly track the car’s pace for the few seconds it’s in your field of vision. A enters the viewfinder and you exhale, lowering the camera and turning your back to the track.
The will take just one lap of the Nürburgring that day, but you were there to capture it. It may not surface again before it goes on sale next year, but you don’t care about that. You need to hustle back to the car to download the images, so the world can see what an without exhaust pipes looks like, so the fanboys can obsess about the extra cooling vents in the hood for the batteries and the blacked-out rear window.
You will e-mail the photos across the Continent, across the ocean, back home. You’ll get a few bucks deposited in your German bank for your trouble, but that won’t happen for a while yet. By then you will have taken more photos and sent more e-mails.
And drank countless lagers. It is still early, but you think of the cliche about it being noon somewhere and head off home. Nobody will be in your favorite expat bar at this time, but you think there must be at least one bottle left in your refrigerator.
If you ask us, the whole “anything-ageddon” craze that has permeated the news networks is getting a bit old. Take last year’s “Carmageddon,” which turned a 10-mile Los Angeles freeway closure into a two month-long, End of Days-style scare-fest. By the time the dreaded weekend arrived, the entire ordeal turned out to be a .
But while traffic around the 405 wasn’t bad, it appears that couples might have been bumper-to-bumper back home. CBS This Morning reports that births appear to be up significantly the past couple weeks, which is noteworthy considering that Carmageddon happened a full nine months ago. We’re guessing you can do the math on that one.
Since the month isn’t even over yet, it’s difficult to get definitive proof of this phenomenon. But the CBS show managed to find a few parents who confessed to avoiding the traffic and staying home for a little private time that weekend. One couple was going to name their new baby Chevy, but when they found out it was a girl, the name idea turned to . What, Prius isn’t a manly name? to watch the CBS report.
No doubt has seen the light shining at the end of its turnaround plan for a while, but now The Blue Oval is getting so close to the daylight it might even be able to smell the fresh air. , Ford stock was rated so low by the three major ratings agencies that it was floating in the cistern below the basement of junk status. After Mulally came onboard, the company put up everything to get the money to work his plan, from the company logo to its real estate. In order to get it back, two of the three agencies need to rate Ford stock as investment grade, and one, Fitch, has just done so.
Fitch has certified Ford stock as BBB-, the first investment-grade level, and issued a stable outlook for the company and its finance arm. Ford remains just one step below investment worthy with both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, but with “a solid Q1″ predicted by and (they expect earnings in spite of European and Asia-Pacific sales doldrums), the final turn might not be far away.
When it does, Ford will have achieved what it for 2012. As well as getting its assets out of hock, Dearborn will also greatly reduce its borrowing costs. Ford’s head of investor relations, Michael Seneski, vowed in December that Ford would return to investors’ good graces by showing “authoritative and highly credible insight into our automotive business and Ford Credit.” We’re of the opinion that an increasing flow of good products haven’t hurt, either.
We Finally Sample Scion’s Irresistible Lightweight At Home
, we flew nearly 11 hours to spend a fleeting afternoon with the highly anticipated at Japan’s Sodegaura Forest Raceway, a track located just outside of Tokyo. Last week, we were in the air for less than an hour en route to Las Vegas to spend a much longer day with the sports coupe on our own turf.
The FR-S impressed us during our first drive in Japan, but the weather turned lousy and we didn’t have a chance to drive it on public roads at legal speeds. This time, scheduled plenty of seat time on public roads and on a racing circuit, while Mother Nature provided us with excellent weather.
Driving the coupe again in proper U.S. spec on home roads (and under much more favorable conditions) gave us better insight into the naturally aspirated four-seater. Not only did we learn a lot more about the engine, chassis and its driving dynamics, but we were able to finally interact with the FR-S as a daily driver.
It was, in effect, an interesting and informative second date.
While we’re not ready to label this the return of the , count us eager to get behind the wheel of whatever a “2014 Chevrolet SS Performance” turns out to be. Hopefully the appearance of this reference on the OnStar website is more than just a digital placeholder.
Chevy SS rumors have been swirling lately, with General Motors earlier this month, just days after our spy shooters caught what looked like a . Then there’s the NASCAR situation: has said its new entry in the racing series will be both a . We’re guessing that car isn’t going to be the .
So this new OnStar “leak,” if it is such a thing, would point to the Chevy SS being a separate model (you can check it out on OnStar’s site ). If we are reading our tea leaves correctly, the model will be (the same Zeta architecture that underpins Chevrolet’s law-enforcement-only ), while the brand’s front-drive will get a new, sportier variant. We’d also assume that the long-wheelbase version of the Commodore used for the would donate its top-level powertrain, the 355-horsepower, 6.0-liter V8.
Maybe we should just press the OnStar button and ask?
