One of the postscripts of the travails of Cars North America (SCNA) is this, a couple hundred and sedans left to the unkindness of coastal winds at a New Jersey port facility. According to the poster at , there are 900 cars in this awaiting the resolution of the company’s fate.
Last we heard, SCNA is still fighting the involuntary bankruptcy and is trying to get the case moved to Michigan. Prior to that, SCNA had been trying to avoid the proceeding altogether in case a bidder was able to acquire the entire company.
While we wait to find out about that, you can head over to Found Our Own Road to see the rest of the photos of a Saab future that almost was.
The Obama Administration will reportedly delay the release of the U.S.’ most ambitious fuel economy proposal ever.
Word is the and won’t be able to string together a draft for Model Year 2017-25 for public comment by the end of this week, as was initially intended. Instead, sources close to the matter claim the proposal won’t be rolled out until November, or possibly even later. But even with the expected delay, the administration should remain on track to meet its deadline of issuing final guidelines by July of 2012.
The and EPA are jointly writing the regulations based on the July agreement, which tentatively calls for automakers to hit a .
Sources claim regulators are moving slower than anticipated on details of the official proposal to ensure it covers issues likely to be voiced during the public comment period.
What’s the difference between 56.2 and 54.5 miles per gallon? Way more than 1.7 mpg, that’s for sure.
is reporting that the Obama White House is dialing down the proposed 2025 fuel economy requirement to 54.5 mpg. Earlier, we had heard that would be the new target for 2025 – then that got slashed to 56.2. The numbers could, of course, change again, but this plan would effectively mean passenger cars will need to become, on average, five percent more fuel efficient every year between 2017 and 2025. Trucks will be allowed to get cleaner slower: three percent improvements each year between 2017 and 2021 and then five percent annually until 2025.
One of the contentious issues here is whether the higher fuel economy level will help or hurt the economy and the auto industry. The Auto Alliance, which represents most major automakers, says that the OEMs are already putting fuel efficient vehicles on the market. There are many voices, though, that don’t want the government to keep lowering the target. , for example, is an advertising campaign targeting lawmakers in D.C. and trying to push them to go high.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a study last fall that claimed a five-percent annual increase in fuel economy would drive up the cost of a new vehicle by $2,100. The Consumer Federation of America counters that a 56-mpg threshold would “save consumers over $6,000 per vehicle in gasoline costs over the vehicle’s lifetime” (details ).
So, that 1.7-mpg drop contains a pretty big political fight. The number is moving in the direction that the automakers want, but whether they will accept it as low enough is not yet clear.
During the U.S. launch of the , CEO Victor Muller told us that he was good at raising money, and he is probably going further than he ever wished to prove his point. It was announced this morning that Swedish Automobile, parent company of Saab, secured a €25-million ($36M U.S.) bridge loan from Gemini Investment Fund. It is the second infusion from Gemini in as many months, and brings to €66M ($95M) the amount of money Saab has raised this week alone.
The latest life preserver allows Saab to pay its June wages. The production lines are still idle while Saab deals with suppliers, but it wants to start making cars again in two weeks. Saab is also waiting on regulatory approval for €245 million ($353M) from two Chinese partners, and hopes to access a drawdown of €29.1 million ($42M) from the European Investment Bank in hopes of manifesting a Rocky-like comeback.
Whole Foods Parking Lot – Click above to watch video
Turns out, you can spin the whole “” bit into a few minutes of enjoyable parody rap. Don’t believe us? Check out “Whole Foods Parking Lot,” the first project from the Fog and Smog collaborative, which pokes fun at the entire ecosystem of hybrids, and overpriced vegetables. Oh, and those little shopping carts.
Fog and Smog is based in both the San Francisco Bay Area (fog) and Los Angeles (smog) and these fun-loving artists (they have day jobs as composers, film editors, producers, designers, deejays, animators and photographers) are either regular customers – or maybe they just date some.
Check out the -driving video (a bit NSFW) , and if you’re looking for more, check out similar classics *ahem* by Casual Mafia (”“), Grynch (”“), J Brave (”“), and of course, Toyota and its own “” spot. There, you’ll find plenty of proof that comedy rap videos starring unlikely vehicles are nothing new; and that they’re not always a good thing.
$32,998. That’s the price that has announced for the i-MiEV in Canada when the little space egg goes on sale there . (That’s $33,891 U.S. at today’s exchange rate).
Yes, Canada will get the i-MiEV, and not the that (seen in the gallery below). The Canadian i-MiEV will be available in two trim levels: standard and premium. There’s nothing all that exciting about the standard version (A/C, heated driver’s seat and remote keyless entry) but the premium package adds a leather-wrapped steering wheel, 15-inch alloy wheels and an improved stereo, along with navigation (full details ) for $35,998 ($36,972). Both versions are targeted to have a range of 135 kilometers (84 miles) and have a 130 km/h top speed (81 mph).
The i-MiEV is no stranger to Canada, having spent time in in 2010. Oh, and the coast-to-coast reference in the image above? We think that this is a pretty clear reference to the Clean Across Canada Tour that Mitsubishi took the electric jellybean on last year. Read more about that plug-in adventure .
One last thing – ABG reader Keith R came up with this interesting table of price differences between the U.S. and Canada for three of the best-known plug-in vehicles (not factoring in the exchange rate), and it makes for interesting reading:
Mitsubishi i-MiEV
Standard $27,990 (U.S.) vs. $32,998 (CAN) = +17.9 percent
Premium $29,990 (U.S.) vs. $35,998 (CAN) = +20 percent
SV $32,780 (U.S.) vs. $38,395 (CAN) = +17.1 percent
SL $33,720 (U.S.) vs. $39,995 (CAN) = +18.6 percent
If you want to find examples of ways Americans disagree on politics, all you need to do is turn on any cable news channel right now. But here’s a curious case of the majority agreeing on one important point: 62 percent of Americans support an increase in the average fuel economy mandate in the U.S. to 60 miles per gallon by 2025.
That’s around the level currently under loose discussion in Washington (which is 62 mpg), and the strong, bi-partisan support is the finding of a survey released today by the Consumer Federation of America, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation under commission. The current CAFE rules, announced in April 2010, require .
There is one group that’s against the 60+ mpg level, though: automakers. As former vice chair Bob Lutz when talking about a CAFE increase that wasn’t quite 62 mpg, “Nobody knows how to do a full-line fleet with the equivalent of 42 miles per gallon. That’s ain’tgonnahappen.com.”
More broadly, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents many major automakers, asked the Obama administration to until more studies on this level’s impact on the industry are completed. It warned that such a high level might negatively affect safety, sales and jobs.
Of the 57,641 owners who bought a new car in 2010, 53.3 percent of them stuck with a product from , according to a survey by RL Polk & Co. The hard numbers: 33.5 percent of Pontiac customers chose a , 11.7 chose a , 6.7 went with and the last 1.5 percent bought a .
Within the rest of the Big Three, had the best outing, grabbing 10.5 percent of former Pontiac owners. caught 3.2 percent and and together totaled 1.7 percent of the share.
Large numbers of Pontiac owners who didn’t buy another GM product went overseas, with 31 percent opting for an import. claimed 7.7 percent of Pontiac owners, while netted 7.5. and weren’t far behind.
What the numbers show is that buyers who bought a Pontiac largely stuck with a big-name high-volume automaker when it came time for a new car. Even though some of the brands former Pontiac owners moved to are quite different than Pontiac was, they’re almost all affordable, mass produced and supported by huge dealer networks.
