Got 13 minutes to spare? Of course you do – it’s a Friday. Then we’ve got just the way to burn them.
has posted three new SRT videos, the first being a nice seven-minute documentary about Viper history, from its origins to the present.
We’re happy to see the automaker make no attempts to distort the truth here, wisely including period footage of both Carroll Shelby and Bob Lutz, despite the fact that those two automotive legends currently work for its most bitter rivals, and General Motors, respectively. The inclusion of a clip from the Viper TV series, however, was perhaps a less inspired choice. We’d have left that on the cutting room floor in favor of more racing footage, like maybe something from Le Mans.
The second video is three minutes of Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of SRT Brand and Motorsports at Chrysler. Gilles walks us around a static Viper, explaining some of the details in the design that might escape a casual observer – and help the new Viper hit 206 miles per hour.
The final video goes inside Conner Avenue Assembly in Detroit where Chrysler builds the Viper. So maybe Chrysler employees like Shelly Brown Alore, the operations manager at the plant, aren’t quite the celebrity that Gilles is, but then again, we’re exactly the type of car nerds that actually find this stuff interesting.
Former Chairman and current investor Ray Lane is blaming Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for the delays in procuring federal loans that have been earmarked for the maker of the extended-range plug-in and the upcoming Atlantic, according to Delaware Online.
In an e-mail, Lane said Romney is mistakenly grouping the Fisker loan from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with money given to failed companies like solar-panel producer Solyndra. Lane, managing director at venture-capital company Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, said in the alleged e-mail that he’s planning to contact Romney, whose father George Romney was once president of American Motors Corp.
The Fisker issue is particularly acute in Delaware, where the automaker had planned to expand employment and build a production version of the (a.k.a. Project Nina) shown above at a former General Motors factory. Those plans have been as Fisker sorts out its financial situation. Delaware Online reported late last week that Fisker had at the factory, which was characterized as “absolutely empty.”
The company was set to receive $529 million in federal loans but has only received a fraction of that and hasn’t received funding since last year.
We can now add a rendering and a litte more gossip to and its recent designation. GM has used the SS designator for more than 50 years but only got around to trademarking it five years ago, and persistent rumors have suggested that a civilian version of the will simply be called the SS.
previously confirmed that its next NASCAR entry will be , which suggests that the and are disqualified. But a new car called the SS would fit, and the rumormill suggests it will be a derivative of the Zeta-platform Holden Commodore. The folks at Chris Doane Automotive have opened the rendering account and taken this rather conservative stab at what a reboot of a U.S. Commodore might look like.
Yes, we’ve been here before, and in fact, we’re still here. The now extinct but universally lauded was itself a Americanized Holden Commodore, and the current Caprice law enforcement vehicle is a long-wheelbase version of that Holden that packs either a 3.6-liter, 301-horsepower V6 or a 6.0-liter, 355-hp V8. Resurrecting the G8 would return a vehicle that many loved but was handicapped by Pontiac’s zombie status, improve Holden’s fortunes and give Chevy a proper rear-wheel drive sedan with teeth. To all of that, we say Yes, Yes and… Yes.
Forbes has measured the largest 100 companies in the world, and 10 automakers have made the list. This list is unique in that it measures the size of a company using a combination of sales, assets, profits and market value.
Volkswagen was rated as the top automaker in the top 100 (number 17 overall), with sales of $221 billion and $21.5 billion in profit. finished a close second, ranked number 25 overall with sales of $228.5 billion. finished at 37 due in part to $188.7 billion in assets and a $66.3 billion market cap. came in at 44 with a market value of $47.5 billion. , which also sells motorcycles and generators, among other things, rounds out the top five with $137.7 billion in assets.
Finishing outside of the top five were (61), (63), (85), (95) and (96). Mitsubishi made the top 100 in part because it sells hoards of electronics around the world.
No automakers were able to crack the top 10, even with massive sales volume and solid profits. The top 10 was, however, dominated by the oil companies that feed those cars and trucks. Exxon finished number one, with five other oil companies in the top 12.
The 1961 Impala SS inaugurated the SS trim line to the brand, and its SS cars have found more than a million homes since – examples helping the way. Turns out, though, that just got around to patenting the designator SS on April 13, 2012. Since the SS descriptor has historically indicated a model variant or trim level, distinctions that apparently don’t normally warrant trademark protection, the questions are why now and what for?
The evidence would seem to lead to this being a model designator, not just a trim, and there have been of the will hit the market and simply be called SS. But if that’s the case, what would the we’ve seen in spy shots be named, and what – if anything – would happen to the SS trim available on other Chevy models?
Click the image below for a look at the patent application, and we’ll be looking forward to finding out what is going to go where.
The challenge of small, efficient and clever hatchbacks catching on with the American masses is a long story that shows infrequent signs of becoming less challenging. The bottom line is that most U.S. consumers feel such vehicles are simply too small for our wide-open-spaces sensibilities. This smallness is only enhanced when one looks around while stopped at American intersections, only to see big and tall sheetmetal in all directions. There are admittedly serious strides being made in this segment in various U.S. markets, usually of the urban variety and on the coasts, but it will always be a struggle.
The last time Peugeot tried directly communicating in American English with imported product was back in 1991 with its 505 and 405 ranges that unceremoniously flopped. There was ongoing talk at that time of bringing over the 205 hatchback to try and improve things, but we missed out and Peugeot was gone. Perhaps the seven percent of PSA Peugeot-Citroën now owned by General Motors will someday result in the importing of the solid hatchback tested here, but I won’t hold my breath.
Recently, the new Peugeot 208 was all over the French giant’s show stand at the , together with its legendary GTi trim and new XY upmarket trim. Back in 1984, it was the 105-horsepower 205 GTi that established the legend of the French hot hatch. While the 206 was then a smash hit with buyers between 1998 and 2006, the subsequently larger 207 has been far less popular in the face of much improved competitors – a group that blossomed from just 16 different models on the European market in 1998 to now 27 separate hatches today. In its prime, the 206 outsold even the mighty Volkswagen Golf and stayed at the top of Europe’s sales charts for a time. The outgoing 207, however, has routinely lingered behind the and Polo, Renault Clio, Opel Astra and Corsa, not to mention the and .
Last week, a battery research lab in Warren, Michigan. General Motors has since said the fire was caused by a battery that was being tested under “extreme stress.” Engineers were trying to get the pack to fail, which it did, but not to ignite, which it also did when gases leaked out and somehow caught fire.
There’s one detail we have not heard yet, and that’s how much the fire could end up costing GM: up to $5 million, the The Detroit News reports, based on information that the automaker’s representatives submitted in a police report. The local fire department has estimated that the damage could be closer to $3 million, with one million of that due to property loss – at least two labs were damaged – and $2 million worth of damage to the labs’ contents. An investigation into the cause and extent of the fire continues.
The battery pack involved was not the same as the one used in the and GM says that the incident . Media reports have suggested the battery is be intended for the and that the prototype battery pack was made by A123 (which has had recently). Multiple people were injured in the fire but only one remains in the hospital because of “an estimated four-inch gash to the back of his head.”
As we’ve reported in the past, one major issue confronting the U.S. auto industry is its ability to , home of and spiritual birthplace of and . According to the Detroit Free Press, advertising cooperative Commonwealth, a joint venture between San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and New York-based McCann Erickson Worldwide, isn’t having the same problem.
Commonwealth plans to embed itself in the middle of with 280 workers mostly imported from such marketing powerhouse cities as New York and San Francisco. The firm has already begun moving into the Palms Building which also houses the popular Fillmore Detroit performance venue. Says Todd Grantham, associate partner and Goodby’s managing director for Detroit:
“You just have to be the type that comes in here and knows, I can build something here. That’s how we attract people. What we want is the people who come in here and go, ‘Wow, this is a blank canvas. It’s all around me and now I can do something.’”
Whether or not the advertising firm will be successful in its ploy to bring more young professionals to Detroit remains to be seen, but Quicken Loans’ Dan Gilbert with his various operations. So far, there are at least three such willing transplants interviewed in the video . It’ll surely take a lot more than three enterprising transplants to succeed, but at least it’s a start. If nothing else, we’re certain that there are already a good deal of talented individuals already in Detroit waiting for a chance to prove their worth.
Last we heard, was to building the recently revealed sedan at the former plant in Delaware. A few years ago, Fisker announced that site would be the company’s new domestic production home (the extended-range plug-inhybrid is made by in Finland). Still, Fisker did say that any definitive statement on the Atlantic’s production location would not come until the end of the summer.
So we were interested to read new reports from local media that show more signs that the Atlantic might not ever be built in Delaware. On Friday, Delaware Online reports, 12 more workers – including engineers and maintenance technicians – were laid off at the plant, leaving “only a small maintenance team” left there. One of those let go was Jeff Garland, who had been working on community affairs and business development efforts in Delaware. He said the plant is currently “absolutely empty.” This is because Fisker has taken out the old GM equipment but has not yet installed the machines it would need to build the Atlantic. As Garland told Delaware Online, “I think what happened was the budget numbers are so tight right now and they’re working so hard to preserve as much cash as they can that something had to give. We’re not making a car in Wilmington right now, so given that situation it was an obvious place to make a cut.”
Fisker spokesman Russell Datz said that the company has flexible plans and will hire people when “we ramp up the project again.” Production of the Atlantic is being delayed, at least in part, because of issues with Fisker’s Department of Energy loan. You can read more about that .
In related , some of the components that Fisker and will use in hybrid and all-electric cars are now being made by Magna E-Car Systems in Michigan. The inverters Magna makes are used in the Karma and this new production does not in any way predict a shift of Atlantic production to Michigan.
General Motors has released pricing for the bi-fuel option for the and , and it’s a pill that probably won’t go down easy. Buyers who want their workhorses to suck down either compressed natural gas (CNG) or gasoline can look forward to ponying up $11,000 for the pleasure. That big chunk of change adds a Type 3 tank in the bed for CNG, and GM says that with both fuels, the trucks will have an effective range of 650 miles. The bi-fuel option is available on any heavy-dutytruck configuration, including four-wheel drive and extended cab models.
The automaker says the bi-fuel trucks are a way for business owners to safeguard themselves against volatile gas prices, and that the option could save anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 over the course of three years depending on fuel fluctuations. However, any option on a work truck that only might break even in three or four years seems like a tough sell in our book, especially given the reduction in useable bed area. for the full press release as well as a quick video.
Cadillac’s and are two of the most distinctive designs to come out of a mass-market brand in some time, and we’re big devotees to both here at Autoblog. Predictably, the two models attract a much smaller slice of the North American market than the four-door sedan, but says it remains committed to offering both a two-door and a load-lugger in its lineup. However, that doesn’t mean such future models will wear badging.
According to Car and Driver, Cadillac is undecided, but one or both bodystyles could migrate to the smaller platform. While neither of the two CTS variants has been any great shakes sales-wise (Cadillac does say the wagon has outsold its equivalent), the models are seen as important tools to woo shoppers – conquest sales in particular.
We might add that since General Motors remains committed to the idea of making Cadillac a global brand, a smaller coupe and wagon model could give the marque entry into larger volume segments in Europe. For its part, C/D expects Cadillac to position a coupe between the ATS and next CTS, mimicking pricing and hierarchy strategies at and , . The publication also predicts that a wagon will stay in the CTS family, as it “better meets the needs of older, richer luxo-wagon buyers,” noting that ATS wagon intenders could likely be wooed into the anyhow.
What do you think? Leave your musings in Comments.
There’s an old newspaper adage that dictates: “Dog bites man” is not news. “Man bites dog,” now that’s news. In other words, the subversion of the usual order of things is what sells papers. And you might say the same about . A Caddy getting bigger, by that logic, is hardly news, but a Caddy getting smaller sure is.
That’s what makes the new such a big step for the top-end of the brand portfolio. Occupying the place once taken by the Catera (which led to the ), that model now has to kick up a size to make room for its new baby brother. And so it appears to be doing.
These spy shots show what our intrepid auto paparazzi say is the next-gen CTS, applying the same Art & Science design language to a slightly larger form that’s expected to switch from the Sigma II platform to a stretched version of The General’s new rear-drive Alpha architecture.
In between the camouflage we can make out a new grille, projector headlamps with LED daytime runners, with radar sensors aplenty and dual exhaust tips around the back. Sources expect a 2.0-liter turbo four to come in with 270 horsepower as the base engine in the new CTS, with the 3.6-liter V6 also expected to be on offer as well as a turbo six sometime after production kicks off at Lansing Grand River Assembly in September 2013.
Well… look who lives! Our spy photographers have managed to snag a few photos of what may very well be the next interpretation of the . Long thought to be a casualty of the General Motors bailout, the biggest member Club SS was reportedly shelved a few years back. The Impala line hasn’t offered an SS performance variant since 2009, and the more aggressive grille, front fascia and tweaked head- and taillight arrays on this prototype hint at something more sinister than any topped-out LTZ model could offer. Our spy shooter’s supplier sources indicate GM is, in fact, still working on an Impala SS, and they suggest the sedan may bow with a new LF3 twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 under the hood.
If true, that means the brawny Impala could scoot down the road with a heady 380 horsepower. As far as we know, no vehicle since the limited production 350-hp Ford Focus RS500 has tried to push anywhere near that many ponies to the front wheels, which begs the question: will the Impala offer all-wheel drive despite ?
Doing so would seem to position the Impala SS quite well against the freshly updated . Either way, we’re excited to give this big boy a go.
Remember ? Back in the pre-bankruptcy days of late 2008, when the Big Three CEO’s were traveling to Washington to plead their case for funds, Ford’s Alan Mulally, General Motors’ then-CEO Rick Wagoner, and Chrysler’s former chief Bob Nardelli were publicly chastised for flying in corporate jets to the tune of $20,000 per round trip.
Two years earlier, president Mark Fields became a target of outrage when a Detroit-area TV station discovered that to ship Fields between Dearborn and his home in Florida.
Now this: The New York Times is reporting that Ford spent spent $178,571 on personal air travel for Mulally last year. While Ford no longer has a fleet of corporate jets, according to the report, it pays a charter service to transport Mulally and his kin. And that’s not all. Since this benefit is classified as “security measures,” Mulally gets off the hook for paying taxes on it, as he doesn’t have to report the benefit as income, according to the Times. , according to other reports.
While Ford refused comment, the article calls out the company for using this “common corporate tax trick” that it says robs the federal government of tax revenue from CEO’s like Mulally, meaning that taxpayers are essentially subsidizing his perks.
While the report concerns various corporate executives, it singles out Mulally, suggesting that any potential danger to Ford’s CEO has to be less than that posed to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who flies commercial airlines. The Times also says that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs “received no security services from Apple last year before he died.”
The Associated Press reports General Motors has pulled all 11 IndyCar engines from testing after racer James Hinchcliffe blew one during testing at Sonoma. GM evidently was concerned enough about the 10 other engines having similar problems that it decided to swap them all and face the resulting sanctions.
Under IndyCar’s current rules, Hinchcliffe, driver of the GoDaddy.com will be penalized for the failure despite the fact that it had nothing to do with the driver. IndyCar prohibits engine changes until the units have reached a minimum of 1,200 miles, a figure that is set to jump to 1,850 miles after this weekend. IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, meanwhile, maintains that the rule is meant to reduce costs for teams. He also pointed out that both and have received similar penalties this season. But that hasn’t stopped some from grumbling about the rules.
Until this point, Chevrolet has done exceedingly well this season, nabbing the first two poles and taking a victory at the season-opening race. The company currently holds the lead in the manufacturer’s title with 18 points – six points ahead of Honda.
Hinchcliffe, meanwhile, says he’s excited about the challenge that the engine swap presents. He, along with a smattering of other racers, will now start at the back of the pack, and Indycar’s rulemakers have themselves a new controversy to contend with.
So how’s this for a way to celebrate National Robotics Week? has dug up some photos and press releases from the late 1960s featuring “Freddie Ford,” a quasi-robot made out of auto parts that entertained crowds on the auto show circuit.
To our modern sensibilities, Freddie barely qualifies as an appliance, let alone an actual robot like Asimo from , MABEL from the University of Michigan, or Robonaut from General Motors and NASA. From reading the press releases, we gather that Freddie mainly responded to questions from the audience with corny answers that touted Ford’s products.
Question: “Are those oil pans really your feet?” Answer: “Yes, sir, these are 390 V-8 oil pans from the biggest V-8 that uses only regular gas.”
While Freddie is amusing enough, the real treasure here are the press releases from an era in which Ford could do no wrong. To read the casual mentions of the company’s victory at Le Mans with the GT40 and the launch of the original Cougar is a real treat.
for the vintage press releases and check out both the Freddie Ford photos in our .
General Motors has announced a recall of certain 2011 and , and models for wipers that may fail under heavy snow. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, snow or ice buildup may restrict the wiper movement, which may in turn lead to the wiper arm loosening from the vehicle. The ensuing reduced visibility could increase the risk of an accident. The recall only covers models currently registered in heavy snow states – about 50,000 units – including Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware and Idaho, among others. The full list may be found in the recall report .
GM is expected to begin notifying owners on Monday, April 16, and dealers will address the issue free of charge. In what sounds like one of the simpler and quicker recall fixes we can remember, dealer technicians will tighten the wiper arm nuts to prevent the wiper arms from becoming inoperable. Click for the full recall notice.
General Motors is pulling the plug on the . 2013 will mark the ugly duckling’s last year in production, though the model will go out with one last special edition. The 2013 Black Diamond Avalanche will arrive with body-color trim work, special badging, and most importantly, lower prices. LT trim now boasts a standard rear-view camera, while LS guise adds in rear park assist, power adjustable pedals, fog lights and remote start as standard gear. GM has cut the base vehicle’s MSRP by $2,500, which means buyers can take one home for $35,980, excluding the $995 destination fee.
GM says the lower price is a way of saying “thank you” to the truck’s fans, though we suspect it may have more to do with getting the awkward machine off dealer lots. Last month, GM moved just 2,083 Avalanche units, and while that’s nearly 26 percent more than March 2011, the number represents a fraction of the 36,491 models that rolled out the door. It’s also less than half the number of units sold. Even the wee drove away with more sales. Last year, GM sold a total of 20,088 Avalanche units, down 2.1 percent compared to 2010 despite an overall industry recovery.
Will anyone miss the Avalanche? There are those who still miss the diesel Chevette, so anything’s possible.
is getting religion when it comes to light-weighting its vehicles. The company has entered into a new partnership with to develop carbon fiber that can be manufactured at affordable prices for high-volume applications. That, of course, is the holy grail of weight reduction, which is why other manufacturers like General Motors are also to try and achieve the same ends.
Now before you get too excited about the carbon-fiber in the photos, understand that it was just a limited-production car shown at in 2009, and it carried a price tag of $135,000. That’s the problem with carbon fiber parts – they are expensive because they are much more difficult to manufacture in volume than steel.
But if Ford and other carmakers are going to achieve the sorts of fuel economy improvements required by new regulations, they’re going to have to either scale carbon fiber or dramatically shrink the size of most vehicles. Ford says it’s targeting a 750-pound weight reduction per vehicle by the end of the decade.
No matter how hard you try, you can’t out run the Internet. Just ask Bobby Patton. The man thought he could pull a quick one by representing a 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle as an incredibly rare, incredibly valuable Z16.
For those of us who aren’t soaked in obscure General Motors model history, Z16 models featured brakes lifted from full-size sedans of the day, a unique rear axle, a stiffer boxed frame borrowed from a convertible and a uniquely trimmed L37 396 V8. Other details like special trim work, badges, VINs and various engine and axle stampings help identify the hopped up Malibu models from their kin.
Patton missed the memo on those details, apparently, opting instead to slap some 396 badges on the fender and call it a day. While that may have been enough to fool a local car show judge, it became an issue when he listed the coupe on an auction site for $100,000. Jeff Helms, the owner of a site dedicated to nothing but Z16 models, quickly pointed out that the Chevelle boasted a fake VIN copied from a photo on his website. Patton then attempted to defend himself, saying he bought the car that way.
Patton closed the auction after four days, but not before the Ohio State Patrol got wind of the suspicious ‘65. Officers contacted the previous owner, who proved the car had been sold with 327 emblems. It didn’t take long for Patton to face charges of Tampering with Records, Possessing Criminal Tools, Telecommunications Fraud and Attempted Simulation. He pleaded guilty to the first charge and received two years of probation. Head over to for the full tale, and remember, the Internet is watching.
