, Italy’s largest automaker and the company in control of , has announced that it is suspending sales to amidst a wave of global sanctions against the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear efforts. The automaker says this includes passenger cars, trucks and buses under its Iveco brand.
The automaker said it will honor a limited number of binding contracts but would stop exporting any cars or parts to Iran immediately. Fiat also said that its business in Iran was “totally immaterial in a quantitative and qualitative sense.” In other words, the move won’t have any real impact on the company’s bottom line, apparently.
Fiat joins , PSA and as automakers no longer doing business in Iran. No American automakers sell vehicles in Iran. Read the complete statement from Fiat , along with a response from United Against Nuclear Iran.
The all-but-lifeless corpse of continues to stagger forward in hopes of finding a juicy investor to sink its teeth into. Autocar reports that National Electric Vehicle Sweden is currently close to buying the brand’s remaining assets. The freshly minted electric car consortium is helmed by none other than Karl-Erling Trogen, the former head of Volvo Trucks. Beyond that, few details are known about the company or its plans for Saab. National Electric Sweden is owned by two bodies, Sun Investment and Mikael Kubu, the president of law firm Ac-Gruppen.
We can only speculate about what the consortium wants with Saab, though fan site SaabsUnited reports the company may have its eyes on an electric rear axle program developed with in conjunction with eAAM. Whether that means we’ll see electric or hybrid Saab models whirring around in the future is still uncertain. If we did, it would probably take quite a while. As SaabsUnited notes, “Saab, the company, right now has nothing in it, no dealership network, no finance structure, no personnel-structure, no communications network, nothing… everything needs to be completely rebuilt from scratch, which will take a huge amount of time.”
At this point, we’ll just be pleasantly surprised if the Griffin brand gets a new owner at all.
If you’ve ever sunk a Saturday afternoon watching a Wheeler Dealers marathon on BBC America, we don’t need to tell you the show is plenty addictive. A tag team salesman and mechanic snag slightly run-down cars and SUVs, fix a few simple problems and flip them for a profit in the UK.
Now it looks as if the Discovery Channel is set to unleash an Americanized version of the show. Fast N’ Loud follows a shop as they seek out classic cars and trucks, customize them and work to sell them at a profit. It looks a bit like American Pickers met Pimp My Ride and Overhaulin in a bar bathroom and this is the fruit of their rendezvous.
We will, of course, tune in if for no other reason than the guys look to have gotten their hands on an early ’50s Coupe. That’s one of our favorites. The show premiers on Wednesday, June 6 at 10 p.m. Eastern on the Discovery Channel. for yourself.
There’s the right way to tackle the infamous Corkscrew at Laguna Seca and then there’s the way that puts your into the catch fence and on its roof. Ryan Ockey recently gave the latter option a shot during the Ferrari Challenge at Mazda Raceway with predictable results. All of the safety equipment both in the car and at the track worked as intended, however, and the driver walked away with little more than a bruised ego. There are no solid reports as to what caused the flying , but rumor has it there may have been a brake failure.
Unfortunately, the 458 Italia had to be pulled from the gravel trap by a tow truck, which meant a long, painful slog downhill on the Italian exotic’s roof. Check out and the rescue to see what we mean. Jump forward to two minutes in on the second clip to see things go downhill for Ockey.
Known for unmitigated excess to some, the embodies over-the-top transportation for oil barons and high-rolling hip-hop stars. quotes an unknown senior official saying, “We were finding that for everyone turned on by that image there were four (potential luxury buyers) who were [turned off].” Add in national gas prices flirting with $5 a gallon, and the Escalade seemed destined to join the flamboyant fins of the .
But The Detroit Bureau says saw too much profit in the tanker-sized truck and plans to refresh it in early 2014 as a 2015 model. The Bureau predicts the SUV will continue to be body-on-frame with the new 2013 pickup underpinnings holding it all together. It’s probably safe to assume the luxury will be upsized, the engine uptuned and the price upjacked.
During a meeting of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, president Akio Toyoda offered a “Chapeau!” to his fellow CEOs by listing his favorite cars from other makers. He listed just one vehicle from five makers represented on the board, in alphabetical order: the , Isuzu Bellett, Cosmo, Pajero (our ) and Skyline.
Toyoda didn’t give his reasons for choosing these car beyond each being “memorable.” Even so, going through the list any car enthusiast knows the Honda ( in the States) NSX needs no introduction nor explanation. The is probably as well known for it’s off-road excellence as it is for its name change in Spanish-speaking lands due to the word “pajero” – all the more intriguing when it’s apparently named after an Argentine cat, Leopardus pajeros. And although the “Skyline” moniker was made famous overseas by the , the Nissan Skyline that Toyoda references has a long history and is our .
The (pictured) was an Italian-esque little coupe produced from 1967 to 1995, the first series production vehicle with a two-rotor rotary engine. The was that firm’s in-house replacement for the English Hillmans it was rebranding, the first Japanese car to get GT badging (it would also get a GT-R version), and it would cover just about every segment with sedan, coupe, station wagon and pickup truck variants.
Big trucks just aren’t appealing enough on their own, at least in some places. For proof, look to a Shanghai dealer who is offering about three years worth of free gas to anyone who buys a new Denali. Too bad it’ll take about 20 years to pay off the big truck.
The dealer is giving away five tons – about 2,000 gallons, worth around $8,000 in China – of petrol to new Sierra Denali buyers in China’s largest city, according to . The offer appears to be a nod to rising China gas prices, which are climbing towards levels similar to those in the U.S. now that the Chinese government is doing less to artificially keep gas prices down. Full-size trucks have been sold in China for about three years and are known to be status symbols in China, says The Detroit Bureau.
There is, of course, a catch. The Denali, unlike most General Motors vehicles sold in China, is built in the U.S., so the price tag is about $134,000, or almost three times what the model sells for in the States. Here’s hoping a few free car washes come with those full tanks.
If you’re in the market and mood for a 6.5-ton cab-over truck that also offers power to all its wheels, Fuso would like you to have a look at its new Canter 4×4. With the addition of selectable four-wheel drive, Fuso is hoping to expand the 4×2 Canter’s traditional market into unpaved uses like construction and municipal services.
Power comes from a 3.0-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesel with 175 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque. A stop/start system is also used to improve efficiency. Standard features include a locking rear differential, exhaust brake, approach and departure angles that are nearly doubled over the 4×2 model, and a 40,000-kilometer maintenance interval. Options are plentiful, including single or crew-cab bodies, two wheelbase choices, payload up to 3,725 kilograms, 320 millimeters of ground clearance and 100 plain, metallic and pearl-finish paint colors.
For truck fans, there’s a press release below and a high-res gallery of the Canter 4×4 in all kinds of poses.
The crew at Translogic took the time to stop by and see the the team at ALTe Powertrain Technologies recently. Founded by a group of former Tesla Motors executives, the company focuses on building plug-inhybrid conversions for fleet vehicles. From creations like a with a 2.0-liter gasoline engine and two 60-kilowatt electric motors to full-size delivery trucks, buses and vans, the company is focused on reducing fuel consumption on some of the largest and hardest-working machinery out there. ALTe says the F-150 conversion supplies up to 465 pound-feet of torque, which is more than the old 4.6-liter V8.
Most of the truck conversions come with 22-kWh lithium-ion battery packs, which yield 25-40 miles of all-electric range. From there, the four-cylinder kicks in to keep the batteries charged and the motors spinning.
ALTe says the company has focused on Ford conversions first, since the F-Series is the largest-selling pickup in the country. While E-Series and Panther-based creations are also on the docket, ALTe is also focusing on partnering with OEMs in China. to check out the video for yourself.
Give a Lexus LFA to an auto journalist and there’s going to be an attempt to drift it. Give that same LFA to the gents at Blendtec and they’re likely to see if it, or at least a piece of it, will blend. Then turn that LFA over to Tony Hawk to use for his birthday and he will, naturally, line the thing up outside of his office and see if he can ollie it.
Sure, he had the help of a generous ramp, but we can’t blame him. The LFA is $375,000 of sensitive parts that wouldn’t react well, nor inexpensively, to flying skateboard trucks. to see the 44-year-old Hawk do what he does best.
Stability control was made mandatory on passenger vehicles for this current model year, but it’s still not a requirement for semis and busses. But that could soon be changing, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed requiring the technology on all new large commercial trucks, motorcoaches, and other large buses.
While big rigs and their brethren are often available with stability control, the rule would make the feature standard, with manufacturers given between two and four years to comply. NHTSA says the change in policy could save about 50 lives a year, and prevent over 2,300 crashes. Further, research into the effectiveness of stability control systems in preventing rollover crashes shows that over half of all such accidents could be prevented by adopting it.
We will cop to having arrived at work suffering from memory loss, but never from hitting a moose. At least not that we can remember, anyway.
It’s a story that verily defines “news of the weird,” courtesy of CNN: A Canadian woman not only hit a moose with her car on her way to work, she drove some 25 miles after the collision, unaware that she had struck the beast. But this was no glancing blow. The force of the impact killed the moose, but not before it had shattered the windshield and peeled back the roof of the Michelle Higgins’ .
The woman was traveling on the Trans-Canada Highway in Newfoundland, according to the report, when the accident occurred. When Higgins arrived at work – on time, mind you – she had blood streaming down her face and was unaware of what had transpired. Her injuries included two broken bones in her neck, bruises, a hoof print on her forehead… and memory loss. to watch the remarkable video report from CNN.
Long before unveiled the Urus concept for its new SUV at the last month, we got two chances to preview the show truck: once at the factory in Italy and once at a private preview in New York. The Italian automaker’s development chief Maurizio Reggiani wasn’t prepared to talk about powertrain options at the time, but in speaking with Automotive News, he’s now given us a hint of what to expect should the Group board give the project the green light.
As expected, the Urus would have to be based on the same platform that is slated to underpin the next , , and Bentley EXP 9 F (if similarly approved) in order to make good business sense. Unfortunately, that new PL73 architecture is made principally of steel, a material that Lamborghini has been getting away from in favor of new types of carbon fiber construction. In order to keep weight down – Lambo is targeting 4,400 lbs for the Urus, significantly less than its potential competitors – it would need to make other components out of carbon to compensate.
That covers the mass side of the power-to-weight ratio that is integral to any performance vehicle. As for the power, Reggiani says the company has yet to make a final decision. The last time Lamborghini made an SUV – the legendary LM002 “Rambo Lambo” – it was powered by the same high-revving V12 as the Countach, lending to speculation that the Urus could incorporate the new V12 from the or the V10 from the . Reggiani, however, indicates that the new twin-turbo V8 powering the latest RS models and the Continental is a more likely choice, given that it would help keep weight down and provide more low-end torque than the naturally-aspired 10 or 12-pots the Raging Bull marque currently produces for its sports cars.
The auto industry has long been a cyclical business, and though this last trough was a deep one, the coming boom has economists excited. According to Bloomberg, the auto industry’s comeback contributed fully half of the 2.2 percent national economic growth in the first quarter of this year. , the best pace in four years.
Production is up at all three domestic carmakers, which has a ripple effect throughout the economy. Bloomberg cites Chad Moutray, chief economist of the National Association of Manufacturers, who estimates that every dollar spent on a new vehicle leads to an addition $2.02 in economic activity. The industry’s share of gross domestic product for the quarter was 2.8 percent, which is nearly as high as it was in 2007, before the economic crisis that devastated the industry, according to the report.
Yet despite the rise in fortunes for carmakers, stock prices have yet to follow suit. A key automotive index is up just 1.5 percent so far this year, but is down 31 percent in the past 12 months, according to the report. The U.S. Treasury Department recently indicated that because of lagging stock prices, anytime soon.
If you thought has expanded its range of luxury automobiles to gargantuan proportions, well… you’re right. But its commercial vehicles division hasn’t been missing a step, either. The German truckmaker is still in the process of launching the new Citan urban delivery van, and is already working on its next offering to the truckers of the world: the Antos.
Designed from the get-go as a short-radius distribution truck, the Antos pioneers a new class of maneuverable and versatile workhorse. Still in the development phase, the Antos will be revealed in full at the Commercial Vehicle IAA this coming September, at which point it will be made available in a staggering array of configurations. Mercedes-Benz plans to offer the Antos in two cab styles, with no fewer than thirteen powertrain options (ranging from 238 horsepower up to 510) and a whopping 67 wheelbase lengths to make it almost infinitely adaptable to whatever use its owners and operators have in mind.
The possibilities with a truck like this are virtually endless, extending to refrigerator boxes, flat beds, high cubes and beyond. to read more about it in the full press release.
-Benz launching new Antos short-radius distribution truck
Thankfully, Truck Nuts have proven to be more fad than fashion, but that hasn’t stopped a few truck owners from donning the hitch-mounted clock weights. Those who continue to hold their Truck Nuts near and dear should keep in mind that South Carolina law enforcement is having none of it.
The Smoking Gun reports that one Joe Cervantes-Rodriquez recently spent a night in jail thanks to his flesh-colored pickup balls. A Spartanburg County Sherrif’s Office deputy spotted the Truck Nuts during a patrol and decided to pull over the driver.
For the Truck Nuts, Cervantes-Rodriquez was given a warning citation; for not having a driver’s license he spent the night in jail-an experience that would likely have been avoided were it not for the “obscene object” that triggered the traffic stop, which was described as being the size of a softball and anatomically correct.
Cervantes-Rodriquez was released from jail after posting a $237.50 bond. We’d guess that he’s since removed the Truck Nuts.
April showers may result in May’s flowers, but it didn’t result in great car sales numbers.
Overall, only climbed 2.3 percent compared to April 2011, leaving some carmakers and observers scratching their head. Of course, the raw numbers, as provided by AutoData Corp., also note that there were three fewer selling days due to that occasional month with five Sundays in it. Imagine the pain people paid on the 1st and 15th had to endure?
So the numbers may not be as bad as a first glance might suggest, and in my opinion, the slow pace of growth is better for automakers. Rather than big ups and downs that leave dealerships empty of popular vehicles and overstocked with others, a steady mild increase means it’s easier to match production to demand.
But there are plenty of outliers in the pages of spreadsheets when you look inside the numbers. So here are the 10 things I think I know about the auto industry based on April’s sales.
Bloomberg reports that if U.S. auto sales continue at their current pace, 2012 will mark the best year for the industry since 2007. The news comes after word that both and have slimmed or entirely eliminated the traditional summer shutdown at their manufacturing facilities to keep pace with demand.
All told, sales may reach 14.3 million cars and light trucks, according to analysts, thanks to factors like a gradually improving economy and easier credit. If the pace continues, 2012 will mark the third year of 10-percent gains, which marks only the fourth time that’s happened since the Great Depression.
Car sales stalled in 2008, and 2009 saw manufacturers move just 10.4 million units. As Bloomberg points out, that’s the lowest number since 1982, but buyers took home 11.6 million vehicles in 2010 and 12.8 million in 2011. The industry saw a 10.3-percent increase through the first four months of this year. As a result, General Motors, Ford and have adjusted their yearly sales forecasts accordingly.
Hiring a lawyer is like hiring a hitman. Except it’s not against the law. A lawyer’s job is to exert your will on your legal opponent – and on the legal system itself. So it should come as no surprise to see this evolution of distracted driving case law: The victims of a traffic accident have filed a lawsuit against both the motorist and the woman he was texting with when he caused the crash, according to the Huffington Post.
Let’s just state for the record that we have no horse in this race, which is not unlike any other personal injury suit in which the plaintiff’s attorney rounds up anyone and everyone that might be named as a defendant. The difference here, however, is that this is the first time we’re aware of someone being accused of being an accomplice to the breaking of distracted driving laws and causing a crash without even being in the car.
The driver, Kyle Best, a 19-year-old at the time of the accident, has already pled guilty to three violations of New Jersey law, including using a mobile phone while driving, careless driving, and leaving his lane, according to the report. Best hit a couple on a motorcycle with his pickup truck, resulting in both the man and woman losing their left legs. At the time, Best was exchanging text messages with Shannon Colonna, according to phone records.
The couple’s lawyer is arguing that Colonna knew she was texting Best while he was driving, and that her behavior is no different than if she had been having a conversation with him in the car, according to the report. Her attorney, however, maintains that she can’t be liable for the driver’s decision to read the text when it was not safe to do so and that she . The judge in the case is expected to decide whether Colonna can be included in the suit on May 25, according to the report.
Certainly this case is a complicated one, and could have broad ramifications on distracted driving lawsuits as well as . If the plaintiffs’ attorney is successful in bringing the texting woman into the suit, we can certainly expect that lawyers in other states which have texting bans will follow their lead.
Most General Motors dealers make their living off selling pickup trucks. (That’s why when it came time to trim the brands and reorganize under bankruptcy, survived and didn’t – because dealers needed to have a truck to sell, not a .) That makes this year a tricky one for dealers, according to Automotive News, as they need to have enough or models in stock to get them to the 2013 model year.
What makes this quandary different from most years is that GM is readying all-new pickups, meaning that it will be . The full-size and GMC trucks date to 2006, making them the oldest in the industry that don’t wear a badge on their tailgate. Dealers, of course, don’t want to be caught with many 2012 trucks – vehicles that are already difficult enough to sell – but they don’t want inventories to run completely dry and risk turning away customers.
With a combined 29 weeks of downtime scheduled for three truck plans, according to the report, some dealers are stockpiling pickups to avoid running out if the truck production pipeline dries up before the 2013s start shipping. Other dealers are taking the opposite strategy, turning down 2012s and waiting for next year’s models.
Given all that has happened to GM in recent years, we imagine that most dealers know altogether too well that you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
