Car News Articles

With all of the financial strife in the auto industry, I’ve been thinking about a solution where the Big Three automakers merge. Here are the best features that I’d want to take from each company’s lineup of cars:

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We thought things were bad when General Motors announced it was delaying incentive payments to dealers by two weeks (ten more days, hang tight guys). As usual, it gets worse. We now hear from Automotive News [sub] that GM is using its November Re-Consensus Dealer Cash Program to dump more inventory on its hapless dealers. An undisclosed formula determines eligibility for GM’s dealer incentive program, the gist of which is the less inventory you have, the more you have to order to receive incentive cash. Seems fair, right? Don’t worry, it’s not. Forbes reports that Detroit dealers are actually carrying historically low inventories, but that “days on hand” is what’s killing them. And now those (relatively) low inventory numbers are what GM is using to foist their cars on the dealers. A Montana dealer with a 365-day supply was asked to take only one Malibu sedan and one Silverado to get $3,000 dealer cash on his 2008 and 2009 models of the Traverse crossover, Tahoe and Suburban SUVs, and Impala sedan and $2,000 on Cobalt compact cars. But if you have less than 365 days worth of inventory (and in this market, who knows how long it will take to actually work through that much) you are going to be ordering more cars to get the cash… or watch your sales go to another dealer who does.

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Meta media mining can make one a bummed-out blogger. I know I kinda lost it with the AutoWeek/Danbury pimpatorial. But I have this deep-seated sense of fair play that I can’t shake any more than an Amish person and their booty. If you want to know the engine propelling this site’s editorial, it’s my conviction that people deserve the truth. I’m not saying they want the truth. If there was a great hunger for unvarnished automotive editorial, we’d be one of many websites devoted to skewering four-wheeled sacred cows– despite the malevolent influence of automotive PR. Of course, that would also mean that we’d have less meta media mishegos to mine for our… minions? No, the Best and Brightest. We here at TTAC never forget the first part of that title. We know that the majority of our readers are motivated by a personal morality that compels them to do, see, discover and discuss the right thing. In these dangerous times for our economy and society, we must continue to tell the truth about cars, car making, car selling and car buying. And let the chips fall where they may.

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The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) spends more than $10m a year on public affairs. Using documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the San Antonio Express News found TxDOT assigned 63 employees to the Government and Public Affairs division, at an annual cost of $6.5m. Another 67 employees perform “media relations” duties, at a cost of $4m per year. The employee count does not include private contractors hired as lobbyists paid to wine and dine lawmakers in the hopes of landing earmarks, a controversial tactic that spawned at least one lawsuit. These efforts– indeed, the majority of TxDOT’s PR activities– have been primarily aimed at promoting toll roads. Last year, the agency delivered a report to the Texas legislature entitled “Forward Momentum,” designed to convince federal officials to give TxDOT the authority to toll existing freeways. Massive public protests, most prominently against the Trans-Texas Corridor, forced TxDOT to change tactics. Since May, they’ve backed off from promoting tolling as the solution to Texas’ transportation problems.

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On April 1st, 2008 significant modifications to road safety regulations in the Canadian provinces of Québec and Nova Scotia went into effect. CTV.ca reports that handheld cellular phones are now verboten while at the wheel, though hands free devices are still tolerated. Nova Scotia will begin ticketing the offense immediately, while Québec has allowed for a three-month grace periods in which offenders will only receive stern warnings and moralizing sermons. The first offense in Nova Scotia will cost $165, while costing $80-$110 and three demerit points in Québec. Still not satisfied, road safety advocate Jean-Marie de Koeninck argues that “[h]ands-free is just as dangerous. (But) by forbidding the hand-held it does send a signal that there is a problem with the cellphone, there’s a problem with concentration”. Meanwhile, the same traffic safety bill in Québec also doubled all speeding fines , with new suspension of license provisions for those caught traveling at 40 km/h over the limit in under-60 zones, 50 km/h in 60-90 over zones, and 60 km/h over in 100+ zones. All in the name of safety, presumably.

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Schmaltz: it’s not just for matzo balls any more. Consurmeraffairs.com reports that researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a method of converting chicken fat into biodiesel, with a yield in excess of 89 percent. Most biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils. With the exception of home-brewed biodiesel made from used fast food fry oil, vegetable oils are more expensive to produce than petro-diesel because of the high cost of farm production (including petro-chemical based fertilizers). The new process converts chicken fat, a byproduct of Arkansas’ thriving poultry industry, into biodiesel in one step, using methanol under high temperatures and pressures. So far there’s no talk of turning it into a commercial process, but it may not be too long before your exhaust smells more like your Bubbe’s kitchen than a truck stop. 

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As they say in the world of entertainment, ‘that’s a wrap’. Well, nearly. Tonight is the last night of Top Gear Live in London. But dry those tears, TG fans, and perk yourselves up. The show is going global, starting in sunny Birmingham on 13 November. After that, it’s going properly abroad, with shows in Dublin, Jo’burg, Sydney, Auckland and Hong Kong.

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