Car News Articles

Most of us first heard of Chery in 2004 when the Chinese automaker’s QQ minicar was accused of being a copy of  GM’s Daewoo-developed Matiz, pretty much right down to the last spot weld. Attempts to sue Chery failed to gain traction in Chinese courts. At one point Chinese officials claimed they could find no evidence Chery had copied a GM car, even though the doors on the QQ were interchangeable with those of the Matiz. GM dropped the case in 2005 after having reached a settlement with Chery, apparently with the encouragement of the Chinese government.

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DETROIT — The latest numbers on auto sales show that Chrysler needs to quickly figure out how to navigate the car market as deftly as it did bankruptcy court. Ford's Fusion midsize car outsold all eight Chrysler brand models combined in June. Only one Chrysler Group LLC model showed a sales increase over June of last year, the Dodge Challenger muscle car.

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Familiar Territory; Dooce.com 
Heather Armstrong has an uber-successful blog, and she just gave birth to her second child, Marlo. Her life sounds perfect, but cracks are starting to appear. After the birth of her first daughter, Heather struggled with postpartum depression and ultimately checked into a hospital to get help. Of course, she blogged about the experience and recently wrote a book about it, too. A few days after Marlo’s birth, she started having panic attacks. Heather and her husband immediately sought help. Now, she’s under a doctor’s care and feeling better. It’s incredibly brave of Heather to share her postpartum struggles, and we’re all better for it.

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The Department of Transportation (DOT) has fired-up its Cash4Clunkers website. I would have thought the bill’s nickname would have been ideal for the job, but then I’m not a public servant. And so the feds present its brand new website with a new name: CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System). Definitely a case of not leaving well enough alone. To wit: a button on cars.gov asking “How will CARS work”. Apropos of nothing, the site also has a strange FAQ: “I don’t drive an American car but I would like to trade in my old car for a newer, more fuel efficient one. Is this program only for American cars?” Now why would anyone think that? More CARS after the jump.

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Because it wants to, Buick is headed upmarket. Because it has to, Cadillac is headed downmarket. Who wins? Not GM. An Epsilon II, FWD/AWD Cadillac isn’t going to have the phrase “standard of the world” tripping off anyone’s tongue. And since GM exists at the pleasure of the politicians, it doesn’t seem likely that Cadillac will ever get around to making the huge investments in opulence that it would need to regain its former glory. And besides an aging CTS and a “2005 called and wants its SUV back” Escalade, what is Cadillac again? Some days it’s a good day to die. Some days it’s a good day to record a podcast.

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According to Time magazine, a federal highway bill moving through congress would require mandatory breathalyzer ignition interlocks be placed on all cars belonging to DUI convicts. The interlocks would require the driver to pass a blood-alcohol level breath test before an equipped vehicle can be started. Currently several states require interlocks for citizens convicted of DUIs, while others require them only for repeat offenders. The highway bill would block federal infrastructure funds to any state that does not approve mandatory interlock laws. Mandatory interlocks have been a hotly-debated topic for some time, but few had expected the old highway-funding canard to be warmed up for the battle.

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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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I’m heading down to the south coast this afternoon for a Fiat 500C (the convertible) press launch event.  Should be a good opportunity to hear about the car (and drive it) as well as get an update on how Fiat is doing in the UK. Fiat has put quite a bit of effort into transforming its UK dealer network in recent years (Fiat’s UK dealers were, to put it mildly, under performers). Is it getting the desired results? Hopefully, I can also ask someone at the sharp end about the UK car scrappage scheme - which is attracting some criticism in the industry.

Hope the fine weather holds.

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