By James Wong

06.22.2009

I had the privilege that few young boys would ever enjoy. At a tender age of 18, I started to shop around for my first car. The biggest irony perhaps is that I never got to test drive any of these cars which I went to see, simply because I hadn’t gotten my driving license yet. A late birthday, examinations and enlisting to the army meant that I had to delay all of my driving lessons till much later than I had hoped. That didn’t stop me from enjoying these cars as a passionate enthusiast, however – my dad as my mentor and my greatest friend came with me and we test drove the cars together. This allowed me to experience the cars from a passenger’s point of view, which tells more about a car than one would believe.

First day with the car.

I wrote many “first drive” reviews for my own pleasure then, about cars which I ‘test drove’ with my dad, because, as I stated above, I still did not have my driver’s licence. I was just beginning to do what I love (wrtiting about cars) as an amateur and nobody could stop me. One car in the midst of it all caught my eye for its attractive price, gorgeous looks and performance. The car in question is the first-generation MX-5 from Mazda. Continue Reading

By Brendan Moore

O6.19.2009

The United States Senate passed the long-awaited Cash-For-Clunkers bill yesterday, sending it to President Barack Obama, who will probably sign it immediately. President Obama has fought hard to get the bill passed in Congress.

Champions of the bill are hoping it will spur auto sales, with the side benefit of reducing vehicle emissions. The auto industry is focusing on the stimulus to sales, and environmental groups are interested in the reduction of vehicle emissions.

Carl Levin, the Deomocratic senator from Michigan, and a staunch supporter of the domestic auto industry, stated, “This program will provide a much-needed boost to the struggling auto industry, including manufacturers, dealers, suppliers and other related industries.”

It also will “encourage consumers to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles,” he said.

The program would kick off 30 days after the president signs it, and is limited to a total expenditure of $1 billion USD and expires October 1, no matter what else happens. Continue Reading

By Brendan Moore

06.18.2009

A new auto manufacturer has decided to build their new environmentally-friendly car in a former GM plant in Monroe, Louisiana. The company, supported by the millions (billions?) of T. Boone Pickens and employing Tom Matano, the former head of design at Mazda, is expected to employ about 1400 workers at the plant.

Louisiana state and local parish (no counties in Louisiana) officials have assembled an incentive package worth about $67 million, which will expand and revamp the factory. Federal assistance will come in the form of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration’s contribution of as much as $5 million for rail and infrastructure improvements. The new company also has applied for engineering and manufacturing loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program. Continue Reading

Odds and Ends about Cars and the Car Business

By Brendan Moore

06.17.2009

BOB LUTZ says it could be decades before GM overcomes it’s “reputational deficit”. He says that GM has overcome it’s fuel economy and quality deficits, but it may takes several generations of models before the consumers trust the brand as much as other brands. Lutz recently joked about GM products of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s as “brilliantly executed mediocrity.” He stated that his biggest hope is that his tenure as product development chief is “the whole organization understands there’s no such thing as good enough when it comes to product.” This is probably correct – I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had about GM with regular citizens that quickly veer off into their story of a Pontiac or Buick that was manufactured in Hell, and never would run right, no matter what the Mr. Goodwrench boys did. They’re not interested in GM’s new product; they’re still suffering from the stings of previous ownership of a 1986 Pontiac 6000 LE.

QATAR, the oil-rich country in the Mid East, will decide in the next three weeks whether they want to invest in Porsche, says their prime minister. “We are still discussing the stake. According to the legal agreement between the two parties, neither of them is allowed to disclose any information about it before it is sealed,” the Gulf Times quoted Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani as saying. Porsche racked up a $12.5 billion USD debt in their failed effort to take over Volkswagen. VW essentially told Porsche to get lost because Porsche already had too much debt when they started the takeover process. Qatar’s proposed stake in Porsche is assumed to be around 25%. For those of you that are unaware of the Arab States’ reach into the German auto manufacturer sector, Abu Dhabi’s investment entity, bought a 9.1% stake in Daimler in March, which makes it the largest shareholder. The second-largest shareholder is Kuwait. Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

06.16.2009

We reported last Fridaythat Saab was likely to be sold to Koenigsegg, the Swedish boutique supercar maker, and that news is now confirmed, with the exception of the actual sale price.  (For those keeping score at home, GM has not disclosed the sale price of Hummer, Saab, or Saturn at this point).

While it’s exciting to see Saab remaining in Swedish hands, the fact that tiny Koenigsegg was chosen as the winning bidder is nothing short of remarkable.  As we said last week, the company had an output of 15 cars in 2007 and increased that to 18 cars in 2008.  It only has 45 employees.  While Saab is a small automaker – likely too small to continue independently – it sold about 93,295 cars worldwide last year and has about 3,400 employees.  So, assuming that Saab sales volume in 2009 was flat compared to 2008 (which it’s not – it’s way down), Koenigsegg would be increasing production by about 518,000% and would increase its workforce by about 75,000%. Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

06.16.2009

On the occasion of the posting of our 150th new-vehicle review very early this morning, we thought it was time for a reminder of how Autosavant can help you as you consider the purchase of your next vehicle – whether it is to be a new car or a used car.

New Car Reviews
You can find our archive of new-vehicle reviews at http://www.autosavant.com/reviews/.   The total of 150 reviews includes mostly week-long evaluations of manufacturer-provided press vehicles, but also “first drives” at media events, rentals of relevant vehicles, and even the occasional dealership test drive if one of us were actually shopping for a new vehicle, as I did 18 months ago when it was time to buy a family hauler.

Used Car Bargains
You can find our Used Cars site at http://usedcars.autosavant.net/.  On that site, you’ll find a discussion of the latest good-but-cheap used cars – vehicles that are generally good ones but may have fallen out of favor with the buying public.  Someone else’s new-car depreciation hit is your bargain. Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

06.16.2009

While we have not yet had the luxury of a week-long press loan of the all-new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, we are still managing to sneak in as much seat time as possible at various media events.  Roger Boylan had Autosavant’s first drive of a 2010 Camaro SS at the Austin Auto Show last month, and a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity for our first drive in a V6-powered Camaro.  Sadly, the V6/automatic combo is just about the least-sporting variant of the Camaro possible, but hey, at least it had a 304-horsepower engine, six forward speeds, and even shift paddles.  This isn’t a 90-horsepower four cylinder base car as the 1982 Camaro sported.

The Camaro is a really good looking car in person.  I’m a big fan of its shape.  Not only does it have a look of a F-22 fighter jet crossed with a 1969 first-generation Camaro, but also looks remarkably similar to the silver concept car that first made its debut at the 2006 NAIAS in Detroit and has been relentlessly hyped by GM for the past 3 1/2 years.  The aggressive stance, chopped roofline, and large wheels are all carried over intact from the concept (the huge wheels are optional or dealer-installed).  The heritage styling cues are all still there, but it’s also most certainly a 21st-century design. Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

06.15.2009

General Motors will have a new Chairman of the Board when it exits Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which will likely occur sometime after August 31.  Former Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner held both roles during the last several years of his tenure with the automaker, but with Wagoner’s exit from the executive suite, his job was split into two – Fritz Henderson took over as President and CEO, and Kent Kresa (already a board member) took over as Interim Chairman.  The new Chairman will be former  AT&T Chairman and CEO Edward E. Whitacre, Jr.

The 67-year old Whitacre, who retired from AT&T in 2007 after a 43-year career and with a huge retirement package (Bloomberg reports that it was worth $158.5 million), is coming out of retirement “as a public service,” in his own words.  Many business analysts have lauded Whitacre’s selection because he will bring a fresh outsider’s perspective on GM’s myriad problems – and in particularits insular corporate culture, which frowns upon dissent and loves the status quo, even if that status quo has led us to where we are today, where the government owns 60% of a once-proud American institution.

Still other auto industry analysts – the “car guys,” mostly – are more than a little alarmed by Whitacre’s confession earlier this week that he didn’t “know anything about cars.”  He went on to say, “A business is a business, and I think I can learn about cars. I’m not that old, and I think the business principles are the same.” Continue Reading

By Brendan Moore

06.12.2009

The badly-kept secret in Sweden this week has been the rumor that GM is selling Saab to Koenigsegg, a small Swedish manufacturer of supercars. The rumor reached the rest of the world yesterday, and the current chatter is that his deal will be announced today.

GM took the step yesterday of stating that Koenigsegg is the preferred bidder for Saab.

“Unidentified sources” say that GM picked Koenigsegg to buy the insolvent Saab because the company is both Swedish and an actual auto manufacturer, even if their production volumes are small.

How small? Well, in 2007, they had a production capacity of around 15 units a year. No, I didn’t leave out a number. In 2008, their production capacity was reportedly increased by 100%, up to 30 units a year. Koenigsegg makes high-strung, high-horsepower (as much as 800 hp), 200 mph+ supercars, a product category dramatically different than the one Saab inhabits currently.

Koenigsegg has also had some financial issues in the recent past. It’s worth pointing that Fiat did as well, almost declaring bankruptcy not so long ago, and now they own Chrysler.

There is an actual Koenigsegg, and that is Christian Von Koenigsegg, the young and very wealthy owner, and, CEO of Koenigsberg.

It is thought that GM is offering Koenigsegg a “lease-to-own” type of financial arrangement, that is, Koenigsegg gets Saab with very little money up front, and then pays GM back the purchase price as Saab is successful. GM is going to provide $500 million in assets and cash, plus production equipment for a new Saab model as well as $150 million of cash already in Saab’s account.

The other two bidders on the short list for Saab are two investment groups from the US. Neither group has automotive experience.

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By Andy Bannister

06.12.2009

Some 50 years on from its original appearance, the BMC Mini is acknowledged as one of the landmark cars of the century, with its name and some of its spirit living on in the latest models to carry the famous badge.

The Mini’s creator, Sir Alec Issigonis, is frequently lauded as a genius, but few remember the last production car he designed, consciously labelled the Austin Maxi to trade on the family connection.

If the Mini was a miracle of space efficiency in a small package, the Maxi was a family five-seater that took interior space to a new dimension. It was one of Europe’s pioneering hatchbacks and lasted 12 years, but in commercial terms was an almost total failure.

Launched in a blaze of publicity in Portugal in 1969, the Maxi was the first car unveiled after the merger of BMC and Leyland-Triumph to form the ill-fated British Leyland. It should have been a world-beater for a company with big ambitions to stamp its mark on the global stage.

Front-wheel-drive with five doors and a five-speed gearbox, the Maxi had the credentials and pedigree to herald a bright new future for the British motor industry. There were wildly ambitious plans to sell hundreds of thousands every year, just like its little brother.

Continue Reading