By James Wong

There seems to a slew of global onslaughts upon car ownership. Undeniably, we are faced almost universally with higher gasoline prices. But in some cities, gasoline is the least of a motorist’s problems: high crime rates and fraudulent claims have driven insurance premiums to unthinkable levels. In others, you are even charged for entering certain zones in town. We at Autosavant thought it would be meaningful, tongue-in-cheek, to let our readers know just how draconian some cities can be towards car ownership. So here’s a peek into some of the nastiest places to own a car. The list isn’t exhaustive, of course.

Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

Several of us here at Autosavant are members of various organizations for automotive journalists.  The organizations, such as the one I belong to – IMPA (short for International Motor Press Association) – serve the purpose of connecting journalists (both print and online, in most cases) with PR people and manufacturers.  Also, a journalist who is a member of IMPA or other auto-journalist organizations who reaches out to an automaker can at least give some comfort to the manufacturer that the person they’re talking to actually has some bona-fides and is not a fly-by-night blogger sitting in his parents’ basement.  We’re fly-by-night bloggers sitting in our own basements, but who take this hobby seriously and value our professional reputations.

Continue Reading

By James Wong

Toyota once again had the FT-86 on its podium at the Frankfurt IAA 2011. Despite having numerous showings in many motor shows before, the car still attracted a fair bit of attention. But there is this lingering sense of everybody asking the same question: ‘When is Toyota going to build it?’

Continue Reading

By James Wong

Having spent countless hours being glued to the computer screen and entering details onto insurance price comparison websites (and then getting ridiculous quotes), I felt I should share with the rest of the community the plight of some drivers who are paying unreasonably huge premiums on their auto insurance.

Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

As a fan of diversity and healthy competition in the global automobile industry, it’s not easy to write this.  I think there would be nothing better than a healthy, self-sustaining Saab, pumping out the new 9-5 sedan (and soon, a 9-5 SportCombi), GM-built 9-4x crossover, and new Saab-developed models such as the next-generation 9-3 and a potential smaller 9-2.  However, the reality is that Saab is an extremely sick company, one that hasn’t buit a car in five months (and therefore has no incoming cashflow) and whose short-term existence is dependent upon the good graces of the Chinese government in approving investments of Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. in the struggling Swedish automaker.

Continue Reading

By Kevin Gordon

I constantly find myself cringing when I am at a car dealership and I witness the following happen: Kenny “The Sap” Consumer walks into his local Honda dealership and is greeted by “slippery” Sam the salesman. Kenny says he is interested in a Honda Pilot, one “with the DVD system”. Sam the salesmen says that he thinks he might have one or two of those available, but immediately begins to explain how popular they are. Both people walk off to make a copy of Kenny’s license and Kenny the poor sap has taken his first steps towards paying thousands more than he needs to when purchasing a car.

Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

Paging through the September 2011 issue of Automobile magazine today, I was looking at an ad for the new Chrysler 300 that had the tagline, “Luxury Feels Better Earned,” and I really liked the message.  If you’ve worked hard in your life and come into some measure of success, it probably feels better to treat yourself to some luxuries.  In contrast to “trust fund babies,” hard-working folks who put in the time in their chosen profession probably have a better appreciation for where they’ve come from and how arduous it was to get to their current station in life.

Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

From the moment it was first displayed, Volkwagen executives have gone to great lengths to point out that the new Beetle (not the New Beetle, mind you) will appeal much more to male buyers than did the previous model.  Of course, when the Beetle’s first publicity stunt is a giveaway on Oprah, I’m not sure how serious VW is about boosting the testosterone levels of their classically-shaped hatchback.

Nonetheless, even the press release makes no bones about the company’s intent to shift Beetle buyer demographics from a 65/35 female/male split to something closer to 50/50:

Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

Gadget blog Gizmodo had a post yesterday entitled, “The Gadgetization of Cars is Kind of Ruining Them.”  As a lover of both cars and gadgets, as well as cars with gadgets, I took interest in the article. In it, author Mat Honan discusses a recent JD Power and Associates press release that dinged US automakers for high-tech, hard to use navigation systems that consumers called a “design defect,” and therefore lowered IQS scores according to Power.

Gadgets, if done well, are excellent and improve the experience and customer satisfaction. JD Power is not really a reliable gauge of quality, because it lets car buyers ding their cars for “quality problems” even though the things are working as designed. The issue is that the design is poor – like MyFord Touch. MyFord Touch is a cool concept, but a capacitive touch interface without any tactile feedback means you have to take your attention off the road and look at the location of the button, aim your finger carefully, then wait for Ford’s laggy, bug-filled processor to catch up to you.  The reality of MyFord Touch doesn’t live up to its hype, and Ford knows it – and is hopefully addressing it post-haste.

Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

The Japanese Automobile Manufacturer’s Association (JAMA) and the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions (CJAWU) released a joint statement yesterday demanding that the Japanese government take immediate steps to reduce the strength of the yen.  The current exchange rate between the yen and dollar is about ¥80 per $1 USD.  Three years ago, it was ¥110 per $1 USD, so it’s gained 27 percent on the dollar in a fairly short timeframe.  (A lower yen-per-dollar number means a stronger yen.)

Continue Reading