By Brendan Moore

It probably seems unusual and frankly, perhaps even bizarre to some people, considering what I do here AND the current political climate, but I am an advocate of higher gasoline taxes. I’ve been pushing for an increase in the federal gas tax for decades, actually, and I occasionally reference this in the articles I’ve written for Autosavant, and sometimes, I write a piece about that subject specifically, like this one I wrote in 2006.

Anyway, other people have noticed my quixotic efforts, and last week, I was invited to defend my point of view on today’s The Joy Cardin Show on Wisconsin Public Radio, which was broadcast live this morning at 7 AM Central Time (much too early in the day for anything, in my opinion, but what do I know). The opposing point of view, that is, the notion that the federal gas tax should not be raised, was offered by Robert Murphy, economist for the Institute for Energy Research. It already sounds like quite a mismatch, doesn’t it?

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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

02.27.2009

Already-reeling Saab had to halt production this past week when a wrinkle occurred between a supplier of parts imported to Sweden and Swedish customs.  Originally, the news indicated that the issue was between Saab and Swedish customs, but apparently, the issue has been resolved.  Still to be resolved is a “considerable” sum of money for spare parts and inventories in two customs-operated warehouses.  This sum is due to be paid no later than March 4, or apparently, production would have to again halt.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally, in spite of not agreeing to work for $1 per year as GM CEO Rick Wagoner and Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli have done, has agreed to a 30% pay cut for 2009 and 2010 in an effort to win concessions from hourly workers represented by the UAW.  Further, Ford has eliminated performance bonuses for salaried employees and senior executives in 2009.  Ford’s Board of Directors also decided to forgo any cash compensation during 2009.  Mulally took home $21.67 million in 2007, most of which was in the form of equity awards and bonuses (includign a sign-on bonus to replace compensation that he left on the table when he departed Boeing).

General Motors had about as bad a week in terms of financial news as could be imagined.  On top of the news of Saab’s reorganization (also known as bankruptcy), GM announced that it’s slashing its marketing/incentive budget by $800 million in 2009.  That move surely won’t mean new GM cars and trucks will be flying off dealer lots.  Then GM’s European subsidiary saw its annual loss in 2008 quadruple over its 2007 results, to a pretax loss of $1.6 billion (from a $55 million profit a year earlier).  Then GM announced its fourth quarter results, in which it burned through $5.2 billion in cash and posted a $30.9 billion loss for the year and a $9.6 billion loss for the fourth quarter alone.  The annual loss was the second-worst net loss in GM’s 100-year history, behind only the $38.7 billion loss in 2007, just one year earlier.  Finally, GM announced that its auditors are reviewing whether the company is viable enough to be considered a “going concern.”  If its outside auditors rule that it is not, then the company would be in violation of some of its debt covenants.  Not a good week for GM. Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

12.15.2008

Editor’s Note:  Last week, I was briefly interviewed by Fasttie.com, the Car Review Search Engine, on my thoughts on the best and worst cars of 2008, the prospects for the auto industry bailout, and what predictions I might have for 2009.  They published the interview today, so I thought I’d excerpt it here.

You can find the full interview by clicking on the headline below.

The Auto Bailout, 2009 Predictions, and the Best Car of the Year – An Interview with Chris Haak of Autosavant

The company that built your car may be going bankrupt, your car magazine is filled with advertisements, and you need some good predictions for 2009, what the heck is going on here? Luckily, Chris Haak from Autosavant steps up to the plate in this latest interview.  Autosavant has a lot of original content that you cannot find elsewhere, so Chris brings a unique perspective to the issues of the day.  For instance, a lot of (virtual) ink has been spent on the union aspect of the auto bailout, but Chris discusses a point that may be as crucial, namely compliance with multi-state emissions regulations.  Keep reading for more great insight from Chris. Continue Reading

By Brendan Moore

12.11.2008

The Red Flag, a Chinese car produced for state officials from the 1950’s until the 1970’s, was unveiled yesterday at the Blackhawk Auto Museum in California. The car was obtained by Blackhawk as a result of an unprecedented trade of classic cars between China and the United States. It marks the first time that this type of cultural exchange has occurred between the two countries.

Don Williams, Blackhawk Museum President and owner of the prestigious Blackhawk Collection stated, “This exchange represents cultural and automotive history as a collector car has never left China before, nor has China been able to purchase collector cars from outside the country”.

So, this is kind of a big deal in the collector car community.

The subject of the unveiling, the Red Flag, is a big deal, too. In fact, it’s a massive car. The photos do not do its sheer size justice – think a late Fifties Cadillac Sixty Series parade car, and you’ll get the general idea of the length and girth of the car, although if I had to sum up the looks of the car, I would say it’s a pastiche of the largest Ford and Chrysler cars of its era. The might of the Chinese people was truly represented by the Red Flag. Continue Reading

By Brendan Moore

10.07.2008

After the press days last week in Paris at the 2008 Paris Auto Show, I had a lot of information from the various manufacturers to go through, as well as the photos and notes I myself took during the show. There are a couple of cars I want to focus on in separate articles shortly, but here are some general observations about the show.

Besides the ever-present diesels, there are electric cars and electric-gas hybrid vehicles everywhere at the show this year. There are also a lot of gasoline-powered, tiny urban cars. Many of the cars in all three of these non-diesel categories are from small specialty car manufacturers, who, sensing a market vacuum, have rushed in with a product to fill that vacuum. A fair amount of the very small cars from specialty carmakers were very challenged in the looks department.

The small cars as a group were drawing large crowds of journalists. The new Ford Ka, the electric Smart car, the Toyota iQ, the Chevrolet Volt, the Mitsubishi MiEV, the Nissan Nuvu, and, of course, the new Honda Insight, had standing room only around the cars during press days. Smaller manufacturers’ efforts were drawing well, too, with the Pininfarina-Bolloré joint electric car project due in 2009 completely mobbed by journalists, although the mob effect was probably amplified considerably by the fact that they were in a very small room. And the Venturi Eclectic was getting a lot of foot traffic when I visited there.

There were also a great many suppliers at the 2008 Paris Auto Show hawking various types of alternative energy or alternative fuel products. As an example, I spent some time with a French vendor there who was selling ethanol conversion kits for the European market. He had a 2007 Ford Mustang on his stand that had undergone such a conversion. When I told him that General Motors produced over six million OEM vehicles able to run on ethanol or gasoline, this was news to him. In fact, it is a safe statement to say that he was stunned at the production numbers. When I then added that very few of the vehicles ever got to run on ethanol because there were no fueling stations that offered ethanol in most parts of the U.S., he was puzzled. I didn’t have the time or the French language skills to explain the inanity of CAFE regulations to him, so I gave him my best Gallic shrug when he asked why so many cars would be built to use fuel that you couldn’t buy. Conversely, I was surprised at how many ethanol stations were in France – the vendor had a map of France (about the size of the state of Pennsylvania) with the various retail locations selling ethanol shown on the map, and there were a fair amount of locations. Maybe GM should sell some of those flex-fuel vehicles in Europe. Continue Reading

By Andy Bannister

09.29.2008

Marketeers would have us believe that brand image is everything, and if so they must be celebrating at Aston Martin, which has just been named the UK’s coolest brand for the second year running.

This wasn’t just a suvey of car makers. The small British manufacturer beat off competition from the likes of iPod (in second place), YouTube (in third place) and Google (fifth).

The top 20 was compiled by the CoolBrands Council, a group of style experts, designers and commentators from across Britain, and took into account a poll on the opinions of more than 2,000 members of the public.

According to the organisers, the definition of a “CoolBrand” is one that “has a magic about it, signifying that users have a sense of taste and style.”

Other high scoring brands in a decidely broad list included watchmaker Rolex (9th) champagne house Dom Perignon (11th), airline Virgin Atlantic (12th), Boss fragrance (18th) and Facebook (19th). Continue Reading

Check Your Mirrors

Odds and ends about cars and the car business

By Brendan Moore

09.22.2008

WALL STREET woes are probably going to affect Main Street in regard to auto sales. Both consumer and commercial credit is tightening considerably. Consumers are having a tougher time getting approved for auto loans and auto leases are getting scarce. The buyers that do get approved are not getting the same sort of terms that they were getting a year ago from the banks and the captive finance companies because their cost of funds is much higher. Furthermore, the costs associated with inventory financing at the dealerships have risen substantially, which translates into the dealer needing more profit on each vehicle in order to cover his operating costs. This makes the average purchase price higher. What all this means is that fewer prospective buyers are getting approved, and a smaller percentage of those that do get approved can actually afford the payments. Take this one more step further, and you can see why some auto analysts are saying that 2009 will be an even worse year for auto sales than 2008 is shaping up to be.

FORD says that even in a slowing European economy, it expects to sell more of the new Ford Fiesta than the outgoing model. Ford is forecasting sales in excess of 400,000 units in Europe for the new car, the sixth-generation of the Fiesta. Ford sold 378,200 units of the outgoing model last year in a much healthier economy. “The last Fiesta was a great success but we will improve annual sales with this model,” Ingvar Sviggum, head of sales for Ford of Europe, stated. Sviggum noted that the Fiesta buyer population is very loyal to the model, and further, that there are a lot of them. Over 12 million people have bought a Ford Fiesta since the model was launched in 1976. The new model is very attractive and Ford expects to get quite a few conquest buyers from other cars in the segment as well. The new Fiesta launches in Europe over the next few months and is slated for North American sales in 2010, with production for the North American market sourced from Ford plants in Mexico. The launch of the 2010 Ford Fiesta is eagerly anticipated by some consumers and by Ford of North America itself. Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

09.16.2008

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the holding company that Porsche AG created to hold its automobile holdings, announced today that it has acquired an additional 4.89% of Volkswagen AG, bringing its total voting stake in Europe’s largest automaker to 35.14%, and therefore holds a controlling stake in VW.

Further, Porsche now is legally required to make a tender offer for VW’s Audi subsidiary, although the Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking said that his company has no intention of spinning off Audi as a separate company, saying, “We see Audi as an integral part of VW group and have no interest in taking the company out of the group.”

Porsche also confirmed what it had previously stated, in that it expects to continue to increase its stake in Volkswagen until it exceeds 50%, calling today’s milestone yet another step toward that objective. Continue Reading

By Brendan Moore

09.16.2008

There are several things happening over at GM at once; none of them earth shattering, but they all deserve mention.

Here’s what was announced yesterday:

The company said that there would not be another extension of the employee pricing program when it ends this month. GM originally announced the offer on August 19th, extended it until the end of September when it starting producing results, and there was some speculation that the company was considering extending it yet again. But Chevrolet General Manager Ed Peper put that speculation to rest when he stated the GM was happy with the results of the promotion and it would end on the last day of the month.

GM had an okay month in August compared to almost everyone else – results were way behind (20% under) last year’s August results, but that was a lot better than Ford and Chrysler were able to do. The Chevrolet Silverado was also able to grab the No 1 – selling vehicle crown away from the Toyota Camry in August.

Surprising almost no one, GM also announced that Cadillac would add a CTS Sport Wagon model next year. The five-passenger wagon is to be built on the same platform as the Cadillac CTS sport sedan but will provide 25 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats. It’s fuel efficiency is expected to be similar to the sport sedan’s 26 mpg on the highway, GM said. Since the stunning 2010 CTS Coupe will also make its appearance in 2009 calendar year, Fall should be a heady time at your Cadillac dealer’s, what with three CTS bodystyles available. Continue Reading