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Chevy Volt to Get 50-MPG

April 16, 2010 /

The jury is still out on the Chevy Volt but news like this will help it’s case. AutoGuide.com is reporting that once the electric charge is used up the Volt will achieve 50mpg with the gas powered engine powering the vehicle. That is very impressive and will be a big selling point for those traveling over 40+ miles per charge.

Remember all that nonsense about the Chevy Volt getting 230-mpg? Well, after the EPA denied coming up with the number and Chevy admitted there was no standardized way to compare the fuel consumption of a range-extended electric vehicle like the Volt with a conventional gasoline vehicle, the whole business died down for a while – or at least it did after Nissan claimed its fully electric Leaf gets 367 mpg.

Read the full article here.

Car Reviews, News

Ford’s Farley says recession was a blessing for digital

April 16, 2010 /

Notice how Ford actually connects with customers with their new marketing campaigns? Well we know Alan Mulally gets a ton of credit but Jim Farkey is the true architect behind this new found smarts in advertising at Ford. In this piece Farley talks about how the recession made Ford and other companies rethink all of their marketing and the opportunities it created in digital.

If Farley keeps performing at this level he will be one of the names thrown around to replace Mulally when the time comes or he’ll get scooped up and nabbed by another automaker for CEO.

From AutoNews.com:

NEW YORK — Ford marketing boss Jim Farley says the economic downturn in recent years created new opportunities for digital marketing.

“Everything has to work in this economy,” Farley said here Wednesday at Advertising Age’s Digital Conference. “If the economy hadn’t dropped the way it did, we would have been on auto pilot and not experimented the way we did. Our production quality online is better than our broadcast.”

Advertising Age is an affiliate of Automotive News. That experimentation is led by what Farley calls the democratization of marketing.

Read the entire article here.

News

Conflict of interest in auto regulation?

April 14, 2010 /

With auto sales starting to come back it feels like the auto bailouts happened some time ago even though it’s only been about a year. Well, According to a recent poll many Americans clearly want the government out of the auto business. The poll states that 48% feel the government has a “conflict of interest”. That should be short term once the government exit’s from their current equity stakes.

From theTruthAboutAutoCars.com:

According to the latest Rasmussen telephone polling [via The Financial], 48 percent of Americans believe that the government’s ownership stake in GM and Chrysler means it has a conflict of interest in regulating competing automakers. 25 percent disagree, saying that the government’s bailout doesn’t affect regulation, and another 26 percent aren’t sure. When it comes to recent criticism of Toyota by administration officials like Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, only 25 percent believe the criticism stems from a desire to help GM, while 38 percent disagree and 37 percent aren’t sure. But the polls most interesting results have nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with perception:

Read the full story here.

News

Toyota halts Lexus GX 460 SUV sales after safety warning

April 14, 2010 /

You know things aren’t going your way when your marquee brand starts taking serious hits! Toyota is reportedly going to halt Lexus GX 460 sales after a recent safety warning. This appears to be the right thing to do and fix them before they head out the door. The rollover issue is more structural so this could take awhile.

From AutoNews.com:

TOKYO/DETROIT (Reuters) — Toyota Motor Corp. suspended sales of the 2010 Lexus GX 460 on Tuesday after influential magazine Consumer Reports urged car shoppers not to buy the SUV, calling it a “safety risk” that could roll over.

Toyota said its engineers were “vigorously testing” the luxury model to identify the risk cited by Consumer Reports, which said the vehicle was prone to slide when driven in sweeping turns and gave it a “not acceptable” rating.

The rare safety warning from the magazine, which is seen as an objective voice on auto safety and quality in North America, comes at a time when Toyota is battling to repair damage to its reputation from a series of recalls.

Read the full article here.

News

Ford gains U.S. market share as fast as in ’77

April 14, 2010 /

It’s 1977 all over again and Mark Fields is considering letting his hair grow longer to prove it! All kidding aside Ford keeps the petal to the metal (staying with the 70’s theme here) and let’s the competition know their cruising for a bruising. Serious market share gains of 2.7% is no joking matter as that keeps two assembly plants running.

From the Detroit Free Press:

The last time Ford was gaining U.S. market share as fast as it is now, Mark Fields, the company’s president of the Americas, was learning to drive.

Fields, 49, said Tuesday that the company’s market share rose 2.7 percentage points from January through March, Ford’s sharpest increase in a three-month period since the fourth quarter of 1977.

Back then, the Ford Grenada was popular and the company had just launched a redesigned Ford Thunderbird. For the family, Ford offered the Ford LTD II and the wood-paneled Ford Country Squire.

Read the full article here.

Ford, News

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