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Chrysler to increase international dealerships

Chrysler says it plans to add about 100 new dealerships in established markets such as Western Europe over the next two years, as it focuses on expanding sales outside North America, according to Reuters News Agency.
The automaker, which has been losing market share in the United States, says it plans to double last year's sales outside North America to about 400,000 units in the next five years.

Posted by   at 2:28 PM to Chrysler | Permalink | Comments 1

Oil slumps nearly $2 on U.S. stockpile surprise

LONDON - Oil fell nearly $2 a barrel on Wednesday after a U.S. government report showed larger-than-expected increases in crude and gasoline stockpiles in the world's biggest consumer, according to Reuters News Agency.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude stocks rose by 6.9 million barrels last week, well over the 100,000 barrels forecast by analysts. Gasoline stocks were up 1.8 million barrels, almost double the market forecast.

Posted by   at 2:27 PM to Oil | Permalink | Comments 0

Backseat Driver: NASCAR could do with a Lewis Hamilton

Did you read the news today? Nine firefighters were killed yesterday while battling a blaze in a furniture warehouse in Charleston, SC, the most killed in the course of duty since six died in a fire in Worcester, Mass., in 1999. (Of course, that does not include the hundreds that died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.)

My newspaper, The Providence Journal, ran headshots of all nine and arranged them as though in a high school graduation album. What was striking to me were the two black faces - firefighters James Drayton and Melven Champaign - among the nine.

To me it was a sign of changing times in the Southeast, home to NASCAR. But of the 47 drivers currently battling it out in the Nextel Cup Series, none are black. Indeed, the last black driver to win a major NASCAR race - Wendell Scott - did it 44 years ago.

On Dec. 1, 1963, Scott won a Grand National (now Nextel Cup) race in Jacksonville, Fla. and remains the only black driver to have won a major race in NASCAR's 58-year history.

You gotta believe that NASCAR, which, like the NFL, has a highly sophisticated marketing arm, is aware of this and would love to have a black star among its drivers. And now that Formula I has its version of Tiger Woods - Brit Lewis Hamilton who, after wins in Montreal and Indianapolis, cemented his lead in the drivers' championship - NASCAR must be green with envy.

NASCAR may have its roots in the southeast, which is traditionally Good Ol' Boy Country, but as the racial roster of felled firefighters from yesterday's tragic fire in South Carolina shows, the South, it is a-changin'.

Posted by   at 11:41 AM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

Toyota mulls slowing down U.S. plant building, report says

Toyota officials are concerned the company may be expanding its manufacturing operations too quickly in the United States, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited by the Detroit Free Press.

The report says some board members believe Toyota needs to slow the construction of new plants in the United States in the face of difficult market conditions, rising costs and quality issues.

Toyota, which has 13 plants in North America, has been rapidly expanding in recent years with U.S. sales increasing at double-digit rates. Toyota opened a truck plant last fall in San Antonio and a Camry plant this year in Lafayette, Ind.

Posted by   at 11:33 AM to Toyota | Permalink | Comments 0

AMG: Passcode to Absolute Power in a Mercedes-Benz

MUSCLE cars are inseparable from America and the ’60s, their innocence sweetly harmonized by the Beach Boys, their more sinister side chronicled in films from “Bullitt” to “Grindhouse.”

Today’s revival of the old horsepower wars still features familiar Motown combatants like Corvette, Mustang and Charger. But it is Mercedes-Benz, once known for conservative sedans and sleepy diesels, that is overwhelming the competition, according to the New York Times. Forget 400 horses: the AMG division of Mercedes is the new King of Zing, churning out models that top 600 horsepower.

Posted by   at 11:27 AM to Design , Mercedes-Benz , Technology | Permalink | Comments 0

Mad Scionists: Young, Hip and a Bit Less Square

Since it came on the scene five years ago, Scion has made a point of doing things differently. Toyota’s youth brand can brag of having the lowest average age, about 30, among its owners and of strong customer loyalty.

However, the Scion xB is now arriving at dealers and suggests Scion is growing up, according to the New York Times. The original xB was a small boxy car with attitude. The new one is bigger — a full foot longer than the last xB, 3 inches wider, about 35 percent roomier, 600 pounds heavier, 55 horsepower stronger and about 10 percent more expensive.

It is also less fuel efficient. Fuel economy has declined to 22 city and 28 highway, from 26 city and 30 highway.

Posted by   at 11:16 AM to Companies , Design , Fuel economy | Permalink | Comments 0

Crashing Cars When They’re Still a Gleam in the Designer’s Eye

WITH fuel prices high and the pressure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions rising, automakers are finding themselves in the familiar squeeze of balancing customer wants with government mandates, according to the New York Times.

The most direct path to improving fuel economy — designing cars that are lighter and smaller — presents many challenges, including a population that is bigger and more feature conscious. While clever marketing may overcome that resistance to small cars, federal safety standards cannot be compromised, and the physics of a car crash gives the advantage to larger, heavier vehicles.

Still, development of more compact vehicles seems healthy. General Motors dipped its toe in these waters with a trio of pug-nosed microcar designs for the auto-show circuit this year; the tiny Mercedes-Benz Smart cars will be here next year; and Honda, Nissan and Toyota have all recently added smaller cars to their lines.

Posted by   at 11:10 AM to Design , Safety , Technology | Permalink | Comments 0

A Rattletrap East German Icon Has Its Day Again

The first Trabant, the rattletrap car that b ecame perhaps the most enduring symbol of the former East Germany, rolled off the assembly line in Zwickau in the fall of 1957.

To celebrate the car’s 50th anniversary, about 2,000 Trabant owners converged onm the old industrial town last week on a grassy field next to an airstrip, determined, for a weekend at least, to put the Berlin Wall up again, according to a report in the New York Times.

Posted by   at 11:07 AM to Collecting , Shows | Permalink | Comments 0

Surprise: Average gas price dips below $3

The average price of regular-grade gasoline has fallen below $3 a gallon for the first time since May 3, according to AAA, the travel organization that tracks prices daily, USA Today reports.

That outdates the government's forecast last week that the average would stay above $3 all summer. But it doesn't guarantee prices will keep falling, especially as oil prices rise.

Posted by   at 10:50 AM to Gas prices | Permalink | Comments 0

Nissan Chief: Board to Forego Bonus Pay

Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told shareholders today that the Japanese automaker's board members will forego their bonus pay to take responsibility for poor performance, according to the Associated Press.

Ghosn acknowledged at a hall packed with more than 2,100 shareholders, a record attendance for Nissan, in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, that the company had not met its targets for fiscal 2006.

Posted by   at 10:34 AM to Nissan | Permalink | Comments 0

Strong Fuel Economy Standards Needed

WHEN IT COMES to corporate average fuel economy standards (CAFE), the Senate's massive energy bill strikes a reasonable position, according to an editorial in the Washington Post.

All cars and light trucks, up to 10,000 pounds, should have a CAFE of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Each year after that until 2030, CAFE would increase 4 percent over the previous year.

Posted by   at 10:27 AM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 2