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Backseat Driver: 531 per-1905 cars will make London to Brighton run on Sunday

Sunday marks the running of one of the most remarkable rallies in the world - the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run in England.

Get this: The rally is open to cars built before 1905 and a total of 531 vehicles – 43 pre-1900 – will be making the 60-mile run. As such, it is by far the largest annual gathering of veteran cars in the world.

The run was first made in 1896 to celebrate the repeal of the Locomotives on the Highway Act, which allowed automobiles to increase their top speed from 4 mph to 14 mph! It was next run in 1927 and has been run every year since, except for a couple of years during and just after WWII.

This year, the run is celebrating American-made automobiles, and there are 142 American entries representing 37 manufacturers, including 41 Oldsmobiles and 29 Cadillacs, according to Jeff Carter, spokesman for Motion Works, which is organizing the run on behalf of the Royal Automobile Club.

Overall, the entries feature 140 different marques. Owners come from 24 countries, mostly from Britain but also from all over Europe as well as Canada, the United States and Mexico and as far afield as Australia, Hong Kong and South Africa.

The majority of the cars are gasoline driven, but three are electric and 19 are steam driven. The oldest car is an 1895 3-3/4 horsepower Peugeot and one of the youngest is a 1904 Peerless racer owned by John Price of Utah.

See my slightly expanded version of this story in the Sunday Providence Journal.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 7:25 AM to Collecting | Permalink | Comments 0

Job Cuts at Chrysler Go Even Deeper Than Expected

DETROIT — Over the last two years, the three American auto companies have vowed that their plans to slash nearly 80,000 jobs and close more than two dozen plants would be enough to transform them into leaner and nimbler competitors, according to the New York Times.

But the housing downturn and soaring oil prices have forced Chrysler and General Motors to make another round of surprising cuts, with no guarantees that these will be the last.

On Thursday, Chrysler announced it would eliminate 11,000 hourly and salaried jobs in the United States and Canada, and cut shifts of workers at five plants. The decision comes on top of a plan, announced in February, to eliminate 13,000 jobs and close a factory in Newark, Del.

Taken together, Chrysler will be reducing its 2006 work force of about 80,000 employees by 30 percent.

General Motors also recently said that it would eliminate shifts at three assembly plants in Michigan. The moves, announced after G.M. union workers approved their new contract, will most likely cut 3,000 jobs, though G.M. has not confirmed the total. Two years ago, G.M. announced 30,000 job cuts as part of a broad revamping.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 7:16 AM to Chrysler , GM | Permalink | Comments 0

DOT seeks to lower motorcycle deaths, educate riders

The federal government is unveiling a broad program to cut motorcycle death rates that have doubled in the past 10 years as aging baby boomers hit the open road, according to USA Today.

The Department of Transportation's initiative includes a national training standard for beginning riders and added training for police officers who enforce traffic laws.

"Our nation's greatest traffic highway safety challenge is motorcycle fatalities," says Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, noting that biking deaths are rising while other vehicle fatalities are declining.

"We have a significantly disproportionate representation of motorcycle fatalities," Peters says. Motorcycles represent 2.5% of all registered vehicles but 11.3% of traffic deaths.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 7:13 AM to Motorcycling , Safety | Permalink | Comments 0

Fisker Previews Sporty Plug-In sedan

Fisker Automotive, the latest Palo Alto, California-based venture from Henrik Fisker, the Danish founder of Fisker Coachbuild, that has dubbed itself the 'green American premium car company,' has released a first image and some cursory information about its upcoming plug-in hybrid sports sedan, according to thecarconnection.com

The car will make its debut at this next January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit and go on sale in late 2009 starting at $80,000.

Unlike Fisker Coachbuild products, which are built on existing Mercedes-Benz and BMW models, the new sedan will employ a platform that's all-new from the ground up, according to the automaker, with testing and development done in conjunction with Quantum Technologies, an Irvine, California company that has worked with Toyota, GM, and NASA.

The sedan will be a true plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle (PHEV), meaning that it will be able to travel respectable commuting distances on electric power alone, but use the gasoline engine to recharge the system, and both gasoline and electric components for longer-distance driving.

Fisker says that it will be able to go about 50 miles on a single electric charge, and the system will be mated with a gasoline or diesel engine to achieve a range of up to 620 miles. The actual miles-per-gallon figure will be around 100, they say.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 7:06 AM to Alternative fuels | Permalink | Comments 0

GM, Asians report sales gains; Ford, Chrysler fall

DETROIT - Ford and Chrysler felt most of the pain of the weak U.S. auto market in October. Both revealed big declines Thursday that seemed to put their turnaround plans on shaky ground going forward, especially as the economy flirts with a recession, according to the Detroit Free Press.

But General Motors and the three big Japanese automakers all posted gains for the month, in which sales were a little stronger than expected.

Ford's sales were off 9.3%, making October its 12th straight month of sales declines. While that performance was somewhat expected, as the company embarked on a long-term program to wean its vehicles from the discounted fleet market, it raises questions about when Ford might hit bottom and begin growing again.

For Chrysler, October sales were off 8.9%, the fifth month of a sales slide that helps explain the additional 12,000 job cuts the automaker announced Thursday. It came even as the Auburn Hills-based automaker increased sales to fleet customers.

"Obviously, we're not happy with our performance," Darryl Jackson, vice president of U.S. sales at Chrysler, told journalists during a conference call. "We've got work to do."

Other automakers, though, held their own in the tough market.

The big Asian companies were lifted by their fuel-efficient cars. Sales were up 13.1% at Nissan Motor Co., on the strength of the midsize Altima sedan; 3.8% at Honda Motor Co., buoyed by the new midsize Accord, and 4.5% at Toyota Motor Corp. The Toyota Prius hybrid posted a 50.7% gain.

Detroit-based GM also continued to show strength, especially at retail, with a third-straight gain of total monthly sales -- increasing 3.4% in October, compared with a year ago.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 6:59 AM to Sales | Permalink | Comments 0

Chrysler to Cut Up to 12,000 Jobs

DETROIT -- Chrysler LLC said Thursday it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs, or up to 15 percent of its workforce, as part of an effort to slash costs and match slowing demand for some vehicles, according to the Associated Press.

The automaker will cut 8,500 to 10,000 hourly jobs and 2,100 salaried jobs through 2008. The company already had begun cutting 1,100 temporary workers Wednesday. It will eliminate shifts at five North American assembly plants and cut four vehicle models from its lineup.

The cuts come in addition to the 13,000 layoffs Chrysler announced in February as part of a massive restructuring plan. Those cuts included 11,000 production jobs and 2,000 salaried jobs. The new round of cuts was expected to involve buyouts or early retirement packages similar to those made in February.

Chrysler officials said falling demand for vehicles in the U.S. market made the cuts necessary. Chrysler's sales were down 3 percent in the first nine months of this year, according to Autodata Corp., and the company said it expects sluggish sales to continue in 2008.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:47 AM to Chrysler | Permalink | Comments 0

Toyota retunes Corolla as techier and edgier

LAS VEGAS — The world's all-time best-selling car is going high-tech, according to USA Today.

Toyota says the all-new Corolla compact will become the smallest non-luxury car with XM satellite navigation for real-time traffic information when it goes on sale in February. Until now, the feature in Toyotas has only shown up in the Lexus division.

The 2009 Corolla and its sister, the five-door Matrix hatchback, sport a slightly edgier look. Corolla is a couple of inches wider, an inch lower and has available 17-inch alloy wheels, up from 16 inches on the previous version.

"It gives it more of a European flavor," says Tim Morrison, corporate marketing manager for Toyota who unveiled the two models here at the Specialty Equipment Market Association show, the industry's premier aftermarket products exhibition.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:31 AM to Shows , Toyota | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil prices go over $96 a barrel

LONDON - Oil surged to a new record high beyond $96 a barrel after a sharp decline in U.S. crude stocks stoked supply concerns and the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates, according to Reuters.

Oil dealers saw little standing in the way of the price blasting into triple digits.

"The market has its eyes on $100 a barrel and it really is the momentum that will carry it through," Rob Laughlin of MF Global said.

U.S. oil rose as high as $96.24 a barrel before pulling back to $95.18, up 65 cents, by 8:27 a.m. EDT. Brent crude also struck a record $91.71 before retreating to $91.10, for a gain of 47 cents.

Oil soared on Wednesday after U.S. refiners drained 3.9 million barrels of crude from storage, mostly from tanks in Cushing, Oklahoma -- delivery point for the NYMEX oil contract.

U.S. crude closed in on an inflation-adjusted high of $101.70 hit in 1980.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:27 AM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil jumps 4 percent to record over $94 a barrel

NEW YORK - Oil surged more than 4 percent to a record over $94 a barrel on Wednesday after a steep drop in U.S. inventories fueled winter supply concerns and markets awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates, according to Reuters.

U.S. oil jumped $4.00 to $94.38 a barrel.

U.S. crude oil stocks fell 3.9 million barrels in the week to October 26, government data showed, countering expectations for a build ahead of the Northern Hemisphere winter.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 3:20 PM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0

Europe Proposes Warnings for Auto Ads

Here's a New York Times story that reveals how far ahead Europe is when it comes to tackling carbon emissions and global warming:

Quick, what’s more dangerous: automobiles or cigarettes?

The European Parliament has proposed that car advertisements in the European Union carry tobacco-style labels, warning of the environmental impact they cause.

Under the plan, 20 percent of the space or time of any auto ad would have to be set aside for information on a car’s fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, cited as a contributor to global climate change.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:01 AM to Environment | Permalink | Comments 0

Vice chairman Bob Lutz sees 'a new era' for GM

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- With its reputation on the mend, sales of new cars and crossovers exceeding expectations, and a new labor deal projected to cut billions from its annual costs, General Motors is in its best situation in decades, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Tuesday, according to the Detroit Free Press.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Free Press, Lutz said he wants to make up to 100,000 fuel-efficient Chevrolet Volts in the first year of production. The first batteries were delivered Tuesday, he said.

He also said that the new UAW contract provides a big boost to GM, as well as rivals Chrysler, which also has a new contract ratified with the UAW, and Ford, which is in the midst of negotiations.

"The labor cost gap to the Japanese transplants have been narrowed, but they have not been closed," by the new UAW contract, Lutz said. "It's closer than it ever was before. That's good for a five-minute celebration, but then you say, 'Well, now what?' "

The big fear now, Lutz said, is "ill-conceived" government-imposed fuel economy standards at the state or federal level.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:53 AM to GM | Permalink | Comments 0

UAW deal may alter Ford plan

With top UAW and Ford bargainers now in the final phase of negotiating a new labor contract, experts said the resulting deal could significantly alter the details of the high-stakes turnaround plan under way at the 104-year-old auto company, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Union leaders are expected to press Ford for product commitments that will keep their plants running and also to push for saving plants now slated for closure under Ford's turnaround plan.

Ford's so-called Way Forward turnaround plan currently calls for closing 16 factories, eliminating 44,000 jobs and revamping the entire lineup of Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles in an effort to restore profits by 2009 to the company's crucial North American unit.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:46 AM to Ford , Unions | Permalink | Comments 0

Reimagining the Automobile Industry by Selling the Electricity

SAN FRANCISCO — Shai Agassi, a Silicon Valley technologist who was in competition to become chief executive of SAP, one of the world’s largest software companies, has re-emerged with a grand plan to reinvent the world’s automobile industry around battery-powered all-electric cars, according to the New York Times.

Others are developing green cars, like the Tesla and Chevrolet Volt. However, Mr. Agassi is not planning to make cars, but instead wants to deploy an infrastructure of battery-charging stations in the United States, Europe and the developing world.

The new system will sell electric fuel on a subscription basis and will subsidize vehicle costs through leases and credits.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:52 AM to Alternative fuels | Permalink | Comments 0

Here come GM's hybrid SUVs

WHITE MARSH, Md. -- It's just a transmission -- a chunk of cast metal and plastic found in every car and truck that most owners never think about unless it breaks.

But for General Motors Corp., the first transmission off the line Monday for its new hybrid system marks its most aggressive attempt to fight Toyota's hybrid juggernaut, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The parts built at a plant outside of Baltimore will be bolted into GM's full-size SUVs hitting dealerships in the next several weeks and into some pickups next year. The SUVs will match the city fuel economy figures of a gasoline-powered Toyota Camry sedan.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:50 AM to Alternative fuels , GM | Permalink | Comments 0

UAW says Ford talks progressing

Several UAW local presidents are hopeful that Ford and the union can reach a deal on a tentative contract by the end of the week, after the two sides reportedly made progress over the weekend, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Ford and the UAW have been bargaining in fits and starts since July. There were slowdowns in the talks when the UAW selected General Motors and then Chrysler as the target of national labor talks. Short strikes and then a period of ratification followed.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:44 AM to Ford , Unions | Permalink | Comments 0

Ford to preview 2008 Bullitt Mustang at L.A. Auto Show

Ford says the new Bullitt Mustang will be shown publicly for the first time at the Los Angeles auto show which opens Nov. 13, according to thecarconnection.com

"Blending the best Mustang ever with the latest Ford Racing technology, this modern classic lives up to the magic of the movie Bullitt by delivering a new-generation Mustang Bullitt with the perfect balance of power, performance, and a look of quiet intensity. Bullitt screams into dealerships early next year," Ford said in a release.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:40 AM to Ford | Permalink | Comments 0

Mazda: Zoom-Zoom Going Green

Pressing the red "Start" button, the Mazda RX-8 fires up, the pint-sized rotary engine under its hood buzzing as I modulate the throttle, shift into gear and launch down the test track at Mazda'sHiroshima headquarters, writes thecarconnection.com's Paul Eisenstein.

Acceleration is a little slower than I'm used to, but that's the trade-off signaled by the glowing "H2" light on the sports car's instrument panel. This prototype version of the rotary-powered RX-8 has been converted to run on hydrogen, the lightweight gas that many experts believe will be the fuel of the future.

Like most of its competitors, Mazda has come to recognize the long-term need to find alternatives to conventional gasoline. And like the rest of the industry, it is toying with a variety of options, including both electric and gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. But the Japanese maker is placing its big bet on hydrogen, a fuel it has been tinkering with for two decades, in a series of prototypes and now, in a small fleet of vehicles, like this RX-8, undergoing real-world testing.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:38 AM to Alternative fuels | Permalink | Comments 0

Toyota Looks to Follow Prius' Hybrid Hit

Check out this fasincating Associated Press interview with Takeshi Uchiyamada, the Toyota engineer who masterminded the iconic Prius under tremendous pressure from management to "come up with the 21st century car, the vehicle that would hands-down beat the competition in mileage and environmental friendliness."

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 4:01 PM to Alternative fuels , Toyota | Permalink | Comments 0

Saab Turbo X: Black to the Future at New England Auto Show

Saab will launch the Turbo X at the New England International Auto Show in Boston. The press day on Nov. 27 will mark the North American debut of the Saab Turbo X – a performance car that sets new standards for the brand.

The all-black Turbo X takes Saab ‘back to the future’ by evoking the iconic appeal of its first black 99 and 900 Turbo models. It also introduces innovative Saab XWD all-wheel drive technology.

Saab of Sweden is a subsidairy of General Motors

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 3:56 PM to GM | Permalink | Comments 0

Backseat Driver: The Toyoda Precepts and Toyota's current Guiding Principles

Here are the business precepts developed by Sakichi Toyoda, an inventor who founded the Toyota Motor Sales Company and whose son Kiichiro got the company into the automobile business:

1. Be contributive to the development and welfare of the country by working together, regardless of position, in faithfully fulfilling your duties.

2. Be at the vanguard of the times through endless creativity, inquisitiveness and the pursuit of improvement.

3. Be practical and avoid frivolity.

4. Be kind and generous; strive to create a warm, homelike atmosphere.

5. Be reverent, and show gratitude for things great and small in thought and deed.

Toyota's current guiding principles, which were established in 1990 and revised in 1997, retain the flavor of the original precepts. Here they are as listed on its Web site:

1. Honor the language and spirit of the law of every nation and undertake open and fair corporate activities to be a good corporate citizen of the world.

2. Respect the culture and customs of every nation and contribute to economic and social development through corporate activities in the communities.

3. Dedicate ourselves to providing clean and safe products and to enhancing the quality of life everywhere through all our activities.

4. Create and develop advanced technologies and provide outstanding products and services that fulfill the needs of customers worldwide.

5. Foster a corporate culture that enhances individual creativity and teamwork value, while honoring mutual trust and respect between labor and management.

6. Pursue growth in harmony with the global community through innovative management.

7. Work with business partners in research and creation to achieve stable, long-term growth and mutual benefits, while keeping ourselves open to new partnerships.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:51 AM to Toyota , commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

Backseat Driver: Toyota came to the U.S. 50 years ago

Fifty years ago this week, Toyota Motor Sales Co. introduced the Toyopet Crown into the U.S. market out of a former Rambler dealership in Hollywood. The car was not a great success and sold only 2,000 models by 1961 before being pulled.

But in 1965 Toyota introduced the Corona and in 1968 the Corolla; combined sales of these models totaled about 125,000 in 1969 and the rest is history.

This week's edition of the authoritive Automotive News includes a 192-page supplement devoted to the anniversary of Toyota's arrival in the United States.

"This is the company that changed the world," it writes in a lead editorial, noting that not only has Toyota grown to challenge GM as the world's biggest auto maker but has had a profound influence on how every other auto maker operates.

"The list of advances is long," it continues. "The single-minded focus on quality, the striving for customer satisfaction, the early emphasis on fuel economy, Lexus, lean manufacturing, collaborative supplier relations, hybrid vehicles."

Automotive News argues that Toyota embodies the combined genius of three giants of the American auto industry: Henry Ford, Alfred P. Sloan (General Motors) and Walter Chrysler who were "respectively masterminds of manufacturing, corporate governance and engineering."

It adds that while there are a number of key individuals involved in Toyota's success, it is "the ultimate team." (See a separate entry outlining the precepts of good business as developed by family patriarch Sakichi Toyoda.)

For his part, Keith E. Crain, publisher and editor-in-chief of Automotive News, writes that Toyota is now part of the American landscape.

"There are more than 1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships across the country. Toyota has assembly plants from one end of North America to the other and component suppliers throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico."

"Toyota dealers are among the most profitable," he writes. "And Toyota still believes that the retail automobile dealer is the company's customer, a philosophy that is unique in the automobile business."

Crain concedes that the gasoline crises of the 1970s gave a boost to Toyota as Americans turned to smaller, more fuel efficient cars. But then they found the cars were well made and reliable and continued to buy them in greater and greater numbers.

Detroit tried to stiff arm the competition over the years, but Toyota met the challenge both by moving manufacturing over here and moving into a wider range of market segments - upscale with Lexus, blue collar with trucks, trendy with Scion and granola crunchy with the Prius.

Indeed, 2007 marked a watershed as Toyota introduced its full-size Tundra pickup truck, thus taking on Detroit in a segment long dominated by Ford and GM, and becoming a sponsor of America's new favorite sporting event, NASCAR.

So all hail a genuine Japanese-American success story - one that we could all learn from.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:10 AM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

Stop Your Engines! The Artist Is Tracing

Check out this New York Times story about an artist who gets her inspiration from auto skid marks:

WHEN the Los Angeles artist Ingrid Calame wanted to trace the skid marks on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the track’s manager was skeptical. “The request was pretty unusual,” said the manager, Dan Edwards, who in his eight years at the speedway has provided special access to people testing tires, engines and racecars.

Then he researched Ms. Calame’s boldly colored compositions, derived from stains and graffiti that she traces from city streets and sidewalks. And he realized that the racetrack “was like a canvas,” he said in a phone interview. “There were stories that went with every tire mark, every gouge.”

One pattern was a famous pretzel-shaped skid mark made by Dan Wheldon in 2005 after his Indianapolis 500 victory. Now an enamel and latex wall painting based on his celebratory gesture is the 76-by-20-foot centerpiece of “Ingrid Calame: Traces of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” opening Friday at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:25 AM to Fun | Permalink | Comments 0

NYT's slideshow from Tokyo Motor Show

Check out the New York Times' slideshow from the Tokyo Motor Show.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:19 AM to Shows | Permalink | Comments 0

Tokyo Motor Show split between fast and green

Honda CR-Z hybrid concept.

Chiba, Japan - The Tokyo Motor Show, which opened to the public in this suburban city on Saturday and runs through Nov. 11, is a showcase of the automobile industry’s split personality, according to the New York Times.

The industry indeed seems increasingly to be of two minds, and the split between them is becoming more like a fracture.

On the one hand, the Tokyo show offers the requisite number of socially responsible hybrid concept cars, alternative-fuel propulsion systems and traffic-congestion-relieving technologies.

On the other, there is a bigger collection of the newest engine-revving, pollutant-belching, tire-smoking supercars. Can this house, so divided, continue to stand?

For the time being, the NYT writes, the supercars seem to be taking the fast lane to dealer showrooms.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:09 AM to Auto industry , Shows | Permalink | Comments 0

California gears up for car emissions fight

California plans to sue the Environmental Protection Agency this week for delaying a decision over whether to let the state aggressively reduce car and truck tailpipe emissions, according to USA Today.

The lawsuit's outcome could affect not only the California law aimed at cutting greenhouse gases but also the ability of other states to take similar actions.

At stake are regulations California approved in 2004 that would require all new car models sold in the state, beginning in 2009, to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. The rules would lower heat-trapping gases from California vehicles by 18% by 2020, the California Air Resources Board says.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:07 AM to Environment | Permalink | Comments 0

GM to Set Up Research Center in Shanghai

BEIJING -- General Motors Corp. said Monday it will set up a $250 million alternative-fuel research center in Shanghai amid efforts by global automakers to produce commercially viable alternatives to gasoline engines, according to the Associated Press.Global automakers are stepping up research into fuel cells, biofuels, diesel and other power sources amid rising demand from governments and consumers for cleaner transportation and an alternative to expensive oil.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:55 AM to Alternative fuels , China , GM | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil leaps to record over $93

LONDON - Oil leapt to a record high for a third day, surpassing $93 as Mexico briefly halted one-fifth of its production and the dollar struck new lows, according to Reuters.

U.S. crude hit a high of $93.20 a barrel. Oil prices have soared by more than a third since mid-August as a stand-off between Turkey and Kurdish rebels, dollar weakness, easing interest rates and winter supply fears attracted a fresh wave of investment capital.

Prices rose on Monday after Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex said it was shutting about 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil output due to bad weather in the Gulf of Mexico.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:53 AM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0