Auto News: Week of July 9, 2012

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Alee Bluff

Here’s a little morning read for the week’s exciting auto news stories. Get a cup of coffee, and sidle up to the screen — let’s get to it.

1.) The Honda Accord is currently in its eighth generation, and has been on the best-seller list in the US year after year. But the Accord was introduced before “infotainment” and navigation systems became the automotive norm. Because of this, the Accord is pretty far behind other comparable family sedans in these categories. But think again before dismissing the new 2013 Accord. Honda is launching their HondaLink – their next-generation infotainment package with the 2013 model. All of the details aren’t yet clear, but we do know that Honda’s Aha Radio service will be making it’s debut, and there are rumors that the new Accord could be the first to use Apple’s Siri integration.

2.) Despite worries that the plummeting European market would jump across the pond and hit us here at home, new-car sale numbers are expected to hit a five-year high for the month of June. Analysts and officials have said that this is most likely because there are so many old cars that need replacing on the road. The average car on the road is 11 years old – an all time high. The projection for June is at 13.9 million vehicles – which would be the second month in a row coming in below 14 million, but it’s better than last month’s 13.7 million. Anyway you slice it, if this projection holds true, it’s a step in the right direction!

3.) Continuing on a positive note, Ford is on track to sell 1.6 million EcoBoost turbocharged and direct-injected engine vehicles. This number is 100,000 over their previous estimation. The efficient EcoBoost power plants help to make the Ford line up more efficient as well. According to their product development chief, Ford is set to decrease the number of platforms from 22 in 2011 to 10 by 2017. This will reportedly save Ford hundreds of millions of dollars with platform costs dropping and scale increasing.

Auto News: Week of June 22, 2012

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Alee Bluff

This week, on the auto news front we have a few interesting snippets of information for you to ponder!

1.) First up, Honda and GM have both said that they are planning to incorporate Siri (Apple’s voice technology used in the iPhone 4S) in their new vehicles. Apple has said that an additional four automakers will be using Siri as well. These additional automakers are: Chrysler Group, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Jaguar Land Rover. The plan is to make Siri hands free, while still allowing drivers to place calls, dictate texts and get directions. Siri will be made hands free by having a button on the steering wheel that will activate the voice technology on their iPhone. The iPhone will be connected to the vehicle’s infotainment system via a USB cable or wirelessly.

2.) Things are looking up for Nissan! With the opening of their plant in Smyrna, Tennessee they will be able to have 20,000 units to be delivered this fiscal year. If they continue at the projected rate, they are set to well exceed their current overall manufacturing record in the US. At their current pace, they will assemble 1.35 million units in North America this year – 170,000 more than the last fiscal year!

3.) With fuel efficiency laws becoming stricter, automakers are looking to replace steel with aluminum alternatives to make vehicles more light weight and subsequently more fuel efficient. Last year, the auto industry consumed roughly 11.5 million tons of aluminum. By the year 2025, this number is estimated to have more than doubled and should come in somewhere around 24.8 million tons. Today the average vehicle uses approximately 155 kilograms of aluminum; this number is projected to have increased to about 250 kilograms by 2025.

What Car Has The Highest Fuel Efficiency of All-Time?

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Brian M Payne

Want the best fuel mileage in the world? I know what you’re thinking: Oh, I don’t want to have to buy a Smart Car and swap out the gasoline engine for a pedal-driven, wind-powered, vegetable oil-burning 15HP engine that can be out-powered by my push mower. Or something like that, right? Well I have good news.

You don’t need to drive a ridiculous car to get the best gas mileage in the world. You just need to get a little Fit.

Nope – not exercise. I mean the Honda Fit. The Honda Fit EV to be precise. The Environmental Protection Agency has recently granted the Fit EV a 118 MPGe rating – the highest such rating ever conferred.

If you’re a close reader, you might notice I said “MPGe” rather than “MPG”. The “e” in MPGe stands for “equivalent”, meaning that the Fit’s battery engine gets the equivalent of 118 MPG that a gasoline-powered car would garner. The EPA gets that calculation by dividing the distance the car travels in tests by the energy it uses. The end result is that one gallon of gas gets you just as far as 33.7 kilowatt hours worth of power in the Fit EV.

The Fit EV doesn’t necessarily sacrifice performance for efficiency. Its 123 horsepower coaxial electric motor puts out 189 ft lb of torque. The Sport model gets 117 horsepower putting out 106 lb-ft of torque.

Overall, you can travel 82 miles on one charge of its 20 kilowatt-hour battery, which is best in class. The Nissan Leaf takes you 73 miles and the Ford Focus Electric gets you 76.

Whether the trade-off of generating power via electricity (which has its own carbon footprint) versus gas is worth it is still in the air. But 118 MPG is pretty darn good any way you look at it.

[Via MSN]

Some Thoughts On The Best Selling Autos of May

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Brian M Payne

Best sellers have a paradoxical place on culture. On the one hand, yeah, everyone seems to love Twilight and Nickleback; you don’t become cultural icons without massive popularity. But people also love to hate on best selling things. Are they the best, are they the worst, or somewhere in the middle?

I happen to think things are best sellers for a reason: they’re either the best or have most of the people convinced they’re the best.

I got to thinking about best sellers after reviewing May’s auto sales numbers. The top sellers are not new. Actually, here check them out:

Ford F Series pickup trucks: 54,836 sold
Toyota Camry sedan: 39,571 sold
Honda Civic: 33,490 sold

The three best-selling vehicles of May are… three of the best, most reliable cars on the road. Who knew?!

Sure, people may rag on Ford (and poo poo Toyota and Honda as foreign auto makers, even though each employs tens of thousands of Americans in American auto plants), but you get to be a best seller for a reason – people like what you’re selling.

I think the numbers just show that buyers are interested in getting the best bang for the buck, and that doesn’t just mean sticker price. That means parts, maintenance, reliability, and upkeep costs. There are tons of parts and know-how for fixing F Series trucks, Camrys, and Civics. That’s why it’s so hard for more up-market cars like Lexus LFA, and newer domestic cars like the Chevy Aveo, to get a strong foothold. Each of those models sold in the low single-digits last month. That’s not good.

So on the one hand, May’s sales numbers were a mixed bag. Worldwide, they were a bit lower than the year’s average sales – though they were up domestically. But on the other hand, proven, reliable winners are staying winning.

If you’re in the market for a Ford F Series truck, Camry, or Civic you know that you’re far from alone.

The Cars Of The Avengers

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Brian M Payne

Like seemingly everyone else in the world, I went to see The Avengers this weekend. Overall, the film grossed about $650 million worldwide — quite deservedly so. It was a rockling good time, full of snappy dialog, full-tilt fight scenes, and, surprisingly, well-realized characters. But one thing that really jumped out at me was the cars of the Avengers. Sure, an invisible flying fortress and armored alien invaders are incredible, but I thought that the real world vehicles were interesting, too.

Acura had a big hand in sponsoring the film, with its RDX, NSX Roadster, and TL featured in the film.

Acura is actually the luxury brand of Honda (like how Lexus is made by Toyota), so it makes sense for the brand to be featured in one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters. And it was quite the feature! If you’re unfamiliar with the plot of The Avengers, it’s pretty similar to just about every other super hero movie: the bad guy (named Loki) wants to take over the world, and the good guys (the Avengers, made up of Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, and two minor characters played by Scarlet Johansson and Jeremy Renner) need to stop him. Right at the beginning of the film, Loki gets away in an Acura RDX. During the climcatic fight scene that destroys most of midtown Manhattan, several Acuras are also variously blown up and smashed. And then, once the good guys win (not much of a spoiler), Robert Downey, Jr.’s character drives off in victory in a sporty Acura NSX Roadster.

It might not be much of an issue for most people, but it was almost distracting to me that so many of the vehicles featured were all made by the same brand. Do ‘regular’ folks notice the same thing? Or do they absorb it unconsciously (which is maybe the whole point of these paid placements in films)?

Either way though, it was an epic, awesome movie that I’m hoping to take in again once it gets hot outside and the need to escape the heat becomes an issue. There’s no better way to cool off than a hot summer blockbuster.

Friday Auto News Roundup

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Alee Bluff

As usual, I have been spending my time combing the Internet for some interesting auto news stories (so you don’t have to!). Here are some of the most intriguing stories I came across in my search!

1.) Have any of you heard of a little social outlet called Pinterest? Well so has Honda. As a part of their premier campaign on the site, Honda is giving out checks for $500 to active users of Pinterest, telling these lucky users to take a “Pintermission” and visit the places they’ve expressed pinterest in, or to get some of the items they’ve pinned on their pages. In their fist Pinterest campaign, Honda has chosen to focus on their CR-V, which has a lot of appeal for women. Good choice Honda, the vast majority of active Pinterest users are female. I’m willing to bet though, that after this news spreads Pinterest will get an influx of male users trying to get in on that Pintermission action!

2.) Many automakers have invested in hybrids, EVs and other eco-friendly car models (like Toyota and Honda for example). Well these green car companies can take a breath of relief: while it may have seemed like their investment was for not, the numbers are in and in the first 3 months of 2012, the sales of hybrids, plug-ins and EVs are up 44% from this time last year. And march sales of these eco-cars have doubled the sales numbers from January. It is likely that soaring gas prices have spurred this sudden desire to “go-green” in consumers – prices are up a whopping 19% since the beginning of the year, with the average price of gas in the U.S. at $3.87 per gallon! With gas prices like these, it’s looking like a great time to start going green!

3.) Usually when you hear about automakers giving incentives to buy a specific car model, they mean when you buy a new car. Well it’s time to rethink that assumption according to Hyundai. Hyundai has shaken things up by announcing their plan to offer buyers of certified pre-owned Hyundais a three-month trial subscription to SiriusXM Satellite Radio. With an awesome deal like this, how can customers refuse? I’m thinking that Hyundai just might be onto something.

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