My precious! General Motors hangs on to Opel

My precious! General Motors decides to keep Opel

In a move that was almost telegraphed, General Motors has announced today that it will keep its European subsidiary Opel/Vauxhall.

In a press release from GM, CEO Fritz Henderson spoke about the decision,

While strained, the business environment in Europe has improved. At the same time, GM’s overall financial health and stability have improved significantly over the past few months, giving us confidence that the European business can be successfully restructured. We are grateful for the hard work of the German and other EU governments in navigating this difficult economic period. We’re also appreciative of the effort put forward by Magna and its partners in Russia in trying to reach an equitable agreement.

In terms of moving forward with the revised plan Henderson stated,

GM will soon present its restructuring plan to Germany and other governments and hopes for its favorable consideration. We understand the complexity and length of this issue has been draining for all involved. However, from the outset, our goal has been to secure the best long term solution for our customers, employee, suppliers, and dealers, which is reflected in the decision reached today. This was deemed to be the most stable and least costly approach for securing Opel/Vauxhall’s long-term future.

General Motors cited improving conditions, but many auto analysts had questioned the move from the beginning. Given General Motors push towards globally shared platforms, it was questionable to hand over control of a key developer of those platforms to a third party. For example, the Opel Insignia is sold in China and next year in the United States as the Buick Regal (view a slideshow of the Chinese Buick Regal in this link): Essentially the same car with only light retouching. General Motors' South American offerings also draw heavily from Opel platforms.

The next big hurdle for GM will be pacifying Opel's workers, no easy task considering that workers put their full support into the Magna deal.

For more info: Read GM's full press release.

Subscribe to receive alerts when the author submits a new article, follow the author on twitter or contact via e-mail!

Read More...

Backseat driver moves to the front: MIT's AIDA

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Volkswagen of America are working on a navigation system with a real attitude: Affective Intelligent Driving Agent (AIDA) can smile, look sad, show warning signs, wink at you and even hand out drunken compliments (okay, I made that last one up).

View a slideshow of AIDA in action (with some bonus commentary) in this link.

The chunky little device with an expressive screen sits on the dash and can learn where you work and live, where your favorite grocery store is located, your favorite parts of town and sense your mood: Kind of like your own personal stalker. MIT claims the device will help drivers by being empathetic to their moods and assisting them in navigating their urban jungle.

Over time AIDA learns your favorite parts of town and makes suggestions based on information it is able to gather. For example, AIDA could notify you about a street fair and help steer you around it on your commute home or direct you towards it on a Saturday morning. One would hope that AIDA could differentiate between drivers, lest it confuse your predilection for strip clubs with your spouse's interest in farmer's's markets: That could be really awkward.

Enjoy a demonstration video embedded below.

For more info: Visit MIT's AIDA webpage.

Subscribe to receive alerts when the author submits a new article, follow the author on twitter or contact via e-mail!

Read More...

Toyota future plans: Less trucks, fewer bucks on refreshes

FJ Cruiser is a likely candidate for the chopping block

While it has not generated the same amount of headline news as some of our domestic marques, Toyota has been shaken up by economic turmoil and it feels the need to rethink its future product plans.

View Toyota's current lineup in the slideshow below this story.

While many Bay Area residents may think Prius when they think of Toyota, the company did place a massive gamble on larger vehicles there were not as thrifty. Now Toyota executives have told Automotive News that the company is considering cutting back on its full-frame truck lineup. A quick visit to Toyota's USA website shows a healthy selection of such trucks: Tundra, Tacoma, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Sequoia and Land Cruiser. While the Automotive News article did not mention any names, that does not mean we cannot play our own game. Number one on the "I bet it gets axed" list would have to be the FJ Cruiser. While the retro-truck was a huge hit at launch, its sales have cooled considerably since that time. The lumbering Sequoia would also have to be suspect. The remaining trucks are probably safe, but perhaps they will lose variants. For example the Tacoma is offered in regular cab, access cab, double cab and Cabernet Sauvignon (well maybe not that one). Toyota could conceivable weed out poor selling model configurations.

Toyota also wants to cut back on minor midcycle model changes. For example, you buy a 2009 Toyota and then your neighbor shows up a month later with a 2010 that is sporting a different grille and a better looking interior color which then causes you to exclaim "Darn it!" Instead of such minor tweaking, Toyota wants to concentrate on more substantive changes. For example, your neighbor would show up in a 2012 model that actually gets double the gas mileage and has rainbows coming out of the exhaust pipe (slight exaggeration, of course).

Toyota also says that it wants to make more hybrids available (duh) and allows engineers based in the United States to have more say in the process. In the Automotive News article, an example is given that current navigation systems in Toyota vehicles sold in the United States are the same "sophisticated, high-tech" models offered in Europe and that U.S. customers prefer "less expensive, bare bones" GPS systems. I am not sure how to read this, either they are calling us cheapskates or simpletons. Frankly, I do not consider anything about my 2008 Sienna's navigation to be sophisticated or high-tech (Canadian system shown in link). The point is that native engineers know better what their customers want, but I do disagree about us not liking sophisticated systems: Look what we did to Microsoft Bob.

The company also plans to make its plants more flexible, so that it can produce a larger percentage of its vehicles locally, saving the company from the whims of the dollar/yen exchange rates.

For more information on Toyota's future plans, please read this previous article on Toyota's lineup changes and this article on the forthcoming 2011 Toyota Sienna.

Subscribe to receive alerts when the author submits a new article, follow the author on twitter or contact via e-mail!

Read More...

Saddle up! Fiat's plans for Chrysler to appear soon, leaks appearing even sooner

I'm thinking of a car, can you guess what it is?

While many of us eagerly await Fiat's official plan for Chrysler, which will be announced on November 4, 2009, the Wall Street Journal has taken this opportunity to speculate what will be announced.

In this link is a slideshow filled with photos of Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge products and my thoughts on each of them.

If you guessed that Fiat-based models will pepper the future lineup of Chrysler's product lineup, then you would be correct. Let's analyze the WSJ report:

Jeep Commander will be dead next year. Why isn't it dead already? This thing was a non-starter from day one. I recall viewing some early shots of the Commander when a colleague turned to me and said, "This photo is a hoax, right?" Sadly it was not.

New Jeep Grand Cherokee and Chrysler 300 next year. Both were great vehicles in their time, but is now the time for these vehicles? Current consumer behavior would suggest not.

Increased marketing of the Jeep brand. More marketing is better than less, but I am not sure how much this will help.

Dodge Caliber, Dodge Avenger and Dodge Nitro die while the Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger live. Eventually phase out Dodge Grand Caravan leaving only the Chrysler Town and Country. Most of these changes won't occur for some time , so don't look for deals on orphan Caliber's just yet. Heck, the Caliber just got a new interior. Focusing Dodge as a performance icon makes some sense, but what will replace these bread and butter cars? Also, I understand that you want to de-duplicate the lineup, but the minivan segment is a big deal for the company. Even long term, why would you want to go and mess with its success by cutting back to only the Town and Country? Aren't Plymouth Voyager owners still licking their wounds?

Chrysler PT Cruiser, Chysler Sebring sedan, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot will be axed. No shocker here, the PT was already saved from the executioner once, it has to be replaced at some point. Sebring and Avenger sedans have been trouble since the get-go for Chrysler. While the Jeep Patriot is passable, the Compass is quite ugly and a detriment to the Jeep brand's rugged image. Fiat platforms should play well in this space, but 2012 better hurry up and get here.

Fiat 500 arrives in 2011. Can't arrive too soon! While it won't sell in huge numbers, it will generate much needed showroom traffic.

Alfa Romeo returns with volume models in 2012. Richie riches have the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione to play with while the rest of us have to wait. Will the wait be worth it?

Subscribe to receive alerts when the author submits a new article, follow the author on twitter or contact via e-mail!

Read More...

Civic duty: Honda's mid-course change makes next Civic smaller

2010 Honda Civic EX-L Sedan (source: american honda)

In the automotive business, few things are more expensive than making changes to a product that has already advanced through much of its developmental cycle. Making matters worse, many vehicles share a common platform, meaning that changes to a design could cause multiple product launches to be delayed.

So it must have been with great care and consideration that Honda made a mid-course change to its bread and butter Civic, deciding late in the game to make the caller smaller, lighter and less expensive. View a slideshow of the Honda Civic through the ages in this gallery. According to an Automotive News interview, this "Ah hah!" moment came to Honda CEO Takanobu Ito after the crash of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Ito recently told Automotive News in an interview (sub required),

We are taking more time to rethink the new Civic and all our models. We had to revisit our development work and planning to comply with the change in the environment.

With regards to the Civic, Ito was quite frank, telling Automotive News,

The team is struggling. We are injecting more manpower to meet our target.

As you might imagine, given that quote, Honda is not willing to talk about a revised time line for the Civic and related vehicles such as the CR-V and Element. Overall Ito has said that Honda's will be less expensive without being cheap, lighter weight, will incorporate more hybrids and electric-only vehicles. Honda is not alone in making massive course corrections. Many automotive executives around the world were having "Maalox moments" while fretting over future product plans.

Subscribe to receive alerts when the author submits a new article, follow the author on twitter or contact via e-mail!

Read More...

Toyota officials confirm 2011 Sienna for January 2010 production

2010 Toyota Sienna (courtesy Toyota)

2010 Toyota Venza, look for a similar grille on the 2011 Sienna

While in the process of giving an interview to a local Indiana television station regarding Highlander production, Toyota officials let it slip that the all-new 2011 Sienna will begin production there in January of 2010. To directly quote the interview,

We also learned the plant (Princeton, Indiana) will have a new Sienna coming out in January.

Relive the magic of the current model in this photo slideshow with some commentary by the author.

News of a 2011 Sienna comes as no shock, but it is nice to finally have an exact date for the start of production. 2011 will actually see three new minivans, one each from Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

The 2010 Toyota Sienna saw no changes whatsoever.

What can we expect from the 2011 model? Spy photos show us a front end heavily influenced by the Venza. Overall, Toyota has done quite well with the current generation, so do not expect anything too radical on the outside. Just enough to let buyer's know that it is truly a new model.

A six speed automatic is a lock. One would also hope that the Sienna's in car entertainment (ICE) gets a serious upgrade. The current Sienna's navigation system wins no awards and compared to the Chrysler Town and Country, the Sienna's video entertainment system is woeful. You cannot even get satellite radio (it has to be dealer installed) let alone satellite television and just one shrimpy monitor with no hard drive. Traffic updates would be nice to have for the navigation system as would fuel prices, movie times, etc. The more user friendly and technologically advanced Toyota can make the Sienna's ICE, the better. Look for techie toys like wide-view side monitor found on the 2010 Lexus RX and other active safety features.

The Sienna is the last van standing when it comes to available AWD a claim that you would expect Toyota to want to hold onto, but it is entirely possible that it might go away or only be available in the hybrid model. Let us face it, the Sienna AWD's run flat tires have incurred a lot of criticism.

The question becomes, does the new van debut at December's Los Angeles Auto Show or January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit? Given the minivan's lack of a marquee billing, the LA show could be a possibility, but Toyota may wish to maximize 2010 Sienna sales and debut the van later in the model year.

Subscribe to receive alerts when the author submits a new article, follow the author on twitter or contact via e-mail!

Read More...

In the San Jose area? Check out the Cadillac SRX

2010 Cadillac SRX (courtesy: general motors)

Cadillac is hosting a Tweetup for the 2010 Cadillac SRX tomorrow, Saturday, October 24, 2009 at Sino Lounge 377 Santana Row from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

View a slideshow of 2010 Cadillac SRX images in this link.

You might recall that Buick recently hosted a Tweetup in San Francisco for the 2010 LaCrosse. I was able to attend the Buick event and can report that an enjoyable time was had by all. If I had to criticize anything, the test route for the cars is a bit too short.

I have yet to take an SRX for a drive, although I did spend some time in a pre-production 2010 Cadillac SRX at the Detroit Auto Show. If time allows I will try to attend this event myself. For those who are interested, a link to the Tweetup with all the details can be found here. Santana Row is always a great place to be and if GM is willing to buy you a few drinks and apps, why not go?

Subscribe to receive alerts when the author submits a new article, follow the author on twitter or contact via e-mail!

Read More...