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Car Crazy Central is a hit with savvy car enthusiasts
If you love cars check out Car Crazy Central. The site has recently launched as a portal for car lovers. The site boasts e-cards, news, forums, and email newsletters to keep you abreast of auto industry happenings.
The Car Crazy News section provides daily updated video news segments ranging from the latest automotive manufacturing and industry stories to collector and enthusiast updates. I went directly to the humor section to watch short films and cartoons. Visitors can also download screensavers, wallpapers, instant messaging icons, and automotive e-cards. —
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The video news is full-screen and they also offer radio, daily news, and even a community area (that’s where the cartoons reside) with classifieds and event for the auto buff. The community area is actually fairly substantial. I was pleasantly surprised to see such depth here.
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Two rivals will join forces on new minivan
If you thought automotive news was boring, you haven’t been keeping up with all that has been happening lately. It was just announced that VW will design the interior of Chrysler’s next minivan.
The minivan will be based on the next-generation Dodge and Chrysler minivan platform, but VW will design the interior and exterior.
"We’re developing a design that will be uniquely Volkswagen’s because we believe there’s tremendous opportunity in this market for a vehicle of this type," Bernhard said in a statement.
Bernhard predicted sales of around 10,000 minivans annually once the vehicle hits the market, a fairly conservative estimate. VW sold 18,050 Touareg sport-utility vehicles, its largest current vehicle, in the United States in 2005. That was down 35% from the number of Touaregs the company sold in 2004.
The van will be co-branded and will be manufactured in the United States or Canada. I wonder if this will be the start of a beautiful friendship?
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A Year In Review
Detriot’s news of late has been doom and gloom. With strikes, low sales, and dismal growth, the auto industry doesn’t have much to celebrate.
General Motors Corp. Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner sent a memo to workers in November assuring them bankruptcy isn’t an option for the world’s largest automaker, but concerns about GM’s financial health persist. The company recently announced a plan to cut 30,000 jobs and close 12 facilities by 2008. Next year, the automaker, which has a Fort Wayne plant, plans to sell a majority stake in its profitable finance arm, GMAC, to raise cash.
Ford Motor Co. is expected to announce its own restructuring plan in January. The nation’s No. 2 automaker had its share of turmoil this year, including an expensive bailout for its former parts division, Visteon Corp.
But, analysts say things are looking better for the coming year.
Despite the gloom in Detroit, 2005 will end on a fairly high note. Analysts are predicting full-year sales of around 17 million vehicles, a healthy pace that has held steady over the past 6 years.
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Geely Will Display at Detroit Auto Show
While the American auto industry continues to show trouble, Chinese automaker, Geely, is taking this opportunity to show their 5-passenger sedan, the 7151CK at the Detroit Auto Show.
"We are absolutely determined to produce a high-quality vehicle that can be marketed to the American consumer for under $10,000,” said Harmer, an attorney and former Washington lobbyist who said he was hired for his expertise in regulatory issues. "We’re not trying to barnstorm the American market. We’re going to protect the product and the credibility of our name.”
Geely expects to sell a little more than 100,000 vehicles in China this year, Harmer said. That’s about the same number of vehicles Mitsubishi Motors sold in the United States in the first 11 months of this year. GM sold 4 million in that time. Geely also plans to export 7,000 vehicles this year, mostly to Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Harmer said.
Harmer said Geely won’t start talking to U.S. dealers for another year.
Detroit auto show co-chairman Richard Genthe said several other Chinese automakers inquired about space at this year’s show, but Geely was the only one that committed to a booth. Geely decided to bring the 7151 CK last week, Genthe said.
"We’re excited to be the first show in the Western hemisphere to showcase a Chinese vehicle,” Genthe said.
This makes history as the first Chinese automaker to display at the Detroit Auto Show. There are other Chinese automakers targeting the American market, but when some displays cost as much as $2M, Geely is the only one actually displaying at the show.
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Will he lose his seat?
The Chairman of the Volkswagon group, Bernd Pischetsrieder, may be in danger of losing his job.
European sales are higher, and a restructured VW Group has gained 0.8 percentage point of market share, the largest increase of all manufacturers in Europe this year. In addition, profits are up and VW has made progress working with its German labor unions.
But with four months to go until his contract comes up for renegotiation, Pischetsrieder is plagued by other problems.
Despite the fact that Volkswagon’s future looks brighter as of late, it may be too far gone to save the Chairman’s job.
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Burgeoning Auto Testing Industry Comes to Rural NC
The people of Northhampton County, North Carolina have put their minds and money together to build a state-of-the-art automobile testing facility to lure auto makers into testing their newest cars, trucks, and vans in their rural setting. The center, with a projected cost of $130 million, is really a cinderella story, with a book/movie deal in the works.
Local and state officials are building the $130 million center mostly on spec, with only two companies publicly committed to the project. But they’re confident the center, where automobile and parts manufacturers and motorsports teams will be able to test experimental and alternative-fuel vehicles, could generate 300 jobs directly and thousands of others within the automobile and other industries.
And in the process, they hope the center will keep a generation of Northampton kids living at home instead of leaving for the big city.
"I’d love to come back," said 17-year-old Tim Gubitz, a Northampton East senior who wants to get an electrical engineering degree at North Carolina State University and enter the electric vehicle industry. "It’s an area that’s growing and I’d love to be a part of that growth."
Gubitz is now a student at Northampton East High School, where since 1993 members of the Automotive Team have hollowed out old cars with gasoline engines and replaced them with several 12-volt batteries and an electric motor.
"I think the forces are coming together, that our country is finally starting to see that we’ve got to change our transportation methods," said Harold Miller, a retired Northampton East teacher who jump-started that first car project. "A gas engine is just a dirty thing."
In a part of the state where students often rank near the bottom in test scores, the kids from Northampton East stunned everyone when they won a multistate electric vehicle competition on their first try. It’s a story that recently became the subject of a book and a potential movie deal.
Automakers are having a difficult year this year. Gas prices and environmental concerns are causing a consumer outcry for hybrid vehicles. And, falling sales are forcing the industry to cut thousands of jobs to keep the books balanced.
The NC training center may be much less expensive for automakers to utilize than having their own similar center, and the rural location will keep prying eyes out.
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For the first time since the 80s, Chevrolet tops Ford in car sales
While Chevrolet points to clearance sales and quality improvements as driving the leap over Ford, some industry experts are blaming Ford’s poor performance this year.
Ford’s U.S. sales fell to 2.78 million last year from 3.47 million vehicles in 2000. That was the same year Firestone’s recall of more than 6.5 million tires, most on the Ford Explorer, raised questions about the safety of the top-selling SUV.
Chevrolet’s stronger sales are a rare bit of good news for GM.
The automaker announced plans last month to stop production at a dozen North American plants and cut 30,000 hourly jobs by the end of 2008. The company has lost nearly $5 billion in its North American automotive operations this year.
But Chevrolet really isn’t focusing much on the #1 spot publicly. Instead they are choosing to downplay the honor because industry analysts say Toyota will soon take the top slot.
Finally though, some good news for GM, at least for now.
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More Job Losses Ahead for Auto Giant
Due to gas prices last quarter and poor performance from Volvo, Ford is cutting a little over 5% of Volvo’s workforce. The job cuts fall mainly in Sweden, with a small portion from Belguim.
The automaker will eliminate 1,470 positions, primarily in Sweden and Belgium, out of a total workforce of 27,500 people, Gothenburg, Sweden-based Volvo Cars said Monday.
"We have to reduce the number of employees we have in order to be more effective in the future," Christer Gustafsson, a Volvo spokesman, said in an interview. "We are reviewing all cost-driving areas within the company."
These cuts are not due to the auto giant’s earlier plans to reduce their workforce by 10,000 jobs by years end. Those cuts will be on top of these at Volvo.
Looks like Ford employees will have a very stressful holiday season.
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Ailing Mitsubishi Loses Chrysler’s Millions
In a surprising move, Monday saw a complete unloading of Chrysler’s Mitsubishi stake. Despite a small climb in quarter 3, Mitsubishi remains 26% down for the year.
Both companies say their strategic partnerships will continue, but a high-level resignation from the Chrysler board by a Mitsubishi exec may not bode well for the health of the alliance.
"Although capital ties between Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) and DaimlerChrysler AG (DC) will be dissolved as a result of the sale, ongoing individual alliance projects are progressing smoothly. Those projects include joint development and production of engines, the shared use of vehicle architecture, and the joint production of passenger vehicles."
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