Automotive News

Filed under: Safety

Bosch has been a pioneer in many of the technologies that make modern cars as capable as they are today, and the company has just recently produced its 150 millionth electronic brake control system. In 1978, the very first electronically controlled anti-lock brake system developed by Bosch appeared on a Mercedes-Benz using wheel speed sensors and the brake switch as the inputs to the system. The speed sensors detected when wheels were decelerating faster than the vehicle and reduced the braking pressure to the individual wheels until they recovered. After that, the system continued to control each wheel’s brake pressure to get optimum deceleration for the road surface.

The expensive three-way three-position solenoids used in the original system have given way to less expensive two-way solenoids that give even more precise control. The addition of throttle position and engine control as inputs to the system, along with more solenoids, allowed it to control acceleration as well as braking. In more recent years, steering angle, lateral acceleration and vehicle rotational sensors have allowed stability control to sense more of what the driver is trying to do and control the vehicle to match those demands. Electronic stability control is rapidly becoming ubiquitous on new vehicles and is definitely helping to quell the tendency of SUVs to go wheels up. A lot of that credit should go back to Bosch who began it all 150 million units ago.

[Source: Bosch]

 

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Filed under: Etc.

When it comes to turnarounds, Fiat serves as a case study. The Italian institution that rules over Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Maserati, trucks, agricultural equipment, construction equipment, and automobile components, lost $1 billion in 2000. Contrast that with 2006, when it posted a 35% jump in revenues year-on-year, and its operating profit was $384 million — a far cry from the $332 million loss of 2005. Fiat’s current market cap is more than that of GM and Ford combined in Europe, at $32.5 billion.

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of the Fiat Group, is the man who led the charge, beginning in 2000 when he was hired from a Swiss firm. CNN has a lengthy profile on the Italian that delves into how he did it. The story will be familiar to all of us: “The car company had the talent, knowledge and skills, but it lacked leadership.” It was “a problem of culture - big offices, big waste, and nobody responsible for anything.” Too many vehicle discounts. Too many platforms. Too many people doing the same thing across brands. Cars not selling enough. Models not updated. To fix it, Marchionne, an outsider to the auto industry, sheared away excess layers of management, streamlined the design process, rationalized platforms, boosted production, didn’t pick fights with the unions, forged partnerships in China, India, Russia, and Turkey, and got out of the partnership with GM (for which Fiat made $2 billion).

Continues after the jump.

Thanks to everyone who sent in a tip!

[Source: CNN]

Continue reading See? A car company can turn around. Just ask Fiat

 

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Filed under: Coupes, Etc.

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So there I was, exiting Madison Square Garden after watching the Rangers have their season ended at the hand of Chris Drury and the Buffalo Sabres. As I walked east on 33rd street, I couldn’t help but notice the orange bullet-nosed Studebaker Business Coupe stopped at the corner. Only it wasn’t a Studebaker. it was a kit, and from the looks of things, I believe that there might have been an older (Fox body?) Thunderbird somewhere underneath it all. The nose looked fine, but it it kinda became a disaster as you moved aft from there — the proportions seem totally out of whack. My Google powers have failed me, as I haven’t been able to dig up anything on the kit. Now I’m just curious. Feel free to weigh in with your own comments.

 

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Filed under: Etc., Tech, Ford

Following on the heels of General Motors selling its Mesa, Arizona Desert Proving Ground, Ford has decided to look at doing the same with its own Arizona facility. The Arizona Proving Ground located near Lake Havasu is a 3,700 acre facility that employs 200 permanent staff in addition to Ford engineeers who come in to test vehicles. The track would be disposed of as part of the current cost cutting effort at Ford. Way Forward, ho! Most of Ford’s vehicle development testing is being consolidated at its Dearborn Proving Ground adjacent to the automaker’s engineering facilities. Nothing is finalized at this point, but it seems likely that a deal will happen sooner rather than later.

[Source: Detroit News]

 

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Filed under: Gadgets, Trends

How’s this - you pay a nearly ten percent premium to get a factory navigation system in your new whatever, and when it’s replacement time, that very same nav system will cost you again, whacking 1% off the car’s resale price. It makes perfect sense if you try to use some of the integrated nav setups in one- or two-year old used cars out there. Not only did they cost a fortune, they’re not always terribly user friendly, and honestly, how often do most drivers need a nav system? Some at Autoblog love them in our review vehicles, but going the same route every day makes it virtually impossible to get lost. For people who travel a lot to areas they’ve never scouted, there’s value in nav, but when you can get an aftermarket unit for far less, integrated nav starts to take on a pallid appearance.

Automakers are starting to get hip to this fact. Hyundai, while they’re offering integrated nav on the Veracruz, sees no problem selling Garmin aftermarket units right off the showroom floor. The portables are a fast growing segment as consumers realize the value of third-party, portable nav systems. Portable navs are less expensive, offer features that cost a lot more on factory systems, and are upgraded far more regularly. For $1,000, you can get a system that offers real time traffic and weather data, works with bluetooth phones, and can be even more functional with the addition of optional software cards.

Not only are the aftermarket units cheaper, they’re portable, so you can use them in whatever car you please. Of course, luxury buyers being who they are, there’s a certain need to show off that a factory navigation system fulills, but puffery is costly. The quick path to obsolescence that all in-car electronics take means that very in short order, you’ve got an expensive, unfriendly, limited hunk of LCD-interfaced crap in your dash.

[Source USAToday via Kicking Tires]

 

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Filed under: Podcasts, Trends, Sedans/Saloons, Trucks/Pickups, Auction Action, Etc., Dodge, GM, Hyundai

We’re punchy for this one (just check out our outtakes at the end, even better than last time!). We start off with a lively debate over Hyundai’s rumored full-size RWD truck on the BH platform and whether it will be good or bad. No consenus was reached, but it will be exciting to see if Hyundai can morph the concept of the Honda Ridgeline into something a little more haul-friendly.

We segue from unibody pick ‘em ups into the exciting story of the 2nd most expensive car ever auctioned. That is, if the buyer doesn’t fink out (Too late, already did! - Ed.) when it comes time to hit the old PayPal. John Schneider’s personal “General Lee” Charger with history (if you can call 80’s TV camp real history) was sold on eBay for 9.95 million dollars. The cash isn’t going to fund some humanitarian effort, rather, it will be used to finance a sequel to Mr. Scheider/Duke/Kent’s Collier & Co. - Hot Pursuit movie. We’re sure it’s the next Citizen Kane. Speaking of movies, we also touch on the despicably obvious product placement in the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which is essentially a popcorn-bucket-length Dodge spot.

Wrapping it all up, we ring the bell on the “duh” category a couple times for the Lutz. The Zeta is back on, not that we really thought it was dead. B.L. has decided that it’s likely wiser to tweak powerplants than to toss away an entire product renaissance worth of engineering. Whew, and we thought he might actually do it. Speaking of questions, we had no question about GM’s committment to developing the Volt’s battery technology. It will require an infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars, which seems like a good deal to us. Someone somewhere will have to put some time, money and effort into working out the batteries, so why not GM? It beats just sitting around and waiting. We just hope that when Chevy drops the series hybrid on us, it’s wrapped in a prettier shell than the Prius. That’s it for this week, enjoy!

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Filed under: Etc.

The greatest inventions in human history have often been the simplest. Like the wheel. The greatest inventions also have a way of being beyond language — you can understand them in Uruguay or Urdu. It might not be the greatest invention ever, but the shift knob hanger rack is terribly simple and anyone who’s seen the inside of a stickshift car gets it. All you have to add is a wall to hang it on and coats to hang on it. The web site selling it (either Shop Colour or USA Colour, we couldn’t tell) looks to accept every form of payment known, and if you’re in Japan it looks like you can get it at 7-11 and Circle K. (How come our local 7-11 doesn’t carry these things?) It’s about $68 at today’s exchange rates. Like the ad says: Cool.

[Source: USA Color via Carscoop]

 

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Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Audi

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Just last year marketing agencies were bemoaning the advent of the TiVo and similar digital video recorders (DVRs) that allow viewers to fast forward through commercials. A few of the smarter marketing folks, however, are embracing it. San Francisco-based Venables Bell & Partners was hired by Audi at the end of 2006 and the first campaign produced by the ad house has already hit the airwaves. Two of the ads, named 0.2 Seconds and Moment, feature 0.2 seconds worth of images flashed on the screen in a rapid fashion. It almost looks like subliminal messaging, but it’s too noticeable. In fact, Venables Bell & Partners want you to rewind your DVR after the commercial and plays and go through it frame by frame to see those images. It’s an interesting idea, if only because this is the first time anyone’s thought of engaging a TV viewer through the medium of a DVR. We would quickly go back to skipping commercials if our favorite shows were surrounded by ads like this.

Since these are the first commercials of their kind, Venables Bell & Partners has also produced a How-To video for Audi, which shows your average couple on a catch experiencing the commercials for the first time and using their DVR’s remote. Wow, we think everyone’s aware how to rewind and use frame-by-frame on their DVR.

Of course, Audi’s agency also produced a traditional commercial for the A4 sedan so that the throngs of DVR-less TV watchers out there have something to enjoy, as well. It’s a playful ad that takes a jab at Lexus and its “self-parking” system in the LS.

Check out the commercials, including slow-mo versions of the DVR targeted commercials, after the jump.

[Source: Audi]

Continue reading VIDEO: Audi’s batch of DVR-friendly commercials

 

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General Motors has stated in no uncertain terms that the Chevrolet Volt is on track to become a bona fide production model. The automaker’s reaction is likely in response to the chorus of cynical pundits who thought the vehicle was nothing more than a publicity stunt by the General to say, “Hey, we care about the environment, too!”

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Filed under: BMW, MINI, Volvo

Autocar says BMW seriously considered taking Volvo off of Ford’s hands earlier this year, going so far as to request financial data about the company, which is surprising on several levels.

First, does this mean Volvo is for sale? Bill Ford has said nothing in Ford’s Premium Auto Group is sacred, but Volvo seems to be one of the company’s shiniest jewels.

Perhaps the greatest surprise would be BMW’s Quandt family overcoming its aversion to buying another carmaker after the much maligned purchase of Rover. Despite ending up with the popular MINI brand, it’s well known that the Quandts were not happy with the whole mess.

Speaking of the MINI brand, Autocar theorizes that had BMW written a check for Volvo, future small cars from the Swedish automaker might have been based on a platform shared with an expanded MINI lineup. Autocar daydreams that by sharing with Volvo, MINI might have expanded its lineup with a sedan and that rumored SUV variant, the Colorado. On the other hand, larger, more upscale Volvos could have been BMW-based.

Which leads us to another quandary in this rumored buyout deal. How would BMW have positioned Volvo’s quite similar lineup against its own? Both have a full selection of premium coupes, sedans, wagons and SUVs targeted at upper income buyers. Granted, Volvo touts safety while BMW espouses to be the “Ultimate Driving Machine,” but wouldn’t sales of the V50 have competed with the 3-Series wagon? The V70 with the 5-Series?

Upside? Well, Ford would have gotten another short-term financial boost and BMW would have had the potential to save money with platform sharing.

What does the Autoblog community think? Opportunity missed or disaster averted?

Thanks for the tip, Brent!

[Source: Autocar]

 

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