Nutson's Nuggets: Last Week's (June 4-10, 2012) Automotive News In Case You Were Sleeping

* Last week closed out with the May auto industry sales report. Compared to a year ago when sales were pretty bad, this May is up 26% but only at 1.33 million. However, the seasonally adjusted rate was the lowest in 2012 to 13.8 million, which was below expectations. Among all the brands, Toyota and Honda sales are soaring.

* Saturday mornings will never be the same. Or will they? The nation's best-known car guys, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, better known as Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, will end production of their popular NPR radio show, Car Talk, this fall. Their off-the-cuff car repair advice mixed with jokes, puzzles and entertaining banter and raucous laughter has been a mainstay on the radio for more than a quarter century. The good news for their fans is that they've recorded their last 25 years worth of shows and they are likely to be replayed for many years to come.

* The new Honda Fit EV…currently on sale only in California and Oregon…earned the best-in-class (a small class to be sure) MPGe (miles-per-gallon-equivalent) rating of 118 this week while getting an estimated range of 82 miles-per-charge, edging out its closest rival the rare Mitsubishi i-MiEV rated at a measly 112 MPGe. Ford Focus Electric gets 105 with a 76-mile range and Nissan Leaf claims a 73-mile range and is officially rated at 99 MPGe. However, take note that the electric Fit has an estimated price tag nearly twice as high as the gasoline-powered version. It would take 11 years before a driver makes up the difference and begins saving on fuel.

* The Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn,MI announced their class of inductees for 2012: James Couzens, Henry Ford's business guy, Tom Gale, respected and prolific retired Chrysler design chief, Chuck Jordan, GM design VP who pledged "no dull cars" and was a staunch supporter of the Fisher Body Craftsmans' Guild, and Albert Kahn, leading American industrial architect of his time who designed many of the auto industry's greatest buildings including the GM Building in Detroit. The induction ceremony will take place during the week-long events surrounding the Concours d'Elegance of America at St. John's. Visit: www.automotivehalloffame.org

* We learned this week that Kia plans to follow sister brand Hyundai into the full size and luxury markets. Reporting by The Detroit Bureau revealed plans for the K7 and K9 Cadenza which will share some components with Hyundai's Genesis Sedan and Equus but will maintain a distinct design personality.

* The National Motorists Association, a grassroots motorist's rights organization opposed to artificially low speed limits, revealed that Texas is considering raising the speed limit on a stretch of highway near Austin to 85-mph. The NMA and most traffic engineers advocate for speed limits that reflect the actual free flow of traffic and Texas seems to be one of the few states that agree.

* LeMay - America's Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington opened its doors to the public this week after many years of planning and fund raising. Boasting 165,000 square-feet of exhibit space it is the largest car museum in the country and features cars from the collection of David Madeira and Nancy LeMay. From the full classics of the early days of motoring to the wonderful pickups of the 1950s, the museum displays a broad variety of vehicles. Visit: www.lemaymuseum.org

* Politics in the auto business this week included Mitt Romney's pledge to immediately sell the government's shares in GM regardless of the stock price if he is elected. The U.S. Treasury holds a 26% stake in the largest American automaker. Romney has criticized the government's intervention contending they should have been allowed to go belly up like any other business. He also promises to review fuel-efficiency standards for light vehicles.

* The Chevrolet Volt is gaining momentum in California, where hybrid and electric car owners are allowed to use carpool lanes no matter how many people are in the car. Chevy has to equip all Volts going to California with a special-low emission system on the generator's gasoline engine which then allows using the carpool lane. Through the first quarter, the Golden State accounted for nearly 23% of all Volt registrations, according to R.L. Polk. Ironically, Chevy had an extended production shut-down for the Volt due to low demand.

* GM engineers have squeezed an additional three miles of range out of the Chevrolet Volt's battery pack. The 2013 Chevy Volt will be able to travel 38 miles on a single charge of electricity, up from 35 in the current version. A new feature called "hold mode", which is already available in Europe, will give drivers the option to use gasoline before using the battery pack. It'll be standard on the 2013 Volt.

* Audi has revealed that it has developed a rearview system for its R18 LMP race car applying digital technology that may eventually prove to be a viable solution for road cars. It’s first application in a closed cockpit LMP sports prototype will be the Le Mans 24-hour race on June 16-17. Using an AMOLED (active matrix organic light-emitting diode) system, it could replace not only the interior mirror to provide a wide-angle view but possibly also the exterior mirrors, which in recent years have become larger and more complex, adding cost, increasing aerodynamic drag, and causing physical obstructions.

* Chrysler Group informed dealers that the company is no longer accepting orders for the 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth. Fiat can't make them fast enough to support current demand. Customers will now have to wait until next fall when the 2013 model of the car arrives on U.S. shores. The demand for the car is all about the need for speed as it offers about 58% more horsepower and 73% more torque than the Fiat 500.

* Kia announced it would recall almost 73,000 of its Rio models from the 2006-2008 model years because a passenger air bag could malfunction and deploy when a small child was seated in the front passenger seat.

* Consumers aren't very interested in using social media like Facebook and Twitter through vehicle systems, according to previously unpublished research. Thilo Koslowski, an influential connected-vehicle analyst for technology consultancy Gartner, offered an early glimpse at new research into consumer preferences in an address at the Telematics Detroit 2012 conference.