Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Review
June 15-21, 2015
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By Larry Nutson
Senior Editor and Bureau Chief
Chicago Bureau
The Auto Channel
Auto Central Chicago IL, June 21, 2015 Every Sunday, along with senior editors Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau I give you our "take" on this past week's automotive news in easy to digest nuggets.
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Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Digest-June 15-21, 2015
* The J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey came out this week with some interesting results, including top overall finishes for both Kia and Hyundai. The survey measures the number of problems in the first 90 days of ownership on most new cars. Kia and Hyundai came in 2nd and 4th respectively beating traditional Asian competitors like Toyota, Honda and Subaru. Porsche garnered the top spot. GM and Ford have caught up with the Japanese. Overall industry quality improved 3 percent.
* Who says you need to keep both hands on the wheel to drive safely? Not Mercedes-Benz. The new mid-size E-Class will be introduced at the North American International Auto Show next January and it will be able to ply freeways without steering intervention by the driver. And it will be able to manage slow-speed, stop-and-go traffic by itself. Our friends at TheDetroit Bureau reported the story this week citing sources within the company.
* Fiat Chrysler Automobiles boss Sergio Marchionne and GM boss Mary Barra are getting their ducks in a row in preparation for a potential awkward merger. Marchionne appears to be marshaling his troops to court GM stockholders to push for a merger. Barra sees no bargain there. Both have hired high-powered financial firms to assist. Reuters reported this week that GM has summarily rebuffed a merger bid and is preparing for a "standoff.”
* Edmunds announced its “Best Retained Value Awards” this week with Toyota and Acura taking top honors for non-luxury and luxury categories respectively. The calculation for the awards involve expected residual value over the first five years with Toyota expected to retain 52.4% of its value and Acura at 46.9%. Twenty-five categories of cars were assessed. See The List
* Honda has ended production of the compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered Honda Civic, as well as the Civic hybrid and Accord plug-in hybrid. Honda had made the CNG Civic since 1998, and sold about 16,400. The Civic hybrid has been made since 2002 and Honda has sold over 200,000. Natural gas prices relative to gasoline prices and customer convenience factored in Honda’s decision on the CNG Civic.
* The Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act of 2015, introduced this month in the House of Representatives, would allow small companies to produce and sell ready-to-drive replicas of classic cars without subjecting them to the prohibitively expensive safety and emissions tests the major automakers’ vehicles must undergo. The bill, H.R. 2675, co-sponsored by Reps. Mark Mullin (R-Okla.) and Gene Green (D-Texas), is supported by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), which represents the kit car and aftermarket parts industry.
* What's your problem? Eight out of ten drivers report getting better fuel economy than the EPA test ratings. A new AAA survey indicated that a third of Americans do not believe the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new vehicle window sticker accurately reflects the fuel economy they achieve when driving. The reason comes as a surprise since a substantial number of buyers doubt the reported numbers because their personal vehicles outperform the figures on the official fuel-economy labels.
* A new report from The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute by Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak focuses on consumer-acceptance issues related to fuel-saving and advanced vehicle technologies. The report says, fuel economy is important to consumers and they generally do not care specifically how fuel savings are achieved. Knowledge and opinions were mixed, with older respondents and males being more likely to have stronger opinions (both positive and negative) and to claim to know more about the technologies covered by the survey than younger respondents and females. As expected, willingness to pay for improved fuel economy was directly related to the magnitude of the improvement.
* The Obama administration announced new rules that would require tighter emissions guidelines for medium and heavy-duty trucks in an effort to reduce greenhouse gases. The rules, proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), were expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions from trucks and vans by one-quarter by the year 2027. The proposed standards affect semi-trucks, large pickup trucks and vans, buses and work trucks and cover model years 2021-2027, officials said.
* Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian regularly shook up the auto industry attempting a hostile takeover of Chrysler, threatening GM and Ford and generally making a nuisance of himself in the eyes of industry bosses. He died last week in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 98. A former boxer Kerkorian had only an 8th-grade education and was not shy about his ambitions when going after auto companies through his private holding company Tracinda.
* Dave Pericak is the new head of Ford Racing. Pericak was formally introduced to the NASCAR media at Michigan International Speedway. Pericak replaces Jamie Allison as the point man for Ford Racing. Allison, who is now working in Ford’s Global Connected Vehicles division, was director of Ford Racing for the past 11 years. After eleven years of working on weekends Allison certainly deserved a change.
* Porsche won the 24 Hours of Le Mans putting an end to the five-race winning streak of Audi. It was Porsche's seventeenth at the French endurance race. Formula One driver Nico Hulkenberg of Germany was behind the wheel of the No. 19 Porsche 919 Hybrid for the win. The other team drivers were Brit Nick Tandy and New Zealander Earl Bamber.
* And, Corvette Racing finished first in the GT Pro category at Le Mans last weekend completing 337 laps to win by 5. The Corvette team had major wins at Daytona and Sebring this year as well. A Ferrari 458 Italia won the GTE Am title.
