Nutson's Nuggets - Automotive News Week of October 27- November 2, 2014

By Larry Nutson
Senior Editor and Bureau Chief
Chicago Bureau
The Auto Channel

Auto Central Louisville, KY November 2, 2014; 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.

If you are a car nut like we all are here at The Auto Channel, you can easily wish to "catch up" on these stories as well as the past 19 year's 1,745,098 automotive news, automotive stories, articles, reviews, archived news, video, audio, rants and raves just search The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive.

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Nutson's Automotive News Factoids Week Of October 27-November 2, 2014

* Consumer Reports revealed results from their annual Auto Reliability Survey at a press conference before Detroit’s Automotive Press Association this week. The biggest complaint about new cars and trucks is that infotainment systems, the in-dash electronics, don't work well. The new Infiniti Q50 was singled out as particularly troublesome. Toyota and Lexus finished one-two for the second year in a row in Consumer Reports' annual reliability survey of the U.S. new-vehicle market. Rounding out the top ten are Mazda, Honda, Audi, Buick, Subaru, Scion, Porsche and Kia. The four lowest-scoring brands were all from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chrysler Group. The biggest gainer was Lincoln and Mercedes-Benz had the biggest drop due to its new CLA model. Putting infotainment aside, quality continues to improve.

* We have confirmation that Ford will announce at next week’s SEMA Show (Specialty Equipment Market Association) in Las Vegas that it will offer brand new 1965 Mustang convertible body shells that with proper trim can be a 1964 1/2 or 1966. The steel is sturdier and welding techniques superior to the original. Prices start at $15,000 and a coupe may be offered later. The supplier is Dynacom Classic Bodies of Camarillo, CA.

* The famous Nurburgring race track is about to change hands as Russian businessman Viktor Kharitonin agreed to buy controlling interest. The price was not reported. Current German owners filed for bankruptcy two years ago facing a 413 million Euro debt. The two-circuit Nurburgring is used by engineers from around the world for performance testing in addition to having hosted 30 Formula 1 races.

* Fiat Chrysler Automobiles expects to spin off the legendary Ferrari unit to support the company’s ambitious $63 billion growth plan. CEO, Sergio Marchionne said, “it is proper that we pursue separate paths for FCA and Ferrari.” According to AutoBeat Daily the company will list 10% of its stake for sale in New York and sell the remaining 90% to its existing investors.

* While Michigan this week joined other states in disallowing Tesla - or any automaker - from selling cars directly to customers to protect auto dealers from competition, Shanghai now offers free license plates for Tesla S electric cars to incentivize sales of “new-energy” vehicles. Tesla began selling cars in China earlier this year and they expect to open 100 service centers there by the end of the year. By the way, the Shanghai license plate would normally cost the equivalent of $12,000.

* In more news from China, we hear it may become the biggest market for Cadillac in the near future. It is already Buick’s biggest market. GM will open its first assembly plant with its joint venture partner, SAIC Motor Corporation, next year with a capacity of about 160,000 vehicles/year.

* GM began releasing details on the next-generation, 2016 Chevy Volt extended-range electric car this week touting a more powerful gasoline engine to run its generator and an increased range using electric power. Among improvements is a completely new drive unit that is lighter and faster as well as being U.S.-built. The previous drive unit was built in Mexico. We’ll see the car and more details at the North American International Auto Show in January.

* The Chicago Tribune reports that, Argonne National Laboratory kicked off a roadshow to share what it has learned to build a better battery. As the national battery research hub, they told auto manufacturers of plans to build a battery that would allow an electric vehicle (EV) to go 500 miles on a charge. The auto companies told them they really wanted a much cheaper battery that could propel a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) 80 miles on a charge and allow them to reduce the vehicle price by $10,000.

* As an update on GM's ignition switch recall, the number of fatalities linked to the problem is now at 30 (initially GM had said 13). GM's victim compensation program has received 1,580 claims for deaths and injuries, with 191 for deaths. So far, 61 claims have been deemed eligible for compensation, including 30 deaths and 31 injuries. The program will continue to receive applications until Dec. 31 on behalf of individuals injured or killed in accidents they say were caused by the switch problem.

* The average price of regular gasoline at U.S. pumps slid to the lowest level in almost four years, dropping 18.2 cents to $3.08 a gallon, according to Lundberg Survey Inc. The average is the lowest since Dec. 17, 2010, as oil, which makes up 64 percent of the pump price, has fallen 24 percent from this year's peak in June. And prices could continue to fall. The highest price for gasoline in the lower 48 states was in San Francisco, at $3.45 a gallon. The lowest price was in Memphis, Tenn. at an average $2.73 a gallon.

* There's a retro renaissance in vintage campers. Shasta is reissuing the "canned ham" shape 1961 Airflyte trailer which features stainless-steel wings but now with modern amenities such as an enclosed bathroom, air conditioning, and Bluetooth functionality. Available in 16- and 19-foot lengths they come in seafoam green or polo white and matador red. It will be a limited edition run of 1,941 trailers to commemorate the company’s first year in business.

* Ford is recalling around 200,000 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX SUVs for an issue that could cause a fire.

* Fiat Chrysler Automobile is recalling around 382,000 Ram trucks for a fire hazard.

* The Chicago Transit Authority put two prototype battery-powered bused into service. The bus prototypes cost $1 million each and are expected to run 80 to 120 miles, that's a typical full operational day, before needing a charge. Diesel buses get about 3mpg and diesel-hybrid get about 5mpg. The electric buses will reduce energy costs about $25,000 a year per bus.