Nutson's Automotive News Digest
Week of April 27-May 3,
2015
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By Larry Nutson
Senior Editor and Bureau Chief
Chicago Bureau
The Auto Channel
Auto Central Chicago IL, May 3, 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.
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 20 year's 1,835,008 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 Weekly Automotive News Digest-April 27 - May 3, 2015
* The Auto industry sold 1.45 million vehicles in April, up 4.6 percent from a year ago. The seasonally adjusted annual rate rose to 16.5 million. Pickups, SUVs, vans and crossover utilities outsold passenger cars, 54% to 46%. The Detroit - 3 had single digit gains. Mazda reported its best sales in 20 years. Subaru, Jaguar - Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi and Maserati all had double-digit gains. Nissan, Toyota and Honda, as well as Hyundai/Kia, all missed expectations. VW is still down.
* Due to declines in gas prices and finance charges, the annual cost to own and operate a vehicle has fallen to $8,698, a nearly 2 percent drop from last year, according to AAA's 2015 Your Driving Costs study. This research examines the cost of fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance, license and registration fees, taxes, depreciation and finance charges associated with driving a typical sedan 15,000 miles annually. In the United States, a driver can expect to spend 58 cents for each mile driven, nearly $725 per month, to cover the fixed and variable costs associated with owning and operating a car in 2015.
* Gift giving is good, but to a point. A recent study published by the National Insurance Crime Bureau found that the number of cars stolen with the keys left inside has increased from 39,000 in 2012 to nearly 45,000 in 2014. So hey folks, don't leave the car running when you run in for that double-shot skim latte.
* Perhaps manufacturers are gun-shy but Ford this week announced four safety recalls for problems that account for one accident and no injuries. The recalls involve almost 600,000 vehicles in North America. Ford's latest recalls include 518,313 2013-15 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ mid-size sedans and 2015 Ford Edge crossovers vehicles to fix steering gear bolts. Smaller actions address 2015 Lincoln MKZ mid-size sedan parking lights, 2014 Ford Focus, Edge, Escape and Transit Connect vehicles and 2014-15 Ford Fiesta fuel pumps and 2015 Ford F-150 pickup heat shields.
* In the GM "switchgate" ignition switch matter, 90 death claims have now been approved, up from the original 13. A total of 4,342 claims were filed and GM still has 997 to review. GM raised the amount of money set aside for the claims by $150 million to $550 million.
* Elon Musk is quoted as stating that fuel cell vehicles are bulls**t and just a marketing gimmick. Toyota set out to make hay out of that remark by hiring a noted filmmaker to produce a batch of short videos about the variety of fuels that can power a fuel cell, including bovine feces. They’re using that animal-derived hydrogen to power a new Mirai fuel-cell car.
* And, the 2016 Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle that emits only water out of its exhaust, was used to pace the NASCAR Sprint Cup race last weekend at Richmond International Raceway.
* We learned this week from Motoring Magazine that GM has decided it will no longer produce a right-hand-drive version of the electric Volt for overseas markets beginning with the second generation 2016 model. All Volts are assembled in the Detroit area Hamtramck plant. It is unlikely to be missed in the Australian market where the Holden Volt has found only 246 buyers since it came to that market in 2012. We don’t yet know if the new Bolt full electric will be produced in right-hand-drive.
* We knew the Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT 350 R (R for racing) would be limited production but we were expecting something in the few-thousand range. Ford revealed this week plans to produce only 100 GT 350s and 37 of the R version. The original GT 350 built in 1965 saw a production run of only 562 cars. Both will be on sale this fall and certainly be snapped up by deep pockets collectors willing to pay way more than the sticker price.
* Hennessy Performance just produced their first C7 Corvette engine with 1000 horsepower verified on the dyno. Upgrades include a complete rework of the engine with a variety lightweight and higher-performance internal parts, low-flow exhaust, supercharger, high-pressure fuel delivery and other hot stuff. At the wheel it produces around 850 horsepower and 720 pound-feet of torque. The upgrade package costs about $68,000 and that does not include the purchase of the Corvette.
* After intense speculation that the 2016 Camaro would be the pace car for the Indy 500 we learned this week that in spite of it being launched the week before Indy it won’t lead the pack. Instead we’ll see the 2015 Corvette Z06 leading the pack of open-wheelers as they chomp at the bit to start or restart the race. The Corvette Z06 is the most track-competent Corvette yet so it will certainly be right at home and this will be the 14th time in a row that a Chevrolet vehicle will pace the 500 mile race.
* And, Indiana native and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon will drive the pace car at this year's Indy 500. Later that day he will compete in the NASCAR Coco-Cola 600 in Concord, NC. Earlier this year Gordon announced he would retire from full-time NASCAR racing. Perhaps his new gig will be as a pace car driver-for-hire.
