Nutson's Nuggets: Last Week's (August 6-12,2012) Automotive News In Case You were Dozing

Auto Central Louisville, KY August 12, 2012 Each week Larry Nutson, The Auto Channel's Chicago Bureau Chief, along with Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau give you easy to digest nuggets of the past week's automotive news you may have missed.

If you are a car nut like we all are, you can easily "catch up" on these stories as well as the past 16 years 1,347,699 automotive stories, articles, reviews, rants and raves by just searching for the subject you are interested in The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive. Hey South Florida viewers, I know you are enjoying watching The Auito Channel's TACH-TV on channel 44 Palm Beach (Cable 17 and 438, channel 9 Miami and chanell 32 Ft.Meyers-Naples, and thnaks for the poisitive feedback...See you next week, LN

Automotive News August 6-12, 2012

* Did you see miniature remote-controlled versions of the MINI, about one-quarter scale, used on the Olympic hammer throw and discus venues to ferry the implements back to the throwers. Each mini MINI can carry about 17 pounds. The cars work in four-hour shifts each traveling about 6000 meters a day.

* And also at the Olympics, Nissan Motors has unveiled a new "black cab" called the NV200 London Taxi. Nissan has taken an initiative in gaining business in the city taxi market having been chosen as the "Taxi of Tomorrow" in New York City and the automaker has its sights on Tokyo as well. The London Taxi based on the 1948 Austin FX3 will eventually disappear from the streets.

* The long-in-the-tooth Jeep Liberty ends production next week. The Toledo, Ohio plant that builds the small SUV will be idle while Chrysler-Fiat pours a half-billion dollars into it in preparation for the successor slated to begin production next spring.

* GM seems baffled about what to do about its German brand, Opel. It continues to loose vast amounts of money, only partly the result of the European economic problems. GM is still publicly saying they can turn it around. This week a rumor surfaced hinting that Stefan Jacoby, formerly of VW and now CEO of Volvo, would take over at Opel. Both GM and Jacoby deny the rumors.

* Consumer Reports newest issue out this week identifies five popular cars to avoid at all costs surprising most of us with that warning. They say, "just because a car generates a lot of buzz or is a best seller doesn't mean its a good choice for you." Cars they say to avoid are Prius C, Honda Civic, Ford Edge, Jeep Liberty and Dodge Grand Caravan. Reasons vary from vehicle to vehicle, to bad repair records, to fuel economy.

* Huge news from Dodge: they're pulling out of NASCAR competition at the end of the 2012 season. The decision comes in the wake of Team Penske's decision to dump Dodge in favor of Ford for next year's season…ironically, after helping Dodge design its new racer. The Penske decision was made months ago and Dodge has been searching unsuccessfully for another team to campaign their cars. The decision affects current involvement in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series. Ralph Gilles, boss of SRT motor sports for Chrysler said it had nothing to do with the money. Well Dodge fans, we'll see you at the drags.

* For those headed to the left coast for next week's Pebble Beach Concours and surrounding events you'll want to know that legendary racers Peter Brock and Bob Bondurant will be at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca Saturday to swap stories about Carroll Shelby, his cars and the epic races of the old days.

* Hot news from The Netherlands: Spyker the owner of Saab Automobile, that went bankrupt in December 2011, will sue General Motors for 3 billion dollars. Spyker announced that it will do so on behalf of Saab, claiming that GM deliberately drove the Swedish brand into bankruptcy by blocking attempts of Spyker’s CEO (and former Saab CEO) Victor Muller to save Saab. Muller had found a possible investor in the Chinese investment company Youngman, but General Motors vetoed the deal because allegedly it did not want the Chinese to lay hands on GM technology.