Nutson's Automotive News Nuggets - Week of December 15-21, 2014

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

Auto Central Chicago IL, December 21, 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 1,749,825 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 December 15-21, 2014

* The GM Ignition Compensation Fund has now received a total of 2,326 claims. The number of claims found eligible for compensation for deaths caused by General Motors' defective ignition switch has risen to 42, from the original 13 that GM had acknowledged. Kenneth Feinberg and his staff have determined seven people who suffered severe injuries and 51 who incurred injuries that were treated within 48 hours are eligible for some type of payment. Applications continue to come in with a deadline the end of January.

* AutoWeek named the Volkswagen Golf GTI as its Best of the Best/Car for 2015, beating a group of finalists that includes the Alfa Romeo 4C, Ford Mustang and Mercedes-Benz C-class; and the GMC Canyon as its Best of the Best/Truck for 2015, besting the likes of the Chevrolet Colorado, Lincoln MKC and Porsche Macan.

* The much-anticipated new iteration of the iconic Acura NSX is on schedule and we’re promised a pre-production version at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month. We were treated to a teaser video at the Honda holiday media party this week. The NSX will be produced at a special factory in Ohio.

* What’s in a name, we ask? Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) renamed its Chrysler Group unit this week calling it FCA USA LLC and also swapped the moniker for the Fiat unit from Fiat SpA to FCA Italy Sp. Nothing changes in terms of brands, management structure or regional organization. Thus, the Chrysler brand, the Chrysler Foundation and the Walter P. Chrysler Museum will carry the history and heritage of the name. Some close to the Michigan headquarters are waiting to see what happens to the large Pentastar that is an integral part of the architecture and structure of the headquarters building.

* Volvo is beginning online car sales, the latest automaker to offer a way to skip the dealerships and shop from their computers or mobile devices. The move, begun in the U.S. earlier this year with a first-edition version of the redesigned XC90 crossover SUV, will be expand to all models and around the globe.

* Also, Volvo's presence at auto shows will be diminished as it puts more of its resources into revamping its web presence with expanded social media outreach and a “massive” website redesign. Starting next year, Volvo Cars will take part in just one motor show per region: Geneva in Europe, Shanghai or Beijing in China and Detroit in the U.S.

* Super car manufacturer Spyker was declared insolvent by a Dutch court and entered bankruptcy this week after years or struggling, the result of the company’s purchase of Saab from GM. Spyker founder and CEO Victor Muller still won’t give up and insists he will “resurrect Spyker as soon as practically possible.” The plan had been for Spyker to augment its ultra low production super sports car business with Saab as a volume production product.

* GM, Audi and Jaguar-Land Rover have temporarily suspended vehicle sales in Russia this week as a result of the troubling loss in value of the ruble. The Russian currency has dropped more than 40% in the past six months mostly the result of crude oil prices that are half what they were a few years ago. Russia’s economy is heavily dependent on oil production. Toyota is dealing with the crisis by raising prices and continuing sales.

* Burt Reynolds’s 1977 Pontiac Trans Am, which was used to promote “Smokey and the Bandit,” was sold at auction for $450,000. The 400-cubic-inch V8-equipped muscle car, which did not appear in the film, had a presale estimate of only $60,000 to $80,000.

* A 1955 Volkswagen bus was recently sold for $235,000 by a German auction company, the the highest price ever paid at auction for one the iconic minibuses.

* President Barack Obama announced steps to normalize trade relations with Cuba and the auto world became abuzz. Could this be a huge opportunity for U.S. automakers to sell new cars and trucks there? Can the huge cache of '50s and '60s cars in daily use on the streets of Havana be a gold mine for parts suppliers? We'll just have to wait and see how Washington moves forward on this.

* FCA US LLC (formerly known as Chrysler) is recalling nearly 257,000 Dodge Ram (now known as Ram) pickups in the United States because a loose nut may cause the rear axle to seize. Affected are 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 pickups built from January 2004 through August 2005.

* Traffic deaths fell 3% in 2013 according to official numbers just released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The fatality rate matched the lowest on record at 1.10 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. NHTSA deputy administrator David Friedman claims better law enforcement is responsible for the 25% decline in deaths during the past decade. NHTSA also claims that about a third of all deaths are the result of “drunk driving incidents,” and the organization cites lower distracted driving deaths in these numbers.

* On the other hand, pedestrian and bicycle deaths in large cities are rising. With re-urbanization and gentrification trends taking place in most all of America's larger cities, this is due in part to increased numbers of walkers and bike riders. Cities are making efforts to improve road-sharing by today's three users and give bikers and pedestrians more priority over cars.

* Google is looking for auto industry partners to bring to fruition its vision of a self driving car...one that operates at a speed below 25mph and considered a neighborhood-use car. Curious is that one of the outcomes of this project would be to reduce the need for individual car ownership resulting in fewer cars. So in other words, partner with me on a product that will have a negative impact on your business. We'll see how that one works out.

* And in motorsports news, officials with Sprint have informed NASCAR that the telecommunications company will end its entitlement sponsorship of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series following the conclusion of the 2016 season. Sprint has served as title sponsor of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since 2008 after a merger between Sprint and fellow telecommunications company NEXTEL, which had served as series title sponsor since 2004.

* Brian Lister, who died on December 16 at the age of 88, was one of Britain’s foremost post-war designers and builders of competition cars. From its inception in 1954, the Lister quickly became a benchmark for the front-engined sports racing car; it had few competitors. In 1957 the Lister Jaguar brought Lister into the top rank of sports car builders That season, out of 14 races entered, it won 12, setting either a fastest lap or an outright record on each occasion. Unsurprisingly, customers appeared for the next year, and the car was put into production for 1958, powered either by a Jaguar engine or, for the American market, a Chevrolet option.