Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Blast February 9-15, 2015

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

Auto Central Chicago IL, February 15, 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 1,805,217 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 Blast - Week Feb 9-15, 2015

* Press Days at the 107th Chicago Auto Show dominated the news this week as journalists and industry execs swarmed the Windy City for this pre-Valentines Day gathering. The Chicago Auto Show is the largest of any auto show in the U.S., occupying over 1 million square get and also having more show visitors and consumers that any other. The bitter cold of a Chicago winter was no surprise but plenty of news was made at the show. Look for full coverage here on TACh.

* One of the big surprises at the Chicago Auto Show this week was the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo prototype race car built to contest the upcoming Le Mans race and FIA World Endurance Championship. Going against the trend this racer has its engine up front. The last competitive front-engine layout was the Panoz car in 2003. Unlike the Panoz this new GT-R LM has a transmission in front of the engine powering the front wheels making for an unusual profile. Rear wheels are powered by bursts of up to 700 extra hp by a flywheel system.

* At the kick-off media breakfast for the Chicago show the Midwest Automotive Media Association announced that the 2015 Chrysler 200 has been named the winner of its fifth annual Family Vehicle of the Year award. The Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA), a nonprofit group of automotive journalists and public relations professionals, developed the award to help the consumer make a wise buy when it’s time to shop for a family vehicle.

* A variety of awards were presented at the Chicago show. Adding to the Midwest Automotive Media Association’s Family Car of the Year going to the Chrysler 200, MotorWeek's Best of the Best Driver’s Choice went to Mustang. Consumer’s Guide named the Nissan Rogue “Best Buy” and Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe as “Best Cars for the Money.”

* The short list for one of the automotive world's most coveted awards is out ahead of the April 2 awards ceremony at the New York International Auto Show. The 10 finalists that will compete for the title of 2015 World Car of the Year are the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, the Citroën C4 Cactus, the Ford Mustang, the Hyundai Genesis, the Jeep Renegade, the Mazda2, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the MINI 5 door / MINI 4 door, the Nissan Qashqai, and the Volkswagen Passat.

* We just learned that the new Ford GT super car will be built by Multimatic Motorsports in Ontario, Canada because of their expertise in working with carbon fiber and aluminum. The company has a long history of building Ford race cars. The 600-hp Ford GT will go into production next year and cost something over $200,000. Production will be limited to a few hundred cars per year.

* GM confirmed this week what we all expected - that they will build the Bolt EV that was shown in Detroit as a concept. With a 200 mile range and price around $30,000 (including anticipated government subsidies) we expect to see it in showrooms by late 2016. The Bolt will be built at the Orion Township, MI plant where GM currently builds Buick Verano and Chevy Sonic.

* A new report from Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) warns that the increasing technical complexity of vehicles is leaving drivers' security and privacy at risk. Cybersecurity experts have long warned that cars' electronic systems might be vulnerable to hackers. The report, which gathered information from 16 automakers, also found that modern cars collect a significant amount of information on driving history and that drivers often cannot opt out of data collection without disabling features such as navigation.

* No more his car and her car. Self-driving cars could reduce the number of vehicles a household needs and open up new commuting options for Americans, according to a report from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. By analyzing data from the government's National Household Travel Survey, UMTRI researchers found that families with three or more vehicles in their driveway rarely use more than one at a time. They found that 83.7% of households had no trips that overlapped or conflicted on a typical day.

* Britain began testing driverless cars in four cities this week, launching the first official trials ahead of a series of planned rule reviews to accommodate the new technology. Four types of autonomous vehicles are under trial, including a shuttle that looks like a larger golf cart and a compact two-seater "pod" car. Domestic road regulations will be reviewed by 2017, but officials say fully driverless cars are unlikely to be used on roads until 2030.

* Land Rover and Jaguar are recalling 104,000 vehicles because of problems with the brakes and lights. 74,648 Range Rovers from model years 2006 through 2012 are being recalled because one or both front brake hoses could rupture, causing the loss of braking fluid. And 4,787 Jaguar XK cars in model years 2012 through 2015 will be recalled because side parking lights could turn off after about five minutes.

* VW is asking the government to spend more money investing in EV charging infrastructure. At the Electric Drive Transportation Association’s annual conference in Washington, VW also announced that the automaker will invest $10 million in EV charging infrastructure by 2016. Auto makers spent the last decade electrifying the automobile and we'll need all of this decade to build the infrastructure to support them. Demand for EVs is weak in part due to poor charging station availability.

* GM is recalling more than 81,000 vehicles because of problems that can cause power steering to fail. The recall covers certain Chevrolet Malibu, Malibu Maxx and Pontiac G6 vehicles with power steering from the 2006 and 2007 model years.

* Does anyone remember the stylish Borgward Isabella of the 1950s? Well, that German company had many successful cars from 1919 until it went belly-up in the 1960s. Christian Borgward, grandson of the founder, will show a car at next month’s Geneva Motor Show and promises the brand will come back. Financial backing is from a Chinese truck company according to a report on Automotive News Europe.

* Among car collectors the term “barn find” always inspires awe. One of the most notable barn finds of all time involved about 100 cars stored haphazardly in the French countryside. This past week they were auctioned off setting at least 10 price records for particular cars. Most notable was a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder, still covered with dust as it crossed the auction block, that brought an amazing $18.5 million. The whole sale brought $28 million.

* As we "go to press" the 2015 NASCAR racing season gets underway this week. Stay tuned!