Nutson's Nuggets: Last Week's (February 26-March 3 , 2012) Automotive News In Case You Were Sleeping

Auto Central Louisville KY March 4, 2012 Each week Larry Nutson, The Auto Channel's Chicago Bureau Chief, along with Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Detroit Bureau give you a nugget 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 901,205 automotive stories, articles, reviews, rants and raves by just searching for the subject you are interested in The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive, see ya next week L.N.

* Geneva Auto Show looks bigger than ever with the announcement of two more reveals, each at a different point in the automotive continuum. Volkswagen will deliver a new Golf Cabriolet that bears the GTI badge. As such it has the classic red-edged GTI badge, side sill aero extensions, and a rear air diffuser that frames a chrome exhaust. As a soft top, the electrically powered top folds in 9.5 seconds, according to VW, and at speeds up to 18 mph. The engine is the GTI 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder mated to a six speed transmission of either DSG or manual design and it tops out at 146 mph (DSG) while sprinting to 100 kmh (62 mph) in 7.3 seconds.

* Volvo will display an all-new V40 hatchback, a vehicle that may remind you of the YOU concept seen in Detroit and Chicago. Volvo designer Peter Horubry told The Auto Channel that this car exemplifies Scandinavian design and the company calls it “Designed around You”. The car is said to boast improved chassis design, low-emission 254 hp four cylinder engine equipped with stop-start and brake energy recovery regardless manual or automatic transmission. Volvos are known as safe cars, this one incorporates Pedestrian Detection with full automatic braking, a pedestrian air bag, City Safety (the low-speed <50 kmh automatic braking), and other safety features. Build begins in May in Bhent, Belgium; arrival in the US is unannounced.

* A Web site called eMotorsports News revealed this week there are eight cars entered in the Electric Division of the famous Pikes Peak "Race to the Clouds" in July. The newest entry is from Mitsubishi with their cool i-MiEV Prototype based on their production car that is already being sold in Europe, Japan and North America. It will be driven by Japan's winningest rally racing driver Hiroshi Masuoka who has won the Dakar Rally 21 times.

* Do you remember the name Datsun? That brand name went away in the early 1980s after earning some serious brand loyalty in the US with products like the 510 and the original 240Z. The cars became Nissans, the company name. Now Nissan says they will be bringing back the Datsun name on low end products in India, Indonesia and Russia.

* GM announced this week it would buy a 7% stake in France's PSA Peugeot Citroen for the purpose of developing vehicles, modules, components and perhaps even assembly. We're wondering if that is a strategic move on GM's part to mitigate the persistently dismal performance of their German Opel Brand.

* February auto sales numbers came out yesterday - lookin' good! Total sales are finally back to a level not experienced since the economic bubble burst in 2008 with the industry up 15.7% at a SAAR of 15.1 million. Many U.S. brands did surprisingly well. Our friends at TheDetroitBureau.com note that Chevy's new Sonic outpaced Toyota's Yaris and Honda's Fit combined, and Ford Focus sales doubled. It still appears the automotive segment may be leading the country out of The Great Recession.

* Huge NASCAR news today - Roger Penske announced his team will be ending it's 10-year, successful association with Dodge to hook up with Ford. Mark Fields of Ford calls this a "historic day," as they launch their racing promotion for the new version of the Fusion mid-sized sedan.

* Saying it is a short-term solution to a bloated inventory, GM notified workers today that the Volt line will be idled for about 5 weeks beginning in the middle of March. February Volt sales spiked upward after months of below-expectation sales, so they are still expressing optimism about the long term health of this extended range electric car.

* Sad news out of Detroit - the owner of the long-abandoned, sadly-deteriorated Packard plant on East Grand Avenue (designed by the most famous architect of the day, Albert Kahn) has applied for permits to begin destruction. Not much of the complex is worth saving and most has been defaced by graffiti, but some great architectural details remain. We hope they can save something.

* Next week begins the classic car show season with the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in northern Florida. Universally acknowledged as the most prestigious event of its kind east of the Mississippi, and second only to the Pebble Beach show, founder and chairman Bill Warner and his crew have an amazing show planned with events Friday and Saturday as well as the Concours d'Elegance on Sunday March 11th. TheAutoChannel.com will be there to cover it. Check out the details at: www.ameliaconcours.org.

* If you look up the word "incongruous" in the dictionary you might find "Bentley Plug-in SUV." That's what they'll be showing at next week's Geneva Motor Show. Other luxury automakers plan SUVs - like the Jeep Grand Cherokee-based Maserati Kubang - but no others are plug-in hybrids as far as we know.

* And lastly, but from the start of the week, the most bizarre Daytona 500 finally ended on late Monday eve with Matt Kenseth in a Roush-Fenway Ford the winner. This capped 36 hours of rain delay…the first ever in 55 races…and a crash involving a race car and a jet-dryer truck.