Nutson's Nuggets - Automotive News December 17-23, 2012 Just In Case You Were Dozing

Auto Central Louisville, KY December 23, 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 1,362,128 automotive news, 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 TV viewers, I know you are enjoying watching The Auto Channel's TACH-TV on channel 44 WHDT-TV Palm Beach (Cable 17 and 438, channel 9 Miami and channel 32 Fort Meyers-Naples, and thanks for the positive feedback....Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanza, see you next week, LN

Automotive News December 17-23, 2012

* Sergio Marchionne, Fiat and Chrysler Group boss, announced this week that a new small Jeep will be built on the same platform as the new Fiat 500X. Speculation is that the new vehicle will be the replacement for the aging compact Patriot and Compass. Coming from an underused Italian plant the new Jeep will help compensate for the sinking European car market. We also here speculation that the next Jeep Liberty will also come from the Fiat based on the Alfa Giulietta.

* After declining steadily since records have been kept, the highway death rate has suddenly moved upward. From a 2011 low of 1.10 deaths per 100 million miles driven it now stands at 1.16. Can that be the result of distracted driving, limited law enfacement budgets, or other factors? No explanation or evaluation is forthcoming.

* For those who want the government out of the car business (and that's just about everyone) we got the news this week that GM will buy back a large chunk of the shares now owned by the U.S. Treasury. GM will pay $5.5 billion for 200 million shares of common stock. That's just about $2 over the current market price. Within the next 12 to 15 months the government plans to sell the rest of its stake in the automaker.

* You'll soon be able to charge your cell phone wirelessly in your new Toyota Avalon with an optional, Qi (global standard for wireless charging) system built into the dash. This is the first factory equipped system, though Dodge has a dealer-installed system available for the Dart.

* Hyundai announced a recall this week of about 13,500 Veloster sport coupes that may have a problem with the optional panoramic sun roof, which can shatter at highway speeds. No deaths and just a few injuries have been reported from the 11 documented instances of the problem.

* Infiniti is renaming its entire product portfolio for the 2014 model year, returning to the letter "Q" from the brand's early history for every car and "QX" for every Infiniti crossover and SUV. Nissan Motor Co.'s luxury division is undertaking the change to prepare for a broader array of global products, said Johan de Nysschen, worldwide president of the brand. Infiniti's current lineup of sedans, coupes and convertibles will become the Q50, Q60 and Q70.

* Auto spy photos have caught Ford testing a Mustang mule equipped with independent rear suspension. A new Mustang will be coming for 2015.

* Cars.com announced its editors' nominees for the site's highest honor, the "Best Of 2013" Award. Nominees include the BMW 3-Series, Honda Accord, Honda CR-V, Ram 1500, Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ and the Toyota Prius. Winners will be announced on January 15, 2013 at the Cars.com Award Gala during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

* Toyota has agreed to pay a fine to settle allegations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the automaker delayed a safety recall. Toyota will pay $17.35 million. The delayed recall occurred last June and covered 154,036 SUVs, the 2010 Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h, to fix a problem that might allow the floor mat to become snagged on the gas pedal.

* And, NHTSA is looking closer into whether 480,000 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles have floors designed so that floor mats, if not properly secured, can be nudged forward to snag the gas pedal and possibly cause unintended acceleration. The investigation covers 2008-10 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ models.

* Good news for U.S. manufacturing came from GM this week that the next-generation Camaro, due out in 2015, will be made in Lansing, MI alongside the Cadillac CTS and ATS. The current generation is produced in Oshawa, Ontario. As all manufacturers try to reduce the number of platforms underpinning cars it is likely the next Camaro will share a rear-wheel drive platform with a new CTS. This change should not cause any increase or decrease in Camaro sales, but it will allow GM to reduce the cost of production.

* General Motors will recall more than 145,000 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups due to a missing latch that could lead to the hood of the trucks unexpectedly opening. The 2010 through 2012 model-years are affected, and 118,800 of the pickups were sold in the U.S.with 15,264 in Canada.

* The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is awarding the new Top Safety Pick+ accolade to 13 cars. All earn good or acceptable ratings in the new IIHS small overlap test as well as top marks in other IIHS evaluations. Winners include the Acura TL; Dodge Avenger and its twin, the Chrysler 200 4-door; Ford Fusion; Honda Accord 2-door; Honda Accord 4-door; Kia Optima; Nissan Altima 4-door; Subaru Legacy and its twin, the Subaru Outback; Suzuki Kizashi; Volkswagen Passat and Volvo S60. The Acura TL and Volvo S60 are midsize luxury cars. The other models are midsize moderately priced cars. The only two cars to get "good" ratings were Honda Accord and Suzuki Kizashi.

* In the same IIHS tests it was bad news week for Toyota as Prius and Camry scored badly on the "overlap" test where they simulate crashing into a tree or other stationary object involving just the front corner of the car. Side airbags failed to deploy among other issues. Malibu and some other mainstream sedans were deemed marginal.

* We hope Santa has read you Christmas list and brings all you car guys and gals your most wished-for automotive related gift. Merry Christmas to all.