06.29.07
Posted in General Category at 6:26 am by admin
After a Senate committee agreed to propose sharply increased Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules in the past few days, the U.S. may now be moving to include a cap on vehicle CO2 emissions as part of a comprehensive climate change bill which would also place caps on global warming gas emissions from power stations and manufacturing plants.
A proposal from the California Democrat chair of the Senate Environment Committee yesterday won cross-party support for legislation on CO2 limits that would cover the entire U.S. economy. Cars and light trucks are estimated to account for about a third of total U.S. CO2 emissions.
One of the senior politicians who will be involved in drafting legislation this autumn will be Michigan Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who, while described as a long-time ally of the Detroit Big Three, has acknowledged that stabilising greenhouse gas emissions at a safe level will require a reduction of between 60-80% by 2050. The U.S. administration has opposed mandatory emissions caps, favouring instead a reduction in emissions measured against economic growth, of 18% by 2012.
The US Supreme Court ruled earlier this year, against the agency’s executive and the White House, that the Environmental Protection Administration has the authority under the federal Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases from vehicles, but it has not yet taken measures to fulfil that role.
The EPA has yet to rule on California’s application for a waiver from federal fuel economy rules, and has been given a deadline by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to grant it or face prosecution by the State.
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06.26.07
Posted in General Category at 8:17 am by admin
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has released its global production, as well as domestic sales and export results for May 2007. Total global production stood at 108,426 units, an increase of 6.5% over May 2006. Production volume in Japan increased 14.1% to 57,532 units, marking the eighth consecutive month of year-on-year growth.
The growth was mainly driven by increases in output of the new Outlander for the US, European and Chinese markets, and of the new Pajero for the European market.
Vehicle sales in Japan in May totaled 14,496 units, a 14.2% decline year-on-year as higher registered vehicle sales failed to make up for a drop in mini-car sales. Registered vehicle sales stood at 4,871 units, 9.3% up on the same month last year. Mini-car sales declined to 9,625 units, 22.6% down.
Overseas production volume totaled 50,894 units, 0.9% down over May last year. Production in Europe came in at 6,080 units or 33.5% down on last year’s figure, reflecting a drop in output of Colt 3-door and 5-door models at NedCar. Production in North America rose to 8,183 units, 1.5% up on the level seen last year. In Asia production rose to 33,483 units, 9.6% up on May 2006 and driven in part by a 71.5% rise in L200 pick-up truck exports from Thailand.
Total exports from Japan of 48,388 units were 40.4% up on May 2006, marking the seventh consecutive month of year-on-year increases. Exports to Europe increased to 21,426 units, a strong 70.3% rise that reflected firm sales of Lancer and Outlander models as well as brisk sales of Pajero and new Outlander models. Exports to Asia rose to 2,904 units, a 48.1% increase over the same period last year as sales of new Outlander in China grew briskly. Exports to North America fell to 3,746 units, 11.1% down on the May 2006 level.
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06.23.07
Posted in General Category at 4:18 am by admin
Automotive pricing and reliability data provider TrueDelta.com has joined forces with TheTruthAboutCars.com, an automotive website providing car reviews, buying tips and industry editorials. Visitors to The Truth About Cars (TTAC) can now check comprehensive new car specifications and prices, and compare one model’s features and prices against another, with just a few simple clicks. And unlike most automotive pricing sites, the TTAC/TrueDelta service offers car buyers true “apples-to-apples” pricing — precisely matching features and options packages.
Automotive pricing and reliability data provider TrueDelta.com has joined forces with TheTruthAboutCars.com, an automotive website providing car reviews, buying tips and industry editorials.
Visitors to The Truth About Cars (TTAC) can now check comprehensive new car specifications and prices, and compare one model’s features and prices against another, with just a few simple clicks. And unlike most automotive pricing sites, the TTAC/TrueDelta service offers car buyers true “apples-to-apples” pricing — precisely matching features and options packages.
“TrueDelta is proud to help The Truth About Cars become an even more valuable site for new car buyers,” explained Michael Karesh, owner and operator of TrueDelta.com. “TrueDelta is committed to providing consumers with access to the best possible vehicle data so they can make informed car-buying decisions. ”
“When we decided to add pricing data to our independent reviews, there was no question we’d turn to TrueDelta,” says Robert Farago. “The integrity of TrueDelta’s information is beyond reproach and their user interface turns an often complicated business into a no-brainer. We know our readers will share our delight.”
About TheTruthAboutCars.com
The Truth About Cars is a Forbes Magazine “Best of the Web” automotive website. Since 2003, the site has provided fully independent reviews and “no holds barred” editorials.
About TrueDelta.com
TrueDelta.com is the Internet’s most innovative auto-owner survey website. With more than 14,000 vehicles currently enrolled, TrueDelta.com is fast becoming the Internet’s premier pricing and reliability resource. Consumers can perform price comparisons, view survey results, or join TrueDelta’s consumer panel at www.TrueDelta.com.
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06.17.07
Posted in General Category at 2:07 pm by admin
Scott Speed qualified his Toro Rosso Ferrari 20th for his home Grand Prix of the United States. But Speed, America’s only F1 driver, said the car will perform better in the race than it did in qualifying, and he believes he can make up ground.
“We know we have worse acceleration than all of the guys in front of us,” he said. “The only possible way we can race is to take off all of the wing. Certainly, in the infield, we’re sliding around more than everyone else.
“I think maybe we can have a race car that we can possibly do something with. So far this weekend we’ve had great reliability. Hopefully that will continue. I think we were worse off than we expected. We knew this track was going to hurt us because of the gearbox.
“We’re a bit surprised that we’re as far down in the order as we are. But in actuality, our pace isn’t that much slower than the guys in front of us. Being fast down the straightaway, I think we’ll have something we can race with tomorrow.
“It’s not near as bad as it looks after qualifying because we’re fast down the straightaway. Hopefully we’ll get a bit lucky in the race, and something can happen. Points would be big.”
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06.14.07
Posted in General Category at 1:01 am by admin
With an aim to cut its carbon emissions by 9% by 2010, home furnishings retailer Ikea has announced plans to switch its fleet of company cars to Honda’s Civic Hybrid.
The company, with 15 stores in the UK, has already purchased 50 units and intends to replace the remaining 50 cars in the fleet next year. Ikea has also said it will be testing electric delivery vehicles at its new town centre store in Coventry, to be opened later this year.
John Kingston, environment manager at Honda (UK), said “Ikea’s commitment to replace its entire fleet with Civic Hybrids is a real-life endorsement of the car and the excellent benefits it offers. In terms of cost, fuel efficiency and low emission driving the Civic Hybrid really stacks up.”
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Posted in General Category at 12:59 am by admin
Mercedes-Benz USA has appointed Steve Cannon as vice president of marketing, effective June 25, 2007. Prior to this, Cannon was principal for The Richards Group.
With overall responsibility for marketing communications, market research and product management of the Mercedes-Benz and Maybach brands in the US, he will be a member of MBUSA’s executive management team.
Beginning his automotive career in 1991 as executive assistant to the president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz, North America, Cannon has been with DaimlerChrysler Financial Services and The Richards Group.
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06.08.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:56 pm by admin
Busch responds to penalty resulting from rule infraction at Dover last Monday. Busch was penalized 100 championship points, fined $100,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31 2007. He dropped from 11th to a tie for 17th in the series standings, 88 points out of 12th place.
KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)
“I regret my actions on Monday during the race. To accept the penalty, that’s what we’re going to do. I’m glad I’m here to race the car this weekend. We’ve got our work cut out for us to gain these 100 points back. The money, hopefully it goes to the NASCAR Foundation or whatever they do with the funds. We’re here to move forward. The real incident was out on the racetrack. What happened on pit road is the real story. I reached out for Jason Lee, the crew member on Joe Gibbs’ team, and left him a message to clear some of the air on things, to let him know that it was not my intention at all to put him in danger. What the beef is is between me and Tony out on the track.”
HAVE YOU TALKED TO TONY? “I have not talked to Tony. I reached out to J.D. Gibbs. I talked to coach Gibbs’ son about everything. He’s going to try to put us together, but Tony’s got a lot of things going on. The guy is a two-time champion. I respect him. Everybody in the garage area respects his driving ability and what he can do with a racecar. He just seems to absorb a lot with all the things he does outside of the racetrack. It’s almost like he’s our NASCAR version of Rosie O’Donnell right now. We’ll see what happens with everything.”
DOES THE PENALTY SURPRISE YOU? “It’s a bit surprising yet safety on pit road can’t be compromised. I understand that. To me, it’s a matter of making sure everybody is as safe as possible on pit road. Dover is one of the tightest spots we go to for pit road action, so we’ll do what we can to put this behind us and move forward to gain our 100 points back and to worry about what we have to do to get the Miller Lite Dodge in The Chase.”
ANY REGRETS ABOUT YOUR ACTIONS? “That’s what I started with. I do regret what I did Monday during the Dover race. If I’d just kept it out on the racetrack everything would have still been pretty cool with everything in general, yet the incident between Tony and I still needs to be discussed. The guy thought I didn’t race him with enough room, and I felt like he didn’t race me with enough room. It hurt us both in points, so that’s the tough part.”
WAS THERE A POINT WHERE YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT HAVING TO SIT OUT A RACE? “There was almost hitting a guy on pit road versus actual.
That’s still what needs to be separated here. We can’t say I hit the guy because I had my car under control when I stopped next to Tony’s car on pit road. Yeah, I did think I was probably going to get parked, but it’s a blessing that NASCAR realized that nothing too serious did happen so we can move forward with this and get back to the normal roots of racing for us, which is to go and gain points on Sunday.”
HOW HARD WILL IT BE TO GAIN BACK THOSE POINTS? “There are a lot of good guys now stacked from seventh to 16th in points. That’’s what makes our sport interesting right now, the competition value. For us we feel like we’ve got good tracks coming up. We’ve been better this year at Penske running competitively. The COT races have been really good for us. We come back to a track here like Pocono and I couldn’t ask for a better track to bounce back from a bad week in points because we finished second here both races last year.”
WHY DID YOU STOP ON PIT ROAD? “I had the car under control when I stopped on pit road, which was something I didn’t even need to stop. The incident happened out on the track, and that’s where we need to move forward with things. The point why I stopped is that I wanted to convey how serious the issue was. I wanted him to look me in the whites of my eyes and see how upset I was. You can do things and talk about things, but if right there in the heat of the moment pull up to somebody and let them know and he can see the whites of your eyes and see how upset you are, that’s pretty serious. We do need to discuss how we can move forward out on the racetrack together. The pit crew guy saw me, jumped out of the way, but I had my car under control. That’s the issue, but the real issue is out on the racetrack.”
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO TONY? “We’ll see how things develop in the talks. We both need to give each other a bit more room on the track, and he thought I was racing him a bit too hard, where I’ve been very generous out on the track. I haven’t had problems with any of the drivers in the past for quite a few years. I’ve been around long enough and seen the good days and the bad days to know how to deal with some of the drivers out on the racetrack. Ask guys like Jeff Gordon or Dale Jr. how I race them. You can ask guys like Ward Burton or guys that are trying to make each race how I try to help them. Brian Vickers has always been a good ally of mine on the restrictor plate tracks. A guy like him was trying to make the race at the Daytona 500 this year, and I was drafting with him because I think he’s a great guy that deserves to be in these races. We’ve got our business to go tend to. Right now I’ve got to go to a meeting with NASCAR. Then we go qualify. We’ve got business to attend to.”
DID NOT GOING TO ELDORA HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE INCIDENT? “I had a test at VIR scheduled. I was disappointed I couldn’t go to Eldora. His business manager Eddie asked me about it when it first came together. I said ‘man, I’m going to try to get this changed, but our road course testing is very important to us.’ We had a great test at VIR. I don’t think it had anything to do with it, but Tony’s going to have to answer that.”
COMMENT ON YESTERDAY “It was an interesting day yesterday for me going down to Daytona Beach for Mr. France’s funeral, going through those tough times, paying tribute and giving honor to the man who created this sport we all get to work in each and every day. It was great to listen to some of the stories and to have Mr. Rick Hendrick stand up there and tell you when Mr. France asks you to jump you jump and you jump how high for what he wants you to do. A story that came out of the deal was that there’s a couple of drivers that didn’t get along back in the past and they made a movie about it. France told those two drivers that he didn’t want to see those two next to each other on the racetrack having a problem. I’ll jump in and make sure you two don’t have a problem. Tony has realized and I realized from my past that we both need to move on pretty quick. We’ll help each other get down the road a little further. This could develop a stronger friendship between Tony and I.”
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