All Entries in the "Auto News" Category

New Fuel Economy Rules Won’t Stop Big Trucks – Big V8s Are Here Forever

The Obama administration seems to have solidified the direction of fuel economy and emissions regulations for the next decade. Here’s the basics of the plan laid down yesterday:

• An automaker’s “fleet average” – i.e. the average fuel economy of all the vehicles an automaker sells adjusted by sales volume – must be 35.5 mpg by 2016 (up from 2009’s fleet requirement of 25 mpg).
• CO2 emissions have to drop to 250 grams per mile (down from 380).
• Plug-in electric and hydrogen powered vehicles will qualify for “super credits” – meaning that selling one plug-in electric and/or hydrogen powered vehicle will cancel out 2 or more “regular” vehicles.

These new rules are great for the environment and widely popular, and considering that all the auto manufacturers have signed off on the plan (as well as the UAW), this looks as good as done. So, the question for us is, What do these new fuel economy and emissions rules mean for pickup trucks?

Putting Toyota’s Big Loss In Perspective

If you’ve been paying attention to automotive news in the last week, you’ve undoubtedly heard that Toyota lost an obscene amount of money in the first quarter – $7.7 billion to be exact. Toyota was quick to point out that this loss is against a $3.3 billion profit in the previous three quarters, resulting in a $4.4 billion loss for the 2008 financial year. (NOTE: Toyota’s financial year ends after the first quarter.) Worst still, Toyota anticipates losing about $5.5 billion for the coming year.

Toyota’s Loss is Big, But Don’t Let Anyone Fool You
photo credit: Andres Rueda

In other words, Toyota lost a lot of money last year and they’re planning on losing a lot of money this year too. Considering the fact that Toyota hasn’t had an operating loss since 1950, this is a big deal. Toyota has taken sweeping action with tremendous production cuts, cost cutting measures, and most recently announcing that they’re going to fire half of their corporate management team.

However, before anyone starts worrying about “Toyota being the next GM,” here’s some perspective:

GPS Vehicle Tracking Device Basics

Imagine if someone could track your truck’s every movement, every second of the day, no matter where you were driving in the world.  Not only that, but imagine if they could keep a complete record of where you had been and for how long.  It sounds like something out of a science-fiction movie, but thanks to GPS technology, it’s a reality for any driver.

This Land Air Sea GPS tracker has a magnet so it can be attached to your vehicle.

GPS stands for Global Positioning System, which uses a network of satellites orbiting the earth to provide detailed location information to those with a receiver that can access their data stream.  Initially put into place by the US military decades ago, GPS can be used to pinpoint a location with a startling degree of accuracy. Most people are familiar with the use of GPS as a navigational aid, in the form of hand-held or vehicle-mounted systems that combine the positioning service with mapping software to help keep drivers or hikers from getting lost.  GPS is also a boon to marine navigation, providing a much more foolproof method getting from point A to point B on the ocean when compared to standard charts.  However, GPS can be employed in a few other functions, some of which are fairly cloak and dagger.

Can Fiat Make Trucks? Italy Isn’t Exactly Known For Pickups…

When people think of fine Italian products, the list looks like this:

• Leather
• Espresso
• Magnificent sports cars
• Men’s suits
• An assortment of wines and cheeses

Is this the next Fiat Ram? Image from JamesSmiley.com.

Please note that “truck” and/or “pickup” don’t appear on that list. Considering that Fiat is going to be a major stakeholder in Chrysler when the company emerges from bankruptcy, it’s time to consider Italy’s contribution to the truck world and what we can expect from a Dodge Ram crafted by Italian engineers.

Ford Marketing Genius – Test Drives For Charity

We’re often accused of bashing Ford Motor Company here at TundraHeadquarters, but let’s be clear – Ford is a solid company. We predicted Ford stock would go up this year (so far it has…big time). We’ve always said the F150 was a good truck in both of our Tundra vs F150 comparisons, and despite our recent lambasting of Ford’s SFE F150, we’re usually on board with every marketing move Ford makes.

Ford Marketing Genius - $20 Test Drives for Cancer

The latest move – offering to make a $20 donation to the Susan G. Koman foundation for each person that test drives a Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury product between now and July 1st – is unadulterated genius.