All Entries in the "Auto News" Category

How Can Anyone Be Loyal To The “Domestics” When They’ve Laid Off Thousands?

As a long-time fan of the Toyota product, I’ve heard or read hundreds of comments about how Toyota isn’t an “American” company, that buying a Toyota product is hurting the American worker, etc.

I’ve always tried to educate the people who make these statements, explaining that 1) most “domestic” cars aren’t nearly as domestic as they think and that 2) some Toyotas (and Nissans and what have you) are designed, built, and sourced in the USA (like the Tundra).

Yet sometimes this info falls on deaf ears.

So, instead of detailed explanations about where Toyota’s profits go or numerous examples of supposedly imported products winning “most American” awards, I’m just going to talk about two numbers:

-266,536

and

+74,885

The first number? The number of workers fired or laid off by GM, Chrylser-Fiat, and Ford since the year 2000. The second? Workers hired by Toyota, Nissan, Daimler etc.*

GM Could Export Chinese Built Cars to U.S. – Bailout Update

In a rather shocking admission, GM China’s President says that they could export Chinese built cars to the U.S. market. Take that UAW and U.S. taxpayers – apparently we helped bailout Chinese built cars.

Could this Chinese-built Buick concept be exported to the U.S.? You bet. How’s the bailout feel now?

Air-Powered Hybrid Cars Coming

Jokes about “being full of hot air” aside, a pnuematic hybrid car is very close to production. While it’s not going to be seen in the USA (at least not right away) PSA – that’s Puegeot Citroen – has officially begun developing a car that will be partially powered by compressed air.

The compressed air car is a pipe dream, but a compressed air HYBRID is very feasible. So feasible that PSA is getting ready to build them.

Hyundai Santa Cruz Pickup Truck by 2017?

Rumors of a Hyundai pickup truck have been flying around for a few years now, with the most substantial being a rumored tie-up with Chrysler-Fiat. While that particular rumor has died, a new (and well sourced) rumor has Hyundai importing a mid-size pickup truck in 2017.

The truck would be based on the long wheel base version of the Santa Fe, would be built in Korea (Ulsan), and would challenge the Tacoma, the soon-to-debut Chevy Colorado, and the Nissan Frontier for a slice of the North American pickup truck market. This truck would also be sold outside North America to compete with the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux.

This rendering of the rumored Hyundai pickup based on the Santa Fe – which we’re calling the Santa Cruz – looks feasible, doesn’t it? Click for a larger view.

What follows is an analysis of this rumored truck, with informed estimates about this truck’s name, configuration, and specs. As always, we’ve taken the time to consult with various sources in the industry when preparing this estimate. This isn’t to say that what we’re presenting here is factual, but we feel it’s a good first guess at Hyundai’s future truck plans…and there are a lot of reasons to expect this pickup in 2017 or 2018.

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• hyundai pickup

Chrysler Touts Quality in New Ad Campaign, Attacking Toyota’s Brand – Seriously?

Chrysler, the perennial bottom feeder on quality awards and reports, is planning on embarking on an Ad campaign highlighting their quality. Apparently, they think they can compete directly with Toyota’s known reputation for quality. Seriously.

Reports say that Chrysler’s new Ad campaign will highlight their quality while attacking Toyota’s reputation. Really.