All Entries in the "Auto News" Category
GM Launching New Sierra/Silverado in 2013
GM’s last major redesign of the Sierra and Silverado was in 2007. At that time, GM’s new truck design was quickly overshadowed by new designs from Toyota, Chrysler, and then Ford in the following year. Perhaps in an effort to “get the jump” on competition, GM will begin re-tooling plants in late 2012 to build an all-new 2013 model of the Sierra and Silverado, according to Automotive News.
This 2013 timing comes as a bit of a surprise – during the throws of GM’s 2009 bankruptcy, it was learned that GM had stalled almost all new product development plans to conserve operating capital. It was thought that this would slow GM’s next major redesign of their full-size trucks until 2014, but evidently GM has managed to overcome a slow start and will be building new trucks one year earlier than anyone expected.
Speaking of expectations, here are some features that GM will be including in their newest trucks:
F-150 Raptor Owners Report Frame Problems – Design Flaw?
Ford Raptor enthusiast’s forum RaptorForumz.com has an interesting thread that show photos of F-150 Raptors with bent frames, which owners allege are a design defect.
UPDATE: One of the F150 owners told me that the frame was bent on an infamous “kicker” on the road between Barstow and Vegas. You can see video of this kicker below.
The frame on this Raptor F-150 is bent - was it owner abuse or bad design?
Evidently, this Raptor owner did some high-speed driving on off-road trails…similar to what you see in this Ford marketing video:
According to the forum post, numerous drivers who have driven aggressively off-road have ended up with bent frames. These drivers are upset because they feel their trucks should be able to handle the trails they drove without damage – after all, Ford shows this type of driving in all the Raptor promotional videos.
Even worse, many Ford dealers are refusing to repair these bent frames because they’re alleging vehicle abuse. Ford dealers – and Ford Motor Company, by proxy – argue that no one should ever jump their truck, drive at high speeds off road, etc., because this is unnecessary and will definitely lead to damage.
SO, it all boils down to this: Raptor owners want to drive their trucks hard, but Ford doesn’t want to pay for damage caused by vehicle abuse. Who’s right?
More photos of Raptor F-150 frame damage and both arguments below.
The Tundra’s “Sales Failure” Story Is A Myth
I’ve noticed a fair amount of commentary lately about the Tundra’s status as a “sales failure,” (CNN ran an article a few days ago that I won’t link to here because it’s so stupid) and it’s shocking to me that so many otherwise smart people in the auto news industry can make such a silly argument. The Tundra’s sales definitely aren’t exemplary, but they certainly aren’t a “failure” when you consider the history of events between the Tundra’s debut in 2007 and today.
Lazy analysis of truck sales figures leads some people to conclude that the Tundra has been a failure, but that analysis overlooks a few facts.
The worst part is, this silly story about the Tundra’s “sales failure” isn’t going away anytime soon. The Tundra plant was only running at 30% capacity in April and May, it’s only been running at 50% capacity for June, and it’s not expected to get back to 100% until August/September. That means that 2011 probably isn’t going to be a good year in terms of total Tundra sales.
Still, looking exclusively at sales figures to make a determination about the success of the Tundra is like reading a box score instead of watching the game: you get a sense of what happened, but you still miss a lot.
Ford, GM, and Ram Owners: Stop Making Excuses and Buy An American Truck
Once again, Cars.com has listed the Toyota Tundra has one of America’s most “American” vehicles, ranking ninth overall. According to domestic content labels provided by Ford, GM, and Chrysler-Fiat, the Tundra uses more parts made in America and Canada than any competing truck. Furthermore, the Tundra is built at a $1.5 billion dollar facility in San Antonio, Texas.
Here are the official domestic content ratings provided by the manufacturers to the US government:
- Tundra – 90% domestic content
- Ram 1500 – 70% domestic content
- Silverado/Sierra – 61% domestic content
- Ford F-150 – 60% domestic content
The question is, why would someone who really cared about American labor buy an F-150, Silverado/Sierra, or Ram 1500?
JD Power Rates 2011 Tundra Quality 2nd Behind F-150
Last week JD Power released their 2011 Initial Quality Survey results, naming the Ford F-150 the top quality large pickup. The Tundra, which has been at or near the top of JD Power quality studies since the 2000 model year, came in second in the same survey. Chevy’s Avalanche came in third.
While the F-150’s quality rating was top notch, the overall quality rating of the Ford brand did not fare as well. JD Power ranked the quality of the entire Ford brand about 8% worse than the industry average. As we reported a couple of weeks ago, Ford’s overall quality rating fell mostly because of problems with Ford’s in-car electronics system, MyFordTouch. Here’s how all the truck manufacturers ranked, in order from highest brand quality rating to lowest:
