Auto Industry Archive

Jaguar has a lot riding on an all-new version of its XJ sedan, the battered brand’s flagship model. Jaguar held a press introduction for the new XJ in London earlier this month. Sales start in early 2010, although U.S. Jaguar dealers have already started taking orders, the company said. India’s Tata Motors took Jaguar and Land Rover off Ford’s hands last year, for just $2.3...

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If ever there was a perfect illustration of how cars got to be so huge, this is it, and from eco-conscious carmaker Honda! In 20 years, the Honda Accord has not only added 50 percent to its weight, it has also gone on steroids—increasing horsepower by a factor of 2.5. This is hardly an isolated incident. According to Christopher Knittel of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the...

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Some Chrysler dealers continue to protest being cut off by Chrysler, but testimony before Congress shows that for some dealers, it may be too late to turn back the clock. For instance, just about all of the unsold inventory of the 789 dealers that Chrysler terminated in May is already gone. The terminated dealers had 42,000 vehicles in stock as of May 14, according to Louann Van Der Wiele,...

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Is Ford recovering? Could be. As Jim Henry reported on BNET last week, the company may have lost more than $14 billion last year, but it posted a net income of $2.3 billion for the second quarter, compared to a net loss of $8.7 billion a year ago. The recovery picture is, of course, complicated, but Ford’s relative strength when compared to its Detroit rivals has put a lot of positive focus...

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Improved second-quarter results for Ford included much-improved consumer-credit metrics for captive finance company Ford Credit, and that implies some betterment for the U.S. economy as a whole. Overall, Ford posted net income of $2.3 billion for the second quarter, versus a net loss of $8.7 billion in the year-ago quarter. Both quarters included large one-time items. For instance, the quarter...

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I hopped into my new test car, a 2009 Nissan Versa 1.6, and immediately went into shock. Not only did it have a blanking plate where the radio was supposed to be, but it also lacked power windows and door locks. In fact, it was the barest of bare-bones cars: The only options were the five-piece floor-mat set ($155) and ABS brakes ($250). With a MSRP of $10,990, this car went out the door for...

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Let’s face it, shock value sells, and if you’re trying to sell a book in these straitened times, a title like $20 Per Gallon will definitely get people’s attention. Christopher Steiner, a staff writer at Forbes, has a new book by that title (#180 on Amazon), and he’s firmly convinced not only that gas prices are going up, but that also we’ll live better lives because of it. The...

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Ex-Porsche Chairman and CEO Wendelin Wiedeking leaves big shoes to fill at Porsche, literally and figuratively. Wiedeking, 56, led Porsche through a dramatic turnaround that probably saved the company in the 1990s, forcing the hidebound German luxury automaker to adopt lean, Toyota-style production methods and quality control. He liked to recall in interviews that that when he first joined...

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With very little attention in the media, Congress appears to be ready to rebuff Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s attempt to cut $100 million earmarked for hydrogen and fuel cells in the 2010 budget. Declaring that he didn’t see fuel-cell cars as likely to happen anytime soon, Chu slashed funding from $168 million in the 2009 budget to just $68 for 2010. But the House approved $153 million last...

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You may never have heard of California-based AeroVironment (founded in 1971), but it’s the company that brought you the first version of the General Motors EV-1, and a whole host of ultra-cool sun-powered lightweight racers, including the Solar Challenger and the Sunraycer. AeroVironment’s Gossamer Albatross completed the first human-powered flight across the English Channel in 1979. The...

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