Driven to Distraction: Ford thinks knowing your horoscope makes for better driving

Going against every known study proving modern drivers need less, not more distractions while behind the wheel, Ford keeps making its Sync system even more complex.

Remarkably, Ford is adding daily horoscopes (along with stock quotes, movie listings, airlines, rental cars and hotels) to vehicles equipped with the cloud-based SYNC app Traffic, Directions & Information (see video, above.)

I kid you not.

How knowing your horoscope makes you a better driver, only Ford seems to know. From my experience with drivers who still think they can talk/dial/text and drive, knowing their astrological potential for the day will be nothing but trouble.

I mean what will we gain with this new astrological knowledge?

Drivers with Venus in Aries will make impulsive, poorly-thought-out lane changes, especially when Mercury is aspected by Uranus?

Or the guy in the next lane to you with Jupiter in Capricorn might be more prone to cut you off at the next light?

Maybe I’m missing something here. But do you think Ford—and the rest of the automakers offering such driver distractions—are being irresponsible/greedy by making such systems available?

Or do you see nothing wrong with knowing drivers with Moon in Pisces tend to make unrealistic emotional choices, while you wait in traffic?

[Source: Ford]

The Trouble with Toyotas: Should Canada adopt new U.S. Toyota recall crisis laws?

For you glass-half-full crowd out there, at least some good is coming from the ongoing Toyota recall crisis.

This week, U.S. government officials passed new auto-safety regulations in direct response to the Toyota’s troubles with its cars accelerating unintentionally. The installation of brake-override systems and event-data recorders, or black boxes, as well as standards for foot-pedal placement, electronic systems, push-button ignition systems and transmission configuration will now be regulated.

In case you didn’t know, the new laws follow Toyota's worldwide recalls of 10.6 million cars for sudden acceleration. And now, U.S. regulators are investigating reports of 89 deaths in the United States linked to the problem. And Toyota already has paid a record fine of $16.4 million USD.

As of now, we’ve heard boo from Transport Canada if they intend to adopt any of these new U.S. safety regs.

And it may seem like a no-brainer, but do you think Canadians deserve the same level of protection as U.S. new car buyers?

Or do you think that the U.S. government is overreacting to Toyota’s troubles?

[Source: Automotive News]

Will Infiniti ever graduate into the luxury-sport big leagues?

You remember Infiniti, don't you? Nissan’s premium brand that’s been chasing Germany’s BMW since 1989? Now, compared to Toyota’s Lexus—which seems happier chasing disgruntled Buick owners—ever since its original Q sedan arrived over 20 years ago, Infiniti has always wanted you to think of it as a Japanese alternative to the usual German luxury-sport brands.

Except for a dry spell in the mid-1990s that saw some Infinitis end up as mere chromed-over Nissan (I30 nee Maxima, come on down!), unlike Honda’s Acura or Lexus, Nissan has at the very least made an effort to distinguish Infiniti with rear- and all-wheel-drive platforms.

And except for the odd-duck QX full-size SUV, its lineup attempts to faithfully mirror the Bavarian brand. Infiniti’s G plays the role of rear-drive compact sports sedan, just like BMW 3 Series. The EX equals the X3. And the M chases the 5 Series.

But one thing Infiniti has never had was its own performance brand like BMW’s M Division. But along with a possible M Coupe, and another model that will “extend Infiniti into an area we haven't been before" set to debut at this August’s Pebble Beach concours (teased above), Infiniti plans on launching a new Infiniti Performance Line.

Okay. It’s not an all-out skunk works like BMW’s M, Mercedes-Benz’s AMG or even Audi’s Quattro GmbH. Instead, IPL will initially only offer in-house developed upgrades from air filters to cat-back exhaust systems, and "automotive engine parts, namely turbochargers and superchargers." But hey, it’s a start.

But is IPL enough to make you consider an Infiniti over a BMW, Audi or ‘Benz?

Or does Infiniti need to go for it and deliver a full-on performance model, like BMW’s M cars?

[Source: Autoblog]

Green is Good: Tesla ties the knot with Toyota

I’ve read that one of the inspirations for Robert Downey’s characterization of his Iron Man role (the sequel now playing in a theatre near you) was high-tech wunderkind and Tesla founder Elon Musk. Some of the current Iron Man 2 was shot in Musk’s Space-X rocket labs (he’s a rocket scientist as well), and he also makes a brief cameo appearance.

Yet hearing that Musk has been able to cajole Toyota into buying $50 million worth of Tesla stock to “collaborate on the development and production of electric vehicles,” the keys to the Japanese automaker’s recently shuttered NUMMI California plant, and an additional $20 million from the bankrupt California state government to retrofit said plant for the production of Tesla’s forthcoming Model S luxury electric sedan and “possibly … include the production of more models”, maybe it’s the real life Musk, not the fictional Iron Man, that has all the super powers.

When Musk appeared in the front row of Mercedes-Benz’s Frankfurt show presser last September, snuggling up with 'Benz head Dr. Dieter Zetsche after the German automaker  had purchased a 10 per cent share of Tesla, the scuttle-butt suggested ‘Benz was going to be low-volume Tesla’s sugerdaddy: The big car company that would help Musk transform his quaint, low-volume company into a bigger player, or simply just buy Tesla outright for its EV know how.

We may never know why that relationship was never fully consummated. But Tesla’s new tie-up with the Japanese automaker seems like a one-sided victory for Musk.

First, Tesla's hand-made Roadster EV is a dead end. There are only so many rich geeks who need to one up their Ferrari-buying chums in the world. And slapping a bunch of cell-phone batteries into a Lotus Elise was never Musk’s long term dream.

No. Musk’s dream is to go mainstream. And he’s smart enough to know that his current cottage industry setup (that hand build’s the current Roadster) was not going to have the resources or know how to build a whole new car from scratch, as the Model S sedan will be. The bigger question here is why mammoth Toyota is jumping into bed with miniscule Tesla.

For all the tens of millions Toyota is spending on purchase incentives to keeps its new car sales from collapsing during its current recall crisis, $50 M is peanuts for what may be a potentially great bit of PR for Toyota.

Closing the NUMMI plant and sending home its workers was just a another bit of bad news it didn’t need.

The other reason may be Toyota’s struggling luxury hybrid strategy. A Model S sedan (with an anticipated price of  $49,900, including a U.S. federal tax credit) maybe an easier sell with a Tesla badge on it than as a Toyota or Lexus.

I’m not sure what Toyota’s escape plan is if this relationship goes sideways.

But at the very least, Musk will have Toyota’s money and a burgeoning acting career to fall back on.

Green is Good: Honda executive disses EVs

While one of his company's main rivals is betting the farm on electric-vehicles, Honda’s R&D boss over in Japan isn’t as confident that EVs are the driving panacea others are counting on.

“We lack confidence” in the electric-vehicle business, said Tomohiko Kawanabe, president of Honda’s research and development unit. “It’s questionable whether consumers will accept the annoyances of limited driving range and having to spend time charging them.”

Compare that to Nissan head Carlos Ghosn’s take on EVs. The Japanese auotmaker's Leaf EV goes on sale in Japan and the U.S. later this year. Ghosn speculates EVs will make up 10 per cent of the global car market within the next ten years.

BTW, Advanced Automotive Batteries, a consulting firm based in Oregon House, California, thinks EVs will amount to no more than 1 per cent of the global market by 2020,

Honda stopped selling EVs ten years. But its is planning on selling them again in the U.S., chiefly to help meet California emission rules.

“We are definitely conducting research on electric cars, but I can’t say I can wholeheartedly recommend them,” said Kawanabe said in a Bloomberg report. Instead, Honda is still pushing hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles like its Clarity FCX.

So who do think is right?

Nissan and its enthusiasm for EVs?

Or Honda and its hydrogen car hopes?

[Source: Bloomberg]

The Trouble with Toyotas: Is Japanese brand finally being punished?

It’s one thing to keep sales up by throwing massive incentives at customers. But a recent survey suggests Toyota’s recent recall crisis may be hurting its customer loyalty.

A U.S. Consumer Reports' survey reports that while Honda and Ford have made gains in brand loyalty, Toyota's rating has dropped by 13 per cent, moving it from the top spot it held at the end of last year.

Honda is in first place now, with 68 per cent of Honda owners described as "likely to purchase another Honda for their next new car. Second is Ford at 61 percent, then Toyota at 57 per cent.

To counteract the negative publicity over millions of cars recalled due to a plethora of safety and quality issues, the Japanese automaker is throwing money at new car buyers to its showrooms busy. In Canada though, Toyotas all-time-high purchase incentives aren’t helping as much as hoped for.

The combined sales of Toyota and its luxury Lexus brand dropped by 16.7 per cent in April on a market that improved by 4 per cent, down to 17,673 vehicles sold, and well behind second place Chrysler and first place Ford.

Don’t be shedding too many tears for Toyota. It still made $1.2 billion in the first three months of 2010.

So, do you think Canadian buyers shying away from Toyotas are putting safety ahead of their wallets?

Or are Toyotas just not compelling enough anymore?

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Should automakers “pay” for car awards?

A recent article at The Truth About Cars highlighted that some auto awards simply wouldn’t happen without the financial generosity of car manufacturers.

The TTAC story via The Wall Street Journal, cites U.S.-based Consumers Digest and its “Best Buy” awards as an example of this questionable practice.

Now please, don’t confuse Consumer Digest with Consumers Reports. The latter is owned by the not-for-profit Consumers Union, purchases all of its test vehicles and refuses to allow its awards to appear in manufacturer advertising.

Similar to CR’s policy, CD has no advertising, relying on subscription income alone. But it does take money directly from automakers via the licensing of its awards for advertising purposes: $35k for the first award; and $25k for each award thereafter.

To further encourage automakers to pony up for the licensing fees,  CD’s award page lists all winners of its “Best Buy” award but only offers links with further information for models that have paid CD licensing fees.

Here in Canada, we have a similar situation with the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada and its annual Canadian Car of the Year Awards, an event financed in part by automakers willing to pay entry fees.

According to AJAC spokesperson Beth Rhind, fees change each year, depending on the number of entries. Last year, AJAC asked manufacturers to pay $6,900 for each of 56 total entries.

AJAC doesn’t charge for the use of its awards in manufacturer advertising, but like CD, allows the practice.

Although AJAC says on its site the purpose of its event is to “provide consumers with sound, comparative information on vehicles that are new to the market,” not all “new” cars are evaluated.

At last year’s event not every "new" car was entered, while brands like Aston Martin, Bentley, Chrysler Group, Ferrari, Maserati, Maybach, Lamborghini, Lotus and Rolls-Royce did not participate at all.

So, the question is: Should there be a clear separation of church (automotive award organizers) and state (automaker PR departments) when it comes to automotive awards?

Or are you just fine with the financial partnership that’s going on at Consumers Digest and AJAC because of the information they provide to new car buyers?

[Source: The Truth About Cars, Wall Street Journal]

 

 

How blasphemous is a FWD Land Rover?

Hold on to your Wellies: After its world debut at the Paris auto show this Fall, the production version of the Land Rover LRX concept will allegedly be available with traction to its front wheels only. 

For a brand that’s built it’s reputation on the go anywhere capabilities of all-wheel-drive, how well this news sits with the stiff-upper-lip Land Rover crowd will be interesting to see.

The Indian automaker has always said that a front-drive vehicle would compromise its core brand values. But now according to the report in U.K Autocar, the formerly British/German automaker says it “cannot ignore the growth of the two-wheel-drive SUV segment”.

But at what expense?

And it’s not just the FWD aspect of the LRX—or whatever it’s going to be called—that breaks new ground for the formerly-macho brand.

The compact two-door LRX crossover-coupe concept—first seen at the Detroit show two years ago— is really small. Much like the current crop of tiny, urban utility vehicles  like the Mitsubishi ASX, Nissan Juke, BMW X1 and Mini Countryman—in other words: it’s a compact hatchback jacked up to SUV heights. And apparently, like the rest of the LRX, its interior will sacrifice function for style as well.

Of course, we’ve seen this story played out before. Jeep’s brand has been taking it on the chin ever since it launched its compact FWD Patriot soft-roader.

There most definitely will be an all-wheel-drive LRX. And in fact the FWD version may never make it to North America. But that’s not the point, now, is it.

Do you think a FWD Land Rover hurts the brand?

Or are you quite willing to accept a Land Rover compact coupe that’s better suited for a latte run to Starbucks instead of a safari on the Serengheti?

[Source: Autocar]

 

Green is Good: Can “sports car” and “diesel” ever be in the same sentence?

INGOLSTADT, Germany - It’s dawn, June, 2006. I’m watching the sun come up over the Porsche Corners during the running of the 24 Heures du Mans. And I’m witnessing history. On the way to becoming the first ever diesel-engine race car to win the historic event, Audi’s R10 swooshes by in relative silence to its conventional fuel-powered competitors.

Flash forward four years later to Audi Ground Zero here in southern Germany. I’m  behind the wheel of the promise of the R10, the new Audi TT 2.0 TDI, one of the first sports cars in the world to be powered by a diesel engine.

As is typical, torque is high in the TT's diesel four: 258 lb-ft  available between 1,750 and 2,500 rpm. It’s fuel efficient: 5.3L/100 km on the EU-cycle, what Audi says is best in class. It’s certainly quick enough: 0-100 in only 7.5 seconds; top speed 226 km/h. And its becoming popular: since its market launch, the diesel’s share in TT sales has grown steadily and is now over 11 per cent.

While we can expect this latest TDI to eventually make it over here as an update to the existing engine offered in our A3, when asked if a diesel TT will ever be sold here, Audi Canada’s Cort Nielsen says never say never.

“At this time with our TDIs, we're at a 'bookend' in regards to our diesel strategy in Canada,” Nielsen told The Crank.

Audi just introduced diesels into its Q7 and A3. Long term, you can expect more diesels filtering into other Canadian Audis as models get updated. But it all comes back to demand. If more customers were knocking at Audi’s doors clamouring for a diesel TT, all the parts are in place to make it happen.

If Audi—or any other sports car maker—offered a similar diesel package of fuel efficiency AND performance, would you bite?

Or are diesels doomed to large SUVs and heavy-duty pickup trucks?

Green is Good: Is Toyota's luxury hybrid strategy a flop?

When Lexus launched its HS 250h last year, I was a bit befuddled. Why parent Toyota went to the trouble of stuffing the hybrid Prius’s Camry's drivetrain into the chassis of the European Toyota Avensis compact sedan (which less rear legroom than a Corolla), style it like a Lexus RX SUV, and price it like it was made of unobtanium, I never understood?

Costing between $39,900 and $48,750, the HS 250h has neither the style, room, comfort nor refinement of not only the existing $41,950 ES 350 gasoline model, but also the over $10,000 cheaper Prius.

Sure. The HS 250h may be what Toyota thinks is a new type of luxury car. It has the RX’s neat mouse-like centre console controller. And is rated at a combined 5.7L/100 km. But that alone doesn’t seem to be appealing enough to make an impression with new car buyers. In the all-important U.S. market—where hybrids have traditionally been most welcome outside of Japan—the HS 250h isn’t coming close to meeting Toyota’s sales expectations.

Through the end of April, Lexus sold only 11,228 examples since launching the HS 250h last August. In fact, only 4,529 units in 2010. Last month, only 1,076 units. Compare those numbers to Toyota’s initial HS sales goals of 20,000 to -30,000 examples per year. Or the Prius. It sold 12,555 units last month, and has sold 40,793 units since January.

And now it looks like Lexus is waving the white flag on the HS 250h.

“I think we underestimated the power of the Prius brand… And we overestimated what the market would look like based on gas prices. But if we can do over 1,000 units a month, 1,000-1,500 units a month, we feel really good about what we’re doing in the marketplace,” Lexus U.S. vice president Mark Templin told WardsAuto.

Do you think the HS 250h is merely ahead of its time? A victim of relatively low gas prices?

Or are customers smarter than what Lexus is giving them credit for?

[Source: Wards Auto]