Ask the Best and Brightest: What Should John Wolfe Name His Dallas Car Talk (oops) Radio Show?
By Robert FaragoJuly 2, 2009
Although there’s nothing routine about him, John Wolfe is a stand up guy. A regular here at TTAC. A shining example of our Best and Brightest. While I’m trying to keep the word “fire” as far away from this sentence as possible, I think we can all admit that even the most insightful commentator hereabouts occasionally draws a blank. So it’s no surprise that this appeal to his fellow carmudgeons across the e-transom, of which I share with you.
My radio show is fixing to morph into a three-hour Saturday morning program on CBS radio in Dallas. We’re still keeping the small town affiliate network, but big D is the obvious focal point considering the entire listenership population of my current 6 affiliates totals 10% of the population of the new affiliate. I have the concept down pat in my mind, but I need a name. Something punchy, cocky, demands attention. Currently there are two Saturday morning talkers in the DFW market “Wheels with Ed Wallace” and “The Car Guy” (Jerry Reynolds auto advise show). [Being a modest, low-key kinda guy] I really like the name “King of Cars.” However, that idea came from a popular show on A&E TV [about a scumbag four-square wielding Chrysler dealer]. Any ideas?
Posted in Ask the Best and Brightest | News Blog | 23 comments 
Hyundai Advances Clunker Cash to Dealers
By Edward NiedermeyerJuly 2, 2009
Hyundai has been a big winner in the European cash-for-clunker sweepstakes, and they’re preparing their US dealers for another boom. Bloomberg reports that Hyundai is advancing cash to dealers to “cover new-vehicle credits for consumers until the federal government completes rules for the program later this month and begins paying dealers.” And despite NHTSA warnings that “If a dealer chooses to structure a transaction before the final rule is issued, they will bear the risks associated with later demonstrating that the transaction meets all of the specifications of the final rule,” deals are already being done. A Virginia dealership has already sold the first vehicle under Hyundai’s offer, replacing a 1995 Ford Explorer with an Elantra Touring. With a $15,000 fine threatened for deals that don’t comply with the program’s final rules, this is being done without the approval of the National Automobile Dealers Association.
Posted in New Cars | News Blog | Sales | 25 comments
Supply Chain Blues
By Edward NiedermeyerJuly 2, 2009
Consumers have a hard enough time keeping all the brands and nameplates in the US market straight; trying to keep track of the myriad suppliers that make up the bulk of the industry is nearly impossible. Even here on TTAC, our well-informed commentariat often throws up its hands at the first sign of supplier coverage. But the fortunes of suppliers to US auto firms have been fading for years now, as Detroit’s misery slides downhill through the various tiers of suppliers. And despite repeated calls for a supplier bailout (and their use as OEM bailout bait), aid has been either misappropriated or rejected. And the bankruptcies show no signs of slowing.
Posted in Bailout Watch | Media | News Blog | Suppliers | no comments
Babe. Machine guns. Explosives. Old Car. TV Segment. Do the Math.
By Robert FaragoJuly 2, 2009
Posted in News Blog | Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | 37 comments
How Safe Is Safe Enough?
By Edward NiedermeyerJuly 2, 2009
There are some seriously mixed messages coming out of the NHTSA today, which perfectly illustrate what I like to call the tyranny of safety. On the one hand, the NHTSA announced today that overall traffic fatalities dropped by nearly ten percent in 2008, hitting the lowest levels per vehicle mile traveled since 1961. Estimates for the first quarter of 2009 show the high-single digit downward trend continuing into this year. In 2008, the NHTSA logged 1.27 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Which, based on the number of cars and the shoddy quality of driving one encounters in this country (sorry, it’s true), is a remarkable statistic. But, for safety nuts like SecTrans Ray LaHood, it’s not enough. “While the number of highway deaths in America has decreased, we still have a long way to go,” he tells his press release. And how are we going to go about protecting Americans from the lowest fatality rates since JFK was elected and the Beatles were still playing the Cavern? Gizmos, baby, gizmos.
Posted in News Blog | Safety | 75 comments
Chris’ Car Crests 100k!
By Robert FaragoJuly 2, 2009
Posted in News Blog | Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | 27 comments
China World’s Largest Car Market in First Half of 2009
By Bertel SchmittJuly 2, 2009
The way it looks, China will severely trounce the USA as the world’s largest auto market in 2009. From January to June, Americans bought 4.8m units, a drop of 35.1 percent. China had sold more a month earlier.
Posted in China | News Blog | 25 comments
Daily Podcast: Converjence
By Edward NiedermeyerJuly 2, 2009
Because it wants to, Buick is headed upmarket. Because it has to, Cadillac is headed downmarket. Who wins? Not GM. An Epsilon II, FWD/AWD Cadillac isn’t going to have the phrase “standard of the world” tripping off anyone’s tongue. And since GM exists at the pleasure of the politicians, it doesn’t seem likely that Cadillac will ever get around to making the huge investments in opulence that it would need to regain its former glory. And besides an aging CTS and a “2005 called and wants its SUV back” Escalade, what is Cadillac again? Some days it’s a good day to die. Some days it’s a good day to record a podcast.
Posted in Daily | Daily Podcast | News Blog | Podcasts | 19 comments
TTAC lives @ http://twitter.com/ttac
By Robert FaragoJuly 2, 2009
Just a quick reminder that TTAC is on Twitter. I’ve neglected the service for a while, but not anymore. I’m tweeting every new post with a blast of prose poetry and a shortened url, so you can wonder WTF I’m on about and click through. Of course, we’re still available as an RSS feed. Our iTunes feed is back; but you’ll have to subscribe again to get automatic updates. (Apple Music Store > search “truth about cars” > subscribe ) Meanwhile, Ye Olde New Content Notification Alerts—the steam-driven heads-up email system for new reviews and rants—is dead. When our main man Marshall tried to resurrect the plug-in, it unplugged the entire site. The good news: VerticalScope has scheduled TTAC for a site redesign in the dog days of August. Like any good carmaker, we’ll make sure the new site offers The Best and Brightest more and better features without overcomplicating basic functionality. Until then, as always, thanks for putting food on our table.
Posted in Media | News Blog | 7 comments
Toyota Holds On Hard to Its Hybrid Head-Start
By Edward NiedermeyerJuly 2, 2009
As evolutionary as the changes to Toyota’s third-generation Prius may seem on the surface, beneath the familiar sheetmetal lurks enough new technology to justify over 1,000 new patents. The Wall Street Journal reports that through three generations of the Prius, Toyota has generated over 2,000 patents on hybrid technology, half stemming from the latest generation alone. Toyota’s hybrid patent filing nearly doubles the number filed by Honda, its closest hybrid competitor. And the WSJ casts this “thicket of patents” as Toyota tightening its stranglehold on the hybrid market.
Posted in Hybrid | Law and Order | News Blog | 6 comments
POWERED