Chrysler Sold To Cerberus Capital Management

14 May 2007

DaimlerChrysler, soon to be just Daimler, sold Chysler to Cerberus
Capital Management, a private equity firm looking for a new billion
dollar challenge. They receive the brands Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep,
and Daimler receives some cash. Though the deal says its 7.4 billion,
they’ll really only get about 1.35 since much of the money will be
reinvested in Chrysler.

Daimler will retain a 19.9% share of Chrysler, leaving it with
Mercedes-Benz. So, this time next year, we’ll be reporting on how
Daimler is struggling to improve the reliability of their Mercedes
vehicles…wait, that’s already happening. Sure Mercedes look nice,
but their notoriously unreliable.

Message to Cerberus: I want a Dodge Demon.

CarKing

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Chevrolet Volt Is Coming

9 May 2007

Larry Burns, VP of R&D, and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz have confirmed that
the Chevrolet Volt is beginning the process of becoming a production
vehicle that will be available in dealerships, though probably at low
volumes to start.

The Chevy Volt will rival the Toyota Prius in the hybrid market.
Unlike other hybrids, however, the Volt will be able to be plugged in
for charging, and so small trips (say 40 miles or less) would not
actually use any gasoline. Since the debut is expected in 2010 at the
earliest, whether this saves consumers any cash will depend on the
cost of electricity, and efficiency of the vehicle. In environmental
terms, the Volt would clearly reduce emissions.

Oh, and it looks cool.

CarKing

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Build Your Own Transformer at Chevy.com

1 May 2007

If you’re psyched to see some robot action in this summer’s
sure-to-be-disappointing blockbuster Transformers, then you’ll
probably dig Chevy’s build your own Autobot feature at their website.

So, if Chevy’s got the Autobots covered, who exactly would make up the
Decepticons? Put aside Bush/Cheney/Rice/Tenet and Worldcom/Enron
because we’re talking cars here, people. If only the Taliban made
cars, I think we could easily log them as the evils.

That gets me thinking, what would the Taliban name their vehicles?
Maybe that’s another post.

Build your Autobot.

CarKing

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TVR’s Sagaris Coming To America?

16 April 2007

TVR is planning on bringing it’s Sagaris model to the United States, and it’s a sweet looking ride. Check out the exhaust pipes pointing out the rear sides.

TVR has changed ownership a few times in the past decade, and the new owners seem bent on reinvigorating the historic sports car company.
Too bad the 400 horsepower, six cylinder, head-turning sports car will run you $120,000. But they’ll be nice to look at on the road.

CarKing

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The Automotive X Prize Launched

11 April 2007

Remember the X Prize that gave a boat load of cash to a team that
could get a passenger vehicle into space safely and cost-effectively?
Now they’re working on an automotive X Prize hoping to create a
viable, affordable, safe, highly efficient car. The teams building the
vehicles must have a business plan and show that the car is able to be
manufactured on a large scale.

The prize itself has not been announced, but the guidelines are up on
the site for review and feedback (a nice first step to ensure they’ve
considered everything).

The competition will end with a race, which would be nice to have on
television, in 2009. The X Prize foundation will be working to bring
the winning car to production. Visit the Automotive X Prize site.

CarKing

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Have a say in the next GM model.

4 April 2007

As a part of the New York Auto Show General Motors has begun a pretty cool campaign to help determine what “minicar” to produce and send to the market. The marketing campaign lets people decide which vehicle GM should send to production. A pretty good idea if you ask me. If you want to sell something people are going to want to buy, let them decide. Seems simple enough to work.

GM has set up a site where you can view the concept cars and vote for your favorite. You can get there by clicking here.

GM has named the concepts the Beat, the Groove and the Trax, all obviously trying to appeal to a young crowd. The designs are a bit “Scionish” but pretty cool nonetheless. So which will I vote for? Hmm…I dunno. I think they want me to vote for the Beat since there are more pictures of it, and it’s the only one with interior shots…but the Trax is nice. I need to think about this one…such a big decision, I’ve never been asked to decide which car a manufacturer should produce!

CK

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Ferrari in a Shell Oil Commercial

23 March 2007

When does a commercial for an oil company give you goosebumps? When it
shows you a Ferrari racing through Rome, New York, Rio de Janeiro and
other great cities.

The directing of the Shell commercial is great. Very nice shots of the
Ferrari racing through the streets are coupled with surprised looks,
and aerial views. How much would you pay to drive a Ferrari race car
on these city streets?

See it here.

Car King

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Nissan to target janitors.

22 March 2007

Nissan motors is beginning a new marketing campaign to promote their push-button-ignition Altimas.

Their grand scheme is to intentionally “lose” 20,000 key rings, with useless keys attached, around bars, sports arenas, concert halls…you
get the idea. People finding the keys will notice a tag on them stating that they don’t need to bother returning them, because the all-new Altima has push-button ignition.

So, to all you janitors out there, all you hard-working souls cleaning up after our enjoyable nights out, give a big middle finger to Nissan for leaving more crap behind for you to pick up. The least they could have done is make the keys fit a 1994 Altima out in the parking lot.

CK

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225 Miles-Per-Gallon?

21 March 2007

Robert Q. Riley Enterprises is claiming you’ll be able to buy plans in May to build your own diesel/electric hybrid vehicle that will get you 225 miles-per-gallon when in hybrid mode, or 40 miles on a single charge.

The three-wheeled XR-3, even more interestingly, is claiming to get 125 mpg when running diesel alone.

You may have to find someone to help you put it together, though they state anyone with “average mechanical abilities” will be able to piece it together.  The real question, for me, is if I get these plans, buy the parts, hire the mechanic…is it conceivable that my state will not allow me to drive it on the roads?

http://www.rqriley.com/xr3.htm

CK

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The Zap electric SUV.

20 March 2007

There’s a nice round-up of the Zap electric SUV from Autobloggreen. The article, found here, states the automaker claims the vehicle will go 350 miles on a single charge, and charging takes a tiny 10 minutes.

Also of note is that it has 4 doors, unlike the electric car offering from Tesla. Zaps car, supposedly, will go up to 155 mph, and have 644 horsepower. These are major feats, and encouraging, if not a little unbelievable.

The car’s glass will help retain solar energy, though probably not enough to generate many more miles from the vehicle.

It’s all very nice, and a great direction for automobiles. I’d like to see Zap, and maybe Tesla, partially purchased by an American automaker
(ok, or a foreign company) with financial backing enough to mass-produce these and put the gas companies on the defensive.

CK

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