Scoopful of Chrysler News – April 25, 2009: Signs of life; ticking clock; debt reduction; Fiat magic; No love from Hyundai

April 25, 2009 at 12:34 am

(Source: CNN; TreeHuggerJalopnik ; Autoblog ; AutoblogGreen)

Chrysler reaches key Canada labor accord Tentative agreement, aimed at cutting costs and keeping automaker out of bankruptcy, to be presented to workers for ratification.

 Time running out on Chrysler  The embattled automaker has one week to reach deals with Fiat, unions and banks, raising doubts it can avoid bankruptcy and a shutdown. 

Chrysler lenders will cut debt – source  The automaker’s first-lien lenders will reduce remaining debt to $3.75 billion from nearly $7 billion. 
Fiat Working on Advanced Hybrid Drivetrain for Small Cars…Technology with Chrysler According to an article in an Italian magazine (via our friends at ABG), Fiat is working on a hybrid drivetrain that could be fitted to its small cars, like the Fiat 500. But even more interesting for us North-Americans, Fiat would apparently be willing to share that hybrid technology with Chrysler, if the deal between t…

Fox Car Report Live: Ford Fiesta, Chrysler Bankruptcy [Official Car Pundit Drinking Game] …imaginary Chryslers on conservative cable channel website. [Fox Car Report Live]

PSA: In case you were wondering, Hyundai apparently has no interest in taking a stake in a bankrupt GM…Motors and Chrysler called off negotiations regarding a possible merger, news began circulating across the internet that Hyundai might be interested in snatching the Pentastar brand away from Cerberus. Those rumors were flatly denied by the Korean automaker.Now that things have gotten progressively worse for the two storied American companies, m…

Signs of life! Chrysler reaches key Canada labor accord

April 25, 2009 at 12:09 am

(SSource: Reuters via CNN)

Tentative agreement, aimed at cutting costs and keeping automaker out of bankruptcy, to be presented to workers for ratification.

Chrysler LLC and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union reached a tentative agreement Friday on a new labor contract intended to cut costs and keep the struggling automaker from bankruptcy, the union said.

The deal, which will be put to CAW-represented workers for ratification this weekend, is one of several agreements that Chrysler needs to reach by next week to win new U.S. government aid and avoid liquidation.

“We were told by Chrysler that they still didn’t have entire deals done to avoid a bankruptcy filing. We urge all the stakeholders in the United States to make equal sacrifices,” CAW President Ken Lewenza told reporters.

Chrysler, which has been kept operating since the start of the year with $4 billion in U.S. government loans, has until the end of this month to clinch an alliance with Italy’s Fiat SpA and win concessions from its bank creditors and major unions or face a cutoff of its government funding.

“We are extremely grateful to the CAW leadership and to its hard-working members for their openness in this challenging environment to create a new strategy that will lead this company on a path to success,” Chrysler vice chairman Tom LaSorda said in a statement.

The tentative contract for Canadian autoworkers with the No. 3 U.S. automaker would leave hourly base pay intact but cut a range of benefits, including an annual Christmas bonus, and add flexibility to work rules that would make it easier for Chrysler to hire temporary workers.

Chrysler will also cut the third production shift at its Windsor, Ontario, minivan plant.

Taken together, the contract changes will save Chrysler an estimated C$240 million in annual labor costs, Lewenza said.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

NYT: California Fuel Move Angers Ethanol Makers

April 24, 2009 at 2:02 pm

(Source: NY Times)

Ethanol producers reacted with dismay to California’s approval of the nation’s first low-carbon fuel standard, which will require the state’s mix of fuels to be 10 percent lower in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

In a 9-1 vote late Thursday, the state’s Air Resources Board approved the measure (seebackground here).“The drive to force the market toward greater use of alternative fuels will be a boon to the state’s economy and public health — it reduces air pollution, creates new jobs and continues California’s leadership in the fight against global warming,” said the California board’s chairman, Mary D. Nichols, in a statement.

But the ethanol industry is concerned that the regulations give a poor emissions score to their corn-based product, in some cases ranking it as a bigger emitter than petroleum.

“This was a poor decision, based on shaky science, not only for California, but for the nation,” said General Wesley Clark, who co-chairs the pro-ethanol group Growth Energy, in a statement.

The decision, he added, “puts another road block in moving away from dependence on fossil fuels and stifles development of the emerging cellulosic industry.”

Note: Late last night, TransportGooru made detailed post (shown below), immediately following the Calif. Air Resources Board announcement on the adoption of this standard. 

California adopts first-in-the-world regulation to minimize the amount of carbon in fuel

U.S. Cash-for-Clunkers deal reportedly nearing congressional compromise

April 24, 2009 at 1:29 pm

(Source: Autoblog & The Detroit News)

It’s looking increasingly likely that the United States will soon have its own Cash-for-Clunkers program. According to The Detroit News, two bills are currently competing for Congressional votes, and while they would both offer sizable rewards for turning in older vehicles, they vary in what new cars and trucks would qualify for the program.

One bill, sponsored by Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) would give the largest voucher – up to $5,000 – to purchasers of new vehicles made in the United States. Slightly smaller amounts would be granted for other vehicles made in the rest of North America, and no cash would be granted for the purchase of foreign-made cars. All cars would need to manage at least 27 mpg to qualify, and trucks would need to hit at least 24 mpg.
 
The other bill, sponsored by Rep. Steve Israel (D-New York), would offer up to $4,500 for the purchase of a new vehicle, assuming that the vehicle being traded-in gets 18 mpg or less, and the new vehicle’s fuel efficiency is at least 25% better than average for its class. No distinction would be made based on the vehicle’s country of origin.
Both would require the scrapping of older vehicles to remove them from the roadways and both would give drivers the option of trading in an old car for a bus or subway pass.

In addition to promoting energy efficiency, the idea is to boost new car sales and get vehicles on the roads with updated safety features.

The program could cost as much as $4 billion and help retire at least 1 million older vehicles. Senior congressional aides and members of the Obama auto task force met earlier this month in search of the best way to pay for and structure it.

Toyota spokesman Charles Ing said his company wants legislation to apply to all fuel efficient vehicles and adhere to U.S. obligations under the World Trade Organization.

 

Over the past months, TransportGooru has published a series of articles on this topic, following developments in the US, UK and Germany. For the ones interested in learning about the schemes in Germany (that is now labelled a “roaring success”) and US & UK (the introduction of a similar scheme in the works but still a long way away from getting it done), here is a list of articles that TransportGooru published.

Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act revives “Cash for Clunkers” scrapping plan in U.S

Germany plans to extend Abwrackprämie aka “Environmental Bonus”

The bickering starts over the implementation of the Cash for Clunkers legislation

Obama Favors “Cash for Clunkers”

Germany increases subsidy to 5 Billion Euros, tripling incentives for its “Cash for Clunker” (Abwrackprämie) program

Britain mulls implementation of “Cash for Clunkers” scheme to boost ailing auto sales 

Where the US stands in pushing “Cash for Clunkers”- Four bills in Congress; Details Needed

Goodbye, Gas Guzzlers? – Washington Post editorial analyses the keys to succesful implementation of US’ Cash for Clunkers” initiative

Time examines the “Cash for Clunkers” initiative: A Deal to Help Detroit — and the Planet?

Following Germany, Britain introduces “Cash for clunkers”scrappage scheme. U.S. is next?

FAA makes public its airplane-bird strike data

April 24, 2009 at 11:26 am
(Source: AP)
The public is getting its first uncensored look at the government’s records of where and when airplanes have struck birds over the last 19 years, thanks largely to pressure resulting from the dramatic ditching of a US Airways jet in the Hudson River after bird strikes knocked out both its engines.

Finally, travelers will be able to learn which airports have the worst problems with birds.

Since 1990, the Federal Aviation Administration has been collecting reports voluntarily submitted by commercial and private pilots, the military, airline mechanics, and airport workers who clear dead birds and other animals from runways. The agency has released aggregate data over the years so it’s known that there are records of more than 100,000 strikes and that reported strikes more than quadrupled from 1,759 in 1990 to 7,666 in 2007.

But the FAA has always feared the public can’t handle the full truth about bird strikes, so it has withheld the names of specific airports and airlines involved.

Aware that some airports do a better job reporting strikes than others and that some face tougher bird problems, the agency said the public might use the data to “cast unfounded aspersions” on those who reported strikes and the airports and airlines in turn might turn in fewer voluntary reports.

But this week Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood overruled the FAA’s attempt to throw a formal cloak of secrecy over the data before it had to reveal the records in response Freedom of Information Act requests from The Associated Press and other news organizations.

The database was to be posted on the Internet at midmorning Friday.

With President Barack Obama promising a more open government and releasing secret Bush administration legal memos about harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects, LaHood said he found it hard to justify the FAA’s plan to withhold records about birds flying around airports.

LaHood also noted the public bridled at being kept in the dark. In addition to newspaper editorials coast to coast opposing the FAA’s secrecy, members of the public commenting directly to the FAA opposed it by a 5-to-1 margin.

Although the FAA brags that the voluntary database is “unparalleled,” the agency has conceded that only about 20 percent of strikes are recorded on it.

In comments opposing the FAA plan, Paul Eschenfelder, an aviation consultant from Spring, Texas, wrote that in 2004 a government-industry working group, which was writing new FAA design standards for engines to withstand bird strikes, “agreed that the FAA wildlife database was unusable due to its incompleteness” and paid Boeing Co. “to develop a cogent database that all agreed was superior” because it combined the FAA records with those of several engine manufacturers and British records.

The FAA presser notes that “over the next four months, the FAA will make significant improvements to the databaseto improve the search function and make it more user-friendly. In its current format, users will only be able to perform limited searches online, but will be able to download the entire database.”

Here is the comprehensive analysis report of the data  (in Adobe pdf format).  For access to the databases please visit http://wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov/public_html/index.html#access

California adopts first-in-the-world regulation to minimize the amount of carbon in fuel

April 24, 2009 at 12:15 am

(Source: CBS, LA Times, SF Chronicle)

California took aim today at the oil industry and its effect on global warming, adopting the world’s first regulation to limit greenhouse gas emissions from the fuel that runs cars and trucks.

Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli via CBS

The regulation requires producers, refiners and importers of gasoline and diesel to reduce the carbon intensity of their fuel by 10% over the next decade. And it launches the state on an ambitious path toward ratcheting down its overall heat-trapping emissions by 80% by mid-century — a level that scientists deem necessary to avoid drastic disruption to the global climate.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the regulation immediately after the vote.

“California’s first-in-the-world low carbon fuel standard will not only reduce global warming pollution – it will reward innovation, expand consumer choice and encourage the private investment we need to transform our energy infrastructure,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

At the all-day public hearing prior to the vote, backers of corn-based ethanol criticized the regulation because it counts – as part of the carbon intensity – the indirect effects of manufacturing the fuel. With corn-based ethanol, that means counting the impact of creating new crop land when existing land is converted to growing corn for fuel instead of food.

Backers of the regulation applauded in the auditorium after the vote.

Trailblazing 71 year old Mayor of Berkeley, Calif. gives up his car; sends a strong & green message!

April 23, 2009 at 11:36 pm

(Source: SF Gate)

Some mayors tool around in Priuses and hybrid Civics. But Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates has taken green transit a step further.  

Image: Paul Chinn/The Chronicle

No more cars for him, at all.

The 71-year-old mayor is trading in his 2001 Volvo for an AC Transit pass and a sturdy pair of walking shoes.

“I’m trying to reduce my carbon footprint to the absolute minimum,” he said. “I figure, if I really want to go someplace I can just rent a car.”

Bates’ long farewell to the Volvo began about a year ago, when he started walking to work as a way to lose weight and stay in shape. The 18-minute trek from his home in South Berkeley to City Hall was so invigorating he started walking everywhere he could – to Berkeley Bowl, the BART station, city council meetings.

He even bought a pedometer to tally his footsteps. His goal: 10,000 steps a day, which he has achieved nearly every day since the tabulations began May 10, 2008. Since then he’s walked 4,908,970 steps, according to the daily log he enters in his computer.

The Bates household is not entirely automobile-free. His wife, State Sen. Loni Hancock, owns a Toyota Camry hybrid, which she uses to commute to Sacramento. Hancock and the Camry are at the Capitol four days a week, however, leaving Bates with nothing but his TransLink card and his Rockports.

Bates’ decision to set the Volvo free was not easy. Like most Americans, he has a deep passion for the open road, quick acceleration and a good sound system. He has fond memories of cruising in the Volvo down Highway 1, Beethoven on the CD player, sunroof wide open.

“A car represents freedom,” he said. “For a long time I kept thinking, how would I really feel about getting rid of it? Finally I just came to the conclusion that keeping the car was ridiculous. It was just depreciating in my driveway.”

Many Bay Area mayors are taking a greener approach to transportation. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom rides in a hybrid police car for city business, and on weekends he drives his all-electric Tesla Roadster.

Following Germany, Britain introduces “Cash for clunkers”scrappage scheme. U.S. is next?

April 23, 2009 at 11:17 pm

(Source: Autoblog, Telegraph UK) 

After weeks of dithering, the Government announced a car scrappage scheme in yesterday’s Budget.  Anyone with a car registered after July 31, 1999 will get a cash incentive of £2,000 to trade in their old vehicle for a brand new one.

However, only £1,000 will come from the Government, with the remaining £1,000 coming from car firms; the motor industry had hoped that the Government would foot the entire £2,000 bill.

Participants will be able to buy any new vehicle, including small vans, rather than just low pollution models. Motorists taking advantage of the scheme must have owned the car for at least one year; it will also have to be taxed, insured and have a current MoT in order to qualify.

About £300 million has been set aside to fund the scheme, to be launched in mid-May. About 300,000 consumers are expected to benefit until the scheme ends in March 2010, unless funding runs out before then.

In the below video, you can hear Mr. Tony Whitehorn, Managing Director of Hyundai UK, welcoming Chancellor Alistair Darling’s ‘cash for bangers’ scheme announcement in the Budget.

Not everyone has been warm to the Chancellor’s scheme. The reactions have been mixed thus far.  However, the RAC Foundation said the scheme risked “consigning perfectly good, and relatively ‘clean’, vehicles to the dustbin”, while CleanGreenCars said the Chancellor’s failure to set a limit on CO2 emissions of new cars bought under the scheme was “senseless”.  A columnist on the Telegraph claims that the Chancellor’s scrappge scheme fails to deliver.
For the ones interested learn about the schemes in Germany (that is now labelled a “roaring success”) and US (the introduction of a similar scheme in the works but still a long way away from getting it done), here is a list of articles that appeared earlier on TransportGooru

Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act revives “Cash for Clunkers” scrapping plan in U.S

Germany plans to extend Abwrackprämie aka “Environmental Bonus”

The bickering starts over the implementation of the Cash for Clunkers legislation

Obama Favors “Cash for Clunkers”

Germany increases subsidy to 5 Billion Euros, tripling incentives for its “Cash for Clunker” (Abwrackprämie) program

Britain mulls implementation of “Cash for Clunkers” scheme to boost ailing auto sales 

Where the US stands in pushing “Cash for Clunkers”- Four bills in Congress; Details Needed

Goodbye, Gas Guzzlers? – Washington Post editorial analyses the keys to succesful implementation of US’ Cash for Clunkers” initiative

Time examines the “Cash for Clunkers” initiative: A Deal to Help Detroit — and the Planet?

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Program Strategic Planning Workshop

April 23, 2009 at 6:28 pm

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Program Strategic Planning Workshop

 May 6, 2009

Location:  Queen Anne Room @ Sheraton 1400 Sixth Avenue Seattle, WA 98101

Time:  8:30 am – 12:00 pm

 The Federal Transit Administration’s Office of Mobility Innovation is holding a workshop at the APTA Annual Bus and Paratransit Conference in Seattle, Washington, to engage stakeholders in their strategic planning effort.
The goal of the workshop is to elicit discussion on the vision and direction for transit ITS research for the next five years and beyond.  Specifically, FTA seeks input and insights into a proposed set of goals and objectives.  FTA is also interested in exploring new opportunities for research and development, technology transfer, and evaluation of next generation transit ITS technologies.  

The workshop is designed to present the results-to-date of the strategic planning effort and to invite discussion from the public.  Participants will be engaged in question/answer sessions with break-out session discussions.  All feedback will be captured and incorporated into FTA’s ITS strategic planning effort.  Using this input, the FTA’s Office of Mobility Innovation expects to program a robust agenda for research and deployment assistance that reflects the current and future needs of the transit industry. 

If attending, please RSVP to: Suzanne.Sloan@dot.gov.  A similar workshop will take place at the APTA Rail Conference in Chicago, Illinois (June 14-17, 2009).  Location:  Chicago Hilton / TBD

TransportGoooru Exclusive from Dr. RoadMap: Why we gawk

April 23, 2009 at 5:38 pm

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, when questioned one night on a television talk show about what makes her so popular, responded: “I’m like a bad car wreck on the freeway. You know you shouldn’t stare but you just can’t help it.” 

We can’t help it, can we? While hardly unique, an accident that brought the State Route 60 in Rowland Heights, California to a crawl one afternoon provides a perfect example. Just past the State Route 57 interchange, three crumpled compact cars limped to the right shoulder and died. The respective occupants and a highway patrol officer surveyed the situation, rounding out the classic picture of an accident scene. For a few miles in either direction cars passed by at the speed of a funeral procession so their drivers could ogle the unfolding scenario. 

Admit it. Most of us do stop and stare — with costly consequences, too. The statisticians at the some urban traffic-safety centers calculate that rubbernecking causes more unnecessary traffic congestion than any other behavior.  

So why do we do it? Are we really that morbid? Do we really revel in the misfortunes of other people? 

“Not at all,” answered Mark Rafter, former assistant professor of psychology at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California. “We stare because that’s the way we are built. It is perfectly normal for us to respond to unusual stimuli with an increased level of attention. In fact, having a sense of curiosity is healthy.” 

Rafter also said that this “novelty interest” increases our chances of survival. Instinct

dictates that we examine any unnecessary phenomenon — such as the brightly flashing blue and red lights of an emergency vehicle — lest it be a threat to our own safety. 

“There are other factors as well,” Rafter added. “Freeway wrecks provide us with the rare opportunity to double check our best guess as to the cause of the delay.” 

Goodness knows that we are granted plenty of time to wonder what happened when stuck in a long backup. When we finally arrive upon the accident scene, we are usually presented with conclusive evidence of just what the problem was. Then there is the frustrating fact that the very slowing of traffic that a collision creates lends us the perfect chance to really get a good look at it. Evidently our voyeuristic tendencies tend to complicate matters.

However, being the individuals that we are, not all of us stare with the same intensity, according to Rafter. 

“Each person strives to maintain their own optimal level of arousal,” Rafter pointed out. “Extroverts need to seek out exciting events to get to normal, so they really stop and gawk, whereas introverts require much less stimulation and tend to look away from tragic occurrences.”

In the final analysis, there’s really no need for us to feel too guilty about where we cast our eyes, at least according to one expert. On the other hand, traffic would certainly move a lot smoother if we elevated ourselves above our basic instincts and just kept our eyes on the road.

©2009, Dr. Roadmap® 

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David Rizzo, better known as Dr. Roadmap,  a Commute Management expert who writes about issues such as improving gas mileage (mpg), alternate routes, traffic congestion, ridesharing, commuting behavior and intelligent transportation systems on California’s Orange Country Register.  He is well known for his comprehensive guide ever written on off-freeway commuting in Southern California, published in 1990.  Two years later he became the first traffic reporter to offer daily alternate routes in real time over the air on one of the most popular morning radio shows in Los Angeles.  His bi-weekly columns appear exclusively for TransportGooru.  This is copyright-protected content.  Please contact Transportgooru if you like to use this article or portions of this article.