Elon Musk, Tesla Motors’ CEO: Once The Electric Charge Dies, The Chevy Volt Is Like A Lawnmower…

GM Hires Search Firm for New Board GM has hired a search firm to help find replacements for at least half of its 12 directors, reflecting Obama’s increasing influence over the auto maker

 

Transportation Headlines for Monday May 11, 2009…GM Stick to Fuel-Cell Plans as Obama Guts Hydrogen FundsBloombergImagine If People Really Drove the Speed LimitLA StreetsBlogI still believe in public transportationOC MetblogsPort proposed expansion expected to draw a crowd to the Long Beach councilPress TelegramSan Jose and LA Use Technology to Ease Downtown Parking CongestionPublic CEOSan Mar..

Experts call GM bankruptcy ‘almost inevitable’ [w/POLL]…GM, Earnings/FinancialsTo stave off bankruptcy, General Motors must rework its union contracts, drastically cut its capacity, workforce and dealer networks – and convince creditors to take 10 cents on the dollar on $27 billion in unsecured debt. In two months. That’s a herculean task for any company, much less for a monolith the size of The Gene…

Review: 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 goes to Hell and back…just as GM reached the pinnacle of high performance cars, the world economy imploded. The global financial bubble got pierced from multiple sides and sales of cars at every price and performance level vaporized. Fortunately for us, GM is still hanging in there and Chevrolet let us have a few days of quality time with a ZR1 while the opportunity …

GM: Mascoma ethanol process works as promised in laboratory testing…GM: Mascoma ethanol process works as promised in laboratory testing originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 11 May 2009 09:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

2010 Opel Astra Gets “Full Lutz” Skirt-Lift [Spy Photos]…on the GM‘s Delta II architecture, the same as the Chevy Volt. But don’t expect the Astra to come as a plug-in or standard hybrid, at least, not at first. Do expect to see a new 1.4-liter, turbocharged gasoline/petrol engine with various power outputs. Opel will likely be reserving its 2.0-liter engine for an OPC version (or the Astra VRX for Va…

Latest findings says cars more affordable now than they have been since study began in 1979…GMWhile tanking auto sales are bad for automakers, the customers buying cars and trucks are paying less for them than any time in the past 30 years. Comerica Bank’s Auto Affordability Index shows that a vehicle with a $26,000 MSRP takes the average family 21.5 weeks of median income to buy. That’s 1.3 weeks less than in December of 2008, as ince…

 Rumormill: Suzuki to join Marchionne’s Fiat/Chrysler/Opel super-group…forces with Chrysler, Opel, Saab and General Motors Latin America, the Italian auto group is expanding its home base to the United States, Germany, Sweden and South America. So what’s it missing? Japan. The latest rumors out of Automotive News Europe could go a long way towards addressing that omission, as the trade organ is reporting that Fiat …

Fiat’s partnership with Chrysler could bring the Ford Ka to America…partnership with Chrysler could actually allow Ford to bring its small and super efficient Ka city car to the U.S. market. How so?The latest version of Ford’s diminutive Ka shares its basic underpinnings with the Fiat 500, which is one of the first small cars Fiat hopes to sell in the United States through Chrysler‘s under-utilized dealer networ…

Driving the Dodge Circuit, now with video…works for Chrysler‘s ENVI and was project lead on the Dodge Circuit EV, talk about the car. The bumpy roads weren’t quite long and straight enough for our liking, but at least we got to learn a little bit more about Chrysler‘s EV strategy and why the automaker thinks it’s ENVI battery strategy is better than Tesla’s. Having driven both the Circu…

LOOK: The Motorless City…or Chrysler’s; they move instead on Schwinns, BMX’s, and behind some of the 600 horses that pull the town’s quaint Victorian carriages. It’s a place that looks, in some respects, frozen in time. But…

Rumormill: Could the Fiat-Chrysler deal yield a North American Ford Ka?…Chrysler, LLC., Ford, FIAT, Rumormill The 2009 Ford Ka – Click above for a high-res gallery It’s a long shot, but according to The Detroit Free Press, Chrysler‘s deal with Fiat could result in Ford offering the cutesy Ka for sale in North America. As you may recall, Ford co-developed the Ka’s platform with Fiat (it shares its chassis with the 5…

2011 Chrysler 300C Reveals Previously Unseen Clay Rump [Spy Photos]…Chrysler‘s Viability Plan earlier this year revealed the design direction for the 2011 Chrysler 300C. Now, thanks to Chrysler PR, we’ve got a partial view of the new Detroit gangsta-mobile’s rump. Also depicted is a quarter scale clay model just above the head oChrysler‘s Senior VP of Design Ralph Gilles. Seeing as it’s in quarter scale, it doe…

Dodge Pulls Plug On Circuit EV Electric Sports Car? [Over The Back Fence]…month after Chrysler ran a full page ad in our national newspapers and also finalizing a deal with A123 Systems to supply the battery packs, a heavy-handed rumor is coming down the stream that the whole project might be dead in the water causing at least one question to be raised: Was the Dodge Circuit EV ever intended for production or was it j…

Cummins not ready to give up on light duty diesel regardless of Chrysler‘s fate…standing was Chrysler, and even that company pushed back its new Cummins-developed light duty diesel until at least 2011. Mike Levine from PickupTrucks.com spoke with Mark Land, director of public relations at Cummins, about the new light-duty diesel engine. Apparently, the diesel engine maker is very confident that its new engine will get adopt…

Chrysler’s sorry state revealed Bankruptcy court filings reveal the complications the auto business – and just how much trouble Chrysler is in.

GM, Chrysler Polish Dealer Cut List Thousands of GM and Chrysler dealerships could learn their fate within the next few days as auto makers choose which they will cut.

Chrysler Hedges on Dealer Cuts Chrysler has “no active plan” to drop any of its dealers in the U.S., although it is working on “contingencies” to do so as part of its restructuring in bankruptcy court, Vice Chairman Jim Press said.

Nascar Feels Chrysler’s Pain The fall of Chrysler is just the latest setback for Nascar, a once red-hot sports phenomenon.

White House Sees U.S. Holding GM Stake for At Least 2 Years The Obama administration is planning for the U.S. government to hold an ownership stake in a revamped General Motors for “at least two years,” a person briefed by the administration on its plans said Friday.

 Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says GM in ‘good hands’ – The Detroit News…LaHood says GM in ‘good hands’The Detroit News, MIWashington — US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Friday endorsed General Motors Corp.’s new CEO as the right man to lead the Detroit automaker, saying, “GM is in very good hands.” Fritz Henderson took over as CEO on March 30 after the Obama …California in running for h…

More GM Cuts: Cadillac STS-V and Pontiac G6 GXP both gone for 2010…GM, Pontiac 2009 Pontiac G6 GXP Sedan – Click above for high-res image gallery Pluto, the Roman god of Hades, is currently on a tour of the General Motors product garage and he’s taking a few cars with him from the land of the living. After sending the Impala SS and the Cobalt SS to the underworld, he has just added to his collection the Cadilla…

Toyota hammered with $7.7B loss in Q1 …than even GM‘s just-reported loss of $6 billion. Toyota now expects to lose $5.5 billion for the year ending March 2010, surpassing the $4.4 billion it lost in the just-concluded year.The reasons for Toyota’s reversal of fortune is well documented. Global sales were down 21.9% last year, with the most stark losses occurring in the U.S. and Europ…

Song remains the same: GM loses billions, Volt still on track…res gallery GM‘s announced yesterday that it lost $6 billion in the first quarter of 2009. That’s par for the course for the General these days. What’s also pretty standard was the immediate confirmation that work on the Chevy Volt is going A-OK and that, as GM‘s product development chief Tom Stephens said, “At this point in time, I know of no r…

Toyota First Quarter Losses Higher Than GM [Carpocalypse]…more than GM lost! That’s some pretty big news — especially considering GM dropped $6 billion during the first quarter. Jeez, if only Toyota were building some fuel-efficient, dependable appliance-type vehicles, right? [Reuters, WSJ]

GM and U of M create new institute for research …GMGeneral Motors and the University of Michigan have been working together on vehicle technology for 50 years, and a new institute will take the long-standing relationship to the next level. GM researchers will work with U of M faculty and students to develop new battery, engine, manufacturing, and smart materials technology to expedite the adva…

Sandia Successfully Completes Hydrogen Storage System for GM…designed for GM. To the right is the “SmartBed,” featuring a thermal management system with individual control of four identical modules, each of which is a shell and tube heat exchanger. The sodium alanate material used to store the hydrogen resides within the tubes. (Photo by Randy Wong) Click to enlarge.Researchers at Sandia National Laborato…

Nissan skipping SEMA this year, Mazda limiting presence Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA, Tuners, Mazda, Nissan, Holden Troy Lee Designs Mazda6 from SEMA 2008 – Click above for a high-res image gallery Participation at last year’s SEMA show was notable for its absences, with the event’s organizers struggling at the last minute to fill vacated floor space with companies that would have normally been shunne…

Booo! GM also canceling Cobalt SS Sedan for 2010 …GM also canceling Cobalt SS Sedan for 2010

G.M. Suffers Big Loss. Is Bankruptcy Next?General Motors could be one step closer to bankruptcy, after posting a $6 billion loss for the first quarter. The Obama administration’s auto task force has given G.M. until June 1 to come up with a plan to prove its viability. After reporting a 40 percent loss in worldwide sales, G.M. doesn’t seem likely to do […]

Save the Cheerleader? GM creates Hero Edition Corvette ZR1 to benefit Kids Wish Network…GM‘s team of Corvette designers and engineers equipped this particular ‘Vette with a bespoke graphics package with red accents in lieu of the normal blue. Other special bits include “additional carbon fiber components,” though we’re left wondering what those composite pieces may be.You can’t actually go to your nearest Chevy dealership and order…

 The Chrysler Building: Biggest Mopar Ever [Carpocalypse]…all know Chrysler‘s facing some rough times, but let’s turn back the clock to 1930 and talk about the biggest Chrysler ever built.Chrysler Corporation was growing and in desperate need for — something — to represent its achievements. What better place to shine than New York City. Designed by architect, William Van Alen, the Chrysler Building wa..

Rendered Speculation: Alfa Romeo Milano, the next 147…the next Chrysler Sebring. The versatile building block will offer various lengths and widths in FWD and 4-wheel-drive versions, and propulsion will be courtesy of MultiAir engines. Unveiling of the 5-door hatchback is expected at either Frankfurt later this year, or Geneva in 2010.[Source: Car]Rendered Speculation: Alfa Romeo Milano, the next 1…

Chrysler reveals more facets of “We Build” campaign…Chrysler, LLC. Click above to watch all five commercials after the jump Chrysler sales have been abysmal throughout 2009, and with the uncertainty of bankruptcy, the short-term sales outlook is decidedly bad. To get the word out to its customers that the Pentastar is alive and well (except for its idled plants), Chrysler is launching a new campa…

Classic Ad: Chrysler’s Promise of a Small Car…Chrysler‘s former chairman, Lee A. Iacocca, makes some lofty promises in this 1984 commercial, including the introduction of a small car. Will we hear the same from Fiat’s chief executive, Sergio Marchionne?

Greenlings: Can we build a better battery with lithium?…Chrysler ENVI battery packsGallery: Tesla smart mule and batteryContinue reading Greenlings: Can we build a better battery with lithium?Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Etc., EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, GreenlingsGreenlings: Can we build a better battery with lithium? originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 07 May 2009 19:52:00 EST. Please see …

Nissan skipping SEMA this year, Mazda limiting presence…out on Chrysler, and Honda is currently evaluating their presence, although it may be reduced compared to previous years. No matter what automakers pull-out of this year’s show, expect less products on tables, fewer vendors on the floor and even fewer attendees as the aftermarket continues to struggle to keep its head above water.Gallery: SEMA 2…

Misery loves company: Throwing our wig into the ring at Reno-Fernley LeMons…onto any Chrysler product “competing” in Reno to honor the automaker’s latest union.Registration ended on March 14, so those of you who missed the deadline narrowly avoiding our cold steel scythe of justice. But if you want to come out and enjoy the madness, spectator tickets are available for either a single day or the entire wretched weekend. …

The 2011 Jeep Phoenix… why not?…gallery With Chrysler‘s proposed alliance with Fiat all but a done deal, people have begun turning their attention towards the Italian automaker’s vehicle line up and creating a wish list of which ones they’d like to see for sale over here in the U.S. Thing is, those people should keep in mind that any Fiat making the long trek overseas may not …

Chrysler Plan’s Foes Step BackA group of Chrysler lenders who opposed the government’s restructuring plan for the auto maker is disbanding after two of its five members backed out.

 (Source:  BBC & NYTIMES)

Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, has made its worst annual loss as the global economic downturn has hit demand for its vehicles.  The Japanese company said it made a net loss of 436.94bn yen ($4.4bn; £2.9bn) in the year to 31 March, compared with a record profit the year before.

Toyota said expected to make a bigger loss in the current financial year.  Like many of its rivals, Toyota has cut production, including at its UK plants, as sales have declined. Toyota also blamed the loss on high raw materials prices and a strong yen, which makes its cars more expensive overseas.   “Both revenues and profits declined severely during this period,” said Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe. He said the loss “was a consequence of the significant deterioration in vehicle sales, particularly in the US and Europe”.

Toyota said it expected to make a net loss of 550bn yen ($5.5bn; £3.7bn) in the financial year ending in March 2010.

Analysts say Toyota has strong cash reserves, and is far from the bankruptcy that has claimed the American carmaker Chrysler and that threatens General Motors. Despite a $15.4 billion infusion in U.S. government loans, General Motors burned through about $10 billion in the first quarter, driving its cash reserves down to a bare minimum and putting it on the brink of collapse.

Still, Standard & Poor’s, the ratings agency, on Friday lowered its long-term credit rating on Toyota a notch to AA, the third-highest rating, and gave a “negative” outlook for the company.

“Toyota maintains a minimal financial risk profile, characterized by a strong capital structure with massive liquidity,” Standard & Poor’s said in a statement. But with auto demand forecast to remain sluggish into 2010, Toyota will likely struggle before it can stage a recovery, Standard & Poor’s said.

Toyota’s latest forecast paints a grim picture for the year ahead. Toyota has been hit hard in its biggest market, the United States, where sales have plunged and show few signs of recovering.

In April, Toyota sold 126,540 cars in the United States — a 42 percent drop from a year earlier — slipping behind Ford Motor, which sold almost 130,000 cars.

Toyota has also suffered double-digit percentage drops in Japan as well as in China, where it is losing out to rivals with a wider lineup of smaller cars that have surged in popularity.

Toyota sold 7.56 million vehicles in fiscal 2008, down from 8.91 million units in its blockbuster 2007.

The company has so far held off from laying off permanent workers, who enjoy lifetime employment guarantees. Toyota says that guarantee is a key part of its “kaizen” management principle, in which workers are required to constantly suggest ways to be more productive. But some analysts question how long Toyota can hold off from deeper cuts.

Toyota is counting on its third-generation Prius hybrid, which will be unveiled later this month in Japan, to buoy sales. But the automaker faces stiff competition from its Japanese rival, Honda Motor, whose low-cost Insight hybrid is expected to eat into Toyota’s market share.

In a filing with the Japanese Finance Ministry, it indicated it may sell as many as ¥700 billion in bonds in the next two years, Bloomberg news reported.

The automaker is also rallying around its iconic founding family, tapping Akio Toyoda, the company founder’s grandson, to replace Mr. Watanabe next month. Mr. Toyoda has said he will focus on “green” technology like hybrids and plug-in electric vehicles to bring about a long-term recovery.

The automaker could also benefit from Japanese government stimulus efforts.

Last month, officials unveiled a so-called cash-for clunkers program under which car owners who upgrade to “green” vehicles from cars that are at least 13 years old will receive government subsidies.

(Source: New York Times)

Union leaders said Sunday that they had reached an agreement with Chrysler that meets federal requirements for the automaker to receive more financing.

The deal includes Fiat, the Italian automaker with which Chrysler was ordered by the government to form an alliance before Thursday.

Neither the United Automobile Workers union nor the company released details of the tentative agreement, which would modify the union’s 2007 contract and reduce the amount of money Chrysler must pay into a new health fund for retirees.

Image: New York Times

The union plans to have its 26,000 Chrysler workers vote on the deal by Wednesday.

Chrysler said the agreement, reached during marathon negotiations over the weekend, satisfied the requirements laid out by the Obama administration for a deal by an April 30 deadline.

Even with the agreement, Chrysler is expected to seek Chapter 11 protection, in a case mapped out by the government in advance, including safeguards meant to protect worker benefits, people with knowledge of the company’s plans said Sunday night.

A new company would be set up with the best assets of Chrysler, these people said. Fiat of Italy would own 20 percent to 35 percent of the new Chrysler, they said, with the government also holding a stake. Some of the equity in the new company would also be given to Chrysler’s creditors as repayment.

These people spoke on condition of anonymity because the deals had not been finalized.

The Treasury Department has also reached an agreement with Daimler of Germany, the former owner of Chrysler, to settle tax and other claims left over from its sale of Chrysler in 2007 to Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm.

In order to persuade the union to back the sale to Cerberus, Daimler agreed to pay $1 billion to Chrysler if the company’s pension plans were terminated in a subsequent bankruptcy filing. Details of the Treasury’s deal with Daimler were not available.

Last week, the union reached an agreement in principle with the administration and Chrysler that would protect workers’ pensions in the event of a bankruptcy filing and provide for a change in the financing of a health care trust set up in 2007.

Click here to read the entire article.

GM ready to let Opel go for free?…GM, Earnings/Financials, OpelGeneral Motors wants out of Opel, and according to new reports, it is willing to let the German automaker go without receiving any money for it. The only requirement is that the buyer must inject €500 million (around $652M USD) into Opel for operations. While GM CEO Fritz Henderson has said there are six serious inve…

 GM To Cut 190,000 Units, Shut 13 Plants, Some Permanently [Carpocalypse]

(Source: AutoBlog, New York Times, Jalopnik)

 REPORT: Bill Ford, Jr. “shocked” at Wagoner’s ousting…Some say GM taking government loans (as opposed to private sector loans) changed the rules, and the government needed to protect its investment; others say it was government interference. Regardless, the way things are going, we would be surprised if that were the last “shocking” development in the car industry saga.[Source: The Detroit Free Pre…

(Source: New York Times)

(Source: New York Times)

China wants to raise its annual production capacity to 500,000 hybrid or all-electric cars and buses by the end of 2011, from 2,100 last year, government officials and Chinese auto executives said. By comparison, CSM Worldwide, a consulting firm that does forecasts for automakers, predicts that Japan and South Korea together will be producing 1.1 million hybrid or all-electric light vehicles by then and North America will be making 267,000.

TIANJIN, China — Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in electric cars and buses after that.

Premier Wen Jiabao highlighted the importance of electric cars two years ago with his unlikely choice to become minister of science and technology: Wan Gang, a Shanghai-born former Audi auto engineer in Germany who later became the chief scientist for the Chinese government’s research panel on electric vehicles.

Beyond manufacturing, taxi fleets and local government agencies in 13 Chinese cities are being offered subsidies of up to $8,800 for each hybrid or all-electric vehicle they purchase. The state electricity grid has been ordered to set up electric car charging stations in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.

(Source: New York Times- Greenwire; Image: Steve Edwards @Flickr)

Roughly one-third of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions are from the transportation sector, according to government estimates, and several key lawmakers have said that no climate and energy measure can be complete without addressing transportation.

Sweeping climate and energy legislation that Democratic leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee unveiled yesterday takes direct aim at greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles across the transportation spectrum, from passenger cars to oceangoing ships.

 The bill from Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) would create a suite of federal emissions standards for cars and light trucks, as well as trains, heavy-duty trucks, and ships. It also seeks to curb emissions by pushing the development of plug-in electric vehicles and infrastructure and by setting a “low-carbon fuel standard” for the transportation sector.

Roughly one-third of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions are from the transportation sector, according to government estimates, and several key lawmakers have said that no climate and energy measure can be complete without addressing transportation.

One of the bill’s provisions would require the president to “harmonize” federal auto fuel economy standards with any future emissions levels set by U.S. EPA and the strict emissions standards that California is hoping to enforce later this year, if it receives the waiver it needs to do so.

Earlier this year, the White House signaled that it was considering a similar move that would blend new corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards with the auto emissions standards California is fighting to enforce. Under the federal Clean Air Act, California is the only state that can enforce its own standards — but only with an EPA waiver. If California receives the waiver, other states would be permitted to enforce the same tailpipe standard. Thirteen other states and the District of Columbia have already moved to adopt the stricter standards, and a handful of others have indicated they will follow if the waiver is granted.

The Waxman-Markey bill also pushes for greater use of plug-in electric cars and trucks, which are seen as a promising way to curb emissions and displace oil consumption by using electricity in the transportation sector.

The bill calls for states and utilities to develop plans to support the use of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and all-electric plug-ins and for the Energy Department to launch a large-scale electric demonstration program. The state plans would determine how utilities would accommodate large fleets of plug-ins and would consider a host of charging options — including public charging stations, on-street charging, and battery swapping stations — and establish any necessary standards for integrating plug-ins into an electrical distribution system, including Smart Grid technology.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: New York Times)

 

Lt. David Dipre, who coordinates Florida’s derelict vessel program, said the handful of owners he had managed to track down were guilty more of negligence than fraud. “They say, ‘I had a dream of sailing around the world, I just never got around to it.’ Then they have some bad times and they leave it to someone else to clean up the mess,” Lieutenant Dipre said.

Florida officials say they are moving more aggressively to track down owners and are also starting to unclog the local inlets, harbors, swamps and rivers. The state appropriated funds to remove 118 derelicts this summer, up from only a handful last year.

In South Carolina, four government investigators started canvassing the state’s waterways in January. They quickly identified 150 likely derelicts.