Your Car Questions

If you’re planning on buying a Ford this week, you might want to hold off a bit. Reuters reports that Ford will introduce Employee Pricing and cash incentives next week in an effort to turn around flagging sales. The incentive program will be available on most 2008 and 2009 Ford vehicles, with the notable [...]

In the legend of Faust, the protagonist sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for knowledge and power. Needless to say, things end badly for one member of the transaction (hint: it’s not the guy with the horns on his head). A “Faustian bargain” has come to mean a deal where you surrender what’s truly important to achieve an ultimately worthless goal. Yes, I’m talking about GM. If the artist once known as the world’s largest automaker avoids Chapter 11 via a bailout deal with Washington (a.k.a. Mephistopheles), the contract will ensure its final, irretrievable doom.

While managers and union leaders of Opel and GM-Europe had a crisis summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her ministers at the Kanzleramt,  the drumbeat of “disentanglement” of Opel from GM picked up a steady rhythm. On Saturday, it was just whispers being picked up by TTAC from German contacts. On Sunday, it was [...]

One point on which the mainstream motor press has always agreed with TTAC is skepticism towards Cerberus’ claim that it doesn’t intend on “stripping and flipping” Chrysler. It’s been conventional wisdom since the Cerberus purchase was announced, and it makes perfect sense. They got ChryCo for a song, so why not break it up and [...]

“Be it a famous Hollywood actor or pop star: anyone who is in the spotlight has to keep an eye on their fitness. Eibach have sent the latest VI version of the 26-time ‘millionaire’ VW Golf - one of the best selling cars of all times - to the gym: here, if desired, the Pro-Kit [...]

Subject: “PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS IN WASHINGTON ASAP” Delphi has been a part of the successful effort by auto suppliers in the U.S. to assure they are eligible for some of the $25 billion in direct, low interest federal loans to be used by the auto industry to accelerate development of advanced technology vehicles in [...]

Dwindling property tax revenue has forced local governments in Michigan to look to motorists to refill their municipal budgets, according to a Detroit News analysis. In 2002, the city of Detroit issued a total of 126,007 traffic tickets. Last year, that figure grew to 245,249– a 94 percent jump. The percentage increase was even greater [...]

We’ve often wondered how many cars Tesla has actually delivered to paying customers. The company claims there are some 60 cars out there, somewhere. Well, thanks to Jason Calacanis’ patience over the last two years, we can now bring you this update: 16. Well, at least 16, as Jason has just taken delivery of Roadster [...]

I think it's about time to dub Freep the official home of pro-bailout agitprop. When you make the Detroit News look like it's being run by H.L. Mencken's Tabasco-marinated ulcer, it's time to rethink your priorities. Or adopt the tagline "fair and balanced." Anyway, the Freep's unabashed Detroit boosterism is reaching a fever pitch, with everyone capable of wielding subject and predicate pitching in for the noble cause of disguising self interest as principle. From old standby (and former Cassandra) Mark Phelan, to financial columnist Susan Tompor, to a condescending missive by the Freep's editorial board, the latest issue spins harder than a Baghdad Bob interview in Spin magazine. Let's pop a Dramamine and take a look, shall we?

When they built it, from 1999 to 2005, the Audi A2 was a flop. Lots of Euro-car nuts like me loved it: a sub-Golf sized, lightweight (900kg), aluminum bodied four seater with great aerodynamics (CW 0.25). Its interior was beautiful and high-quality, it was quiet and it handled well. Ideal for city driving yet happy [...]