When it comes to car failures, we always think of the deadly pinto, in this video, WatchMojo looks at some of the other flops as well. Buckle up!
From MSN Autos:
“For millennia, men and women have tried to understand each other’s likes and dislikes. Diligent researchers, both male and female, have discovered a few reliable gender-specific preferences (flowers, beer, etc.) that will warm the heart of the opposite sex. But for the most part, the sexes remain a mystery to each other. When it comes to cars, however, it is easy to quantify who buys what and why. Market research firm Strategic Vision tracks exactly this sort of demographic data in its New Vehicle Experience Study, which surveyed 130,000 new-vehicle buyers.”
The Suzuki brand, familiar to Canadian motorcycle enthusiasts since the 1960s and small car and SUV buyers since the early 1980s, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
But this global auto industry player - now the ninth largest in the world with annual sales topping two million - spent much of the first half of that century spinning its wheels in a decidedly different fashion.
The first Suzuki nameplate was attached to a pedal-powered weaving loom created by the Suzuki Jidosha Kogyo (Suzuki Loom Works), founded in the seacoast village of Hamamatsu, Japan by 22-year-old Michio Suzuki in 1909. By the 1920s it was one of the largest loom producers in Japan.
Having achieved success, Michio Suzuki was looking for something new to direct his company’s energies toward.
GM and Chrysler have made it clear that they need $21.6 billion in federal loans to stay afloat, in addition to the bailout money they have already received. They have also released detailed plans in which they cut 50,000 jobs, close several plants, and drop some of their weaker brands. Experts say this request for more money is no surprise.
The issue is not as much what the car companies are doing to cut costs, but what the government will do to stimulate car sales. Read more…
Some parking meters found in France actually text message you to tell you you’ve been given a fine. The technology detects the the presence of a vehicle in the individual spot, and then lets the cops know the person has gone over their time limit. Heaven forbid the technology actually send a warning to the driver first… (Although that is a possibility for the future.)
The actual goal of these meters is to free up parking to boost sales for merchants. Read more…
The Dodge dealership in Miami is offering a buy one get one free sell as a major incentive to clear out their existing stock.
GM vice president Bob Lutz was brought in to the company in 2001 to help turn things around. Since then, the company has only lost market shares and has continued to rely on gas-guzzlers for sales. In 2005, Lutz wrote a blog post explaining that GM was being all maverick-y with their SUV initiatives. And although we may have seen a small jump in SUV sales recently since gas prices lowered, it’s probably unlikely these gas-guzzlers will ever rule the market again. Read what Lutz had to say three years ago:
We began developing these trucks three years ago when fuel prices were stable and historically low in real-dollar terms. Nevertheless, we made fuel economy an extremely high priority item, even back then.
This is one reason why we are still very confident of their success. In addition, we have a huge owner body, it’s a segment we think will level off at about 750,000, and we’re going to have the newest and best products out there, with substantial improvements in fuel economy. If you’re using our Displacement on Demand technology and you carefully manage when and how often you go on four cylinders, you can do better than the EPA ratings!
Let me make this clear: I don’t think anything exemplifies the state of our art today like our all-new full-size sport-utilities. We’ve made significant strides forward in exterior styling, interior refinement, vehicle dynamics, safety, quality and reliability.
You think he’d agree now with his past self? Read more…
Ford and Toyota revealed their October sales today - both of which were far below average. It is expected that when the rest of the industry’s sales reports are seen, they too will be low. It is likely that October 2008 was the lowest month for sales in the auto industry in 16 years. Read more…
According to This is Money:
The depth of the recession was revealed today as truckmaker Volvo admitted demand across the Continent has crashed by 99.7% as it took orders for just 115 new lorries in the last three months.
September was a very slow month for automakers, thanks to the slow down (grinding halt?) in the US economy. In fact, for the first time in 15 years, auto sales for the month of September fell below 1 million. Check it out:
| Automaker | Sept. 08 | Sept. 07 | Change | Automaker | Sept. 08 | Sept. 07 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Motors | 282,806 | 334,974 | -15.6% | BMW | 18,583 | 24,968 | -25.6% |
| Toyota/Lexus | 144,260 | 213,042 | -32.3% | Mazda | 16,169 | 25,098 | -35.6% |
| Ford | 116,301 | 175,361 | -33.7% | Subaru | 14,491 | 16,457 | -11.9% |
| Chrysler | 107,349 | 159,799 | -32.8% | Mitsubishi | 7,378 | 12,102 | -39.0% |
| Honda/Acura | 96,626 | 127,200 | -24.0% | Suzuki | 4,083 | 7,653 | -46.6% |
| Nissan/Infiniti | 59,565 | 94,269 | -36.8% | Volvo | 4,054 | 8,408 | -51.8% |
| Hyundai/Kia | 42,148 | 57,301 | -26.4% | Porsche | 1,458 | 2,641 | -44.8% |
| VW | 24,504 | 27,601 | -11.2% | Isuzu | 258 | 565 | -54.3% |
| Mercedes-Benz | 20,582 | 22,481 | -8.4% | Industry total | 956,160 | 1,315,402 | -27.3% |
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