GirlDriver, USA

Women in Automotive

2020-06-05T12:55:00.001-07:00

When I first went to Detroit to talk about women and autos and how important they were to the auto industry--all those guys in suits acted as if they were completely deaf. You could see it in their eyes. They paid lip service to women starting in the 1990s. And then things began to change. Women have always been a "factor". This is a short video from The New York Auto Show that chronicles their importance to the industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPpD9pb2gEM&feature=youtu.be

2019-10-28T19:33:00.002-07:00

The LEXUS UX

U=Urban; X=Crossover

by Kate McLeod

“Is it on?” my companion asked as we pulled out of the parking space. “Well if it isn’t, we’re in a runaway 2019 Lexus UX compact crossover,” I replied. This machine runs on monastic quietness and sips gasoline in a miserly fashion, one gallon every 40 miles or so. As much as I dig the roar of an engine, I’m transitioning to a more climate friendly POV and the UX gets pretty high marks in that space.

This 2.0-liter four-cylinder hybrid, with 181 total system horsepower, has enough energy off the mark to make it not only a choice for the climate conscious but a consideration-list choice for enthusiasts. UX—which sounds like the name of a cherished robot—is spunky on the highway and responsive to the demands of the driver thanks to an Electric Power Steering system with a new compact and highly rigid column-assist motor. 

The seats, upholstered in NuLuxe, a synthetic vinyl or plastic surface that aptly simulates the look and feel of leather, compliment the rest of the finely tuned interior. It’s a Japanese take on luxury—subtle, not showy. Seats can be adjusted ten ways but just slipping into the seat and making a quick adjustment to reach the pedals was enough to make me comfortable. As for NuLuxe, I’m for losing leather all together, especially since one can incur skin lesions when your flesh sticks to it on those shorts-wearing summer days.

Operations are sleek from behind the wheel. The instrument panel is lower than most creating a clear line from the dash to the front of the car. That clear line and the high seat position make for great visibility. The dash is made of what seems to be vinyl, but it has been manufactured to imitate a traditional Japanese paper called “washi” and is available in two different grains. There’s a remote touch interface connected to a seven inch screen. Simply slide your finger over the pad in the center console to make choices. The voice command system errs on the side of bearable versus annoying. The vehicle also has six speakers, and works with Apple Car Play and Siri Eyes Free.

While the UX has not received a rating from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, it comes with the Lexus Safety System + 2.0 Pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, all-speed dynamic radar, cruise control, lane departure alert with steering assist, intelligent high beam headlamps and road sign assist. Some of these features are optional and cost extra. Lexus Enform Safety Connect and Service Connect comes with the first 10 years of ownership. The backup camera has so much detail, it took a little bit of getting used to with a perfectly clear picture and good guidance. What an improvement over older systems and cameras.

The base price at $34,000 really surprised me. I was thinking $40K. But there are a lot of subscriptions that come with the car at first and then get renewed so there is an ongoing revenue stream for Lexus. That includes under the Lexus Enform name WiFi, Remote, GPS and Satellite Radio. In addition the fabulous triple beam LED Headlamps with Auto-Leveling and cornering are a $1,600 option and the Nav systems costs an additional $2,200. Along with $565 for parking assist and rear cross traffic alert and other add ons—no surprise—the car does cost $41,975 as outfitted. These days cars cost that much and the advances are expensive.

Overall, I like the crossover and I would recommend taking a look at it if you are in the market for a compact. Downside might be the tight back seat but it would work for little people. And I think my feelings about the front end might be generational. To me a gorgeous front end is a 1960s Buick. So you see where this is going. I don’t engage in video games and I’m not into Manga or flamboyant modern looks.

2018-01-02T13:04:00.001-08:00

A little something besides cars.

http://imby.com/stuyvesant/article/sour-milk-what-i-didnt-know-that-you-probably-did/#gf_2

One Weird Trick, A Blissfully Short Opera (About Bacon)

2017-08-29T14:16:00.001-07:00

America Produces Lots of Steel

2017-05-24T16:21:00.004-07:00

And much of it is used to make your automobile.

Let’s assume that you have never thought about what materials make up your vehicle. Fair enough: We’re looking for convenience, style, and connectivity when we shop for a car. Most drivers don’t investigate how they are being protected. Engineering is left to the automaker and safety to the ratings of The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, which assure us that in a crash we will be as safe as the situation allows.

There are reasons to know more: We travel at speeds of 65 mph or more much of the time. Traffic fatalities rose 7.2% from 2014-2015, the largest increase in decades. In the first six months of 2016, there was a 9% increase over 2015. Although there is hope that highway deaths will decrease with technology advancements such as active safety features, it doesn’t hurt for us to get familiar with what’s under our ride’s skin. Therein lies the true beauty—the tough and intelligent underpinnings.

Here’s the case for steel. In large measure, steel is what protects us. Steel has strength, the ability to conduct an impact up into the roof rails and away from passengers and different weights for different purposes.

While we have lost many steel manufacturing jobs here in the U.S.—about 400,000 since the 1960s—most of the steel used in vehicles sold here comes from the U.S. The job losses in steel production are thought to be because of trade, but those jobs went away because of technological advancements—fewer people were needed.

Our demand for steel runs at about 100 million tons a year and about 80 million of those tons are made here. In the manufacturing of steel alone, the industry provides 137,000 jobs in places like Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

The auto industry uses anywhere from 20-25 million tons of U.S. steel as well as steel from other places including Germany, Japan, and Korea. Steel is perceived as less advanced than materials such as carbon fiber, magnesium, and aluminum. “Educating people about steel is the industry’s great challenge,” says Dave Anderson, senior director, automotive market and long products like wire and bar at The Steel Development and Marketing Institute. “The steel industry continues to reinvent itself. In the 1970s and 80s, for example, there were only seven different grades of steel; now there are over 200.”

Applications like the chassis require high-strength steel. If a crash occurs, that steel gets stronger with impact. A different type of steel is used on the sides of a vehicle because it takes the impact of a crash and conducts it up the side frame to the roof, protecting the passengers. Lightweight steel can be formed and designed into the body skin. Changes to the microstructure of the material and other innovations are what allows steel to be constructed for these different applications. These innovations improve vehicle performance in fuel efficiency, affordability, durability, and quality.

Advanced High Strength Steel is, according to SDMI, the fastest- growing material in automotive design. The advances enable automakers to produce lighter vehicles that meet safety standards and it also gives them fuel efficiency. Steel is also a material that has been used in auto factories since the beginning. They don’t need new equipment or techniques to form it, weld it or join it. But, steel prices are also going up and that will show up in the cost of the car.

Structure may not be top of mind when you purchase your next vehicle. But it helps to understand how you are protected, which translates to your comfort level with the safety of your vehicle. And it’s good to know that steel is made right here in the USA.

The Electric Car: How’re We Doing?

2017-05-22T09:13:00.001-07:00

Not to put a damper on the growth of EV sales, but there has been an inordinate amount of attention paid to them in the past couple of years. Yes, they have been steady. In 2010-2011, just over 17,000 EVs were sold. It was the Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi iMIEV.

In 2015, 115,000 were sold but now there are 26 models to choose from. So yes, the sales of EVs are growing and more companies are offering them.

Part of the impetus for companies to offer them is the U.S. government mandate to reach a corporate average fuel economy of 54.4 mpg by 2025. That may seem far off, but in terms of automotive development, it’s about two model changes away.

But the sales from 2014 to 2015 declined 6.5 percent because of cheap oil and they are still a minuscule proportion of what we buy. In 2015 we sold over 17.5 million new cars and trucks in the U.S. Electric plug-ins were 0.75 percent of those vehicles.

Remember that electric cars aren’t new. They were first developed in practical terms in the second half of the 19th Century. In the U.S., a Des Moines chemist named William Morrison debuted the first successful electric car around 1890. It held six passengers and had a top speed of 14 miles per hour. Over the next few years, more electric vehicles from different automakers were on the road across the U.S. New York City even had a fleet of more than 60 electric taxis. By 1900, electric cars were at their heyday, accounting for around a third of all vehicles on the road. During the next 10 years, they continued to show strong sales.

Electric cars along with hybrids and gasoline powered cars grew in popularity with the increasing interest in personal vehicles. But it was Henry Ford who basically made the electric car a thing of the past (And he had even worked on an electric car with his friend, Thomas Edison.) His gasoline powered car, the Ford Model T, was mass produced and affordable. That helped to end the competition along with improved roads and cheap oil.

Some might recall the EV1 produced by General Motors almost two decades ago. I remember listening to then chairman of GM, Bob Stemple, talking about the future being here. It wasn’t the future and even non-car enthusiasts can tell you that GM crushed every EV1 and sent them to the junkyard.

The top sellers in 2015 were the Tesla S (25,000), the Nissan Leaf (17,000) and the Chevrolet Volt (15,000) and the BMW i3 (11,000). General Motors is expecting the Chevrolet Bolt to change the landscape of who can buy and afford an electric vehicle and I expect that they are on to something. The Bolt is a compact car that has a200 mile range on a full electric charge, will be priced at around $30,000 and will be 80 percent charged in 30 minutes.

“The Bolt is more than just a car,” said Mary Barra, G.M.'s chief executive. “It’s an upgradeable platform for new technologies.

Today we’re talking about a number of technologies to power our vehicles. It is becoming more mainstream to believe that fossil fuels are not the future. Hydrogen, natural gas, batteries and plug-in electric vehicles are coming to market—slowly, but they are coming. And Barra’s comment about the car becoming a platform for new technologies is where the discussion is sure to lead.

January 7th 2017 Snowed In

2017-01-07T17:17:00.000-08:00

Well, we're not exactly snowed in but it's a fact that we did not veer far from our base in Riverhead. It's coming down. I'll give the newscasters that. But, I grew up in New England before the 24-hour news cycle. "Snow", they'd say on the nightly news. That was it. We knew there would be school the next day. I didn't have a snow day until I went to graduate school in Washington, D.C. School was canceled? Why? A flake came down in Brookland. Panic ensued.

Tonight, January 7th, 2017, I am with Mark in Riverhead. We walk to Jerry and the Mermaid's for dinner. It's a few feet. We kick a drift here and there and we are home.

Jerry and the Mermaid's big dining room is closed. So it's more like those bars at the Cape where the locals gather. Eight young men walk in. They look so different. I can't figure out what they have in common so I ask one chubby young man with blonde hair, "are you a group? what do you have in common?" And I apologize for being perpetually curious. It turns out they are the band, Zac Brown.
They have driven from Rochester, NY, through a snowstorm to perform at the local theater only to find out that the show has been canceled and rescheduled. They're having dinner at Jerry and the Mermaids.

Over a delicious dinner of shrimp scampi and linguine, I think of an idea. What if we traveled all over America and I created a new blog called Local.com and we encountered places like this?

Over my second glass of wine, this idea starts to take hold.

I get up my courage to interview the waitress. The last thing she needs is for me to take her time. She's very busy. But, she agrees to talk to me. Corrine is 36. She has two kids, 12 and 6. She is busting her ass to make everyone happy. And, surprisingly, in this major snowstorm, Jerry and the Mermaids is busier than hell. I know the waitressing thing. I've done it. And I have periodically prayed that I never had to do it again. And at some point, I realized I could not actually do it. Period.
But Corrine says that she loves interacting with people. She loves talking to people. And when I ask her how things are going she tells me that things are really good. Her daughter is celebrating her 12th birthday tomorrow and they are going to have a party for her and she will be able to be there for her kid.

I'm debating whether or not to interview Zac Brown's band, and this hooded androgynous young creature steps up to our table. "I'm Corrine's daughter," she says "you know, the waitress?" "Yes, I say, Tomorrow's your birthday. What do you want? What do you want to do? What is your future?" I ask her, laying it on.

"I want to make people happy. I'm going to make videos and make people happy."

"You know," I say, "that happiness isn't enough? People have to be fulfilled."

She smiles. Her braces show. Her father is standing off to the side making sure that this journalist is not doing anything to hurt his daughter. And, she says, "yes."

I tell her about 10,000 hours. And assure her that she will most definitely succeed. I really don't want to do video. But those preferences shadow the difference in our ages.

THE HOL

2016-10-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

Here's Holly. She is part of the small cadre of female automotive journalists who have well worn sensible shoes that get you to your departure gate at any number of airports. But Holly always packed a pair of sexy sandals for dinners with our hosts. I often didn't bother. That would result in a Holly fashion consultation in the elevator heading to dinner. I'm sure some of that sunk in, but I will never have her fashion sense.

It did not matter what power plant we were mulling over in our travels through the auto world; Holly always referred to Mike and Dylan and Jenna. It was a welcome diversion away from the tiresome chronicling of how many hours-long delays we had all experienced or how many air miles we had accrued. She talked about what we all recognize as what is important--health and family. Holly's family was her absolute baseline for everything in her life.

For the time I have known Holly, which is about 22 years, she has breezed around the planet collecting and writing travel and automotive stories. And for about the same amount of time, this woman has battled cancer with a fierceness that is rare. We were in a swimming pool at some hotel earlier this year, chatting about this and that (OK, exercise.) and I looked her in the eyes and said, "If your ears were burning last week, it is because Sue and I were talking about you. And what we said was that we did not know another single person who would have handled their illness with such an optimistic, courageous attitude and for nearly a quarter of a century. Her ability to keep herself and her loved ones above it all will remain an inspiration to me for the rest of my life. Sometimes we think things and we don't say them. I am glad I told Holly what I had observed about her.

We saw a couple of make-me-laugh movies together this summer. Ab Fab--terrible. Florence Foster Jenkins--great. We ate popcorn, drank water and walked to 72nd together. I am glad to have had Holly in my life. She succumbed October 6th.

Here's a poem I wrote a while back after my loss:

When Continue Just Won’t

by Kate McLeod

Start broken.
Breathe Away.
Consider the lost.
Miss love.
Remember.

2016-07-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

Introducing Micro Cars

Tiny little cars you may never have heard of

We spent an afternoon at the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville recently. What a delightful, esoteric collection. Below find links to the micro car collection. They capture the spirit and passion of the automakers in unique--I might add--hilarious configurations. But, hey, if we didn't have dreamers, where would we be? Sitting in the dark, eating with our fingers and walking barefoot down a dirt road, I suspect. Have fun. In this dreary, threatening world we live in, a little levity can't but help.

1. 1949 Peugeot Triporteur: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/peugeot-triporteur-1949?highlight=WyJwZXVnZW90IiwicGV1Z2VvdCdzIl0=

2. 1951 Iota 350 Sports: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/iota-350-sports-1951?highlight=WyJpb3RhIl0=

3. 1956 Mochet CM 125Y: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/mochet-cm-125y-1956?highlight=WyJtb2NoZXQiLCJtb2NoZXQncyIsIm1vY2hldHMiXQ==

4. 1956 Autonacional Biscuter 100 (pronounced Bye-scooter): http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/autonacional-biscuter-100-1956?highlight=WyJiaXNjdXRlciJd

5. 1956 Zündapp Janus 250: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/zuendapp-janus-250-1956?highlight=WyJ6XHUwMGZjbmRhcHAiXQ==

6. 1957 Messerschmitt KR200: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/messerschmitt-kr200-1957?highlight=WyJtZXNzZXJzY2htaXR0IiwibWVzc2Vyc2NobWl0dCdzIl0=

7. 1958 BMW Isetta: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/bmw-isetta-300-1958?highlight=WyJpc2V0dGEiLCJpc2V0dGFzIl0=

8. 1959 Maico: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/maico-500-1958?highlight=WyJtYWljbyIsIm1haWNvcyJd

9. 1963 King Midget Roadster: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/king-midget-roadster-1963?highlight=WyJraW5nIiwibWlkZ2V0IiwibWlkZ2V0cyIsImtpbmcgbWlkZ2V0Il0=

10. 1964 Peel P50: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/peel-p50-1964?highlight=WyJwNTAiXQ==

11. 1965 Peel Trident: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/peel-trident-1965?highlight=WyJ0cmlkZW50Il0=

12. 1966 Velorex 430: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/velorex-430-1966?highlight=WyJ2ZWxvcmV4Il0=

13. 1970 Subaru 360: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/subaru-360-sedan-1970?highlight=WyJzdWJhcnUiXQ==

14. 1975 Casalini Sulky A18: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/casalini-sulky-a18-3-wheeler-1975?highlight=WyJzdWxreSJd

15. 1975 Mini Comtesse: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/mini-comtesse-1972?highlight=WyJjb210ZXNzZSJd

16. 1981 Schmitty A2: http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/schmitty-a2-1981?highlight=WyJzY2htaXR0eSJd

Built on the Isle of Mann in 1955. The world's smallest passenger car.

Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, Iota. Built in Britain.

Hyundai Elantra GT Compact Hatchback

2015-06-21T19:10:00.002-07:00

Who loves a hatchback?

http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/latest-reviews/2016-hyundai-elantra-gt-test-drive-review-article-1.2255045

Click On This, The Musical Highway: You'll Have fun.

2015-04-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/street-smarts/musical-highway-road-car-sing-article-1.2187845

The Musical Highway: an engineering feat. When your tires roll over this piece of historic Route 66, it plays America the Beautiful. OK, don't believe me. See it for yourself!

More Conversation with Mark Reuss

2015-04-14T08:35:00.004-07:00

Here's more conversation with Mark Reuss, Executive Vice President, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, who spoke to a group of journalists at the New York Auto Show. He talks about Buick, Cadillac and how he figures out value for GM customers.

So, was this year’s New York Auto Show a big show for you?

Yes. On the Malibu. “We’ve got competitors that are entrenched in the segment. So [we focused on] things we know are really important in the segment like operating costs, value, comfort and dynamic style. It is really hard to do on a sedan. It’s hard to create something that hasn’t been done before, something original, and I think we’ve done that with the Malibu.”

With Cadillac getting the focus on luxury could you discuss what the strategy is for Buick in the near term?

Buick’s been very, very successful. The articulation for me at Buick is really elegance and maybe a different approach to refinement than Cadillac. And I think that’s what Buick’s always been. And once in a while we’ll throw a wild card in there that gets everybody’s blood pumping like the GS AWD, which is really a great car and it’s right within Buick because it’s a beautiful car, very refined and elegant and still fun. So I think that’s it and I think the Avenir exudes every single piece of that that you could ever imagine. That’s why we did the car. That car is not a Cadillac. It’s not ever going to be mistaken for a Cadillac and its not hard to articulate why. And people get it. That’s why those brands are doing great—GMC and Buick.

The center for design for Buick is where? China?

There is no center for design. We’re a global design center. We really are. Our brand studio is in Warren, Michigan. The execution of the car though could happen at a studio in China and it has. Or it could happen here. But I don’t think it’s going to happen in Brazil. So those are the two spiritual places where the markets are. We can share workloads and we can do all kinds of stuff.

When you talk about Buick as an elegant and refined Brand I think of it in those terms as an older buyer.

You do and I do. The people a generation behind us don’t have any baggage behind Buick typically. So we’ve got a really cool buyer base that is diverse from a nationality standpoint and also from an age standpoint. We see a lot of people taking the Asian perception of the brand into the United States. It’s really not traditional, especially on the West Coast.

Can you articulate why you are successful in the premium segment and nobody else really is—why nobody can find the sweet spot?

I think we have a really clear vision of that and a focus on it and what it is and what it isn’t and that clarity I think is something that people really struggle with especially in a big company. But I started there and I grew up there. I worked in Flint for a good chunk of my career. There are some people that are Buick zealots and know what it should be and think that helps. bringing people in from the outside to tell you what Buick should be is probably not a good idea. Because we’ve been pretty successful with it since the beginning of General Motors. I think people get it that work there that work on it.

Is there a development dichotomy between fuel economy and performance?

There are a couple of things I know. Fuel prices with either stay the same or go up or go down. I am certain of that. I do know there’s been permanent changes in the way people buy. Some of those are generational and some of those are income based. We save cost using lower displacement engines that can do the same thing as a larger engine and on a lighter car. We can get our operating costs back—that value equation for the customer is much more valuable than electrification by itself on an older architecture. Independent of gas prices or the economy, that value equation never really changes. There will be electrification pieces that will make a lot of sense because there will be people that want 48 miles to the gallon but they want that at a value equation that pays back. And they like driving a hybrid and they like driving something that’s progressive and has less emissions. There are people out there and, generationally, are growing.

How much of a problem is it to get GM’s vehicles selling at higher prices?

Incentives and discount prices are a road to nowhere. Offer people what they are willing to pay for, what they value. It’s what they value. What are they really buying and what are they willing to pay for? Unlocking that for each car is what’s important.

Mark Reuss at the New York Auto Show

2015-04-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

Mark Reuss, Executive Vice President, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, spoke to a group of journalists at the New York Auto Show. The following is from the interview attended by GirlDriver, USA. Over the next few days we will post more of the interview.

GD: Do you think with younger generations, we will see performance end up in a museum?

I do not. I really do not. It’s just like the discussion that says millennials don’t want cars because they’re getting their licenses later. That was the party line. Well they don’t have any jobs, they have no money and they can’t afford a car. So they hate cars? They don’t hate cars. They love cars.

GD: They are much more conscious of impact on the environment. Are they going to turn on performance?

You can put a Volt in sport mode and have a blast. That’s performance. We could make a small block hybrid that was really cool and really fast that doesn’t burn hardly any gasoline doing it for a very low cost. I don’t think that would be a bad thing.

GD: Are you going to do that?

I would say the elements are there to create it and have fun. At the end of the day [ vehicles] are an emotional purchase—always. People don’t want to drive around in 20 second, 0-60 power. That stinks. People like performance and I just don’t see that changing. Fun is fun. We’re delivering that today that’s for sure.

GD: How fast are you going to be able to put the product into Cadillac and regenerate the brand?

I think a better question would be when do you think you are going to have the product right to be able to introduce it with high quality and technology that reflects what the brand should be? That’s the way we approach that. I’m not on a timetable to say we’re going to have eight new products in two years and just hang on. We’re trying right now the products we want to do because we can get ahead with our products of where the brand really is. That’s where we sit today and so we have to really have a discussion around what the brand health is when we talk about when we’re going to introduce products because we got to have a brand that can handle the product that’s being introduced.

GD: You’re talking about product and brand image. And part of that was that the reason that Cadillac made the move to New York?

For sure. Johan’s job is not to go and develop an Omega platform for the CT6 Cadillac. That’s my job. Johan’s job is to take and use those products and change the brand perception of Cadillac into a brand that’s high on consideration lists so they give us a real shot at buying our cars.

If we always did what we always did we’re always going to get what we always got. That was doing it out of Detroit. We’ve got to be able to change these things and that’s what we’re doing. We’re giving it a shot. There’s no downside to it, by the way. There’s no downside other than you guys may say well that didn’t work. OK? So we’re going to keep trying.

GD: Is there a product push for them going to be on the crossover side?

I’m not sure that I would say that but it could be. because there are some things that are going to happen at the same time so I’m not sure there is a sequential cadence—we look at our product launch capability across all of General Motors not just Cadillac so I mean what we don’t want to do is have things happening in five places at one time and trying to get our supply base to do it and bring them up at the same time it would be a disaster so I’m pretty careful about that but that said Cadillac’s got a lot of priority. From my people’s standpoint, it is to make it happen with the right timing, the right product with the right quality and performance. That’s where we’re focused.

If you look at our portfolio at Cadillac today it’s got about half the entries that some of our competitors do and that’s a lot and so you look at what they are really doing and where they are successful and some of those are crossovers and some of them are cars that we don’t play in. So here’s a car (CT6) that we need to do well with and I think we will. But then there’s some crossovers beyond SRX that you know are probably pretty attractive for us as well.

Alan Batey Talks to GirlDriver, USA at NYIAS

2015-04-10T06:50:00.001-07:00

GirlDriver, USA at the New York Auto Show

Alan Batey, General Motors Executive Vice President and President North America

We talked to Alan Batey about brands and bankruptcy and GM today.

Looking back, was it a good move to close brands? You don’t see more cars by closing brands, right?

Look, we now have four brands in different swim lanes. We don’t have brands sitting on top of each other now in terms of positioning and pricing competing for the same customers. We’re more focused. The strategy makes more sense. To your point around Saturn, there were some critical learnings at Saturn around customer care and we’re really tried to make that part of what we do at Chevrolet. We worked with the Disney Institute about four years ago and that with the learnings from Saturn we brought together as part of the Chevrolet experience. In the latest J.D. Power survey, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC were among the top five brands. We learned a lot from Saturn and we’re really trying to transfer those learnings and drive our attention to other brands.

How does a global company keep on top of so many different types of problems around the world?

You need to leverage a global scale and make sure that your brands are resonating on a global level. But at the same you need to make sure that you have strong organizations who really understand the market and the differences at a local level. So we have five regions of the world. We used to have four but China has become so big we got that as a stand alone region now. Those regions are responsible for the go to market and for the execution of the sales strategy and the building of the brand. What we do at a global level is we lay out the portfolio and the positioning and make sure we’re leveraging our scale but the real work of selling and servicing customers is done at a local level and that provides the right level of balance that we need between local and global we call it GLOCAL abut that’s basically our approach.

The bankruptcy made GM a better company in some ways. Post bankruptcy, what are the big challenges?

What we’ve seen is that the company has grown. Our U.S. business has rebounded. We’re seeing really solid growth. We’re seeing transaction prices increase. We’re seeing our brands slowly start to gain more momentum but its a long term journey. You don’t turn around a brand overnight.

We don’t have so much of a challenge in the U.S. as opportunity. The Malibu is a great example of that. Here’s a segment which is the biggest car segment in the U.S. We’ve clearly been underperforming but we’ve executed an incredibly great car and you know our rallying call around it is larger lighter best in class fuel economy and stunning design. So I think this is a great demonstration of our capability and we’ve got five new vehicle launches this year—at Chevy and you know know its coming on the back of very successful Colorado launch—Colorado midsize segment. We’re growing that segment now. And it is the fastest turning pick up in the U.S. The Trax is a segment that we created with the Buick Encore. We’ve gone fast to market with the Trax. It’s doing really really well so we feel good about our ability to really redefine our future with a really laser like focus on new segments and great products.

People forget is that the U.S. was the only part of GM that went through the bankruptcy The rest of General Motors did not go through bankruptcy and so here we are five years after the U.S. Chapter 11 we’re still restructuring a lot around the world, not through the bankruptcy courts but through our commercial activities.

We’ve seen a lot of growth in China, which has become our second biggest market. What you are also seeing is these markets all need to meet emission requirements which are being governed by different countries. You are no longer able to sell perhaps legacy products that is amortized at lower prices. There’s a big movement underway because we’re going to need affordable, modern technology across the world.

We’re still doing some restructuring in other countries and you know we have challenges like Russia where we’ve had to make a decision that we’re going to somewhat muffle our business there because its losing a lot of money and right now it doesn’t make any sense so we need to slow it down and to conserve cash and see what happens as the economic situation becomes a little bit clearer.

Does anyone at GM believe that social media is going to sell cars?

I believe that social media is the new word of mouth. It’s a powerful medium when it comes to reputation management. You know customers going on line, getting their service rating the dealership that gets five stars or whatever. They go online and they can see instantly what people are saying about them on social media. That’s very important to building that brand, building that reputation and driving retention.

So it’s really it’s really a word of mouth. We had an incident that happened around the World Series whereby in the final game of the world series we were giving away a Colorado to the MVP. The gentleman that was doing that on our behalf who was our zone manager this was late at night as you can imagine across the nation um he’s a big gentleman and they changed the location so he’s down on the pitch side and they wanted to do it in the studio. So he literally has to run. He gets there. The interview—I don’t know if you ever saw it—the interview didn’t go well and he you wouldn’t know whether he was hyperventilating because he was nervous and that’s what most people picked up. Anyway it went really badly. There was this, “Oh my God, did you see that? I can’t believe that just happened.” Then this sympathy thing came in—“Hey you leave the Chevy guy alone. If you ever had to do this can you imagine how nervous he was?”, etc. We have people that monitor this 24-7 so we were able to see it going off. We were able to hashtag Chevy Colorado and tech because he said something like you know the car’s full of technology and stuff so we hash tagged “technology and stuff”. Anyway over a 24-hour period we were the #1 in social media.

It was crazy. But we were able to join the conversation and then we went out with some more traditional ads like print ads that said “Introducing the all new Colorado with all that technology and stuff.” So we joined the discussion and we did it in a way that made us very human and we had our VP of sales go out and say hey just so you know he’s our guy, he’s a fantastic employee. We stand behind him and then we got this whole barrage of “good on Chevy that’s what you need to do is support your employees.” So here’s an example of a social media event. If we’d have just sat it out we would have looked stupid but because we engaged and became part of the discussion we created amazing awareness for Colorado which is our new vehicle. We created a very human touch to our brand and our employees and it was just huge for us. We estimated that in 24-hours it was over $5 million of free media. It allows a two way conversation, social media, rather than us putting out an ad that’s sterile this allows us to talk to our customers.

You can see people that say I had a bad experience and we can now engage those people and turn that into a wow experience. All of a sudden we go in and we say we saw that you posted this. We’d like to help you. Then you can turn it around.

We’ve launched something called Shop Click Drive that blends together the digital world and the bricks and mortar world. We know there are a lot of millennials who don’t feel comfortable transacting in the dealership environment. They feel much more comfortable buying and searching online so what we’ve done with this product is create an environment where in fact you can go through the whole process online and then we introduce you to the bricks and mortar so that you know where you get your vehicle serviced and that part of it.

Our business isn’t transactional. What I mean by that is when we sell a car it’s the start of the relationship. When you buy a tin of beans once you’ve bought it its the end of the relationship until you buy another tin of beans. So we need to make sure that you know it’s the second biggest purchase in people’s lives many people have a trade in. We have to be able to have the ability to accept trade ins and put people into new vehicles. Most people need financing. We have to meet their financing requirements.

What do you think the smartest move GM has made recently and how did sales prove it out?

I would say redefining the mid-size pick up segment that used to be worth a million vehicles a year, dropped down to about a quarter of a million. We looked at all the customer verbatims, the reason customers weren’t in the segment and they said there was no choice. There were only two old vehicles that were available. There’s was old technology, not good fuel economy, no technology in the vehicle so we went in. We introduced the Colorado and Canyon with 4G LTE. We’re going to introduce a diesel engine later this year which will be best in class fuel economy, stunning design and its been a huge home run for us. Colorado is number two in the segment.

Nissan's Chief, Carlos Ghosn, Introduces the 2016 Maxima at The New York Auto Show

2015-04-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

The 2016 Maxima

By Mark West

In his no-nonsense, get-to-the point style Nissan president and CEO Carlos Ghosn introduced Nissan's totally redesigned flagship Maxima, 4-door sports car during a press conference on April 2nd at the 2016 New York International Auto Show. Mr. Ghosn highlighted the many new features of the Maxima, which has fueled more than 30-years of growth in the U.S. market.

The 2016 Maxima is designed and engineered here in America primarily for the U.S. consumer. Mr. Ghosn stressed that the 2016 Maxima is 2.2 inches longer, 1.3 inches lower, and 82 lbs. lighter than the previous model producing an estimated 30 mpg highway driving. Adding its all-new sheet metal structure produces 25 percent more rigidity in the body and "moves the Maxima's performance closer to its bigger brother the Nissan GTR". Mr. Ghosn described the new exterior as sleek and distinctive with front and rear LED lighting, a V-motion front end, deeply sculptured fenders and unique floating roof treatment. Next he explained its exterior cockpit design achieves a fighter jet inspired look that improves its aerodynamics to a low efficiency of drag of 0.295.

The new Maxima's 3.5-liter VQ-series V6 has been redesigned with more than 60 percent new parts (compared to the previous generation 3.5-liter V6). With 300 horsepower, Maxima has a high specific output of 85.7 horsepower/liter. The revised engine helps Maxima achieve an anticipated 15 percent increase in highway fuel economy to an EPA estimated 30 miles per gallon. Complementing the revised power plant is a new, performance-oriented Xtronic transmission featuring a wider ratio range, which allows for stronger acceleration from a standing start and an all-new D-Step shifting logic that provides rapid shifts at high throttle openings.

His description of the Maxima premium leather interior stressed its signature zero gravity front seats, a center stack angle arranged around the driver featuring a racing car V shaped steering wheel. Its new interior offers luxury quietness achieved by its laminated windshield plus BOES Active Noise Cancellation or the driver can with the push of a button let in a little racing noise sound of the engine. Mr. Ghosn is confident the 2016 Maxima has the finest interior in its class.

Mr. Ghosn said the new 2016 Maxima will challenge cars costing thousands of more, is the sportiest most powerful Maxima ever. The SR model offers high performance tires and panel shifters. Its 3.5 V-6 liter engine produces 300 hp with 61% new parts it is essentially a new engine. Like the GTR the Maxima uses sodium filled valves reducing weight and quickens response to produce greater performance and increase fuel efficiency.

Maxima's new 2016 model is infused with greater safety and security features adding its new Driver Attention Alert System to its already existing Forward Breaking system and its Blind Spot Warning system. With Mr. Ghosn's concise and direct presentation of the 2016 Maxima he said it is set to arrive in U.S. showrooms this June with a starting M.S.R.P. of $32,410.

Super Bowl Statistics: Hurting Women

2015-01-29T09:52:00.002-08:00

At a automotive journalist meeting recently, I asked a luxury car company why they would spend more than $4 million dollars for thirty seconds of advertising to an audience of about 54 million homes, most of which have just enough budget to put out a bag of Doritos and stack the refrigerator with beer. While the viewership was clocked at 111 million how many of those individual viewers include grandparents who have already bought their last car and children with no drivers licenses, people who don’t have enough money to buy a new car and city dwellers who don’t own a car and the cats and dogs who are hoping food will drop from the hands of the inebriated? The non-sequitur answer was that the Super Bowl enhanced the brand’s image because of the exposure. Seriously? These days, you’re not in the game if you don’t have a Super Bowl ad.

Let’s look a little deeper into this—one with a moral slant. According to Nielsen demographic data, 46 percent of the Super Bowl viewing audience is female, and more women watch the game than the Oscars, Grammys and Emmys combined. Looking at auto registrations in 2014, women purchased 40 percent of the more than 16 million cars and trucks bought last year. So on paper it certainly seems justifiable for auto companies to place their ads on the SuperBowl to reach all those women.

But let’s shape automotive advertisers decisions with some additional statistics to see if the Super Bowl is really the place to reach women. The NFL players histories of domestic violence goes back long before last year when we witnessed on video Ray Rice knocking out his girlfriend and dragging her unconscious out of an elevator. No one who was alive in 1994 will forget the Los Angeles police chasing O.J. Simpson who was speeding away from of the scene of a murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman—for which he was ultimately acquitted.

Before that, according to a 1994 article in the The Washington Post, 140 current and former professional or college football players were reported to the police for violent acts against women from 1989 to 1994. In their book, Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL, Jeff Benedict and Don Yaeger reported that they did criminal background checks randomly of 500 players. Twenty-one percent had a record for a serious crime and the predominate crime was domestic violence.

View a USA Today database http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nfl/arrests/ that shows 713 arrests of NFL players from 2000 to 2014. Of those arrests, 85 were related to domestic violence. Read the current scandals about college sports “heroes” who never went to class and convictions for sexual assaults.

Until the Ray Rice video, the NFL’s stance on the crimes of their players towards women was that they are responsible only for what happens in the game not what happens in the personal lives of their players. Now they are making changes and doing something about their players propensity to hurt women because some advertisers balked. How much more responsible toward women would it have been if the NFL had stood up and taken a position against domestic violence? But it took a push notice from the money people before they acted.

How important it would have been to women if auto companies had spent that $4 million (not including the cost of making the ad) on television fighting the issue of domestic violence. These companies would have received more in the good will they generated—and in turn, sales—than they ever get from the wings and Doritos event in the dead of winter.

Volvo is the only car company I know of who cleverly piggybacked on Superbowl’s mega audience. Sure they used their tiny budget to generate publicity because they can’t spend like the big guys. The effort was called, The Volvo Interception, and it began at 6:30 p.m. ET on Superbowl Sunday. Whenever any car commercial aired during Super Bowl, people could tweet with the hashtag #VolvoContest to tell Volvo who they think deserved a brand new Volvo XC60. The Tweeter then had to say why his or her nominee was chosen. Five potential winners were selected by judges. Not only have they done some good—albeit in the realm of the Super Bowl, but they did an end run around the big spenders. For that I give them an “A” in creativity.

I’d love to give an “A” to a CEO who would stand up in front of America and refuse to participate in an event that harbors domestic abusers. Mary Barra? And apologies to the players who are just immensely talented individuals who don’t hurt women—but they should also be fighting this epidemic. What if we women agreed not to buy cars that were advertised on the Super Bowl? I brought a book to a Super Bowl party I attended for family. Go Volvo!

Golf Made Easy--Not the Game--Just Transporting the Clubs

2014-12-09T16:18:00.000-08:00

DV8 Bag With Clubs

by Mark West

"Golf without obstacles" was inventor Pat Brady's mantra during the five years it took to develop an golf bag the size of an ordinary backpack. He was thinking of how to overcome the obstacles of weight and space to make golf accessible, convenient and affordable. The result was this ingenious bag that fits an entire set of clubs and includes another compartment for an iPad or laptop to make practice sessions more effective.

DV8’s patented, stainless steel coupler technology fits all the titanium and stainless steel club heads, which can be interchanged on one or two custom shafts in less than three seconds, with no tools or torque wrenches required. Urban dwellers, frequent fliers, and small car owners can have a golf set that allows them to get on the course by subway or take clubs with them on business trips. The DV8 set is half the weight and about one fourth the size of a conventional set of golf-clubs. The design of the set makes it compact and light.

Dubbing themselves “the Brady Bunch team” the company officials studied how to make playing golf more enjoyable, how to make practice more fun, and how to grow the game. “It's designed for the golfer whose primary goal is enjoyment.

“Our clubs represent a turning point in the industry, allowing more people to enjoy the game regardless of where they live, how they travel, or what they drive,” said Richard Stamper, president and CEO, DV8 Sports.

A complete DV8 set of clubs with shaft and the portable backpack-style bag weighs less than 15 pounds. Independent studies have shown there is no statistical difference in performance between DV8s clubs as compared to three of golf's leading brands. Golf without obstacles was the idea that made PGA professional Rick Smith an member of the Brady Bunch team. "We have to make golf more enjoyable," he said recently. "To grow the game, it needs to become more convenient for the vast number of players who play just for fun." Smith is shown in a video demonstrating how quickly the club head can be changed (http://vimeo.com/dv8sports). Since peaking in 2003, the total number of golf participants has declined by 4.8 million or about 16 percent, according to a recent study conducted by the National Golf Foundation (NGA). DV8 closely evaluated the golfing industry and figures there are a potential 39 million golfers being overlooked.

DV8 Club Array

These are not the hard-core golfers; they are occasional and latent golfers--the ones who play for fun. What prevents them from golfing are hurdles like the expense of owning a set of clubs that are used only occasionally and the challenge of transporting a typical set of clubs. DV8 Sports has come up with a way of solving those problems.
If not worried about your GHIN index or PGA rules or tournament play; if the name of your game is “fun and enjoyment” deviate and take a close look at DV8 Sports. DV8 Sports offers a range of sets including the convenient storage bag; the Starter at $499.95, the Practice at $699.95 and the Play (the complete set) at $899.95. These sets can be customized also. To order a set or for more information go to DV8SPORTS.com.

Beetle Love-Redux

2014-07-31T06:56:00.000-07:00

2.5 L 2014 Beetle

If I'm feeling alone in the world I just remind myself how many other VW Beetle lovers are out there. We love Beetles. I was even crazy enough to buy a 1962 to restore. But the new cars have the engine in the front and they are changed in so many other ways--like they have working heaters--and as far as I am concerned they are wonderful in a different--OK, better--way than previous incarnations. I just drove the 2014 VW Beetle TDI diesel. My love for the car is pulsating once again. And here's a fact you might not know: in 2014, the Beetle celebrates 65 years in America.

It's tricky to quantify how many Beetles have been produced, but VW's latest figure as of a few years ago is 21.5 million worldwide and 4.8 million in the U.S. It's the most successful single car design ever, having overtaken the Ford Model T in 1972. With the 2011 all-new Beetle,Volkswagen has done a revitalization that taps into the Beetle's classic design cues. In that way, it's different from the 1997 reintroduction New Beetle, which had more of a cartoonish quality to it--the defining lines in that car were all based on the circle. While this Beetle has tapped into the retro feeling of the car, it is in no way a retro car. The balance needed to create a new car with nods to the past is very, very hard to achieve. Previous attempts--vehicles like the PT Cruiser, the Chevrolet HHR and others haven't turned out very well. But this Beetle is, to my eyes, great.

Our 2014 2-door hatchback Beetle was powered by an inline 4-clylinder TDI clean diesel engine that produced 140 horsepower and 236 lb.-ft. of torque (and remember, it's the torque that counts). It was paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission. VW uses electronic power steering that now has more feel to it than earlier incarnations. It had a good on center feel to it and combined with the responsive engine, the car simply sails off the line. It was just a blast to drive.

The Dune

It has a power sliding roof--I don't usually like the moonroof but this was an exception. The navigation and Fender audio were a pleasure to use. And the new VW comes with some features that I increasingly think belong in a car--at least in the northeast, like heatable seats and side mirrors. No indication that the steering wheel is heatable, and that is another feature I would look for in a vehicle I'd buy.

The styling and roominess of the interior is surprising as we tend to think of Beetles as midgets--but the new models and especially the newest model provides plenty of space even for the long of leg and arm. I found the seats solid and comfortable.

VW has a maintenance program that provide scheduled, approved maintenance free for two years. The Vehicle limited warranty is 3 years/36,000 miles and the power train limited warranty is 5 years/60 miles. VW provides roadside assistance packages included for 3 years/36,000 miles.

Fuel economy is 29 city/39 highway/32 combined. We did a lot of highway driving and got around 37 during the test drive. The Beetle we drove cost $29,415 including destination and I think that's a good price for this fun, roomy, functional car. If you want it in orange, get the Dune.

Saving Pennies When Gas Prices Go Up

2014-07-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

It seems un-American that gas prices go up just as working families get a few days to drive their cars to have some fun. But it’s not a conspiracy. There are reasons why gas prices increase in the spring and summer. Demand increases because of vacations and that stretches the supply. When natural disasters occur the price increases because transportation is disrupted or refineries are damaged. One consistent reason is that energy companies conduct maintenance on their refineries in the spring, shutting them down and limiting their capacity until late May. This shutdown allows them to change the fuel supply.

This change in the fuel supply, which happens twice a year in the U.S., is known as the seasonal gasoline transition and this is the biggest reason for the increase in price during summer months. Gas sold during the summer is different and more expensive to produce because of the ingredients it contains and because the refineries close.

The seasonal fuel change was initiated in 1995 as part of the Reformulated Gasoline Program (RFG), which was established through the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the program to reduce pollution and smog during the summer ozone season, which occurs from June 1 to Sept. 15. Summer-grade fuel burns cleaner than winter-grade fuel, causing it to produce less smog and releases less toxic air pollutants.

The estimates of the actual difference in cost of production is hard to pin down. Estimates exist of an increase of only one cent to two cents per gallon. Other estimates range from three cents to 15 cents per gallon.

The good news is that hot weather can actually increase your fuel economy. A vehicle’s engine warms up to an efficient temperature faster; summer grades of gasoline can have slightly more energy; and warm air causes less aerodynamic drag than cold air.

However, keeping passengers comfortable in hot weather by rolling down the windows or using the air conditioning (AC) can reduce fuel economy.

The guilty party, of course, is the car’s air conditioner. An air conditioner reduces fuel economy in hot weather. Under very hot conditions, AC use can reduce a conventional vehicle's fuel economy by more than 25%. The AC's effect on hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric vehicles (EVs) can be even larger on a percentage basis. How much less efficient depends on the outside temperature, humidity and intensity of the sun. Open windows can increase aerodynamic drag. At highway speeds your vehicle needs more energy to push through the air. But you can’t suffocate. Here’s advice for improving fuel economy in hot weather:

• Roll the windows down at lower speeds; use the AC at highway speeds.

• Don't use the AC more than needed or set the temperature lower than needed.

• Drive with the windows open for a short time before using the AC. Letting hot air out of the cabin first will put less demand on the AC and help your vehicle cool faster.

• Don't idle with the AC running before driving. Turn the AC on after you begin to drive or after airing out the cabin briefly. Most AC systems will cool the vehicle faster while driving.

• Read your owner's manual. Most manuals explain how the AC system controls work and how to best use and maintain the AC system.

• For plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, pre-cooling the cabin while plugged into the charger can extend your vehicle's range. Also, using a warmer temperature setting for the AC will use less battery power.

• Park in the shade or use a sunshade so that the cabin doesn't get as hot.

While these tips may seem obvious, most consumers crank their air conditioner and often do the exact opposite of what is recommended. If you’re looking to save a few pennies, a few conscious changes in the way you cool down may be the answer. Happy summer!

Teens Biggest Killer

2014-06-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

Teenagers think they know more than adults and consider themselves invincible. Convince them otherwise. Today’s teens are so worldly, we’re sometimes fooled into believing they are more mature than they are. But teens are still children and they still make stupid mistakes, some of which are fatal. But adults do stupid things too. And children notice.

Reading the headlines it might seem that the biggest killer of teenagers is drugs. But that isn’t the case. According to a study conducted by Safe Kids Worldwide and made possible by a $2 million grant from General Motors Foundation, more teens die in motor vehicle crashes than from any other cause of death. (The second most common cause of death is homicide and the third is suicide according to Safe Kids data from 2010.) The toll is about 2,500 per year or 8 out of every 1,000 teens. Fatalities are split between teen drivers (56 percent) and passengers (44 percent). In half of these fatalities, teens were not wearing seat belts. While the number of fatalities has decreased 56 percent since 2002, behavior has not changed much.

Safe Kids found that half the teen passengers and slightly less than half of the teen drivers who die in fatal crashes are not buckled up and that hasn’t changed over the last decade. Only about ten percent of passengers and six percent of drivers are unrestrained in non-fatal crashes.

In interviews with about 1,000 teens between the ages of 13 and 19, Safe Kids explored behaviors and thoughts when they ride in cars with other teens. They learned that teens start riding more regularly with other teens at around age 15. About ten percent of the 13 year olds traveled in cars with other teens every day or a few times week compared to 23 percent of 16 year olds. Three times as many 16 year olds die in crashes as 13 year olds. Research has been done in the past that has shown that compared to teens who are not transporting any teen passengers, having one teen passenger in a car with a teen driver increases the risk of a crash by 44 percent. Two passengers double the risk and three or more passengers increases the risk four fold.

Using a seatbelt is one of the easiest ways to prevent fatalities. Safe Kids found that many of the teens who did not use seat belts every time are more likely to have parents who don’t always use them.

Their top reasons for not using seat belts were that they forgot or weren’t in the habit (34 percent), they did not use them if they weren’t traveling far (16 percent), they were uncomfortable (11 percent) or they were in a hurry (five percent). Teens interviewed think the main reason why other teens don’t buckle up is because they aren’t going far.

Teens learn these habits from their peers, but they also watch their parents behavior. Teens reported seeing their parents unbuckled, texting while driving, talking on the phone, speeding or under the influence. While 49 percent said they felt unsafe driving with a teen driver, 31 percent said they felt unsafe driving with an adult.

Parents can influence their teenagers’ behaviors by driving responsibly always in front of their kids. That means always buckling up so that it becomes a habit with children before they ever start to drive.

In addition, Safe Kids advocates for strong public policies. The graduated driver’s license and night driving curfews have lowered risks. Other best practices that need to be considered include zero tolerance for alcohol, a ban on texting and use of distracting technologies, limiting the number of teen passengers, no violations of mandatory seat belt laws for drivers and passengers, learner’s permit stage starting no earlier than age 16; full driving privileges at 18, at least 50 hours of driver’s education and adult-supervised driving. Police should not be restricted from stopping drivers for these offenses. Many states prevent them from doing so unless the driver is speeding or engaged in some other serious violation like running a red light.

Public policies will help. But the buck stops at home. Ask your kids to play it safe.

Review of the Honda Odyssey

2014-06-28T17:02:00.002-07:00

http://nydn.us/1pXTRlk

Ford Mustang’s 50th birthday party swings at the World's Fair site in Queens

2014-04-20T04:32:00.001-07:00

Here's my coverage of the New York Auto Show:

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/mustang-50th-birthday-party-swings-queens-article-1.1761244#ixzz2zQOy3mtA

http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/auto-shows/50-years-running-horse-2015-ford-mustang-50-year-limited-edition-article-1.1758226

http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/auto-shows/2014-new-york-auto-show-tweaks-new-engine-2015-volkswagen-jetta-betta-article-1.1755799

There's tons more at the New York Daily News website.

One Weird Trick, A Blissfully Short Opera

2014-03-02T12:15:00.001-08:00

My Buddy-- The 2014 Kia Sorento

2014-01-18T13:32:00.003-08:00

There was a girl in my high school who had a Nash Rambler and she called it her Buddy. I think they were called "Buddies." She said she was going to live in her Buddy when she became an opera singer and travel around in it to her engagements. Hey, she had dreams.

I thought of the classmate and her Buddy on my drive out to Detroit in the 2014 Kia Sorento for the North American International Auto Show. The Sorento, redesigned in 2012, could not have been more accommodating on our solo road trip. It was me traveling to an engagement in a vehicle that felt like my Buddy. Malcolm Gladwell was on audio reading his treatise, Outliers--a blog for another day. I had clementines and Pellegrino and a clear road.

We arrived at the Canadian Niagara Falls after dark. I hit the roof when the hotel wanted to charge me $30 to park my Buddy. So the desk said my other option was to self park at the Casino Hotel down the street for $5. Seriously, how long did I need to weigh that decision? Niagara Falls. January. NYC parking rates. No one there. $30. I had just had a amazing meal for $25 at Hillebrand Winery. I got upgraded to a room with a great view of the Falls because of my wheel squeaking about the parking. Staring at the Falls at night with the fog and the light show is a great way to end the evening. I was rested and ready to roll to Detroit after visiting the Falls in person.

My Remington Red Kia is powered by a 3.3-liter V6 engine paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission with manual capability that produces 290 horsepower and 252 lb.-ft. of torque. A four-cylinder engine is also available. My Sorento had all-wheel drive, which I appreciated but ended up not needing. There's ample power for passing and with cruise control I got on average 24.8 mph. That's what Kia promises--18 city/24 highway/20 combined. Most of my driving except for a night of roving in downtown Detroit, was highway.

I piled a lot into the cargo space--computer, suitcase, insulated bag, other bags, a little exercise equipment.
A couple of things made me sit up and take notice. One: I used the navigation system relentlessly and it was easy and it got me to the door of every event I was going to without a hassle. The eight-inch navigation screen is home navigation, traffic with real-time road information updates, a premium audio system, available subscription to Sirius XM radio, Bluetooth^®hands-free connectivity, vehicle settings and UVO eServices, Kia's next generation of infotainment and services. The screen has superb graphics and Kia's Uvo telematics seem to operate with a kind of simplicity that is hard to find. I, who openly will admit that I dislike these systems and find them distracting, actually liked and appreciated this system. (I can't tell you the number of places I went where I had no idea where I was going but it was right up there with the Amazing Race.)

I drove 1,500 miles solo. I was completely comfortable throughout the trip. And when I got back, yes, I was tired, but I didn't suffer back pain. As a driver I didn't get to star gaze but the panoramic roof is fabulous.

It's always worth mentioning Kia's 10-year, 100,000 mile limited powertrain warranty because it is one of the best in the business. The basic warranty and the roadside assistance is 5-years, 60,000 miles.

The cost with $1,000 for the split folding third row seat with A/C for this Buddy is $38,550 including destination charge.

Range Rover Sport-- Ridin' High

2014-01-17T10:09:00.001-08:00

Amazing, isn't it? What you can get for $104,000 and change? I drove the Range Rover Sport V8 Autobiography, the top of the line. The architecture is monocoque. Think of an eggshell--the outer skin supports the whole of the egg. In a monocoque-framed vehicle the skin or exterior helps support the load. That would be instead of a separate body and frame. Monocoque construction first appeared on the Lancia Lamda in 1924. The term is derived from Greek and means single shell.

I could have--but didn't have time to--rock crawl, ride the beach, go through some serious mud offroad. I have gleefully participated in Land Rover's off-road course at the Biltmore Hotel near Asheville, North Carolina. But don't get any notions about the course being feather-bedded because of the location--it was a serious course that taught me a lot in a short time.

The Sport was powered by a 5.0-liter aluminum alloy super-charged V8 with 510 horsepower and 461 lb.-ft. of torque. In other words, "step away from my ride." And just because I didn't have time to rock crawl, that doesn't mean that Land Rover's permanent four-wheel drive, four-wheel electronic traction control, two-speed electronic transfer box with electronic center differential and active rear locking differential wouldn't skip-hop across the Rubicon in record time. It does. It has. Brakes are 4-wheel, power-assisted disc brakes with an all-terrain ABS system. It comes with stability control, hill descent assist, emergency brake assist, roll stability control, active speed limiter, electronic park brake and gradient release control. Think of yourself driving your Range Rover at a 30-degree angle to the ground. Got the picture? You're good. No problem. Even if you feel nauseous. The electronic air suspension with automatic load leveling can be adjusted to three different levels--access, standard off-road and extended height. Should you get stuck in the Amazon forest at night when there's no one around to help and your windows are up, engage the anti-trap feature on all windows and go find local assistance.

Autobiography comes with a chose of 11 extra interior colors, leather, auto-dim side mirrors, contrasting colors, mood lighting, fabulous audio, superior climate control and other comfort adjustments and a panoramic roof. Just because it's capable off-road doesn't mean you have to suffer.

This vehicle is not for everyone. But for the individual who wants extreme capability on both ends of the spectrum it is worth considering. It won't mean much to that person that fuel economy is low, 14 city/16 highway/19 combined, which is about what I got. The point of owning a Land Rover is owning a Land Rover. Go crawl.