Chevy Malibu SS

Edmund's Inside Line has a review of the new Chevy Malibu SS, while

this seems like a nice addition to the Malibu line for those wanting

a little more sport out of their midsize 4 door family runner, there

isn't really much sizzle here. It seems like there should be at least

270 Horses under the hood and much more aggressive and well thought out handling at all four corners.

This cars biggest problem isn't the specs but the looks, the odd

angles of the rear fender line are not going to do much to attract

buyers.

This seems more like a move on Chevy's part to stir up interest

in this aging car until it's replacement shows up in the future.

J.

To much on Bill's Plate

Quick Note......

With Bill Ford Handing the rains at Ford Motor over to new Charismatic CEO Allan Mulally, one has to wonder if Bill

felt that he didn't have what it took to right the House

that Henry built. Mulally seems to be moving forward quickly

with the upcoming plant closings and employee cuts, while

this shows that they are deadly serious about cutting costs

it always seems to point to major failure on management over the

years to keep things running smoothly with a healthy business

model. When heads start rolling, it just shows that somebody

took their eyes off the ball and now the lower echelon must pay the

the price.

J.

Should GM and Ford Go to F1 .

With the financial difficulties of both these great Automakers in the news almost every day and with most of it having to do with the moves that both Ford and G.M. are making to write their perspective ships, it's time that we see these two American car makers enter or in the case of Ford, return to F1.

Why? in the terms of prestige and technical know how it's doesn't get any harder or more prestigious than F1, and the exposure alone is unrivaled anywhere outside the United states, with the exception of Soccer, no other sports draws as much rabid fans as Formula 1.

While both companies including Daimler Chrysler have competed in

NASCAR for some time now, both these companies are absent from what is considered the the ultimate challenge in the world of Motorsports.

To see the logic in this is simple, look at where the leaders in the car business invest their money and engineering talent and your questions are easily answered. Honda,Toyota, BMW,Mercedes Benz, just to name a few are heavily invested in the Formula 1 world championship. While I know that right now is not the time for G.M.and Ford to get involved, they should start laying the ground work to enter the series in the next two or three years, assemble a core group of people from engineering and marketing to bring the message that they are the best that these companies have.

And that they will compete where only the best dare to tread.



J.

Schumi Calls it Quits

On a quick note, 8 time Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher announced that he would retire from Ferrari at the end of the racing season, while he seemed to hint at possible further evolvement with the team, he left no doubt that he would no longer be driving.

With three races left to go in the season and Schumacher narrowing the points between himself and current F1 champ Fernando Alonso after wining the Latest race at the Italian Grand prix.

It doesn't seem to make much sense that Schumacher would call it quits so close to the end of the season, most long time drivers announced their retirement the year before,and then spend the last year celebrating their impending retirement over the course of the racing season. It seems to this writer that Schumacher's retirement may have not been all of his own decision.



I guess we'll find out more over the last remaining races.



J.

New Honda CRV

Honda is set to release a new CRV, and from the initially impression looks to be a winner, it won't stray to far from the present formula

that has made this mini sport Ute a hit for Honda, considering today's

automotive climate has changed quite a bit, there are probably buyers

of full size trucks that are looking for something more practical than what they've been driving. It looks like Honda will hit the bulls eye again.

read more....

J.

How much reality is perception.

This from Edmunds Insideline....

Perception is reality in the car business. And it takes a long time to change perceptions.
Witness the tale of two companies — Toyota and General Motors. Despite recalls and public relations woes, Toyota's image of bulletproof quality persists, and sales and market share rise. Despite concrete evidence to the contrary, GM's reputation for inferior quality remains, while sales and market share decline.

No words could ring so true,but this is the biggest challenge that

the domestic automakers face, this is a bigger hurdle than any

engineering challenge or corporate restructuring, the perception

that the Japanese and European manufacturers simply make better cars than are designed and made domestically.

This wasn't always the case, in fact if you are old enough to go back and remember the seventies, Americans generally looked upon foreign cars..especially those from Japan with distrust.

The European Brands where already expensive in relation to everything else and where viewed differently.

But the Japanese came in with cars that where priced right in the ball park as the local offerings, with the kind of wacky styling that could only really be appreciated initially in California, the land where almost all trends seem to begin. In the long run many different factors would come into play that would help switch the perception, the biggest one being the seemingly never ending recalls from the big three themselves.

Unfortunately for the most part, this wound is mostly self inflicted.

J.

New Mazda Speed3

Autoweek online has a great review of the new Mazdaspeed 3, which

is really a Mazda 3 wagon, already one of the better small cars on

the market, in this iteration Mazda has reworked the suspension and boosted the horsepower, but the most amazing thing is that at a

$23.000 base price, Mazda will most likely undercut all the competition and deliver a very desirable car.

J.