Review of LS 460

Inside line Reviews the LS 460 and the verdict is.........

The flagship of the fleet should be fashioned from an uncommon and uncompromised
blend of technology and opulence. It should sport elements that distinguish it
from the lesser vessels of the line, instill in its occupants an aura of
invincibility and convey to the driver a lofty level of dynamic excellence,
tempered but not tamed by a lush layer of luxury.Does the 2007 Lexus LS 460,
flagship of Toyota's youthful premium franchise, live up to these criteria? Yes.
Is the LS 460 the equal of such grandees of the high-end game as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series?
After a week in this standard-wheelbase example, our answer is, "Not yet."

It still seems the the automotive press thinks that Lexus can't quite match what the finest from Germany can offer, granted that this can be subjective, automotive writers tastes can very as much as that of movie reviewers, Some journalist prefer the overly aggressive chassis tuning that is the Hallmark of a premium German sedan and are unwilling to accept that the way that Lexus engineers interpret what they believe what a high end luxury sedan should feel like may differ.

In the end this won't really matter, the LS460 will be a success and thousands of buyers will eventually consider Lexus the benchmark by which all Luxury cars should be judged by.

In the end the companies with the most to lose are BMW and Mercedes.

J.

Read more.......

http://http//www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FullTests/articleId=117189?tid=edmunds.il.home.photopanel..1.*

DETROIT -- Financially troubled supplier Collins & Aikman Corp. halted
shipments to Ford Motor Co.'s Hermosillo, Mexico, assembly plant on Friday, Oct.
13, as part of a long-running pricing dispute.A one-shift interruption caused
Ford to lose about 400 units of its Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ
sedans, according to a story today in the Wall Street Journal.The drastic
measure followed failed efforts by Collins & Aikman to get price increases
on the interiors the company supplies to the vehicle platform, the newspaper
reported.Collins & Aikman spokesman David Youngman confirmed the shipment
interruption but declined to comment on details of the dispute

This whole situation doesn't make Ford look good, it's rare that an Auto supplier refuses to hold shipment, doing this risks a law suit and the possibility of future buisness, as mentioned in the article Collins & Aikman stated that it has been trying to get Ford to agree to a price increase for a while, and Ford seems to be dragging it's feet.

Either way the Dearborn Auto giant dosen't need the interuptions.

J.

New Mercedes Gullwing

Mercedes Benz appears to be working on a successor of the legendary Gull wing sports car.This version looks to be styled along the lines of the McLaren super car of a few years ago with performance to match the cars the cars most likely stratospheric price tag.

Look for the new Gull wing to appear around 2009-2010.

J.

Chrysler Dealer stops orders

Last spring, Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealer Troy Allen of Derry, N.H., came up
with a solution to the soaring inventories and floorplan costs that had been
keeping him awake at night. He stopped buying vehicles altogether from mid-May
to mid-July, the first of a series of Draconian measures Allen took to ensure
the survival of his 34-year-old family-owned dealership. The Chrysler group had
overestimated demand for its new trucks and had built too many. Now it was
pressing Allen to take more from its sales bank of acres of unsold cars. For
years, Allen's dealership sold about 60 new and 25 used vehicles a month. But it
has been a tough ride of late.

This excerpt from automotive news that unfortunately is a subscription only site.

This may be a trend of late as many dealers find themselves in the crossfire of trying to please

district managers while at the same time manage their inventory,In the past as today the solution was simply to offer special deals from the factory and national advertising and hope that the cars would sell, but in the day and age where dealers find themselves with more inventory than they can sell, stopping or delaying new orders until the older stock is sold may become a trend Nationwide for dealers who sometimes feel that they have to take whatever their sent in order to keep the factories running.

J.

New Mugen CRV

Mugen, the after market Tuner that was started by the son of Company Founder Sochiro Honda has developed a performance package for the new CRV that looks worthwhile.

While there's still not alot of info on what the package will have, more can be found on Mugens website.

http://www.mugen-power.com/top.html