New Altima Coupe

Looks there's a new midsize coupe on the horizon. This 2008 Nissan Altima coupe was caught during what looks like a photo shoot prior to its official debut. Similarities to the Infiniti G35 coupe are obvious although there are enough Altima styling cues thrown in to make sure it doesn't infringe on the luxury brand's turf. Given the finished look of this car, a debut at the Los Angeles auto show in November seems likely.
This car looks nice, though why Nissan decided to make the car look so similar to the G35 coupe is anyone’s guess, then again the cars will be sold at different stores and even though they closely resemble each other are based on different platforms, the G35 being rear wheel drive and the Altima coupe being front wheel drive.
Joe
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Impala To RWD

Today Autoweek online reports…
General Motors sources say the next Impala will share a rwd platform with the upcoming Chevrolet Camaro, which will be built late in 2008 in Oshawa, Ontario. Impala production will start several months later, a GM source said. The rwd Impala also will be distinguished from the 2007 model by its long wheelbase and short front and rear overhangs. The car will be similar in length and width to the front-drive 2007 Impala. The passenger compartment will be larger than that of the 2007 Impala, the source said.

This is great news to hear, I’ve long advocated Chevy returning to it’s read wheel drive roots, I feel the decline of the American auto industry began when it began to move away from familiar territory.
Detroit is In a race to hold on to its dwindling market share, and mindshare is the biggest war then they have to win, I believe that that Japanese are here to stay, but there should and will be a vibrant American auto industry.

Joe

Ford FUD

More From Detroit...
Fortune mag runs over Ford's image
I t was bad enough that Fortune magazine referred to new Ford Motor Co. President and CEO Alan Mulally as a "student driver" and called his firm "a profoundly dysfunctional company" that is "going down the tubes." But the magazine added insult to injury in its latest edition by accidentally using a Toyota Tundra pickup instead of one of Ford's own F-150s to illustrate the story. The rival pickup appeared on each page of the story, adding a fresh dash of salt to each cut the article took at the struggling automaker and its new leader. One Ford executive suggested making up a set of vehicle identification cards for Fortune, like those given to aircraft spotters during World War II. The Insider thinks the word "Tundra" on the side of the vehicle should have been a sufficient clue.


This is the last thing that Ford needs, and we know that Ford has done a lot over the years to seriously hurt its own image in the eyes of the public,
But his kind of thing is amateurish at best, and putting a Tundra instead of a F150 is something that even the local High school paper wouldn’t get wrong.
Then again maybe that’s the answer to articles like this, I would suggest that Fortune go to the local high school , hire the school paper editor and then pick up one of the kids from Auto class and that should put an end to the mistaken Tundra pictures .

Joe

Ford & GM Quality Moves Up

From The Detroit News
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are improving the reliability of their vehicles as they design new models, but the domestics still lag the leading Japanese brands in overall comparisons, according to the influential Consumer Reports magazine.
Redesigned GM models such as the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon large sport utility vehicles won high marks for predicted reliability, based on the performance of the prior-model-year vehicles.
"This is promising for GM's full line of redesigned full-sized SUVs and pickups, which share the same platform as the Tahoe," the magazine said.
The Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr midsized cars also had top predicted-reliability ratings, according to Consumer Reports' widely watched annual survey, now on the newsstands.

This is great news, it’s good to see these guys making gains in the market like this, this is the kind of free press that no amount of marketing can do for you, and this is where all of the domestic automakers have to do a lot of work, Mind share is the game that the foreign automakers have already won.
And now it’s a long and difficult road for them to win it back.
Trucks like the Tahoe which show great improvement and creativity, will be easy wins for Detroit, the buying public has embraced Asian truck makers, but the American trucks haven’t lost their reputations in this market, no doubt thanks to the demand in the last few years which forces Ford, GM and Chrysler to keep their truck offerings well designed and freshly updated.

Joe

Chrysler Increases Lease Deals

The Detroit News Reports……..
DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group is leasing 2006 model year vehicles at a drastically higher rate than cross-town rivals General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. as it works to unload a glut of new cars and trucks.
Lease deals can help automakers boost sales because they typically offer lower monthly payments.
Dealers say Chrysler is making lease deals on 2006 models even more attractive by lowering lease interest rates, relaxing credit requirements and raising vehicles' residual values.

This news just give me flash backs, wasn’t this the exact same thing that Ford did in the nineties to boost sales? This is really a great way to hurt resale’s
And trade in values on its vehicles.
Chrysler seems to be going into desperation mode to keep its sales up, which really seems ironic considering that Chrysler has a pretty good product line
Going and shouldn’t need to do this kind of thing.
I think that this points to a bigger problem, one of perception of the product, granted that everybody is doing leases in one form or another, but I don’t think that Toyota or Honda have such high lease vs. sales ratios.

Time for a some new thinking in Detroit.

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Joe