Automotive Reporter/Biz News Wk of 8-17-2015

When is the best time to release bad news? Friday’s…after 5p.
That’s what Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV did ahead of the weekend, announcing the recall of more than 85,000 new cars because their engines could stall.

At issue is the 2015 Chrysler 200 midsize sedan, where it’s been determined some electrical connectors were damaged. The discovery came during routine post-production testing. Chrysler says no crashes or injuries have been reported.

FCA has not yet announced an owner-notification schedule.
You can call the automaker at 800-853-1403, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's vehicle-safety hotline at 888-327-4236, or go to www.safercar.gov for more info.
That sounds like fun on a Monday.

Acura has been teasing us about three all-new NSX models, and finally showed off two of them at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, for the very first time last week. 

These are the first build-to-order vehicles for Acura. The NSX will feature plenty of factory-installed options, including carbon-fiber front, side and rear body elements, carbon-fiber engine covers, and a carbon roof.  If your model has a roof.

General Motors’ Lansing Delta Township Assembly Plant has a achieved another milestone. The automaker’s newest factory just turned out its 2-millionth vehicle—a 2016 Buick Enclave large crossover.  
 

Since starting production on May 24, 2006, the Lansing Delta Township plant has manufactured the Saturn Outlook, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, Acadia Denali and Buick Enclave. 

3,200 employees operate three shifts at the plant, into which GM has invested more than $580-million. It also doesn’t hurt that sales numbers for Enclave continue to swell. 2014 production was 39-percent higher than its first year of production. 

GM says it's already sold more than a half-million of the crossovers globally.

Baby, it’s hot outside.
That’s the perfect time to test Ford Motor Company’s fleet for extreme weather performance at the McKinley Climactic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Only they’re dialing-down the thermostat, and testing Ford’s global prototypes for extreme cold weather performance. 

The Air Force test chamber can produce temperatures as low as -40-degrees Fahrenheit in ten-hours. The chamber can accommodate up to 75 vehicles. The practical benefit of such testing is creating a Ford F-150 Pickup truck, for example, that can become a safety cocoon for an injured employee on the frozen slopes of Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay oil field.

Ford also uses the facility to test fuel grades’ characteristics at temperatures as cold as -22 degrees. Know why Ford F-Series Super Duty engines have spark plugs with ceramic gold plugs? Not for the extra bling. Engineers discovered replacing the metallic plugs in the 6.7-liter engine enabled a quicker warm-up and more robust starts, a trick they learned in the super-cooled lab.

Speaking of cool…
How’d you like a ’55 Chevy Coupe…brand new, factory fresh?
Woody’s Hot Rodz in Bright, Indiana, can build you one—or sell you the kit—for the Tri-Five’s of Chevrolet’s glory years, 1955, 1956, and 1957.

The cars are hand crafted by a team of ten workers in Woody’s shop. The cars are powered by a 2016 Cadillac CTS 680-hp V8, running through an 8-speed automatic, with adaptive suspension. Just because the cars look like they’re from the ‘50’s doesn’t mean they have to run like they’re 60-years old!

Chris Sondles is the man behind the machines, of which he’s already sold about 125 copies. He expects demand to increase as the Tri-Five’s reach their 60^th anniversaries. 

Chris Sondles

Sondles' creations are licensed, and so come with a full warranty. He can build one for you in about six months’ time…but there’s a one-year waiting list now. Prices for the shop-built cars start at $75,000.

 
Back to the future…
Hyundai Motor America is giving the automotive press a sneak peek at its “Vision G" Concept Coupe, the automaker’s inspiration for future premium products…and it’s a dandy. 

Interestingly, Hyundai engineers centered their design around the concept of the word, “chivalry,” in crafting their dream car—meaning, the car doesn’t have to shout to be noticed.
Word.

Among the technology features in the Vision-G, a valet system that opens the car’s doors for you as you approach. 

The Vision-G would be powered by a 5.0-liter Tau V8 engine, producing 420 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 383 lb. ft. of torque at 5,000 rpm. The Tau V8 engine family has been named to Ward’s prestigious Ten Best Engines list three times.

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Automotive Reporter/Biz News Wk of 4-6-15

Nissan's all-new 2016 Maxima is being heralded as the new "four-door sports car." Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn introduced the new sedan at the New York International Auto Show last week.

"This is the flagship sedan for Nissan in the U.S., and we expect big things from this car in terms of sales and expanding the reach and impact of the Nissan brand in North America," Ghosn said on Thursday. 

Ghosen notes that Maxima holds 10 percent of market share in the upper mid-size segment. "We are targeting more than that for what we feel will be the most exciting and modern car in the class," he said.

The 2016 edition gets a new, 3.5-liter VQ-series V6 engine, producing 300 horsepower with an anticipated 15 percent increase in highway fuel economy to an EPA-estimated 30 miles per gallon. Nissan Chief Product Specialist Mike Drongowski said, "My mantra to all groups, to design, to styling, engineering, manufacturing, was 'Maxima exists to be special. That is its role in our lineup.'"


Ford Motor Company's unveiling of the new 2016 Lincoln Continental last week at the New York International Auto Show was not without controversy. The stunning, new design is reminiscent of...of...Bentley's Flying Spur design. At least that's the claim by Bentley engineers, chief among them, Luc Donckerwolke. He vented on social media, posting to the Facaebook page of Lincoln chief designer, David Woodhouse, "Do you want us to send the product tooling?" 

 
April is Distracted Driver Awareness Month, which reads like an oxymoron.
Kia is capitalizing on the campaign by offering no-cost behind the wheel training with the B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe) program for 300 drivers education students. Kia is the Official Vehicle and presenting sponsor of the B.R.A.K.E.S. Teen Pro-Active Driving School.

The half-day curriculum includes a distracted driving exercise, emergency braking using the anti-lock braking system (ABS), evasive maneuvering and skid-control practice.  Kia says "at any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010." Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 14-18 year olds in the U.S.

April is not the only month the courses are being offered. No Texas dates are listed...yet...but you can check this website for cities to be added throughout the year.

 
FCA North America says its Indiana Transmission Plant I (ITPI) employees have achieved something few in the manufacturing industry can claim – 10-million hours without a lost time injury. That's about three-years' worth of work time with no downtime due to injuries.
 
Brian Harlow, Vice President/Manufacturing, FCA North America, credits a focus on World Class Manufacturing (WCM), which includes safety as one of its 10 foundational principles. Fiat first implemented WCM in 2006, and introduced the process to Chrysler Group when the two companies allied in June 2009. ITPI was the first facility to build Jeep Cherokee's fuel efficient nine-speed transmission. The plant has built more than 500,000 of the all-new transmission since May 2013.

 
It's the Monday after Easter...which was also Opening Day for Baseball. In preparation of this hallowed occasion, the Detroit Tigers and Chevrolet were not planting Easter eggs at Comerica Stadium.
 
Oh, no.
 
They used a heavy-lift crane to park a 2015 Corvette Z06 atop the Chevrolet Fountain behind centerfield. They also put a Chevy Silverado Pickup truck up there--a process that took about three hours to complete. For each vehicle.
 

When Mazda America Senior Designer Jacques Flynn isn't drawing up the latest cool lines for the automaker, he's working his side business: hand-crafted leather wallets. Flynn is part of the team involved in Mazda's exterior designs, based in Los Angeles. A few years ago he needed to replace a wallet, but couldn't find exactly what he was looking for. 

Photo Credit: Nara Shin/www.coolhunting.com

Flynn's idea for a custom wallet went astray when friends tried to use machines to replicate his design. He finally just bought some leather and went to work on his own, sans machines. You want something done right...etc.
 
How do Mazda's brass feel about their designer's side gig? Most of the guys in the C-suite now carry a Jaqet wallet in their pocket.

You can see the results here, and check out his eye for design in items other than leather, on his blog. 
Listen to the Automotive Reporter Radio Show every weekend on Stitcher.com, or from our webpage.