Automotive Reporter Biz News for Wk of 8-31-15

 

Just keep reminding yourself, it’s a Mercedes-Benz.

smart is debuting the latest variant in the series, the ForTwo Cabrio, next month at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt. 

The folks at MB crow the car is really three autos in one, transforming from an enclosed two-seater into a canvas-drapped sunroof, or full-open convertible.  smart says its cabrio is the only true cabriolet in its class. That’s because no one else makes these things. Thankfully.

The smart series is powered by a turbocharged 898-cc three-cylinder engine cranking out 89-hp and 100-lb/ft of torque. Rawr. The smart cabrio boasts a turning circle of just under 23-feet. Zero-to-sixty times have not been published, but the car’s top speed is posted at 96-mph.

Sidebar: How smart is it to name your car and not capitalize the name? Don’t these guys realize the spellcheck havoc they’re wreaking, especially when you need to start a sentence with “smart,” and force a lower-case first letter in the first word of a line? Second, where did this convention of eliminating the spaces between two words, two names, or any adjective-noun combination come from? How is it no one has said, “ENOUGH!” yet?
ForTwo, SmartCar, AppleCar. SmartPhone, MileagePlus.
Need I go on?

All those whiz-bang features in new cars may be for naught.

The 2016 class of automobiles feature unprecedented technology features. We now have cars that will park themselves and then come get you from their parking space. There are more pre-installed apps, and touch screen displays that rival some small laptops. Some automakers are even offering “ground school” classes to familiarize new car buyers with all of the features. I still have trouble setting the clock on my dashboard every time we switch between DST and standard time.

J.D.Power’s latest DrIVE report of driver experiences with in-vehicle tech reveals a surprising level of non-use of these newest features, with 20% of new car owners never using 16 of the 33 features measured. 43% of drivers never use the in-vehicle concierge, 38% ignore mobile routers, 35% don’t let the cars park themselves, and 32% don’t use the built-in apps…or don’t know where/what they are to get to them.

This might beg the question, if automakers are building technology no one uses, is the value of these cars over rated? The Power report also shows 14 tech features 20-percent of car owners do not want in their next car, including Apple CarPlay and Google Android Auto, in-vehicle concierge services, and in-vehicle voice texting.  Gen Y owners would just as soon use their own personal smart instrument of choice instead of an in-car app.

So what technologies do drivers want? Anything that enhances the driving experience and safety, like vehicle health diagnostics, blind-spot warning, and adaptive cruise control.

Car Wars: Summer Sales forecast results

Depending upon whom you ask, new car sales are anticipated to take a dip for August.
Some car makers are blaming it on Labor Day timing from last year—sales totals in August 2014 included Labor Day sales figures. This year, Labor Day tallies will be in September’s numbers.

Kelly Blue Book is predicting a 4% year-over-year decline to 1.52-million units sold, which yields a SAAR (seasonally adjusted annual rate) of 17.2-million sales.  Across the street at Edmunds.com, numbers crunchers say August numbers will hit 1.53-million units, for a SAAR of 17.4-million sales. That would be a 2.8% drop from August 2014. Analysts at both counting houses are watchful for a softening of the new car sales market, which is joined at the hip to the financial markets.

Want to buy a new Ford GT?
Instead of shipping the rare 2017 Ford GT to dealerships to sell, Ford Motor Company is taking a more “exclusive” approach to marketing the $400,000 supercar. You’ll have to take a number.

Ford is requiring prospective buyers to file an application to purchase the GT, although one source says current owners will go to the front of the line. Anyone can apply to buy starting early next year, and Ford’s concierge services will “walk them through” the process. 

Why all the persnickitiness over the 2017 Ford GT? They’re only going to build 250 of them a year. AutoBlog notes for comparison, Ferrari only built 499 LaFerraris, and there were 918 Porsche 918 Spyders.

Review Preview

Watch this space later this week for my reflections on driving Ford’s 2016 Mustang fitted with a 2.3-L Ecoboost four, one of the most pleasantly-surprising configurations you could imagine. 

The car is not without its flaws, but they’re minor in comparison with performance and handling.  It doesn’t hurt that the ’16 ‘Stang is knee-weakeningly gorgeous.
 

Listen to the Automotive Reporter Radio Show every weekend on Stitcher.com, or from our webpage. 

Automotive Reporter/Biz News for Wk of 7-27-15

Last week we shared with you a tale of woe from Jacksonville, Florida, where the proud owner of a new 2016 Mazda MX-5 found himself with the unenviable title of “first to crash a new Miata” among owners of the new Limited Edition ND cars.

I am happy to report Mazda North America Operations and Tom Bush Mazda went above and beyond the call of duty and good business practices. The manufacturer slotted a new car for the owner in the midst of the production run. The replacement MX-5 drops in the US August 15th. Mazda is taking back the wrecked model for forensic analysis.

This may tread into the realm of wonkishness, but the numbers are pretty impressive.
J. D. Power and LMC Automotive are estimating U.S. new vehicle retail sales for July—this is the Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Selling Rate, or SAAR—will reach 14.0-Million units. That’s the highest level for the month since 2005.

July’s SAAR figures are nearly a half-million more than July 2014, and the strongest sales in a decade. What was going on in July 2005? SAAR reached 16.7-million units sold when automakers offered alleged “employee pricing” for everyone and his dog.

Autosales forecasters are predicting July sales will finish at 1,260,200-units. For a minute, I thought they’d confused their job with weather forecasters, because in Texas this week it’s been about a million-degrees.

“The average new-vehicle retail transaction price so far in July is $29,673,” says John D. Humphrey, Senior VP of the global automotive practice at J.D. Power. The record average transaction price for July was set last year, at $29,428.

My first, brand new car was a 1976 Honda CVCC Civic.
It was a 5-speed manual, and I paid extra for the A/C.
I subsequently owned four more Honda's over the next decade and a half. They’re fine automobiles.

Honda’s latest claim to fame is the 2016 Accord which will feature both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, in addition to a plethora of techie features. Honda says it’s the most high-tech Accord ever.

"Customers want their vehicles to be more intelligently integrated with their smartphone-powered lives, and we are committed to delivering that experience starting with Accord,” says John Mendel, Executive VP, Automobile Division, American Honda Motor Co.

The new Accord will be offered with two advanced Honda engines: a direct-injected (DI) 2.4-liter inline i-VTEC 4-cylinder, and a 3.5-liter VTEC V-6 that is the most powerful engine offered in a Honda sedan to date.

Until now, wheelchair-bound drivers’ choices for personal transportation were limited to larger minivans or full-sized vans, specially fitted with wheelchair accessible lifts. Ford Motor Company is marking the 25^th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by rolling out the first wheelchair accessible SUV, based on the Ford Explorer. It's a doozy.

BraunAbility is working with Ford to “change the face of an industry, and bring creater mobility to people in wheelchairs.” The BraunAbility MXV is the company’s first-ever volume production SUV offering. 

The company has promised the first production model to wounded Marine veteran Mike Delancey, who was paralyzed by a sniper’s bullet while serving in Iraq in 2006.

The BraunAbility MXV features sliding-door technology, removable driver and passenger seats, and a powered, lighted in-floor ramp. With Explorer’s middle-row seat removed, the BraunAbility MXV provides interior space to fit the most common power wheelchair models, and its 56-inch cabin height provides a spacious interior for a comfortable ride.

If you’re a first-adopter, you’re going to want to get on the list for Toyota’s new hydrogen fuel cell electric, the Mirai. The company’s order request portal is up and running.

The Mirai combines hydrogen and oxygen to make electricity on-board, while emitting nothing but water vapor.  It has the highest EPA estimated driving range rating of any zero emission electric vehicle on the market, at 312 miles, and offers an EPA estimated 67 mpge city/highway/combined.

Toyota says production of the Mirai will be limited, and the vehicles will be placed with select, eligible customers.  After placing a request, potential Mirai drivers will be contacted directly by a Toyota representative to discuss ownership and next steps.  If you want one, you’ll have to drive to California to pick it up. Toyota is authorizing eight dealers between northern and southern Cali to handle the cars. MSRP will be $57,500 plus an $835 destination fee.

The Mirai ownership experience will include three years’ worth of complimentary fuel, three years’ complimentary Safety Connect and Entune, including a hydrogen station finder app. That feature may be worth its weight in gold…or hydrogen...because there are only a dozen hydrogen fueling stations in the U.S.—ten of them in California.

 Listen to the Automotive Reporter Radio Show every weekend on Stitcher.com, or from our webpage.