Ford Builds a Car-Part Orchestra

By Marty Padgett January 28th, 2008

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The dark art of promoting cars on European TV is stepping up another notch in terms of creativity. Gone are the days when you could just show a new model speeding through a vista of cornfields, though Peugeot once did it with the cornfields on fire as a variation on a theme.

Bakers building a Skoda entirely out of cake were a recent tasty treat for ad-watchers, while Citroen’s most memorable involves a car turning Transformer-like into an ice-dancing robot. The next smart promo comes from Ford, and sees an orchestra playing instruments created entirely from car components.

Airing from February, this harmonious masterpiece is the work of two Americans, Hollywood film composer Craig Richey and New York sound designer Bill Milbrodt.

The team took apart a Ford Focus five-door hatchback that had just come off the production line. “When we got it to the shop, it had less than a mile on the clock. We took the doors and fenders off, but we had the body shell intact and we later cut out of that the parts we wanted,” he said.

By the time the orchestra had been assembled for the photo shoot at Universal Studios in California, the team had constructed 31 instruments. Each has a name that instantly identified its origins. So pin back your ears and listen out for the Transmission Case Cello-Dulcimer, Clutch Guitar, Rear Suspension Spike Fiddle, Fender Bass, Hatchback Kick Drum, Handheld Gear Tambourine and Door Harp -- but you’ll have to wait until next Monday until the video is released.--Richard Yarrow

Tags: Shoppers, Marketing, Fun

Posted in: 2008, Ford, Focus

Diesels Won’t Do, Lutz Says

By Marty Padgett January 28th, 2008

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Modern diesel engines are unlikely to appeal to Americans despite rising fuel prices, General Motors vice chairman Robert Lutz predicts.

Lutz emphasized GM is developing a full range of diesel engines for use around the world. However, overall diesel penetration is likely to remain in single digits for the foreseeable future, Lutz said, dismissing claims by European automakers and suppliers that diesel has a bright future in the U.S. as fuel prices increase.

"Frankly in the United States, with diesel fuel the same price as (gasoline), I don't think that many Americans are going to pay a $3,000 or $4,000 premium for a modern diesel engine," Lutz said.

"On top of the normal diesel premium, you now have advanced emission systems. Unless we decide to eat the cost, which unfortunately we can't afford to do, I think customers are going to say, 'Wait a minute. At equal fuel prices I'm paying $4,000 more for this,'" he said. "It will not be like Germany," Lutz said during the question and answer period following a speech at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit.

Consequently, the vast majority of Americans will continue to favor internal combustion engines that use gasoline, which are significantly cheaper than diesel engines, he predicted.

The penetration of diesel-powered passenger vehicles in will be "more like it is in Switzerland," 8 percent to 10 percent, at best, added Lutz, noting the tax system in the U.S. simply does not favor diesel power the way it does in Germany. In Germany and other parts of western Europe, the taxes on gasoline are much higher than on diesel fuel, which skews demand towards diesel motors, he said. In the U.S. gasoline and diesel fuel are taxed basically the same and thus cost the same at the pump. The emission standards in Europe also are not as strict as they are in the U.S., Lutz said.

"In those European markets where diesel exceeds 40, 50 percent or 60 percent penetration, you have to know there is a tax differential. Gasoline is $8 per gallon, diesel fuel is $4 per gallon," he said. "With that kind of price disparity everyone is going to buy a diesel.”

"In the countries where gasoline and diesel is about the same, percentages are much lower. They're much higher than they are in the States but they are down around 10 percent or 12 percent.

"I'm not advocating taxes hikes or calling for higher fuel prices," Lutz said. "I'm just explaining the difference between the European fleet and our own.”

"In America instead of raising fuel prices, we'll wind up raising new vehicle prices because of the increased use of lightweight material and fuel-saving technology. By the way, clean diesels do not come for free especially not when they are emissionized [to meet new standards], which mean thousand of dollars per vehicle and that in turn is going to cause people to hang on to their vehicle," he said. "People are going to say,'Whoa a $35,000 Chevy Malibu. I think I'll hang on to the one I've got for a while.”

Lutz also said the use of flex-fuel vehicles running on ethanol represents the best way to address the issue of U.S. dependence on foreign oil and the chronic insecurity it breeds. The wider use of ethanol as motor fuel could reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil, he said.

"Nothing we can do in the next five or 10 years gets even close to that kind of impact," he said.

Ethanol also is cleaner than gasoline and adaptable to the current re-fueling infrastructure, he said. It also doesn't require a major shift in consumer behavior, Lutz said.

Tags: Industry, General Motors, Shoppers

Posted in: 2008, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Diesel

TCC Drives: Suzuki SX4 Sport

By Bengt Halvorson January 28th, 2008

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At $15,270 as delivered, the SX4 is the lowest-priced car I've driven in the past year.

It's also perhaps the case where reality has most exceeded my expectations.

I'm not so fond of the exaggerated-upward proportions and abbreviated silhouette of the oddly named Sport (as the sedan body style is called), which doesn't look as sporty, by most accounts, as the SX4 hatchback. Look beyond that and it's quite a zippy, little commuter, with enough space for four adults in a pinch and a tiny, easy-to-park footprint. It feels more expensive than its price tag indicates, and it's a really well-rounded choice for anyone who's on a tight budget.

The 143-hp, 2.0-liter engine is ideally suited to daily stop-and-go driving on congested streets, either with the four-speed automatic, which I'd previously tested in an SX4 (all-wheel drive) hatchback, or with the five-speed manual, which my SX4 sedan (front-wheel drive) test car was equipped with this time around. As Marty Padgett covered in our full road test of the SX4 Sport, the seating position is supportive and upright, and the suspension keeps the SX4 more buttoned-down and crisp-handling than we'd expect from a very affordable ride — even more commendably, not at the expense of ride comfort.

But some of the same qualities that make the powertrain feel smooth and zippy at first eventually betray themselves when you drive the Sport more enthusiastically. The throttle is aggressively calibrated yet the engine is slow to rev, so quick throttle-blip downshifts aren't possible; pity, as the tactile experience from gearbox and clutch wouldn't be out of place in a serious sport sedan. The other issue, if you really want to take advantage of the pep available, is engine noise; it gets quite boomy as you reach and exceed 4000 rpm.

People are going to look at the SX4's size and engine size and assume it's exceptionally fuel-efficient, but that's not the case here. Our front-wheel-drive sedan brought EPA estimates of 22 city, 30 highway, and in a week of relaxed, mixed-duty driving, mostly with a light throttle foot, we managed just 23 mpg — about the same we've seen in mid-size sedans like the four-cylinder Accord and Altima.

But there are plenty of practically minded upsides to the SX4. Materials look and feel great for such an affordable car, and build quality on my test car was spectacular — better than I've seen recently on some luxury-brand vehicles. And the SX4 was devoid of two common small-car evils: road noise on coarse surfaces, and wind noise at 70 mph.

Factor in the 100,000-mile/seven-year powertrain warranty that's transferable to subsequent owners, and it's even more appealing. Not that you're likely to need that, as the SX4's predecessors, the Suzuki Swift and its GM equivalents, the Chevy Sprint and Geo Metro, carried a longstanding reputation for better durability than rival cheap cars.

Here, you see, cheap is not cheap.

Tags: Shoppers

Posted in: 2008, Suzuki, Sedans, SX4