More GM Cuts Coming

By Paul Eisenstein July 29th, 2008

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The cuts keep coming at General Motors. The automaker will eliminate yet another 117,000 light trucks from its production plans for the rest of the year. That's on top of earlier reductions that means GM will shave a total of 287,000 SUVs and pickups from its U.S. total for 2008.

The latest news brings to 1,760 the number of layoffs that will result from GM's cutbacks. The automaker is eliminating shifts at some plants and trimming back elsewhere, it has revealed, as part of a turnaround plan that requires it to trim billions of dollars in costs - and bring production capacity in line with what the sluggish American market is actually asking for.

GM is by no means alone. Ford and Chrysler are also making major cuts in light truck production - reflecting the impact of the gas price crunch. Since the beginning of the year, full-size pickups, in particular, have lost about a third of their market share - a problem complicated by the slump in U.S. housing.

Even import makers Nissan and Toyota are feeling the pinch. The latter Japanese marque has scheduled significant downtime at its Tundra plant in San Antonio, and will pull additional production of that big pickup out of a second factory in Indiana. Nissan is sharply scaling back light truck production, meanwhile, at its own assembly line, in Canton, Mississippi.

While Ford CEO Alan Mulally said he expects some rebound as the economy recovers, he cautioned it is unlikely the big pickup segment will ever reach its former peak.

Posted in : Industry

New-Car Smell Won’t Kill You as Much, Group Finds

By Marty Padgett July 29th, 2008

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An Ann Arbor, Mich.-based environmental group says your vehicle's "new-car smell" is less likely to cause you harm this year, but it still is essentially made up of toxic gases masked by the fragrant, earthy smell of capitalism.

The Ecology Center's annual report on new-car smell puts the Acura RDX at the top of its list for least-toxic new-car smell--which it says contains poisons linked to allergies and cancer. The RDX (see chart below) has a ranking of 0.6 on the group's concern scale, while a whopper like the Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT (their spelling incorrect) tops the charts at 4.7. We're not sure what units they're measuring, but in proportion, the Mitsu's about eight times worse than the Acura.

Of all automakers, GM made the biggest improvements in cutting back on toxic materials, and Mazda and Nissan did a pretty good job, too.

The Ecology Center says new-car smell is composed of chlorine, lead, and flame retardants, all bad stuff that can cause a host of immune problems. It also says the same chemicals are present in child car seats.

To conclude, the group's rankings of the top ten and worst ten vehicles--here for you in handy chart form:

Posted in : 2008, Just for Fun, Safety

The Ford Soap Opera–No, Not That One

By Marty Padgett July 28th, 2008

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The favorite soap opera at Ford isn't the company's ongoing troubles with Mercury, or plummeting truck sales--no, these days it seems to be the travails of Cecilia Marquez.

Marquez is the heroine of the Spanish-language, online soap opera called Amores de Luna. It's the story of a woman who seems to have everything, except a career as a writer, something we have dreams of too, here at TheCarConnection.com.

Cleverly, the mini-soap's Webisode player is wrapped in all sorts of ads for the 2009 Ford Flex. So far, there are 15 episodes online, as well as bios for the characters and even a blog for Cecilia--none of which I can read without the help of Babelfish, since I took useless French in high school instead of the more prescient Spanish option. The site even offers some bloopers, in an interesting cradle-to-grave media play.

It won't replace Days of Our Lives on our TiVo, but it's easily more watchable than dreck like Work Out. If Cecilia gets a lesbian evil twin, though, we're done. Before you commit to the whole 30-minute experience, check out this brief clip like we did. Roll tape:

Posted in : 2009, Crossover Vehicles, Ford, Just for Fun

Watch Honda Crash

By Paul Eisenstein July 28th, 2008

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No, not literally. The automaker is doing quite well, thank you, despite the sharp slump in the U.S. market. But we’ve been invited to watch Honda crash a white 2008 Honda Accord, as part of its federal safety ratings test.

Over the years, I’ve been witness to a number of live crash tests, and I have to admit they’re always an amazing thing to watch. There’s the final countdown, the whir as the “bullet” vehicle is launched down the track, and the deafening noise of impact, shards of glass, plastic and metal spinning through the air, seemingly in slow motion.

Watching this interactive video isn’t quite the same – though if you have a good subwoofer hooked up to your computer, you might feel the same, chest-pounding crunch, upon impact.

Honda Interactive Crash Test Demo Invites Viewers to "See What We See"

TORRANCE, Calif., July 28, 2008 - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. has launched a unique online video experience of a vehicle crash test that invites viewers to witness the crash impact and explore it from different camera angles and at various motion speeds.

The crash test demo is part of Honda's "Power of Dreams" corporate ad campaign (http://www.dreams.honda.com) which invites consumers to view the world from inside Honda's vantage point. By encouraging the viewer to "see what we see," Honda hopes to foster an understanding of what motivates the mobility company - in this case, the company's long-standing commitment to safety.

"The crash test video provides our customers with an inside look at how Honda engineers think about and develop advanced safety technologies, such as ACE body structure and advanced air bag technology," said Barbara Ponce, manager of corporate advertising. "We think it's best to let customers see for themselves."

The video, which was provided to Honda by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and depicts the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) frontal rating test, shows a white 2008 HondaAccord sedan traveling at 35 mph crashing into a fixed barrier, methodically crumpling the frontal structure in a few milliseconds. The variable speed video and 3 camera angles are accompanied by interpretive copy that explains to viewers what is occurring at different stages of the crash test.

The NHTSA frontal NCAP test resulted in a 5-star driver, 5-star front passenger rating for the 2008 Honda Accord sedan. These are the highest frontal NCAP ratings possible and indicate a 10% or less chance of serious injury in a head-on, 35 mph collision with a vehicle of similar size and weight.

Government star ratings are part of NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program (www.safercar.gov).

In 2003, Honda launched its "Safety for Everyone" initiative in North America, a comprehensive approach to vehicle safety that seeks to provide enhanced levels of occupant protection and to help with crash avoidance in all Honda passenger vehicles, while also making an active commitment to mitigate injuries for the occupants of other vehicles and pedestrians. Honda operates two state-of-the-art indoor crash test facilities in Tochigi, Japan, and Raymond, Ohio.

Tags: auto safety, crash test, honda accord, NHTSA

Posted in : Industry

Following the Eye: Covering Up for the Auto-razzi

By Paul Eisenstein July 28th, 2008

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In the auto-razzi game of cat-and-mouse, the weapons of war are constantly escalating. Regular readers have been captivated by spy shots since the earliest days of TheCarConnection.com. But let's just say that industry planners aren't quite so pleased when we pull the covers off a product that might not hit the road for another couple years.

In the old days, manufacturers simply tried to steer clear of automotive spy photographers, like Brenda Priddy or Jim Dunne. But these days, it seems like the number of these auto-razzi is increasing exponentially. So it's no longer possible to simply steer clear, nor even put up better fencing around company-owned property, such as GM's Proving Grounds, in Milford, Michigan.

So just like any good war, manufacturers are putting a lot of emphasis on camouflage. Regular spy shot aficionados are familiar with the concept. Vehicles show up in pictures clad, to varying degrees, in tent-like fabrics. Sometimes you can still make out the details. Other times, you'd be hard-pressed to tell if you're looking at a sports car or a sport-utility vehicle.

These disguises have evolved over the years. Two decades ago, manufacturers began applying strips of black tape, hoping simply to confuse the eye. That evolved into bras and bibs meant to conceal front and rear details. Now, in their earliest stages, a prototype might be covered roof-to-wheel in material printed in zebra or moiré patterns. Even if you get a good shot off, it won't look the same in print. Hard plastic panels may be sewn together with soft nylon, not only to conceal, but also to create false and misleading shapes. Rectangular taillights may be rounded off, a sedan may suddenly seem as square as a station wagon. We've even seen one manufacturer bolt on another maker's badge, just to add another layer of confusion. Check out the Honda Hybrid spy pic, above, to see what I mean.

"We engineers hate this camouflage stuff," admits GM engineer Tim Herrick. That's because all that cladding compromises aerodynamics, especially air flowing to the engine and brakes, and it makes it difficult to impossible to work on wind noise issues. So, in a slow-motion striptease, manufacturers peel pieces off as they get closer to production. Near launch, they may actually try to get a vehicle spotted in order, says one industry source, "to build the buzz." I've personally experienced this on several occasions. I have a hard rule not to shoot future products when I'm actually on a carmaker's property unless specifically given permission. But a few years back, the shuttle bus I was taking at Ford's proving ground in Dearborn suddenly came to a halt - coincidentally, right next to the first undisguised version of the new Thunderbird I had yet seen. It was posed beautifully, and I had no doubt that it was parked there specifically for me. Click, click, post.

To minimize the negative dynamic impact for vehicle testers - while maximizing the visual effect - General Motors actually employs a team of engineers who do nothing but design camouflage for a living, Herrick notes. "It's a highly engineered product."

Yet as with any war, there's something of an arms race under way. As manufacturers get better at disguising vehicles, spy photographers struggle to find ways to capture a glimpse without cover - even turning to night vision systems. And failing that, there's always the computer. Some spies specialize in using the same software found in automotive design studios. Put a cover on a coupe and they'll digitally pull it back off. "Some of them," Herrick concedes, "can get pretty close."

Tags: auto camouflage, spy photographers

Posted in : Industry