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Monday, January 9, 2012

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US automakers gain market share in 2011 Best sales since 2008 for domestic car industry By Brent Snavely and Alisa Priddle Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — Detroit’s automakers each gained market share in 2011 for the first time since 1988 as the overall automotive industry finished the year by selling the most cars and trucks since 2008. Total industry sales for the year topped an estimated 12.78 million, according to Autodata, a 10.3-percent increase from 2010. The industry’s strong December — along with an improving U.S. economy — is giving automakers confidence that the trend will continue in 2012. “Industry sales are up now over 20 percent over the two years since the throes of the financial crisis,” said Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Ford’s chief economist, who predicted total industry sales will increase to a level between 13.2 million and 14.2 million in 2012. Said Jonathan Browning, president and CEO of Volkswagen of America, “We believe the industry continues to show signs of recovery with consumers recognizing that now is generally a good time to be out there buying vehicles.” Each of the domestic automakers had reason to celebrate as they finished the year with a collective market share of 47.1 percent — up from 45.2 percent in 2010. General Motors finished the year with an estimated

The industry’s strong December — along with an improving U.S. economy — is giving automakers confidence that the trend will continue in 2012. market share of 19.6 percent — the automaker’s first gain since 2002, and up from 19.1 percent last year. Chevrolet sold 1,529 extended-range Volts in December, the car’s best sales month since it was introduced, despite a federal investigation into battery fires that followed government crash tests. Volt sales were aided by a program that provided dealers with an allowance if they sold a demonstration model of the Volt. “The more availability you’ve got, the more you are going to sell,” said Alan Batey, vice president of Chevrolet sales. “It wasn’t about an incentive; it was about getting availability into the network.” While Lincoln continues to lag other luxury brands Ford’s brand sold more than 2.05 million vehicles in 2011 and has captured 3.4 points of U.S. market share over the last three years.

Paul Sancya/The aSSociaTed PreSS

Workers prepare an exhibit at COBO Center in preparation for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Jan. 5. Automakers enjoyed a record-setting 2011 economic year, with auto sales up and market shares gained. Auto industry sales have rose 10.3 percent since 2010.

ToP-Selling US cArS And TrUckS in 2011 Automakers announced their December and 2011 full-year sales on Wednesday. Below are the best-selling cars and trucks in the U.S. for 2011 and how sales compared to 2010. Vehicle Number sold, 2011 Percentage change from 2010 Ford F-Series 584,917 +10.7 Chevrolet Silverado 415,130 +12.2 Toyota Camry 308,510 -5.9 Nissan Altima 268,981 +17.3 Ford Escape 254,293 +33.1 Ford Fusion 248,067 +13.2 Ram 244,763 +22.6 Toyota Corolla 240,259 -9.7 Honda Accord 235,625 -16.6 Chevrolet Cruze 231,732 +846.0

Chrysler continued to stun the industry, ending the year with a 26.2-percent increase — the most of any major automaker. Leading the charge for the

Auburn Hills, Mich., automaker was the Chrysler brand with an 83-percent sales surge from a year ago, followed by a 41-percent increase for Jeep; 28-percent

for Dodge, and 10-percent for Ram truck sales. “Chrysler Group finished a year of growth on a strong note,” Reid Bigland, Chrysler’s head of U.S. sales,

said in a statement. “Looking back, we were the fastest-growing automaker in the country, increasing our market share 1.3 percentage points during 2011.” Still, the Detroit Three’s market share gains came as Asian automakers struggled with inventory shortages for most of the year caused by an earthquake and tsunami in Japan that disrupted manufacturing throughout the world. Toyota’s market share declined to 12.9 percent from 15.2 percent in 2010 while Honda’s market share fell to 9.0 percent from 10.6 percent. “Any review of 2011 is dominated by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan,” said Jim Lentz, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales. Nissan, which recovered faster than Honda and Toyota from the earthquake, gained market share in 2011 and reported a 14.7-percent sales increase for the year. Both Toyota and Honda said they are confident their U.S. sales will rebound in 2012 as they introduce important new models such as a new Yaris subcompact car and a new Honda Accord. Lentz said Toyota in the U.S. expects a 15-percent sales increase this year to about 1.9 million cars and trucks. New models will account for about 40 percent of Toyota’s sales this year, compared with only 9 percent in 2011. “We expect 2012 to be a good year for the industry and a banner year for Lexus, Toyota and Scion,” Lentz said.

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Tallahassee Democrat / OnTheMOve

GM to add more steel to Volt to protect battery Chevy Volt repairs will strengthen batteries By Tom Krisher and Dee-Ann Durbin DETROIT — General Motors is advising Volt owners to return their electric cars to dealers for repairs that will lower the risk of battery fires. The company hopes that the repairs, which will add steel to the plates protecting the batteries, will ease worries about the car’s safety. Three Volt batteries caught fire after government crash tests last year, prompting a federal investigation and sending GM engineers scrambling to find a fix. The free repairs, announced Thursday, will fix 8,000 Volts on U.S. roads and another 4,400 still for sale. The cars are covered by a “customer service campaign” run by GM, which is similar to a safety recall but allows the carmaker to avoid the bad publicity and federal monitoring that come with a recall. GM and federal safety officials believe last year’s fires

were caused by coolant leaking from damaged plastic casing around the batteries after side-impact collisions. That coolant caused an electrical short, which sparked battery fires seven days to three weeks after the crashes. GM has a huge incentive to fix the problem and protect the Volt’s image. Although the car isn’t a big seller — it’s fallen short of sales goals — it burnishes GM’s image as a greener, more innovative carmaker. The safety stumble could make it even harder for the Chevrolet Volt to compete with rival electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf. To contain the bad publicity after the fires, GM last year offered to buy back Volts from worried owners. Still, no owners have reported fires after crashes. Starting in February, dealers will add steel to a plate that protects the Volt battery, spreading the force of a crash over a larger area, says Mary Barra, GM’s product development chief. Tests by

the GM and the government have shown that the repairs prevent battery damage and coolant leaks. “We have made the Volt even safer,” says Mark Reuss, GM’s North American president. GM has done crash tests on four reinforced Volts and found that the fix worked. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — the federal safety agency — has also crashed a Volt with the added steel. “The preliminary results of the crash test indicate the remedy proposed by General Motors today should address the issue,” the agency says. GM nearly ran out of cash and needed a $49.5 billion government bailout to survive bankruptcy protection in 2009. The government took a stake in the company in exchange for the aid. GM sold 7,671 Volts last year, falling short of its goal of 10,000. It was outsold by its main competitor, the Leaf, at 9,674. The Volt had its best month ever in December with 1,529 sales, but a GM executive conceded on Thursday that the battery fires may have affected sales. “There has been some uncertainty in the market,”

Jae C. Hong/THe assoCiaTed Press

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt made its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles in 2009. says Alan Batey, vice president of GM’s Chevrolet division. “We do believe that uncertainty will go away.” News of the fix helped GM stock. Shares rose $1.02, or nearly 5 percent, to close at $22.17. The Volt has a T-shaped, 400 pound battery pack that can power the car for about 35 miles. After that, a small gasoline generator kicks in to run the electric motor. The car has a base price of about $40,000. NHTSA began studying the Volt batteries after a test

car caught fire last June at a facility in Wisconsin. The fire broke out three weeks after a side-impact crash test. At first, GM blamed NHTSA for the June fire, saying it should have drained the battery to prevent any fires after the test. But the company quickly retreated and said it never told NHTSA to drain the battery. GM executives also said there was no formal procedure in place to drain batteries after crashes involving owners. NHTSA opened an investigation into the Volt’s safety in

November following that fire and two others that occurred after tests. Now the company sends out a team to drain the batteries after being notified of a crash by its OnStar safety system. Publicity about the fires touched off a massive effort by GM engineers to find the cause and fix the problems quickly. In December, GM CEO Dan Akerson said the company would buy back Volts from any owner who wasn’t satisfied. Earlier, the company offered free loaner cars to Volt owners if they were concerned about safety. So far, about 250 of the owners have asked for a loaner or a buyback, Reuss says. Parts for the repairs will be available in February. GM said it will contact all Volt owners and advise them to set up an appointment for dealers to make the repairs. Reuss said the repairs should take two to three hours. The company also will add steel in all North American Volts and European Opel Amperas produced in the future at a Detroit factory.

Tata faces challenge to title of maker of world’s cheapest car By Tiffany Hsu Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — In the race to make the world’s cheapest car, the Indian company Tata Motors might soon lose its No. 1 status — from a manufacturer in its own country. Motorbike manufacturer Bajaj Auto Ltd. is coming out with a compact vehicle, the RE60 hatchback. Although the company didn’t specify a price when it unveiled the vehicle Tuesday, chances are that

it’ll be cheap. Bajaj even insisted that the RE60, which probably will be used most often in urban locales, be called a “four-wheeler” instead of a car. The vehicle will feature a 200-cc rear-mounted gasoline engine and will be able to reach about 43 mph, according to the Times of India. Bajaj, which already exports more than half the 520,000 three-wheelers it makes each year, also expects the RE60 to do brisk business abroad.

Commercial production could start in the next few months, Bajaj said. The vehicle was dreamed up by the manufacturer in conjunction with Renault and Nissan Motor Co. as a potential competitor to Tata’s Nano, which often costs less than $3,000 in India. But Bajaj eventually went on to develop the four-seat RE60 on its own and said Tuesday that its partners could abandon the vehicle if they didn’t like it.

THe assoCiaTed Press

A brand-new silver Tata Nano, heralded as the world’s cheapest car, stands in flames in the suburbs of Mumbai, India. The Tata Nano, the dirt-cheap everyman’s car, will eventually prove itself a strong product, Ratan Tata, the outgoing Tata chairman said Thursday.

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OnTheMOve / Tallahassee Democrat

Monday, January 9, 2012 / Page 3

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Tallahassee Democrat / OnTheMOve

2012 Mazda5 right-sizes the minivan Mazda5 stylish, traditional minivan

By Larry Printz The Virginian-Pilot

When Chrysler created the market for minivans back in 1983, the Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager and Chrysler Town and Country were 175.9 inches long and powered by either a 90-horsepower four-cylinder engine or a 136-hp V-6. By contrast, today’s minivans are corpulent. The current Honda Odyssey is more than 2 feet longer and has an engine with almost double the horsepower. So it’s little wonder that current minivan buyers perceive the Mazda5 as a bit too mini and not enough van. But that’s only due to its frame of reference: other new minivans. Compared to

the original, the Mazda5 is a keeper of flame. Truly mini, efficient and utilitarian, it’s close in size to the first minivans. And it has something else: style. The Mazda5 has received a freshen i ng for 2 012 using what Mazda calls its “Nagare” design language. This seeks to incorporate the sense of wind and water to lend the Mazda5 a sense of motion. Couple that with its friendly face, which looks as if it was lifted from Japanese anime, and most casual observers thinks it’s just a funky wagon or hatchback. This is a minivan that — and I apologize for this horrid cliche — thinks outside the box.

But it’s the size of the vehicle that will put off most buyers, and it shouldn’t. Given that most households are shrinking, one would think that this vehicle would be sufficient for towing kids and their gear. And it is. But that comes with caveats. This is, after all, a minivan not much longer than a Toyota Corolla and it has three rows of seats. So, to accommodate people and stuff, Mazda got crafty. There are three rows of bucket seats, so the van seats a total of six. Doing that leaves just enough room for a bachelor’s trip to the supermarket. Legroom is tight in the last row, unless the second row pulls their seats forward. Of

course, you can fold the third row, which leaves a large, flat cargo hold. If this sounds like a deal breaker, it isn’t. The rear sliding doors provide easy access to the second row (and their windows roll down.) Not enough for you? Take a test drive; that’s where you’ll be surprised. The Mazda5 weighs more than 1,000 pounds less than the Odyssey. Less weight means less horsepower is needed to move it around. It also means less weight while driving, making the Mazda5 one of the only minivans that’s actually fun to drive. Not that you will unleash your inner Andretti while piloting one. But in the daily trip down pokey parkways, this vehicle has the same energetic feel, firm

ride, nominal body lean and good brakes you’d find in a Mazda3 — one of the most fun-to-drive compacts you can buy. The reason for this is simple: The Mazda5 uses the Mazda3 platform. This year, Mazda did fit the 5 with a larger four-cylinder engine. Power is now rated at 157 ponies. Most will be fitted with five-speed automatic transmission, which can be shifted manually. But unlike every other minivan on the market, a six-speed manual transmission is available, although fuel economy is identical to the automatic. While that’s enough power with two or three folks aboard, loading up this little wonder will slow its progress. The cabin itself was fairly

quiet, and the test car came furnished with some niceties, like heated front seats, Bluetooth audio and telephone, satellite radio, automatic climate control and two frontseat powerpoints. There was no connection for an iPod. Also, two items you might want — a GPS navigation system and rear-view camera — aren’t offered. The radio display, a thin slit across the top of the dashboard, also displays information for other functions, so satellite radio information is so limited that it’s useless. And the 5 dropped satellite stations way too often. But none of this is enough to dissuade my recommendation of the Mazda5. Its nimble feel, perfect size and fuelefficient ways make it true to the minivan ideal.

Monday, January 9, 2012 / Page 5

OnTheMOve / Tallahassee Democrat

High-tech cars vulnerable to cyber-attacks Vehicles could be subject to tampering By Steve Johnson San Jose Mercury News

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Imagine this nightmarish possibility: Al-Qaida terrorists cause thousands of motorists racing down a freeway during the morning commute to suddenly lose their brakes, leading to massive chaos, death and destruction. Implausible? Maybe not, some experts warn. As cars and trucks have become laden with brainy devices to control everything from their air bags to their crash-avoidance systems, the vehicles have become increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks, according to recent studies by university researchers and security companies. One found that a car’s computer controls could be remotely accessed through their Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or

OnStar connections, potentially allowing terrorists to simultaneously disable the brakes of numerous cars, corporate spies to eavesdrop on a motoring executive’s phone calls, or thieves to electronically locate, break into and start cars they’ve targeted to steal. Another showed how a car’s tirepressure warning system could be wirelessly tricked into sending false alerts to drivers, which could prompt them to stop and fall prey to robbers following them. Speculating that villains might short sell an auto-company’s stock and then cause widespread problems in its cars, Ryan Permeh, a principal security architect at Intel’s McAfee division, added, “I can definitely imagine organized crime or potentially even nation states leveraging weaknesses in these

functions to cause different kinds of havoc.” Although instances of car hacking have been extremely rare, the threat has gotten the attention of automakers. “We are very, very concerned,” said Chrysler spokesman Vince Muniga, adding that it is consulting with computer experts to identify “things that may be vulnerable in the future.” Similarly, Ford “is taking the threat very seriously” and “working to ensure that we’ve developed a product that is as resistant to attack as possible,” said Rich Strader, the company’s director of information technology, security and storage. The subject also has gotten the federal government’s attention. “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administra-

tion is aware of the potential for ‘hackers’ and is working with automakers to better understand what steps can and are being taken to address the problem,” the agency said in a statement, adding that it has asked the National Academy of Sciences to look into the matter. Because of consumer demand for entertainment, convenience and safety features in cars, automakers in recent years have greatly beefed up the technology in their vehicles. It’s not unusual for luxury autos to sport 70 computerized control units that monitor everything from the engine, transmission and headlights to the cabin temperature, air bags and cruise control. Some cars even park themselves, or automatically brake to prevent collisions. But their various wireless connections can enable hackers located some distance away to infiltrate

an automobile electronically and take virtual control of it, experts have determined. In a September report about the “emerging risks in automotive system security,” McAfee described the case last year of a disgruntled former employee of a Texas used-car dealership. By accessing the system the dealership used to remotely deactivate cars whose buyers failed to make payments, he created mayhem by blaring the horns and shutting off the engines of more than 100 vehicles. Other problems could be coming down the road. In a study last year, University of South Carolina researchers in one vehicle caused the tire-pressure warning system of another to send bogus alerts to its dashboard. Because such alerts could prompt drivers to pull over to check their tires, the researchers warned, “this presents

ample opportunity for mischief and criminal activities.” Another troubling flaw was uncovered by a security tester hired by an unidentified U.S. city, according to the McAfee report. After hacking into police-car camera recorders, it said, “he was easily able to upload, download and delete files that stored months’ worth of video feeds.” Still more weaknesses were detailed in a study in August by the Center for Automotive Embedded Systems Security, a collaboration between the University of California-San Diego and the University of Washington. It concluded that thieves could wirelessly command groups of cars to report their GPS coordinates and vehicle identification numbers, enabling the crooks to learn the year, make, model and location of the most expensive ones.

Q&A: High-mileage Ford reluctant to start By Paul Brand Star Tribune

Mcclatchy-tribune

The Mazda5 weighs more than 1,000 pounds less than the Odyssey. Less weight means less horsepower is needed to move it around. It also means less weight while driving, making the Mazda5 one of the only minivans that’s actually fun to drive.

Question: I have a 2000 V-6 Ford Explorer with 103,000 miles. Several times a week when I try to start it, the vehicle will turn over strongly but refuse to start. Then, after five to 10 attempts, it kicks in. Most recently, it turned over and almost started, then wouldn’t stay running. It did this three times until it finally started and ran fine. In the past three weeks, I had it tuned up, replaced the plug wires and installed a new, powerful battery. The problem continues to worsen. Any ideas? Answer: Three likely suspects come to mind:

vacuum leaks, low (or no) fuel pressure or a faulty idle air control valve. Attaching a mechanical fuel-pressure gauge to the pressure relief valve on the fuel rail for an overnight cold-start test may reveal low or no fuel pressure from an inoperative or weak fuel pump. The repeat cycling of the key may eventually cause the pump to start. Pounding on the bottom of the fuel tank with a rubber mallet while cranking the engine may also start the pump — and confirm a “tired” pump. My Alldata automotive database pulled up Ford bulletin 03-3-5, outlining a test for checking the duty cycle of the idle air control. If the duty cycle

is high, check the electrical connections for the valve. If the duty cycle is low, look for a vacuum leak. Q: My El Camino has an oil pressure gauge that flickers when you first turn on the key. The needle goes to max and then back to zero, where it quivers a bit. Once you start the car, the needle flickers and then settles down at 35 to 40 pounds per square inch. It quivers as I accelerate or decelerate. I think it may be the sending unit, but I’m not sure where it is. Could I remove it and thread in a mechanical oil gauge and see if it flickers? A: Yes. On most older, small-block Chevro-

let engines, the electrical oil sending unit sits just above the oil filter or at the top rear of the block. To test the sending unit, unplug the wire, then turn on the key without starting the engine. With the wire disconnected, the gauge should move all the way in one direction and stay there. Then ground the wire connector to the block; the needle should move all the way in the other direction and stay there. There should be no quivering. If the gauge reacts properly to this test, the problem is likely the sending unit. If the gauge flickers or doesn’t react correctly, it might be the gauge itself. I like your idea of

installing a mechanical oil pressure gauge; no crafty electrons to confuse the issue over oil pressure. In fact, with the correct “T” fitting, you can keep both the sending unit and a mechanical gauge. And finally, make sure there’s a solid electrical ground with no resistance between the engine and chassis. Q: A month ago, I had the rear differential fluid in my wife’s 2009 Acura MDX replaced with “premium” automatic transmission fluid at a drivethrough oil-change shop. They also replaced the transfer case fluid with “high performance” 80W90 gear oil. Am I compromising the integrity of

the MDX differential by using “premium” transmission fluid? Should I have it replaced with the Acura brand fluid to maintain lubrication and possibly my warranty? Also, is “high performance” 80W-90 gear oil a proper replacement for the MDX transfer? A: Acura recommends GL4 or GL5 SAE 90 or SAE 80W-90 gear oil for the transfer case, so no issues there. Acura specifically recommends their DPSF all-wheel drive fluid for the differential, but it allows ATFZ1 for topping up the unit. It’s your call, but unless the “premium” ATF meets Acura’s specs, I’d stick with the carmaker’s fluid.