The CarGurus Blog

Today I offer you a glimpse into the lives of everyday Mexicans, their joys and their sorrows as seen in their cars. As we all know, motor vehicles express the personality of their drivers, and nowhere more so than in this place. For the people who work hard in this poor country, a car is very much a luxury. A friend told me that a few Mexicans typically take very good care of their vehicles; the rest just run them till they die. Here is a Ford 100 truck, still surviving (from maybe the ‘60s?), a glorious Beetle making a cultural statement, and a Ford Escort of unknown vintage—all in Mexico Brown.

Click the pix for larger images, then come back.

Next time I’ll show you some more upscale vehicles.

If you know anything more about that Ford truck, shoot me a comment.

—jgoods

Car Minded, Classic & Vintage Cars, Domestic Cars, Foreign Cars, General Chat

Critics have panned the new Transformers movie, but box-office receipts already total over $200 million, which is proof that folks love the giant transforming Chevrolets.

Here’s a list of the GM Transformers and their availability (just in case you want to park an autobot in your garage!):

Chevy Volt: Jolt

Prototypes of the electric Volt are starting to turn up, and it looks like we could see a 2011 release. By the time it’s available, though, hype generated from the movie will be long gone.

Chevy Camaro: Bumblebee

Put your order in now! Chevy has already received 10,000 orders in front of yours, but the Camaro was the best selling American muscle car last month. Order one, and you will get it.

Chevy Stingray Concept: Sideswipe

It’s doubtful anyone will ever get their right foot onto the accelerator pedal of this hot concept… it was built just for the movie. This split-window hottie is one of the coolest concepts to ever carry the Chevy name, but it’ll remain a fantasy.

Chevy Trax: Mudflap

In the movie, Mudflap and Skidz are horribly unfortunate stereotypes. In the real world, the Trax is a concept that made the auto show rounds along with the Beat and the Groove. The closest America will get anytime soon is a 2011 Chevy Spark.

Chevy Beat: Skidz

This Beat is the second half of the putrid and offensive robot twins. Again, you’ll have to settle for the Spark if you want to buy one. Let’s hope the production version isn’t as offensive as the movie twins….

GMC Topkick: Ironhide

Ironhide is perhaps the toughest of the autobots, but the Topkick and Chevy’s Kodiak will cease production at the end of this month.  The good news is that you can find used ones all over the Internet!

What about the real star of the show? Well, Megan Fox isn’t available for purchase. Ok, okay… the real star….

Optimus Prime

He’s been a Transformers fixture since I was a kid, and lucky for us he’s remained the same through the years: Optimus is none other than a mid-’80s Peterbilt.

Have you seen the new Transformers movie? Which car would you want parked in your garage?

-tgriffith

Car Industry News, Car Minded, Domestic Cars, General Chat, Trucks & SUVs

BMW has been teasing the arrival of its newest compact SUV for a long time, but yesterday officially confirmed it would arrive in the U.S. sometime in 2011.

The X1 shares the somewhat awkward styling of the X3, but is smaller and has less interior space and less power, all at a cost that probably will reach X3 levels once properly optioned out. Frankly, I think the arrival of the X1 should mean the demise of the X3. Why on earth would BMW offer such similar models, considering the X3 is such a slow seller? Seems to me like a GM-style mistake!

Regardless, the X1 will debut in Europe this fall with one gas and three diesel engine choices, each available in rear-wheel drive or with BMW’s xDrive AWD system. According to a BMW press release:

The X1 will set new benchmarks in the premium compact segment for efficiency, comfort, utility, and of course driving dynamics. Achieving up to 45.2 miles per US gallon on the European test cycle, the BMW Advanced Diesel-powered X1 sDrive18d will provide remarkable fuel efficiency while still achieving a top speed of 124mph.

Well, I guess 45 miles per gallon should sell a few cars… that and some more pictures of a bikini model!

Engine choices for U.S. consumers will be announced closer to launch, but I hope we can count on at least one diesel option.

Does it make sense for BMW to offer both the X1 and the X3?

-tgriffith

Car Industry News, Car Minded, Foreign Cars, Gas for your car..., General Chat

The 2010 Camaro smoked the competition in June

Camaro versus Mustang is nothing new, though for the last few years, Ford has had the advantage of having very little muscle-car competition.

It’s been a bitter rivalry since the 1960s, though, and now the rivalry is renewed and even includes the trio-completing Dodge Challenger. Folks love to debate their muscle cars and point out why their favorite kicks the tailpipe of all others.

For now, though, the bowtie-wearing Camaro is the champ, at least in terms of June sales numbers.

GM says 9,320 Camaros were sold last month, compared to Ford’s 7,632 Mustangs. Keep in mind the Camaro is currently offered in just two trims (V6 RS and V8 SS), compared with the Mustang’s array of V6 and V8 coupes, convertibles, Shelbys, and Cobras. Pretty impressive numbers, Camaro fans.

Challenger fans: You have some work to do. Only 1,369 of you purchased your beloved entry in the American Muscle competition.

There are still six months left in 2009, but I doubt the Camaro can hold the sales advantage over King ‘Stang. Chevy owes a lot of Camaro sales to the new Transformers movie, and once that novelty wears off, the Mustang will be back in its rightful place as the muscle-car sales leader of America.

Can the Camaro hold onto its sales lead against the Mustang and Challenger?

-tgriffith

Car Industry News, Car Minded, Domestic Cars, General Chat

A Pontiac Vibe rolls off the line at Nummi

Maybe you’ve never even heard of New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. After all, it has kept a fairly quiet public profile since its 1984 debut.

I guess GM and Toyota didn’t want to make a huge deal about the two fierce competitors working together. But the Nummi plant in Fremont, California, has quietly built more than 6 million vehicles, including the current variations of the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Tacoma, and Pontiac Vibe.

The partnership gave Toyota a head start on the American market in the mid-’80s and gave GM an up-close view of Toyota’s efficient, lean production strategies. Guess who benefited most from that partnership!

At the time Nummi began, GM had a stronghold on the title of world’s number-one automaker. Toyota was just an upstart in America. In the years since, Toyota has nabbed the #1 title, while GM never implemented Toyota’s lean manufacturing strategy.

On Monday, GM finally said it was done.

Now the 4,700 employees at Nummi find themselves in an uncertain situation, as they wait for Toyota to decide what it will do with the plant. It’ll either be closed, converted to a Toyota-only plant, or use a substantially smaller amount of its capacity.

Since the plant uses UAW labor, I think Toyota should close it before the company gets saddled with union contracts. Toyota is smart, though, and knows the potential backlash for eliminating union jobs could include some really bad PR.

But a few months of bad PR would be better than years of binding and expensive union contracts. Nummi has served its purpose, and it’s time to move on.

Had you heard of Nummi before this news? Should Toyota keep the plant running or close it forever?

-tgriffith

Car Industry News, Car Minded, Domestic Cars, Foreign Cars, General Chat, Trucks & SUVs

I can’t remember Consumer Reports ever not liking a Honda.

In a recent press release, though, the popular consumer magazine thrashes the new hybrid Insight, saying,

The Insight is the most disappointing Honda Consumer Reports has tested in a long time. The Insight is a noisy, stiff-riding car with clumsy handling that is nothing like the Fit on which it is based.

Ouch. They go on in the lengthy press release, but I’ll spare Honda more embarrassment here. Not from Jeremy Clarkson, though, who was even more blunt when he said,

It’s terrible. Biblically terrible. Possibly the worst new car money can buy. It’s the first car I’ve ever considered crashing into a tree, on purpose, so I didn’t have to drive it any more.

Ouch again. He didn’t even trash the Chrysler Sebring that badly.

Considering Honda wanted to challenge Toyota’s Prius and take a piece of its monster market share in the hybrid market, these kinds of reviews are killers. Consumer Reports didn’t even give their coveted “Recommended” designation to the Insight, which was beaten badly by the VW Jetta, Chevy HHR, Pontiac Vibe, and Hyundai Elantra Touring. In fact, the Honda ranked 21st out of 22 wagons and hatchbacks.

Number 22 was the Dodge Caliber, but heck, the Tato Nano could beat that automotive disgrace, so it doesn’t mean much that Honda barely did.

To be fair, a Honda spokesman responded to CR’s wrath by telling Edmunds InsideLine,

Feedback from customers and automotive media regarding the all-new 2010 Honda Insight has been very positive. In fact, the Insight has won several hybrid comparison tests completed independently by automotive media outlets including Car and Driver, Edmunds.com and Motor Trend.

Whatever, dude. Looks like your car sucks…. Don’t defend it, go build a new one. You’re Honda, and Honda doesn’t screw up. You’d better not start making mistakes now.

Does Consumer Reports influence your car-buying decisions? Would you consider an Insight after this?

-tgriffith

Car Industry News, Car Magazines, Car Minded, Car Review, Foreign Cars, Gas for your car..., General Chat, Hybrid Cars

Aston Martin's Cygnet concept, based on the Toyota iQ

Apparently, a lot of people think the Toyota iQ is a good idea.

Our original post on the minuscule Toyota questioned whether or not the car made sense for the United States, especially with gas prices well below the $4-per-gallon mark.

I remain skeptical, even though a lot of great comments made valid arguments. If one thing can change my mind, though, it’s Aston Martin.

Toyota iQ

The elite car maker is taking the tiny iQ and giving it a new super-luxo skin, complete with a new grill, headlights, trademark side vents, leather interior, and an all-new name: the Cygnet. Go ahead and laugh if you want - I did when I heard Rolls-Royce was decking out a set of MINI Coopers - but Aston Martin’s reworking of the iQ looks like it’s going to work.

At first, the Cygnet will be offered only to existing Aston Martin customers at a price of about $33,000. Only time will tell if they’ll make them available to the public. The iQ, though, should make it to the U.S. as a Scion in late 2010, as a 2011 model.

I still think the iQ and Cygnet are just too small for the United States, but this comment from reader Jerry Zabin and others like it are pretty convincing:

I just returned from Berlin and I saw the Toyota IQ up close. LOVE IT!!! If this car becomes available in the U.S., I am a definite buyer! Gas prices continue to rise and this car would fit the bill. With US carmakers in peril, it is no wonder…the day of the gas guzzler has passed! In Berlin, gas is nearly $5.25/gallon and you rarely see large cars on the road. Let’s get with it America….conservation is no longer optional, it is necessary. The Toyota IQ fits the bill!

If you’re like me, you’ll take Aston Martin’s endorsement of the iQ to heart. Maybe there’s something to this small-car thing after all.

Will a $33,000 rebadged Toyota hurt Aston Martin’s credibility?

-tgriffith

Car Industry News, Car Minded, Exotic Cars, Foreign Cars, Gas for your car..., General Chat

If GM can deliver the Chevy Cruze, it might have a chance

I can’t remember the last time there was news about General Motors saving jobs and injecting life into a sleepy Michigan township.

We’re all used to stories of GM plants being shuttered and workers fretting about unemployment. Heck, one of GM’s plants is being overtaken by an upstart American car company!

According to The Detroit News, General Motors will invest $800 billion to convert its Orion Township Plant, which currently produces the Pontiac G6 and Chevy Malibu, to produce cars more on the scale of the Chevy Aveo and Chevy Cruze.

A worker in the Orion Township Plant
(photo from The Detroit News)

For the time being, that’s great news. Of course, people will have to actually buy those cars in order for the plant to stay in operation. The odds of an American-built small car succeeding are pretty good, though, assuming the quality, reliability, fuel efficiency, style, and price all work together to bring customers into dealerships.

Let’s hope they do, because there’s already some stiff competition in the small-car market from the perennial import players Honda and Toyota, and then there’s Hyundai and Kia going after value-conscious shoppers. Not to mention Ford’s famous Fiesta and the crowd-pleasing Fiat 500, which will arrive at Chrysler dealerships in 2011, the same year GM hopes to begin production in the retooled Orion plant.

For now, though, let’s let the people of Orion Township celebrate this victory and hope GM can pull a rabbit out of its hat and make this work in the long term.

Do you think GM can produce small cars that will compete against strong-selling cars that are already available?

-tgriffith

Car Industry News, Car Minded, Domestic Cars, Foreign Cars, Gas for your car..., General Chat

Fiat 500 Abarth

It’ll be a crazy day when there are more Fiats on the road in America than Chryslers.

It could happen, too, because the Chrysler/Fiat merger isn’t just bringing one Fiat 500 to the States - it’s bringing at least four: hatchback, convertible, station wagon, and sporty hatchback.

Perhaps the best news for Fiat fanatics is the “sporty hatchback,” which will be the famous Abarth version that won Europe’s 2008 Car of the Year Award.

Alfa Romeo Kamal concept

The station wagon could be based on the sexy Alfa Romeo Kamal concept, which should help Americans shed the wagon stigma of the ’70s. I don’t care what logo ends up on the front of this baby - I’d drive it all day long.

Come 2011, get ready to see fleets of Fiats cruising your city. I’m going to predict right now that these cars will hardly get to know dealers’ lots before flying off them and into garages across the country. The other side of that, unfortunately, is sure to be premium prices without a lot of negotiation room, which is something Chrysler salesmen aren’t used to. I think they’ll adapt pretty quickly, though!

In addition to the four Fiat 500 versions already slated to arrive, there could be a fifth: a micro SUV. Hey, if MINI can do it, why not?

I’m genuinely excited to see Chrysler shack up with Fiat; these are products much more relevant to the U.S. market than losers like the Sebring. In early 2011, you can count on me stepping foot inside a Chrysler dealership for the first time in years and taking a test drive.

Will you try out a new Fiat when they arrive at Chrysler dealerships in 2011?

-tgriffith

Car Industry News, Car Minded, Domestic Cars, Foreign Cars, General Chat, Trucks & SUVs

On this Monday morning, I want to open the week with a quote from a favorite movie:

A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don’t do one.

That’s from Fight Club and is pretty accurate, considering the state of auto companies today. If it’s cheaper for a company to just pay off people hurt by its products, why issue a recall and face potentially damaging PR? Those liability payments are costs car companies have to count on.

Unless of course you’re the “new GM.”

As part of GM’s bankruptcy filing, it’s possible it will no longer be liable for injuries or deaths caused by vehicles built by the “old GM.”  Our friends at Autoblog reported that GM may be reconsidering, but Chrysler set a precedent earlier this month when they emerged from bankruptcy free from such liabilities.

So if you’re driving around in an ‘06 Cherokee or a ‘94 Lumina, and it suddenly bursts into flames, the folks at Chrysler can just let out a sigh of relief knowing the third-degree burns their vehicle gave you are not their responsibility. Awesome, huh?

News like this doesn’t exactly instill the kind of trust GM and Chrysler so desperately need. Why are we supposed to believe that the “new” GM will be run any differently than the old, considering most of the top execs are still in place? At least Chrysler has the advantage of an all-new CEO and top management team.

I don’t think the world’s auto buyers will just forgive and forget a century of mediocre vehicles and start buying cars from a post-bankruptcy Chrysler or GM. Especially if they keep showing signs of continuing in their old ways, only with a brand new set of government-issued credit cards.

A company can’t hide in the shroud of bankruptcy and keep screwing its customers. Eventually we’re going to catch on.

Would you buy a pre-owned GM or Chrysler if you knew the company wouldn’t assume liability if it malfunctioned?

-tgriffith

Car Industry News, Car Minded, Car Politics, Car Safety, Domestic Cars, General Chat