Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Crossovers Outsell Sedans For The First Time Ever

20140430_largest_segments_tl

For the past decade, midsize sedans have been the most popular segment in America. But data from Polk and IHS Automotive suggests that might be changing.

According to Polk, the first two months of 2014 saw compact crossovers take the top spot in terms of market share. As Polk's Tom Libby notes

We may now be at an inflection point in the U.S. automotive industry – IHS Automotive data based on Polk new vehicle registrations indicate that in the first two months of 2014 U.S. drivers purchased more small crossovers than any other type of vehicle, car or light truck. Non-luxury compact crossovers' share of the industry has jumped almost six share points in the past five years, including more than three points in the last year alone.

We'll know more as more sales data emerges today and in subsequent months. While many observers tend to focus on individual nameplate sales races (Camry vs. Accord, Ram vs. Silverado) and brands (BMW vs. Mercedes-Benz), the moment when CUVs eclipse regular passenger cars would be a true game changer for the American auto market.



from The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 680102

Can’t Spell “1500″ Without Five-Oh: Chevy Releases Silverado SSV Police Truck

Cop cars bring their own special brand of badass, and we totally dig 'em around here—so long as they're not hiding in bushes on the side of the road, or chasing us. The same goes for cop trucks, of course, which are just as awesome as cop cars, only, um, taller. Take, for example, this 2015 Chevrolet Silverado SSV, or Special Service Vehicle, which is the brand's latest contribution to the taller side of the genre.

At this point, we'd like to express out how UUV—Unilaterally Über Vivificated—we are to see the Silverado use the same three-letter police-car naming scheme Chevy applies to the Caprice and Tahoe. (Both are PPVs—and when said aloud, "PPV" sounds funny to the less mature). Based on the Silverado 1500 crew cab and available with either short (5.7-foot) or standard (6.5-foot) bed lengths, the SSV more or less apes the Tahoe PPV, at least mechanically. The Silverado uses the same 5.3-liter Gen V small-block V-8 and boasts the same 355 hp and 383 lb-ft of torque. It's also is available with four-wheel drive, which theoretically allows the fuzz to keep chasing your guilty ass off-road.

GM boasts that the 5.3-liter engine is the most fuel-efficient full-size truck V-8, though we sort of doubt that's of much concern to the cops' minds when they're barreling down the freeway in hot pursuit . . . of a fleeing Krispy Kreme truck. (Sorry, we had to offer at least one donut joke.) That said, municipalities and fleet managers will surely appreciate every drop of fuel saved, if GM's claim holds up in the real world.



Typical cop-car enhancements like beefier brake rotors (said to last twice as long as standard rotors), an upgraded transmission oil cooler, a 170-amp high-output alternator, and 730-CCA auxiliary battery make the SSV's equipment roster. The stronger electrics and auxiliary battery, of course, afford officers the ability to give the neighborhood a light show, squawk on the radio, and record dash-cam videos of their new friends "taking a walk," all while parked with the engine shut down and without effecting the primary battery's charge.

The SSV pickup also features a 110-volt outlet and is wired to accept up to four center-stack accessory switches. Because drunk/seeping/injured perps are a thing, the spacious rear seating area is upholstered in a luxurious vomit- and urine-proof vinyl. (We assume the bed is even friendlier to gross cargo, but using it for arrestees might bring some ACLU attention.) Options include a front center seat delete, an auxiliary dome lamp, a backup camera, and, of course, spotlights, siren wiring for the grille and roof, and a headlight and taillight flasher system. Watch for Chevy's newest disciplinarian to appear on a roadside—or in a rearview mirror—near you starting this summer.



from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 647533

2014 Ram 2500 HD 4×4 6.4-Liter Hemi Tested: Making the Case for Gas

2014 Ram 2500 HD

For truck buyers whose paychecks are dependent on hauling capability, the longstanding school of thought is that diesel power is the only choice once you enter three-quarter-ton-and-up territory. After all, it's hard to argue with the massive low-end grunt of an oil-burner when you've got a weighty job to do. But, as with politics, access to power takes money, and putting a Cummins diesel under the hood of the Ram 2500 will set you back an additional $7995 over the cost of the standard 5.7-liter gasoline V-8. READ MORE ››



from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 647533

New vs. Old: Stingray vs. Testarossa, WRX vs. S4, Boxster vs. NSX, and More!

New vs. Old: Stingray vs. Testarossa, WRX vs. S4, Boxster vs. NSX, and More!

If "A Brand-New Car!" represents the modern-day American Dream, what then is a well-cared-for, pre-owned vehicle? If it's something less than dreamy, certainly a used vehicle doesn't present quite the new car's depreciation nightmare. Which is what enabled us to put together this quintet of comparisons, new versus old vehicles similar in price and purpose, if not prestige. We sourced excellent examples of the old cars, market values aligned in price with the MSRPs of their new counterparts. We also collated info about warranties, repairs, and running expenses with help from Vincentric. What we found is simple: Driving anything costs money, but the former is always more important than the latter. READ MORE ››



from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 647533

Housekeeping: I Don’t Like It Any More Than You Do

My reluctance to even consider banning or otherwise silencing members of the B&B has become so well-known that a few of you have taken to making fun of me about it. The truth is simply that I value every member of the TTAC community. You're too valuable to lose, and I try to keep sight of that fact.

Some men, however, you just can't reach.

Since instituting our no-ban policy, I've reached out to six different commenters who consistently strayed past the boundaries of courtesy in their interactions. Five of those six times, I've been able to come to an agreement with the individual in question and they've been able to keep contributing. However, my conversations with the person known as agenthex and u mad scientist haven't been as productive as I'd hoped. Therefore, he's gone as of right now.

I dislike a public hanging nearly as much as the need for it, so in the future we are not going to do a post every time we ban someone. The purpose for this post is simple: I want to apologize to you, the B&B, for my failure to control this person and my failure to redirect his obvious passion for the automotive hobby into a less destructive channel. I'm hoping that this is the last time I do something like this. Thank you for participating at TTAC. You're all important to us, and to me.



from The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 680102

Toyota’s Texas Move Isn’t the Earthquake Californians Are Really Dreading

JAPAN-COMPANY-EARNINGS-TOYOTA

All the jerks with jerking knees were quick to pounce on Toyota's announcement that it's moving its U.S. headquarters to Plano, Texas, to join Frito-Lay, Ericsson, Capital One, JCPenney, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and Yum! Brands on the city's long roster of corporate HQs. The move is being held up as another indication of how liberal, pinko California drives off jobs with high taxes and burdensome regulation. Once again, it seems, freewheeling Texas bags another scalp with a business-friendly environment that lays out the red carpet for corporations and treats them not as tax spigots and immoral rapers of man's labor and nature's bounty, but as the ten-fingered King Midases of American prosperity.

"California's hostile business environment and over-zealous (sic) wealth distribution policies come home to roost," crowed somebody on my Facebook page yesterday, before any of the details were known. Clearly, this person has never been to Malibu or the Hollywood Hills or Palos Verdes or Santa Barbara or Laguna Beach or Mountain View, where a whole lot of highly concentrated wealth looks like its being redistributed rather badly.

Still, it does look grim; Texas once again grows mightier as California bleeds jobs. Well, let's put aside for a moment the contribution to these sentiments made by the rampant schadenfreude for sunny, often-silly California that is a hobby in the rest of America (especially after this year's particularly lousy winter).

We also won't harp too much on Toyota's betrayal of its workers. Having grown into the second largest car company in the world and one of the richest, with about $60 billion in cash reserves, much of it coming from the lucrative American market, Toyota, a bastion of management-labor cohesion that once produced unparalleled quality and lifetime employment, is tearing up lives and abandoning its community ostensibly to save a few bucks. Toyota wanted to become more Americanized, which generally means a greater focus on near-term costs and share price rather than long-term strategic goals. In the parlance of our times, mission accomplished, boys.

Although I am not privy to the company's boardroom conversations, I'm taking for granted that reduced labor cost is a major reason Toyota plans to move shop (it's stated reason, to find a "neutral location" to "build the company and the culture from the ground up," is too ridiculous to give any credence). As ably reported by my former co-worker Mark Rechtin at Automotive News, the cost of living is 39 percent lower in Plano than the company's current hometown of Torrance, while housing costs are 63 percent less. Texas has no state income tax while California takes up to 12.3 percent. In order to match the buying power of a $30,000 salary in Plano, you'd need to pay your Torrance employee $50,000. Combined with as-yet unspecified relocation help from the state of Texas, which is probably worth hundreds of millions of Texan taxpayer dollars, Toyota's decision seems to have a lot of merit.

2014.5 Toyota Camry Hybrid SE Limited Edition

And it cannot be denied that California is not an easy place to operate for Apple or Google or Oracle or Facebook or Amgen or Disney or American Honda Motor Corp. or Hyundai Motor America, or any of the other companies remaining behind in the economic ashes wrought by Sacramento's Democratic monopoly. For one thing, California actually enforces its pollution laws with inspections and fines, such that dangerous fertilizer plants aren't located next to schoolhouses, and cleaner air via more expensive renewable energy is a policy priority over burning cheaper fossil fuels, which have helped give Texas some of the filthiest air in the nation. California's air is also dirty, but at least they're working on it.

And California's labor laws form a dense thicket of protections for employees against health hazards, employer predation, and racism, sexism, ageism, and other forms of workplace torment and unjustified termination. Its taxes are high because a vast and complicated infrastructure is required to support 38 million people mostly crammed into coastal cities with mountainous topography and the largest and potentially most dangerous geologic fault line in North America practically underfoot. California also has a severe water shortage that requires huge infrastructure investment and pits cities against powerful agricultural interests, driving up costs and aggravation for all.

While the largest state university system in the country is New York's, at more than 400,000 undergraduates, California has three state college systems enrolling more than 2.5 million students. Texas's largest public school district is Houston, with just over 200,000 students. The Los Angeles Unified School District alone has more than 650,000 students enrolled in more than 1000 facilities spread over 720 square miles.

California is expensive because it's big, it's complicated, it's rather crowded in the coastal fault zone where everybody wants to live, and it's loyal to its high ideals of remaining naturally beautiful and socially equitable despite global trends in the opposite direction.

And, speaking as a Torrance resident who lives barely a mile from Toyota's current campus, California is just a nice place to live. Which is why housing is so expensive. Houses in Toyota's zip code of 90501, which is about four miles from the beach, run $400–$600 a square foot. The market speaks with its feet, and lots of people want to live here. Barely a day goes by without the minions of some local real estate agent eager for listings rubber-banding a business card to my front door or leaving a flyer on the front step. Recently somebody left a handwritten note claiming to be from an agent representing a nice young couple, named in the letter, desperate to move into the neighborhood, and were we even remotely thinking of selling or know somebody who might have mentioned it over the garden fence?

157917781

Were you to place on one half of a scale all of California's negatives, from earthquakes to taxes, from regulations to recent power outages, from drought to fire to sharks and the state's near-insolvency, just one thing seems to tip it in California's favor: a daytime temperature at the beach that rarely drops below 50 degrees or rises above 80.

Around 4000 jobs are expected to be affected by Toyota's announcement. This cannot possibly be spun as good news for California, because many of those people will likely not go to Texas, but instead will remain in Southern California as unemployed job seekers. When Nissan left Los Angeles in 2006 for Nashville, the company lost around 75 percent of its veteran workforce, a vast exodus of talent and experience that chose to stay behind in the fetid, festering, liberal hell of the Golden State.

Those who do go to Texas will form part of the state's most active import commodity: liberal-educated professionals drawn to Texas because of corporate relocations and unwilling to suffer bad air, underfunded schools, and lopsided state policy that heavily favors the welfare of corporations of that of individual citizens.



Back in California, the body count from Toyota's flee will be a small number compared to the 130,000 aerospace jobs lost in Los Angeles County over the past two decades. That was a near collapse of an industry that the region has absorbed and bounced back from with rapidly increasing home prices, more traffic, and higher living costs. In other words, California will survive to continue both annoying the knee jerkers with its successes and delighting them with its problems.

Well, at least until the Big One. Oh, how they will rejoice back home.



from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 647533

Motorist Faces $48,000 In Fines For Mounting Cellular Signal Jammer In Car

file_CO1676_Flexible_Smartphone_Docking

Network World is reporting that a Florida man who installed a cellular telephone jammer in the back seat of his Toyota Highlander is facing $48,000 in fines levied by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC alleges that one Jason R Humphreys of Seffner, FL regularly used the device during his daily commute and that he originally installed it more than two years ago. When question about the reasoning, Mr. Humphreys told officials that he installed the jammer in order to prevent people in the cars around him from using their cell phones while driving – something that is, by the way, totally legal in the state of Florida with or without a hands-free device.

The case first came to light when T-Mobile USA's local carrier, a company called Mobile PCS, noticed problems with their towers over a 12 mile stretch of Interstate 4 between Seffner and Tampa. After noting that the interference seemed to coincide with the morning and evening commutes, Mobile PCS contacted the FCC who used direction finding equipment to identify the suspect's blue Toyota Highlander. When Sherriff's deputies approached the car, they noted that their own radios ceased to work and, after a search of the vehicle, found the jamming device hidden beneath a seat cover in the back seat.

Cellular jammers are illegal to own, manufacture or import into the United States and the FCC has taken a hardline stance against their use. Mr. Humphrey's fine technically covers two separate charges, one for use of an illegal device and another for causing intentional interference, and is being assessed for a single use of the device. Given the length of time he claims to have employed it, however, could have gone as high as $337,000. He has 30 days to either pay the fine or file a response.



from The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 680102

Google Shows Off How Its Autonomous Vehicles Aren’t Killing Cyclists or Hitting Parked Cars

Google autonomous car

Green means "go," right?

Well, that's a relief—Google has announced in a blog post that, after nearly 700,000 miles of real-world testing, its self-driving cars have gotten the hang of the urban jungle.

While it's reassuring that Google's autonomous cars are capable of digesting the often complex and chaotic scenes typical of a city street, we're a tiny bit curious over what things were like when the cars first hit the mean streets. Anyway, Google nonetheless claims it has had a trouble-free run of tens of thousands of test miles in and around its headquarters' Mountain View, California, environs.

As Google aptly points out, "a mile of city driving is more complex than a mile of freeway driving." While humans can take in a ton of information while behind the wheel and respond as if by second nature, autonomous vehicles must scan their environments and make (safe) decisions or predictions based on the information and data at hand, and that takes a ton of testing and programming.

Google autonomous car

Google cars' Terminator vision, made more appealing by bright colors.

So it's a big deal that Google's cars have been essentially "taught" to identify and navigate real-world obstacles such as bicyclists signaling, crossing guards holding stop signs, railroad crossings, parked cars, construction zones, and more is a big deal. (Bicyclists, children crossing streets, and construction workers in Mountain View previously unaware that they were part of a potentially disastrous experiment involving a technology undergoing active development, you may now breathe a sigh of relief.) Curiously, in spite of the cars' work-in-progress status, Google claims its cars are poised to be the safest vehicles on the road.



As the company puts it, "A self-driving vehicle can pay attention to all of these things in a way that a human physically can't—and it never gets tired or distracted." We are of the mind that a monkey or a six-year-old without a smartphone in hand is a safer driver than distracted or fatigued drivers, but we're also not so sure Google's cars are the zero-sum answer to distracted driving. There will always be some kind of scenario that falls just outside an autonomous car's programming, not to mention the nebulous concept of "judgment" that we're not sure a circuit board can ever learn. We'll still drive ourselves, thank you, although that isn't to say Google's tech isn't impressive. You can see how the cars take in and understand data in this neat video:



from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 647533

Mercedes-Benz Prices 2014 B-Class Electric Drive

2014MercedesBenzCClassElectricDrive

The 2014 B-Class Electric Drive, Mercedes-Benz's new four-door electric vehicle hatchback, will arrive at dealerships in July with a price tag of $42,375, including a $925 destination charge. The B-Class Electric Drive could be eligible for federal tax credits of as much as $7,500, in addition to state and local credits. The luxury EV initially will be available only in 10 states, including California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont, with nationwide expansion expected to be announced next year. The EV version is the only variant of the B-Class available in the U.S.; gas and diesel models are sold internationally.

2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive: Up Close

The automaker says the electric motor, powered by a lithium-ion battery pack, is equivalent in power to a three-cylinder gas engine making 177 horsepower and 251 pounds-feet of torque. Mercedes-Benz estimates a zero-to-60 mph time of 7.9 seconds and a top speed of 100 mph. The automaker also said charge time for 60 miles of range should take less than two hours on a 240-volt outlet; the vehicle's maximum range is estimated at 85 miles. When the B-Class originally was announced, its range was expected to be 115 miles; that figure is 30 miles more than the estimated range now being reported.

Standard equipment on the five-seat, front-wheel-drive B-Class Electric Drive includes navigation, a collision prevention system with adaptive braking, Attention Assist, 17-inch alloy wheels, an eight-year 100,000-mile battery warranty, no-cost annual maintenance and roadside assistance. In addition, the Vehicle Homepage system allows owners to access the vehicle remotely via computer or smartphone to monitor info such as the charging progress, the vehicle's map position and recharging stations along a planned route, in addition to pre-entry climate control.

The B-Class Electric Drive, which we first saw at the 2013 New York International Auto Show, has exterior and interior dimensions roughly the same as Ford's C-Max Hybrid and C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid, but is much more expensive. The Energi starts at $33,745, including destination.

Cars.com photo by Evan Sears



from KickingTires http://ift.tt/1hiG57n

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 647517

Toyota to Move U.S. Sales and Marketing Operations to Plano, Texas

Toyota logo on dealership exterior

It seems there's no part of American heartland Toyota can't win over. After entering NASCAR in 2004 as the sport's first-ever factory-backed effort from an import brand—and establishing itself in the South and Midwest with six assembly plants starting in 1983—the Japanese stalwart is now moving its U.S. corporate headquarters to Texas. (Does this explain the recent rumors of a Lexus TX crossover?)

By early 2017, about 4000 employees will relocate to Plano, less than 20 miles north of Dallas, to a brand-new facility that will consolidate Toyota's three separate operations under one roof. The move will close Toyota's manufacturing HQ in Erlanger, Kentucky; its sales HQ in Torrance, California; and a corporate office in New York City. Toyota's San Antonio plant, which opened in 2006 to build the Tundra and Tacoma pickups, lies about 300 miles to the south and employs 2900 people.

A few employees will move this year into a temporary facility before ground is broken on the new building in the fall. Toyota's regional offices for PR, finance, and Lexus are not moving. Its California design studio, Michigan technical center, and Toyota Racing Development office are staying put, too. Most employees will be offered a relocation incentive, but as with any major corporate move, not all will choose to make the journey.



Texas, which doesn't have corporate or individual income taxes, has been aggressive in courting outside businesses under Governor Rick Perry. Toyota received a $40 million grant from the state and is expected to spend at least $300 million on the new headquarters, while the automaker will no doubt save some serious cash over the long haul (which means cheaper Camrys for everyone, right?). Tesla is also eying the Lone Star state as a site for its upcoming $4 billion battery plant.



from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 647533

Chart Of The Day: Europe’s C-Segment, Now With More Premium Options

csegmentpremium

 

Yesterday's chart didn't include premium C-segment entrants, but commenter Vega beat me to the punch in mentioning them.

The Audi A3, BMW 1-Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class have been giving the mainstream marques major headaches in Europe for the same reason that mainstream makes with mid-size sedans are worried about the Mercedes-Benz CLA. Why would you have a Camry or an Accord when you could have the three-pointed star (at least that's the rationale in some people's minds)? Looking at the stats, the A3 and 1-Series would slot in at 4th and 5th place in yesterday's JATO rankings, while the A-Class would bump the Auris down a notch.

This effect is more pronounced in Europe, where mainstream brands have taken a beating. The only car makers that have flourished have been high end luxury brands (for obvious reasons) or low-cost brands that are appealing to value-conscious middle class consumers, and consequently stealing sales from mainstream brands. This is also why Renault is doing well (thanks to Dacia) while PSA, with only Peugeot and Citroen, is taking such a beating.

With a 1-Series or A-Class starting at around the same price as a fancy Golf, Megane or Focus, the consumer feels the same pull away from the mainstream, and into something more impressive. Unless you're Volkswagen- then you're just leveraging the efficiencies of MQB and laughing all the way to the bank, as both the A3 and Golf enjoy strong sales.



from The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 680102

TTAC Long-Term Tesla Part 1: Why I Bought A Tesla Model S

img-0174
Ed Zitron is a friend of TTAC, but not much of a car guy. After giving up his old, gasoline powered car, Ed went and bought a Tesla Model S P85 – and we asked him to write about it over a period of 12 months, documenting his ownership experience and what it's like to live with an electric car. This is the first installment.
I do not know much about cars. I got my license two years ago, after growing up in London, moving to Aberystwyth (Wales), moving to New York, and only then moving to New Jersey, where having a car is somehow more natural than having legs. I unhappily learned to drive, and just about got through my test on the first go, even though my parallel parking was – to quote the instructor – "bad."
I also know very little about cars – you go fast with right pedal, you stop with left pedal. Don't stand in front of another car that is moving, especially if it's moving fast. Porsches are nice, so are Ferraris. GM stands for General Motors. More importantly, petrol (or as Americans call it "gas") goes inside. It starts an explosion (I think?) and the car moves. When you are running low on gas, you go to a "gas station", where you stick a thing in your car and it smells a lot, but then you can get on your way again.
I started my driving years with a Volvo S60. It was reliable, unsexy and introduced me to the concept of driving well enough. I then moved to San Francisco, minus the Volvo, and realised that taking the Caltrain to Mountain View every day was going to become rather tiresome, and that it was time to buy a car.  So, I decided I wanted a Tesla Model S.
I wrote about games and gadgets for about seven years before moving to America and into the awful world of Public Relations, and I've always wanted the latest gadgets. To me, the Tesla is just an extension of this compulsion.
Waiting for my Tesla to arrive, I've been in Getaround and Zipcar rentals for most of my week. I've been in low-end and high-end Mercedes, BMWs (including their electric DriveNow rentals), Audis, a smart ForTwo and a Chevy Volt. Probably around fifteen different cars, all from good to great manufacturers. I even rented a 2013 Tesla Model S. I've seen a fair sample – though by no means an exhaustive one – of what the car industry has offered for the last two years. Yes, they all have wheels and drive in a straight line, and got me to the places I was going without catching fire, but the actual experience, compared to the Tesla, was inferior and anachronistic.
It's not the actual driving that's the problem – cars are, well, cars. Especially to a car-knowledge-defunct person like myself. However I'd consider myself the general purpose sample of most people – I'm guessing most do not know much more than I do. The problem is that most of these cars have navigation, bluetooth control of your phone's music (and sound systems), and general car settings. You also have to control air conditioning, cruise control, and other car functions *while driving*.
This is what in tech they'd call the User Interface. And the 'user interface' of most cars sucks, because before the Model S there has been no solid proof that you can do it better. The comparison is easy to make – this is what happened to cellphones. Before the iPhone, your average cellphone was an awkward chocolate-bar shaped thing that you texted on by hitting in numbers. The iPhone arrived, and the industry collectively shat its pants – touchscreens were, before this point, a quasi-joke that only Microsoft would back. Ironic, right?
Similarly, though not to the same extent, many carriers didn't want the iPhone around, and claimed it was too expensive, that there was no market for it, and so on. Carriers didn't like supporting it at first. Millions of people wanted it. Then Android happened. Overnight it was apparent that a lot of people didn't like buttons.
Tesla's growth is not going to be so rapid: this is a car, one that's anywhere from $60,000 to $120,000, and you can't just walk up and buy one in the traditional manner.
When it comes to the purchasing process, it seems like Tesla treats the customer with a degree of kindness and thoughtfulness that is missing from the motor industry. Perhaps I have not spent enough time driving cars to understand why people accept this – perhaps there's a low-grade tinnitus that stops you from noticing that your car – even your just-bought car – in comparison to every other interactive medium is about a decade behind.
Even though it's unfair to compare a Model S to a Prius, or an S60, or a Cruze or anything really below a nice Audi or BMW, the average guy like me is seeing very clearly that you can build an interaction with a car that's as pleasant as your phone. It means that they have to start putting more energy into R&D, and means that simply adding a screen or tweaking a touchscreen each year is not going to work.
It's an attitude built on a fat, old industry with great swathes of red tape and corporate groupthink. Cars are meant to be like THIS because our FOCUS GROUP says so. Decisions are made from the perspective of an executive (who would never drive said mass market car in a million years good lord no), thinking that they are in touch with the typical consumer. Branding experts win the battle against engineering and usability, and car commercials have become little more than televised SEO (look at all the meaningless statistics and figures they throw at you – even gearheads know that a lot of it, like horsepower-per-liter, is BS) and Deepak Chopra-rejected platitudes –  they are a black hole for information with a pricetag at the end, because they are anxious at having to admit that, in their eyes their product is just another car.
The Tesla upends this because it provides differentiated product. Yes, it goes fast and all that, but the interface is different, the car is different, it looks different, it feels different, you save money on gas, they have service techs that will drive to you, you have a network of superchargers, and so on. It's no longer a case of "THIS YEAR…THE CAR THAT YOU DRIVE COULD BE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER." This is a new kind of car.
That's scary. How do you compete with that? Apart from making a product as good as it, or better. But that costs money and effort, and doing so admits that Tesla might be doing something right. Which will piss off your dealers, and regulators, and gas fans, and…shit. Isn't adding an updated version of MyEnTouchLink just so much easier?
This isn't to say that the Model S is perfect, or that the supercharger network doesn't have problems, or that the beautiful electric car future is here Let's face it – it's very, very far away, and only the most deluded fanboys would think otherwise. But I'm not a fanboy. I'm just a regular guy who decided to roll the dice on a new kind of car. And I'm very happy. Let's see if I stay that way over the next 12 months.
Next-up: what it's like to buy direct from a factory store, using the Supercharger and getting used to driving an EV


from The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 680102

Hammer Time: Trading Cards, Tradin’ Cars

kids-collecting-cards

Rookies. All-stars. Hall of Famers.

Those were the only three types of baseball cards that I thought were worth the trade when I was a kid. I was eight years old, but that didn't stop me from becoming diligently schooled by my three older brothers who knew the ropes of other similar hobbies such as comics, coins, and stamps.

The drill was simple. Every time someone wanted to trade cards with me, I would ask them one simple question.

"What's your favorite team?" From there, I would bring out an album loaded with baseball cards. Every one in mint condition and encased in plastic sheets. "Pick your favorites!" They would gather their own, and I would go through their collection, find the fresher cards in mint condition, and gather mine.

Over 30 years later I do the exact same thing with cars. I sell based on interest and buy based on condition and long-term reliability. I'm still not loyal to any brand or model these days. For me, even after all these years, the opportunity to buy and sell any car comes down to three simple concepts I learned in my youth.

Condition, presentation, and price.

Every car has its price, and it's the condition and presentation that determine the value.

Unpopular vehicles may be the cheapskate's dream. But they're a seller's nightmare.

Three door minivans? Buy them low, sell them quick, and avoid them like a painful venereal disease. A cheap car with low demand always takes up space for too long. Base model non-sporty wagons from the Y2K era with 5-speeds? Same deal.

Low demand, low performance cars net low returns. Even if you are a stingy bastard. In baseball card terms, they are the common players that nobody wants. The Chicken Stanleys who are used as cardboard fodder for the Jeff Bagwells.

Camrys and Accords? You have to pay a premium for the good ones and unless you finance, you better get one without major accidents. What sells for cash at this "all-star" level is the mint condition version.

You can get away with selling a popular car with a rough history to those with bad credit. Whenever I see a person who is struggling with a fancy car, I think about the traders who could never keep their good cards for long. There was always something a bit more new and popular that would catch their eye, and it was my job to figure out what it would be.

Baseball cards and cars pretty much sell the same way. 

1) Always offer a history.

Folks are always purchasing three things when they buy a used car. The model they want. The prior owner they prefer, and the maintenance history they desire. Even if you offer a piece of miscellaneous nothing such as, "I bought it two years ago from an older guy who lives in Pawtucket.", the potential buyer will usually appreciate the fact that there is one less uncertainty in the history of your vehicle.

2) Sell yourself.

If you come across as an honest guy and an expert (or at least knowledgeable), you'll have a big leg up on the 90+% who are either too scared or too corrupt to do the same.

3) Don't be afraid to say a car has an accident. Everything has defects. 

In fact, telling folks specifically what happened can be a great way to affirm #1 and #2. A VW Beetle TDI I recently sold had an accident on the driver's side that required a repaint on the door and a replaced front quarter panel. By showing what was done, emailing the Carfax history beforehand, and specifying who did the repair, I was able to show the buyers that I had nothing to hide.

That candidness alone often gives you a price premium over those sellers who just glaze through everything. When I sold cards, I would mention the small defects and often times, it made the other guy feel like he wasn't getting screwed.

4) Clean the damn thing! Please!

You ever go to a junkyard and see all the wonderful souvenirs that are left behind by the last owner? Well, the junkyard doesn't have to worry about those endearing mementos.

But you must certainly do.

The next owner probably doesn't want that Hello Kitty CD holder on the sun visor. All those crumply things in the glovebox? Remove them and reorganize what you have so that you can give them a maintenance history that they can physically hold. I would get the car washed, vacuumed, and invest in a basic spray on or quick wax along with an hour or so of time removing stains and marks.

A mint condition baseball card was always a better buy in the eyes of my customers when I was a kid, and a clean car is no different.

5) If the car doesn't sell immediately, study the market.

Edmunds, Kelly Blue Book, NADA, and even dealer-focused price guides such as Black Book and the Manheim Market Report all have one thing in common.

They are rough approximations based on imperfect data… and much of the time, those imperfections are due to a seller's inflated idea of their vehicle's condition.

Everybody falls victim to this at one time or another. Even dealers. Even yours truly. Most sellers tend to price their vehicles in clean condition even though their vehicles are somewhere between average and God awful. If you see no action out there, forget about the price guides. Look at how the competition is pricing the same type of vehicle. The marketplace always tells you things that the price guides miss.

6) Pictures, pictures, and more pictures.

Take pictures of everything before you advertise…. and take multiples. I have often found that early mornings offer the best time when shadows and sun reflections have the least impact on my pictures. Overcast days are also great for this purpose. So make sure to take pictures of everything; especially those close-up areas that aren't perfect.

If a seller is already comfortable with the price, showing them the cosmetic issues now will eliminate the desire for a lower price when they see those defects in person.

7) Organize The Sale: Bill of Sale, Money, Title, Plate and Keys

A lot of folks have trouble selling cars because it's an organization game. You have to bring everything together and understand the sequence of events so that the flow of the deal is always in motion. Shake hands. Answer questions. Give them physical records of the car's history. Let them have time with the car. Be patient. Leave them alone. Give them space.

When you are organized, you can afford to be laid back and observant. People like that because it means you're paying attention to them and putting their needs first. When I was trading baseball cards, the eye candy alone was enough to keep me and the other person occupied. With cars there are more steps, but the same human elements of the transaction applies.

When you're organized, in anything, it's easier for both parties to enjoy the experience. It also keeps you honest because you don't have to figure things out on the fly.

Am I wrong? Is the four-square method of customer manipulation more effective than being a mensch, putting your best foot forward, and keeping organized?

Let me know…



from The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 680102

2014 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Review

2014MitsubishiOutlanderSport

Before Ben Affleck directed Best Picture-winner "Argo" and Jennifer Lopez was a judge on "American Idol," the onetime couple starred together in "Gigli." And that's what Cars.com reviewer Jennifer Geiger compares the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport to. If that doesn't say it all, Geiger's complaints about the crossover include "slow," "noisy" and "bland" — just like "Gigli." Unlike the rather expensive film flop, however, the Outlander Sport is thriftily priced — enough to ignore its faults? Read the review and decide.

2014 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Expert Review

Cars.com photo by Evan Sears



from KickingTires http://ift.tt/1hiG57n

IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

via Personal Recipe 647517

Archive