Pedro,

There’s a trio of B-class cars coming soon, including Ford Fiesta, Dodge Hornet and all-new Aveo. If they sell well, more will be on the way.

JMc

Pedro,

The Cruze is an all-new design!

McElroy

David,

For whatever reason, Ford never thought it could sell a B-segment car in the U.S. When gasoline hit $4 a gallon, that changed. But now Ford has to build a plant (in Mexico) to make the Fiesta. That takes about two years to put in place. Also, the Fiesta will probably be priced right on top of the current Focus, so the company also has to bring the new Focus to the American market, and price it higher.

As far as the 65 mpg Fiesta goes, that uses a diesel. And if you know anything about U.S. diesel emission standards, it explains why diesels in passenger cars are a non-starter in the American market. In 2010, what is known as EPA Tier II, Bin 5 regulations go into effect. That will add about $4,000 onto the price of a diesel. Remember too that diesel fuel now costs substantially more than gasoline. I think Ford is right that diesels will not sell here.

Maybe VW and Mercedes can eke out some diesel sales, but it’s important to note that in Europe, diesel sales are starting to fall for the very same reasons: costly emission standards and the high price of diesel fuel.

McElroy

Robert,

Thanks for reminding us of the good passenger-car diesel that GM made. One of the guys here at the office had one, too and still raves about the fuel economy it delivered!

McElroy

ANSWERS:

1. Which country can boast that their brands occupy 2 of the top 3 spots for long-term reliability?

Answer: United States. Per J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, Mercury and Cadillac are in the top 3, along with Lexus. And in 2007, Buick was tied with Lexus for the top spot.

http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2008115

2. As of August 2007, which manufacturer had the most recalled vehicles in the U.S. for that year?

Answer: Volkswagen. According to Business Week, Volkswagen had the most recalls at this time a year ago. The second worst was Toyota.

http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/aug2007/bw20070810_455098.htm

3. Pick the brand from each group that has the highest initial quality.

a. Answer: Cadillac (better than both Acura and BMW)
b. Answer: Mercury (better than both Honda and Nissan)
c. Answer: Chevrolet (better than Acura, BMW, and Mazda)

This is according to J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Survey.

http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2008063

4. Which mid-size sedan has the highest initial quality?

Answer: The Chevrolet Malibu has better initial quality than any competitor, including the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima.

The Ford Fusion also beat all 3 Japanese competitors. This too is from the J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey, which also reveals that above average are American brands Mercury, Ford, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Lincoln, and Buick. Below average are import brands Acura, Kia, Nissan, BMW, Mazda, VW, Subaru, and Scion (and several others).

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/articles/2008-Initial-Quality:-Midsize-and-Large-Cars

http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2008063

5. Which large sedan has the highest initial quality?

Answer: Again per J.D. Power, the highest quality large car is the Pontiac Grand Prix, beating the Toyota Avalon. Two other Detroit cars that beat the Avalon are the Mercury Sable and Mercury Grand Marquis.

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/articles/2008-Initial-Quality:-Midsize-and-Large-Cars

6. Which mid-size pickup has the highest initial quality?

Answer: The Dodge Dakota has the best quality for mid-size pickups, proving that Chrysler too can beat the imports. Both the Dakota and the Ford Ranger beat the Toyota Tacoma.

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/articles/2008-Initial-Quality:-Pickups-and-Vans

7. Which car is the most economical overall?

Answer: Per Edmunds.com, the premier automotive analysis site, the most economical car in America, taking into account not only mileage but all costs, is the Chevrolet Aveo. The Honda Fit is #3 and the Toyota Prius is a distant #34.

http://www.edmunds.com/help/about/press/127806/article.html

8. Which car did the Los Angeles Times describe as “a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti”?

Answer: “Cadillac makes a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti, and that car is the 2008 CTS. No other car in the mass market dares so much as this expressive and audacious bit of automotive avant-gardism.” Dan Neil, LA Times.

http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-neil12dec12-pg,0,5427133.photogallery

9. Which company makes the winner of the 2008 “Green Car of the Year” award?

Answer: The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid is the winner of this award. How could a full-size SUV defeat the media darling Toyota Prius? Read the link below and you will discover, “What’s equally eye-opening is that the Tahoe’s 21 mpg city fuel efficiency rating is the same as that of the city EPA rating for the four-cylinder Toyota Camry sedan.”

Did you catch that? A huge, full-size SUV from Chevrolet that gets the same city mileage as a 4-cylinder Toyota Camry!! Chevy obtained this remarkable achievement through the use of its 2-mode hybrid system, a technology that Toyota does not have.

http://www.greencar.com/features/2008greencar/

10. Which car was selected by the North American automotive press corps as the “North American Car of the Year” for 2007?

Answer: Not only was the Saturn Aura picked by the automotive press corps as better than the Honda Fit and the Toyota Camry, “When a panel of 47 journalists named the Saturn Aura the North American Car of the Year over the Toyota Camry, the vote wasn't even close, 205-89.” Chicago Tribune, 1/15/07

http://www.northamericancaroftheyear.org/news.html

11. Which car won the same award for 2008?

Answer: GM again crushed the Japanese competition in 2008 when the Malibu received 190 votes to the Honda Accord’s 95. The Accord actually came in 3rd since GM’s other finalist, the Cadillac CTS, received 165 votes.

http://www.northamericancaroftheyear.org/news.html

12. Which company had a luxury vehicle, a mid-size sedan, and a large truck removed from the Consumer Reports recommended vehicles list in October 2007 because of mounting quality problems?

Answer: Toyota’s much publicized quality problems resulted in Consumer Reports actually removing from their recommended vehicles list the Lexus GS luxury car, Camry V6 sedan, and Tundra pickup. This demotion occurred in October 2007.

This Q&A list was put together by an employee of an American car company who just might lose his job because of public perceptions that do not match reality. If you are one of the many Americans who gave up on Detroit’s cars because of a bad experience many years ago, it’s time to rethink your position. Rethink Detroit.

Detroit automakers: 79 U.S. jobs per 2,500 cars sold in America.
Foreign automakers: 33 U.S. jobs per 2,500 cars sold in America.

http://levelfieldinstitute.org/

http://www.overthehillcarpeople.com/

Michael,

Great question, and one that is going to take a lot more research on my part before I truly understand it.

But here’s the short version, which comes to me via a guy named John Kingston, the top oil analyst at Platt’s, a company that monitors energy markets:

Refiners don’t make much profit on gasoline. They almost look at it as a waste product in the refining process. They’d much rather refine oil into other higher-profit products, like diesel.

For the last two years global inventories of gasoline have been tight and global demand has been pretty robust and that sent gas prices soaring. But in the last few months a global economic slowdown has tempered demand. As a result, inventories of gasoline are a little higher than before, and prices have come down, though they haven’t come down as much as the price of oil has.

While the price of gasoline is related to the price of oil, it’s not a 1-to-1 relationship. It has more to do with inventory. If there is plenty of gasoline in inventory, gas prices can decline, even if the price of oil is going up. Conversely, if gasoline inventories are tight, prices can go up even if oil prices decline. That’s what we’re seeing right now due to Hurricane Ike. Inventory of gasoline is very tight because refineries have shut down, even though oil prices just dropped below $100 a barrel.

McElroy

Hugues,

We’ll have more about the new Forester at the end of the year, when we do the complete wrap-up for the new models. At the time we shot the show you saw, none of us had driven the Forester.

McElroy

Aw Randy,

I always knew I wasn’t as smart as a 5th grader!

JMc

Jim,

When it comes to Flex-fuel vehicles from GM, there’s more than just the Impala. The Chevy HHR is available with a Flex-fuel 4-cylinder, and the Buick Lucerne has a Flex-fuel model, too.

In trucks, you can get Flex-fuel versions of the Silverado, Sierra, Avalanche, Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon, Savana and Express.

GM says that by 2012, 50% of its vehicles will be Flex-fuel.

Now, as far as blending higher than E10 in your non-flex-fuel car: DON’T DO IT! It’s not the engine that you’re going to damage. The alcohol in the fuel is going to eat the rubber gaskets and o-rings in your fuel pump and in the gas lines. It could also rust out part of the fuel system, unless it’s all stainless steel. That will not set off any engine codes.

McElroy

Bill,

When fuel prices go down and we go back to our profligate ways OPEC is going to control us more than ever before and leave us open to a bigger disaster in the future. Why keep a gun pointed at America’s head?

McElroy

Conway,

You raise a great issue. This is going to become a hot topic of debate over the next decade.

Most motorists hate gas taxes, but as you point out, that’s what paves our roads and builds our bridges. Most of the interstate system is now over half a century old. To keep our roads in top condition, those taxes should probably be raised right now.

But as people drive less, and buy less gas, those tax revenues are falling.

Some states are considering going to a per-mile tax, rather than a gas tax. But how do you measure how many miles a car has traveled, and do it fairly and make it easy to monitor?

This is not going to be an easy fix. In Michigan for example, Governor Jennifer Granholm has already said she won’t tolerate higher gas taxes or toll roads, even though our roads are in desperate need of better repair and maintenance. Where’s the money going to come from?

As the situation gets more desperate, we’ll start to hear a lot more debate about this issue.

McElroy

Steve,

Several thoughts.

Lithium-ion batteries are horrifically expensive. In the Volt, the first generation battery pack will cost $10,000. It has to be designed for long life, so that the cost can be amortized over a long period of time. It’s unrealistic to think that those batteries can be pulled out after 6 to 12 months and recycled cheaply. I promise you no automaker will achieve that in the first generation (or second, or third).

You may be right that there will be problems with the early batteries, but that certainly hasn’t been the case with nickel-metal hydride batteries in hybrids. In fact, they’ve surprised just about everyone with how long they’re lasting. Automakers will take the same care to have the same thing happen with li-on.

Just because the battery pack is a structural member, don’t think that you can’t unbolt it and remove the batteries. It won’t be that difficult.

Also, next time don’t buy the stock in any car company based on the promise of a future model, no matter how promising it sounds. First check out the economic fundamentals of an automaker before taking the plunge. Having said that, I hope GM stock soars in the future and makes you filthy rich!

McElroy

Bryan,

Actually we do offer podcasts of every show as well as Autoline EXTRA. They're free of charge and a convenient way to receive Autoline each week. You can find all the info you need about subscription options here: http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/autoline/podcast.php

McElroy

Butch,

I always cite my sources whenever I use information that I got from interviews, research or other publications. Otherwise, it’s stuff that comes out of my head!

McElroy

Jeff,

You’re right, the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA) has two engine plants, each capable of making 400,000 engines a year, and one of them is sitting empty. GEMA is an alliance between Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Hyundai. As you know, Chrysler is having problems selling its 4-cylinder cars and Jeeps, Mitsubishi’s sales are in a complete tailspin, and Hyundai, for whatever reason has never taken any engines from that plant.

As a result, Chrysler is out shopping the empty engine plant to any manufacturer that wants to use it.

But you know what the lead times in this industry are. Even if some car company signed a deal this afternoon to start using that plant, it would take a couple of years before it would make its first engine.

There is a shortage of 4-cylinder engine capacity in the U.S. market right now, due to high gas prices. But will those prices stay where they are? Will they shoot up higher? Will they drop a lot more? No one knows, and due to that uncertainty most automakers are sitting on their hands to see what happens.

Even so, it’s likely someone will use at least part of that plant.

McElroy