Care for a test drive, Sir?
One Holden dealership in Sydney Australia
will regret offering a test drive to a 19 year old punter,
looking at a Holden HSV (the performance version). The V8,
350 bhp monster got away from him as he approached the
dealership, mounted the kerb, flew through the gates and
landed in the forecourt on top of a BMW and continued on,
damaging almost every car on the lot. “I scratched it
parking,” he was reported to have said as he walked back
into the dealership with the key!
Honda happy in the US
Rubbing salt into the wounds of the
American automakers is the report from Honda president Takeo
Fukuda that 40 percent of its global sales have been in
America in 2006.
That 40 percent equates to a record 1.51 million vehicles
(at the expense of the American giants) and the Honda
president went on to explain that “Thanks to high gasoline
prices, fuel-efficient cars are enjoying growing demand and
our new Civic and Fit (sold here as the Jazz) cars as well
as our light trucks are selling well.”
The fuel-efficient market is growing so strongly that Honda
is investing 21 billion baht in new plants, just for these
vehicles. This has been the message that GM and Ford have
managed to miss for the past couple of years, leaving them
with a dwindling market share, and giving up their numbers 1
and 2 spots to the Japanese.
America, that great land of the free, needing its huge
pick-up trucks and SUVs is a myth. The American people have
been voting with their cheque books, as they flock to the
smaller, fuel-efficient (and Japanese) motor vehicles.
Meanwhile, the American auto manufacturers have been
spending billions trying to tell the American public that
they really, deep down inside, want the large gas guzzlers,
because it is more “American” to do so. That course of
action has seen billions spent in advertising agencies,
billions in promotions and ‘cash-back’ offers and blatant
price cutting. All to shore up a market segment that the
American people (and also the motoring public world-wide)
does not want.
GM and Ford do have small fuel-efficient cars, but they are
not configured for the US, and are produced in both Europe
and Asia. It is time Bill Ford and Rick Wagoner spent some
of their resources in making the American public aware of
their own small car products, and thus stopping the Japanese
invasion. By all means, keep a few large iconic American V8s
in the product line-up, but make the money with the bread
and butter fuel-efficient cars that the public wants.
That is why Honda and Toyota have done so well. They have
understood the mass market, and produce vehicles that the
mass market wants.
There is no closely guarded magic formula being used by the
Japanese. The words are ‘economical’ and ‘reliable’. Go to
it, FoMoCo and GM.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked what was the fuel consumption of a
racing Jaguar XJ-S? Hint. It was less than 10 mpg. The
correct answer was 4-5 mpg. That is one helluva thirst!
So to this week. The Smart car does not seem to have
been such a smart move for DaimlerChrysler, who have
taken it over. It has lost money ever since. Who has
said that it will make a profit in 2007?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first
correct answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
The Captain isn’t going down with the ship
With the news that Toyota is ramping up
production in 2007, GM knows that its days as world number 1
are almost gone. They cannot stop the Toyota juggernaut,
just as Ford had to step down from the position as the world
number 2.
GM’s Rick Wagoner
To be head of such an organization as GM would not be easy.
In the good times, perhaps the CEO could sit back and relax,
but the automotive world is not like that any more. With the
new threat of China just on the horizon, GM’s CEO Rick
Wagoner, is however, a survivor.
Automotive News reported that Wagoner hung on to his job
after GM lost USD 10.6 billion last year. He has battled and
beaten back one of the most powerful - some would say
ruthless - investors, Kirk Kerkorian.
This year, with his job in the balance, Wagoner was able to
secure a vote of confidence from GM’s board. He was
threatened again in midyear as Kerkorian pushed for an
alliance with Renault-Nissan. Had that deal come to
fruition, many speculated it would have left Renault-Nissan
CEO Carlos Ghosn in command at GM. However, Wagoner fought
it off, successfully.
So where does Rick Wagoner see the industry heading? Is it
electric? “The feasibility is going to be driven by battery
technology. It sort of depends on what standards you want to
put around it. But if you’re not requiring a very long range
of battery-only operation, then it could work. But if you
really want to get a battery-powered vehicle, you’re going
to have to have significant progress in lithium ion
batteries.
“It’s my sense that, having gone through that (fuel cost)
spike, more people are thinking twice about buying large
utilities. That’s why we’ve really driven, hard to say,
‘What are the solutions?’ These technologies, which don’t
cost a lot but can provide better fuel economy or options
for less imported oil, are pretty important for us. Flex
fuel is very interesting in that sense because for not a
huge amount of money, you can put vehicles on the road that
can use either gas or mostly ethanol.
“The industry still has tough issues to face. We know the
competitive situation, and we’re in this boat together. And
so we need to be very thoughtful and creative as we go into
2007.”
Wagoner also admitted that not being able to bring the small
Opel Corsa to the US (as it had not been built with US
design rules in mind) had been a problem, but one that would
be fixed. When asked if that would be a policy in the
future, that those kinds of vehicles will be globally
acceptable, Wagoner replied yes. “There are going to be
exceptions, but we want to try to develop cars and trucks
that we can sell around the world.” (This of course has been
one of Toyota’s strong points, with their global vehicle
policy.)
Natter Nosh and Noggin
The monthly car enthusiasts meeting will
be at Jameson’s Irish Pub on Soi AR next to the Nova Park
development. The car (and bike) enthusiasts meet on the
second Monday of the month, so this time it is Monday
(January 8) at Jameson’s at 7 p.m. This is a totally
informal meeting of like minded souls to discuss their pet
motoring (and motorcycling) loves and hates. Bring along any
magazines, photos of old vehicles, old girlfriends or the
latest Porsche GT3 for us all to drive.
Bira 4 Hour this Saturday
Vios hoping to last four hours
Well it’s here. The final showdown! Four
hours of competition running, four drivers per car and 30
teams with an eye on the trophy. At the end of the day, it
is not necessarily the quickest team that will win, but the
team that can keep its pace going through all four drivers,
never lose time in the pits, and not leave the car beached
in a sand trap somewhere.
The regulations are very specific. No driver can do more
than 45 minutes in one stint. Go over this time and you will
be penalized one lap per minute. Cars when they come into
the pits for a driver change must go over the weighbridge,
and must weigh more than a predetermined weight. Forget the
weigh-in or be underweight and you are penalized more laps.
When in the pits, the car has to be stationary for a minimum
of two minutes, or more penalties, and only four mechanics
can work on one car while in the pits. So if you keep your
nose clean, avoid all the penalties, never be underweight,
and have a reliable car, then you just might be the lucky
one.
In the Pizza Company racing team, we hope that the “sprint”
car with Jan Magnusson (ex F1), Thomas Raldorf (Thai and
Denmark GoKart champion), Jack Lemvard (Thai GoKart
champion, and Vios series champion 2006), Martin Stuvik
(Thai GoKart champion) and Simon Yates (front runner Vios
championship 2006) will have the speed to outrun the 29
other cars.
Failing that, there is Team Alzheimers, the second Pizza
Company Racing Team car. These drivers have forgotten more
than the other drivers ever knew, with a combined ages total
of 236! However, do not discount this experienced team of
Bill Heinecke (previously racing in the Porsche Cup Asia),
Paul Kenny (Thailand GoKart champion and experienced in many
categories), Michael Freeman (a long distance specialist who
has completed many Bathurst 1000 km races in Australia) and
myself, Dr. Iain, with 32 years of motorsport behind me. We
four know how to keep a car on the black-top. We will be
finishers, and to finish first, first you have to finish!
The third car in the team is another looking forward to a
fun day. Urs Schonenberger, an ex-bike and kart racer and
team manager, who wants to get the feel behind the wheel. He
is teamed with John Heinecke (Bill H’s son), Tony Percy
(another GoKarter) and Khun Ae, the team’s mechanic who
wants to show the drivers that a mechanic can do more than
twirl spanners.
So if you want to get close to the action, come up to the
Bira circuit this Saturday. Repeat, it is a Saturday
meeting, not a Sunday meeting for a change! It will be a
picnic race meeting, so bring the family. Give us a cheer
when we win! Or at least finish?
