Color Is Out
Paintmaker DuPont's annual survey on car colors has found, well, we really don't care for it. White (including White Pearl as on this F-150 Lariat Limited), black, and silver all duked it out for the top spot in North America, except in Mexico where white had the lead with gray and red as runners-up. Brazil's most popular colors are silver, black, and gray, and Europe prefers black, silver, and grays. In the Far East, Japan chooses white, with silver a close second, while in China, silver leads black by one percentage point.
CHALLENGE X
Universities have been competing in another automotive event, this one known as Challenge X. Each school was given a Chevrolet Equinox and the goal of making it a hybrid. Entrants included biodiesel power (B20/electric), E85, reformulated gasoline, hydrogen, and plug-in hybrids. The biodiesel hybrids get around 35 mpg and aren't that far from becoming reality.
Torrent Out, Terrain In
Rumor has it 2008 is the last model year of the Pontiac Torrent. And, no coincidence, GMC is getting a small crossover on an updated version of the same platform for 2009. Sources say the new vehicle will be called the Terrain and will have unique sheetmetal and a different interior. The switch makes more sense for both brands--GMC being the truck/SUV mile, Pontiac more associated with performance cars.
NUTS&BOLTS
Web Find
Eighty-one years ago an American automobile company developed what is believed to be the first controlled access auto test track, a facility now operated by a major brake technology company. On Google Maps look up "32132 State Road 2, New Carlisle, IN" then zoom in, switch to the satellite/hybrid view, and scroll down. You'll find the name of the car company spelled out in 5000 pine trees planted there in 1937; and the name of the nearby park is not the same company that currently runs the park.
Chrysler Drops Plants and Models
Not long after cost-cutters and product mavens were put in place at privately owned Chrysler Corp., the announcements began. Chrysler will close certain manufacturing facilities and kill off four slow-selling models that likely will include the Chrysler Crossfire, Pacifica, PT Cruiser convertible, and Dodge Magnum. The Jeep Compass could be next.
Vatican's New Ride
Mercedes-Benz introduced Pope Benedict XVI to his new ride in December, an odd time for the vehicle design for fine weather but if anyone can change the weather...The latest Popemobile is based on the G500, has the requisite folding rails and parade arrangements, and is painted in Mystic White. H3 To Help Louisiana
Not directly, but the "Union, Justice, Confidence" State got a new dose of it when General Motors announced it'll invest $73 million in the Shreveport truck assembly plant, where the H3T will be built, on top of the $1.5 billion already invested, and the plant will generate $160 million in yearly payroll and $4.5 million in tax revenue. For more on the H3T, see our story in this issue.
Who Buys Hybrids
A consumer/media research firm has completed an analysis of hybrid vehicle owners in the U.S. and determined 42 percent have a household income greater than $100,000 and are twice as likely to have a college degree, buy organic food, and belong to a health club than the average U.S. adult. Twenty-seven percent have a post-graduate degree, skew older than average, and areƑpredominantly Democrats or Independents who identify with Democrats. Size Matters
As of press time, European regulators were still discussing potential standards for particulate matter that would require actually counting the number of particles that leave the tailpipe. Automotive engineering teams are currently trying to determine how to do it and of what value the information is once they get it.
LEGAL WATCH
Good Hands Means Big Money
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights took the Allstate Insurance Company to task in San Francisco late last year, arguing that drivers insured by Allstate deserve an 18.8-percent rate cut under recently enacted legislation limiting excessive profits in the insurance industry. Allstate was seeking exemptions to those rules citing financial hardship if held to the new standards, and in written record submitted for the hearing Allstate suggested they might have to cut services or leave the state altogether. However, according to FTCR, Allstate netted about $5 billion for 2006 and total shareholder return was 590 percent between 1994 and 2006, and Allstate's 2006 Corporation Annual Statement shows Allstate common stock "consistently outperformed both the S&P 500 Index and the S&P Property/Casualty Index (an index that measures stock performance at companies with similar risk to Allstate)." A decision had not been reached at press time.