March 13, 2012 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
From Automotive News: General Motors is scrambling to increase availability of popular Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossovers with four-cylinder engines. For two months, tight supplies of the 2.4-liter four-cylinder versions have forced GM to restrict dealer orders for those vehicles, which account for the vast majority of Equinox and Terrain sales. That has many dealers ordering more 3.0-liter V-6 models than they would like in the face of sharply rising fuel prices. GM spokesman Jim Cain confirmed that there are "temporary order limits" in place on four-banger versions of the Equinox and Terrain. "It's a function of a strong industry, a hot vehicle and very robust demand for the four-cylinder model," Cain wrote in an e-mail. "We're working with our suppliers to increase deliveries of key components" to meet demand. GM has told dealers that the supply constraints are temporary but it hasn't said when it expects the issue to be resolved, Cain said. He wouldn't say which suppliers GM is working with, although he said it was a Tier 2 supplier problem related to certain parts that go into the four-cylinder versions. He said the problem was not availability of the engines themselves. Four-cylinder models accounted for 79 percent of Equinox and Terrain sales in February, down from 87 percent during all of 2011, Cain said. In recent weeks, GM has offered $1,000 in dealer cash on V-6 models to lift sales. It's not offering any dealer cash on the four-cylinder versions, according to AIS Rebates, an Ann Arbor, Mich., firm that provides incentive data to dealers. Cain says both models are selling well, though the four-cylinder versions are in higher demand. In February, four-cylinder Equinoxes took an average of 30 days to sell, compared with 39 days for V-6 versions, GM says. Terrain sales took an average 44 days for the four-cylinder and 49 days for the V-6. The 4-cylinder is rated 32 hwy mpg while the V6 is rated 24 hwy mpg.
From AOL: Anxious over $5 per gallon gas promised by forecasters by early summer? How does $2.09 per gallon sound? That's what drivers of natural-gas vehicles enjoy now. President Obama is pushing to give natural gas vehicles like the Honda Civic CNG as much tax-credit help as electric vehicles. The motivation is simple. The U.S. has an abundance of natural gas that could put a major dent in America's consumption of foreign oil, and a significant push toward nat-gas vehicles would provide competition for oil companies and potentially drive down prices of oil and gasoline. President Obama's new legislation proposal to support alternative energy vehicles would bump the tax credit for electric vehicles from $7,500 now to $10,000 and institute a new credit for natural-gas vehicles that would cover half the cost premium for the vehicles (the CNG option for our van costs $9000).
As the trials and tribulations of electric car maker Tesla have demonstrated, this business isn’t as easy as it may seem, especially when it comes to building reliable electric vehicles. Unfortunately the Volt seems to get all of the negative press even though you will never get stranded in one, let alone be immolated in it. The other newcomer to the electric arena, Fisker, is having major issues as well. Our friends (?) at Consumer Reports set out to put the luxury/sports sedan Fisker Karma through their testing procedure. Except they couldn’t. Take it away CR: “Last week, our $107,850 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid flashed an error message and locked in gear with just 180 miles on the odometer. The disabled car was taken on a flatbed truck to the dealership where we bought the car. Now, after 48 hours at the shop, the Karma has experienced a rebirth, and it is operating fine at our test track. Our problem occurred during routine speedometer calibration runs on our test track, part of the standard procedures for checking in new vehicles. This exercise involves running the car up to 65 mph to check the accuracy of the speedometer. With the warning light on and chime sounding what would become a death knell, we coasted to a halt next to our maintenance garage, where the car went into Neutral, and would then only move from Neutral to Park. After letting the car sit for an hour, we were able to restart and move the vehicle, but the error message reappeared and it again locked in gear when parked. The dealer’s repair invoice says the problem was “duplicated repeatedly.” A “fault was found in the battery and inverter cable. Both were replaced as a unit.” In other words, we now have a brand-new lithium-ion drive battery pack provided under warranty, though likely costing as much as a small, fuel-efficient car. We buy about 80 cars a year and this is the first time in memory that we have had a car that is undriveable before it has finished our check-in process.” At least the Tesla didn’t “brick” while it was being driven.
From the Detroit News: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday it is expanding its investigation into stuck throttles in another 1.56 million Ford Motor Co. vehicles. On Sunday, NHTSA said it's opening a preliminary investigation into 360,000 2005-06 Ford Taurus sedans over complaints of vehicles suddenly accelerating because of detached cruise control cables. On Monday, NHTSA said it was expanding its review, in a formal request for information to Ford to include the 2001-2005 Taurus and Mercury Sable. That means NHTSA is looking at a total of 1.92 million cars. "The agency is actively investigating a potential issue with a stuck throttle resulting from cruise control cable detachment involving certain Ford vehicles," NHTSA spokeswoman Lynda Tran said. Ford spokesman Daniel Pierce said the automaker is cooperating. NHTSA said Sunday it has received 14 complaints from Taurus owners that said the engine revved as high as 4,000 RPMs after shifting into park or neutral. NHTSA didn't identify any crashes or injuries related to the issue in its statement. In a complaint filed Feb. 15, an owner from Hickory, N.C., said "while coasting uphill and approaching my left turn the (2006 Taurus) began to accelerate. I made the left turn while applying a good amount of force to the brake pedal for fear that I would hit mail boxes and homes." The owner of a 2005 Taurus told NHTSA in November that when stopped at a light the car started to rev "and could not hold on brakes enough to stop moving. Went through red light, around two cars as speed reached about 70 miles per hour. Both feet on brakes. Could smell them burning," the owner wrote. In both complaints, the owners said the problem was a disconnected cruise control cable.
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