Steve Parker, Motoring Journalist

AMERICANS ROBBED BY POLICE ON MEXICO'S HIGHWAYS

There's a story in the Sunday LA Times' Travel section (10-14) which details one American motorist's scary run-in with Mexican cops which was nothing short of a shake-down for cash. The story runs below, but some background is necessary as to why we are running this piece and think it is important for the entire country, not only the states which share the border with Mexico. (Photo --- Mexico street scene).

Several weeks ago, it was announced that Mexican big rigs would be allowed unfettered access to American highways. Although it was part of the NAFTA treaty, President Clinton decided to not institute the part of the treaty allowing the Mexican trucks and their drivers and their loads all over America; he limited them to a 25-mile zone north of the US/Mexico border. The truckers would then drop their loads at warehouses within that 25 mile zone and head back to their home country. American trucks and their drivers would then pick-up the loads and deliver them to their destinations in the US.

Many people, including those who run this website, see many potential problems with allowing the Mexican trucks and their drivers complete freedom to be on US roadways. Safety is perhaps the biggest concern; those of you who have traveled to Mexico have no doubt marveled at how so many of their big rig trucks seem ready to fall apart and are frankly frightening when one thinks about their brake systems, trailer-pulling ability, lighting systems, etc. Also many worry about the skills of the truck's drivers; are they subject to and familiar with the rules which govern big rigs and their drivers in the US? We think these are reasonable concerns.

An interview I did on my radio show with our area's state assemblyman, John Benoit, revealed just how serious this situation is. Benoit is the former head of the California Highway Patrol for the desert area in which we live, from Palm Springs, CA, south and east towards the Mexican border. He's in a unique position to judge whether implementation of this particular part of the NAFTA treaty is a good, safe idea. He's against it for the one major reason many others are: Safety and quality of the Mexican trucks. He told my audience that the only Mexican trucks that could possibly be inspected, due to the CHP's manpower, would be "those which are obviously falling apart". He said that even though the Treaty calls for inspections of the Mexican trucks at the border (and for American trucks going into Mexico due to the reciprocal agreement the Treaty puts into effect), that it is simply impossible, given the number of CHP truck specialists available, to give the trucks anything more than a cursory going over, not much more than a visual inspection.

For running this information, we received several e-mails calling us "racist" and claiming that Mexican big rigs are in better shape then those in the US, and that Mexican truck drivers are more highly-skilled and better-trained then those in America. I asked those e-mailers to send us more information on those statements so we could run it here for everyone to see; I never heard back from any of them. (Photo --- Gateway arch; entrance to Mexico in Tijuana).

There's another huge reason that President Bush has decided to allow the Mexican trucks into the US:  To drive down the wages of the unionized American truck drivers of the Teamsters Union. The Mexican drivers do not make anywhere near the level of American drivers, and certainly not even approaching the level of a union driver. The truck fleet owners figure that if the Mexican trucks and drivers have wide-open access to this market, then companies who hire trucks to carry their items will start to look for trucks and drivers which will operate for less money. If that happens to enough truckers for a long-enough period of time, American truck drivers will be priced out of their own profession.

Here's the article from the LA TIMES detailing what can happen to Americans on Mexican roadways ... and for someone like me, who has lived near the border for almost 40 years and visited Mexico many times --- without any problems with the police --- This kind of story does not surprise me, and won't surprise anyone who has visited Mexico or knows people who have. Remember, an important part of the NAFTA Treaty is the reciprocal agreement which calls for Mexico's roadways to be wide-open to US truckers. But if even the POLICE in Mexico are stealing from American tourists, what types of hijackings and other crimes might our truckers have to look forward to, especially those who regularly travel with members of their family in the cab with them?

ON THE SPOT

Caution tourists, Mexican police not above extortion

A few tips on how to protect yourself when south of the border.

By Catharine Hamm, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 12, 2007

Question: On a recent crossing from Mexico back to the U.S., I was stopped for an alleged traffic infraction in Tijuana. The police ended up taking me to an ATM, where I withdrew $500 in cash. Then they then let me go. What could I have done?

--Rob Gonzalez, Claremont

Answer: The letters we receive often deal with broken promises (by airlines, hotels and other travel providers), bad treatment (by airlines, hotels and other travel providers) and unruly behavior (by everybody).

But this goes way beyond unruly. It is maddening at best and frightening at worst.

At least it was when it happened to me about three years ago. My travel mate and I got stopped for "impeding traffic." We were lucky this was the only charge. Others have reported being falsely accused of drinking or having drugs. We got off for a mere $40 donation to the "Tijuana Policemen's Fund."

Alas, this is one of the dirty little secrets of travel. Extortion of tourists happens more often than is reported. It's not confined to Mexico, of course, but because so many of us cross the border so often, whether to enjoy Baja's beaches or to shop, we may get our turn on the horns of this dilemma. (Photo --- Trucks crossing the US/Mexico border).

And some people worry that new Mexican traffic laws, which went into effect this summer and allow drivers to be cited for, among other things, not wearing seat belts, for talking on cellphones or for having windows tinted too darkly, may increase your chances of a fraudulent ticket. The new laws, they think, are just another vehicle for officers to supplement their incomes.

The problem is so prevalent in Mexico that the State Department's consular information sheet acknowledges it: "In some instances, Americans have become victims of harassment, mistreatment and extortion by Mexican law enforcement and other officials. . . . In some cases, assailants have been wearing full or partial police uniforms and have used vehicles that resemble police vehicles, indicating some elements of the police might be involved. . . . Tourists should be wary of persons representing themselves as police officers or other officials. When in doubt, ask for identification."

So how do you protect yourself if you get stopped for an "infraction"?

"Try to get the name and badge number and specifics" about the officer, said Michele Bond, deputy assistant secretary for Overseas Citizen Services. (This might also be a new use for the camera on your cellphone.) The traveler also should ask for a copy of the citation, she said.

You also can offer to accompany the officer to the police station to settle the matter. This is said to discourage a phony citation.

If you're in a hurry you may be tempted to offer a "donation" to the "Policemen's Fund."

Before you do, remember that trying to bribe an officer is a crime, so you may want to reconsider trying to buy your way out of trouble. That's one purchase it may not pay to make south of the border.

-30-

(Photo --- Teamsters Union members protest NAFTA Treaty; but this isn't a political issue as much as being about safety and the economy --- Many see implementation of this part of NAFTA as a way to lower the wages of American big rig truck drivers).

WORLD VEHICLE SALES WILL BOOM FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER 100 YEARS, BUT BUILT WHERE?; BEST-SELLING CARS AND TRUCKS IN AMERICA

The number of cars and light trucks sold in America is staggering (light trucks are consumer- market pickups, tow trucks, ambulances, the engines and frames used for small motorhomes and the many different kinds of work trucks and minivans, SUVs, etc.; large trucks, like the classic 18-wheelers and large motorhomes and industrial trucks, are reported in their own categories).

Sales figures from the car and truck industry worldwide tell a story of more than just vehicles (Photo --- 2008 Ford Taurus; one of the few nearly all-American parts-supplied and assembled cars still available, the car is shipped to Ford dealerships from its Chicago-area factory ... But it is built on a frame "borrowed" from Ford's Volvo division). They tell us which countries and peoples feature heavy manufacturing as a solid part of their economies, and those which have yet to join the world's manufacturing nations. And they also tell us which nations are contributing most to pollution and global warming due to those heavy manufacturing industries, and the cars and trucks they produce. And as the auto industry continues its over-100-year-long movement "west" from its birth in Western Europe, what kind of cars will countries be making and people buying and driving 50 or 100 years from now?

For the past few years, annual sales of these car/light truck vehicles in the US have been hovering around 16,000,000. That works out to about 43,835 cars and trucks sold in America --- every day. Told you it was staggering ... But think of how that contributes to our economy. Those figures used to have a much bigger influence on the American economy than any other nations, but today, these figures have more of an effect on the world economy. Especially Japan's and Korea's; companies based there (and Germany) have factories and assembly plants in the US. Also, scores or even 100's of supplier companies from those nations also have facilities in the US to supply these "captive" car factories in the US. These plants in total employ many thousands of Americans, and they are all non-union; each and every one of them. The Flat Rock, MI, plant once shared by Ford and Mazda has had rumblings throughout its history of attempts by workers to unionize. Also called the  Auto Alliance International (AAI) plant, it is now the home of both Ford's rear-drive Mustang and of the front-drive Mazda6 --- both being built on one assembly line, a tremendous accomplishment in an American auto assembly plant. And while all these foreign-owned factories and companies write a lot checks for many millions of dollars to all those American employees, all of the profit, every cent, made by these companies returns to the economies their home nations to benefit those countries' economies.

The products sold in the US by companies which build them here are called "captive imports" (Photo --- BMW's "captive import" plant in Greenville, SC). These products are made in the US in spanking-new, non-union "green field" factories. "Green field" is a relatively new labor term meaning that the plants are built from scratch, and not in areas where there traditionally has been heavy industry, but in, literally, "green fields". These captive imports are often given huge tax advantages and "loans" from the state where they're built. In fact, those kinds of gifts from the states, paid for by the state's tax-paying residents, are often the most important factors when the companies are making their final decisions on where to build. And it's all kind of a bet on the part of the state, and their population's money; whether or not the plant will ever open and its products will be successful takes years to find out. It's almost the same as when a city or country or state goes into a "partnership" with a sports team to build a new stadium with the public's cash; there are no guarantees of success. Another critical item of extreme importance to the car-maker is that there are no unions or history thereof in the area they've chosen to build.

In North America, which combines for the sake of this report, Canada, Mexico and the US, 2006 sales totaled 19,990,000 vehicles, in Europe, 2006 sales were 21,953,000. Worldwide sales in 2006 were 68,727,000 cars and light trucks, 2.8% more vehicles sold than in 2005 around the globe. Compare those numbers to these sales figures for 2006 for the continent of Africa (1,323,900, a 10.7% rise over 2005's figures), Central and South America (3,584,214, a 14.1% increase over the year before) and Middle East sales (2,177,983, a 5.2% rise over 2005). The Euro numbers are a bit misleading, because countries such as Russia are now included in the sales numbers for Europe, where, before the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia was counted as being in "Eastern Europe", which included the Eastern Bloc nations, and always showed dramatically fewer sales than those countries in Central And Western Europe.

For instance, in 2006 in Russia, which is still the largest nation in the world in size, and has a population  of 142,000,000, making it the eighth most populous nation, there were  2,129,698 cars and light trucks sold, a mammoth 20.3% increase over 2005 sales. The US population is about 60 million more than Russia's, and produced sales of 17,141,000, a drop of 2.2% over 2005's.

What these national, regional and worldwide numbers clearly show "between-the-lines" is that there are huge swaths of the planet where private ownership of cars and light trucks is still a rare occurrence. These areas include huge swaths of land and the population of hundreds of millions of people, even billions, in Eastern Europe, China (1,131,000,000 population, world's largest, and only 7,525,000 sales in 2005, a whopping increase over the previous year of 16.8%; authorities say more than 7,000 cars a week are being registered in Beijing alone), India (1,129,000,000 population, second in the world, 1,740,000, a 19.4% increase) and Pakistan, South America, Indonesia (world's fourth most populous nation behind China, India and the US)  and all of Africa. (Photo ---- An assembly line at the "captive import" Mercedes-Benz factory in Vance, Alabama).

The ultimate "bottom line" of this piece: As established, through the above figures, that most people in the world as yet do not have access to cars and light trucks, the auto industry will continue to be the world's most important manufacturing industry for at least another 100 years, as it has for the past 100; one in every seven employees in manufacturing work in the world work in companies which are a part of the auto business.

The big question is: Where will all this manufacturing take place? In a recent world industry report, the United Nations recommended the following --- If a person plans to work in the auto industry in the coming years of this century, they should move to India; that's where the continued automotive manufacturing boom is going to be found. The auto industry started in the UK and Western Europe, then, when established there, moved west across the Atlantic Ocean to the USA where it is still very viable. The industry has continued its move west, across the Pacific Ocean, to Japan, then quickly, in less than one generation, to Korea and is now entrenched in Southeast Asia and becoming a gigantic part of China's burgeoning economy. And all signs are that it will continue moving now north and east, to India, as the UN says, then to Asia and Eastern Europe and even the Mideast (Iran has that area's biggest auto industry).

As in the past, it appears that the vast majority of the auto industry will stay in the Northern Hemisphere; South America, for the most part, and all of Africa, are still "out of the loop". Which means out of the flow of $$$ ... (Photo --- Ford's mammoth Rouge River Plant, built on 2,000 acres of reclaimed marshland, opens in Dearborn, Michigan in 1918. Its first products were "Eagle Boats" for the US Navy; today the Rouge Plant, where the Mustang and other Ford products have been made for decades, has been modernized inside and out, and much of its roof has grass growing on it to help clean the air, insulate the building and provide a sports activity area for workers and the nearby community. It's an awesome sight; raw materials from Canada enter the plant by ship on one end, and cars roll-out the other end).

Finally, a look at car and light truck sales in the US for one month. Automakers have released their September, 2006 U.S. sales figures. Here are the top-selling vehicles for the month, as well as the total  number sold and the percent change in sales from September 2006. Remember, these are sales for the month of September, 2007, ONLY ... And of these vehicle sales only in America. The Honda Accord, the Dodge Ram pickup and the Chevy Cobalt are the big winners. Biggest loser for the month? The Ford F-series pickup, which has been the best-selling vehicle of any kind in America (and the world) for the past 50 years.
   
Vehicle                  September 2007 sales        Percent change
1. Ford F-series pickup     56,056                   -21 percent
2. Chevrolet Silverado p/u  52,480                   1 percent
3. Toyota Camry              40,438                    6 percent
4. Honda Accord              35,031                    26 percent
5. Dodge Ram pickup       30,100                      20 percent
6. Toyota Corolla/Matrix    29,550                      -9 percent
7. Nissan Altima              27,871                       41 percent
8. Honda Civic                 24,752                      -6 percent
9. Chevrolet Impala          23,172                        6 percent
10. Chevrolet Cobalt        19,794                        30 percent
   

MINI'S "SPORTS ACTIVITY VEHICLE" APPEARING SOON

There's no doubt that overall, from almost any standpoint, BMW's Mini has been not just a home run, but a true automotive grand slam, possessing that rare combination of attributes which attracts people to a car, truck or motorcycle. Mini has done it all, and with the Mini Clubman (station wagon/panel truck) and Cabrio (convertible) and Mini S high-performance versions out and about or coming to the US soon, many enthusiasts have been conjecturing about just what Mini would do next.

Well, we have the answer for you. What did every other car company in the world do about ten years when planning for their next new model? Well, of course --- Bring out a new SUV! That's right, Mini is going to introduce their version of the standard big, boxy and bulky American-style SUV, and it being a Mini, of course it will be different from those "other" SUVs. First off, it won't be called a "SUV". No, the Mini SUV is a SAV ... Sports Activity Vehicle (well, shades of parent BMW --- We expected their Mini division to be a bit more original when it came to naming the new vehicle, but there's nothing wrong with going with what's been proven to work). Mini's SAV (photo) should prove popular as it'll no doubt be cute-as-a-bug, remain small and be as fuel-sipping as ever.

The original Mini was designed in the UK as the result of the British government, their island then in the midst of a fuel crisis due to the blockade of the Suez Canal, asking car designer Alec Issigonis to create a car which could seat four adults, carry a weekend's worth of luggage and, most important, get fantastic fuel mileage. Of course, nothing like a 'fuel shortage' would ever affect us here in the USA, and anyway, the government should never get involved in car design for any reason (said with tongue firmly in cheek). Sir Alec's car lives on today as the Mini (and the Fiat Cinquecento, aka the Fiat 500, throughout Europe).

Mini, in its early days, excelled in many forms of road and rally racing, even winning the Monte Carlo Rally. Over 40 years ago, an Irishman named Patrick "Paddy" Hopkirk propelled the Mini Cooper S through the twists and turns of the Alps into the record books. For in 1964 Paddy and the Mini took home the trophy for winning the Monte Carlo Rally, one of the world's greatest races. (Photo above --- Mini wins the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally, and Princess Grace Kelly and the royal family gather to honor the car and driver; doesn't the car looks awkwardly out of place, but happy nonetheless?).

Mini now stages a race series for customers and professional drivers. It's run for the past three years in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Germany. Called the Mini Works Challenge, Mini has updated its John Cooper Works Challenge racecar for the events (photo), which is now powered by a 207-horsepower turbocharged 1.6-liter engine (this Mini used to be equipped with a supercharger, dropped in favor of a lighter and more reliable turbocharger; turbochargers also do not drain horsepower from the engine due to "parasitic drag" as superchargers do. The supercharger, driven by a crank or belt off the engine, uses up some of the engine's horsepower to operate. Turbos utilize pressure from the engine's exhaust to operate). The Mini JCW Challenge racecar makes its track debut in Australia in early 2008. Mini claims a 0-60 acceleration time of less than 6.1 seconds, with a top speed of 149 mph. That's the fun hi-po news, now for more on the recently-discovered Mini SAV:

Since an SUV will be of particular interest for the U.S. market, BMW’s California based Designworks Studios have already given the variant much thought and effort. But when it comes to actual production, Magna Steyr, a large automotive manufacturing company in Austria, whose products range from simple to complicated parts to entire vehicles and engines, will build this off-road version of the iconic Mini, according to Automotive News. Magna Steyr's contract to build the BMW X3 SUV at its Graz plant expires in 2010. Then the contract-manufacturing plant would switch to making the new Mini Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV), sources said. About 80,000 units of the crossover are expected to be produced annually.

The Mini SAV, code-named Colorado, will be a five-door crossover slightly longer than 4,000mm. The Mini SAV will be offered with either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. The platform is expected to combine the existing Mini engine bay and front suspension with a new central and rear platform that will redesigned to house a transmission shaft for the all-wheel-drive version. The Austria-based company builds cars and trucks on contract for BMW, Mercedes, Saab and other customers, including Jeep and other models for European Chrysler showrooms. (Photo -- Mini Clubman wagon).

Magna Steyr has produced BMW's X3 vehicles since the model’s 2003 introduction. BMW announced in May that the second generation X3 will be built in-house at its US plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where it builds the X5 and X6. The second-generation X3 is scheduled for introduction in 2010.

US OK'S $23.6 BILLION FOR NEW VEHICLES

Now, we're all for keeping our troops safe; in fact, the best way to keep them safe is to keep them home, protecting our borders ... But no matter anyone's opinion on the Iraq War, Guantanamo Bay and other hot issues, like whether or not a US Senator might bend down to pick up a piece of used toilet paper in an airport's public bathroom, we say give our troops whatever they need to stay safe, to win whatever wars we send them to fight, and, just maybe, make the armed forces attractive enough so we can stop hiring $1,000-a-day mercenaries to protect our own Secretary of State. But even we were caught askance when we saw this article in Automotive News, and we knew you'd find it interesting, too. After years of supplying our troops with enough coffins, uh, we mean, Humvees to do their jobs, we've all seen that no matter what the politicians might say, these vehicles are not able to withstand attacks from roadside bombs, or what we all know as "IEDs", "Improvised Explosive Devices". Now, we know that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (remember him?) told a military audience in Iraq, while answering a question from a soldier wondering why he and his fellow troops had to strip metal from previously blown-up trucks to try and upgrade and uparmor their own Humvees, that, "You don't fight a war with the army you wish you had, you fight it with the one you've got". And we all saw what happened to Don Rumsfeld ... Thank goodness. Finally, it appears that those in DC think that, yes, it might be a good idea to send vehicles to Iraq that are already upgraded and uparmored (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, or MRAP, pictured). And you know what it's going to cost? Almost $24 Billion. Here's the article:

The U.S. Senate on Monday (Oct. 1) approved $23.6 billion in additional funding for mine-resistant armored vehicles as part of a mammoth defense spending bill for the 2008 fiscal year that began Monday. The bill passed by a vote of 92 to 3 and now heads into conference negotiations with the House of Representatives.

As written by the Senate Armed Services Committee, the $648 billion bill already included $4.1 billion for Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, whose V-shaped hulls can dramatically reduce U.S. troop deaths from roadside bombs. But senators approved an amendment by Sen. Joe Biden, a Delaware Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, that adds $23.6 billion in funding for the vehicles. That funding level would allow the U.S. Army to replace all of its up-armored humvees in Iraq with MRAPs, Biden said.

He said roadside bombs are responsible for 70 percent of U.S. troop deaths in Iraq, and MRAPs could reduce those deaths by more than two-thirds. The Pentagon has already funded or requested 8,000 MRAPs, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week asked for $11 billion more to expand MRAP purchases. MRAPS can hold four to twelve people and their hulls protect soldiers better from explosions than up-armored humvees.


MRAP contractors include: -- Navistar International Corp.'s International Military and Government LLC;
-- Force Protection Inc., which is partnered with General Dynamics Corp.'s Land Systems business arm;
-- a General Dynamics Canadian unit; -- BAE Systems Plc; -- Oshkosh Truck Corp.; -- closely held Protected Vehicles Inc. of North Charleston, South Carolina.

Now, is it just us, or is there some really good reason that we don't see any CAR COMPANIES in this  list? Maybe the folks in Detroit could teach these military contractors a thing or two about bringing in a project on-time and on (or even under)-budget ... and one which works right, too, which might even be backed-up by some kind of warranty. But when you're a military contractor and have been sucking at the tit of the American public for so long that anything UNDER a billion dollars is too small to even talk about, I guess I can understand why "Detroit" doesn't enter into this discussion at all.

All we really have to say is ... WHAT THE HELL HAVE THEY BEEN WAITING FOR?