Here's the wrap-up of important auto industry news which you'll find useful and interesting ... So you don't have to spend hours and slog through countless (and often useless) BLOGS, industry sites and all the rest --- We do all that for you! In this report, Smart cars are available for 'reservation' only, GM extends their big new warranty to used buyers and maybe ethanol ain't all it's cracked up to be (and believe it or not, I'll be speaking on that topic to a gathering of MBAs from Harvard, Wharton and Stanford later this month --- Guess I'll wear that tie) ... And there's much, much more! Read and enjoy! (Photo Above - A JD Power award).
JD POWER NAMES THE SEVEN WORST CAR COMPANIES!
Can there be anything worse in the auto business than a bad reputation?
Market analysts at J.D. Power and Associates have labeled seven of the industry's brands with a "poor reputation."
Jaguar, Jeep, Hyundai, Kia, Land Rover, Saab and Suzuki had the worst
reputations in the business among consumers last year, according to data presented here at the J.D. Power Automotive Roundtable. Power uses attitude surveys of both consumers who own a brand and those who do not to classify perceptions of the brand's reputation. (Photo right --- JD Power corporate logo).
WANNA BE 'SMART'? GOTTA MAKE A RESERVATION!
Smart USA
Paying the fee -- the maximum permitted without violating state laws -- won't buy a place in line for the ForTwo, expected to go on sale in early 2008, says Schembri. But it will give Smart a better idea of the specification packages and colors that potential buyers want. The $99 can be refunded or applied to the purchase price. (Photo - A covey o'smarts).
The reservations will be turned over to Smart dealers, who will handle the transaction and deliver the car.
"We think on the day we open the doors, we will be able to present dealers with very qualified prospects," says Schembri.
Anthony Pordon, Smart senior vice president, says the reservation can't be a place-holder because of geography. The first round of about 50 to 60 dealers will be appointed in 30 to 35 markets on both coasts and in the South.
But the reservations will give potential buyers a connection with the brand and Smart a way to directly communicate with intenders.
GM'S MUCH-BALLYHOED WARRANTY TO BE MADE AVAILABLE TO
General Motors will cover vehicles sold under its GM Certified brand with 5-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranties starting March 5.
The enhancement will be effective from the time the vehicles were sold as new, Brian McVeigh, general manger of GM Fleet and Commercial Operations, said today. The warranty is transferable and has no deductible.
The new powertrain coverage is in addition to GM Certified's 3-month/3,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and any remaining portion of GM's 3-year/36,000-mile new-car warranty. GM added 5-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty coverage to 2007 models last fall.
The enhancement will cover all 2002-2006 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Oldsmobile and Pontiac
Cadillac, Hummer and Saab have separate certified used-vehicle programs. Vehicles sold under those programs are covered by 6-year/100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranties effective from the time the vehicles were sold as new.
US SENATORS GRILL CAR-MAKERS ON PRODUCING MORE FUEL-EFFICIENT VEHICLES --- AND WHY THEY HAVEN'T DONE AS MUCH AS THEY SOME THINK THEY CAN
Members of the Senate energy committee want automakers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles to help the industry weather the impact of higher gas prices and improve their long-term fortunes.
"Maybe we need to help you help yourself by pushing these standards," Republican Sen. Gordon Smith said during a hearing by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Representatives of General Motors Corp., Honda Motor Co. and
other automakers said the government could help foster advanced
technologies and improvements in hybrid batteries through a mix of
tax incentives and funding for research.
Some lawmakers appeared resistant to that approach, saying the
industry had placed too much of a premium on building large sport
utility vehicles that are less fuel-efficient than passenger cars.
"It seems like we are expected to do so without very much in
return in the form of higher efficiency standards by the industry,
and I think this is a shared responsibility," said Democratic Sen.
Robert Menendez.
Menendez asked whether General Motors supported tougher
requirements under the government's Corporate Average Fuel Economy
system, or CAFE. GM's Beth Lowery said recent changes to the rules
for pickup trucks and SUVs helped create a fairer system, and the
company was "willing to look at car CAFE reform as well."
"It is a very complex subject, and it's very difficult to just pick a number," Lowery said. A Honda representative said the company supported fuel economy increases through performance
requirements. (Photo - GM, DCX, BMW-developed electric hybrid transmission system).
MAKIN' ETHANOL --- HIGHER PRICES FOR EVERYTHING ELSE?
Forget about oil as the inflation bogeyman we should fear the most. The surging price of corn is the latest threat to Americans' wallets, and where it hits them may go beyond the supermarket.
The issue here really starts with the government's push to increase
the use of alternative fuels like ethanol to reduce a reliance on foreign oil. Since most ethanol produced here is made from corn, that burgeoning boom is straining corn supplies, and boosting prices. (Photo - corn field in action).
That makes everything from soda (sweetened with high fructose
corn syrup) to the steak from corn-fed beef more expensive. It's also crimping ethanol producers' profitability, which could lead to calls for increased federal subsidies to keep them afloat.
This is all happening just as consumers are starting to feel some relief from lower energy prices, which are down nearly 30 percent from the highs reached last summer. Inflationary concerns have now shifted to corn, which has doubled in price from a year ago to a 10-year high of around $4 a bushel today.
Last year's corn harvest was the third-largest in U.S.
Union 
Congress passed an energy bill in 2005 that mandated the doubling of alternative-fuel use by 2012 to 7.5 billion gallons a year. Then President Bush upped the ante in his State of the
That would be a big climb from where we are right now: An estimated 4.9 billion gallons were produced in 2006, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group representing the ethanol industry. In 2000, 1.6 billion gallons were produced.
There are currently 112 active ethanol plants, while 77 are under construction and 7 are being expanded, the trade group said. Big companies like Archer Daniels Midland Co. to smaller startups and farmers have jumped in on the ethanol-driven corn rush.
But making money on ethanol has become increasingly difficult with corn prices surging at the same time that oil prices are falling to 18-month lows. The spread between the sales value of finished fuel ethanol -- which is tied to gasoline prices -- and the price of corn is getting squeezed fast.
(Our own note on this topic: Making ethanol from corn is not the best way, many say, to
create that product for use in vehicles. Many experts say it would be much better to use sugar beets. Corn is an expensive crop; only one crop can be grown annually, it takes a large amount of chemicals and fertilizers to bring in a good crop and after only a few years, the land can grow fallow and unusable for any crops for a long period of time. Some investors are buying up huge tracts of land in Hawaii, now that that state's pineapple production has moved to the Phillipines, and are planning to use that now-empty land to grow sugar beets for conversion to ethanol. Clearly, the best answers to simply producing ethanol, much less using it, have not been made.) (Photo - More corn in action).
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