Cars! Cars! Cars!

Tundra Movin' On Up

We've been thinking a little more about Toyota becoming number two after we re-read these posts :

Kicking Tires reports: How Ford Lost The #2 Spot to Toyota.

Edmunds reports: 2007 Toyota Tundra: Best Year Ever.

We've speculated the Tundra was going to be Toyota's albatross and that still remains to be seen. According to that Edmunds link, Toyota was hoping to move 200k units of the Tundra (they sold 196k of 'em). That's a pretty significant number since these buyers had to come from the big three. In fact, let's take a look at the sales of trucks for 2007:

Ford F-series: 690,589 -13.2% over 2006
Chevy Fullsize pickups: 673,807 -2.8% over 2006
Dodge Ram: 358,295 -2% over 2006
Nissan Titan: 65,746 -9.2% over 2006
Toyota Tundra: 196,555 +54%

It looks like (with really no additional research) that Tundra sales are coming from Ford and Nissan folks. So, while Toyota has knocked Ford from the number two position, it sure seems like all big three should pretty concerned about the Tundra's movement upward.

Tata!

This is 100% awesome news! The Detroit News reports: Ford picks Tata as top bidder for Jaguar, Land Rover. Check it:

In an announcement today, Ford Motor Company announced an announcement of sweaterific proportions. "The hills and valleys of the automotive marketplace have made it deliciously obvious that we, Ford Motor Company, have to move ahead, past second base if you will.

And it was as if the future was knocking at our doors when solicited for offers for some of our most prized possessions.

So we are announcing that Tata is the preferred bidder for Land Rover and Jaguar."

Excuse us while we go have cupcakes and milk now.

We were this close to using that Ween album cover. So close!

Muscle Car Wars Prediction?

OK, the price has been set for the Dodge Challenger and it's what everyone is talking about:

Jalopnik reports: The Muscle Car Wars Are On! Dodge Reveals Commercial, Challenger SRT8 Pricing To Start At $37,995.

Autoblog reports: 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 arrives at $37,995.

The fact the Muscle Car wars are heating up at this time fascinates us so much. And leaves us with so many questions:

1. With the recession on the horizon, is now a good time for a high-priced non-essential car?

2. With so many focused on reducing our dependency on foreign oil and the environment, is now a good time for a really powerful car that won't get particularly impressive on fuel economy or emissions?

3. With Mustang sales waning, does introduction a competitor make sense?

4. What sort of impact, if any, will the Challenger have on the Charger?

Yeah, those questions are totally one-sided, but that's OK. If you disagree, leave a comment. By the way, here are some stats:

For 2007, it looks like:

Dodge will sell about 130,000 Chargers, up about 2%

Ford will sell about 145,000 Mustang, down 18%

We predict good sales for Challenger and Camaro for maybe two years. After that, it'll be downhill. What do you think?

That's a 2008 Shelby GT. One of the 4,500 Mustang variations you can buy.

And You're Ugly, Too

Can the domestic auto news get any crappier? Check these out -- and this is just within the last few days!

The Detroit News reports GM takes $39B charge in quarter.

The New York Times reports: Ford Warns of New Steps if Sales Decline.

AutoWeek reports: Chrysler cuts four models, five shifts.

What could be worse? Well, maybe if the competition was kicking arse that would be an issue. Let's just (shuffles the pages of the internets) see what we have here. Oh, crap. The Detroit Fress Press reports: Toyota reports record income.

The only way it could get worse (for us, you see) is if we read our court-delivered restraining order. There's no way Alison said that about us. And she too does like husky, bald dudes. With bad eyesight. And weak bladders.

She's smiling because she's thinking of the Cars! Cars! Cars! editorial staff.

Robots Hate Fords!

We all suspected it, but a new video reveals that robots hate Fords!

See it for yourself, here!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, not here. It's from Gizmodo (they rock): Robot Car Crashes Into Manned Vehicle; Where'd You Learn to Drive?

What? Does Toyota Suck Now?

CNN reports: Ford lures Lexus chief away. Another person leaving Toyota for a U.S. company? What gives? Here are the people who have left Toyota recently:

Jimmy Farley: VP of Lexus --> Ford's marketing division
Deb Meyer: Head of marketing at Lexus --> Chrysler's marketing division
Jimmy Press: Head of Toyota's North American operations --> Chrysler co-head honcho.

OK, these are all wins for U.S. companies, but how about getting some of them fancy engineering folks from Toyota over here? We don't need more marketing in front of us, we just need better cars. In fact, if Detroit can prove to consumers that their cars are as good as the leaders (Honda, Toyota), folks will buy them purely because they are American -- no marketing needed.

How can Detroit prove that their cars are as good as, or better than, the others? Do they need an independent company to help (like a Consumer Reports)? What's the basis? Reliability over five years? Anyone have a CR to see how Detroit is doing compared to the others? Is it time to buy yet?

Ford Accidently Sells Several Edges

The Detroit News reports: Ford's sales down 21 percent in September despite crossover success. So, Ford makes two vehicles that folks want. Nice.

In other news, our, um, er, market penetration into Alison Krauss territory has not lived up to expectation despite skillful comb-over and pimple-popping success.

What If A Company Is For Sale And No One Buys It?

The Detroit News reports: Ford gives luxury bids more time. Here's the background: Ford is hurtin' so it's selling some of it's fancy brands. In this case: Jaguar and Land Rover. Ford gave prospective owners unti the end of September, but now have given them even more time. Why is that?

No reason was given, but the source said bidders assume the move is designed to give them more time to secure financing in today's tight credit markets.

We wonder, however, if bids are going to be hard to come by. What if folks don't want the problems of Jaguar and Land Rover?

What happens then?

Ford already sold Aston Martin. Just so you are up on everything.

OK, We'd Consider Buying This If It Were American

Edmunds reports: Frankfurt Auto Show: Sell It as a Mazda 6. Sell It as a Ford Mondeo. Just Bring It to the U.S.! We couldn't agree more, Edmunds. We couldn't agree more. Take a look at that Ford Mondeo and tell us it isn't a beautiful car. Not as beautiful as if Alison Krauss was made into a car, but it's still... Oh, Alison. She's so purty.

Volvo: Hells No!

Bloomberg reports: Volvo AB Says Not Interested in Ford's Volvo Car Unit. The AB stands for "Ain't no B'way we're buying back that turd." OK, what they really said was

"We are of course very concerned and interested in what happens with Volvo cars, but not such that we would be an investor there," Johansson said today in an interview in Brussels.

In other words, "Of course we loves you baby, but I gotta go outta town for a couple of weeks. We'll call when we're back."