Category: Cars

Here are a couple of hints…..

The anoraks will be able to tell from the trophy picture alone.

UPDATE – the correct guess has been made in comments. For those who haven’t seen the answer yet, keep guessing. A bigger hint is after the jump…..

Continue reading Do you know where I’ve been today?

The 2012 Targa Tasmania is still a few months away but I spotted these videos and couldn’t help but share them.

These videos of the 2011 Targa were shot by Porsche, who were celebrating their 60th Anniversary and spending up big to make sure they did it right. Not only did they send out their biggest name historical driver, Walter Rohrl, but they also sent a crack film crew who did a wonderful job of filming the state that I live in and its premier motoring event – Targa Tasmania.

Targa is a tarmac rally comprising 47 stages on public roads, held over 5 days. It’s not for the faint-hearted. In these videos you’ll get to see some great cars, some of Tasmania’s fantastic driving roads and of course, just a little bit of the spectacular scenery we have down here (really, there’s much better stuff than what they show, but what they show is nice).

Each video is around 4 minutes, so if you’ve got 20 minutes to spare then sit back, relax and enjoy.

—

—

—

—

—

—

The more I’ve thought about this post, the more I’ve realised that no matter how I write it, it’s going to sound anti-American. That’s a shame, because I’m not anti-American at all.

My wife and I are actually in the beginning stages of planning a driving holiday there – sea to shining sea and all that kind of stuff. I’ve been to a few places in the US: felt ho-hum about LA and hated Detroit, but loved Seattle and Boston, and was completely awestruck after seeing only a minor glimpse of New York City.

So….. not Anti-American. Even if this post sounds like I am.

—

The automotive world is one that’s becoming smaller every year. That’s not in terms of sales, which keep expanding as developing nations become wealthier and demand more cars. It’s becoming smaller in terms of the convergence of companies through either sale or closure. It’s becoming smaller due to the fact that cars and car companies are becoming more and more alike through the pursuit of common fuel economy goals and adherence to common safety regulations.

It’s as if there’s a magic formula out there for The Car that will appeal to the most potential buyers and all car companies are pursuing that formula. Have you noticed how the basic shape of most sedans is the same these days? The only difference seems to be the face they draw on the front.

This is true of the global market in general terms, but it’s a concentrated truism in the world’s most established, mature, and cutthroat market – America. America’s one place I wouldn’t want to live as an automotive enthusiast. There are other places too, of course, but I don’t think I have to explain why I wouldn’t want to live in Afghanistan as an automotive enthusiast. America, however, does invite some explanation.

It’s not my distaste for American cars. There are a number of cars you can buy in the US that you can’t buy elsewhere, but aside from some of the stuff from Chrysler/Dodge, American vehicle styling just doesn’t appeal to me at all. So even though I’m not a fan, it’s not the cars that you can buy in America that make me glad I’m not an American car enthusiast. It’s the cars you can’t buy there.

Cars like the hot Ford Focus models. Any Alfa Romeos. Peugeots. Even the Dacia Duster and Skoda’s Yeti and RS vehicles have their merits and none of these can be bought in the US. There are a whole lot more, too. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read stories on US-based automotive websites that include the words “of course, we can’t get it here……”

Why is this? Well, Americans have particular tastes in powertrains, ride comfort and most crucially, price. It’s the most cutthroat market in the world and I’ll go as far as to say that whilst the desire for companies to succeed in America has led to some vehicles becoming better in some respects, the need to maintain profitability has also led to some degradation of materials and quality, as a result. Bottom line, the American market is driven primarily by price and volume and if a company can’t achieve those, or chooses not to worry about them, then that company needs either great margins, or some very deep pockets behind them.

One of the brands that Americans can’t buy is Renault. I’m no Renault aficionado but I’m becoming more and more interested in their RenaultSport line of vehicles. As a Saab person, the idea of a slightly odd looking hatchback with a 2-litre turbocharged engine and class-leading handling is quite appealing, and the RenaultSport Megane from a few years back is deliciously close to my price bracket right now. It’s nowhere near as practical as an old Saab hatchback, but a Saaby friend of mine had one a year or so ago and still raves about the driving experience.

Carlos Ghosn is a rare CEO, regardless of industry. He’s actually the head of two quite distinct automotive companies – one French, the other Japanese. They own bits of one another and there’s all sorts of corporate incest going on there, but basically, Renault and Nissan have managed to combine their corporate and national cultures into a combined entity that allows them to rely on and cooperate with one another, and yet still maintain independent brand identities.

That’s one reason I like him.

The other is that he looks a little like how I’d imagine a modern day Napoleon. But that’s beside the point.

The reason I’m giving him the Swadeology Automotive Executive of the Year Award for 2012 – just two weeks or so into the year – is because he recently came out and said that Renault is not going to expand into America. Instead, Renault will focus their expansion efforts on developing markets, in particular the company’s introduction into China.

My interest in Renault is focused on their RenaultSport line of vehicles, comprising smaller vehicles finely tuned for bringing smiles on twisting, turning mountain passes and un-gridded city streets. These cars are about as un-American as you can get (check the video at the top-right of the page).

Renault, to me, is a European car made for European roads. It’s not particularly fancy in any way, but the cars do their job and carry their own certain je ne sais quoi whilst they do it. Some European car companies have adapted their cars for American life. They build them bigger, softer, more suited to the long and straight multi-lane highways that dominate there so much. And in order to be profitable in America, some manufacturers have to scale down on the materials or the sophistication of the vehicle. Compare Saab’s leathers in the 1980s to the last ten years. Or other interior trim parts, plastics, etc.

My experience from Saab tells me that a company selling in the American market sees itself subjected to a very large degree to what the company boss in the American market wants. Sometimes that can mean great things – the Saab 900 Convertible, for example. Other times, it can lead to a company setting aside some of its core traditions in the chase for the only thing that matters for most in the US auto market: volume.

The more a carmaker becomes dependent on higher volume instead of decent margins, the more that carmaker will de-content the vehicle.

I’ll freely admit that I’m an outsider when it comes to the US market and this is only my perspective. But the mainline car companies that are absent from the US market aren’t missing because they make bad cars. Renault is one of those companies, and they don’t make bad cars, either. In fact, their RenaultSport line is now ranked pretty consistently at the top of hot-hatch wishlists.

The decision by Ghosn to keep Renault on a steady course and preserve whatever DNA the company has is one that I applaud. And when you consider how easy it might be for him to piggyback an established Nissan dealership structure to reintroduce Renault in America, it’s even more cause for applause.

I’ve been doing a fair bit of reading about Porsche in the last month or so and I’m growing quite fond of this seemingly forbidden fruit. This personal inner struggle of mine hasn’t been made any easier by Porsche previewing the next Boxster range.

These photos just came out yesterday. I believe the 2013 Porsche Boxster will make its in-the-metal debut at the world’s best motor show – Geneva – in March. With 261 and 311hp engine options, the Boxster is no longer just a showpony, either.

Aside from the rest of the visual improvements (pretty much everything), I just love the retro lettering on the back end. A photo of an old 912 is included for comparison.

Kudos to Michael Mauer, who I think we can still claim as an ex-Saab guy, even if he’s been gone from Saab for quite a few years now.

Click.

The February 2012 edition of Auto Motor and Sport (Sweden) has a special section on Saab, including one article penned by yours truly. You might enjoy it, you might not. Hopefully you do.

The February edition is arriving in subscribers’ mailboxes right now. Hopefully it will show up on news stands soon, as well.

I’ll seek to publish the original English version of the column in due course.

* forgive the third person headline. It’s an SEO thing

I always felt a little guilty whilst writing my Saab blogs over the years. Here I was, writing about these fantastic cars and this great company, hoping that people would support the company and help to ensure it’s continued existence, and yet I hadn’t ever ponied up and bought one myself.

There were a couple of reasons for that.

1 – the website took a hell of a lot of my time and hopefully, made a good contribution to the marketing and promotion of the Saab company and the ownership culture. It was my hope that the site made a contribution at least equivalent to me buying a car myself. The time it took to put content together involved some family sacrifices and the trade-off with my wife was that we would direct our finances towards paying off the family home, rather than high-priced vehicle purchases. Thankfully, that decision has served us well and we’re nearly there with the house, which is a great feeling.

2 – New car prices here in Australia are crazy expensive when compared to some other places around the world. OK, they’re not Denmark-crazy or Norway-crazy, but every time I read articles from the United States about new models and pricing, it nearly makes me cry to see how much we’re paying downunder.

This article has been prompted by an announcement at the Detroit Auto Show today, about pricing for the Fiat 500 Abarth. Some of you may not have seen the Abarth yet, which is a great excuse for me to show the ad:

——

Magnificent, no? Makes the J-Lo series of 500 ads look very shabby, in more ways than one.

Anyway, it was announced today that the 500 Abarth will go on sale in the US for around US$22,000. Whining about US pricing is nothing new. I did it with Saab plenty of times and yes, I’m going to do it again here.

Bear in mind that as I write this, the Aussie dollar is at parity with the USD and has been for the best part of a year. Canadians, you’re feeling this, too, aren’t you?

So the Abarth is going for $22K. It looks fantastic, is better equipped and with 160hp, a feather-light body and some go-kart chassis tweaks, I bet it gets down the road pretty nicely, too.

Picture: Autoblog

Here in Australia, Fiat’s latest offer is to get the basic trim 500, in diesel hardtop form for A$26,000. Other sites are showing it at around A$29,000 whilst the petrol model – with none of the fancy trim and some 60hp less than the Abarth – is going for around A$28,000.

The Fiat 500 convertible (like the Fiat 500C I drove around Mallorca last year) sells for even more, at A$33,000. The convertible starts at US$19,500 in the US.

Abarth is actually treated like a separate brand here in Australia. The Abarth 500 Esseesse (say: SS) has been available since March 2011 at a price of A$35,000 – a 50%+ premium over the US equivalent at a time when our currency is at parity (and has been for some time).

——

It was even worse with the Saab Turbo X when that came out in 2008. The luxury car tax here in Australia helped to boost that to nearly double the US price, although our currencies weren’t as close then as they are now.

I don’t know if it’s a matter of US vehicles being sold for extremely low margins, or Aussie customers being gouged simply because we’re used to it and will accept it. I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle. We have a 5% tariff on imported vehicles and of course, we’re a long ship ride away from the factories that build most of our car fleet. But those two factors don’t add up to a 50% premium.

In any case, our high initial prices in Australia and high depreciation rates make me wonder how we managed to sell 1,000,000 cars in each of the last two years. Based on current estimates, that’s one new car for every 23 people in the country. They also leave me feeling pretty sure that I’m not likely to buy too many, if any, brand new cars in my lifetime.

Perhaps if I lived in a larger city, with a longer commute. But here in Hobart, where I’m basically no more than 30 minutes from anywhere I need to be, it just doesn’t make economic sense.

US buyers – enjoy your opportunities while you have them (hopefully a very long time). I’m more than a little envious.

Greetings from home, which is not where I’m supposed to be. We booked a cottage up in Tasmania’s most beautiful beachside location – Binalong Bay – only to be thwarted by an over-eager smoke detector that went off at will. All night. For no reason.

Sleep deprived and very grumpy, we demanded a refund and headed home.

This shot really, really doesn’t do Binalong any justice whatsoever. The light was fading and so were the colors. The water is actually the most vivid blue you’ve ever seen.

——

As I’m back earlier than planned, it’s given me a chance to look over the new vehicles shown at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show. The coverage has been widespread and it’s been interesting to watch the various reactions to some of the new vehicles…..

Lincoln MKZ – link

• Auto Extremist – Outstanding.
• TTAC – Kick’s the ATS’s butt.
• Jalopnik – looks like John Wilkes Booth.
• Swadeology – Attractive rear but otherwise, no.

Chevy Code 130 – link

• Auto Extremist – GM’s blatant take on the 130M
• Jalopnik – Someone shoot me
• Swadeology – I agree with both. Confirms why I simply dislike almost everything GM do.

Chevy Sonic RS – link

• Autoblog – The hot hatch [that] enthusiasts have been waiting for (yes they wrote this, seriously, about what is essentially a 140hp Daewoo)
• Swadeology – I don’t think the VW GTI or the RS Megane would be too worried.

Dodge Dart – link

• Jalopnik – A hot rear end.
• Autoextremist – Fiat/Chrysler believe they can do no wrong.
• Swadeology – I’m worried about where this Alfa/Chrysler thing is going but if it keeps Alfa alive then OK, as long as you don’t screw it up, Sergio!

Ford Fusion – link

• Autoextremist – A home run
• Swadeology – Mitsubishi lamps, Aston grille, but yes, it does look like a main street winner

Hyundai Genesis Coupe – link

Swadeology – genuine big horsepower now. I’m not moving over to them, but between this and the Veloster Turbo, the Koreans are compelling me to use the word interesting twice in one week.

——

Of course, your thoughts on the standouts from Detroit would be more than welcome in comments. Also, your verdict as to who covered the show with the most wit, the most insight, and the most whining about other journalists/bloggers getting treated better than them.

——

Until then, just one more shot from Binalong Bay…..

This piece arrived in my inbox a few days ago. I’ll keep the author’s name anonymous for the time being (he can identify himself if he wishes).

It’s an interesting piece that might surprise, scare and maybe even offend a few people. Reactions aside, this is from an inside perspective, from a guy I’ve met and who I know is in a position to form an opinion on the subject.

I’ve seen Saab’s training courses in action, in Sweden, and I know that representatives get educated on the different electronic systems in the cars. The key might be whether that knowledge sinks in and trickles down to others in the dealerships.

It makes for some very interesting reading.

——

I started my career as an entry level Saab technician around a decade ago, working for a dealer in New Hampshire. Over my 4-5 years as a technician I learned that cars are complicated creatures including a huge amount of both mechanical and electrical content.

Back then the 9-3’s and 9-5’s that were out didn’t really have all the electronics that the newer cars have. They had ECM’s and transmission control modules, etc, but they still had a lot of old school wiring (power and ground, pin connectors). When the 9-3 sport sedan came out in 2003 I knew that we were going to run into a huge problem in the automotive industry and it was going to happen really fast.

All of a sudden the older technicians, paid on seniority and experience and making $25-30 an hour (shop foremen, guys that have been turning wrenches for 20-30 years) were clueless and scratching their heads. For the first few years they would pretend that they knew what they were doing, suggesting software updates as the fix for all problems. If the car came back, hell… let’s throw a control module at it.

By 2005 I decided that I loved the cars, the auto industry and where it was heading, but I really didn’t like getting dirty or covered in grease and busting my knuckles. It’s fun as a hobby but certainly not as a career for me. I switched paths and became a service advisor at a different Saab dealership. Being a computer savvy, well spoken, educated misfit, I was well aware of what I was seeing: the new cars/technology would baffle our highest paid technicians AND the newbies that were learning the trade from the older technicians.

Keep in mind that Saab was always a little behind on technology and I can imagine that this is an industry wide epidemic (e.g. Ford with Sync technology, everyone with nav units, Bluetooth). When the new 9-5 came out in 2010, there was no doubt that it was a wonderful marvel of technology, but there was also little doubt that we are neck-deep into a major problem in the repair industry.

Picture this – your super high tech new car is going into a dealership or shop and a senior technician getting $30/hr is going to work on it. This technician….

1. types with one finger,
2. has a flip cell phone and
3. just started using email a couple years ago.

I’m sure you can see where this is going. These guys may be qualified to trace a wiring short in a 30 wire harness or drop a tranny on a car in 3 hours but are they really the right guys to take apart a $50,000 technical masterpiece?

You might be thinking “OK, let’s have the younger, computer savvy technicians work on these newer cars.”

But wait, these younger techs may have smart phones and use facebook, but let’s face it, a lot of them are in the industry because their parents were, or they loved turning wrenches with their dads. They probably didn’t do particularly well in school. They probably aren’t super computer savvy, and the guys that were helping them along at being technicians are now just as baffled as they are. Like I said, major problem.

I sadly don’t see any major fix for this in the near future. I find myself as a service advisor helping customers with Bluetooth phone pairing and navigation questions more knowledgeable than the technicians. Some of the customers driving these marvels probably have a better understanding of how they work than the technicians (being computer science graduates and electrical engineers.. etc etc).

So the question I raise is “Are Cars Smarter than Technicians?”

Yes. Plain and simple, sad but true. The guys we now pay $30/hr because we don’t have a solution to the problem are now simply parts replacers or “guessers”. They can barely figure out how to use the laptops and diagnostic tools and instead of getting trained they stumble through it and run straight time punches and expect manufacturers to pay for their lack of modern knowledge.

I think that in the near future, dealerships will have to acknowledge this and have one, highly paid, college-educated electrical engineer/software engineer on board to work with the next generation of technicians. The old guys will grunt and try to push them out and continue stumbling but a change is going to be necessary.

With hybrid technology and electric cars growing and evolving, the technician as we know it may disappear and this may be a good thing for everyone. I think people need to start taking this seriously. Hopefully some ongoing factory training will help keep techs – the ones willing to learn – up to date on the latest technology, but maybe the flat rate days need to be over. When you put someone in a position to earn 80hrs in a 40hr work week or get computer training to keep up to date they are going to continue to choose ‘guessing’ and take the 80hrs. After guessing and throwing parts at it, these cars will keep coming back until they happen to guess the right part or software update.

So, in summary, cars are definitely smarter than technicians…. and the auto industry is just getting started. In 10 years from now, cars may be smarter than all of us!