MotorMediaWatch October 29:
Oct 29, 2008 MotorMediaWatch
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The end of the road for U.S. carmakers?
Some analysts suggest failure may not be such a bad thing for Detroit’s Big Three. Others, especially Michigan politicians, warn of calamity. (LAT)+++
Keeping a Car Longer
Jonathan Welsh offers tips and advice on the best ways to keep a car, truck or SUV running reliably and efficiently for a long time on the smallest possible budget. (WSJ)+++
Electric Car Sets Its Sights on Australia
Even as tumbling gasoline prices threaten to undermine interest in alternative-fuel cars, electric-vehicle company Better Place is trying to raise money. (WSJ)+++
Ford Device Stretches Gallons
Rising gas prices have dramatically increased Americans’ interest in tailoring their driving styles to save fuel. Now auto makers are rushing to help out. (WSJ)+++
VW’s 348% Two-Day Gain Is Pain for Hedge Funds
Hedge funds world-wide face billions of dollars in losses after bad bets on Volkswagen’s shares, which soared 82%. (WSJ)+++
Hertz Raises Its Retail Car Rental Prices
Several rental-car agencies have recently started raising prices to reflect increasing operating costs.(WSJ)+++
Treasury Department considers helping GM get beyond crisis
Treasury is mulling significant financial help for GM, which increasingly appears at risk of running out of cash next year, the Free Press learned Monday.(DFP)+++
Honda net income falls 40%
Honda said today that its income was hurt by unfavorable currency rates, raw material prices and declining sales in North America, and warned of lower profits for the year.(DFP)+++
Kerkorian whittles Ford stake further
Investor Kirk Kerkorian has sold more shares of Ford Motor Co., reducing his stake in the automaker to under 5%.(DFP)+++
Tax credits push plug-in vehicles
WASHINGTON — Plug-in electric vehicles from General Motors and Toyota are not expected to hit showrooms for more than a year, but the first buyers will be eligible for a tax credit that could reach $7,500.(DFP)+++
Vehicle transaction prices continue falling
New vehicle transaction prices in the United States declined for the 10th consecutive month in October — after 44 months of increases from May 2004 to December 2007(DFP)+++
Hard choice awaits U.S. in GM deal
In Detroit, on Wall Street and in Washington, D.C., the powerful people of the young 21st Century are lurching toward an unholy choice between gut-wrenching options.(DFP)+++
Nation & world business news in brief: Boeing pact reached
Boeing Co. and machinists-union leaders agreed on tentative terms for a contract that if approved by members would end the third-longest strike in the union’s 73-year history and reopen the planemaker’s shuttered factories.(DFP)+++
Michigan business news in brief: Dow stake to earn 8.5%
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will earn 8.5% interest on $3 billion in preferred shares in Dow Chemical Co., in an investment that’s allowing the chemical maker to buy rival Rohm & Haas Co. (DFP)+++
Auto news in brief: Toyota’s sales down
Toyota Motor Corp. says its global sales in the July-September quarter fell for the first time in seven years because of faltering demand in the United States. (DFP)+++
Volkswagen temporarily becomes largest company in the world
The NFL season is clearly out of control, Audi just crossed the country in a bunch of diesels you can’t buy here, and GM wants to “merge” with Chrysler. (AUTOBLOG)+++
Dodge Ram takes top pickup award in Canada
We’re still trying to figure out which new-for-’09 truck took the top honors in the State of Texas, but it’s clear that the Dodge Ram was chosen as “Best New Pickup in Canada.” (AUTOBLOG)+++
Slow Ford Flex sales blamed on…
Ford’s boxy new Flex crossover wagon is far from meeting its sales expectations. (AUTOBLOG)+++
German police mocked by Muppet-driven Audi
The British have been known to “take the piss” out of their German counterparts for several decades now, and that goes well back before World War II.(AUTOBLOG)+++
GM wants $10 billion in aid from the Feds to buy Chrysler
In the latest development of The Incomprehensible Union, General Motors is reportedly asking the U.S. government for $10 billion — on top of the $25 billion loan approved recently — to help it merge with Chrysler.(AUTOBLOG)+++
No 2009 Volkswagen R32 for the U.S.
The Volkswagen R32 has a die-hard following here in the States. Unfortunately for the sprightly hatchback’s groupies, you’ll have to head overseas if you want a 2009 model.(AUTOBLOG)+++
BMW creating ‘green supercar’ for 2012
BMW is hard at work on the M1’s successor and according to Autocar’s sources, officials inside the automaker are calling it a “breakthrough green supercar” that will arrive towards the end of 2012. (AUTOBLOG)+++
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