Nutson's Nuggets: Last Week's (March 12-17 2012 ) Automotive News In Case You Were Sleeping

Auto Central Louisville KY March 18, 2012 Each week Larry Nutson, The Auto Channel's Chicago Bureau Chief, along with Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Detroit Bureau give you a nugget of the past week's automotive news you may have missed.

If you are a car nut like we all are, you can easily "catch up" on these stories as well as the past 16 years 1,333,543 automotive stories, articles, reviews, rants and raves by just searching for the subject you are interested in The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive, see ya next week L.N.

* A report from the Governors Highway Safety Association says that "little progress has been made in reducing the proportion of speed-related crashes." Although the number of speed-related crashes along with overall traffic deaths has dropped, speeding continues to be a factor in about one-third of traffic deaths. Since 2000, the share of traffic fatalities linked to speeding has increased 7%.

* According to a recent report from Pike Research, as manufacturing efficiencies improve and access to lithium expands, the installed cost of Li-ion batteries will fall by more than one-third by the end of 2017.In terms of revenue, the market for Li-ion batteries for transportation will grow from $2.0 billion annually in 2011 to more than $14.6 billion by 2017, the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts.

* Dodge unveiled its new 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup series Dodge Charger. Sprint Cup cars for 2013 will look more like their production counterparts since NASCAR responded to criticism and eased up on some of its rules restrictions. Ironically, Penske Racing played a big role in the development of the new Charger and then abruptly announced a surprise switch to Ford, whose 2013 Fusion Sprint Cup car had been released earlier this year. Penske hasn't won a Sprint Cup title and said you have to keep changing until you do.

* U.S. safety regulators have opened an investigation into an estimated 360,000 Ford Motor Co Taurus sedans for a potential problem with the throttle getting stuck in an open position. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had opened a preliminary investigation in the Taurus cars from model years 2005 and 2006 after receiving 14 consumer complaints alleging incidents of a stuck throttle resulting from cruise control cable detachment.

* Audi AG is in talks to buy Ducati Motor Holding SpA, the maker of luxury motorbikes ridden by celebrities such as Brad Pitt, from owner Investindustrial SpA. Audi, which has the right of first refusal on a purchase until mid-April, is considering a total price of about 850 million euros ($1.12 billion) for the Italian company, which would include assuming some 800 million euros in liabilities, according to reports.

* In spite of rising gasoline prices, the U.S. has reduced its foreign oil imports by 10% last year. The U.S. imported 45% of its petroleum last year, down from 57% in 2008. Imports have fallen in part due to increased domestic oil production.

* "If cupholders...were banned from vehicles, does that mean people would no longer bring coffee into the vehicle?" That's what Tom Bologa, vice president of Engineering for BMW North America said at an NHTSA hearing on proposd agency voluntary guidelines to deter auto manufacturers from installing electronic devices that could distract drivers. Automakers emphasized that in-car options are safer than hand-held smartphones. All agree that distracted drving is unsafe.

* Chevrolet is developing a new car with a new name for its 2013 NASCAR entry, replacing the Impala used by Chevy, and plans to eventually market and sell the new model to consumers. The production and racing versions of the car will be unveiled after the New York auto show in April. Speculation has it that the new car may be based on the Australian Chevy Caprice now being imported for U.S. Police use. An imported Chevy for NASCAR?

* Nissan unveiled its groundbreaking DeltaWing racecar for the legendary Lemans 24 hours. Powered by a 1.6 liter turbochaged 300Hp 4-cylinder the car will not be classified for 2012 but will be invited to run in this year's race from the "Garage 56" spot reserved for experimental cars.

* A Fisker Karma quit abruptly during speed testing at the Consumer Reports facility last week causing quite a stir particularly among electric car nay-sayers. Tom LaSorda, formerly number two guy at Chrysler and now Fisker's CEO, said it performed exactly as designed. "The onboard diagnostics detected a fault and entered a protection mode that shut the car down to protect other components," he said.

* Optimisim is slowly growing in the automotive world. John Teahan, Automotive News industry pundit says no one expects the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAR) of 15.1 million units for February to be sustained, even an SAR of 14 million would give the industry a "shot in the arm."

* Legislators in Washington are struggling with a two-year extension of the transportation bill so we can build and maintain highway infrastructure. It has passed the Senate overwhelmingly but is expected to face stiff opposition in the House from anti-spending republicans. Conservative House members are proposing a longer term approach which removes guaranteed subsidies for mass transit and address a variety of other issues only marginally related to transportation. Over a million jobs and thousands of road projects hang in the balance.