Nutson's News Nuggets November 3-9, 2014-Golf GTI, Tappet Brother, Lincoln in China, BMWYOTA Sports Car and More

By Larry Nutson
Senior Editor and Bureau Chief
Chicago Bureau
The Auto Channel

Auto Central Louisville, KY November 9, 2014; Every Sunday, along with senior editors Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau I give you our "take" on this past week's automotive news in easy to digest nuggets.

If you are a car nut like we all are here at The Auto Channel, you can easily wish to "catch up" on these stories as well as the past 19 year's 1,745,098 automotive news, automotive stories, articles, reviews, archived news, video, audio, rants and raves just search The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive.

Hey Boston TV viewers, you can now enjoy The Auto Channel TV Network "Free and Clear" on WHDT Channel 3 in Boston and on your local cable systems, along with South Florida auto fans who can continue to watch The Auto Channel TV Network on WHDT-TV Chanel 9 in West Palm Beach as well as cable channel's 17 and 438, channel 9 Miami and channel 32 Fort Meyers-Naples, enjoy and thanks for the positive feedback....See you next week, LN

Nutson's Automotive News Factoids Week Of November 3-9, 2014

* We must begin this week with the news of the passing of Tom Magliozzi who, along with his brother Ray, hosted NPR’s hit comedy show Car Talk for the last 37 years. Tom died Monday morning at his home outside Boston from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease. ‘Turns out he wasn’t kidding,’ said Ray. ‘He really couldn’t remember last week’s puzzler.’” They were known as “The Tappet Brothers” and spent an hour each week bantering, telling jokes and trying to solve listeners’ car troubles while laughing uproariously at themselves. The show remains on the air in reruns.

* The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency announced that the Hyundai Motor Company and the Kia Motors Corporation would pay a combined $100 million penalty as part of a settlement for overstating vehicle fuel economy standards on 1.2 million vehicles, a violation of the Clean Air Act. The penalty is the largest ever paid for violation of the Clean Air Act, government officials said. The total settlement is worth more than $350 million and includes the civil penalty, the establishment of an independent fuel economy certification group within the company and the loss of greenhouse gas emission credits. Hyundai and Kia have already spent millions to compensate customers who bought cars relying on the inflated numbers. Other manufacturers are under similar investigation for similar misdeeds.

* The 2015 Golf GTI was named the “Yahoo Autos Car of the Year.” The seventh-generation GTI beat 16 other contenders, from economy hatchbacks to luxury sedans to track-ready sports cars in five categories—performance, value, efficiency, design and engineering. Editors at Yahoo Autos scrutinized dozens of new 2015 model year vehicles for the third annual Yahoo Autos Car of Year award, eventually narrowing down to 17 contenders.

* October sales totaled 1.28 million units for a 6% rise over last year. Big gainers are Chrysler up 22%, VW up 10% (finally), Kia up 12%, Subaru up 25%, Nissan up 13% and Mitsubishi up 30%. Truck and SUVs are hot; Lincoln is hot; Cadillac is cold.

* Former Hyundai CEO, John Krafcik, now president of on-line buying service TrueCar, addressed Detroit’s Automotive Press Association this week giving an overview of how TrueCar works and what he is doing there, and he spent some time pontificating about the industry as a whole. One of his speculations was that an ideal merger would be between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Volkswagen AG, giving the former a great line of sedans and the latter access to the ultra-profitable truck and SUV market. Krafcik says that would be a “brilliant” merger.

* Pierce Manufacturing is recalling 135 fire trucks in the U.S. because a suspension part can fail and cause a wheel to fall off. The recall covers Pierce Arrow fire trucks from the 2010 and 2011 model years.

* Ford announced five safety recalls. Vehicles involved are 2014 and 2015 Transit Connect, 2005-2011 Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car, certain 2014 F-150, and certain 2014 Flex models. Around 202,000 vehicles in total are affected.

* GM wants you to bring your car in to be fixed. In an unusual move, GM is offering a $25 gift card to many hundreds of thousand owners of recalled Chevy Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other older cars if they bring their vehicles into dealerships to have ignition switch repairs completed by January 1, an extension from the first-announced December 1 deadline. Get your car fixed by January 1 and you will receive a code to use online to select a gift card from any of these retailers, Amazon, AMC, Applebee’s, Bass Pro Shops, Red Robin, Starbucks or Wal-Mart.

* The average US gasoline price dipped below $3 per gallon for the first time in four years. More than 60 percent of US gas stations are selling gas below $3. The drop is attributed to the transition to lower cost winter fuel mixes in certain parts of the country, increased U.S. oil production and lower oil prices world wide. But don't go out and buy a larger vehicle that consumes more gas and don't buy that bigger house out in the exurbs with a longer commute. Prices will rise again.

* What seems like an unlikely partnership is developing between BMW and Toyota to develop a mid-size sports car. The project is in the concept phase, according to a report in Bloomberg News, and is scheduled to continue at least through 2020. Few details have been released but speculation surrounds the brash FT-1 concept coupe Toyota revealed a last year’s Detroit auto show.

* We don’t usually think of pickup trucks as environmentally friendly in any sense but the Green Car Journal just honored the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel as 2015 Green Truck of the Year during an announcement at the San Antonia Auto & Truck Show in Texas. The Ram EcoDiesel earned a 28-mpg highway rating from the Environmental Protection Agency which even exceeds the rating for the best small pickup.

* Lincoln launched its first three dealers in China this week opening stores in Beijing, Shanhai and Hangzhou. Ford’s premium brand will open five more dealerships by the end of this year and 60 more by 2016. As part of the China launch Lincoln unveiled “The Lincoln Way” a full revamp of their customer service approach. Lincoln will initially offer the MKC small crossover and the MKZ midsize sedan. Other models will follow.

* And, Lincoln may just be having the last laugh. Since breaking at the end of August, Lincoln's ad campaign starring Matthew McConaughey has generated a lot of buzz. But a parody of the TV spots by Jim Carrey on SNL seems to have launched the campaign all the way to No. 2 on the chart. Lincoln has been delighted with all the attention and their October sales are way up.