Posted: 31 Oct 2009 10:27 PM PDT

"So, you get to drive all the new cars and evaluate them." As an automotive journalist, you get this comment each time you reveal your profession. And, for the most part, it's true. If there is a new nameplate available and you are deigned worthy, automakers allocate "press fleet vehicles" for a one week test. However, since there are only so many vehicles to go around and budgets are tight, there's a genially administered pecking order that determines who gets the hottest cars first. Heavy-hitters from Edmunds, Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Road and Track, and major television and newspapers seem to get the first shot, then bloggers and more specialized pubs get what's left in the ensuing months.

But there is one day each year in the greater Los Angeles area, where all journalists (for a nominal fee) are treated equally. Track Day, run by the Motor Press Guild, sponsored by Shell and held at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA, is a two-day ultimate test drive of nearly every new model where the automotive press can evaluate new cars on both the track and the street in one big blow-out test drive extravaganza. Nearly 100 cars were made available to over 100 automotive journalists and special guests at this year's event.

"Track Day is a great event because you can catch up with any of the cars you missed over the past model year you and get all your questions answered from the manufacturers right there on the spot," said participant, Dave Kunz, automotive reporter for KABC news. "Another unique thing about track day is that you can drive competitive models back-to-back for immediate comparisons."

I drove two of the latest "square cars," The Nissan Cube and the Kia Soul in succession and found both to be roomy and fun. In an apples-to-apples road test, however, I'd have to say that the Kia Soul impressed me more with its solid cornering ability and its very cool audio system with front door speakers that give you a light show while you cruise.

The darker side of Track Day revolves around people who write for a living pretending to be people who drive professionally -- and stories of past infractions are always the buzz. Typically, after the waivers are signed and tours of the track are completed, many speed-hungry journos run for the fastest cars first. On track this week were two Lamborghinis (SuperVeloce LP 670-4 and Gallardo LP 560-4) and a couple of Lotus racers (Exige S260 and Evora). Also, Porsche brought the Panamera sedan and some street racers where there to keep the noise going -- a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X MR Touring and a Subaru WRX STI. Although no metal was harmed during the event this year, track management and MPG staffers will pull driving privileges from those who drive over their ability and take cars into the dirt or do not use proper decorum in passing and keeping a safe distance between cars.

Suzuki took advantage of the media access and previewed four concept cars, three of which were hot aftermarket versions of their new 2010 Kazashi from Road Race Motorsports, Delta Tech Engineering and Westside Auto Group. David Boldt, Suzuki's manager of media relations, said that track day not only provides a motor press audience for their car announcement, but gives them a chance to check out the competition as well. "Track day is an awesome opportunity to share our enthusiasm with Southern California's automotive community and not only to talk about Suzuki, but to see what everyone else is doing."

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Fisker places Del. at birth of new era in auto industry - Delaware Online

Posted: 01 Nov 2009 01:23 AM PST

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When Fisker brings auto building back to Delaware, it will be an industry in transition. The U.S. government is throwing its weight behind alternative-fuel technologies, hoping to reduce dependence on foreign oil and cut down on tailpipe emissions.

Advances in battery technologies have made electric vehicles a reality. A host of startup companies like Fisker are now competing with established automakers to introduce hybrid and all-electric technologies.

"The industry right now is kind of like it was 100 years ago," said Dennis Cuneo, a senior adviser to auto consulting firm Casesa Shapiro and former Toyota executive. "You have a lot of different technologies vying with each other, and we'll see what shakes out."

Fisker's technology uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery to power an electric motor. The powertrain is complemented by a gasoline engine -- not to power the wheels, but to turn a generator and recharge the battery on the go.

The U.S. Department of Energy approved Fisker for a $528.7 million loan in September, part of a $25 billion fund to encourage the development of new vehicle technologies. Fisker plans to spend more than $200 million in the next three years to buy and renovate the Boxwood plant to build a family sedan, so far called Project Nina. The company expects to sell the car for $39,900 after a $7,500 federal tax credit.

Fisker hopes to sell as many as 100,000 Ninas worldwide, a level the company said would support 2,000 factory jobs and 3,000 vendor and supplier jobs. State officials hope the company's operations at the Boxwood plant will support 2,500 jobs at the site, either Fisker employees or suppliers. Fisker's first car, the Finland-built Karma, is due to hit showrooms in June at a price of $87,900.

"Right now in America, there's zero car companies that compete on $80,000 sedans," Henrik Fisker told reporters at Tuesday's event. "They're all owned by the Europeans, mostly the Germans, and the Japanese. When you get to the $40,000 cars, you're pretty much looking at the same thing."

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Things looking up for Ford, but automaker not in clear yet - Detroit Free Press

Posted: 01 Nov 2009 02:35 AM PST

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Cash remains key

Cash remains a concern at Ford -- namely because Ford isn't generating any. Ford ended the first half of the year with $21 billion in automotive cash.

While that is about $5.6 billion less than it had during the first half of 2008, the automaker has considerably slowed its use of cash reserves, even during the suffering economy.

Still, "Ford continues to face the possibility of falling below the necessary levels of cash to run its automotive business -- but not in 2009 in our view, given the progress it has shown in the first half of this year," S&P said. "We currently assume Ford's automotive operations will continue to show cash losses for at least the next several quarters."

Eric Selle, a credit analyst with JP Morgan Securities, estimates Ford consumed an excess of $1.9 billion during the third quarter, and he and other analysts will be closely examining the amount of cash Ford used when it releases its financials today.

"It's a huge deal," Selle said. "If there is one number to know about when it comes to Ford, it's the cash burn."

Sales and products

Through September, Ford sales are down 22.3% while the overall industry is down 27.4%. That better-than-industry performance has helped Ford gain 1 percentage point of market share in the key U.S. market.

It also managed that performance by spending less on discounts. For the first nine months of this year, Ford has spent an average of $2,792 per vehicle on incentives in the United States, or 27.7% less than last year, according to Autodata Corp. That helped the company raise its average transaction process.

Those improvements are essential, said Bruce Clark, a vice president with Moody's Investors Service.

"The initial signs have been encouraging, but it is important to see that kind of progress sustained," Clark said. "What you ultimately want to see is for a consumer to look at a Ford midsize car and a comparably equipped Asian midsize car and view them to be equal in value."

Ford hopes to keep its momentum going with new products. Next year, Ford plans to bring the European version of the Ford Focus compact car to the United States as well as the Ford Fiesta subcompact.

But while Ford's "new product pipeline is stronger than at any point in the past decade," Clark wrote in a report Moody's published earlier this month, S&P remains concerned that Ford's product lineup "is still skewed toward light trucks, which include pickup trucks, SUVs, crossover utility vehicles ... and vans."

While trucks are highly profitable, their sales have been volatile in recent years and cars are growing in popularity. That is helping Ford's new family vehicles -- the Ford Flex and Taurus -- pick up steam.

But S&P wrote, "Until Fiesta arrives, Ford will not have a subcompact model in the U.S. to compete with the" Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, Nissan Versa or Chevrolet Aveo.

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