All About Cars

In China the Chinese MGTF is to make its worldwide debut in just over a week - 6,000 miles away from Longbridge. Longbridge owners Nanjing today opened their doors to the British press to reveal that the two-seater MGTF would finally roll off the Nanjing production lines from May 20 onwards.

The Chinese launch of the sports car paves the way for the long-delayed introduction of the two-seater in the UK in early August.

Saic-Nanjing’s confirmation of the production launch came in response to the No More Chinese Whispers campaign by the Birmingham Mail, calling on the Chinese to come clean over their intentions for Longbridge.

And today Saic-Nanjing’s confidence in the MG brand was under-lined as plans were revealed for 1,000 new jobs at the Chinese plants.

The success of the Chinese factory is critical to the relaunch of Longbridge, where production lines have remained at a standstill for more than three years since MG Rover closed in April 2005 with the loss of 6,500 jobs.

The Nanjing plant is already supplying engines and other body parts to the UK for eventual assembly at Longbridge. Yang Junhu, vice general manger of Nanjing MG, told the Mail today: “The MGTF will be produced here from May 20 onwards.

“It is a very exciting time for us - we started work on this in 2005 and we think the car will be popular.”

The 800,000 square feet complex on the outskirts of Nanjing was launched in March last year and up to now has produced only one model, the MG 7.

Now the launch of the MGTF - with the promise of more models to follow - is playing a key role in kick-starting the Longbridge project after more than three years.

Nanjing executives said several hundred advance orders were already in the pipeline for the MGTF.

Emma Tian, manager in Nanjing’s international operations department, said: “At this stage we have only got one shift but in the future we will have three.

“That will give us a 50 to 60 per cent increase in jobs, creating around 1,000 new positions at the plant.

“People love MG. It is not only a money issue, it is a love and passion for the brand.”

The Nanjing plant, around 15 miles from the city centre on a sprawling industrial complex, currently employs around 2,000 people.

The factory will eventually produce a range of four MGs, with replacement models due over the next two years.

Nanjing said the MGTF will sell for between £19,000 and £23,000 in the Far East, with 81 dealers already appointed across the giant state.

UK prices have not yet been announced. Cheap Used Cars for Sale at Ecarjunction.com

There’s little doubt that Toyota will displace General Motors as the world’s biggest automaker when 2008 sales are finally tallied. GM edged out its Japanese rival in 2007, but the American giant continues to struggle with a drawn-out turnaround plan and billions in losses. Toyota, by contrast, has been growing virtually everywhere it does business, with record profits in 2007. Ascending to No. 1 worldwide seems inevitable.

Now, here’s a startling new possibility: Toyota could overtake GM in its home market, the first time ever that a foreign company would be the No. 1 seller of cars in the United States. Only a few months ago, that seemed implausible. Toyota’s market share had grown consistently, to about 16 percent of the U.S. market at the end of 2007. But GM still had a commanding lead, with 23 percent of the market. And share swings of more than a point or two in a given year are rare.

But car sales this year have flipped more dramatically than anybody anticipated, and suddenly Toyota is within striking distance of GM. In May, Toyota’s market share surged to 18.4 percent, according to J.D. Power & Associates, as buyers flocked to small, efficient cars like the Corolla, Yaris, and Scion xB. Sales of GM pickups and SUVs plummeted, leaving GM with 19.3 percent of the market—less than a single point above Toyota. And GM recently announced it willclose four plants and curtail production of light trucks by about 40 percent. Those developments could reorder the U.S. auto industry. Some possible scenarios:

Toyota bounces GM. Toyota’s sales have actually declined by 3.5 percent so far in 2007—but that’s a strong performance compared with GM’s 16 percent decline, which is why Toyota’s market share is rising sharply. In May alone, the sales gap was much bigger: GM’s sales plunged by 28 percent, compared with a mere 4.3 percent drop for Toyota. Like GM, Toyota is suffering from a severe drop in sales of big vehicles like the Tundra pickup and the 4Runner SUV. But GM is far more dependent on big vehicles, and Toyota has a much stronger lineup of small cars and crossovers.

If the pronounced shift in buying patterns continues, Toyota’s market share could eclipse GM’s on a monthly basis through the summer or fall. But GM will probably retain more market share for ‘08 overall, given that it started the year much stronger than it is now. As for 2009—that could be a close race.

U.S. Market Share by Manufacturer

	May 2007	May 2008
GM	23.8%	19.3%
Toyota	17.2	18.4
Ford	16.5	15.4
Chrysler	12.8	10.7
Honda	9.3	12.0
Nissan	6.0	7.2
Hyundai	4.6	5.6
BMW (includes Mini)	2.0	2.3
Volkswagen (includes Audi)	2.0	2.2
Mercedes (includes Smart)	1.4	1.8

GM rebounds. May was a wild month for car sales, with several developments that stunned analysts. Sales of big pickup trucks, for instance, fell below 10 percent of the total for the first time in decades. Compact cars, which usually represent about 15 percent of the market, rose to more than 20 percent. And sales of large vehicles fell by a staggering 36 percent. “We rarely see swings like that,” says Tom Libby of J.D. Power. “The question is whether May was the beginning of a trend or an aberration.”Libby tends to think it was an aberration, since research suggests gas prices would have to stay near $4 per gallon for a year before such abrupt changes in buying habits become permanent. So far, they’ve been near that level only for a couple of months. If Libby’s right, car sales over the summer won’t be weighted so heavily against larger vehicles, which would pad GM’s market share. But others see it differently—most notably, GM CEO Rick Wagoner, who said in May that rising gas prices and changes in the U.S. car market are “more structural than cyclical.”

Honda surges. Honda may be in an even better position that Toyota, because it has no full-size trucks or SUVs to weigh down sales. And its numbers prove it. Total industry sales are down about 8 percent so far this year. Honda’s are up 5 percent. And for the first time ever, the thrifty Civic was the top-selling overall vehicle in May. Honda’s market share has risen from 9.3 percent a year ago to 12 percent, surpassing Chrysler. It could even pass No. 3 Ford on a monthly basis by the end of the year.

Ford and Chrysler recede. This seems likely under any scenario, at least through the end of ‘08. Ford, heavily reliant on the F-150 pickup and SUVs like the Explorer, has the same big-truck problem as GM. Many analysts think Ford plans to ax its Mercury brand, which could cost a full percentage point of market share. Newer vehicles like the Edge, Fusion, and Focus will help, but Ford needs more of them, and it will take awhile. Chrysler—once one of the “Big Three”—is now the fifth-largest U.S. carmaker and drifting further. A $2.99 gas-price guarantee promotion was supposed to goose sales—but instead, they fell 25 percent in May. If discounted gas doesn’t help sell cars, it’s hard to know what will.

Honda, one of the major competitors on international car markets, announced some interesting news. If you want to find them out, join us, please.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce the new Honda Freed!

The new Honda Freed was unveiled today in Tokyo. The Freed is a compact minivan, based on the new 2009 Honda Jazz. While the Freed retains the same width as the Jazz / Fit at 1,695 mm, it’s longer (4,215 mm vs 3,900 mm), higher (1,715 mm vs 1,525 mm) and it also features an extended wheelbase measuring 2,740 mm in length (vs 2,500 mm).

Honda will offer three variants the Freed on local market: a seven-passenger edition; an eight-passenger version and a five-passenger type which offers a large cargo space. All three variants of the Freed are also equipped with sliding rear doors on either side of the vehicle.

2009 Honda Freed will be offered in front-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive variants, both of which are equipped with a 1.5-liter 4-cylinder that delivers an output of 120Hp. No word about the Freed will find its way out of the Japan.

Here is a site, a unique resource to buy and sell your vehicle where you can crack the best deals in the market, www.automobilecontacts.com is one such site offering a great platform through which you can increase your profits and expand your clientele. The site is gaining its popularity across the continent, more and more dealers are registering with this site daily moreover the best thing about the site is that it is absolutely FREE, now list your trucks and trailers, cars, motorhomes or RVs, ATVs, boats on the site without paying anything and in return get worldwide exposure, buy and sell your old used trailers, trucks and accessories, exchange contact details through this unique site offering you a unique opportunity to expand your business to greater heights.

The design of the site is user friendly allowing the users of any age group to understand and list their vehicles with complete details, the procedure to register is self explanatory so you need not worry about operating on your login account moreover our online representative will help guide you for perfect selections. There are even customized searches options through which you can browse through different categories, this makes your search easier and simple, you hit upon the perfect vehicle of your choice which you had been searching all this while. The site has some of the best and famous dealers registered with them which truly speaks volume about the reliability of the site. register with www.automobilecontacts.com today and enjoy the lifetime of great profits and the famous business contacts.

OK, now I’m just bragging, but meandering up the coast of California on a sunny morning with the top down in a little Mazda Miata is a pretty damn good way of making a living. The sun’s out, the road is winding and I have nothing to do today other than enjoy the scenery. Though I’m not quite sure why I’m driving the aforementioned Miata. Or, more accurately, I’m sure I’m going to be disappointed, ambivalent or just plain confused about the major change Mazda has wrought to its iconic little roadster for the new model year — a retractable hardtop.

When Mazda announced it would be building a collapsible hardtop version of the MX-5, it seemed like the answer to the proverbial question that nobody asked. After all, nobody much complained about the soft-top, and the electro-hydraulic retracting tops on the market are notoriously expensive, not to mention that, when stowed, they eat up cargo space already at a premium in most convertibles, especially a little one like the MX-5.

Imagine my surprise then when Tony Harold, the product planning guru for Mazda Canada, announced that the power retractable roof would cost but $2,195 extra and that it would be available on all trims levels of the MX-5 from the base GX ($28,095) to the top-of-the-line GT ($34,195). What were Mercedes, Jaguar et al. talking about when they claimed that the high cost of retractable roofs was the justification for their high prices and the reason for not installing such a collapsing top on their expensive convertibles? What makes this even more amazing is that MX-5s ordered with the folding roof also get all-new quarter panels and a taller trunk-lid to blend into the collapsed roof’s silhouette.

As for my second concern, trunk space, it turns out that, when stowed, the entire roof is stored ahead of the MX-5’s trunk so none of the little Mazda’s admittedly precious cargo capacity is diminished. I confirmed this by transferring all of my luggage from the trunk of a soft-top to a hardtop version.

If anything, the hardtop version has a smidgen more cargo space. Once again, I have to ask, why does a much more expensive Mercedes-Benz SLK have to lose so much of its trunk space every time I want to drive alfresco? Surely, if a minuscule MX-5 can accomplish the task of stowing a hard roof without penalty, so can a more expensive SLK.

The rest of the MX-5 stays much the same. The roof and its related gear exact a 36-kilogram weight penalty, but the 166-horsepower (163 in the automatic version) 2.0-litre four handles that without much difficulty. The rear suspension has been stiffened to accommodate the extra avoirdupois so there’s no difference in handling. And the roof is only 10 millimetres taller than the soft version, so the Miata doesn’t look much different with this hardtop than it would with the old-style roof that required stowing in your garage. And there are plenty of bonuses. In situ, the roof adds to the chassis’ structural rigidity, calming the ride and aiding handling a bit.

The big advantage, however, is in the greatly diminished wind noise. Anything over 120 kilometres an hour in the soft-top version makes anything less than a bellow unintelligible to the passenger even though he’s barely half a metre away. With the hardtop up, it’s quite easy to hold a conversation without constantly screwing your face up in the “eh?” mode. For that reason alone, the $2,195 Mazda Canada is asking for the hardtop is a steal.

It also adds to new-found all-round ability of the recently revised MX-5. While the new MX-5’s greater power and sporty handling have been applauded, there’s been an even bigger jump in the roadster’s everyday ability. Not quite as small as it once was, the new MX-5 also doesn’t feel as tiny. The overriding impression is of a teenage runabout that’s matured into an adult automobile. The new MX-5 feels more planted, more stable and less nervous than Miatas of old.

You just walked out of the local mega-mart, bags in hand, and noticed that something was wrong with your car. It looks scratched! After close inspection, you see that the mark isn’t rubbing off and that your new car is now scratched. What to do - get out the touch-up paint?

For God’s sake NO! The sound of the words “touch-up paint” always make me cringe.

Don’t get me wrong - if you have a big, deep scratch, touch-up paint is probably appropriate. But I don’t recommend that an average person uses it. First of all, it’s very hard to apply correctly unless you’re experienced. Second of all, it’s usually overkill. There are other methods of reducing the appearance of a scratch that are easy and relatively cheap.

Most scratches can be fixed with a process called “wet-sanding”. Wet sanding is done by a professional, and it involves moving paint and clear coat molecules around to reduce the appearance of a scratch. It works on light scratches, but deep scratches are another matter.

How do you know if you have a deep scratch? Can you feel it with your fingernail? Is bare metal showing? Is the scratch longer than 10″? If you can answer any of these questions with a yes, go to the local body shop. Make sure to get a written guarantee and a few quotes — repairing a deep or big scratch can cost anywhere from $50 to $1000 dollars, so check around.

If the scratch is light, your local body shop should be able to fix it up for less than $40. Make sure the shop you’re going to us has a written guarantee and that you understand it. Usually the person repairing your car will tell you what it’s going to look like when they’re done.

One last thing - these are only methods to reduce or diminish a scratch, not to truly repair it. A true repair would involve a new paint job for the scratched panel and paint blending for the nearby panels, and I think that’s a terrible idea to fix a light or even heavy scratch. It’s better to fix these things inexpensively - they’re just going to happen again. Just remember, the scratch isn’t going to miraculously disappear. It will look a LOT better though.

Mack Financial Services and Mack Canada announced that truckers Gordon Hooge and Kenneth Lawrence are the top winners of the “Mack Highway Free Payment Extravaganza” for the fourth quarter of 2007. Customers in Canada who financed any new Mack highway model were entered into the program for a chance to win free payments. A total of 24 customers won free payments in 2007.

First prize is free payments for a year. Second prize, won by Keith White Trucking and Nidish Enterprises, is no payments for six months. And third prize winners Gerald Herter Trucking and Warren Transport are free from payment for three months.

Mack Financial Services is a division of the Volvo Group and supports Mack Trucks, Inc.

Dunbar Public Works Director David Nelson has asked the city council to buy a couple of new dump trucks for his department.

At a council meeting Monday, Nelson requested a new GMC C5500 truck that could be using for hauling. Nelson said General Truck Sales has offered the city a deal if it purchases two new trucks.

The new trucks would haul the same amount as the city’s one current truck, he said. Drivers could operate the new vehicles without being required to have their commercial driver’s license.

Nelson told council that the dump truck the city uses now is 12 years old and has been driven 210,346 miles.

“My goal is to save the citizens of Dunbar some money,” Nelson said. “We need the trucks. I believe we should purchase the trucks.”

Council member Connie Boardman expressed reservations about acting too quickly. Boardman suggested the city solicit bids to get the best deal on the purchase.

“I just want to make sure that the City of Dunbar is getting the best price and the best trucks,” Boardman said.

In other news, the city’s two new police cruisers have been put into operation.

Mayor Roger Wolfe said he’s already received positive feedback from residents since the new cars made their debut.

Also Monday, city officials announced they need lifeguards at the city pool this coming summer.

Anyone interested should bring a copy of his or her lifeguard certification to the city recreation center and fill out an application.

More than 100 dump truck drivers convoyed to Washington, DC, honking their horns while circling the U.S. Capitol to protest high diesel fuel prices on Thursday, April 10.

Truckers met in Forestville, MD, to line up for the convoy to DC. They drove in a loop several times around the National Mall to raise Congressional awareness on the impact that recent changes in the economy, including fuel, have had on the trucking industry.

One dump truck had a sign attached to the side that read “Fair compensation,” according to The Associated Press.

Plummeting car sales have led to a slump in prices, and some car sellers are headed for the wreckers’ yard, says an industry commentator.

“There’s blood on the showroom floor and it’s inevitable that some car retailers are going to go to the wall this year,” said Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the Dog & Lemon Guide for car buyers. “On a positive note, there are some real bargains out there at the moment.”

But while car buyers might be happy, Mr Matthew-Wilson predicted a grim year for sellers.

“Car prices traditionally go up with the sun and come down with the rain: we are heading into winter at a time of global uncertainty and local economic gloom. Couple this with cautious buyers and an oversupply of cars in the New Zealand market, and you’ve got a perfect recipe for disaster.”

According to Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers Association chief executive David Vinsen, the used-car market is “slow and slowing”.

Land Transport NZ figures show new-car registrations for 2008’s first quarter rose 3.6 per cent. Used imports fell 8.2 per cent. Comparing March 2008 to March 2007, sales from the public to dealers have dropped nearly 21 per cent, private sales are down by over 7 per cent, while sales from dealers to the public are down nearly 20 per cent.

Sales from dealer-to-dealer have fallen nearly 28 per cent, while registrations of used imports of have dropped nearly 18 per cent.

Mr Matthew-Wilson blamed a combination of factors.

“The economy is in decline, which has made buyers suddenly cautious,” he said. The new vehicles on sale were ordered during boom times, so there is now an oversupply.

“Although overall imports of Japanese secondhand vehicles are falling, a few dealers brought in vast numbers of vehicles in anticipation of tighter government controls on vehicle emissions,” Mr Matthew-Wilson said.

“There are now too many vehicles chasing too few buyers.”

The recession had also hit optimistic car buyers who had already bought expensive vehicles during the economic boom and were now suffering financial pressures as the downturn begins to bite.

Turners Auction general manager for marketing Todd Hunter said repossessed vehicles going to auction had risen 100 per cent in the year to March 2008, with 700 going under the hammer.

The Fairfax-owned online auction site Trade Me - now the dominant force in car sales - was the only retailer reporting growth, and increasing numbers of commercial car dealers were using the website to move stock.

In the twelve months to March 2008, about 170,000 vehicles were sold on Trade Me compared to 115,000 the previous year.

But Mr Matthew-Wilson said that despite more new cars and upmarket second-hand models being offered on Trade Me, the median price remained at around $11,000.

“This suggests that while volumes are up, prices continue to soften,” he said.

The second-largest auction house, Turners, did not reveal sales figures but said that lower prices had meant a major increase in bargain hunters on the auction floor.

According to Statistics New Zealand, it was a $41 million fall of 5.8 per cent in the value of car sales which sent the nation’s overall retail sales down in February. That followed falls of 0.6 per cent and 2.5 per cent in January and December.