This entry was posted on 2:33 am
Thursday August 26th, 2010
Jalopnik has recently posted a seemingly innocuous story about a Nissan GT-R being towed in New York City. The publication surmises that the the NYPD are improperly towing the disclosed Nissan, and thus stand to cause thousands of dollars in damage to the vehicle and drivetrain.
After consider we argue that the towing company does have an ethical and legal responsibility to tow properly. If they can’t or won’t, then they shouldn’t be towing in the first place. To be considerate, it would not hurt for all tow truck drivers to have a flat bed. Not sure why that isn’t always the case.
Either way, we can’t expect people to respect the police, if the police don’t respect people and their property. Understandably, a person may be accused of a violation, but this is subject to judicial interpretation. Until convicted, and there is no reason to do anything but secure the vehicle, UNLESS it is inhibiting traffic. In such a case, the government should take the responsible action to ensure that an individual’s property (whether owned by the individual or a leasing company/bank) is respected not just to the letter of the law, but to the spirit as well.
This entry was posted on 8:00 am
Tuesday August 24th, 2010
Hyundai's Equus and VW's Phaeton
If we had a dollar for every customer that had a negative dealership experience, we’d have retired ages ago, example story a la the Chicago Tribune. Anecdotally, auto OEMs would be wise to put great amounts of resources into improving the dealer-customer relationship. The U.S. market is still in credit crisis recovery mode. The rich-poor gap in the country continues to increase. Status quo of the 2000s is no longer tenable and we are paying the price in the industry.
One such change recently proposed by Hyundai is the way in which its dealers interact with customers. Beginning with its new flagship Equus car, Hyundai will have sales specialists show the US$50,000-US$60,000 base price car to potential customers. One has to admit that a car company selling US$60,000 sedans requires more than a little imagination and polish to also sell US$10,000 hatchbacks, and vice versa. The real question is can the new experience lead Hyundai to sales that eclipse the BMW, Cadillac, Lexus, and Mercedes brands. Hyundai claims they wish to achieve a modest 3,000 sales per year. Less clear is how Hyundai’s brand image will convince well-to-do, discerning Bimmer and Benz drivers to toss their keys into the wind and have a go with the Hyundai brand.
This entry was posted on 5:40 pm
Tuesday July 13th, 2010
Though Ford is very much an American car company, they have done a few things right over the years, in particular was the launch of their European-design models the Ford GT40 and the RS500 series. Ford reintroduced the GT a few years ago, and they are back to making more “economical” hot hatches with the RS500. The options list is sparse, but it does offer to launch the driver to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds.
At the end of the day though, it begs the question, “why isn’t this car made in the US for the American market?” Wake up Ford, and smell the petrol!
