Straightline

Everyone's trying to figure out exactly what Fiat stands to gain from a no-money-down, one-third acquistion of Chrysler , other than loan money backed by U.S. taxpayers. A story in today's Inside Line news suggests Fiat might be very interested in Chrysler's Toluca, Mexico plant, which currently builds the Chrysler PT Cruiser and Dodge Journey.

The PT will be going out of production in summer 2009, freeing up production capacity that could be used to build small Fiats for markets throughout the western hemisphere.

Fiat already has a major presence in Brazil, but it's not much of a player in Mexico. And undoubtedly it would like to be. We'd bet that buyers in Mexico are apt to be much more receptive to subcompact Fiat 500s, Pandas and Grande Puntos than, say, U.S. consumers. In addition, meeting crash and emission standards is also likely to be a much simpler proposition in Mexico than the U.S.

Inside Line News: New Chrysler Link Could Bring Fiat Cars to U.S. via Mexico

Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler,Fiat

Mere hours after Audi released a "making of" teaser for its Super Bowl XLIII commercial featuring the Audi A6 and its supercharged V6, the actual commercial, titled "Chase," landed on YouTube. And you can of course watch Audi's 2009 Super Bowl ad (and Jason Stratham) right here.

Inside Line News: Audi Offers Sneak Peek at Supercharged Super Bowl Ad

Categories: Audi,Auto Industry

Ford announced today that it has reduced worldwide warranty repair costs by $1.2 billion over the last two years. This is impressive to read, though without seeing some kind of elaborate spreadsheet, it's impossible to know whether the reduction is primarily on the strength of the U.S. market or other markets around the globe.

Ford notes further that it's making almost 50 percent fewer warranty repairs to U.S.-market Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles today as it was in 2004 -- and that according to the latest U.S. Global Quality Research System study, "initial quality is now in a virtual tie with Honda-Acura and Toyota-Lexus-Scion for the 2008 model year."

Also in this survey, says Ford, the F-Series Super Duty, Lincoln Mark LT (RIP) and Shelby GT500 ranked at the top of their respective classes for "fewest things gone wrong (TGW)." In addition, Ford reports that the Focus pulled even with the Toyota Corolla in the TGW count.

We're not sure how many conclusions can be drawn from this announcement, but given yesterday's report that Ford lost $14.6 billion in 2008, any savings on warranty repairs has to be considered a plus.

Categories: Auto Industry,Ford

In his book What Would Google Do?, blogger and CUNY journalism professor Jeff Jarvis asks the Detroit automakers to build him a Googlemobile. Google, he argues, has been so brutally effective at anticipating and responding to our desires in the online world, that the next step must surely be to create cars based on its open-source-platform philosophy of design.

BusinessWeek has published a large excerpt of the book in its current issue, and in it Jarvis says all sorts of things guaranteed to incite controversy if you have any passion at all for the cars in your garage and driving in general. Read it and tell us what you think.

Here's an example, with a few more after the jump:

Excerpt: Google listens to us and trusts us when it releases unfinished products as "betas" so we can tell them what to do next... Google wants us involved in the creative process; Detroit doesn't... What if just one model from one brand were opened up to collaborative design? I don't suggest that design should be a democracy. But shouldn't design at least be a conversation? Designers can put their ideas on the Web. Customers can make suggestions and discuss them. Designers can take the best ideas and adapt them, giving credit where it is due. I don't imagine customers would collaborate on transmission design--though a few might have good suggestions if given a chance. But they would have a lot to contribute on the passenger compartment, the look of the car, the features, and the options. They could even get involved in economic decisions: Would you be willing to give up power windows if it got you a lower price or a nicer radio? This collaboration would invest customers in the product. It would build excitement. It would get the product talked about on the Web and linked to and boost its popularity in Google searches. The approach could change the relationship of customers to the brand and that would change the brand itself. Imagine that, the collaborative community car: our car.

Continue reading What if Google Ran a Car Company?.

Categories: Auto Industry,Automaker Feedback

Mitsubishi's U.S. baby got Sportback. It's true. Despite the U.S. market's historic disinterest in five-door hatchbacks, Mitsubishi will begin importing the Sportback this summer as a 2010 model.

It'll be available in commuter-car GTS and sporty Ralliart flavors. Either way, it'll offer a maximum of 52.7 cubic feet of cargo space.

Lest there be any confusion, the production Lancer Sportback is on the right in the above photo.

Read Inside Line's take on the 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback

Categories: Hatchbacks,Mitsubishi

Hey, hotshoe. Think you're good at matching revs when you're downshifting? The 2009 Nissan 370Z's SynchroRev Match can do it better.

And if you're one of those drivers that has wondered why all this "heel-toe" business requires your two feet to do three things simultaneously, then you, too, can benefit from SynchroRev Match.

SynchroRev Match is a feature that automatically "blips" the throttle when the driver initiates a downshift in manual transmission-equipped 370s. If you depress the clutch, lift off the throttle and move the gearchange lever to a lower gear, SynchroRev Match zips the engine up to precisely the right speed for that gear.

The result? Perfectly smooth rev-matched downshifts every single time, and drivers that look like heroes.

Rev-matching is common among automatic- and automated-manual transmissions, but the 2009 Z-car marks the debut of such a feature in conjunction with a real-life, stick-in-the-palm manual gearbox.

Now, come with us to the other side of the jump to learn how it works.

Continue reading Nissan 370Z's SynchroRev Match Heals Ham-Hands, Two Left Feet.

Categories: Car Tech,Coupes,Hatchbacks,Nissan,Sports Cars

Today's episode of automaker teaser video is brought to you by the word, cutesy.

BMW has been working for some time on a wagon-esque, minivan-like, crossover-type vehicle that it likes to call PAS for progressive activity sedan. And now it's released on the web this adorable cartoon of a vehicle that we fear will be something less than adorable. It's a sort of tall wagon thing with adjustable rear seats and a cargo hold that can be accessed via a full-sized hatchback or through a smaller hatch within a hatch should the weather be too cold to expose passengers to a momentary blast of the outside. We're imagining the end result of all this passenger and cargo packaging rethinking (the video points out BMW has thought about this quite a lot) will end up looking a bit like a bloodless X6. But we'll see at March's Geneva auto show, where we expect to see the concept in person.

Until then, sit back and enjoy this silly interlude, because as '90's girly band Veruca Salt once observed, "Can't fight the teaser."

Categories: BMW,Concept Vehicles,Coupes,Future Vehicles,Geneva Motor Show,Hatchbacks,Minivans,SUVs,Wagons

It was one thing when manufacturers started teasing upcoming auto-show reveals with dark and moody photos of one detail of a future car. Now Audi has taken the teasing to a whole new level by releasing this two-and-a-half-minute detailing the making of its Super Bowl advertisement. It's called building excitement, kids.

Yes, that means the tease is two-and-a-half times longer than the actual ad will be. Called "Chase," the ad is an opportunity for Audi to poke at its competitors with a small stick and also to highlight some questionable hair and sartorial choices of the last 30 years.

So why do we care? Well, we reckon the ladies in the office will find the ad's star, Brit actor Jason Statham, to be super-dreamy and, for the guys, there's the fishtailing '70's Trans-Am.

Categories: Audi,Auto Industry

Five Hyundai Super Bowl XLIII ads found their way to YouTube today, and by far the highlight is the one featuring Rhys Millen drifting a 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe. We've posted all five of Hyundai's 2009 Super Bowl commercials here. View them all by following the jump.

Continue reading Hyundai Genesis Coupe Super Bowl Ad Is Out Early.

Categories: Coupes,Hyundai,Sedans

One of the promises of the merger between former satellite radio rivals Sirius and XM was that fanatical listeners would one day be able to tune in every channel offered by both services on a single device. The cleverly named Sirius XM MiRGE, the newly formed company's first interoperable receiver, will deliver on it when the portable device becomes available in early spring of 2009 for $249.99.

Now you won't need two sat radio receivers to enjoy the Sirius Everything plus XM Everything package that will be available for $19.99 a month.

Continue reading Sirius XM MiRGE is First Interoperable Receiver for Both Services.

Categories: Car Tech