Camry Most "American" Car?

According to the Detroit News (here), Cars.com finds that the Camry is the "most American car", based on domestic parts content and popularity.

I suppose it is fair, and congratulations to Toyota for supporting the U.S. economy as much as the Camry does.

But...

If you follow the flow of engineering and the flow of money, the picture is a little different. The Camry has quite a bit of its engineering done in Japan, which means that Japanese engineers are doing the work, not U.S. engineers. Also, the profits from the sale of the Camry flow back through Japan, though the shareholders of Toyota are global.

Consider instead a car designed in the U.S. and built over the border, such as the Ford Fusion, or the Chrysler 300. Yes, it is being bolted together by Mexicans (or Canadians, or even Mexican-Canadians), from parts that flow from all over. However, U.S. engineers and technicians worked on the product, and and the profits flow mostly to U.S. shareholders (and the .gov in the case of Chrysler and GM).

It isn't black and white, and if you buy a Camry, to my thinking it is much better than buying a car designed and built overseas. But if you want to support American engineering and American shareholders, you can do better than Camry.

The Truth About The Vuvuzela

The vuvuzela was originally invented by the Jews! Made of a rams horn, the shofar was blown during battle, and I am sure during ancient soccer games. Today, it is blown during the high holidays.

Why Not Small Cars?

Mark Tapscott at the Examiner (link) does a good job discussing why it is that small and fuel efficient cars are not taking off in the marketplace yet. He mentions several major reasons, such as safety issues (perceived and real), and cargo capacity.

I can add a few more.

Perceived Value: Americans still associate size/mass with value. Many of them are not yet ready to agree to pay mid-sized car prices for a small car.

Ride and Handling: Americans seem to be divided on how they want their cars to handle. Some of the best selling cars (Toyota Camry, Corolla) are comparatively squishy, while others (Honda Accord, Civic) have sharper handling and firmer rides. While it is not impossible to produce a small car with a softer ride, light weight and short suspension travel limits do make it more difficult. Also, when efficiency is the overriding design factor, one of the easiest places to lose weight is in sound isolation materials. Do the "silent majority" want little cars with go-kart manners (Mini, Smart) or do they want scaled down couches? Currently, most small cars are tuned more towards go-kart.

Styling: Looks still matter. Americans want a sharp looking car, although what "sharp looking" is is not always consistent. Designers have to work hard to avoid designing short little jelly beans with high roofs, which is really the most space efficient design with some aerodynamic efficiency. On a larger car, there is more surface to play with, and more ways to draw the eye. Americans don't really want something that looks like a rollerskate, with a tall roof and little wheels pushed out to the corners.

Comfort: Americans are not getting thinner. I recently witnessed about 500lbs of female Target shopper (a mother and daughter?) flow out of both sides of an old Dodge minivan, you could almost hear the springs sigh in relief as the ride height jumped by 2" in front. Show those women a Fiesta and they will probably laugh at you. They might then go ahead and eat it.

Toy Story 3

I went to see Toy Story 3 today, it is a real work of art, absolutely wonderful. The opening scene features a wild get-away by train robbing Potato Heads in a purple Barbie corvette driven by Martians.

Even if you have not seen the earlier installments, go see this one.

Cheap Gas, Low Demand For Hybrids, B-Cars

According to Ward's Auto, sales of fuel efficient vehicles (cars with 30mpg+) are falling, as customers move back to their mid-size cars and crossovers. Toyota's Prius is selling well, but the hybrid Camry and Honda Civic Hybrid are declining. Small gasoline cars such as the Yaris (down 38%), Honda Fit (down 20%), and Smart ForTwo (down 63%) are not doing well.

Unless Obama can find a way to ramp up the price of gasoline soon, the near term sales of the many new B-cars are not going to be pretty, and fleet fuel economy improvements are going to be small.

Let's face it, Americans don't want little cars. They want cheap gas and large cars. I can't wait for the public reaction when the 36mpg CAFE regulations force people to look at B-cars, or pay a premium for larger vehicles.

HP2G Vaporware?

I keep tabs on HP2G, Doug Pelmear's startup which is working on a hybrid electric V8 engine design, because he is somewhat local (Toledo OH) and makes some astonishing claims (110 MPGe and 400HP). As you may have heard already, HP2G was a Progressive Automotive X-prize contender but dropped out in the early stages of the competition. HP2G also had a deal with Revenge Design to supply the HP2G engine for a hybrid supercar, the Revenge Blade. Revenge has broken off its relationship with HP2G, and posted this nasty item on its web site:

Revenge Designs Inc is announcing the withdrawal of all support and funding to Hp2g llc, due to numerous requests for third party validations to the claims of their 110mpge Hp2g engine. Revenge Designs was informed the patents were in place late 2009, since then Revenge Designs has requested documentation for the third party testing to no avail. Revenge Designs finds this to be unacceptable.

A quick search of the U.S. patent database shows that the only patent that Doug Pelmear has to his name at this time is one for an engine block brace--nothing about his magnetic cylinder assist system. There are no applications by Pelmear in the U.S. patent application database. A quick search of the EU patent database also shows only the engine block brace patent. So it appears that HP2G has failed to apply for a patent for its magnetic hybrid engine technology until very recently. And it is odd that HP2G refuses to allow 3rd party testing of its prototype, an old Mustang.

Does Pelmear have a 110MPGe V8 engine that also makes 400HP, or is he selling snake oil? I wonder if we will ever be able to find out.

New J.D. Power Initial Quality Rankings

Some interesting results in the new J.D. Power IQS. (Full press release here)

For 2010, "domestic" brands are beating "import brands" as a group, 108 PP100 vs 109 (Problems Per 100).

Toyota has fallen to significantly below average, at 117 PP100. That crashing sound you hear is the sound of Toyota execs jumping out of high-rise windows.

All GM brands are below average, though all but GMC are better than Toyota.

Ford has charged up to just above Honda, well above average, and Lincoln is better than industry average, but oddly Mercury is below average.

Land Rover continues its dominance as the worst in the industry.

Audi (VW) has improved dramatically over the last few years, from 136 PP100 in 2007 to 111 in 2010. VW has also improved, 135 PP100 in 2010 vs 160 in 2007, but relative to average, is still near the bottom.

Volvo improved from below average to above average since 2007.