Congressman Proposes Big 3 Fuel Economy Aid
Frequently the federal government will mandate that the states, local governments, or private companies meet certain requirements, without providing the funds to reach these goals. In education, the “No Child Left 
Behind” act is one example of an unfunded mandate.
In the world of automobiles, the automakers have to meet scads of federal safety, crash, emissions, and fuel economy standards. These costs are absorbed by the automakers and/or passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. For America’s three big domestic auto producers — General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler — these types of mandates are often viewed as a drag on their businesses.
A Michigan congressman, Joe Knollenberg, is proposing that the federal government provide aid to help the automakers meet tough goals including where they must improve fuel economy by 4.5% annually between 2011 and 2015. Knollenberg introduced his “Bridging Industry and Government /Through Hi-Tech Research on Energy Efficiency Act,” or Big Three Act, at a press conference Tuesday in Troy, Michigan.
Knollenberg says that the act is needed because the new fuel efficiency rules have placed unfunded mandates on a struggling industry. The bill would provide:
- Funding to pay for $750 million in advanced battery research and development spending over a five year period and
- Set aside $50 million annually for five years for grants to add hydrogen fueling stations, to provide adding 200 stations by 2013.
Knollenberg is in the middle of a tough reelection campaign and some critics have charged that his bill doesn’t go far enough. Being that it is an election year, the congressman’s initiative isn’t likely to be tackled by Congress before November’s election.
(Source: Detroit News)
Introducing Auto Trends, My Latest Niche Site
I mentioned at the beginning of this month that I would be developing specialty sites to complement this automotive blog. Though The Auto Writer is doing extremely well, traffic-wise, I am finding that including a wide variety of automotive topics at one location is getting to be somewhat unmanageable. Besides, if your main interest is concept cars, wouldn’t it be great to find a site that emphasizes that subject?
Now you can.
Auto Trends is officially live, a site many of you may have already discovered. Launched three weeks ago, I’ve managed to post two dozen articles to date, covering, you guessed it: concept cars. In addition, I’ll be including a handful of technology and gadget articles, particularly news that points to the direction automakers and key suppliers are heading.
I’m still tweaking the theme and testing a nifty image plugin and rotator (see the H3T article), but I’m heading in the right direction. The site is best viewed in Firefox as you will see the posts are centered by I.E. Not my fault if you choose to use an inferior browser, but I’ll see what I can do to fix Bill Gates’ problem-child in the near future.
Yes, I’ll still be posting here on a regular basis with the occasional update over at Auto Trends. BTW, I already have one other site being tested with more on the way. For now, please enjoy Auto Trends and, of course, I hope to “see” you around this blog too.
The Saturn AURA Disguised As An Opel Insignia
General Motors has made it quite clear that the future of its Saturn brand is tied directly to its Opel brand. Opel is General Motor’s strongest European nameplate, having been part of the GM fold for nearly 80 years.
Saturn isn’t quite that old, about two decades in fact, and it is no longer a wholly owned subsidiary of GM. Instead, Saturn is part of GM’s brand line up much as Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, and Chevrolet are as well.
Yet, unlike its other divisions, GM is still trying to maintain a distinct identity for its Saturn model line. By offering virtually the same cars Opel sells in Europe as Saturn vehicles, GM is managing to pull this off — with varying degrees of success.
The AURA represents GM’s second attempt at fielding a midsize car for Saturn, following on the heels of its lackluster L-Series. Although the AURA has received plenty of praise from automotive critics it, too, has been a sales disappointment for Saturn.
The Opel Insignia likely represents what the next generation AURA will look like. GM took the wraps off of the Insignia this past week, distributing exterior photographs of the sedan. The Insignia is larger and much more stylish than the Vectra, the car it is replacing, and it will offer all wheel drive.
In the European market, the Insignia will be offered in three body styles — hatchback, sedan, and wagon. Stateside, the sedan may be the only style offered.
The Insignia’s public debut will take place on July 22nd, for the London Motor Show, with the model in European showrooms this November. Look for the second generation AURA to debut as a 2010 model about one year later.
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