WELCOME TO LUXURY AUTO & BIKES
About Auto
Last year some 1.75 million bicycles
were sold, about 2,000 more than the number of new cars registered, La
Repubblica newspaper reported.It attributed the change to a slump in car sales
during the economic crisis and the rising price of petrol, as well as bikes
coming back into fashion.Car sales have slumped to the level at which they
stood in 1964, it said.Though bicycling has a strong tradition in Italy, the
centres of big cities are largely dominated by cars and scooters.Ahead of a cycling
conference being held in Italy this weekend, President Giorgio Napolitano
appealed to Italians to "catch up" with other European countries by
making their roads more cycle-friendly.
The top Auto Stories
Resilience and the auto industry went hand-in-glove in 2012 as
automakers plumped up their bottom lines, ladled on luxury features in
new models and turned their once-battered fortunes on their heads.
Nothing
seemingly could blunt the industry's momentum. Hiring soared at auto
plants around the country, with some places adding third shifts, worker
overtime and even six-day work weeks to meet the demand for vehicles.
Oil
prices surged, and gas prices topped an average $3.90 a gallon, though
they never reached the July 2008, record of $4.11 a gallon. Yet, vehicle
sales remained strong. Even when Superstorm Sandy lopped off October's
sales by tearing through the East Coast, it blew new life into
November's tally. Buyers were willing to pay more, as well. The average
transaction price for all vehicles -- the price people actually paid for
a new car at dealerships -- hit a record $30,700 in March, according to
TrueCar.com. It still hovers above $30,000.
The year was marked
by high-profile departures. American Suzuki Motor announced that it's
going to stop selling cars in the U.S. Saab all but died in bankruptcy
but was resurrected when National Electric Vehicle Sweden, a Chinese
company, bought its assets to turn it into an electric car company.
Ferdinand
Porsche, designer of the signature Porsche 911 sports coupe and
descendant of the founder of the automotive giant, died. America lost
its own design and racing icon, Carroll Shelby, creator of the Shelby
Cobra and the Shelby Mustang. The legendary Shelby, a key figure in the
automotive industry for more than five decades, became synonymous with
high-performance machines.
Against that backdrop, here are the year's top automotive stories as picked by USA TODAY editors and reporters:
1. The auto industry stages a comeback.
Wow, what a year. The auto industry came clawing back with the highest
sales since 2007. After an expected strong showing this month, the
industry is on track to sell 14.5 million new vehicles this year, says
analyst Brian Johnson of Barclays in a note to investors. That would be
an impressive 13.5% increase from last year Even more remarkable is how
the industry has steadily churned more sales since the depths of the
recession in 2009, when sales bottomed at 10.4 million. If the industry
can keep its momentum, it could get back to 16 million in 2013, which
would be on par with the best banner years of a decade ago.
2. The auto industry takes center stage in the presidential contest.
President Obama's decision to bail out General Motors and Chrysler
during their darkest hours figured large in his re-election victory
over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Obama used the bailout
to pound away at GOP nominee Romney in the Rust Belt, especially
Michigan and northern Ohio, where Detroit automakers have unionized
factories. Though Romney was born in Detroit to a former Michigan
governor who had run American Motors, he was hampered by a 2008 op-ed he
wrote for The New York Times headlined, "Let Detroit Go
Bankrupt." Since no Republican has made it to the White House without
Ohio, it was considered pivotal to Obama's re-election. Obama won Ohio
with 50.7% of the vote, compared with Romney's 47.7%.
3. Hybrids go mainstream.
In the past, motorists have associated the greenest of cars with
distinctive designs that sometimes sacrificed performance or comfort,
such as Honda's original Insight or an early Toyota Prius. Now, hybrids
have gone mainstream, with big sales expected. A 2013 Toyota Camry
Hybrid sedan averages 41 miles a gallon. The Ford Fusion Hybrid is rated
at 47 mpg, not far off the 50 mpg of a 2013 Prius (although the EPA is
reviewing that Fusion figure). Automakers need to bring hybrids to their
mainstream cars and try to meet a new corporate average gas mileage
standard of 35.5 mpg by 2016.
4. Ford's CEO picks a successor.
Talk about big shoes to fill. No other CEO has made a bigger, more
longer-lasting impact on a Detroit automaker in recent years than Ford
Motor's Alan Mulally, who arrived from Boeing in 2006. He shepherded
Ford through the recession and avoided the bankruptcy reorganizations
that both General Motors and Chrysler undertook. Ford had a
particularly strong bench of executives to eventually succeed Mulally,
but the folksy Kansan named Mark Fields -- the head of the automaker's
operations for North and South America -- as his heir apparent. Fields,
who took over this month as chief operating officer, is best known for
turning around Japan's Mazda when it was under Ford's control. He also
did a stint as a top executive for Ford of Europe. Fields is an astute
strategist who isn't afraid of making gutsy decisions.
5. Forty miles a gallon?
Instead of styling or features, automakers in 2012 had to deal with a
world in which buyers cared most about how much mileage a car could
squeeze out of every gallon. But where do you set the bar in a way that
impresses would-be customers? Hyundai found it when it marketed its new
Elantra compact as getting 40 miles a gallon in highway driving.
Suddenly, competitors were forced to try to match the easy-to-remember
number, usually with editions that added special gas-savings. Honda went
after it with special editions of the Civic, Ford with the Focus and
Chevrolet with the Cruze. The irony? Under pressure from the
Environmental Protection Agency, Hyundai had to revise its gas-mileage
figures on several models and lost the ability to claim 40 mpg.
6. Recalls that stung.
Automakers loathe recalls, which are not only expensive but
embarrassing. In terms of sheer numbers, it appeared that the year
would end with about as many as 2011. But some stung worse than others.
Ford, after touting the wonders of its 1.6-liter EcoBoost turbocharged
engines, had to recall 89,153 Fusion sedans and Escape crossovers
earlier this month because of an overheating issue that could lead to
fires. All appeared to end well since the problem could be fixed with a
software update.
7. Toyota and Honda resurrected. Both
saw their sales slammed by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in
Japan, then flooding in Thailand. This year, with factories repaired and
the supply pipeline back to normal, sales jumped in the U.S. Toyota
sold 28.8% more vehicles through November of this year, vs. the same
period a year ago, Autodata says. For Honda, the gain was 23.8%. Toyota
is likely to be the world's best-selling automaker. But it can't get
comfortable. Volkswagen saw a 30.7% gain in the U.S. during the first
11 months of this year.
8. Design's slippery slope. Hearts
were aflutter a couple of years back when Jaguar unveiled its XJ, and
Audi showed off the A7. Both sedans had a similar shape, the gently
sloping roof line of a fastback that gave them the racy looks of a
coupe. In 2012, the style became the de facto industry standard, as
mainstream makers followed. The new Chevrolet Impala gets the same
treatment, along with Toyota Avalon and the Mazda6. The slope is
gorgeous but not always practical. Not only can it eat into rear-seat
headroom, but it makes the trunk appear smaller.
9. Michigan becomes a right-to-work state.
For the labor union movement, no state has been more important than
Michigan, home to United Auto Workers and thousands employed making
cars. The number of Michigan workers represented by a union fell from
27% in 1990 to 18% in 2011, the Detroit Free Press reports. Union
influence has declined as Detroit automakers shut down plants while
foreign makers, both European and Asian, opened non-union plants mostly
in the South. But the fight in Michigan isn't finished. Unions vow a
tough struggle to put the Wolverine State firmly back in the union
column.
10. Goodbye "Government Motors." The Treasury
Department announced earlier this month that it will sell all of its
remaining 500 million shares of General Motors in the next 12 to 15
months, ending the $49.5 billion bailout that kept the nation's largest
automaker alive. Though the bailout kept thousands of workers employed
and let one of the nation's most famous corporate names live on, it led
to the ugly moniker "Government Motors" and resentment by some
investors. GM will benefit, though, with fewer restrictions on its
operations without government strings attached, such as caps on
executive pay.
Reasons to start using a bicycle for transportation
Economic
instability and ever-increasing climate change are just two of the many reasons
riding a bike is an excellent alternative to driving.
We've always
taken the greenness of bike transport as a given. But if you're just getting
started — or perhaps trying to convince an employer that bicycle commuting is a
good thing — we've rounded up a dozen reasons to leave that car in the driveway
and start covering pavement on two wheels. Let's ride!
1) It's
easier to finance a new bicycle than a new car. Thanks to the recession,
auto loans are hard to find these days — even if you have good credit. But for
the price of a single car payment, you can buy a well-made bicycle that should
outlast most cars. Add a few hundred dollars more for rain gear, lights and
accessories, and you have all-weather, anytime transportation.
2) A
bicycle has a tiny manufacturing footprint when compared to a car. All manufactured goods
have environmental impact, but bicycles can be produced for a fraction of the
materials, energy and shipping costs of a car.
3)
Bicycles produce no meaningful pollution when in operation. Bikes don't have
tailpipes belching poisonous fumes into the atmosphere. They also eliminate the
oil, fuel and hydraulic fluids dripped by automobiles onto the road surface —
which means less toxic runoff into local waterways.
4) Bikes
save taxpayers money by reducing road wear. A 20-pound bicycle is a
lot less rough on the pavement than a two-ton sedan. Every bicycle on the road
amounts to money saved patching potholes and resurfacing city streets.
5)
Bicycles are an effective alternative to a second car. Perhaps you're not in a
position to adopt a bicycle as primary transportation. But bikes make great
second vehicles. You can literally save thousands of dollars a year using a
bicycle for workday commuting and weekend errands in households which might
otherwise be forced to maintain two cars.
6) Using
a bike for transportation can help you lose weight and improve your overall
health. The health benefits of regular aerobic exercise are well-known.
Depending on your riding style and local road conditions, you could easily burn
600 calories an hour through brisk cycling. Most bike commuters report losing
15 to 20 pounds during their first year in the saddle without changing their
eating habits.
7) You
can store a dozen bicycles in a single automobile-sized parking place. Parking lots have
enormous environmental and financial impact, particularly in urbanized areas.
The more bikes you can get on the road, the fewer parking spaces you need to
build.
8)
Bicycles don't burn gasoline. Fuel is cheap compared to last year, and the
economic downturn is likely to keep a lid on petroleum demand for a while. But
we're not producing any more oil today than we were when it was more than $100
a barrel. A healthy bike culture will help ease pressure on supply once demand
returns.
9)
Bicycling may be faster and more efficient than taking a car. We're not talking about
the crazy — and illegal — antics of New
York bicycle messengers. But bikes are often faster
than cars in urban areas, especially when city designers have set aside proper
bike lanes. There's nothing more satisfying as a bicycle commuter than breezing
past a long line of gridlocked traffic.
10)
Bikes cost much less to maintain and operate than automobiles. You'll never throw a rod
on a bicycle, and dropping a transmission on a bike usually means replacing a
bent derailleur hanger or worn-out chain. Bicycles do require service, but you
can learn to perform most of it yourself. Even if you have a shop do things for
you, costs will be trivial compared to a car.
11)
Bicycles provide mobility for those who may not qualify or afford to drive. Not everyone can get a
driver's license (or wants one), and the cost of purchasing, insuring and
maintaining a car is out of reach for a lot of people. Almost everyone can
afford some sort of bike. Other than walking, bicycles are the most
cost-effective transportation on the planet.
12) Studies show that bicycle commuters are
healthier, more productive, and require less time off at work. This is why most
enlightened employers are eager to accommodate commuting cyclists. Healthy
workers are better workers — and that's good for the bottom line. Bikes are
smart business.
LUXURY AUTO & BIKES
