Design: Mascot Madness: VW Pulls a Rabbit Out of Its Past August 20, 2006
The Rabbit is back. Numbers and letters are cold, efficient serious and grown-up; these name tricks are for kids. THE school buses that my daughter rode to kindergarten were cleverly marked for the preliterate. Each bus?s windshield bore the image of an animal ? red dog, blue fish, green rabbit ? so each child at the bus stop would take the right route. These were automotive mascots at their most basic, symbolism easy enough for a child. Early on, automakers seized on symbolism to distinguish their vehicles, borrowing names from noble explorers, tribal chieftains or heraldic animals. But the …
Behind the Wheel: 2006 Toyota RAV4: That Precocious Child Star Grows Into a Bigger Role
This bigger 2006 model may not look or feel quite as sporty as it did when it debuted back in 2001, but it is a lot more practical, with more room and more useful features. TEN years ago last January, the Toyota RAV4 walked onstage and took a bow, as perky and precocious as an automotive Shirley Temple in a sheet-metal pinafore. Who would have thought that this tiny sort of sport utility was the precursor of what would become, within a decade, the hottest part of the auto market? Back then, the RAV4 and a couple of similarly small …
Ford Sets Steep Cuts to Vehicle Production August 18, 2006
The company blamed its steepest cut in more than two decades on ?an unprecedented spike in gasoline prices.? DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 18 ? The Ford Motor Company said today that it would cut vehicle production by 21 percent in the fourth quarter, its steepest cut in more than two decades, because sales of its most important products, light trucks, are faltering. Ford said it was abandoning its goal, reiterated as recently as April, of selling 900,000 pickup trucks a year in the United States. That could mean that the reign of Ford?s F-series pickup truck as the best-selling vehicle …
A New Film Documents One Town?s Automotive Version of Graffiti August 16, 2006
?Tire Tracks? memorializes the work of drivers who use a combination of technique and raw horsepower to create a kind of rural car- and truck-made graffiti. STONINGTON, Me., Aug. 12 ? Deer Isle and the town of Stonington, at its southern tip, have long served as both muse and home for storied American artists. William and Emily Muir are the stuff of local legend for their work in a variety of mediums, and Stephen Pace has spent time depicting both the idyll and industry of life here. Visitors to the island in recent seasons may have noticed that a …
Motoring: For Long-Term Dependability, Check the Initial Quality August 13, 2006
A model?s repair record offers a reasonable basis for predicting how often it might need to visit the repair shop in the future. FOR many consumers, the most important factor in choosing a new vehicle is not the hipness of its design, the comfort of its seats or even the number of cup holders on board. These practical-minded buyers want to know how well a car or truck will hold up in the years ahead; the less trouble-prone it promises to be, the more desirable it is. While it is impossible to know exactly how dependable any new vehicle …
2007 Saturn Sky: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
The Sky is an undeniably gorgeous car, the sort of design that resonates with pretty much anyone with a pulse. Can it get by on good looks alone? THE cheery people at the dealership still clap and sing and take your picture when you buy a new Saturn, though I wonder how they have mustered their enthusiasm for the last 10 years. Saturn has long suffered as General Motors? most pathetic brand, with neither the sales nor products to truly justify its continued existence. Those pumped-up salespeople were about all Saturn had going for it.But now they have something …
2006 MX-5: More Miata, Minus the Name
The 2006 MX-5 is an exceptional sports roadster, one certainly worthy of carrying on its predecessor?s reputation. Unless, that is, you have spent much time behind the wheel of the original. FIRST, a disclaimer: I am a former Mazda Miata owner and a confirmed lover of the breed of sports cars it represents. So the opinions expressed henceforth must be weighed against the reality that the 2006 MX-5 is an exceptional sports roadster, one certainly worthy of carrying on its predecessor?s reputation. Unless, that is, you have spent much time behind the wheel of the original.The best way I …
Study Credits Vehicles, but Not Drivers, for Better Road Safety August 10, 2006
Design changes are making cars safer, but drunken driving rates have not changed much, seat belt use has climbed only slowly, and people are driving faster, a study has found. WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 ? Cars are becoming safer, but the people who drive them are not, a study by an insurance industry research group has found. In fact, without design changes that have made vehicles safer, including the growing prevalence of air bags, the death toll on the nation?s roads would be higher by about 5,000 people annually, more than 11 percent of last year?s total, according to the study.The …
Advertising: Would You Like a Gas Guzzler With That?
McDonald?s has started putting toy Hummers in children?s Happy Meal boxes, calling it the ?Hummer of a Summer? promotion. Not surprisingly, environmental groups are appalled. WHEN General Motors introduced the three-ton, 11-miles-to-the-gallon Hummer H2 four years ago, it redefined American extravagance. But now, with gas prices hovering at $3 a gallon and threatening to go higher, sales of Hummers are declining as Americans become increasingly conscious of gas mileage. McDonald?s, however, appears not to have gotten the message. This week, the restaurant chain started putting toy Hummers in children?s Happy Meal boxes, calling it the ?Hummer of a Summer? …
The Nation: Toyota Drove to the Bank in a Ford August 6, 2006
If the Japanese want to sell cars here, they must build them here, America?s automakers insisted in the fuel-shocked 70?s. And build them they did. IF the Japanese want to sell cars here, they must build them here, America?s automakers insisted back in the fuel-shocked 70?s. And build them they did. Detroit?s brake, it turns out, was Japan?s accelerator. Last week, for the first time, Japanese auto companies said they were now selling more vehicles outside Japan than at home ? the bulk in the United States. What?s more, Japan?s biggest automaker, Toyota, upset Ford for second place in …
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