Archive for February, 2010

America, we’re told, loves to root for underdogs.  We rally for scrappy sports teams and relish a great comeback story.  Where else can a football team like the Saints lift the spirits of an entire city or an actor jump from rehab to an Iron Man movie premiere with such verve?

Maybe its a manifestation of the can-do spirit that built this country or maybe it’s because the feeling of triumph is so much greater when you have to work harder for it.  Whatever the reason may be, motoring America has got a new underdog to consider and it’s a midsize sedan called the Suzuki Kizashi.

Chances are that you haven’t heard of this car… or even this car company.  Suzuki has a formidable reputation when it comes to motorcycles but their vehicle lineup has been hit-or-miss for many years now.  The Kizashi is the company’s first modern product with true mainstream appeal.

Besides the dark horse brand, the Kizashi qualifies as an underdog because it boldly eschews the typical midsize sedan formula.  It’s appreciably smaller than the Accord/Camry crowd and much livelier, too.  Suzuki proudly compares the Kizashi to established premium sports sedans like the Acura TSX and Audi A4, citing the Kizashi’s nimble handling and high levels of luxury equipment (think: automatic windshield wipers, rearview camera, and push-button start).

It’s clear that Suzuki has high hopes for this scrappy sports sedan.  The available manual transmission is expensive to manufacture but certain to provoke interest from the enthusiast crowd.  Likewise, the available all-wheel drive system is there to ensure that the northeast market, already known for its enthusiastic adoption of fellow dark horse, Subaru, will get the Kizashi noticed.

What’s not clear is if Americans will be willing to take a chance on a brand they don’t know very well.  We’ll just have to see if the Kizashi’s many charms are enough to turn this underdog into a sales champion.

Tears – in this case, Toyota President, Akio Toyoda’s tears.  According to a recent SFGate story, Toyota’s CEO teared up during the House Oversight Committee hearing and broke down balling at a meeting with national Toyota dealers.

Why the tears?  Crying in public is common protocol for Japanese executives in trouble.  The Japanese view crying as a virtuous symbol of the acknowledgment of one’s mistakes.

While Toyoda’s tears have improved his image in Japan; the jury is still out in the United States where Toyota continues to struggle with several high-profile safety recalls.  Did Toyoda’s tears demonstrate true remorse or were they a theatrical show?

Remorseful tears or not, many in the automobile industry and at Toyota, itself, have confidence that Akio Toyoda is still the best person to lead this global manufacturing giant.  Since assuming the role of CEO in June, 2009, Toyoda has publicly criticized the previous CEO and management team for being overly focused on growth and for losing sight of the customer.  He pledged to return the company’s focus to the customer and to grow more responsibly in the future.

After slamming Toyota’s previous management in a rare statement to the Detroit Free Press, Jim Press, the former head of the automaker’s US operations, expressed his own confidence in Toyoda.  “Akio Toyoda is not only up for the job, but he is the only person who can save Toyota. He is very capable, and he embodies the virtues and character that built this great company.”

The CEO, himself, admits, “We at Toyota are at a crossroad. We need to rethink everything about our operation.”  Fixing Toyota is going to be a big job, but Akio Toyoda appears to have the passion and drive necessary to succeed.  As he puts it; his name is on every product his company makes.

Anyone who’s ever made their down an alpine slope can tell you that snowboarders and skiers don’t always get along.  Each group is prone to complaining that the other is in their way, with skiers calling first dibs on mountain sports and snowboarders claiming to represent the vanguard.

In researching our post on Shaun White’s ultimate mountain ride last week, we came across some interesting data that may help shine light on the people behind this decades-old rivalry.

We crunched some numbers in the Honk database and created top-50 lists of vehicles for both sports.  Most notably, the list for skiers was dominated by expensive sheetmetal, with luxury brands filling out 26 of the top 50 spots.  That same measure was only 15 for snowboarders, suggesting that skiers have the edge when it comes to household income.

That number doesn’t tell the full story, though.  Honk data shows that snowboarders are a much younger group overall and that means that they are still in the early stages of their careers.  About 28% of snowboarders are under age 30, compared to only about 9% for skiers.

Curiously, skiers also had seven convertibles in their top-50 list while snowboarders had none.  Since convertibles are often purchased as a second or third car, this could be merely a by-product of skiers being older and more likely to be married with multiple cars in the household fleet.

Don’t get your bindings in a twist over these results, though, because both sides will no doubt agree that the most important thing is to get out there and enjoy the ride.

A car that can both help the environment and add a little ‘oomph’ to your wallet – can that really exist?  According to industry experts, we already possess the technology needed to make this possible.  Discovery News reports that researchers showed off a retrofitted Scion xB at a meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science that had been equipped with prototype ‘vehicle-to-grid’ (V2G) technology.

You’re probably asking:  What is V2G, and how is it supposed to help the environment or my pocketbook?  ’Vehicle to Grid’ technology enables electric vehicles to “talk” to the grid.  So instead of simply charging their batteries, V2G-enabled electric vehicles can actually send small amounts of electricity back to the grid when needed.

In theory, a large fleet of V2G-enabled electric vehicles could help to keep the power grid stable and it could also reduce the need for utility companies to run additional power plants during the middle of the day when the need for electricity is at its highest.

The benefit for EV owners is that the utility company would have to pay you for any electricity that your vehicle contributes.  You could charge your electric vehicle at night (when rates are low) and then sell that same electricity back to the utility company the following day (when rates are high).  In such a scenario, your electric vehicle becomes a source of income.  The utility companies claim to be happy with this arrangement because it’s cheaper for them to pay EV owners for borrowed storage capacity than it is to build and operate additional power plants.

If V2G-enabled cars were out on the market now, would you buy one and allow the utility company to siphon off small amounts of electricity during the day?

Cars, like clothing or speech or attitude, reveal clues about who we are as people or who we aspire to be.  In watching the 2010 Winter Olympics, we’ve noticed that several Olympians drive nice cars.  Make that REALLY nice cars.

Viktor Plushenko picked up a hot Maserati that he reportedly used to chase after his first wife.

Figure-skating champion, Evan Lysacek just announced that he’s going to buy a James Bond-inspired Aston Martin DBS.

As we reported last week, Shaun White shreds in a white Lamborghini Murcielago LP-640 when he’s not on the slopes.

These three athletes all compete in sports that demand power, precision, agility, and a healthy dose of style… so it’s no surprise to us that they’d be attracted to these exotic sports cars.  But that got us wondering:  What other cars are fit for Olympians and which athletes might be driving them?

We’d like to hear what you think – post a picture or a comment of you favorite Olympian and what you think they (should) drive.