Author: Serkadis

EDITOR WES RAYNAL: The CX-9 and its smaller CX-7 brother are two of my favorite utes, and at $35,000, this is more than a competitive price, especially with all the stuff it has on it.

The car moves along well with the V6’s 273 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque. Compared with other midsize utes, the CX-9 is responsive and has great steering. It almost feels sporty, but not quite though. I liked it a lot.

COPY EDITOR CYNTHIA L. OROSCO: The CX-9 was a good ride over the weekend, although I noticed how much I was having to duck to get into the driver’s seat. Very annoying. I would like to be able to adjust the seat more downward so that the ducking wasn’t necessary.

This ute was pretty zippy on the expressway, but it must have quite a gas tank, because with about a quarter of a tank left, it took $41 to fill it up. Fuel economy wasn’t great. Overall, though, the CX-9 is a good ride with lots of room for carting groceries and various other cargo.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR ROGER HART: I really, really like the Mazda line of crossover utes. The CX-7 and the CX-9 are both excellent examples, with the 9 offering a seven-seat vehicle that doesn’t drive like a large, lumbering ute. Mazda remains one of the best companies in delivering the company DNA across the entire range of vehicles.

I was able to haul a full load of girls to a dance and then off to the movies. No one complained about room, and with the Bose sound system, everyone–including the driver–was well entertained.

2010 Mazda CX-9 Touring

Base Price: $32,745

As-Tested Price: $35,727

Drivetrain: 3.7-liter V6; AWD, six-speed automatic

Output: 273 hp @ 6,250 rpm, 270 lb-ft @ 4,250 rpm

Curb Weight: 4,546 lb

Fuel Economy (EPA/AW): 17/17.5 mpg

Options: Moonroof/Bose package including power moonroof, satellite radio, premium audio ($2,255); power liftgate package with advanced keyless entry, power open/close hatch ($617); rear-bumper step plate ($150)

For more

Source: Car news, reviews and auto show stories

Fisker Automotive announced today that it will be launching a North American tour to introduce its Karma premium plug-in hybrid sedan to local markets, and support the company’s new retail network.

“Scheduled to kick off Tuesday, April 27 from the company’s Irvine, California headquarters, the two-month program will stop in 42 cities in 26 states and three Canadian provinces,” Fisker said.

While the Karma is on tour, it will give the 1,600-plus people who have deposited $5,000 for the sedan, the first chance to see the Karma in person. Fisker expects the customers who put down the first 1,600 deposits to take delivery on their Karmas in the first quarter of 2011.

Hit the jump for the complete list of Fisker Karma tour dates.

Click here for more news on the Fisker Karma.

Refresher: Power comes from Fisker’s Q-DRIVE system, which is made up of two 201-hp electric motors that are powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. That allows the 2010 Karma to travel up to 50 miles without the use of any gasoline. A generator attached to a 260-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter Ecotec direct injection gasoline engine by General Motors provides an extended range of up to 300 miles. 0 to 60 mph comes in 5.8 seconds with a top speed of 125 mph.

2011 Fisker Karma:

Tour Dates:

4/27 Irvine, CA — Depart Fisker Automotive
4/28 Las Vegas, NV – Gaudin Automotive
5/1 San Antonio, TX – Barrett Holdings
5/3 Austin, TX – Roger Beasley Highline Group
5/4 Houston, TX – McDavid Auto Group
5/5 Fort Worth, TX – Frank Kent Motor Co.
5/6 Plano, TX – McDavid Auto Group
5/7 Tulsa, OK – Don Thornton Cadillac
5/10 Huntsville, AL – Century Automotive Group
5/11 Atlanta, GA – Classic Cadillac
5/13 Tampa Bay, FL – Elder Automotive Group
5/14 West Palm Beach, FL – Palm Beach Motor Cars
5/15 Miami, FL – Warren Henry Automobiles
5/17 Orlando, FL – Fields Auto Group
5/19 Winston Salem, NC – Flow Companies
5/20 Greenbelt, MD – Capitol Cadillac
5/21 Fairfax, VA – Ted Britt Auto Group
5/22 Wilmington, DE – Union Park Automotive
5/24 Langhorne, PA – H.A. Ott Motor Cars
5/25 Paramus, NJ – Bergen Jaguar
5/26 Great Neck, NY – Jaguar Great Neck
5/27 Greenwich, CT – Miller Motor Cars
5/28 Norwood, MA – Jake Kaplan’s Ltd.
6/1 North Olmsted, OH – M2 Motors, Inc.
6/2 Grand Blanc, MI – Serra Automotive
6/3 Toronto, ON – Dilawri Group
6/7 Glencoe, IL – Fields Auto Group
6/8 Schaumburg, IL – Patrick Dealer Group
6/9 Neenah, WI – Bergstrom Corp.
6/10 Minneapolis, MN – Borton Automotive
6/12 Saint Louis, MO – Plaza Motor Group
6/15 Denver, CO – Rickenbaugh
6/18 Calgary, AB – Dilawri Group
6/21 Centerville, UT – Hadley Auto Company
6/24 Vancouver, BC – Fields Auto Group
6/25 Bellevue, WA – O’Brien Auto Group
6/26 Portland, OR – Ron Tonkin Family of Dealerships
6/27 Marin, CA – Price Family Dealerships
6/28 Sacramento, CA – Price Family Dealerships
6/29 Silicon Valley, CA – Price Family Dealerships
6/30 Santa Monica, CA – Sullivan Luxury Cars
7/3 Irvine, CA, Orange – Shelly Automotive Group
7/5 San Diego, CA – Marvin K. Brown Auto Group

– By: Omar Rana

Google Maps is a great tool by itself, having access to quite accurate maps of most of the world, satellite imagery, terrain, and so on, which is pretty nice. But one of the most useful features consists of driving directions, enabling people to use Google Maps as a navigational utility, to plan trips and get around foreign … (read more)

	Quick Spin: Toyota FCHV-adv tempts us with smooth driving, reminding us that hydrogen is still years away Man it’s smooth – and very far away.		U.S. military warns of oil production shortage by 2015 But who’s going to believe them?
	Pininfarina sets yearly target of 60,000 Bluecar EVs by 2016 Could be tough.	Other news: Pickens pushing for NAT GAS plan, wants to move semis to natural gas Germany commits $2 billion for at least 1,000 hydrogen stations Renault finalizes design of Fluence ZE and Kangoo ZE, starts taking reservations

AutoblogGreen for 04.16.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NHTSA administrator David Strickland told reporters that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is aggressively investigating safety concerns raised by a Consumer Reports’ on the Lexus GX 460 SUV.

After Consumer Reports issued a rare “Don’t Buy” recommendation after it found rollover concerns during a test of the Lexus GX 460, Toyota suspended sales of the model worldwide and said that it is testing every SUV in its lineup.

“Toyota has clearly made a determination independently that this is a defect that may have an impact on safety so they made the decision to stop sale,” Strickland said “At that point, that is legally the right thing to do.”

While Toyota hasn’t announced plans to recall the luxury SUV, Strickland said the agency is aggressively investigating whether the model meets federal safety standards, and is inspecting the very vehicle that Consumer Reports tested.

“We should probably be getting answers on that very soon,” Strickland said. “We’ve made no decisions.”

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Detroit News

Forget just snarling air traffic. The volcanic ash from Iceland could temporarily bring normal day-to-day activity to a halt.

A UN health agency is calling on Europeans to stay indoors as the ash settles, according to an AP alert.

Long weekend!

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Google takes pride in its ‘green culture’ and tries its best to be as environmentally conscious as possible, for a large corporation, anyway. It’s using green energy, whenever possible, to power its data centers and its headquarters, the Googleplex, is ‘littered’ with solar panels that provide some of the electricity requirement… (read more)

(This guest comes courtesy of the author’s blog)

I haven’t thought the 75%+ rally was particularly irrational over the course of the last 12 months.  Surprised by the strength?  Absolutely.  But irrational, no.  As of late, we’ve begun to see signs that the consumer is back, but the equity action implies that the consumer is not only back, but ready to break records.  In late 2006 I wrote a letter that said:

“So here we sit with a relatively healthy economy, signs of inflation and record housing prices. Sounds pretty good, right? Not so fast. The markets could certainly move higher if housing doesn’t collapse, but we see very few scenarios in which that can happen.  When the housing market slows consumers will spend less and businesses will begin to suffer. The US economy will then fall into a recession and European and Asian countries will quickly follow suit as the world’s greatest consumers wilt under the environment of low liquidity and higher debt….The credit driven housing bubble remains the greatest risk to the equity markets at this time.”

I said the market was due for a potentially crippling recession as the yield curve inverted, consumer balance sheets were turned upside down, and a housing bubble was brewing.  Just days before the market crashed in 2008 I said the market had all the ingredients for a crash.  In late 2008 I said the market had overreacted and would likely revert towards the mean in 2009 for a total return of 18%.

The day before the market bottom in March 2009 I said government intervention would likely generate an equity rally.  But I did not come close to predicting that we were on the precipice of a 75% 12 month move.  Not even close.  On the other hand, I have never thought the move was particularly irrational and didn’t fight the tape through 2009.

I was very constructive on the market heading into 2010 and maintained that stimulus, strong earnings and an accommodative Fed would result in higher stock prices in H1.  I point this out not because I am trying to toot my own horn or gloss over my many imperfections (many can be emphasized), but overall I have been able to not only foresee the macro mechanics driving the market, but have also done a fine job translating that into price action.

But where do we sit now?  We are beginning to see some glaring disconnects between the market and reality.  There are very real improvements versus where we were just one year ago.  The recovery is here and it has been stronger than I expected.  But there are also signs of irrationality on the fray.  This is nowhere more apparent than it is in the consumer sector.  The retail holders index is one of the few indices that has experienced a full-blown v-shaped recovery.  Just how wide is the disconnect between the consumer and retail stocks. Let’s compare and contrast 2007 and 2010:

We have lost 7.8 million jobs since then.

The unemployment rate is 9.7% versus 4.5%.

Total unemployed workers are now 15.7 million versus 6.5 million.

Real personal income less government transfers is lower by 6.5%, or $624 billion.

Real retail sales have rebounded just 4% from their lows and are still down 9% from the 2007 peak.

Consumer credit for February showed another sharp retrenchment of -5.6B.

Consumer bankruptcies for March were the highest level since 2005.

There is a glaring $1.5 TRILLION hole in the consumer balance sheet.

Home foreclosures surged 19% last month and are at their highest level since 2005.

The consumer’s largest asset (housing) is down 33% since 2007.

Meanwhile, the retail holders index (RTH) is back at its pre-recession highs.  Granted, the market is a discounting mechanism and this index has benefited greatly from retail expansion and improved corporate efficiency, but operating income at the index’s top 25 holdings is down 4.5% from 2007 and that’s including new stores!    This doesn’t rhyme with a near all-time high in the retail index.  This price action is acting as if the consumer is (or will become) whole again – which I believe is undeniably false.  Is the consumer on the mend and willing to spend again?  Most certainly.  Whether this is a good thing is a whole different debate, but as of now there are still few signs that the consumer is back to full strength or even close despite the market acting as though Goldilocks is here and ready to party.

Of course, I’m talking my book as I sit on my first sizable short position in over two years (which has been a terrible call thus far), but the evidence appears clear to me.  This market is pricing in more than a Goldilocks recovery.  It is pricing in sheer euphoria and the data just doesn’t rhyme with such an environment.

Read more market commentary at The Pragmatic Capitalist >

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The New York Times has a good piece bringing you up to speed on wha could be the next crisis zone inside of Europe: Portugal.

Here are the numbers:

Portugal’s debt, at just under 90 percent of gross domestic product, is lower than Greece’s 113 percent level. The government in Lisbon has taken pre-emptive steps to cut spending and raise taxes.

Portugal’s financing needs for the year, while high at 24 billion euros, or $32.7 billion, are not as onerous as Greece’s. On Wednesday, the government was able to raise two billion euros comfortably on the bond market.

But Tim Lee of pi Economics, a consultancy based in Stamford, Conn., said a country’s savings rate, more than its deficits or debt-to-G.D.P. ratio, is the best measure of an economy’s ability to pay down its debt.

So sure, Portugal could survive with the right combination of luck and implicit backing.

But the trend is against you, as demographic and other structural problems continue to eat away at government finances across the continent.

Read the whole story >

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For Auto China 2010, which starts on April 23 in Beijing, we should expect a smorgasbord of displays from both domestic and global carmakers. Of course, each carmaker will be competing for attention.

One of the most anticipated face-off involves Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and General Motors Co. Certainly, these two carmakers won’t put on an ordinary show. Geely will display 39 models while GM will display 28 – many of these models being new ones. Geely asserts that it will display 11 all-new models on stage at the event. Meanwhile, GM said that it will show six new models for the first time in front of a Chinese audience. This includes the Chevy Volt MPV5 concept, the Cadillac Converj Concept, the Cadillac XTS concept, the Chevy Aveo RS concept, the two-box Chevy New Sail and the new Chevy Spark. Both carmakers have had their press conferences. Last week, Geely held an event in Beijing with several company executives describing the long list of new models and powertrain technologies that will be showcased at the show. Last Monday, GM China executives were in Shanghai to conduct a briefing of its ambitious growth plans for China over the medium and long-term.

[via autonews – sub. required]

Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

Toyota’s runaway vehicle problem has suddenly transformed into a problem with runaway incentives. After launching a massive sales incentives program in March to lure customers back to showrooms, Toyota may have to continue its sales blitz through late summer.

Toyota began offering 0 percent financing and free maintenance in March to smooth things over with U.S. buyers, causing a dramatic jump in the company’s per vehicle incentives average. Toyota’s average vehicle incentives totaled $1,003 in March 2009, but ballooned to $2,568 last month. Moreover, Toyota may have to continue its incentives push well into the summer months.

“With what we can gather today, they’re going to have to continue this level of spending until 2011 models start to come in a meaningful way,” Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends at forecaster TrueCar.com, told Bloomberg. “That could mean until about August.”

The incentives rallied Toyota’s sales 41 percent in March, but April hasn’t been kind to the Japanese automaker. U.S. regulators announced earlier this month that Toyota “knowingly hid a dangerous defect” and the Japanese automaker was forced to stop global sales of its Lexus GX 460 SUV following a “do not buy” recommendation by Consumer Reports.

References
1. ‘Toyota Quality Woes…’ view

Source: Leftlane

Google is not done with adding new features to Gmail. Having just introduced a nifty invite option that integrates Google Calendar with Gmail and makes it easy to create an event while sending an email, it is now announcing another very cool feature, drag-and-drop attachments. It’s exactly what you think it is, just drag a file or even… (read more)

When Google first showed off Chrome OS, it made a simple but bold pledge, it would not run any native app, at all. The browser is the only native application that the user will have access to, everything else is in the cloud. It sounds like an enticing option, but many pointed out that the market was not yet ready for this, there isn&r… (read more)

Google has announced its first-quarter financial results and they’re even more positive than analysts expected. The company brought in $6.77 billion in the first quarter of 2010, a 23-percent increase over the same period last year. Net income rose 37 percent year-over-year to $1.96 billion.

“Google performed very well in the first qu… (read more)