The All-American Impala: Made in Canada

During President Obama’s press conference last week when he announced that Chrylser would file for Chapter 11, he asked Americans that if they were looking to buy a car, to look at American cars. The “buy American” philosophy drew harsh criticism from the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA), which pointed out that buying American doesn’t necessarily mean buying a car from an American brand.

“AIADA objects to President Obama’s ‘buy American’ solution for the auto sector,” AIADA President Cody Lusk said in a statement. “In today’s globalized economy ‘buying American’ can mean anything from buying a Chevy Avalanche built by Mexican workers in Silao, Mexico to buying a Toyota Camry built by Americans in Georgetown, Kentucky.”

On that note, there is one way to tell exactly which country a car is manufactured in – the VIN number. That’s right, that odd 17-digit sequence of numbers and letters found on the dash under the windshield (and in numerous other places on a vehicle) holds the key to a vehicle’s country of origin.

Many VIN numbers, actually start with a letter. Those that start with a “J” are built in Japan and those with a “K” are from Korea. Most of the rest, however, aren’t so intuitive. VINs that start with a “W” are from Germany, while an “S” signifies England. Swedish cars get a “Y.”

The United States, Canada and Mexico all use a number system, with American-made cars using a VIN that starts with the number 1, while Canadian-made cars use a 2 and Mexican made cars use a 3.

The number of American vehicles made outside the U.S. is actually quite significant, while many “foreign” cars are built in American. In fact, one of America’s best-selling vehicles (and one that is also typically American) is actually built in Canada – the Chevy Impala.

Other made-in-Canada cars include the Buick Lacrosse, Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKX, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis and the new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.

Made-in Mexico cars include the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Chevrolet HHR. And as for the the Chevy Aveo sub-compact, it comes from Korea.

On the flip-side, there are plenty of Japanese (and even some German) vehicles built in the U.S. of A. Some of the most significant include the high volume Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, while the Honda Element and Toyota Avalon are also U.S. products. Nissan builds several models in the United States while BMW manufactures the Z4 as well as the X5 and X6 in South Carolina.

… The more you know…

[Source: La Times]

Before Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 late last week the automaker explored every option, including selling the company to the Chinese and forging partnerships with any other manufacturer that expressed even a remote amount of interest.

In public bankruptcy filings, made at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Chrysler’s co-president and vice-Chairman Tom LaSorda said that the company entertained offers from Chinese automakers Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Tempo International Group, Hawtai Automobiles, and Chery Automotive Co.

“Chrysler sent letters to parties, primarily in China, whom we thought would be potentially interested in purchasing our assets,” LaSorda wrote. “Over the next two months, several companies… expressed interest in purchasing specific vehicles, powertrains, intellectual property rights, distribution channels and automotive brands.”

In the end, however, none of those companies were interested.

LaSorda also said that over the past two years Chrysler has courted practically every other automaker out there, searching for a partner. The list includes Nissan, General Motors, Volkswagen, Tata, Magna, GAZ, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota.

Many off the arrangements didn’t have a leg to stand on, however, the talks with Nissan were thorough and only ended when Nissan couldn’t secure the credit needed to buy in to Chrysler.

La Sorda finally writes that a partnership with Fiat is the “best outcome,” although that might be stretching the truth, as it seems Fiat is the only automaker in the world with interest in Chrysler.

The Chrysler/Fiat deal, which began back in March of 2008, is now before the bankruptcy court. Fiat didn’t put any money into Chrysler but will provide $8 to $10 billion in small car technology in exchange for a 20 percent stake in the company. Fiat can get 15 percent more if it meets three benchmarks that the U.S. government has imposed, including building a 40 mpg car. That car will be a Chrysler version of the Fiat 500.

[Source: Detroit News]

Jason Saini raced to the top of the podium in his Mazda6 this weekend, during the SCCA’s SPEED World Challenge Touring Car series event at New Jersey Motorsports Park’s Thunderbolt Raceway. Saini placed third in qualifying but quickly made it to second place off the standing start, and spent much of the rest of the race fender to fender with defending series champion Peter Cunningham in his RealTime Racing TSX.

Saini passed Cunningham on the third lap but only secured some distance when Cunningham got tied up defending his position from Andrew Aquilante in the Phoenix Performance Inc. Subaru WRX.

When the checkered flag flew, however, Saini had secured an almost three second advantage after Cunningham, giving him not only the race victory but also the lead in the points race.

“I raced with Peter a couple of times last year. We had some side-by-side battles. He came out on top last year. This time, I came out on top. It is a dream come true to race with a guy like Peter,” said Saini. “I looked at where his strengths and weaknesses were and tried to push him. I tried to stick the nose in every once and a while to see. I just had a bit of a stronger car at that point and I was able to get down on the inside. I tried one time. I didn’t make it stick. I tried again and it did.”

As for the third-place Aquilante, he managed the last podium spot in just his third World Challenge race. Initially much of the credit can be handed to Subaru’s all-wheel drive system, which allowed Aquilante to race from a standing-start grid position of 8th to 3rd overall in just one lap.

“The start was good,” Aquilante said. “It was kind of wild the first couple of laps, with Jason and P.D. going back and forth. Jason got around him and things settled in single file. Then, about halfway through the race, I started to try to pick it up and the tires started to go away.”

“I finally caught up to them. I had a few runs at Peter down the front straightaway. We went side-by-side. He knew what I was going to do, so he protected the inside well. There were a couple of times he let me on the inside, but I couldn’t quite make it stick. I tried not to run him off the road. It was a good race.”

Finishing out the top five were Cunningham’s teammates Kuno Wittmer in 4th and Pierre Kleinubing in 5th.

As for the points race, as mentioned, with the win Saini takes the lead, with Kleinubing in 2nd and Seth Thomas in 3rd with his BMW 328i.

The race will be broadcast on SPEED Chanel Friday, May 22 at 2 p.m.. The next race is scheduled for Mosport International Raceway on May 16th and 17th

[Photo Credit: Mark Weber/SCCA]

Complete race results after the jump:

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The performance experts over at Lingenfelter have just announced a long list of engine packages that will be available for the 2010 Chevy Camaro… and there’s no shortage of high-horsepower options.

Initial offerings start with a supercharger upgrade, air intakes, exhaust system and ecu tune, with an option for either 550 or 570 hp. For more extreme performance, Lingenfelter will remove and completely rebuilt the 6.2-liter V8, with JE pistons Manley rods and fully rebuilt heads. When combined with the supercharger upgrade, the V8 can then churn out 650hp and 600 ft-lbs of torque.

Not extreme enough for you? How about a similar build, but using a 7.0-liter LS7 engine for a total of 750hp and 685 ft-lbs of torque.

Believe it or not, that isn’t the top-level Lingenfelter package. Those who know the company will know that it is famous for many things, but that the twin-turbo Corvette might be the biggest one. So Lingenfelter has decided to offer a similar package for the 2010 Chevy Camaro. Using that big displacement 7.0-liter LS7, Lingenfelter completely rebuilds it and slaps on two Garrett turbos for a total of 800 horsepower and 800 neck-snapping ft-lbs of torque.

All that power on a stock looking machine would exactly look right either, so Lingenfelter will release a line of Camaro aerodynamics later this year. While no official pictures are available, the company has released the renderings pictured above. The new kit will include a front bumper, splitter, new grille, side skirts, rear bumper, rear tail light panel, rear spoiler and a new vented hood.

For move info visit:

http://www.lingenfelter.com/

More on the Lingenfelter packages for the 2010 Camaro after the jump:

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Mercedes will price the all-new 2010 E-Class significantly less than the outgoing model. In fact, the 2010 E350 will retail for just under $50,000 – $49,475 to be exact. That price is $4,600 less than the ’09 E-Class.

“We are continuing the strategy we started with the new C class two years ago by pricing close to actual transaction prices,” Mercedes USA CEO Ernst Lieb told the Automotive News.

The 2010 E-Class includes a long list of sate-of-the-art safety features, some of which are not yet offered in the flagship S-Class. These include Blind Sport Assist, Attention Assist, Brake Assist Plus and Lane Keeping Assist, which will notify the driver through vibrations in the steering wheel if the vehicle detects it is drifting off the road.

Higher level versions of the E-Class will also see MSRP reductions, with the E550 priced at $57,175, and the AWD 4MATIC model starting at 57,675.

As for the upcoming E-Class Coupe, it will be priced very close to the current CLK, with a base MSRP of $48,925 – $50 less than the current CLK. The E550 Coupe will come in at $55,525.

The 2010 E-Class goes on sale in June, with 4MATIC versions offered in the fall and the E63 coming in early winter. As for the upcoming E350 Bluetec diesel, it will arrive in March of 2010. An E-Class Convertible will follow after that.

[Source: Automotive News]

Interesting times indeed. As the economy continues to lumber on, this economic shakeup is certainly changing things in the automotive industry. While in a bustling economy it may take decades for shifts to happen in an industry, it can take just a month in a recession. And so with every passing month the sales figures for the world’s automakers in the U.S. give us a glimpse at how things are changing.

The two biggest stories might just be that in the month of April Ford outsold Toyota, while Korean automaker Hyundai surpassed Nissan/Infiniti for total sales – moving just outside the top-five and in to 6th place.

Toyota managed to sell 126,540 units in the U.S. in the month of April, suffering a decline of 41.9 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Meanwhile U.S. automaker General Motors suffered only a 33.2 percent decline in sales. GM still holds the top sales position in the U.S. for the month if April, but Toyota was surpassed by Ford, which managed 133,979 units, a decline of 33 percent over the previous April.

As for Hyundai, it posted sales of 59,558 vehicles in April, topping Nissan/Infiniti at just 47,190 units. This news pushes Hyundai into sixth place for U.S. sales. The position-swap is due mostly to the fact that Hyundai managed to sustain minor losses , while Nissan struggled. Nissan’s decline from the month of April 2008 was 37.8 percent, while Hyundai only posted a loss of 14.1 percent.

It is important to point out, however, that Hyundai’s sales also include all Kia vehicles.

Other interesting stories found deep in April’s sales numbers include Chrysler’s decline of 48.1 percent, as well as news that the Honda Accord out-sold Ford’s F-Series pickups to claim the title of the best selling vehicle in the U.S.

For the second straight month, no automaker in the U.S. posted a sales increase, although on the positive side the overall sales of vehicles dropped just 34.4 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, which is the smallest decline since October.

May’s numbers are sure to be more interesting as Chrysler is certain to drop significantly, potentially moving several automakers up a position.

[Source: Automotive News]

Lotus has confirmed that it will introduce a Purist Edition of the Elise for sale in the U.S. this year. The philosophy behind this new model is to bring the Elise back to what it was when it first crossed the pond and landed on U.S. shores.

That means it will be a more basic package and will come at a lower starting price. That starting MSRP for the new model will be $43,995 – roughly $3,500 less than a standard Elise.

What you get for that amount is quite a lot… or quite a little depending on how you look at it. Lotus prides itself on light-weight, back-to-basics vehicles and the Purist Edition, as the name suggests, is just that.

The car comes with the 190hp Toyota-source 1.8-liter four-cylinder and six-speed manual transmission. Also included are 16-inch front and 17-inch rear wheels with 175/55/16 and 225/45/17 tires. You also get Bilstein shocks and AP Racing brakes. Inside is typically Spartan, although there are leather Probax seats, a leather-wrapped MOMO wheel and air conditioning is standard. In fact, the only option is the Starshield paint protection for $995.

The Lotus Elise Purist Edition is offered in three colors: Ardent Red, Saffron Yellow and (our favorite) Monaco White.

[Source: LotusEnthusiast.net]

Jim Waldron, the owner of a Pontiac dealership in Michigan has revealed that he and a group of investors submitted an offer to buy the scheduled-for-termination Pontiac brand from GM. Waldron made the announcement on ABC’s local WJRT station and said that he expects to hear back from the company this week.

GM representatives, including Communications VP Tom Pyden, have said that the brand is not for sale and that as a part of the company’s new Viability Plan submitted to the U.S. government, Pontiac must be phased-out.

Waldron said that it is possible the communications team does not know of the offer.

As the terms of the offer (and, therefore, the price) are private, it is not clear if the offer is reasonable one. Waldron did say that if the offer is accepted his team would look into purchasing vacant plants and hiring a workforce to start manufacturing Pontiacs.

[Source: ABC - WJRT]