A truck containing a teleprompter and audio gear used by President Barack Obama was stolen in Virginia, prompting questions about security lapses.

The gear, estimated at about $200,000, was parked in a van at a Virginia hotel parking lot ahead of Obama’s visit to the area.  The van was said to be carrying audio equipment, podiums and even the Presidential seal, which only Obama is allowed to stand behind. The truck was eventually recovered, but details about the equipment’s status has not been made public.

The truck was said to be unmarked but wearing government tags, and observers are questioning whether this was simply a random vehicle theft that happened to be carrying important cargo, or whether the goods were specifically targeted by thieves.

[Source: NBC12.com]

Volkswagen was one of several large automakers that did not sign off on the Obama Administration’s proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for 2025.

“We still have a dialogue going on with the administration in terms of how we think the policy needs to be adjusted,” said Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America.

Volkswagen is worried about the current proposed rules that place an unfairly strict rules on passenger cars. Heavier light trucks on the other hand, have much more lenient terms attached to them. Passenger cars maybe required to achieve 5% annual improvements and light trucks may face 3.5 percent annual improvements. The largest trucks on sale face almost no ruling for the 2017-2020 time frame.

“The proposal encourages manufacturers and customers to shift toward larger, less-efficient vehicles, defeating the goal of reduced greenhouse-gas emissions,” one spokesman said.

Volkswagen is also upset regarding the administration ignoring the improvements the German automaker has made to its diesel models. Diesels offer up to 30 percent better fuel efficiency and are installed in up to 80 percent of some VW models sold in the U.S.

“Diesels are growing to pretty much twice the scale in terms of (U.S. sales) of electric vehicles and hybrids together. It’s a technology that is available and affordable…and we think it should be part of the landscape going forward,” Browning explained.

[Source: Wards Auto]

A new Harvard study has found that electric vehicles won’t be accepted by the American public until gas hits $4.50 per gallon. The study also found that surprisingly, over the life of the car, plug-in hybrids like the Chevrolet Volt cost $5,377 more than gas powered cars. The story is the same for the Nissan Leaf which is $4,819 more expensive.

The aim of the study was to determine if Americans will buy electric cars and the study concluded that the answer was “yes-but only if the electric vehicles are competitive with conventional cars on cost, range and fueling convenience.”

The U.S Energy Information administration is predicting that gas in 2012 will cost around $3.65 per gallon and that $4.50 per gallon is not a likelihood in the near future.

The study was released just before President Obama is to outline higher fuel economy standards. Ultimately, the standards are expected to reach 54.5 mpg by 2025. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the following on the White House website, ”This program, which builds on the historic agreement achieved by this administration for model years 2012-’16, will result in significant cost savings for consumers at the pump, dramatically reduce oil consumption, cut pollution and create jobs,”.

[Source: Edmunds Inside Line]

Last year, the Obama Administration heavily backed Detroit’s automakers with a big helping of government funding. The bail-out money that was partly provided to General Motors and Chrysler, was for these companies to develop and sell hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles. The end result was the hardly amazing Chevrolet Volt.

However, the Obama administration still wants to help the electric and hybrid car industry, and their latest move to help move such products is to cut funding for clean-diesel and fuel-cell technology.

So while $80-million was budgeted for clean-diesel development in 2010, for 2011 that budget is cut down to zero. Congress had originally promised $500-million over 5-years for this project. Similar cuts have been made towards the development of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

The money that is being cut from clean-diesel and fuel-cell vehicles will now go to plug-in hybrid vehicles. Under the new plan, the $7500 tax break will be given to the customer at the dealership, not when taxes are claimed at the end of the year.

So while this might be great news for anyone who is looking to buy a plug-in hybrid vehicle, this will have an effect on manufacturers who had invested in other technologies. Essentially, those who manufacture clean-diesel or hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles will see marketing their vehicles in North America pointless.

[Source: Bloomberg Photo Credit: egmCarTech]

Steven Rattner, the man appointed by President Obama to oversee the auto industry bailout, claims that internal GM documents that were analyzed in the early days of the bailout pegged the cost of producing a Chevrolet Volt at $40,000 per car.

“At least in the early years, each Volt would cost around $40,000 to manufacture (development costs not included),” said Rattner. While GM declined to comment on the actual cost of the Volt’s production, Rattner said that he supported the move, since it meant a qualitative advantage for General Motors in the area of alternative fuel vehicles.

The Volt retails for $41,000 before government subsidies, which leaves little profit for GM, although the company arguably derives significant indirect benefits from marketing the vehicle.

[Source: New York Times]

A week after reports that the original $1 billion allocated for the Cash-for-Clunkers program was running low, President Obama today signed into law an additional $2 billion that will keep the program running and fuel a rebounding auto industry.

In just two weeks since the original bill was passed the Cash-for-Clunkers or CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System) has netted $920 million in rebates and has accounted for more than 220,000 new car sales.

The boost to the auto industry has prompted speculation that total car sales for the year, which only a few months ago were pegged at under 10 million, will now exceed the 13 million unit mark.

Automakers are also looking to boost production output as inventory levels have dropped to their lowest levels since 1992. Measured in the number of days worth of inventory a dealer has on its lot, Chrysler dropped its inventory from 71 to 40 days, Ford shed 9 days (from 57 to 48) while both GM and Toyota lost 18 days, from 82 to 64 and 47 to 29 respectively.

[Source: Automotive News 1 and 2]

If you’ve been trying to decide whether or not to trade in your gas guzzler on a new fuel-efficient model and cash in on the government’s $4,500 CARS rebate, you’ve waited too long. The program, funded with 1 billion dollars of tax payers’ money is already running low – just six days after the Obama Administration officially launched it.

According to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), by the end of the Wednesday work day dealers had submitted 22,782 claims for a total of $95.5 million. 

At that rate the program will run out of money long before the planned CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System) expiration date of November 1st. Reuters cites Bailey Wood, a spokesman for the National Automobile Dealers Association, who speculates the program will run out of funding before the date.

The Cash-for-Clunkers legislation had been criticized heavily before being passed for not being sufficiently funded. 

The good news out of this is that if the CARS rebate system is used up (early or not) it is expected to generate as many as 250,000 car sales – something which should help speed up an economy that already shows signs of recovering.

Reuters cites an unnamed inside government source for the tip, who says the CARS program wil be suspended shortly. There is no word on if there are plans to find additional funding and re-instate Cash-for-Clunkers at a later date.

[Source: Automotive News]

In a bid to get inventory moving out of showrooms in a hurry, Chrysler has decided to offer a new incentive program that would double the value of the government’s cash-for-clunkers program.

Chrysler will offer $4,500 off (or 0 percent financing for 72 months) on most of its 2009 inventory – excluding the Dodge Challenger, Sprinter, Jeep Wrangler and all SRT products. The $4,500 incentive is even available on vehicles that do not meet the requirements for the cash-for-clunkers program, which was recently signed off on by President Obama.

Cash-for-Clunkers, or CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System) gives a $4,500 rebate on a new car when it gets 10 mpg or more better fuel mileage than the one traded in. The rebate is $3,500 on vehicles that get 4 to 9 mpg better or trucks that get 2 to 4 mpg better.

Chrysler, now under new leadership from Italian automaker Fiat is hoping the incentive will help sales rebound. Chrysler has been hit particularly hard this year with sales down 45.7 percent for the first six months.

When combined, these two offers mean a $17,090, Dodge Caliber SE could leave showrooms for as little as $8,090.

Chrysler’s “Double Ca$h for Your Old Car,” incentive starts tomorrow and runs through August.

[Source: Automotive News]

BMW is looking at bringing back for-cylinder engines to the U.S. in order to meet tough new fuel-economy regulations. BMW’s engineering boss, Tom Baloga, told Bloomberg that the smaller and more fuel-efficient engines were likely needed in order to meet the Obama Administration’s 2016 CAFE regulations, which call for a new fleet average of 35.5 mpg – up from 27.3 mpg for 2011.

Last year BMW’s fleet-wide average was 26.5 mpg.

Currently BMW sells the 1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series and X3 with four-cylinder engines overseas, where fuel-efficient diesel options are also popular. In fact, Baloga says that due to the high volume of diesel sales in Europe, the automaker’s current European fleet average would already meet the 2016 CAFE regulations.

BMW currently offers a high-performance 3 Series diesel, the 335d, in the U.S., but Baloga says BMW will not rely on diesels to offset less fuel-efficient models as demand for diesels in the U.S. isn’t high enough to make a difference.

The real issue in bringing over four-cylinder engines, says Baloga, is keeping the focus on performance. That being said, the four-cylinder models are likely to either be turbocharged or used in significantly lighter models.

BMW is also looking at growing its offering of 1 Series models in the U.S., with numerous new models planned. The higher sales volumes of the more efficient engines will also help to increase BMW’s fuel-efficiency fleet average.

[Source: Bloomberg]

The Canadian government is currently examining if it will pass a cash-for-clunkers bill that could see consumers get up to $3,500 (CDN) towards a new car when they trade in their older and less fuel-efficient model.

Environment Minister Jim Prentice said a decision on the matter will be made within the next 60 days, as the government continues to be pressured by automakers. The government has also received added pressure after U.S. President Barack Obama signed off on a similar program last month that would see U.S. consumers get as much as $4,500 (USD) towards a new car when they trade in an old one with poor fuel economy.

Automakers are pressuring the government to help out in an effort to boost auto sales. Vehicle sales in Canada, however, are not suffering to the same extent that they are in the U.S. According to the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada (AIAMC), vehicle sales were down just 13.2 percent in June with year to date sales down 18.3 percent. Passenger vehicle sales were down 22.9 percent, while light duty truck sales were actually up 1.5 percent.

[Source: The Vancouver Sun]