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AP sources: GM plans more restructuring measures

DETROIT -- General Motors' top managers are working on additional restructuring measures, including production cuts, to deal with a declining U.S. auto market and an accelerated shift from trucks to more fuel efficient vehicles, a person familiar with the plan told The Associated Press.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Backseat Driver: Driving a Lamborghini exposes my hypocrisy

Lamborghini Gallardo

Dick Tuck writes to my blog about the discrepancy between my comments printed in last Sunday’s projoCars section on the decision by the Interior Department to declare the polar bear threatened and the cover story about the 360 horsepower 2008 Pontiac G8 GT.

Mr Tuck is right to point this out, and all I can say is that I have no say on what we choose to run on our cover, in this case a test drive by Larry Printz of The Virginian-Pilot.

Mr Tuck goes on to accuse me of hypocrisy in accusing George W. Bush of making polar bears “swim for it.” Actually, the Interior Department seems to be trying to save the bear, but it’s best not to think of such things.

However, Mr. Tuck is again right in calling me a hypocrite. I cannot help it. I am a Brit and, as everybody knows, hypocrisy is the great British vice. I suppose it’s the price of a social tyranny!

So I will add fuel to Mr. Tuck's fire of indignation by admitting to an act of gross hypocrisy that I committed on Memorial Day – that of taking a bright yellow Lamborghini Gallardo out for a spin.

What defense can I muster given my green proclivities? I mean to say, the Gallardo, with its 520 horsepower 5 liter V10 engine, 0-to-60 mph in 4.2 seconds and top speed of 200 mph, gets a combined 13 miles to the gallon! And it makes a lot of noise.

But what a noise! Something between a growl and a cackle that says just one thing: POWER! And all clothed in an apparition of design.

Forgive me, Mr. Tuck, when I admit that driving such a car over the bridge from Newport to Jamestown and back again on a glorious sunny day with the sail boats below like puffs of cotton on Narragansett Bay – well, you see what I mean, don’t you? I get positively rhapsodic!

What explanation can I offer? That it was research for an article I am writing about The Otto Club of Boston that leases out such cars to club members? No, I cannot pass the buck.

Driving a Lamborghini is the ultimate fantasy and given the chance, I took it. And I took along my 14-year old stepson Pat, who is a car nut, and at one point during the drive he said simply: “This is heaven!”

And it was.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:21 AM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 1

R.I. gas prices at $4-a-gallon threshold

Gasoline prices in Rhode Island continued to surge higher this week, and now are at the cusp of crossing the $4-a-gallon mark, according to The Providence Journal.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline was $3.989 a gallon, breaking the record high set only last week.

Yesterday’s price was up 13 cents from last week, and up 95 cents from one year ago.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:40 AM to Gas prices | Permalink | Comments 0

Luxury brands dominate vehicle quality survey

DETROIT -- Luxury brands once again dominated an annual U.S. automobile quality survey by a California research company, but total quality dropped for the first time in four years, the company said, according to the Associated Press.
BMW led all brands in the results released Wednesday by San Diego-based Strategic Vision Inc., followed closely by Hummer, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Infiniti, Lexus, Land Rover, Cadillac, Lincoln and Volkswagen.

Volkswagen AG, which includes Audi, led all corporations with a total quality index score of 892 out of 1,000 possible points. General Motors Corp. finished second as a corporation at 867, followed by Ford Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., which tied for third at 862. Toyota Motor Corp. finished fifth, at the industry average of 860.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:38 AM to Auto industry | Permalink | Comments 0