CAMARO/FIREBIRD GONE AFTER 2002
The word’s been on the street for quite some
time now, but General Motors Corporation finally made it official: 2002 will be
the last model year for the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird models. It
fell to GM Vice President John G. Middlebrook to make the announcement that the
company’s venerable, enduring ponycars had fallen victim to the demise of a
sports-car segment they had helped create in the 1960s. The passing of the
Camaro and Firebird into history will be commemorated by special editions of
each for their farewell season—a 35th
Anniversary Edition Camaro and a Collector Edition Firebird Trans Am.
GM: Camaro Factory to Close by Joseph
Szczesny (9/25/2001)
CHRYSLER
MATCHES 0% FINANCING
Following hard-times announcements from General
Motors and Ford, the Chrysler Group has announced that it will join its Big 3
colleagues in offering zero-interest financing on select 2002 Chrysler, Dodge
and Jeep models. The zero-percent deal is available on 36-month loans.
Longer-term loans (up to 60 months) are available at 2.9 percent for cars and
4.9 percent for trucks and minivans. Sadly for the deal hunters, Chrysler’s PT
Cruiser and Prowler, Dodge’s Viper and Ram trucks, Jeep’s Liberty, and all of
the new e-minivans (eC, eL and eX) are all excluded from the zero-percent
incentive, as are other incentive initiatives. The program will be in effect
until October 31st.
Keep American Rolling: Time to Buy? by
Marty Padgett (9/24/2001)
SUZUKI BESTS
BIG 3’S 0% FINANCING
Stealing as much
thunder as it possibly can from General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company
and DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group, American Suzuki Motor Corporation is
offering interest-free financing across the board on all of its 2001 cars and
sport-utility vehicles. GM, Ford and Chrysler are offering 36-month no-interest
vehicle loans on select models, but the little Japanese automaker is going the
giants one better by extending the term of the loan to 60 months. The program
ends on October 31st.
Suzuki Video
Library
(7/20/2001)
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY GIVES SAFETY RESULTS FOR
2000
U.S.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta released highway fatality figures for
2000, and the numbers are revealing. First the good news: Fatal accidents
involving children up to 15 years old declined to their lowest level since the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began keeping tabs on
them in 1975. Now the bad news: Alcohol-related deaths and motorcycle deaths
both rose in 2000. Alcohol was involved in 40 percent of the highway fatalities
from last year, while motorcycle deaths took a 15.3-percent jump, according to
NHTSA.
Recall, Rollover
and Safety Info
by TCC Team
(9/24/2001)
MERCURY ADDS
3 NEW CHOICES TO 2002 LINEUP
Ford Motor Company’s Mercury division is adding
three new variants to its car and SUV lineup for 2002. First up next month is
the limited-production Cougar XR featuring a 170-horsepower V-6 engine and an
$18,945 price tag ($19,940 with an automatic transmission). Then in January
comes the upscale Mercury Sable Platinum Edition ($23,275 for the sedan, $24,440
for the station wagon). Sometime next spring, Mercury will introduce the
Mountaineer Premier Edition. No equipment details or prices have yet been
released on this SUV, so you can use your imagination. We’re visualizing the
nicest Ford Explorer we’ve ever seen.
XM SATELLITE RADIO
LAUNCHES
XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. has launched
its inaugural radio service in San Diego, California and Dallas, Texas.
Satellite radio is a subscription-based option that allows customers to
"personalize" their listening by offering digital-quality radio playing dozens
of channels covering nearly every imaginable style of music and format,
available anywhere they might be driving. For $9.95 a month, XM subscribers can
tune in 100 channels of music and such news and information outlets as CNBC, CNN
Headline News, USA Today and the BBC World Service. A nationwide launch is
slated for mid-November.
Auto Tech Talk:
Satellite Radio
by TCC Team
(4/23/2001
)
CHRYSLER
DROPS JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE PRICES
Struggling to get out
from under a costly rebate program offered on Jeep’s most popular model, the
Chrysler Group is lowering prices on 2002 Grand Cherokees. The 2001 Grand
Cherokees were leaning heavily on incentives—to the cash-back tune of $2,000
each—and were still selling at a pace 20 percent slower than last year. So for
2002, Chrysler has decided to lower Grand Cherokee prices—rather than subsidize
sales with rebates—to bring the SUV’s sticker more in line with the competition.
To that end, a 2002 Grand Cherokee Laredo two-wheel-drive starts at $26,025, the
Limited at $30,870. In four-wheel-drive, the Grand Cherokee prices start low at
$27,995 for the Laredo but go all the way up to a segment-topping $37,430 for
the new Overland model.
Chrysler Cuts
2002 Prices
by Joseph Szczesny
(9/3/2001)
INFINITI
LAUNCHES ONLINE ADS FOR NEW I35
Infiniti has cast a vote in
favor of online advertising, introducing a new campaign that uses the Web’s
interactive capabilities to promote the new Infiniti I35 sedan. Using online
animation, video and audio, the campaign will focus on I35 features and the
Infiniti brand messages by drawing curious Internet users to I35-specific
mini-sites where they can use the Web's interactive abilities to "drill" deeper
into information and animation about the car’s features.
’01 New York Auto
Show, Day II
by TCC Team
(4/13/2001)
FACTOIDS:
Flood Damage: It’s Rare, But It’s Out There
Sometimes Mother Nature just doesn't like cars.
When she expresses her anger with floods, many of these vehicles are fixed and
then sold to the public with no indication of its actual history or repairs.
According to Experian Automotive's National Vehicle Database, about one in 2,262
cars on the road have flood-related damage.
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