Honda to Detroit: Take That! | Newsweek Scope

Whatever Happened to Buying American?
Julie Halpert 8/20/2009 12:00:00 AM
When Julia Reusch of Blue Bell, Pa., decided to trade in her 1999 Ford Explorer as part of the cash-for-clunkers program, she nixed the idea of purchasing another Ford product. "I didn't feel compelled to buy American, given my experience with the Ford," says the 28-year-old who noted that her Explorer was problematic even when it was new. Instead, she opted for a Toyota Prius. After only a week, she's hooked. "It's wonderful. I love it," she says.
Overtaking Detroit
Julie Halpert 7/8/2009 12:00:00 AM
When Korean automaker Hyundai rolled out the Excel, its first U.S.-bound vehicle, in 1986, it sold for $4,995, roughly $1,500 to $2,000 lower than comparable autos on the road. Lured by its low price and the prospect of topnotch Asian quality, consumers bought 263,610 units during the first year alone. But problems quickly emerged—the cars began to fall apart, with trim and paint peeling off, and cosmetics were not the only issue. "I remember an Excel making a lane change and going up on three wheels," says Jonathan Linkov, editor of Consumer Reports' autos coverage. Hyundai's successful sales storyline was quickly rewritten, and the company became the punch line of the auto industry.
Who Wins in Chrysler-Fiat Deal?
Rana Foroohar 6/8/2009 12:00:00 AM
When you buy a used car, you are often buying someone else's problems. The same could be said about buying a car company. So far, Italian automaker Fiat has been the only one willing to kick the tires around at soon-to-be-bankrupt Chrysler. And until today, it was on track to purchase the fire-sale assets of the beleaguered Detroit giant. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court has put a stay on the deal after a few Indiana pension funds complained that the purchase favors other stakeholders over them and also makes unfair use of TARP funds for Chrysler's restructuring.
TECHTONIC SHIFTS
Time For A Trade-In
Daniel Lyons 5/2/2009 12:00:00 AM
To most of us, Toyota's snazzy Prius hybrid still seems like the cutting edge of cool, the latest and greatest technology in cars. But nine years after the Prius was introduced in the United States, some are calling it obsolete. "The hybrid is yesterday's technology," says San Francisco Mayor and recently announced California gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom. To be sure, Newsom has a political ax to grind—he's trying to lure electric-car makers to the Bay Area, which already is home to Tesla Motors, maker of a sexy electric roadster, and Better Place, another startup focused on greentech transportation. But Newsom has a point. A new generation of carmakers is shunning the traditional hybrid format in favor of pure electric powertrains (driven completely by batteries) or "plug-in hybrids." Indeed, the auto industry is being disrupted by rapid waves of new technology, a phenomenon that feels normal for the folks in Silicon Valley but is perhaps unfamiliar for the folks in Detroit. "We are on the cusp of a period of technical innovation like the automobile industry has never seen," says Mike Jackson, CEO of AutoNation, the largest U.S. auto retailer. "There will be more change in the next five to 10 years than there was in the last 100."
CARS
A Lean, Green Detroit
Melinda Liu 4/25/2009 12:00:00 AM
American tastes dominated the world's automotive market for a century, but all that's changing now. Today it's the increasingly well-to-do Chinese car-buyer that industry wants to woo and win, thanks to this incredible fact—China has, over the last three months running, surpassed the U.S. in terms of volume sales of automobiles. Ever wonder why Ford's new Fiesta has an instrument panel that looks like a cell phone? Because that's what's familiar to its target audience of
DETROIT
Efficiency vs. Economics
Julie Halpert 1/14/2009 12:00:00 AM
David Blume, a 48 year-old seafood retailer from Bloomfield Hills, Mich., feels guilty about the gas he burns during his 60-mile roundtrip commute—up to a point. A self-described environmentalist, he considered purchasing a hybrid, but balked at spending $5,000 more, an amount he won't soon recoup with gas prices at their current level. He ultimately picked a conventional Honda Civic that gets 37 miles per gallon. "I'm all for saving the environment, but my first priority is putting my kid through college," says the father of a high-school senior. "I won't even consider a hybrid unless gas prices change dramatically again."