Lexus unveils new LF-LC concept car, designed in Newport Beach

Lexus is looking to put some zip back in its lineup of luxury cars.

Designers at the Toyota studio in Newport Beach have developed a concept car, the LF-LC 2+2 sport coupe, to be unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month.

“Crafted from a clean sheet of paper at the request of Lexus headquarters in Japan, the LF-LC blends both high technology and organic shapes to connect the driver to the machine,” said Mark Templin, Lexus group vice president and general manager. “The clean lines of the vehicle emphasize motion, creating a distinctive look for this futuristic sport coupe.”

The project was conceived as a design exercise to explore the future of Lexus styling and was created at the company’s Calty design studio in Newport Beach.

Lexus is a division of Toyota Motor Corp. It has been the perennial luxury car sales leader in the United States but looks to lose its crown to either BMW or Mercedes-Benz this year. 

The brand has been hurt by supply problems caused by natural disasters, including the March earthquake in Japan which shuttered production and disrupted auto parts manufacturing. But car reviewers have also criticized Lexus for a lack of styling panache in its lineup of cars and sport-utilities.

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Colorado agency opens investigation into TrueCar.com auto sales

The agency that oversees auto sales in Colorado has launched a probe into the operations of TrueCar.Com, the fast growing Internet sales referral service.

Santa Monica-based TrueCar is already in a fight with Honda Motor Co., which has told its dealers that they will forgo advertising subsidies if they post deeply discounted prices on TrueCar’s website.

Colorado launched the probe after receiving objections to the buying service from the Colorado Automobile Dealers Assn. and an additional unspecified complaint. 

The state’s Department of Revenue is looking into what it described as advertising violations. The agency also said TrueCar might not have the correct license for conducting car sales through Colorado dealers.

In a statement, TrueCar said it is “addressing technical and procedural questions raised by regulators who may not know what to make of our service.... TrueCar invites and takes seriously questions about consumer protection, and is vigilant about ensuring that its partner dealers honor their commitments to buyers.”

TrueCar has grown quickly by signing up about 5,000 dealers nationwide who offer shoppers a no-haggle, up-front price on a vehicle. Dealers pay TrueCar $299 per new car sold and $399 per used car sold. The company is on track to collect about $100 million from commissions this year, according to TrueCar executives.

The online service features dealers who offer guaranteed pricing near or even below a vehicle's invoice, which many consumers believe represents the price the dealer paid for the auto. (Because of various back-end allowances and payments, the dealer cost is typically below the invoice.)

The TrueCar system also is used by several auto shopping referral services, including Consumer Reports and USAA, which provides financial services to members of the U.S. military.

Colorado regulators said that TrueCar’s violations include failing to include the stock number of a vehicle for sale, using the word “invoice” in advertising, not using big enough type for disclaimers and failing to advertise vehicle pricing that includes delivery and handling fees.

“There would appear to be the potential for a consumer who has been quoted a price for a specific vehicle and assured a guarantee arranging at the dealership to find the vehicle has already been sold… this may constitute a bait and switch transaction which is prohibited,” Colorado's Department of Revenue said in a Thursday memo obtained by The Times.

The agency has told TrueCar to correct the advertising violations and meet with the agency to discuss the licensing issue. Dealers have been told that if they use the referral company, they will be liable for any problems resulting from consumer complaints about a TrueCar transaction.

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Photo: Fords for sale at an auto dealership. Credit: Associated Press

Just in time for Christmas, build a 1967 Mustang from scratch

Here’s the latest gift for the car enthusiast on your Christmas list -– a brand-new body shell for a 1967 Ford Mustang convertible.

Even better, this car body will match or improve on the fit, finish and quality of the original, said Dennis Mondrach, Ford Restoration Parts licensing manager.

The $15,995 auto part is the fourth reproduction classic Mustang body available to restorers, joining the ’65 convertible, the ’67 fastback and the ’69 fastback.

Made by Dynacorn International, the body panels are stamped from modern automotive-grade steel that is slightly thicker than the original, according to Jim Christina, Dynacorn’s general manager. There are also newly engineered reinforcements in known stress areas to add strength and rigidity to the body, he said.

“These days, the chances are fairly slim of finding a restorable, rust-free ’67 Mustang that has never been wrecked,” said Mondrach of Ford. “As the value of classic Mustangs has increased over the years, garages, barns and scrap yards have been picked clean.”

The automaker said the body can be built into a functioning car using one of the six engines the original vehicle was offered with or with a modern powertrain.  It is rustproofed and primed and is otherwise ready for painting and assembly, Mondrach said.

More than 90% of the parts needed to restore a 1967 Mustang convertible are available new as Ford-licensed reproduction components, allowing enthusiasts to basically build from scratch a new Mustang of that era.

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Photo: A brand-new body shell for a 1967 Ford Mustang convertible. Credit: Ford Motor Co.

Bankruptcy looks to be end of the road for Saab

Saab Automobile, the quirky Swedish automaker that liked to advertise its heritage as a fighter jet producer, filed for bankruptcy Monday, ending a two-year effort to revive the business after it was spun off by General Motors Co.

Saab Chief Executive Victor Muller personally handed in the bankruptcy application to a court in southwest Sweden, according to the Associated Press.

His efforts to rebuild the company were stymied by GM. The U.S. automaker refused to allow Saab to transfer technology that the Swedish business had licensed from GM to Chinese investors who had planned to rescue the firm.

Muller, a Dutch entrepreneur who owns the luxury sports car maker Spyker Cars, bought Saab in 2010, pledging to restore the Swedish automaker to prominence and preserving about 3,000 jobs, mostly at the Saab plant in Trollhattan.

Now the company is expected to be liquidated.

The bankruptcy won’t cause much of a ripple in the auto market because it was such a small company, analysts said.

“Some enthusiasts in the U.S. will lament its end,” said Aaron Bragman, an analyst with IHS Automotive. “Back in the 1970s and 1980s it was an innovative brand with some unusual power trains. They did turbocharging of small engines long before others did. The cars also had all-weather, good handling capability.”

A segment of auto buyers also gravitated to Saab because it was so different from U.S. carmakers, and even other European brands, Bragman said.

Saab started out as an airplane company in 1937. Originally called Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, the name morphed into Saab.

It best known aircraft is the Viggen, or Thunderbolt, a  single-seat, single-engine fighter jet built between 1970 and 1990.

Saab’s car division liked to market its jet-precision roots, and even now pitches a “tradition of aircraft-inspired design, independent thinking and innovation that continues to this day.”

Its best-selling vehicle was the 1980s-era 900, which among other things was known for its strong performance in snow and foul-weather driving conditions.

Saab's aerospace company parent sold off a controlling stake in the business to GM in 1990 and the Detroit automaker eventually acquired the rest of Saab.  But GM was never able to leverage Saab's reputation as a builder of wedge-styled, reliable vehicles into its range, and sold off the business as it worked to recover from its 2009 bankruptcy restructuring.

Saab said it currently sells cars in 51 countries around the world through a network of about 900 dealerships. Its models include the Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan, Saab 9-3 SportCombi, Saab 9-3 Convertible, Saab 9-3X and Saab 9-5.

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Photo: The Saab 900 was the Swedish automaker's best selling car. Credit: Saab Automobile

New Year's Day has the most car thefts

The National Insurance Crime Bureau said that 2,347 cars were reported stolen last New Year’s Day, ranking it ahead of Memorial Day as the worst day of the year for car thievery.  

The insurance group said many of the thefts result because people leave their vehicle in unusual locations during the early morning hours of the holiday because they take cabs home after a hard  night of partying.

Some even forget to lock their doors. The insurance group didn’t speculate why, but maybe a few too many drinks might be one reason.

The group said New Year’s Eve partyers should consider the following ways to protect their vehicle from thieves.

1: Leave it safe at home and take a taxi both ways.

2: If you do leave your car somewhere, park it under a light, in a secure garage or a high traffic area.  The insurance group said that’s safer for you and your car.

3: Make sure the car is locked and the windows are rolled up.  You can also detach the battery cables before leaving the car overnight.

4: Don’t leave valuables or gifts in the car. If they are in plain sight, they can attract thieves. And even if they are hidden, they will get stolen if someone takes the car.

5: Check to see if your vehicle is GPS enabled so that it can be tracked if stolen. If not, consider a GPS tracking device.  Modern devices allow you to find your car within hours, rather than after it’s been stripped for parts and abandoned outside the city limits, the group said.

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Photo: Los Angeles police investigate the theft and crash of a car in the Winnetka neighborhood earlier this year. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

 

 

Hyundai makes Rhys Millen drift video in old headquarters

Hyundai celebrated demolishing its U.S. headquarters in Fountain Valley by producing this video with race and stunt driver Rhys Millen and his Genesis Coupe drift car pulling off a heist in the abandoned buildings.

The automaker is spending $150 million building a new North American headquarters on the site of its current offices in Fountain Valley.

The project will take at least a year to build and generate about 1,500 construction jobs, Hyundai said.

It will double the space of the current headquarters and provide room to double the fast-growing auto company's corporate staff to about 1,400 employees, said John Krafcik, chief executive of Hyundai  Motor America, the U.S. division of the South Korean automaker.

Krafcik said the new headquarters would have more than 400,000 square feet of office and garage space and be among the most energy-efficient buildings in the state.

Hyundai said one of its service technicians, Dustin Loranger, came up with the idea.

 

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Photo: Rhys Millen. Credit: Hyundai

More vehicles earning top insurance industry safety ratings

With each new model year, cars continue to improve their safety ratings.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said 115 of the 2012 vehicles tested earned its “Top Safety Pick” rating.

Even the base models of 2012 vehicles are now required to have antilock brakes, electronic stability control, tire pressure sensor monitors and multiple airbags. More expensive vehicles have extra features such as backup cameras and blind-spot warning lights and alerts.

This is happening as traffic deaths are falling.

Traffic deaths in 2010 fell to their lowest levels in more than 60 years, according the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Toyota Motor Corp. had 15 vehicles on the insurance industry group’s list, including models from its Lexus and Scion divisions. 

The Camry, which is consistently one of the best selling passenger cars in America, made the list for the first time after Toyota upgraded the redesigned 2012 model's seat/head restraint design for rear impact protection, the group said. 

General Motors Co. was a close second with 14 models from its Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands.

Honda Motor Co. was the most improved automaker. It upgraded the roofs on several of its models and placed 10 of its Honda and Acura brand vehicles on the list.

The institute said that 69 cars, 38 sport-utilities,  five minivans and three pickups earned its top pick, which is based on a vehicle's ability to protect people in front, side, rollover, and rear-end crashes.

Every major automaker had at least one winner. Subaru was the only manufacturer with a top pick for every model it builds.

The industry has been gradually improving vehicle safety. 

Federal safety officials said highway deaths fell to 32,885 in 2010. It was the lowest total since 1949.

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Photo: Improvements in the 2012 Toyota Camry earned the car an insurance industry safety award. Credit: Toyota Motor Corp.

Toyota, Ford and Honda most researched car brands

 

Toyota, Ford, Honda, Chevrolet and Hyundai were the auto brands that attracted the most interest by shoppers using the Internet for research in 2011, according to Kelley Blue Book.

The auto information company tracks new-car shopper activity by brand on its kbb.com site and found that Hyundai cracked into the top five listing for the first time, garnering a 7.5% share of interest and replacing Nissan on the list at fifth place.

Toyota retained the top spot from a year ago, posting a 14.2% share. Ford moved up one position to the second brand researched most at 13.5%. Honda fell to third on the list, posting a 12.8% share and Chevrolet remained fourth at 11.5%.

The top five most researched vehicles were the Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Honda CR-V and Ford F-150 truck.

As a sign of the economic times, no luxury cars were among the top 20 most researched vehicles, said Arthur Henry, manager of market intelligence for Kelley Blue Book. Normally, at least the BMW 3 Series makes that cut, he said.

"Luxury brands were hit the hardest this year,” said Henry. "They simply didn't fit into many consumers' budgets, especially with the gas price hike earlier this year."

Since 2004, the Honda Accord, Honda Civic and Toyota Camry remain the top three most-researched new vehicles on kbb.com.

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Photo: The Honda Civic was the most researched car on the Internet this year. Credit: Honda Motor Co.

 

Acura will show off next-generation NSX sports car

 

Honda Motor Co. said it plans to show off three new cars from its upscale Acura division, including a new concept of its the next-generation Acura NSX super car, at the big auto show in Detroit next month

Besides the NSX -- and Honda didn’t say when that might go into production -- the automaker will unveil an all-new compact sports sedan, a redesigned RDX crossover sport utility vehicle.

Honda built the NSX from 1990 to 2005. It was a rare rear-wheel-drive effort by the automaker, and it sought design help from Italian car designer Pininfarina.  It was often thought of as a Japanese Ferrari, and it was just as fast.  The car sold for about $90,000. There’s no word on what the price of the new NSX might be.

Acura said it aksi will display its ILX concept car, which will show the styling of an all-new luxury compact sedan.  This car, scheduled for launch in the spring, will be the entry point in the Acura lineup and will be offered with three powertrains, including Acura's hybrid system.

The automaker also will unveil a prototype of the 2013 RDX, the second generation of Acura's five-passenger SUV.

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Photo: 1997 Acura NSX. Credit: Associated Press

Ford reinstates quarterly dividend after five-year absence

Ford Motor Co. has reinstated its quarterly dividend after cutting the payment more than five years ago as it prepared to navigate a turbulent economy.

Ford will pay 5 cents per share to holders of Class B and common stock as of Jan. 31, 2012. The payment will be made March 1.

“We have made tremendous progress in reducing debt and generating consistent positive earnings and cash flow,” said Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chairman. “The board believes it is important to share the benefits of our improved financial performance with our shareholders.”

He said reinstating a quarterly dividend reflected confidence Ford's board of directors has in the automaker's financial prospects. It has posted 10 consecutive profitable quarters.

"This is a positive sign not only for Ford, but for the entire automotive industry, which is recovering after a painful setback from bankruptcies and recalls," said Scott Painter, chief executive of auto information company TrueCar.com.

"Ford has had an impressive run improving its market share more than a full percentage point since 2009," Painter said. "But Ford needs to remember that building products consumers will buy is the catalyst to a profitable and healthy automaker."

Ford shares dipped 9 cents to $10.99 in midday trading.

The automaker mortgaged most of its assets to borrow $23.5 billion in 2006. It used the funds to restructure the business so that it could weather the economic downturn and eventually return to a growth mode. In the process, Ford sold off its Land Rover, Jaguar and Volvo brands and shut its Mercury division.

The strategy allowed the company to avoid the bankruptcies and federal bailouts that saved General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group. It also gave the automaker breathing room to focus on developing global vehicle platforms and components that would achieve economies of scale and support its core Ford brand. The company is now working to rebuild the Lincoln nameplate.

The automaker has whittled away at the debt, slicing it to $12.7 billion by the end of the third quarter from $26.4 billion at the end of the same period a year earlier.

In October Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised Ford’s corporate credit rating to BB+ from BB-. That puts the company just one notch below an investment-grade rating, which is an important measure of corporate health and would reduce the automaker's borrowing expenses

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Photo: Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Co. Credit: Associated Press

 

Traffic death rate falls to record low

Traffic deaths in 2010 fell to their lowest levels in more than 60 years, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Safety technology in vehicles has made huge leaps in recent years and has lowered death and injury rates in collisions.

Even the base models of 2012 vehicles are now required to have antilock brakes, electronic stability control, tire pressure sensor monitors and multiple airbags. More expensive vehicles have extra features such as backup cameras and blind-spot warning lights and alerts.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that highway deaths fell to 32,885 for the year, the lowest total since 1949. He said the record-breaking decline in traffic fatalities occurred even as American drivers traveled nearly 46 billion more miles during the year, an increase of 1.6% over the 2009 level.

“While we have more work to do to continue to protect American motorists, these numbers show we’re making historic progress when it comes to improving safety on our nation’s roadways,” LaHood said.

The updated information released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also highlights that 2010 had the lowest fatality rate ever recorded, with 1.10 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2010, down from 1.15 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2009.

In another key statistic, regulators said deaths in crashes involving drunk drivers dropped 4.9% in 2010, taking 10,228 lives compared to 10,759 in 2009.

Still, the improvements were not uniform.  Fatalities rose among pedestrians, motorcycle riders and large truck occupants.

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Photo: Emergency technicians at a crash in Abilene, Texas, on Thursday. Credit: Associated Press.