2010 Honda Element goes to the dogs -- in a good way

Forget about making cars just to make drivers happy -- American Honda is rolling out the red carpet for their dogs too.

The 2010 Honda Element includes a luxurious Dog Friendly™ pet accommodation package with equipment like an extendable ramp for Rover to enter and exit the vehicle, a dedicated fan (because dogs get hot too), and a spill-resistant water bowl.

"The Honda Element has long been recognized as an accommodating vehicle for people with active lifestyles involving sports and hobbies," said Vicki Poponi, assistant vice president of Product Planning for American Honda.

"The new Dog Friendly Element takes that concept to a whole new level with specially designed features for dogs and their owners."

These features are more advanced than just four-legged frivolities -- they also improve the safety of transporting dogs in the car. The Dog Friendly equipment secures the dog in the Element’s cargo area with soft, seat-belt-grade nylon webbing, which keeps the dog from interfering with the driver and prevents pet and people injuries in the event of a frontal collision.

But the spoiled pooch can be proud of this ride: The Dog Friendly version (with an option price of $995) also includes a cushioned pet bed for afternoon naps and all-weather rubber floor mats decorated with an attractive toy bone pattern. Owners can brag about their Dog Friendliness with included emblems that stick onto the outside of the car.

You can even decorate the second row of seats with a dog-patterned cover that matches the dog’s bed fabric. Aww.

The 2010 Honda Element will be at dealerships nationwide by mid-October. Dog owners can purchase the Dog Friendly Element on Nov. 16. 

-- Kelsey Ramos

Photo credit: American Honda

Is now the time to buy a GM car?

GM's woes can be your gain if you're in the market for a new car. The bankruptcy filing by the giant automaker could boost your bargaining power with a dealer.

"It gives the consumer more leverage," said Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor at Edmunds.com. "That leverage is an attitude of, 'I am unsure if I want to buy a car from a manufacturer that has just gone into bankruptcy.' "

A 'tude' like that could get a dealer to lower the price on a car, especially because many people feel it for real.

For the best possible bargain, Reed suggested looking for a GM dealership that is being forced by the manufacturer to close. Approximately 1,100 of the dealerships have been told that GM is cutting them off, with more to be notified later. 

The trick is finding one of those dealerships getting the ax -- GM hasn't published a list, and many of the dealers are keeping it to themselves. Edmunds.com has only a partial listing.

Reed said that, as always, the unpopular models are the best targets for bargaining. It will be tougher to get a substantial price discount on GM's more popular cars, like the Chevy Corvette.

One big downside to buying a GM car now -- it'll probably dip in resale value because of the bankruptcy filing. But Chrysler, which is in the midst of its own bankruptcy filing, saw its resale pricing go down by only about 6%. "That was better than I was expecting," Reed said.

-- David Colker

Photo: The 2009 Chevy Corvette. Credit: Associated Press

Camaro beats Challenger and Mustang in a muscle-car face-off

Ah, the irony of automotive product timing....

In an era of unemployment and green-car technologies, we find Ford, Chrysler and GM offering up retro-styled, modern-day muscle cars with big engines and attitudes. It's like dangling a pricey chocolate bar in front of a recently diagnosed diabetic.

That said, any car buff worth his or her Hurst shifter is probably wondering: Which is better, the Chevy Camaro SS, the Dodge Challenger R/T or the Ford Mustang GT?

According to the testers at Edmunds.com, the Camaro is the clear winner.

Comparing the three cars by stats alone, you can see that GM made sure it could muscle its way to the top with more horsepower, but Edmunds gave the Mustang props for better handling and Challenger got points for retro attitude and styling.

The proof was on the track, where, according to Edmunds engineering editor Jason Kavanagh, the Camaro SS hit 110.9 mph in the quarter mile. That was good for a time of 13.0 seconds, "a half-second quicker than the next-quickest Mustang and nearly a full second quicker than the Challenger."

2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS
MSRP: $35,380, Edmunds.com True Market Value (TMV): $35,425
As tested: equipped with an eight-cylinder, 426-horsepower engine and six-speed manual transmission.

2010 Ford Mustang GT
MSRP: $35,625, Edmunds.com True Market Value: $35,625
As tested: equipped with a eight-cylinder, 315-horsepower engine and five-speed manual transmission.

2009 Dodge Challenger R/T
MSRP: $36,710, Edmunds.com True Market Value: $35,324
As tested: equipped with an eight-cylinder, 376-horsepower engine and six-speed manual transmission.

See the full review here.

-- Joni Gray

Related stories:
2010 Camaro SS: Subtle it's not
Should American automakers (re)make muscle cars?

Photo of (from left) Challenger, Camaro and Mustang: Edmunds' Inside Line

CORRECTION -- At the time this article was published, there was a mistake in the 2010 Ford Mustang GT Edmunds.com True Market Value: $25,625. It has been corrected to reflect the actual $35,625 price.

Expert panel tries to guess the automobile's future

What is the future of the car and what will be different in 2020? Last week, at the New York International Auto Show, three participants in a Newsweek Executive Forum tried to answer that question. The panel consisted of Henrik Fisker, chief executive of Fisker Automotive Inc., Lou Rhodes, vice president for advanced vehicle engineering for Chrysler and Kevin Smith, editorial director of Edmunds.com.

Fisker said his company was on track to sell its electric vehicle this fall. He promised the car would deliver 100 mpg for most users and that it would have true mass-market potential.

When Newsweek senior editor and moderator Daniel Lyons asked what we’ll be driving in 2020, Fisker said, “You’re going to be driving a Fisker.... We will have plug-in hybrids that cost $20,000. And at least one-half of the vehicles in each niche will be hybrids.”

He also said, “What’s going to change is the way we generate electricity in this country. People will be able to drive in the cities, people will be able to drive only in electric mode."

This coming from a company with prices that will start in the $80,000 range, was an interesting viewpoint.  “The car industry," Fisker said, "has to reinvent itself and it has to happen now. We can do it because we start from a clean sheet of paper.” He said the company had raised an additional $85 million in venture capital money.

Chrysler's Rhodes has an unusual distinction. He raced in an ENVI electric car against the Dodge Challenger and won.

NY Auto Show: GMC Terrain the first new model to break cover

 

The New York International Auto Show, which holds its press preview this week and opens to the public this weekend, is the last major domestic auto show of the season for manufacturers to show off their new products until the Los Angeles show rolls around again in December. Like the shows in Los Angeles, Detroit and Chicago, the New York show is lighter than usual on new products, not surprising given the chilling effect of the economy.

That said, there are some new models that will debut in New York this week, including the Acura ZDX luxury crossover, the drop-top version of the Nissan 370Z, a hot-rod model of the BMW X6, the Porsche 911 GT3, a tweaked 2010 Subaru Legacy and a startlingly redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Of the handful of brand-new products, though, first out of the box -- and thus guaranteeing it some attention -- is the 2010 GMC Terrain, a five-passenger SUV that should slot in nicely beneath the Envoy. Based on the much-massaged platform that will be used for the Chevrolet Equinox, the Terrain will be offered with a 2.4-liter, 182-horsepower four-cylinder, or a 3.0-liter, 264-horse V-6. As the photo shows, it sports the huge GMC trademark grille and a rather angular profile, but has some undeniable presence. Expect it to be priced slightly above the Equinox, likely reaching the upper-$30,000 range with all the bells and whistles.

Stay tuned for more coverage from the Big Apple, even it it isn't quite as Big as it used to be. 

-- Steven C. Smith

Photo: GM

Rolls-Royce: The rich keep rolling

This just in: The economy is lousy. So, you might wonder: How are companies like Rolls-Royce doing?  
Just fine, thanks. In February, the company sold 36 cars in the United States. In February 2008, it sold 37. That's the sort of downturn a lot of luxury car companies could live with. Bentley sales, for example, dropped from 231 cars in February 2008 to 69 last month. Lamborghini sales dropped from 84 to 70, and Ferrari sales dropped from 135 to 90. With 30 dealers in America, Rolls-Royce has averaged 2.4 sales per dealer the first two months of the year.

That said, it is never easy to sell a car that starts at $380,000. To help, Rolls is dispatching product specialist Brian Clark, seen here, to multiple markets to host special test drives of the company's models for current and prospective customers of the dealership.

Despite being neither a current nor prospective customer, I was invited too.

The top-of-the-line model is the Phantom Extended Wheel Base model, (or EWB, if you want to sound like you know your Rolls models) stretched to give the rear-seat passengers — two, or in a pinch, three, should you be carpooling — extra feet of room.

A darkly veiled peek at Acura's new crossover

Can somebody buy these guys a flash bulb? Oh, wait, never mind, we get it. This "teaser" photo is purposely dark and murky, like AIG press releases. When companies get tired of professional spy photographers taking snapshots of upcoming models, they often unveil their own photos -- which really don't unveil much at all except a formal confirmation that the product exists. We will not suggest the obvious: that perhaps this is a vehicle that actually looks better in, um, certain limited lighting conditions, because that would just be too mean.

In this case, the product is an upcoming Acura "crossover" SUV, meaning, of course, that it's built on a car platform, not a truck platform. Presumably this vehicle will target the BMW X6 and Infiniti FX models, neither of which are setting sales records, and fill a niche lacking in the Acura lineup since -- well, forever.

Power is likely to come from the existing 3.7-liter V-6, as Acura has no V-8, and the drivetrain is expected to be based on the same mechanicals as the more SUV-like MDX. We expect to see the new Acura shortly at the New York auto show, with a bit better lighting, let's hope.

-- Steven Cole Smith

Photos: Acura

More photos after the jump...

2010 Chevrolet Camaro: Not quite green ...

... but greener than we thought. Chevy originally suggested the EPA-rated highway gas mileage for the base-model Camaro with the V-6 engine and manual transmission would be 27 miles per gallon, but final EPA testing placed the highway number at 29 mpg -- not bad for a 304-horsepower, 3.6-liter engine. City mileage is EPA rated at 17 mpg. Get the automatic transmission, and that figure is 18 mpg city, 29 mpg highway. Opt for the V-8, and you're looking at 16/25 with the automatic, 16/24 for the manual.

As you might expect, Chevrolet wants you to know that the base Camaro's 17/29 rating is better than a comparable Ford Mustang (16/24) and the Dodge Challenger (17/25).

The Camaro starts at $22,995, including shipping, and it should be en route to a dealer near you shortly. More info? Chevy has updated the Camaro website at www.Chevrolet.com/allnewCamaro.

-- Steven Cole Smith

Photo credit: GM

BMW Concept 5 Series Gran Turismo bumps you up to first class

To the alphabet soup of SUVs, SAVs, CUVs etc., BMW is adding PAS.

That stands for progressive activity sedan and describes -- at least according to BMW -- the new niche being carved out by its new Concept 5 Series Gran Turismo, which debuts next month at the Geneva Auto Show.

Despite the word "concept" in the name, the German automaker says it actually intends to build the car, although it provided no details on when it might be available in showrooms.

No pricing or technical information has yet been revealed either, but BMW says it will be priced somewhere between a 5 Series and 7 Series. In other words, in the $60,000-$70,000 neighborhood.

The look of the car, which is closer to a 7 Series than a 5 Series in size, is in the four-door coupe genre. But BMW says its utility features and large size put the car in its own category -- hence the PAS.

So the question remains, is this strange mixture of sedan, SUV and touring vehicle just what the doctor, lawyer, engineer or housewife of Orange County ordered?  BMW product and technology communications manager Tom Plucinsky says it is.

“This car is designed less for a specific market, but more for a customer who needs all the utility of an SUV, minivan or wagon, but would not want the association with those types of vehicles,” he said.

As for new and innovative features, the Concept 5 Series Gran Turismo has a few:

Chicago Auto Show: Fewer debuts, and shrinking

This week, the curtain rose on the Chicago Auto Show and, as yet another reminder of the economic downturn, this year's press preview lacked the luster of preceding years. In its 101st year, the Chicago show is touted as both the oldest and largest auto show in the nation.

In higher-volume years, Chicago's historic show was known for hosting world and national debuts of "heartland" vehicles -- trucks, SUVs and crossovers. And there also a niche for "special packages" and sport versions of already launched cars. The latter still holds true this year, but there were markedly fewer debuts of trucks and SUVs.

So the question is, will the Chicago show join the ranks of other local shows that are well-known but don't attract national press coverage or major launch debuts? Edmunds.com's editor in chief, Karl Brauer, says yes. "Having an auto show that has any sense of excitement today is challenging, and if you wanted an exciting truck and SUV auto show, Chicago was once that place. Most of the cars on the floor this year were in the form of 'versions' of existing cars," he said.

Jim Mateja, auto critic from our sister publication, the Chicago Tribune, filed this report on this year's Chicago auto show, giving us a look at a few of the launches.

2009 coming-out party, by Jim Mateja

There's a first time for everything, and the 101st Chicago Auto Show is it for these vehicles: production, concept and specialty.

2010 Ford Taurus SHO
Last offered in 1999, the Super High Output version of Ford's midsize sedan is back with 365 horsepower from a 3.5-liter, twin turbo V-6, a healthy bump from the 263 hp in the naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V-6 in the plain 2010 Taurus.