The Showroom New 24 Year Old Buick

Boulevard Buick in Signal Hill, California has probably seen its share of slow-moving units over its 50 years in business...but why has this brand-new 1987 Buick Regal GNX stayed on the showroom floor for almost half that time?

The fascinating story from the Los Angeles times via The Detroit Free Press.

Ford Firm On Flex Future

Okay, that headline is either an audition for a gig at Daily Variety or a desperate cry for help.

But that's not important now.

The Ford Flex was supposed to be The Answer. The way forward from minivans. In fact, Ford stopped making its Freestar minivan and the Taurus X crossover in the belief that the Flex would deliver those (few) customers and a bunch more.

Hasn't happened.

Days go by...sometimes weeks...before I see a Flex on the streets of the car-crazy metropolis of four million souls in which I live and drive, a place where you'd die of internal bleeding if there were a "punch dub" game for minivans, Tahoes and even Suburbans.

Only 12,598 Flexes left dealerships for driveways and garages in the first four months of this year...which puts it on track to do less than 40,000 units sold in 2010. Not the stuff of which hits are made.

Still, Ford says it's happy. Why? They told the Detroit Free Press.

Avis Wants To Top Hertz Bid For Rival Dollar/Thrifty

In the 60s and 70s, Avis' advertising pitch was "We're #2...We Have To Try Harder."

Well, that's the essence of their pitch to Dollar-Thrifty, which has a deal to be bought out by #1 Hertz.  Avis says it can do better and that Dollar-Thrifty is selling itself too cheaply.

Details from The Detroit Free Press. 

Senator: GM Repaid Federal Loans With Federal Funds

Ed Whitacre may be really happy about General Motors paying off its federal loans ahead of schedule, but Iowa Senator Charles Grassley (can we call him 5.6 Billion Buck Chuck?) is not impressed.

The senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee is calling BS on GM...alleging a shell game in which GM used TARP funds instead of its own earnings to pay back Uncle Sam.

GM and the Treasury Department are denying it. Full story at Automotive News. 

In fact, Whitacre says when it's all said and done, the US will get back its entire $50 billion investment in GM and may even make a profit. Details at The Detroit Free Press.

OMG: Ford Says Fiesta SYNC Will Run Twitter

Just what entry level drivers should be doing...Tweeting at the wheel. But Ford says SYNC will make it safe.

Okay.

Details from The Detroit Free Press.

GM To Repay Loans Early

General Motors is expected to announce tomorrow that it is repaying $5.8 billion in loans to the U.S. and Canadian governments early. The deadline is in June.

This could pave the way to an Inital Public Offering (IPO) of stock in the "new" GM and the U.S. government getting out of the car business.

Full story at The Detroit Free Press.

Ford Market Share: Sharpest Rise Since 1977

Okay, so it's hard to say it's "just like the good old days" (trust me, I owned a Mustang II just like that one, minus the trunklid cargo rack and it wasn't good...single-handedly ending a 45-year Ford streak in the Hagerty family and sending me to imports for the next 15 years), but the fact is that Ford's January through March 2010 sales figures climbed 2.7%...a rate they haven't hit since the 1977 model year.

Details from The Detroit Free Press here. As is a photographic walk down memory lane...comparing Fords from 1977 and 2010. 

Associated Press Toyota Investigation: "Questionable, Evasive and Deceptive" Tactics In Dealing With Customer Lawsuits

The Associated Press pulls no punches in its investigation, which reads more like an indictment. Read the whole thing at the Detroit Free Press.

More Chevy Volts Roll Off Assembly Line

One week after the first "manufacturing validation" example was built, three more Chevolet Volt electrics have rolled off the assembly line. They are the first of a few hundred preproduction models that will be built this spring and summer.

Full details from The Detroit Free Press.

Kogi, We Have A Problem: The Toyota Memo

It's a prosecutor's favorite question: What did you know and when did you know it?

With the feds now alleging Toyota of  "knowingly hiding dangerous defects", and proposing a record civil fine, this is a bad time to have the wrong answer.

Now it looks like the timeline is back at least as far as January 16. Read the memo at Freep.com and the story behind it at Automotive News (free registration required).

Toyota: Stalling Problem "Not An Unreasonable Risk To Safety"

As the company and federal investigators try to get to the bottom of claims of unintended acceleration,

there's another problem: Cars stopping when they shouldn't.

Toyota says it's trying to figure out how to fix computer flaws in more than a million 2005 through 2007 Corolla and Matrix models that can cause the cars to stall. NHTSA has 76 complaints from owners. Toyota says it does not pose "an unreasonable risk...to safety."

Full story from The Detroit Free Press here. 

Unintended Acceleration: Does It Come From Outer Space?

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that NHTSA is looking into the possiblity that Toyota's sudden acceleration issues (assuming they have any apart from people standing on the wrong pedal) might be linked to cosmic rays.

Full article and a link to the .pdf of the anonymous tip to the Feds from "A concerned scientist" (really) here.