Nutson's Nuggets: Last Week's (July 2-6 2012) Automotive News In Case You Were Dozing

Auto Central Louisville KY July 10, 2012; Each week Larry Nutson, The Auto Channel's Chicago Bureau Chief, along with Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau give you easy to digest nuggets of the past week's automotive news you may have missed.

If you are a car nut like we all are, you can easily "catch up" on these stories as well as the past 16 years 1,344,783 automotive stories, articles, reviews, rants and raves by just searching for the subject you are interested in The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive. South Florida viewers, get out of the sun watch TACH-TV on channel 44.1 and 9.1 and let us know what you think! See you next week, LN

Automotive News July 2-6 2012:

* The last week of the month again brings auto sales news. Sales continue upward with June gaining 22% over last year. Automakers sold a total of 1.3 million cars and trucks in June, or an annual rate of 14.1 million vehicles higher than many analysts projected. Toyota soared with a 60% increase, Honda up 49%, Volkswagen 34% and Nissan 28%. Chrysler Group led the D-3 up 20%. GM is up 15%, Kia 14%, Hyundai 8% and Ford 7%.

* Every automotive news site this week had a headline about VW purchasing the remaining 50.1% of Porsche's car making business for 4.46 billion euro (about $5.6 billion). Along with the payment was the issuance of a new common share to the Porsche holding company, which allowed the entire deal to be classified as a restructuring thus avoiding a high tax. Analysts mostly agree the buyout is good for both companies and for Germany. Porsche needs more production capacity and VW gets access to more premium segment vehicles.

* We'll soon see a fifth iteration of the cute and increasingly popular Fiat 500. Fiat's global product guy, Oliver Francois, revealed the "500X" in Turin this week. The "X" means crossover and will replace the Sedici, Fiat's existing small crossover. We'll get it here in the U.S. shortly after it goes on sale in Europe in early 2014.

* The Great Race finished in Dearborn, MI at The Henry Ford on Sunday with the winning team taking home a beautiful trophy and $25,000. Irene and Barry Jason of Keller Texas earned the lowest score on the 2,300-mile time-speed rally of the 90 cars entered. See the whole story here at TAC.

* Tesla's fortunes are looking good. Not only will their battery electric system power the new Toyota RAV4-EV it appears they will also be powering the next B-Class Mercedes EV.

* The automotive design community lost an icon this week with the death of Sergio Pininfarina at age 85. His father, Gian Battista "Pinin" Farina founded the famous Italian firm in 1930 that created classic designs for Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Rolls Royce and many other brands. Sergio Pininfarina led the firm for 50 years becoming honorary chairman in 2006.

* French drivers for many years have been required to carry a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher and a spare headlamp in their cars. Effective July 1, there's one more thing every French driver, including visitors and tourists, must carry. A hand-held breathalyzer. France is the first country in the world to institute such a law, but according to European news reports, the results of the law are being watched carefully by other countries, including the U.S. The question is whether a tipsy driver will use the breathalyzer and what the driver then does with the results.

* A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows advanced auto technologies such as forward-collision avoidance systems” especially those that brake automatically ” result in sharp drops in car crashes. The IIHS said forward-collision systems and adaptive headlights, which shift direction as the driver steers, has the biggest impact in reducing accidents. The study also found that lane-departure warning systems appear to hurt, rather than help ” though it's not clear why. Other systems, such as blind-spot detection and park assist, aren't showing clear impacts on crash patterns yet.

* Volvo agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine to the federal government to settle claims that it delayed recalling vehicles. The NHTSA said those delays involved seven recalls covering a total of about 32,000 vehicles in 2010 and 2012.

* Audi will recall over 13,000 Q5 crossovers because the front glass panel on its panoramic sunroof may shatter in extremely cold temperatures. Audi was made aware of the problem last winter by dealers who reported that the front glass panel on some Q5s had broken. Subsequent laboratory testing of the sunroof panels at temperatures as low as -40ºF indicated that the glass on some units might separate from the surrounding frame, potentially causing the glass to shatter.

* Foresight Research's 2012 Automotive Marketing Communications Study found that 16% of buyers who attended a racing event stated it significantly or completely influenced their vehicle purchase. One in five new vehicle buyers watched at least one race event on TV and one in twelve attended one or more races prior to purchasing their new vehicle. Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Honda, Jeep and Mercedes Benz buyers reported the highest purchase influence from motorsports. A year over year decline in race attendee buyers visiting OEM / brand displays suggests vehicle manufacturers cut back at tracks. Motorsports sponsorship communicates brand reputation, fun to drive, sporty image and style, as well as price / value and fuel economy.

* And, while speaking of motorsports, amidst the speculation as to where Matt Kenseth will land as a driver next season after his announcement that he will be leaving Roush-Fenway Racing is the speculation that IndyCar racer Michael Andretti might be fielding a Dodge team in NASCAR Sprint Cup. Also, we would be remiss to not mention that Erica Enders is the first woman to win a NHRA Pro Stock race, having bettered all the men at the O'Reilly Route 66 Nationals at Chicagoland Route 66 Speedway in Joliet, IL last weekend with a 6.627-second, 207.40-mph pass.

* Ford Motor Co. said that its new C-Max Hybrid is projected to achieve fuel economy of 47 mpg city, beating the Toyota Prius by 3 mpg with a base price $1,300 lower. The C-Max Hybrid is expected to be America's most affordable hybrid utility vehicle with a base price of $25,995, including destination and delivery. The projected 47 mpg city and 44 mpg highway ratings to be delivered by C-Max Hybrid beat the fuel economy of Toyota Prius v with its 44 mpg city and 40 mpg highway. The vehicle has a 500-plus miles driving range.

* How about an espresso to go? Our friends at Consumer Guide Automotive tell that according to Fiat, there will be an absolutely new product on the automotive scene. The company claims that the 500 is coming to the US in 2013 the first standard production car to offer an authentic espresso machine integrated into the passenger compartment. Fiat's photos show a small espresso maker located at the rear of the center console. Ciao.