Cars

The president can’t save an industry he doesn’t understand

One of every seven pickups sold in the U.S. is diesel—for good reason.

I have a new set of socket wrenches. If you knew me well, you might not be completely surprised, but nevertheless, this is a first for me.

On this latest episode, the Substandard discusses Disney's Christopher Robin. JVL gets the Kenmore of cars (or is it Whirlpool?). Vic heads to the Cape (no, the other one). And Sonny makes a difference on Twitter. Plus lots of dudes chattin'!

Plus, how abortion polls.

Republicans are increasingly fed up with Trump’s protectionist trade agenda.

Tomorrow some people from Catholic Charities are coming to tow away the beautiful BMW 740iL that my father bought in Germany at the turn of the century. Like the vast majority of American males he was until then a car enthusiast who had never owned a nice car. He didn’t suffer from that​—​fancy…

White people love Subarus. Google's spy cars have documented the "street view" of much of the United States (and the rest of the world). But what are some applications of all of this data scientists could use? Google's folks decided to analyze the types of cars parked on the street to see if they…

Can you hear me now? Apparently, one of president Trump's top economic advisors faked a bad connection while in a meeting with Democratic senators on tax reform to get the President to stop talking. Yikes.

The big play of the 2010 Saints’ Super Bowl victory was a surprise onside kick. The big play of the 2016 Alabama college national title win was a surprise onside kick. These weren’t just plays that worked in ho-hum contests—they were plays that won championships. Yet the surprise onside remains…

When my grandparents—proud, independent, Greatest Generation types—consented to move into a retirement community, they offered to give one of their cars to us grandkids. They didn’t need and couldn’t keep two cars, and they offered this vehicle free of charge. It was a lavish gesture, especially…

Of the 51 Tucker automobiles assembled and ineptly brought to market in 1948, 47 exist today. They're held in the protective clutches of museums and private collectors. The car that Preston Tucker originally planned to sell for $1,000—dubbed the "Tin Goose" in its prototype stage—can nowadays…

Last week, at the Geneva International Motor Show, Ferrari debuted its newest model, the "812 Superfast." The Superfast revives an old Ferrari name from the 60's, when the Ferrari "America" was updated to the "Superamerica," and then to the "Superfast." The new Superfast will not, contrary to a lot…

Of the 51 Tucker automobiles assembled and ineptly brought to market in 1948, 47 exist today. They’re held in the protective clutches of museums and private collectors. The car that Preston Tucker originally planned to sell for $1,000—dubbed the "Tin Goose" in its prototype stage—can nowadays…

After decades of futurists’ predictions, driverless cars are finally out on the streets—in limited commercial tests in San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, and Pittsburgh. At the moment, they're still unreliable; for instance, a driverless Uber car in Pittsburgh took a shortcut the wrong way up a…

The relationship between motorists and bicyclists in major American cities is, er, "complicated," as the euphemism has it. Most U.S. cities lack any real bike infrastructure—think distinct, separated lanes, like in Amsterdam and Copenhagen—which means that cars and cyclists are forced in most cases…

Whenever I’m driving with my wife, I have this nasty habit of smacking her in the face. No, it's not because of the innumerable times she says, "It's green. You can go now." Or "Slow down, there's a stop sign." It's not even when she thinks I don't see the car in front of me braking and yells, "Oh,…

Though I am an Apple user—phone and laptop—and happy with both, the tepid response to the latest Apple dog and pony show left me feeling a bit of schadenfreude. The digital revolution is pushing other technologies into the grave, and like a lot of people, I mourn that—in the way, probably, that an…

President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry both spent two days in April at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, but hotels and transportation for the entire delegation for the conference topped $1.4 million. An estimated total of 3,889 room nights were split between two hotels:…

The original corn laws put tariffs on imported grain in an effort to help domestic producers.  That was nearly two centuries ago, in England, and the experiment is taught as an example of bad economic policy. But people never learn and in this country, today, we have the renewable fuel mandates…

When President Obama attended the G-20 summit in Brisbane, Australia last November, the entire delegation required over 5,000 room nights at five different hotels over the course of the summit, costing $2.1 million. Transporting all those people around Brisbane was not cheap: the State Department…

According to my mechanic, that burning smell emanating from my car’s vents was caused by an oil leak near the camshaft synchronizing sensor underneath the right side of the engine. Unfortunately I had no idea what he was talking about. He lost me at camshaft.

"More than 13 years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in a world still menaced by terrorists and in a city at risk of attack as few others, how is it possible that basic radio communications used by the District’s first responders could fail in an emergency?” asked the Washington Post editorial…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD Casual Podcast, with Ethan Epstein reading his essay "Wheels of Fortune."

GM’s woes continue. As James R. Healey of USA Today reports:

It has been days now (at least two of them) since General Motors has issued a recall on any of its cars.  But then, the law of diminishing returns applies here.  After the first 15 million, there aren’t that many GM vehicles left out there for recalling.

The bailout of GM – at a final cost to the Treasury of $10 billion and change – was a landmark event in evolution state capitalism, American-style.  The company was saved, certain creditors were stiffed, the unions were protected, and the corporate culture, it seems, was not altered in any…

Nobody loved Shai Agassi and his company, Better Place, more than Tom Friedman. Friedman dedicated two slobbering, wide-eyed, wet-kiss columns to Agassi's Better Place in 2008. You can read them here and here. 

The administration’s enthusiasm for GM extended to its electric car, the Chevy Volt. President Obama once said he’d like to drive one when he leaves office and no reason he couldn’t. There’s lots of inventory lying around.

The new CEO of the new General Motors testified yesterday before Congress and said that she is “deeply sorry” about the company’s negligence in selling cars that came standard with a flaw that could kill you. The company knew. A government regulatory agency knew. And if the administration of…

The script is familiar. General Motors’ top executive heading down to Washington to be grilled by Congress. As Joseph B. White of Market Watch reports, fifty years after the Corvair controversy that made Ralph Nader a household name:

His promising career in politics having come to an inglorious – and no doubt temporary – end, Anthony Weiner has turned to punditry.  In his first column for Business Insider, his subject is the controversy over the Tesla automobile and the campaign by its maker to sell directly to the consumer…

Vice President Joe Biden addressed the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Thursday and reminisced about the state of the industry before and after the Obama administration came into office.  He observed that the steep decline in auto sales during President Obama's first year in…

Vice President Joe Biden thanked the executive chairman of Ford at today's North American International Auto Show for "saving our ass." The event took place in Detroit.

Although CO2 is considered a "greenhouse gas" that contributes to climate change, if the Energy Department (DOE) finds partners to capitalize on the research of one of its laboratories, someday cars might run on sunshine.  Technically, cars would run on the product of sunlight, CO2, and water using…

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu is leaving and in parting, writes this about his time in office and the green energy investments his department made:

Late in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve, my wife Jill and I were driving through Vienna, Virginia, toward Tysons Corner when we found ourselves in front of, and then beside, and then right behind an old gray Volvo wagon. The car caught our eyes, and quickly we realized why, for it wasn’t just…

The legislation to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy has been turned into something of a mini auto bailout, according to those familiar with the Obama administration's request. The request includes millions of dollars worth of cars, to be paid for by the federal government.

The AAA has joined the side of the crackpots resisting the burning of food in internal combustion engines:

Earlier today at an Obama rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, former President Bill Clinton said that American can't export Jeeps to China:

Not so hot, it seems. First, there is the simple matter of costs.  

Just as America proved to be such a safe haven for immigrants in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries, it is now seen as a safe haven for wealth attempting to escape Europe’s tax collectors and financial chaos and recession in Europe, and for foreign central banks newly enamored of the dollar.

Mitt Romney maintains that "President Barack Obama is holding on to the government's stake in General Motors to avoid an embarrassing financial loss before the election, and says he'd sell the stock quickly if he wins the White House," according to the Detroit News, which recently interviewed the…

Speaking in Ohio, Vice President Joe Biden admitted that auto workers lost jobs because of actions taken by the Obama administration:

Vice President Joe Biden didn't seem too worried about the auto workers who lost pensions and benefits because of the restructuring that the auto bailout required:

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) has been considered America’s fastest growing sport, quickly becoming a national phenomenon. But a new economic study shows even NASCAR’s powerful engines haven’t been able to keep up with the Obama-era economy.

Ramesh Ponnuru: "Obama Health Rule an Affront to Religious Groups"

The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes, “Here’s one good way to consider the vote in 2012: It’s about whether to re-elect President Lisa Jackson, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, which these days runs most the U.S. economy.”  The Journal observes that the Obama EPA has now…

Yesterday I pointed to President Obama’s alarmingly statist “reasonable” view of his government’s handling of Chrysler and GM. But in focusing on Obama’s ideology, I missed the bigger story. To refresh, here’s what Obama said:

Of all the email I received from yesterday’s post on GM’s Chevy Volt sales numbers, hands down the best was from reader J. W.:

The July sales numbers are out and the Chevy Volt continues to electrify (get it?) the country. GM sold … 125 Volts last month!

Contrary to what you're hearing out of Detroit, the auto manufacturing business in the U.S. isn't so bad. That's because foreign auto company plants, mostly in the South, are thriving. This is largely because such plants are free from the union albatross that hangs around the neck of the big three…

Saudi authorities have arrested Manal al-Sherif, a courageous female subject of the kingdom who blogged about the demand made by her and others for the right of Saudi women to drive motor vehicles.

Uh oh. Even the "No Labels" crowd has turned against public sector unions.

The automobile magazine Motor Trend has awarded the Obama-approved, government-subsidized Chevrolet Volt its annual "Car of the Year" appellation, reports MSNBC:

Motor Trend magazine's blog reported this week that Cadillac, the flagship luxury brand of our very own Government Motors, has engaged in a sponsorship deal with a state-owned Chinese propaganda film company to link its cars with a new film on the glorious history of the Chinese Communist…