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We spent the night reading the the not-so-Big Three's business plans presented yesterday to Congress and after we graded them below, we've one huge question. Given the Carpocalypse , what's with the overwhelmingly optimistic sales projections for the next three years? The biggest factor into how well a cash loan will work with the automakers will be the number of total auto sales in the United States. If an automaker makes the right projections they should be able to figure out how much money they'll need to get them through this downturn. So how did they each do in their projections? Let's take a look and grade them. Here are the sale projections from the three automakers: Ford U.S. Total Vehicle Sales Projections (Slightly Improved Rate / Current Rate / Worse Rate) 2009: 12.5 / 11.0 / 10.5 million units 2010: 14.5 / 12.5 / 11.0 million units 2011: 15.5 / 14.0 / 12.0 million units Analysis: Yesterday on CNBC, we said we were unimpressed with Ford's submitted business...
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We spent the night reading the the not-so-Big Three's business plans presented yesterday to Congress and after we graded them below, we've one huge question. Given the Carpocalypse , what's with the overwhelmingly optimistic sales projections for the next three years? The biggest factor into how well a cash loan will work with the automakers will be the number of total auto sales in the United States. If an automaker makes the right projections they should be able to figure out how much money they'll need to get them through this downturn. So how did they each do in their projections? Let's take a look and grade them. Here are the sale projections from the three automakers: Ford U.S. Total Vehicle Sales Projections (Slightly Improved Rate / Current Rate / Worse Rate) 2009: 12.5 / 11.0 / 10.5 million units 2010: 14.5 / 12.5 / 11.0 million units 2011: 15.5 / 14.0 / 12.0 million units Analysis: Yesterday on CNBC, we said we were unimpressed with Ford's submitted business...
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All this talk about a GM-Chrysler merger has caused us to think; What if, instead of loan guarantees from the feds back in 1979, Chrysler had approached GM and asked them to be their angel of deliverance. What would an alternate universe be like if GM and Chrysler were already merged? Would the automotive landscape be the same? Or would it thrive with Plymiac Azbrings and Dodgy Challamaros? Maybe a Town & Camino or two? We don't know — but after the GEM mashup last month and the SLR Guy back in June — we know your creativity knows no bounds. So grab your digital #2 pencils and fire up Photoshop because we’re challenging YOU to create this alternate universe. Give us your best creations because we’re giving away a copy of Baja: Edge of Control for XBOX 360 and the 10th season of Top Gear from iTunes to the most creative, awe-inspiring General Mopar creation out there. And no, we don't mean creating your own lineup — we've already done that . Let's give...
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After a week of heavy polling through four rounds of entries , the final 20 contestants in the GEM Peapod Photoshop Contest have been determined. Beginning today and ending Wednesday at 11:59 PM EDT, you get to vote for your favorite chop of the smiley, enviro-friendly GEM Peapod concept . The winner will take home a sweet new iPod Touch, offered up by the fine folks at Chrysler's GEM division . When the clock passes 11:59 PM EDT, all voting will be complete and we'll announce the winner the following day. Remember, standard contest rules still apply. Congratulations to those who made it to the finals, and good luck in the final round of voting. galleryPost('peapodfinalround', 15, 'Peapod Photoshop Contest Finalists'); Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.
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If you've already stepped into the voting booth for Group One , Group Two and Group Three of our first round of voting in our GEM Peapod Photoshop Contest , you're ready to take a walk through these, the final 47 entries. We call them Group Four. Again, to remind everyone, voting in this first round — in all groups — ends at 11:59:59 PM tomorrow (Wednesday). The top five vote-getters from each group will move on to a final round of voting running from Thursday at noon to 11:59:59 PM Sunday. We'll announce the winner of the iPod Touch Monday morning (thanks to the good folks from GEM at Chrysler!). With that, here's group four, hit the jump for the poll. Remember to vote early — and come back in an hour for the last of the four groups! As always, standard contest rules apply . galleryPost('peapodgroup4', 47, 'Peapod Voting, Round 1, Group 4'); Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through...
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When you're done punching through the chads in Group One and Group Two of our first round of voting in our GEM Peapod Photoshop Contest , take a gander through these 47 entries in Group Three. Again, to remind everyone, voting in this first round ends at 11:59:59 PM tomorrow (Wednesday). The top five vote-getters from each group will move on to a final round of voting running from Thursday at noon to 11:59:59 PM Sunday. We'll announce the winner of the iPod Touch Monday morning (thanks to the good folks from GEM at Chrysler!). With that, here's group three, hit the jump for the poll. Remember to vote early — and come back in an hour for the last of the four groups! As always, standard contest rules apply . galleryPost('peapodvoting3', 47, 'Peapod Voting, Round 1, Group 3'); Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.
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If you enjoyed voting in Group One of our first round of voting in our GEM Peapod Photoshop Contest , you're going to love the 47 entries in Group Two. What's that you say? You haven't yet voted for your top pick from Group One ? Well, maybe you should remember to do that! Just to remind everyone, voting in Round one ends at 11:59:59 PM tomorrow (Wednesday). The top five vote-getters from each group will move on to a final round of voting running from Thursday at noon to 11:59:59 PM Sunday. We'll announce the winner of the iPod Touch Monday morning (thanks to the good folks from GEM at Chrysler!). With that, here's group two, poll after the jump. Remember to vote early — and come back in an hour for the next group! As always, standard contest rules apply . galleryPost('peapodgroup2', 47, 'Peapod Voting, Round 1, Group 2'); Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript...
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OK, put down your pens, pencils and mice — time's up. Now comes the fun part — voting for the best of the best of the GEM Peapod photoshop contest entries and crowning a winner to receive the grand prize — an iPod Touch (courtesy of the folks with the GEM team at Chrysler)! And while fun, it's going to be a huge job. We received an amazing 188 p-chopped entries of the happy little electric car for "gated communities." That's way too many for our piddly-dink poll software to deal with, so we've gone and split them up into four groups, each with 47 entries. We'll run all four rounds today, an hour apart. This first round of voting will run until 11:59:59 PM tomorrow (Wednesday). The top five vote-getters from each group will move on to a final round of voting running from Thursday at noon to 11:59:59 PM Sunday. We'll announce the winner Monday morning. With that, here's group one, poll after the jump. Remember, vote early — and...
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When Chrysler dropped its bevy of extended-range electric vehicles in our laps today as part of the company's new ENVI program, we wondered how coincidental it was that Chrysler was claiming the same all-electric range as the much ballyhooed Chevy Volt . The Volt makes concessions to seating and obsessively maximizes aerodynamics to get its 40 mile range, but the Chrysler EV and the Jeep EV both claim 40 miles as well. No funny-shaped center consoles, no wacky aero-trickery, just batteries and electric motors. So what's the deal? Not surprisingly, it's mainly the batteries that make the difference here. Battery storage capacity is measured in watt-hours, more or less the total amount of energy used over time. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is simply a thousand watt-hours and this is what's used to measure big batteries, the kind used in modern hybrids.The Chevy Volt uses a 16 kWh battery and only really functions within a range of 50-80% charge in order to extend battery life. In...
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Last month's review of the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 may have seemed to some a blinding orgy of Detroit love. Having just moved from Detroit to New York City, I was homesick and was seemingly in need of a shot of Motor City muscle. Still, I offer no apology, because despite the rose-colored glasses, I managed to outline the three glaring issues with the low-volume '08 model year Challenger SRT8 — the outdated interior, the weight and most importantly, the automatic transmission. After spending a day this past week driving the new 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T, SRT8 and SE on the roads of New York City and on the Raceway Park track at Englishtown, NJ, Dodge has fixed at least one-third of the Challenger's problems. That's a good thing for Dodge, because I left the rose-colored glasses back in Detroit. galleryPost('2009ChallengerSRT8Burn', 6, '2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 Turns Tires To Smoke For Your Pleasure'); galleryPost('2009ChallengerRTRed',...
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The Detroit News reports today on the marriage of Chrysler and Cerberus Capital Management, which took place one year ago this week. Robert Nardelli, former head of Home Depot, beat out Tom LaSorda and Wolfgang Bernhard for the top job at the new Chrysler, joining an already troubled automaker just at the edge of what would become the country's worst auto sales period in 20 years. What the hell was he thinking? More importantly, what's he thinking now? A Chryslerberus freshman report card after the jump. Sales: D Under Nardelli and Cerberus, Chrysler has only topped DaimlerChrysler year-over-year sales numbers in one month: December, 2007. So why not a solid "F?" Because product that the new Chrysler management team had any control over the design of is only now coming to market. What they've done with their inheritance has not been impressive, but what happens in the next 12 months is going to be a more accurate assessment of Chrysler's new sales strength. Product...
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In 1989, it was increasingly clear a new revolution was coming to the truck market, but what shape it would take was still a mystery. With the staggering success of large body-on-frame SUVs and light trucks just a gleam in the eyes of automakers, GMs design team continued down the path of car-based pickups with the Chevy XT-2 Concept Truck. Although we now know car-based pickups and SUVs lost the battle to large SUVs shortly thereafter, it appears the XT-2, an essentially ignored concept here in the United States, may end up winning the design war. galleryPost('89chevyxt2', 12, 'XT-2 To XTC'); The American SUVs on the market in 1989 were quite a bit different than the generation that would take over in just two years' time. We tend to focus on their crudeness and lack of creature comforts, but more importantly, nearly all "mid-size" SUVs before the 1990s period were two-door models. The exception was the Jeep Cherokee XJ , which was developed with extra doors...
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Why you should buy the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 : You love America and everything it stands for. You break out in hives at the thought of restoring an old '71 Challenger, but still want to live life looking good, moving fast and bleeding red, white and blue. Your nickname was "Super Soul" or your last name is "Kowalski." Why you shouldn't buy this car: You hate America and everything it stands for. You are content living your life in a drab, vanilla coma, never once yearning to break free to live life the way it should be lived. You know, like it was thirty years ago. Also, you're a red commie liberal hippie who smells vaguely French. Comprendez-vous? galleryPost('DodgeChallengerSRT8Review3', 9, '2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 - Exterior Detail'); galleryPost('DodgeChallengerSRT8Review1', 12, '2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 - Exterior'); galleryPost('DodgeChallengerSRT8Review2', 6, '2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 - Interior'...
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Exterior Design: ***** The 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 gets all five stars for providing a perfect example of a polarizingly retro design done right. You either love it or you hate it. Although we've yet to find a single soul who is willing to shout this pony down in person. From the big, strong front fascia and that creased centerline to those broad haunches in the back, this muscle car oozes bad-ass. Interior Design: *** Inasmuch as the exterior was crafted with pound upon pound of love and care, the interior feels like the ginger-headed stepchild of the design process. The flat plastic dash, while soft-to-the-touch, looks bare, forlorn and unloved. The woven leather steering wheel feels less sturdy than this car deserves. Still, the Challenger SRT8 gets one star for a back seat with the spaciousness of the original, another star for those bolstered front seats and yet another for the faux suede along the doors. Nice touch, Dodge. galleryPost('DodgeChallengerSRT8Review2', 6...
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Michigan's M-1 is a state trunk road that starts at downtown Detroit's waterfront drive, Jefferson Avenue, then shoots north in a straight line for 21.4 miles, past some of the poorest and wealthiest neighborhoods of the metro region until it loops back down the other direction in the city of Pontiac. And really, nobody calls it "M-1." Everyone knows it as Woodward Avenue and it's the heart of the Midwestern metropolis dubbed the Motor City. But until this morning, I didn't realize how important this stretch of road was to me. Many of you may not know, but this past month I moved to New York. Until the start of last month, I'd lived my entire life in this corner of Michigan. But this week I'm back in Detroit for one reason, and one reason alone — an entire week of driving the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 . It's a car imbued with so much positive energy there's only thing I can think of to do it justice. I plan on running Dodge's muscular...
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