Apr 17
The folks over at Car and Driver have good info that in the future the coupe and wagon variants may move to the ATS platform. This makes sense from Cadillac’s stand point because it needs to compete with the German’s smaller coupes and wagons. Since the CTS continues to grow in size it certainly isn’t a 3 series and C class fighter any more. The ATS however certainly is. Car and Driver does predict a wagon version of the CTS will remain however for that luxury wagon market that the Mercedes E class wagon now calls home.
It will be interesting to see what Cadillac does with the ATS, it’s an exciting new car for GM and we will see how it pans out long term to fight the Germans.
Source: Car and Driver
Apr 16
Dodge made good on it’s promise to aggressively by putting the Dodge Dart at $15995. The base model comes with 160hp Tigershark 4, projector headlights, cloth interior, MP3 player, and a six speed manual. It’s not a bad little package for the price. Of course if you want more option or more horsepower the price goes up with the top of the line Dart RT coming in at $22495 which will get you 18 inch wheels and 184 hp. As well as some other goodies. There is no doubt the Dart is priced right but the question remains has Chrysler improved the build quality and reliability.
Hit the jump for the full press release on the Dart’s pricing and packages.
Apr 15
News out of Germany brings a bit of alarm to the new car industry. An explosion at a chemical plant owned by Evonik has led to a shortage in resin used in making brake and fuel lines. It appears there is no timeline for for the damaged plant to come back online in full capacity. This sort of thing kind of brings attention to the idiotic practice of only having one supplier. William Kozyra, chairman of Auburn Hills, Michigan-based TI Automotive, says “The shortage is real and immediate,”
Not that the automakers needed an excuse to inflate new car prices as they are already doing a great job of that, but it seems that if a shortage were to come to fruition prices may climb a bit due to demand.
Sources: Bloomberg LeftLaneNews
Apr 15
Motoman has put together a documentary style series of Targa Newfoundland. I know from talking to various fans of I-G we are all in love with Targa Newfoundland so I had to post this one up.
