CANADA'S ecoAUTO REBATE

The Government of Canada's initiative to put more people into fuel efficient vehicles by giving them money sees a rearranging of models for year 2008. The list, with the cashback value, is below.

$2000
Toyota Prius
Honda Civic Hybrid
smart fortwo (coupe and convertible)
Ford Escape Hybrid (front and all-wheel drive)
Saturn Vue Hybrid

$1500
Toyota Camry Hybrid
Nissan Altima Hybrid
Toyota Highlander Hybrid

$1000
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Yaris (hatch and sedan)
Mini Cooper (and Clubman)
Honda Civic (coupe and sedan)
Honda Fit
Lexus RX400h
Jeep Compass (2.0L w/CVT and 2.4L manual tranny)
Jeep Patriot (2.0L w/CVT and 2.4L manual-tranny)
Chevrolet HHR
Nissan Rogue

FLEX FUEL VEHICLES $1000
Chevrolet Impala
Dodge Avenger
Chrysler Sebring

CARS OF CANDIDATES

The Associated Press has collected some info on the past and present vehicles of presidential candidates. It's easy to find the car lovers amongst them - those who don't know an inline-4 from a V8 - and those who must have at least modicum of taste.

Hillary first drove a '62 Olds Cutlass. Sneak a peek or more thru Bill or Hillary's autobiographies, and you soon discover that they either love cars or remember them well. Mrs. Clinton is now, of course, driven in many'a Secret Service vehicle, although she makes note of a "Ford hybrid."

As does John Edwards, in addition to an '04 Chrysler Pacifica (indiciating the value of John's vehicle is equivalent to the price of one haircut) and a 13-year old GMC pickup. John's first car was a Plymouth Duster. Bill Richardson drove a used Mustang in a former day, but enjoys his Jeep Wrangler now. Barack Obama makes use of a Chrysler 300C, but once "extensively" used his grandfather's Ford Granada.

Giuliani? "I don't drive. I navigate." Sure, Rudolph. He drove a used Dodge whilst newly licensed. A little more specificity, please.

John McCain knows where it's at. The Arizona Senator drove a 1958 Corvette but has a Cadillac CTS now. Good job, John. Mitt Romney drove a 2-year old American Motors Rambler Classic in 1965 when he went to college. Mitt, who was involved in a head-on crash in France while driving a Citroen DS in 1968, has possession of an '05 Ford Mustang Convertible and a '62 Rambler American.

Fred Thompson speaks about an old red pickup. Fred hasn't elaborated yet. Mike Huckabee used to be the driver of a Mercury Montego but makes use of two Chevrolet's now: an '07 Tahoe and a '95 Silverado.

What have we learned? Unless some of these cars are using base V6's instead of the implied V8's, the candidate's vehicles likely contribute to an average of 16/21mpg, city/highway.

Keep talking, guys. Gimme all that ethanol and biofuel and dependency on foreign oil stuff.

BREAKING NEWS - TOYOTA, LEXUS, AUDI & MERCEDES-BENZ, MINI POSTING RECORD SALES IN CANADA

Ironically, on a day when Canada's figurehead Governor General, Michaelle Jean, will fly home from Europe to deal with a political crisis that was precipitated to some degree by a lack of extra funding to the automotive manufacturing sector, Toyota says that its best ever year (and it's only December 2nd) comes as a result of Canadian-built models. Excuse the long sentence - The Good Car Guy gets excited over irony.

Not only has Toyota already surpassed 2007's record-setting sales total through just eleven months, but Audi has done so, as well. Lexus and Mercedes-Benz both posted their best-ever Novembers, too.

Details will be forthcoming over the next day or so regarding both American auto sales for November as well as Canadian sales figures. For now, consider that Toyota Canada sold more than 200,000 cars in one year for the first time ever and did so in just eleven months. Lexus Canada sold at a record-setting pace for the 8th consecutive month. Audi Canada set an annual record for the third straight year but did so this year in just eleven months. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz's year-to-date growth stands at 27.7% through November.

Toyota's Corolla, Matrix, and RAV4 along with the Lexus RX350 all posted huge sales gains and are all built in Canada.

UPDATE: Mini has joined the flock of best-ever folk with its eighth-consecutive month of record sales and a best-ever November. Chrysler, Honda, Acura BMW, and Volkswagen are all down - some by large margins - but Jetta sales are waaaaaay up because of new Clean Diesel TDI availability

THE DETROIT THREE OFFERS TOO MANY TRUCKS? BY THE NUMBERS

Wall Street insiders attempting to predict the demise of the Detroit Three (GM/Ford/Chrysler) blame most of the domestic auto manufacturing difficulties on the rise and fall of the SUV. They believe that General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler LLC (mostly under the management of Daimler-Benz) didn't have the foresight to build high quality cars when money was pouring in from easy-profit vehicles like the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Tahoe, and Dodge Ram. On the surface, these insiders appear to be correct. 

Take American luxury cars, for instance. In the early part of this millenium, the only prominent vehicles at Cadillac and Lincoln were their jumbo SUVs, the Escalade and Navigator. Mainstream brands like Chevrolet and Ford were offering an abomination called the Malibu and an ancient design called the Taurus. The few takers snapped them up at rock bottom prices.

For a deeper look at the gravity of the situation in numerical terms, check this Numbers post from a few days ago with figures supplied by TIME. For perspective on the issue, read The Good Car Guy's question from yesterday. For facts about automaker offerings in the U.S. domestic market in 2009, keep reading. Oh, and by the way, to attempt to sway the argument in favour of cars instead of trucks, models like the F-150, F-250, and F-350 were lumped together. It didn't help. Also, TSV means anything that isn't a car: trucks, SUVs, and vans.

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TOTAL CARS @ GENERAL MOTORS: 21

TOTAL TSVs @ GENERAL MOTORS: 26

TOTAL CARS @ FORD MOTOR CO.: 10

TOTAL TSVs @ FORD MOTOR CO.: 14

TOTAL CARS @ CHRYSLER LLC: 8

TOTAL TSVs @ CHRYSLER LLC: 16

Buick cars/TSVs: 2 to 1

Cadillac cars/TSVs: 4 to 3

Chevrolet cars/TSVs: 6 to 9

GMC cars/TSVs: 0 to 8

Hummer cars/TSVs: 0 to 2

Pontiac cars/TSVs: 6 to 1

Saturn cars/TSVs: 3 to 2

Ford cars/TSVs: 4 to 10

Lincoln cars/TSVs: 3 to 2

Mercury cars/TSVs: 3 to 2

Chrysler cars/TSVs: 3 to 2

Dodge cars/TSVs: 5 to 7

Jeep cars/TSVs: 0 to 7

A QUESTION FROM THE GOOD CAR GUY

Condemnation directed at the Detroit Three is running rampant. "They build the wrong vehicles", says America. "New leadership is required," say the analysts. "Why not sell us their better Euro-market cars?" inquires the umm.... auto bloggers. 

Valid points; these are, with a few problems. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler may build the "wrong" vehicles, but Americans still buys plenty of them. In fact, only in recent years has the Detroit Three's hold on the majority of their domestic market fallen away. No, that's not good news, but perhaps we should all stop acting like General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler don't sell any cars whatsoever.

And while we accuse the Detroit Three - especially Chrysler - of being too truck-heavy in their offering list, let us remember that selling a bunch of $13,487 Calibers in Canada isn't likely as lucrative as selling a handful of Rams at a $10,000 discount. Sure, that's not an appropriate long-term view, and it is in long-term perspectives that the Detroit Three has been found wanting, but still.... GM, Ford, and Chrysler were manufacturing the vehicles Americans wanted and making serious coin doing so. For a while.

As one-shot contrarian examples show, what analysts called for wasn't always the answer. Everybody was excited to see the Opel Astra heading across the Atlantic to become the Saturn Astra until we saw the price that GM needed to set in order not to lose money. Of course, furthering that argument is a third point that says Honda can build a better car and sell it at a better price soooo; why can't GM?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending the Detroit Three's short-sighted views on trucks and SUVs. I just can't cease to wonder at America's collective hatred for Detroit's business methods when America collectively supported those business methods. Judging by polls that suggest American citizens don't want to throw good money after bad in Detroit's direction, I also wonder why so many Americans are willing to see large chunks of their friends and family lose their jobs. 

Acknowledging that GM's business models were - and perhaps continue to be - terribly reactionary and overwhelmingly astigmatic, one must also wonder if any federal rejection of aid is the complete opposite in a negative praxis. It's wonderful to act wise and suggest that throwing billions more dollars Detroit's way wouldn't be good for future generations and likely wouldn't help for long anyway, but that wisdom comes at a cost: jobs, jobs, jobs, and more jobs.

WATCH ANDERSON COOPER, MARK HALPERIN, AND THE NY TIMES BUSINESS EDITOR DISCUSS AN AUTO BAILOUT

Politically, the prospect of sending money the way of the Detroit three (General Motors, Ford, and.... Chrysler) is obvious but hyper-complicated. If something isn't done soon, the potential for disaster - most definitively at GM - is grave. Different types of disasters could occur.

For auto watchers, it's not news. We know that the "spin-off", as they call it, is more of a tornado than a dust devil. Nonetheless, CNN's Anderson Cooper along with a Time editor and New York Times business editor discuss the political side of the potential auto bailout in the video below.

BOOMERANG TRACKING'S TOP 5 MOST STOLEN VEHICLES IN CANADA

If you've been an active member of The Good Car Nation this morning, you already know which car sits at the top of this list. Follow that link back to learn more about Boomerang Tracking and read below to learn about the most stolen vehicles in Canada. Since GoodCarBadCar.net loves Top 5 lists and Boomerang provides the Top 10, hear ye this: the '94 Dodge Shadow/Plymouth Sundance hatchback is likely part of the list because of its, shall we say, lack of security. Audi's 2000 TT Quattro sits at #9. The '98 Acura Integra is in the #8 spot. Numbers 7, 6, and 5 belong to variants of the '94 Dodge Caravan. 

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#4 - '94 ACURA INTEGRA: Loved by every tuner and appreciated by all for its quality, the Integra was a stellar car with multiple positive characteristics.

#3 - '04 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX & WRX STI: Early in its North American life, this turbocharged Japanese rally rocket was about as desirable a real-world car as could be found on the continent. Apparently thieves feel the same way as the rest of us.

#2 - '00 HONDA CIVIC SIR: While we joined with the Americans in naming the current Civic Si the, er... Civic Si; the previous generations were stuck with SiR north of the 49th. The good ol' Honda double wishbone front suspension with a high-revving inline-four that made VTEC a household brand was ripe for modification. This Civic was simply a very good car. So good in fact that slightly older models were ripe for thievery as well.

#1 - '99 HONDA CIVIC SIR: With prices for stock SiRs around $10,000 for a 10 year old car and not likely to budge anytime soon, one can understand - and still blame - auto thieves proclivity for jacking this Honda. 

DODGE CHARGER AND MAGNUM COP CARS RECALLED

Upon posting the Top 5 Vehicles the Police Should be Driving, The Good Car Guy quickly discovered that regular consumers are quite interested in the choices police departments make. It's true that the Dodge Charger and Dodge Magnum weren't included in that Top 5, but that's only because cops had already taken a liking to their benefits above and beyond those offered by Ford's Crown Victoria. 

More recently, Chrysler announced that Kuwaiti officials would be purchasing 150 Dodge Chargers for their police service. That's basically a drop in the puddle - Dodge is recalling 20283 Chargers and Magnums that had been outfitted with the police package and column shifter. 

These Recalled vehicles are from model years 2006-2009. Column shifters, not a feature associated with regular Chargers and Magnums, "may become disengaged from the steering column mounting bracket and cause an incorrect transmission gearshift position display". Obviously the danger revolves around inadvertent vehicle movement. 

Dealers, NHTSA says, will add a locking mechanism to the gearshift cable to "ensure proper retention and shift linkage function". Apart from added weight and the (sometimes) lack of a V8, the Dodge Charger driven by The Good Car Guy was, to say the least,a  decent value. Check out that review here.

HOW WOULD GM/FORD/CHRYSLER DESTRUCTION AFFECT YOU?

Facebook revealed an interesting memorandum to The Good Car Guy this afternoon. Written by David Cole, Sean McAlinden, Kristin Dziczek, and Debra Maranger Menk, "The Impact on the U.S. Economy of a Major Contraction of the Detroit Three Automakers" is educating and deep, to say the least. The Centre for Automotive Research's piece will surely come under deeper scrutiny than that afforded by a Canadian freelance/blogger/car expert, but that's not to say you shouldn't read it for yourself. So head to CarGroup.org or follow this link. 

"The motor vehicle and parts industries employed 732,800 workers directly as of September, 2008, and the Detroit Three employed 239,341 hourly and salary workers in the United States at the end of 2007. The international producers employed roughly 113,000 people in the United States at that time. The auto industry has one of the largest economic multipliers of any sector of the U.S. economy, and is sufficiently large that its growth or contraction can be detected in changes in the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. In many states employment in automotive and automotive parts manufacturing ranks among the top three manufacturing industries."

How's that for starters?

25 YEARS OF CHRYSLER MINIVANS

Apart from huge incentives and regular "sales" that help the Dodge Grand Caravan become a better value, one could argue that the best value in the minivan segment is at Kia or Hyundai. It's not arguable, however, that the best overall minivan is built by Honda or Toyota; not Chrysler/Dodge.

Nevertheless, a certain air of sentimentality combines with low prices and a beyond-decent product to make the 25th year of Chrysler/Dodge minivan production a special moment. In its honour then, a picture. The Caravan did significantly alter the way families carried their people and their stuff for at least a couple of decades.

ASPEN'S EXPENSIVE PACKAGE DEALS

$1911.00 would buy The Good Car Guy and Girl a hotel and car for the Christmas holidays in Aspen. The Wildwood Lodge is close to some major ski areas, plus Hertz would give us an economy car.

Or..... $2,445 of my dollars could be thrown at the Aspen options sheet. That's Chrysler Aspen; not Aspen, Colorado. It's the Signature Series, including MyGig, sunroof, rear backup camera, chromed wheels, two-tone leather on the seats and steering wheel, and satellite radio.


This $2,445 is on top of the 34K you've already spent. I think I'd take Aspen, rather than Aspen Signature Series. For those of you who plan to purchase this new Chrysler, think seriously about saving some money while gaining a vacation.

CHRYSLER CUTBACKS

Over the last few hours you've likely heard about four Chrysler models meeting the axe. Unfortunately, the same announcement held even worse news: 12,000 people lose their jobs. Personal situations of unemployment tend to put things in perspective.

As for the cars, the head honchos at Chrysler LLC want you to kinda believe that things will return to normality when the Dodge Challenger, Chrysler Aspen & Dodge Durango hybrids, and Dodge Journey come on line. (The Challenger should make me happy, but it worries most of us: where do I find the money?) GoodCarBadCar informs you of the departing vehicles and gives you reason to care about their absence and reason to ignore the fact that they've been axed.

Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible: You care because, after all, it was an inexpensive way to find yourself in a droptop. You don't care because the high-impact PT styling had long since lost its impact.

Chrysler Crossfire: You care because..... Sorry, can't think of any reason to care. You don't care because the car was just microwaved Mercedes leftovers, anyway.

Chrysler Pacifica: You care because Chrysler helped urge forward a trend. You don't care because the vehicle was simply marketing and ideologically driven, but not properly executed on the engineering and design front.

Dodge Magnum: You care because it was the mean-lookin', hard-talkin', Hemi V8 station wagon, man. You don't care because it looked like a hearse.

RENAULT DONE WITH ITS LARGEST MPV, THE ESPACE

Credited on the other side of the Atlantic with the introduction of the "minivan" - to Europe the MPV - Renault appears to have decided that the fad's forerunner will not be replaced at the end of its current life cycle.

The Espace and Grand Espace are rather luxurious family vehicles now but still completely capable of transporting you and all that comes with you across continents. Renault has long since developed smaller, cheaper alternatives to the Espace - the Scenic and Grand Scenic; Modus and Grand Modus.

(See all Renault-related posts with a click right here)

The irony of it is almost sad. In an era where Chrysler, the North American originator of the minivan, is struggling mightily to survive as truck sales fall of a cliff and minivan sales continue to stagnate (if continuing to stagnate is possible), their European equivalent's underling (Nissan), is rumoured to be interested in purchasing a chunk of the world's biggest minivan-maker, Chrysler LLC ,even as Nissan's parent (Renault) is cancelling further production of the Espace, a vehicle the rest of the world sees as famous. Irony, see?

HOW CONSUMER REPORTS RELIABILITY RANKINGS RELATE TO GCBC AWARDS

Late last year and in early 2008, The Good Car Guy handed out twenty awards. Well, let's be honest: eight of them were shameful awards. The Good 12 and The Bad 8  place significance on vehicles that can be purchased by people you and I know - no Ferraris, Lamborghinis, or Bentleys. Of the hundreds and hundreds of different models available to the North American consumer, The Good 12 tells you which you should buy if at all possible in 2008 and The Bad 8 makes very clear which cars you should not buy if at all avoidable.

Of course, those vehicles are in the running for 2009's Good 12 and Bad 8. If they're still the best, they ought to be recognized that way. But before that comes, it appears that Consumer Reports has released its reliability rankings, pieces of news in which many consumers (how ironic) place a great amount of trust.

So, how do those rankings compare with The Good 12 and The Bad 8? Have a look below.

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Small Cars: Consumer Reports says the Scion xD and Mini Cooper Clubman are at or near the top while the Nissan Versa sedan is the worst. The Good 12 holds fast on the regular Mini Cooper while the Versa sedan resides in The Bad 8.

Family Cars: Consumer Reports puts the Toyota Prius and Kia Optima at or near the top with the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger platform-mates at the bottom. GoodCarBadCar.net is silent on the topic.

Sporty, Coupes, & Convertibles: Consumer Reports places the Lexus SC430 and Volco C30 at the top with the Chrysler Sebring convertible and Saturn Sky at the bottom. The Bad 8 has both the Sebring and Lexus SC in its grasp.

Luxury Cars: Infiniti's M35 and Lexus IS250 are CR's most reliable; the V8-powered Cadillac STS and V8-powered Mercedes-Benz E-Class are at the bottom. GoodCarBadCar.net speaks neither well or ill of all four.

Minivans/Wagons: The Toyota Matrix and Scion xB are the best of the bunch in CR's rankings, the Chrysler twins (Town & Country, Grand Caravan) are the worst. GoodCarBadCar.net is silent.

In the SUV/truck arena, the Toyota Tundra; Honda Ridgeline; Toyota Sequoia; Honda Pilot; Lexus RX400h; Honda Element, and Toyota FJ Cruiser are all leaders of their respective packs. Conversely, the Ford F-250; Land Rover LR2; Saturn Vue in V6 all-wheel drive form; Land Rover Range Rover; Volkswagen Touareg; V8-powered and diesel-fired Mercedes-Benz GL-Class; and the Dodge Dakota 4x4 are all unreliable by Consumer Reports' standards.

One more thing: Consumer Reports also said the Honda Fit; smart fortwo; and Infiniti G35 are "also very reliable". Those cars are in The Good 12.

JEEP LIBERTY AND DODGE NITRO RECALLED FOR E-BRAKE ISSUE

"The park brake lever clutch drum may distort and reduce the effectiveness of the park brake system," NHTSA says in regards to 3,663 Dodge Nitros and Jeep Libertys. Specifically, this Dodge/Jeep Recall affects '07 and '08 Nitros with manual transmissions and '08 Libertys with manual transmissions.

Dealers will be replacing the whole park brake lever assembly after this Recall begins this month.

SMALL CHRYSLER LLC RECALL AFFECTS SEBRING, AVENGER, CALIBER, JOURNEY, COMPASS AND PATRIOT

Due to a new adhesive used in the powertrain control module, the circuit board in 712 MY2009 Chrysler products may break without warning; causing the engine to stall. Stalls at the wrong time can inflict damage, as you may well be aware.

It's a simple fix. Dealers will be replacing the PCM free of charge. The Recall affects the '09 versios of the Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Caliber, Dodge Journey, Jeep Compass, and Jeep Patriot. 712 new owners should expect to hear from Chrysler this month, but if you're curious as to the involvement of your vehicle, contact Chrysler at 1-800-853-1403.

BREAKING NEWS WHOA DUDE! GENERAL MOTORS AND CHRYSLER TALKING ABOUT A MERGER

You know the financial crisis (you tired of that phrase, too?) is really stinging when sudden merger talks pop up. No, it's not BMW and Mercedes-Benz or General Motors and Ford Motor Company: it's GM and the privately held Chrysler LLC.

Preliminary talks include the possibility of Cerberus (the current owner of Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep) handing over their automobile manufacturing business in exchange for the 49% stake GM holds in GMAC Financial Services.

General Motors says that there is nothing unusual about talks with other automakers but that they are experiences "unprecedented related to uncertainties in the financial markets" and refuse to consider bankruptcy.. Cerberus says they don't comment on private meetings. 

Is this purely an issue of survival? Why would two struggling automakers combine their struggles? Under the philosophy of 'two heads are better than one', combining the struggles and troubles goes hand-in-hand with combining, for instance, platforms; architecture; manufacturing plants; parts suppliers; and - dare we say it - workers. 

GET BACK TO WORK, CHRYSLER UAWorkers

Their strike was so short that some of the 45,000 workers won't miss a shift, providing they answer their phone; check their email; or watch the news. United Auto Workers walked off the job at Chrysler facilities this morning, but by tomorrow morning production should be running normally. GoodCarBadCar was on top of the story as it happened.

If you're unfamiliar with the UAW - check out their website. Completely unaware of this current news story? Follow this GCBC link. This strike affected 18 plants plus a good 30 other facilities in fourteen states, although the American operations downturn would have caused headaches (and an eventual work stoppage) in Canada, as well.

Curiously, some Chrysler build lines weren't working for parts of this week anyway. When nobody wants to buy your products, there ain't much point in building extra, is there? Chrysler is now an independent company, having been divorced from Daimler-Benz in the summer.

THEY'RE WALKING AS WE SPEAK, er..... type

Check it out for yourself, I'm not in Detroit this time around to watch the strike begin and end. Nevertheless, Chrysler LLC workers - those who are members of the United Auto Workers - are walking off the job right now.

Two dozen plants. 45,000 workers.

Just within a the past half hour, CNN was reporting that Chrysler and the UAW were really working to get a deal together. Workers were told by their union reps that by 11:00am EST they were to be seen exiting the plants if they hadn't heard any news on a new deal.

Walking, they are. A mass exodus. Just a couple weeks ago, The Good Car Guy arrived in Detroit for a GM event at the Milford Proving Grounds the same day General Motors' United Auto Workers left the job. Two days later, those UAW folks were heading back to the job just as The Good Car Guy left Detroit to return to the GoodCarBadCar towers. Workers have been interviewed suggesting they were anticipating time off work and have been saving for up to six months.

Let's hope that workers are taken care of and protected. Let's also hope that the UAW would understand that their success is tied to Chrysler's success. Sucking huge dollars from Chrysler will not enable Chrysler to further develop their automobile business. If Chrysler's automobile business fails to meet with more success, these United Auto Workers will be eating Kraft Dinner.

WHAT IS THE CHRYSLER ELECTRIC VEHICLE?

Like the Jeep EV that was discussed on GCBC already, the Chrysler Electric Vehicle is capable of 40 miles on electric power alone that's also able to travel 400 miles with the help of a gasoline engine. Power for the Chrysler EV, a Town & Country minivan, is rated at 255 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque.

Minivans are perfect family vehicles and prone to deep consideration from those who need both space and environmental friendliness. Chrysler will be able to use the T&C as a mule for other front-wheel drive applications. ChryslerGoesElectric.com explains all of this more thoroughly.

Check out the GCBC posts on the Dodge EV and Jeep EV here