ON THE TABLE

May 26, 2010

Toyota. Taking the opposite tack by touting the minivan as a totally urban-hip vehicle, Toyota's "Swagger Wagon" YouTube video is a hit for the Sienna minivan. Watch it here. This is how it's supposed to be done, by the way, unlike the horrifically bad Chrysler/Dodge minivan commercials.

BMW. Despite optimistic pronouncements to the contrary, there's growing concern within BMW that the 5-series GT is "the dog that won't hunt" in the U.S. market. BMW leadership is putting a brave face on things, suggesting that they didn't get the model mix right at intro and telling dealers to be patient - blah-blah-blah - but the writing is on the wall: The 5-series GT is too big, too expensive, too unattractive and too un-BMW-like for this market.

Coda. Reuters reports that the Santa Monica, California-based start-up electric car company Coda has raised $58 million in its latest financing round, increasing the company’s total invested capital to more than $125 million. Coda plans to use the new money raised to support the market entry of its all-electric sedan and to expand the number of production lines for its lithium-ion battery systems. The company not only plans to sell an all-electric car with a range of up to 120 miles priced in the low $30,000s, it plans to open an assembly plant in Los Angeles County too. And it expects to deliver 14,000 of its electric cars in California, all by the end of 2011. Really? Uh, how about notgonnahappen.com.

Ford. The Dearborn-based automaker will invest $135 million in three Michigan facilities that will be involved in electric and hybrid vehicle systems, adding 220 jobs. Another glimmer of hope for the Motor City.

(Sam VarnHagen/Ford)
Mark Fields, Ford president of the Americas, speaks to the media after announcing the company's investment in jobs in its southeast Michigan manufacturing plants for future vehicle electrification.

VW AG, Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A. Well, it's official. With VW taking a controlling presence in Giorgetto Giugiaro's Italdesign, VW has locked-in an in-house design resource that rivals the best in the world. Will excellence will be expected? Count on it.

(Ford)
Ford will add a new top-end model to the Flex lineup this fall - the Flex Titanium - and Ford calls it "a highly contented vehicle with individual style that will stand out in the world of more traditional crossovers and sport utility vehicles." Seeing as the Flex already does stand out in the sea of crossovers out there, let's see what they're talkin' here. The Flex Titanium is based off the Limited series - nearly 40 percent of all Flex sales are the Limited model - but is upgraded from there with significant exterior and interior detailing as well as new features. Titanium is offered in four exterior colors: Red Candy, White Platinum, Tuxedo Black and Ingot Silver, and each of these colors is set-off by a new Tuxedo Black two-tone roof. A blackout treatment is used for the headlamps and tail lamps and a unique black chrome finish grille with “Flex” badging on the leading edge of the hood are details taken directly from some of the Flex models shown at the 2008 and 2009 SEMA show in Las Vegas. But Ford didn't stop there, because the beltline moldings, fog lamp bezels and side-view mirror skull caps are blackened while the liftgate appliqué is now black chrome. To finish off the exterior look, polished 20-inch, 10-spoke aluminum wheels come with the new package. Inside, the super Flex comes with charcoal black leather-trimmed seats with gray Alcantara suede inserts, circle check appliqués on instrument panel and doors, painted alloy metallic finish on center stack and door panels, a perforated leather steering wheel and illuminated scuff plates. A number of feature add-ons come with the new package, including HD Radio® and one-touch PowerFold® and tumble third row options. This new top-of-the-line Flex is the first Ford nameplate to feature the Titanium series in North America. This nameplate strategy has been very successful in Europe, where most vehicle lines feature Titanium as the top-of-the-range model. The next-generation Ford Focus will also feature Titanium branding in all markets - including North America - when it arrives in dealer showrooms here in early 2011.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Our "quick take" this week covers the Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV . On paper this car should be a formidable machine. Equipped with every performance and technology option you could possibly cram into a four-door sedan - or as Nissan refers to it, "the 4-Door Sports car" - and perfectly competent and capable in the mind-numbing urban crawl, this big Nissan still left me cold. First of all, no "4-Door Sports Car" would saddle one of the great engines in the auto industry - Nissan's brilliant 3.5-liter, 290HP, DOHC V6 - with front-wheel-drive and the dreaded CVT transmission. As Chris Rock would say, that ain't right. As a matter of fact, the loaded Maxima's powertrain was just infuriating to drive, to the point that exploring any pretense of performance driving in the thing was a complete turn-off. Every time you wanted to hammer that potent V6 you were left holding the bag waiting for the hamsters in the gearbox room to get it together to hook the thing up. Yes, it was that bad. A CVT transmission and front-wheel-drive in a Nissan Cube? Perfectly acceptable. But a CVT and front-wheel-drive in what is supposed to be Nissan's top-of-the-line performance sedan (allegedly)? It's flat-out criminal. I so disliked driving this car that Nissan should be forced to walk the plank for perpetuating this hoary "4-Door Sports Car" myth on the enthusiast driving public, because the Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV is a complete fraud of a vehicle when expressed in those terms. I urge Nissan to do a total re-think when it comes to the idea of offering a "4-Door Sports Car", because they're clearly operating in an arena they have no business playing in. Or perhaps they should just leave the idea of a performance sedan to their Infiniti division and call it a day, because there are too many outstanding four-door performance sedans out there in the market today. And this clearly isn't one of them. - PMD

2010 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV GTI: $38,660 ($33,180 base price, Tuscan Sun, Charcoal leather interior, Monitor Package – 7" Color Monitor, 2GB Flash Music Box, Auxiliary Audio/Video Input Jack, USB connectivity, iPod Net in center console, Rearview Monitor - $700; 5-piece floor mat/trunk mat set, $180; Sport Package - Sport-tuned suspension, 19" Aluminum Light Hyper Silver Wheels, HID Xenon Headlights, premium leather and a bunch of other stuff too lengthy to mention - $2,000; Sport Technology Package including NAV, a 9.3GB Music Box Hard Drive which replaces the previously mentioned system, and much, much more, $1,850; Destination charge, $720)

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Publisher's Note: Check-out John McElroy's daily news show covering everything about the auto biz by clicking on the graphic below. Good stuff guaranteed. - PMD

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and friends this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.

 

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