Oprah Winfrey, the popular talk show host/book club guru/magazine publisher/philanthropist/bazillionaire has been tapped to champion America’s struggling domestic auto industry.

Why She’s Perfect For The Job? She’s has prior experience promoting the domestic auto industry. In 2004, she gave away a fleet of new Pontiac G6s to all 276 members of her studio audience.

If you haven’t seen that episode, Winfrey opened the show by calling 11 people onto the stage. She gave each of them a car – a Pontiac G6.  “Everybody gets a car! Everybody gets a car! Everybody gets a car!” Winfrey yelled as she jumped up and down on the stage. The audience screamed, cried and hugged each other — then followed Winfrey out to the parking lot of her Harpo Studios to see their Pontiacs, all decorated with giant red bows.
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Jesse McCartney will be buying his mommy, Ginger, a $67,000 Lexus SC convertible for Christmas. Aww! That’s nice.

“She hasn’t asked for it but I know she loves it. My mom is the reason I am where I am right now, so I think I have to take care of her first. Every time we drive down the street, she’s like, ‘I love that car.’”

I hope he gets a good deal! Since he mentioned Lexus to magazines, maybe they can do a 50% off for him. Never know!

What The McCains Roll In

John and Cindy McCain’s Cars:

Cadillac CTS made by General Motors (US)
Volkswagen convertible (Germany)
Honda sedan (Japan)
Half-ton Ford pickup truck (US)
Willys Jeep (US)
Jeep Wrangler (US)
Lincoln (US)
GMC SUV (US)
Three NEV Gem electric vehicles – bubble-shaped cars popular in retirement communities (US)
Lexus – registered to Cindy McCain’s family’s beer business with MS BUD number plate (Japan)
Toyota Prius bought for daughter Meghan (Japan)

Barack and Michelle Obama’s Car: Ford Escape Hybrid

Jay Leno advises Detroit on how to get Americans to buy American

“The type of vehicles America makes best are, unfortunately, not the type of vehicles that people really want anymore. Nobody builds better trucks than the Americans do. Not even the Japanese build as good a truck as the Ford F-150 or the Chevy Silverado.

Where we seem to lose it is in the low-bucks econocar. I used to be able to identify any American car from 25 yards. Now they all have this jellybean look. It’s a mystery to me, because the one thing we used to do better than anybody else was build cheap, extremely high-quality cars. We did it for decades, all the way back to the beginning of the industry.
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The Shell ‘Autotude’ Survey conducted a vehicle personality survey. Here’s what their Autotude survey concluded.

67% said vehicle had unique personality

56% said they had developed strong emotional bond w/vehicle

60% say vehicle is female; 40% said vehicle is male

88% said comfortable filling up vehicle; 28% hated changing tires

66% of women say vehicle matches their personality; 56% of men say same

21% say they pat dashboard like vehicle is pet

Only 15% named their vehicle, many after someone they know

Southerners had most pride in vehicle
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Ford Wants to Pay Executive in 2008

The Board Of Directors for Ford Motor Company have decided that they want to compensate Bill Ford for his work. In 2005, Bill Ford announced that he will forgo his salary until Ford is able to have a profitably year in the global sector. But at the end of 2007, the board deemed it unreasonable for Bill to be working without getting paid. As of now Bill has not yet accepted the cash. He still wants to stick to his statement and decision. Ford estimates that Bill has forgone 25 to 33 million dollars in the three years.
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Newest Abu Dhabi Creation

In Abu Dhabi, a G55 AMG owner trying to outdo his neighbor’s Porsche Cayenne Turbo, decided to swap in the 5.5L 720 hp supercharged V8 engine found on the SLR McLaren. The result is a SUV capable of doing 0-60 in 4.2 seconds.

A Word from ImportsGuy: While this is a crazy accomplishment, I think its pretty pointless to do. In the end its still an SUV so by putting this extra horsepower into it, its just begging for you to lose control of it, or for the owner to sit at a light burning rubber for hours.

New 1 Series Performance Packages

BMW has announced it will offer a range of performance accessories for the 1 series. This announcement came in response to requests from BMW owners seeking more options from dealers. Visual upgrades will include a more aggressive looking front lip, a new grille, carbon fiber door mirror housings, and a rear spoiler for the coupe. Suspension upgrades are in the form of a carbon fiber strut bar, stiffer retuned springs, and a choice of 18 or 19 inch wheels. BMW will also offer six-piston caliper brakes and minor engine modifications. The parts available for the engine will help the car breathe and sound better but will not add much to the overall performance of the car. BMW will unveil these products at the Geneva Auto Show.

Volunteers… Anyone?

After just one race event into the 2008 Rally America series, co-driver Christian Edstrom has announced that he will be retiring. Edstrom cited spending more time with his family and his need to put more focus on his day job as the reasons for retiring. With Pastrana and Edstorm winning the Rally America National Cup for the past two seasons, Subaru had to make sure they filled the driver slot with a talented individual.
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IRL And Champ Merge

Champ Car and the Indy Racing League(IRL) have agreed to form one open-wheel-racing series. The merge will occur sometime this year. The press conference which has yet to happen will disclose the full details of the new league. As of right now it seems both sides are happy to be creating this. I think that by having one open wheel racing in America, it will boost the fan count and help raise profits. IRL Team owner Bobby Rahal said, “This is the first step toward restoring open-wheel racing and the Indianapolis 500 to not only where it once was, but beyond”.

Martin Eberhard allegedly not happy with the series of demotions.

Tesla Motors founder Martin Eberhard, or at least a person who claims to be him on an online message board, says he’s not happy about being pushed out of the management team. Eberhard this summer stepped down from the CEO spot amid production delays and was replaced with interim CEO Michael Marks. In November, Tesla appointed a permanent CEO, Ze’ev Drori. What was less noticed was that Eberhard at that time also stepped down from the board.

On the Tesla Motors Club Web site, Eberhard, or a person claiming to be Eberhard, wrote this:
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Either Todd Foxx wasn’t charging enough or he spent all the money on crack and women.

Owner Todd Fox of Fox Collision closed  his shop all of a sudden, leaving customer’s cars stranded in the middle of repairs, and employees with bounced checks. He was last seen smiling in a magazine spread, touting the success of his 30-million dollar auto body empire. But, the smile and the man disappeareed when it all came crashing down. The health insurance of Steve Edkin, who was diagnosed with cancer a week before the shutdown, was gone. Then, paychecks one and two weeks old bounced. 
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… and so does the rest of the country. If it’s done anything, it’s made me never, ever want to buy a Chevy.

Who hates those Chevy commercials because of their song “Our Country,” by John Mellencamp? According to Newsweek, everybody hates it. Mellencamp’s melancholy anthem have become so ubiquitous that they’re driving sports fans to distraction. Chevy thinks the campaign has been a success, and are actually making more “Our Country” commercials, despite heavy criticism from people who are sick of the song.
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Question:  Ok, here’s another I’m looking at:

Hyundai Veracruz.
2007 Veracruz SE AWD

I don’t think I can get any other rebates as I currently have a Santa Fe I will probably want to trade in. I’m constantly getting letters from them to trade it in (wonder if that means they’d give me a great price for it.  )

I seen other sites which state you can get $3k under invoice (that includes a rebate) but anything tips or realistic prices (in Colorado)?
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“Why do you guys give this kind of Buick to the Chinese while giving us crappy Buicks at home?”

To understand the 2008 Buick Enclave, you’ve got to understand the luxury segment of the Chinese automobile market in which Buick (as in B-U-I-C-K) is a top seller. Buick has been in China since 1912. There, it is a revered automotive badge, especially among the country’s upper-income groups who demand top quality and who hold prestige and honor they call it “face”.
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Compromising Healthcare

As the ink dries on the new four-year contract between General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers, retirees, workers, Ford, and Chrysler are all anxious to see the details of what could be a watershed pact for the industry. Union and company bargainers struck the tentative deal just after 3 a.m. Wednesday after bargaining for about 18 hours, but they gave few details.
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Does It Make Sense?

For this former British colony, an Indian takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover would be a boost to local pride and a sign of India’s economic rise. Many investors and automotive industry analysts question whether a bid by India’s Tata Motors (maker of workhorse trucks and low-end mass market cars) for the two luxury brands would make much business sense.
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In South Korea, the rule of law was no match for the strength of Hyundai Motor Co.

Convicted of embezzling $110 million, Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong-koo was deemed too important to South Korea’s economy to be sent to prison. The three-judge panel suspended his three-year prison sentence, a decision denounced by corporate reform activists. In reversing Chung’s sentence, presiding Judge Lee Jae-hong told a packed courtroom in Seoul, “I was unwilling to engage in a gamble that would put the nation’s economy at risk.” South Korean courts have a history of being soft on white-collar crime, especially toward powerful, family-owned conglomerates called chaebols that dominate the nation’s economy and wield political influence. Lee told Chung to work hard and fulfill his social responsibilities, including making charitable donations (into the judge’s bank account). A solemn Chung bowed and said, “Yes, I will.”