All About Cars

High Country Classics Car Club will host its fourth annual car show Saturday, July 19, in the parking lot of Watauga High School in Boone.

This show has become one of the area’s biggest and best events of its kind, with approximately 100 entries each year. Plaques are given to the top 50, trophies awarded to Best of Show, Longest Distance Driven, People’s Choice and Club Participation.

Goodie bags will be given to the first 75 entries, and everyone in attendance will have a chance at numerous door prizes, a fifty-fifty drawing and lots of fun, fellowship and good music with fellow car enthusiasts from all over the southeast.

Registration fee is $20 per vehicle; admission is $3 per person. Vendor spaces are available for $25 and sponsorship spots are still available and greatly appreciated.

Proceeds from the event will go toward helping local charities, in addition to the Watauga High School’s automotive technology class.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. and closes at 12 noon, with judging beginning soon thereafter. The show will end at 3 p.m.

Hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, drinks and all the fixin’s will be available on-site. The rain date for the event is scheduled for July 26.

The High Country Classics Car Club is dedicated to the collection, restoration, preservation and promotion of classic cars and trucks, as evidenced by the time and effort its members dedicate to their hobby.

Currently under the leadership of president Roger Dalton, the club is approximately 85-members strong and has been a supporter of such charitable organizations as Hospice, Santa’s Toy Box, Project Graduation and the Children’s Miracle Network, just to name a few.

As a civic-minded group, the club supports other car shows and related community events, sponsors Friday night Cruise-Ins twice monthly at the AF Bank parking lot in Boone (weather permitting) and travels as a group to both in and out-of-town locations for cruises or car shows sponsored by neighboring car clubs.

Many of the club members are experts on various techniques of restoration and preservation and are always willing to help others with questions or problems they may have with their own vehicles.

As a spokesperson for the club shared, “At classic car events, so many times you hear the phrase, ‘They just don’t make them like that any longer.’ The classic cars, just like antique furniture, are a part of our heritage and will always bring back fond memories of a more youthful and carefree time.”

Ownership of an old car is not required to join the club or attend the cruise-ins, just an appreciation for the classics. Regular meetings of the club are held on the first Monday of every month at 7:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall of Poplar Grove Baptist Church. Membership dues are only $25 per year, pro-rated for new members, and help cover the cost of the informative monthly newsletter.

Those interested are encouraged to mark their calendars for Saturday, July 19 and cruise on in to the parking lot of Watauga High School, located off N.C. 105 in Boone, though organizers have requested there be no bicycles, skateboards or pets.

Talk to anyone who has shopped on a trip to China and you’ll hear stories about high-quality knockoffs at bargain-basement prices. It seems everything from high-end watches to designer clothes have their Chinese equivalent tagged at fire-sale prices. This trend doesn’t stop there and includes big-ticket items like cars and trucks. Manufacturers have long complained that the Chinese business community has little respect for intellectual property rights, and a tour around the Beijing show is proof that the 120 or so local manufacturers vying for market share aren’t relying on in-house designs to get in on the action.

While some of the knockoffs are dead ringers, others are close enough. Such is the case with the Lifan 320, which borrows heavily from the Mini. The big difference between the two is that the Chinese variant has four doors compared to the Mini’s two.

In the exact duplicate category, there’s the Great Wall Coolbear. Cool name, not original looks. This time Great Wall uses the last-generation Scion xB as its template and copies it right down to the size of the badge, but with different graphics. Even the instruments, which are in the center of the Scion’s dash, is faithfully re-created in the Coolbear.

Many of the clones are meant for domestic consumption only, so most manufacturers, if they are aware of the clone at all, take a hands-off approach. However, the Shuanghuan Noble, a lookalike for the smart car, made it to the Frankfurt show last fall, where Mercedes-Benz, smart’s parent, threatened legal action if the Noble were sold in Europe. Perhaps it was the car’s motto “Smarter than the rest” that got Mercedes’ attention.

Another Mercedes knockoff comes from a company whose initials, BYD, stand for Build Your Dream. Well, they’re building someone else’s dream of a car with the BYD F8, which is a ringer for the Mercedes-Benz CLK. The cars share the same quad-headlamp look with a horizontal slotted grille. One difference is that the F8 has a retractable hardtop as opposed to the CLK’s soft top.

While the Shuanghuan S CEO looks like a BMW X5, enough so, that BMW also threatened suit if the vehicle were sold outside China, you’ll find that beneath the skin, it’s nothing like the original. Instead of unit-body construction with an independent suspension, you get a trucklike frame with leaf springs. As with any fake, caveat emptor.

Ford is suing the U.S. government’s Internal Revenue Service for $445,292,207 in interest on tax overpayments for 1983 to 1989, 1992 and 1994. Half a billion dollars isn’t much to the IRS, but it could prove very useful to cash-strapped Ford.

“We believe the IRS failed to pay the correct amount of interest,” Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans told the Detroit News. “We tried to resolve it at the administrative level without success. Because of the size of the amount and the dispute, we had no choice but to file.”

Ford recently made a number of key moves to raise much needed capital. The recent sale of Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Land Rover brought ford billions of dollars, and rumors continue to suggest Volvo is next. Another $445 million would likely help Ford in its quest to return to profitability.

“The IRS’ calculation of […] overpayment interest is not a simple matter of taking the tax underpayment […] and computing interest on that amount,” the lawsuit contends.

“Rather, the IRS recomputes the taxpayer’s account for the specific tax year by sorting all of the transactions in order of the dates they are deemed to be effective and computing interest on the account balance as it is affected from transaction to transaction.”

Among the many car makers, only Honda posted a gain in the month of June.
At Dick Hide Honda, the local car salesmen are having trouble keeping up with demand. Recently, the smaller models have been the hot sellers, including the Honda Civic and the Honda Accord–two of the best selling cars nationwide.

   Analysts are saying the struggling economy, as well as high gas prices, are taking its toll on the auto market. Employees at Dick Ide say that the two main factors for the surge in Honda purchases at their store are the gas mileage the cars get and previous success with a Honda.

GM, Ford, Chrysler, and Toyota sales were all down in June.

For many years, one of Alfa Romeo’s biggest problems as far as the UK was concerned was the dismal experience customers had with dealerships. According to a recent survey, Alfa’s efforts to reverse that trend are paying off.

The Italian company has achieved the greatest improvement of all manufacturers in the Auto Express Driver Power survey, jumping eleven places from its 2007 ranking. 96% of Alfa Romeo owners among the 32,000 people questioned said they would buy another model from the same company once they’ve finished with the one they have now.

“We have made a bold commitment to dramatically improve the driving and dealer experience for our customers,” says Alfa Romeo UK’s Managing Director Christopher Nicoll. “Many elements of the plan are already in place and it’s clear that they are having a positive impact on our customers. We are working to continue this upward trend. It’s what our customers deserve.”

Alfa Romeo has brought the Cloverleaf name back to the UK for a special edition of the GT which goes on sale from July 1.

In the past, “Cloverleaf” has always been used to distinguish the highest-performance model in a range. This time it’s a bit different; the GT Cloverleaf is mechanically standard but comes with extra equipment including 18″ double-spoke alloy wheels, red brake calipers, satin-effect front grille and door mirrors and a choice of three exterior colours: Carbonio Black, Alfa Red and Atlantico Blue.

Inside, the Cloverleaf gets leather sports seats, aluminium pedals, red instrument dial backgrounds and a Bose audio system with an MP3 reader.

The GT Cloverleaf comes with a choice of 1.8- and two-litre JTS petrol engines and 150bhp and 170bhp versions of the 1.9 JTDM turbo diesel. The 170bhp JTDM has Alfa’s Q2 limited-slip differential and a Sport button which alters the response characteristics of the throttle. Prices start at £18,980 for the 1.8 JTS and go up by £1000 for each model in the order given.

“What’s it gonna take to put you in this car today?” The answer to this familiar saleman’s question, for hybrid car buyers anyway, is to wait until tomorrow.

Demand for the gas- and electrical-powered vehicles continues to outpace supply as rising gas prices reach new highs — $4.19 last week in the metro-east.

At Meyer Honda in O’Fallon, orders for the Honda Accord, Honda Fit and Honda Civic — both hybrid and nonhybrid models — are back-ordered for three to four months. Some models can get as much as 30 miles or more per gallon.

“Expect to wait,” said Meyer Honda sales representative Dave Pusa. “Demand is really unbelievably high.”

Newbold Toyota Scion, also in O’Fallon, is also waiting on orders. Manager Jim Leist has sold a number of Toyota hybrid models, especially the Toyota Prius.

“I get several hits daily on the Prius as well as those coming through the door asking questions and placing orders for a Prius,” Leist said. “We’re probably waiting on 30-plus orders now and take more everyday. There is very high demand for the cars right now.”

The Prius continues to lead online automobile sales tracker cars.com’s list of top new-car searches. Eight of the top 10 are Toyota and Honda models in addition to the Nissan Altima and Ford Mustang.

“Obviously, what we’ve expected is anytime gas prices spike in the summertime, there is a pick up on the search for more fuel-efficient vehicles,” said cars.com spokesman Steve Nolan. “This summer is even more so.”

“We cannot keep them on our lot,” Leist said. “They sell so quickly.”

Rusty Wagner doesn’t have many hybrids at his Wagner Buick-Pontiac-GMC in Belleville, but he said customers are still coming in to buy more fuel-efficient cars — such as the Buick Lucerne, Buick Lacrosse, Pontiac Vibe and Pontiac G6 — over traditional gas-suzzlers.

“There has definitely been an influx of new vehicle interest rather than in trucks or SUVs,” Wagner said. “We’re still selling trucks and SUVs, but not the volume we were before.”

Across Illinois 15, Oliver C. Jospeh Chrysler-Dodge has also been selling more Dodge Calibers, Dodge Avengers and Chrysler Sebrings — models that get more miles per gallon.

Jamie Auffenberg said compact and sub-compact cars are in greater demand at the numerous metro-east dealerships he owns. He said he has seen demand in a number of models — the Nissan Altima, Nissan Centra, Nissan Versa, Nissan Rogue, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Cinada, Kia Spectra, Kia Rio, Kia Sportage, Mitsubishi Lancer, Jeep Patriot and Ford Escape.

“It seems that everyone is buying (for) fuel mileage,” Auffenburg said, “there’s no question.”

A recent survey by cars.com affirms that more consumers are pursuing more fuel-efficient vehicles as $4-a-gallon gas prices seem to be here to stay. The poll revealed that 85 percent of consumers said fuel prices are prompting them to look for cars that don’t require as many trips to the pump. Of those, 28 percent said they would buy a more fuel-efficient car immediately, and 57 percent said they would buy one they next time they purchase a car.

“It’s obvious hybrids and anything that is more fuel-efficient have gained popularity on the site,” Nolan said. “Honda Civic, Honda Fit, as well as other vehicles popular for years are also very fuel-efficient, like the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic non-hybrid.”

But there is a new competitor this summer that is also ringing up sales. Over the past six months, a new super-compact car import has ramped up sales across the United States with its 41-miles-per gallon in-city and 47-miles-per-gallon highway performance.

Known as Smart Cars, these two-seaters are made in France by Mercedes and have an engine manufactured by Mitsubishi that sell for between $12,000 and $18,000. These vehicles are about half the length of a typical four-door sedan, use about half the gas and have been available across Europe for the past 15 years.

But there are only a limited number of Smart Car dealerships in the United States. The only one around here is across the river in Creve Coeur, Mo., at Plaza Motor Co., located at 11830 Olive St. Road. Plaza Motor Co. spokesperson Marissa Zouglas said the dealership is the only one between Chicago and Kansas City and has been placing hundreds of orders from consumers throughout Iowa and Illinois.

“They are great cars,” Zouglas said. “They are the wave of the future.”

Launched in 1991, the Opel Astra replaced the legendary Kadett (the first one was made in 1936) and is one of Opel’s most sucessful model which is currently being built in ten locations worldwide, in countries like Germany, Belgium, UK, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil and Serbia. 17 years later, the 10 millionth Opel Astra was built yesterday at the Opel plant in Bochum, Germany. The milestone car is a Silver Lightning Astra Station Wagon 1.7 CDTI.

The first generation Opel Astra was built until 1998 with 4.13 million units sold, which makes it one of the most successful cars evers. The second generation, built between 1998 and 2004 was sold in 3.8 million units, while the current generation, introduced in 2004 was sold in 1.9 million units, with over 500,000 sold only last year.

In China the Chinese MGTF is to make its worldwide debut in just over a week - 6,000 miles away from Longbridge. Longbridge owners Nanjing today opened their doors to the British press to reveal that the two-seater MGTF would finally roll off the Nanjing production lines from May 20 onwards.

The Chinese launch of the sports car paves the way for the long-delayed introduction of the two-seater in the UK in early August.

Saic-Nanjing’s confirmation of the production launch came in response to the No More Chinese Whispers campaign by the Birmingham Mail, calling on the Chinese to come clean over their intentions for Longbridge.

And today Saic-Nanjing’s confidence in the MG brand was under-lined as plans were revealed for 1,000 new jobs at the Chinese plants.

The success of the Chinese factory is critical to the relaunch of Longbridge, where production lines have remained at a standstill for more than three years since MG Rover closed in April 2005 with the loss of 6,500 jobs.

The Nanjing plant is already supplying engines and other body parts to the UK for eventual assembly at Longbridge. Yang Junhu, vice general manger of Nanjing MG, told the Mail today: “The MGTF will be produced here from May 20 onwards.

“It is a very exciting time for us - we started work on this in 2005 and we think the car will be popular.”

The 800,000 square feet complex on the outskirts of Nanjing was launched in March last year and up to now has produced only one model, the MG 7.

Now the launch of the MGTF - with the promise of more models to follow - is playing a key role in kick-starting the Longbridge project after more than three years.

Nanjing executives said several hundred advance orders were already in the pipeline for the MGTF.

Emma Tian, manager in Nanjing’s international operations department, said: “At this stage we have only got one shift but in the future we will have three.

“That will give us a 50 to 60 per cent increase in jobs, creating around 1,000 new positions at the plant.

“People love MG. It is not only a money issue, it is a love and passion for the brand.”

The Nanjing plant, around 15 miles from the city centre on a sprawling industrial complex, currently employs around 2,000 people.

The factory will eventually produce a range of four MGs, with replacement models due over the next two years.

Nanjing said the MGTF will sell for between £19,000 and £23,000 in the Far East, with 81 dealers already appointed across the giant state.

UK prices have not yet been announced. Cheap Used Cars for Sale at Ecarjunction.com

There’s little doubt that Toyota will displace General Motors as the world’s biggest automaker when 2008 sales are finally tallied. GM edged out its Japanese rival in 2007, but the American giant continues to struggle with a drawn-out turnaround plan and billions in losses. Toyota, by contrast, has been growing virtually everywhere it does business, with record profits in 2007. Ascending to No. 1 worldwide seems inevitable.

Now, here’s a startling new possibility: Toyota could overtake GM in its home market, the first time ever that a foreign company would be the No. 1 seller of cars in the United States. Only a few months ago, that seemed implausible. Toyota’s market share had grown consistently, to about 16 percent of the U.S. market at the end of 2007. But GM still had a commanding lead, with 23 percent of the market. And share swings of more than a point or two in a given year are rare.

But car sales this year have flipped more dramatically than anybody anticipated, and suddenly Toyota is within striking distance of GM. In May, Toyota’s market share surged to 18.4 percent, according to J.D. Power & Associates, as buyers flocked to small, efficient cars like the Corolla, Yaris, and Scion xB. Sales of GM pickups and SUVs plummeted, leaving GM with 19.3 percent of the market—less than a single point above Toyota. And GM recently announced it willclose four plants and curtail production of light trucks by about 40 percent. Those developments could reorder the U.S. auto industry. Some possible scenarios:

Toyota bounces GM. Toyota’s sales have actually declined by 3.5 percent so far in 2007—but that’s a strong performance compared with GM’s 16 percent decline, which is why Toyota’s market share is rising sharply. In May alone, the sales gap was much bigger: GM’s sales plunged by 28 percent, compared with a mere 4.3 percent drop for Toyota. Like GM, Toyota is suffering from a severe drop in sales of big vehicles like the Tundra pickup and the 4Runner SUV. But GM is far more dependent on big vehicles, and Toyota has a much stronger lineup of small cars and crossovers.

If the pronounced shift in buying patterns continues, Toyota’s market share could eclipse GM’s on a monthly basis through the summer or fall. But GM will probably retain more market share for ‘08 overall, given that it started the year much stronger than it is now. As for 2009—that could be a close race.

U.S. Market Share by Manufacturer

	May 2007	May 2008
GM	23.8%	19.3%
Toyota	17.2	18.4
Ford	16.5	15.4
Chrysler	12.8	10.7
Honda	9.3	12.0
Nissan	6.0	7.2
Hyundai	4.6	5.6
BMW (includes Mini)	2.0	2.3
Volkswagen (includes Audi)	2.0	2.2
Mercedes (includes Smart)	1.4	1.8

GM rebounds. May was a wild month for car sales, with several developments that stunned analysts. Sales of big pickup trucks, for instance, fell below 10 percent of the total for the first time in decades. Compact cars, which usually represent about 15 percent of the market, rose to more than 20 percent. And sales of large vehicles fell by a staggering 36 percent. “We rarely see swings like that,” says Tom Libby of J.D. Power. “The question is whether May was the beginning of a trend or an aberration.”Libby tends to think it was an aberration, since research suggests gas prices would have to stay near $4 per gallon for a year before such abrupt changes in buying habits become permanent. So far, they’ve been near that level only for a couple of months. If Libby’s right, car sales over the summer won’t be weighted so heavily against larger vehicles, which would pad GM’s market share. But others see it differently—most notably, GM CEO Rick Wagoner, who said in May that rising gas prices and changes in the U.S. car market are “more structural than cyclical.”

Honda surges. Honda may be in an even better position that Toyota, because it has no full-size trucks or SUVs to weigh down sales. And its numbers prove it. Total industry sales are down about 8 percent so far this year. Honda’s are up 5 percent. And for the first time ever, the thrifty Civic was the top-selling overall vehicle in May. Honda’s market share has risen from 9.3 percent a year ago to 12 percent, surpassing Chrysler. It could even pass No. 3 Ford on a monthly basis by the end of the year.

Ford and Chrysler recede. This seems likely under any scenario, at least through the end of ‘08. Ford, heavily reliant on the F-150 pickup and SUVs like the Explorer, has the same big-truck problem as GM. Many analysts think Ford plans to ax its Mercury brand, which could cost a full percentage point of market share. Newer vehicles like the Edge, Fusion, and Focus will help, but Ford needs more of them, and it will take awhile. Chrysler—once one of the “Big Three”—is now the fifth-largest U.S. carmaker and drifting further. A $2.99 gas-price guarantee promotion was supposed to goose sales—but instead, they fell 25 percent in May. If discounted gas doesn’t help sell cars, it’s hard to know what will.