Ford is Hoping to Sell 100,000 of the 2009 Flex Crossovers a Year...Can They do It?

Ford's new Flex crossover is about to hit showrooms in a few months and Ford is hoping that crossover buyers flock to it...well at least 100,000 of them a year.

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Brabus Bullit Black Arrow pricing announced

Brabus has announced the pricing for its BULLIT BLACK ARROW based on the new 2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. The BULLIT BLACK ARROW has entered a small-series production with prices starting at 348,000...

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GMAC rushes to conclude bond buyback and avoid bankruptcy

Filed under: Government/Legal, GM, Earnings/Financials

GM doesn't just have its eye on auto bailout funds -- its GMAC division (of which it owns 49%) is looking for cash from among the $700 billion pledged in the Wall Street bailout. Through the end of next year, GMAC has roughly $12 billion in bonds maturing. But to have any chance at getting Wall Street funds to address those maturing bonds, GMAC wants to become a bank holding company. And to do that, it must raise $30 billion, with $2 billion of that tapped from new sources.

GMAC is looking for 75% of its bondholders to participate in a bond buyback, whereby a bondholder would return bonds worth $1,000 and get about $800 worth of bonds with a higher dividend in return. If it gets participation from 75% of it's bondholders, that will give it $28.5 billion, which it can add to $750 million GMAC says has been pledged by shareholders as part of the $2 billion requirement. That's not quite $30 billion, but closer is better than nothing.

The problem is that, for the moment, GMAC has only 25% participation. GMAC said it had a fresh round of bondholders willing to swap, but didn't make it clear whether that would get it to 75%. If it doesn't get the financing to become a bank holding company, GMAC would likely need to declare bankruptcy. And if that happens? Well, GMAC provides inventory financing for 80% of GM vehicles worldwide. Without that source of financing, said Martin NeSmith,"There's so many dealers on the edge, if GMAC goes out of business 30 to 40 percent of dealers won't be able to get financing from anywhere else." And that spells even more trouble -- and bankruptcies -- for everyone.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

GMAC rushes to conclude bond buyback and avoid bankruptcy originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aston Martin back up for sale?

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Aston Martin, Earnings/Financials, Rumormill

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

It's been a busy few years for Aston Martin. Back in May of 2007, the British sportscar company was sold by Ford to a consortium of investors, including Kuwaiti firm Investment Dar and its partner Adeem Investment Company. Ever since, the grapevine has swirled regarding the future of Mr. Bond's favorite automaker, with the rumormill hitting a fever-pitch as of late with whispers that up to 20% of Dar's stake is available for bidding.

Aston Martin's future product chips all seem to be on the table already, with thr new four-door Panamera-fighting Rapide, Lagonda uber-luxury sedan and One-77 supercar all waiting in the wings. Of course, all of that development work is expensive, and times are already tough. If an agreement is struck, Dar would be looking to either profit from selling a portion of Aston or for an instant infusion to its current stable of technology. We wonder if Mercedes-Benz, which has both cash and engineering expertise, may be involved in any potential deal.

Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Aston Martin back up for sale? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2008 Chevy Cobalt SS Coupe With 260 Horsepower Starts at $22,995

GM has announced the pricing for the Cobalt SS coupe.

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Commenter Of The Day: Two For The Price Of One Edition [Commenter Of The Day]

We're not sure why "two for the price of one" is such a popular way to get people to buy things. If we didn't want one of something why would we suddenly want more than one of them? Though this is usually used on television to sell citrus-based cleaning products, it has spread to the auto market. You've probably heard about the dealership in Illinois selling a Chrysler Pacifica at MSRP ($39,000) and throwing in a lightly used 2008 PT Cruiser for $1. It looks like it worked because three people took them up on the offer. It's not a great deal when you consider that no one, ever, has paid full price for a Chrysler Pacifica. Today, Didorosi wrote about a real instance of a fake-sounding event from The Fast And The Furious, which is like two-for-one if you think about it. You get both Fast and Furious. And with Dearthair and TheEastBayKid, we get two COTDs for the price of one.

First, from Dearthair:

Oh I love Fast and the Furious! It's like a giant game of MadLibs!

"You almost had me? You never had me - you never had your car... [slang term for negative driving action], not [slang term for positive driving action] like you should. You're lucky that [automotive performance item/action/part] didn't blow the [automotive engine part] on the [larger automotive part]! You almost had me?"

"You tell him [long-form tough-guy character-name]. Get out of here!"

"Now, me and [tough-sounding sidekick nickname] got to [automotive repair action] the [automotive part]... and replace the [smaller automotive part] you [impossible action done to smaller automotive part that majority of audience won't notice]. Ask any racer. Any real racer. It don't matter if you [cliché] [cliché] or [cliché]. [Cliché] is [cliché]."

Followed by TheEastBayKid

"You almost had me? You never had me - you never had your car... [building subpar machines in the 70s, 80s, and 90s], not [planning for long-term success] like you should. You're lucky that [mismanagement] didn't blow the [pensions] on the [entire UAW]! You almost had me?"

"You tell him [Bob Lutz]. Get out of here!"

"Now, me and [Rick Wagoner] got to [beg the US Congress]... and replace the [profits] you [steadily whittled away by building undesirable cars until the momentum was too much to overcome even with much-improved products like the Malibu]. Ask any racer. Any real racer. It don't matter if you [blame the Prius] [blame the housing crunch] or [blame the economy as a whole]. [A poorly-run car company] is [a poorly-run car company]."

We can't top that.

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Foreign autos vandalized to promote buying American

Filed under: Government/Legal, Chrysler, LLC., Ford, GM

Tensions are high in the Motor City, with good reason. At this point, the only chance General Motors and Chrysler have of avoiding bankruptcy is for President Bush to tap the remaining $15 billion from the first half of the $700 billion TARP fund. Unfortunately, the stress of the situation has gotten the better of some folks in SE Michigan. Four vehicles with foreign nameplates were vandalized recently at a Woodhaven, Michigan strip mall, just a stone's throw away from a Ford stamping plant. Each of the vehicles had two slashed tires and the phrase "Buy American" written on them. Surveillance video caught one middle-aged gentleman as he got out of a red Ford Escape to slash one of the car's tires and write something on it. Police say, however, they have no evidence that links Ford employees from the stamping plant to these acts of vandalism. We hope that remains the case, as headlines of organized labor attacking innocent Hondas and Toyotas is the last thing the Detroit 3 needs as it awaits the cash-filled hands of our lame duck president. Thanks for the tip, Joe!

[Source: Click on Detroit]

Foreign autos vandalized to promote buying American originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Real Reason You Don’t Drive In New York

This is the real reason I wouldn’t own a car in New York, especially in the Winter Time. Luckily Spring is finally upon us and we can forget the miseries of winter. I think.

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2008 Beijing Auto Show: Tiger GT Concept Gives Geely More Grrrrr!

Chinese auto maker Geely has unveiled its sporty coupe concept the Tiger GT at the 2008 Beijing Auto Show going on in China as we speak, and the crowds around it have been rather constant. Geely is more known for producing the small, economy rides that the general Chinese population is buying. With the Tiger GT Geely is stepping up their aim as a builder of automobiles.

There are some things that appear familiar about the Geely Tiger GT. The vented from grill resembles the shield design on the Suzuki Kizashi, but has been commented by others to resemble a Chinese mask. By the general mold of the car it would appear that the Tiger GT is looking to challenge the likes of Maserati and Aston Martin. While such a challenge may be years (or generations) away it is nice to have such aggressive ambitions to provoke a response out of the rest of the auto industry.
…Explore the Large Gallery of Photos after the Leap… (more…)

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Audi RS8: More spy shots!

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Hyundai Tucson ix

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Hyundai Tucson ix

Hyundai Tucson ix

Hyundai Tucson ix

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Fireball’s Goin’ to Vegas, Baby!

So, the guys at the 2010 DIECAST SUPER CONVENTION want me to invade and spread car goodness… and cause a wee bit of nasty trouble. Well, twist my leg, yo. And… I’m off to Vegas in February! If you want to come to Sin City and get in on the insane car cool culture too, then do it. Hotel info and all that stuff is in the links. Let’s do coffee.

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