BACK SEAT DRIVING - DECEMBER 2006

ROY NAKANO BACK SEAT DRIVING AUTOMOBILES OF THE YEAR December 30, 2006 The big seasons for car magazines are in the fall, when the new cars arrive, and in spring and summer, when the new car previews are revealed. That leaves the lowly winter, when car magazine sales traditionally lag. Car magazines have used the idea of awards to add some heat for the cold winter spell. Today, we have the Car of the Year, the Truck of the Year, the SUV of the Year, the Critics' Choice, the Readers' Choice, the 10 Best Cars, and the 10 Best Engines awards flocking the winter season. This week, Automobile Magazine announced that the 2007 Automobile of the Year is the Volkswagen GTI. "Our editorial team was unanimous in its decision that the Volkswagen GTI deserved this honor," said Gavin Conway, editor-in-chief of Automobile Magazine. "The latest GTI marks a return to form by Volkswagen, with a car that gives enthusiasts a great driving experience without sacrificing practicality, affordability and fuel efficiency. This is the performance car for a new generation of enthusiasts." It's a good choice. To my way of thinking, it's among the best apparel to don while navigating the perils of Los Angeles traffic (see LA Car review). It's a better choice than Motor Trend's selection of the Camry as its Car of the Year. Having just participated in a Motor Press Guild six-car family sedan comparison test involving the new Camry (the sporty SE model), the new Chrysler Sebring. the new Aura, the (new for 2007) Ford Fusion AWD, the new Nissan Altima and the (comparatively) old Honda Accord, I can say that none of my fellow participant journalists chose the Camry as the top pick. My top pick among the family haulers was the new Altima. Equipped with its V6 and new CVT manu-matic transmission, the new Altima proved to be a solid, sporty drive, with an interior substantially improved from the previous generation. To my surprise (and those of the other journalists), second place went to the old Honda Accord V6 SE. The design is getting long in the tooth, but it did everything right. Granted, Motor Trend probably considered the Camry's track record as a dependable family workhorse into its decision. The bottom line: Rarely will a magazine choose a dog for its award, but don't take these awards too seriously.

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ROY NAKANO: BSD HALF DOORS, HALF ARSE December 26, 2006 Mazda RX8, Saturn Ion Coupe, Toyota FJ Cruiser. All of these vehicles have one thing in common: small rear doors that can't be opened without first opening the front doors. Whoever designed these obviously never used them. Not only can you not open them without first opening the front doors, you also can't close the front doors without first closing the rear doors. They are no substitute for real four doors. They're even more annoying than cars that just have two doors. My hope is that they die off quickly.

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ROY NAKANO: BSD MILLIONAIRES BUY TOYOTAS December 22, 2006 Millionaires spend their money smarter than other people and don't buy into luxury brands "The Millionaire Next Door," a best-seller book that showed millionaires spend their money smarter than other people, recently marked its 10th anniversary. The book by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, subtitled "The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy," was published in 1996. Gregory Karp, a personal finance writer for The Tribune Company says the striking and profound findings revealed in that book as true today as they were then - especially when it comes to spending money. And rather than spending it on a BMW 7-Series, they are more likely to be found spending it on a Prius or other inexpensive Toyota. "The book showed that people with average, steady jobs can become millionaires over their lifetimes - that most millionaires are made, not born. Indeed, 80 percent of millionaires are first-generation rich, the authors found. They are modest. In fact, they might live next door." During a conversation with Karp, Stanley talked about common spending traits of millionaires a decade ago and in his current research, which will be explained in his next book, which has the working title "Looking Rich in America." Stanley's most recent research for his coming book is evidently about brands that wealthy people use. "There are a lot of millionaires buying stuff at Wal-Mart. They don't have a problem with buying, maybe, socks or underwear there or at a Costco or Sam's Club. Men's Warehouse is selling them a lot of suits, I can tell you that," he told Karp. Evidently, the wealthy don't drive away wealth. The No. 1 make of car owned by millionaires in 1996 was Ford. Today, it's Toyota, according to Stanley's new study. "Luxury brands do not top the list, and many millionaires, 37 percent in 1996, bought used cars," reports Karp. "There's certainly something about buying used cars," Stanley said. "Today, they're a little more likely to buy new cars. But what they'll do is buy a $22,000 Toyota and keep it a long time." "What's interesting about spending is that everybody thinks all the millionaires in America have BMWs. Even among the highest income levels, about 60 or 70 percent have never owned a BMW," he said. "I think BMW is a great car. I'm a car guy. But I won't buy one because there is a relationship between wealth and how much people spend for cars. There's no doubt about it. It's a significant relationship." Stanley told Karp that the biggest thrill he ever had came a decade ago when "The Millionaire Next Door" approached No. 1 on the New York Times' best-seller list. To celebrate, he went out and bought a Toyota 4Runner. The vehicle is still in his garage. "It has 140,000 miles on it," he said. "I'll never own a BMW or Mercedes or Rolex because ... I know how many people who are not wealthy at all but have the glitz. It says nothing about your inspiration, your wealth or anything else."

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ROY NAKANO: BSD MILEAGE FROM MEGAWATTS December 19, 2006 Study finds enough electric capacity to "fill up" plug-in vehicles across much of the nation If all the cars and light trucks in the nation switched from oil to electrons, idle capacity in the existing electric power system could generate most of the electricity consumed by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. A new study for the Department of Energy finds that "off-peak" electricity production and transmission capacity could fuel 84 percent of the country's 220 million vehicles if they were plug-in hybrid electrics. Researchers at DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory also evaluated the impact of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, on foreign oil imports, the environment, electric utilities and the consumer. "This is the first review of what the impacts would be of very high market penetrations of PHEVs, said Eric Lightner, of DOE's Office of Electric Delivery and Energy Reliability. "It's important to have this baseline knowledge as consumers are looking for more efficient vehicles, automakers are evaluating the market for PHEVs and battery manufacturers are working to improve battery life and performance." Current batteries for these cars can easily store the energy for driving the national average commute - about 33 miles round trip a day, so the study presumes that drivers would charge up overnight when demand for electricity is much lower. Researchers found, in the Midwest and East, there is sufficient off-peak generation, transmission and distribution capacity to provide for all of today's vehicles if they ran on batteries. However, in the West, and specifically the Pacific Northwest, there is limited extra electricity because of the large amount of hydroelectric generation that is already heavily utilized. Since more rain and snow can't be ordered, it's difficult to increase electricity production from the hydroelectric plants. "We were very conservative in looking at the idle capacity of power generation assets," said PNNL scientist Michael Kintner-Meyer. "The estimates didn't include hydro, renewables or nuclear plants. It also didn't include plants designed to meet peak demand because they don't operate continuously. We still found that across the country 84 percent of the additional electricity demand created by PHEVs could be met by idle generation capacity." "Since gasoline consumption accounts for 73 percent of imported oil, it is intriguing to think of the trade and national security benefits if our vehicles switched from oil to electrons," added PNNL energy researcher Rob Pratt. "Plus, since the utilities would be selling more electricity without having to build more plants or power lines, electricity prices could go down for everyone." Lightner noted that "the study suggests the idle capacity of the electric power grid is an underutilized national asset that could be tapped to vastly reduce our dependence on foreign oil." The study also looked at the impact on the environment of an all-out move to PHEVs. The added electricity would come from a combination of coal-fired and natural gas-fired plants. Even with today's power plants emitting greenhouse gases, the overall levels would be reduced because the entire process of moving a car one mile is more efficient using electricity than producing gasoline and burning it in a car's engine. Total sulfur dioxide emissions would increase in the near term due to sulfur content in coal. However, urban air quality would actually improve since the pollutants are emitted from power plants that are generally located outside cities. In the long run, according to the report, the steady demand for electricity is likely to result in investments in much cleaner power plants, even if coal remains the dominant fuel for our electricity production. "With cars charging overnight, the utilities would get a new market for their product. PHEVs would increase residential consumption of electricity by about 30 - 40 percent. The increased generation could lead to replacing aging coal-fired plants sooner with newer, more environmentally friendly versions," said Kintner-Meyer. "The potential for lowering greenhouse gases further is quite substantial because it is far less expensive to capture emissions at the smokestack than the tailpipe. Vehicles are one of the most intractable problems facing policymakers seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Pratt. Finally, the study looked at the economic impact on consumers. Since, PHEVs are expected to cost about $6,000 to $10,000 more than existing vehicles - mostly due to the cost of batteries ## researchers evaluated how long it might take owners to break even on fuel costs. Depending on the price of gas and the cost of electricity, estimates range from five to eight years - about the current lifespan of a battery. Pratt notes that utilities could offer a lower price per kilowatt hour on off-peak power, making PHEVs even more attractive to consumers. Adding "smart grid" communications technology to ensure the vehicles only charge during off-peak periods and to provide immediate, remote disconnect of chargers in event of problems in the power grid would make them attractive to utilities. PNNL is a DOE Office of Science laboratory that solves complex problems in energy, national security, the environment and life sciences by advancing the understanding of physics, chemistry, biology and computation. PNNL employs 4,300 staff, has a $750 million annual budget, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965. For more information, go to PNNL.

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ROY NAKANO: BSD MAZDA TO SCRAP 4,700 CARS MAROONED ON SHIP December 16, 2006 Japan's Mazda Motor Corp. will scrap some 4,700 cars that were left for roughly a month on a cargo ship that nearly capsized on its way to the United States in July, reports Agence Française d'Information (AFP). The ship loaded with Mazda cars sat listing at an angle of more than 60 degrees for nearly a month after an incident in the North Pacific in late July, Kyodo News and the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported, citing Mazda officials. According to AFP, even though most of the cars had no visible damage, the automaker decided to throw them out as they were unable to ensure they were market-quality after such a long time at sea, as reported by one Mazda official quoted by the Mainichi said. The total cost of scrapping the vehicles was not immediately clear, the Mainichi said.

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ROY NAKANO: BSD MISSING WRANGLER PROMPTS NEW VOTE FOR TRUCK AWARD December 15, 2006 The Chevrolet Silverado, Ford Edge and Mazda CX-7 are finalists for the 2007 North American Truck of the Year award, but it looks like room will have to be made for a fourth candidate. The 49 automotive journalist jurors on this annual North American International Auto Show affair are re-voting on the candidates for the truck award because one candidate - the redesigned Jeep Wrangler - was left off the ballot, reports Dale Jewett of The Detroit News. The original voting for the award closed on December 6th. The truck re-voting closes Tuesday, Dec. 19.

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ROY NAKANO: BSD EPA MAKES FUEL ECONOMY ESTIMATES STICK December 11, 2006 To provide American consumers with improved information when shopping for cars and trucks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing new methods to determine the miles per gallon (MPG) estimates that appear on new vehicle window stickers. The new standards will take effect for model year 2008 vehicles, which may be available for sale as soon as next month. "EPA's new fuel economy sticker ensures American motorists won't be stuck with higher than anticipated charges at the pump," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "Consumers can get more bang for their buck by considering fuel use while shopping for cars and trucks - saving money on refueling costs while helping protect our environment." EPA's new methods bring MPG estimates closer to consumers' actual fuel use, by including factors such as high speeds, aggressive accelerations, air conditioning use and driving in cold temperatures. Model year 2008 vehicles will be the first to receive the new MPG estimates. Currently, EPA relies on data from two laboratory tests to determine the city and highway fuel economy estimates. The test methods for calculating these estimates were last revised in 1984. To more clearly convey fuel economy information to consumers, EPA is also enhancing the design and content of the window sticker. The new label will allow consumers to make more informed decisions when comparing the fuel economy of new vehicles. EPA will continue to work with the auto industry, dealers, and other stakeholders, such as the American Automobile Association (AAA), to further educate drivers about all the changes included in the final rule. In addition to better fuel economy estimates, for the first time, EPA will be requiring fuel economy labeling of medium-duty vehicles, which are between 8,500 and 10,000 lbs., including large sport-utility vehicles and vans. Manufacturers will be required to post fuel economy labels on these vehicles beginning with the 2011 model year. For EPA information about fuel economy: www.epa.gov/fueleconomy To learn more about the new label: www.epa.gov/fueleconomy/label.htm Related EPA fuel economy information: www.epa.gov/greenvehicle

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ROY NAKANO: BSD BILL FORD TO HELP DETROIT REVIVAL December 9, 2006 Ex-Ford CEO to head Detroit Renaissance executive committee

After relinquishing his job as CEO of Ford Motor Company, Bill Ford Jr. has picked up an equally daunting task: To revive the city of Detroit. The Detroit News reports that Ford has agreed to lead the 20-member executive committee of Detroit Renaissance, replacing General Motors Corporation Chairman Rick Wagoner. Also moving up in the leadership of Metro Detroit's most influential business group is Domino's Inc. CEO David Brandon, a potential political star who will assume the newly created role of board secretary at Renaissance.

"The moves, effective January 1st, could be announced as early as next week," reports Daniel Howes of The Detroit News. "Bill Ford traditionally disdained Renaissance, privately likening it to a do-nothing men's club," says Howes. "Under President Doug Rothwell, however, the group has expanded its membership, tightly focused its mission on economic development and avoided backing controversial political causes."