Aussie Motoring

Teson Trims in Euroa is set to close after Administrators failed to find a buyer for the company. Union representatives suggest that the closure is due to heavy cost cutting by the major Australian manufacturers who have squeezed Teson Trims to the point where they cannot meet the price demanded by those big companies.

When we look at a new car the real enthusiasts among us want to know about that car’s performance. How many seconds does it take to reach 100km/h is one popular measure of a car’s performance.

When we look at a car manufacturer’s performance we begin to look at how much money they’re making … or not making as the case may be. And in America the case is that the homegrown manufacturers are not making any money at all. GM, Ford, Chrysler are all making losses that are measured in dollar terms that few of us can really comprehend.

But here’s one measure of performance that’s easier to understand and it relates to Chrysler. Chrysler are selling just 3 cars per month per dealership. Is it any wonder that Daimler are now looking to sell of their remaining share of Chrysler?

It makes you wonder how Ford Australia and General Motors Holden measure up on the basis of new cars sold per dealership per month.

What’s the cost of tightening 42,408 nuts? If you don’t know and I don’t know then perhaps we need to ask GM in America because they’re about to find out.

They’ve just issued a recuall for 42,408 Sturn Vue compact SUVs because there is a possibility that a nut has worked loose in the power steering assembly and that loose nut allows power steering fluid to escape and that’s a potential fire hazard.

So GM is recalling 2008 and 2009 model Vues to have the nut checked and tightened.

We caught this beautiful looking specimen parked in the street here in Hervey Bay early yesterday morning.

About all I can tell you is that it’s definitely a Ford and I may have more details for you later in the week.

I can now tell you that it’s a 1932 Ford Coupe and you will often see it around the various car shows on the Fraser Coast.

Ford in America is set to release what they describe as a “super fueld economy” version of the popular F-150 truck that will increase fuel economy by 8% when they release the 2009 model in October … but don’t get too excited.

The new F-150 will only return about 15 miles to the gallon around town. For us down here in Australia that’s about 15.68 litres per 100km and that’s economy?

A trip to our favorite mechanic is always a bit of an adventure … I mean how many mechanics actually run and hide when they see a customer drive their car into the yard?

It can also be interesting because you never quite know what you’re going to see Ian working next … about this time last year he had a very early model VW Cabriolet that he was fitting a brand-new genuine VW motor too. This time he had this in for some work.

Perhaps there’s some charity motoring event on around town soon.

Official VFACTS figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that 77,324 cars, trucks and buses were sold in August - down 10,882 vehicles (12.3%) compared to the same month last year.

Year to date new vehicle sales are up 0.7 per cent on the same time last year, with 703,995 vehicles being sold.

“The August downturn reflects the broader slowdown in domestic demand which is largely attributable to previous interest rate rises,” FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.

“Yesterday’s official interest rate cut is a welcome move and will help renew future confidence in the marketplace but unfortunately the figures suggest it may have come too late and further reductions may be necessary,” he said.

The figures for August show that sales of vehicles in core ‘luxury’ segments fell by 19.3 per cent compared to the same month last year.

“There is clear evidence that the slowdown has been compounded by the proposed hike in the luxury car tax and wider economic uncertainties,” Mr McKellar said.

“This unnecessary and unfair tax grab is continuing to have a damaging impact on the Australian car industry,” he said.

“It is economically irresponsible to persist with this measure in the current circumstances,” Mr McKellar said.

Sales in all segments of the passenger vehicle market were down.  Sales of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) were down except for the SUV large segment, which increased 23.3 per cent in August.

There were two strong performing segments in the commercial vehicle market - light buses were up 55.9 per cent and vans up 17.2 per cent during August.

Toyota retained the top sales position in August with a 22.9 per cent market share, followed by Holden with 13.8 per cent and Ford with 11.1 per cent.

Year-to-date, Toyota leads the sales race with 165,641 vehicles sold, followed by Holden with 88,969 and Ford with 72,536 vehicles.