Honda exec says US market near capacity, could hurt subprime buyers

Filed under: Car Buying, Acura, Honda, Earnings/Financials

Is there a point in the US auto industry where companies should start considering the welfare of their customers ahead of selling more cars? American Honda Executive Vice President of Sales John Mendel thinks that level exists, and we may be getting very close to it.

According to Automotive News, Mendel believes that finding more customers in the market could require pursuing subprime buyers and offering longer-term loans. However, he refuses to use those tactics. While selling models this way can improve things briefly, the strategies hurt resale prices and lower vehicle profits over time. The company won't do "stupid things in the short-term that damage the person who bought yesterday," he said to Automotive News. "It's a very, very short-term tactic especially in the subprime area."

American Honda, which combines the Acura and Honda brands, has seen market share decline from 9.7 percent to 9.1 percent through July 2014, according to Automotive News, and Autoblog's By the Numbers stats showed it posted falling sales in five of the seven months with data this year. Though, Mendel claims that was partially because the company focused on retail sales over fleets. The delays of the launches for the Honda Fit and Acura TLX likely didn't help either.

The rise of subprime loans is an emerging trend in the auto industry. A recent study by Equifax found that the total amount in outstanding auto loans was the highest it ever recorded and up 10 percent from a year ago. It also found that the total balance from subprime buyers had reached $46.2 billion, an eight-year high. The feds appear to be getting interested too with GM's financial arm under investigation for how it securitizes its lending to these customers.

Honda exec says US market near capacity, could hurt subprime buyers originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Aug 2014 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/21/honda-exec-says-us-market-near-capacity-hurt-subprime/

James Hunt Jim Hurtubise Gus Hutchison Jacky Ickx

Car almost somersaults into flagstand after restart at sprint car race

This sprint car crash is pretty insane.

It happened on August 8 at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., and on the next lap after he waves the green flag, the flagman has to take evasive action. Cars start crashing on the frontstretch and one car somersaults into the fence, just feet away from the flagman.

You could tell he wanted to throw the yellow flag ? which is his instinctual job habit ? but quickly realized it was a bad idea because if he was leaning out of the stand, it could have been bad news.

The crash adjusted the camera by the flagstand and after checking on the driver below him, the flagman had the presence of mind to adjust the camera back at the interview. With a cigarette in his mouth, of course.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/car-almost-somersaults-into-flagstand-after-restart-at-sprint-car-race-133030554.html

Paco Godia Carel Godin de Beaufort Christian Goethals Paul Goldsmith

The O?Rally Factor: Chevy Sportifies 2015 Silverado Pickup with New Rally Editions

Pickups buyers take to the aftermarket in droves to make their tough trucks look tougher, but for 2015, Chevy is doing some of the toughing up for them with two new Rally packages for its full-size Silverado 1500. Building on the no-frills Silverado LS trim level, the new Rally 1 package adds a body-color grille […]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/qqR3VjKGO6Q/

Gimax Richie Ginther Yves Giraud Cabantous Ignazio Giunti

Should self-driving cars be equipped with adjustable ethics?

Filed under: Technology, Read This

Autonomous cars are piloting their way into the wide philosophical sea of ethics. Right now the autonomous cars are unaware of this because the driver's will always comes first, but when we start getting cars that can overrule commands or choose a particular ethical outcome either without or in spite of driver input, we'll have a lot of decisions to make. Which means we have a lot of decisions to start considering right now.

Patick Lin considers some of them in a piece in Wired, starting with the trolley problem - whether a person who has control of a runaway trolley should let it kill five people tied to the track without intervention, or should pull a lever so that only one person on another track is killed. From there, he wonders about the possibility of fixed ethics settings, created by manufacturers, versus user-adjustable ethics settings that, for example, allow a driver to prioritize his own safety over others, or prioritize the safety of children over that of the elderly.

Lin admits that the examples are outrageous in order to stress the point of the question. Still, it's worth a read because we already have cars that can make driving decisions, and it might not be long before "Five-Mode Adjustable Prime Directive" shows up on the options sheet. Head over to Wired to read the full piece.

Should self-driving cars be equipped with adjustable ethics? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Aug 2014 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/20/should-self-driving-cars-be-equipped-with-adjustable-ethics/

James Christopher McMurray Casey James Mears Juan Pablo Montoya Joseph Francis Nemechek III

Talking Headways Podcast: Crown Prince of Fresh Air

What would you think of a city planner, out ruffling feathers with his bold ideas about density and urbanism — who commutes to work an hour each way from his ranch way outside the city? Ironic — or hypocritical? That’s the question we wrestle with in our discussion of Brad Buchanan, the head honcho at [...]

Source: http://usa.streetsblog.org/2014/08/19/talking-headways-podcast-crown-prince-of-fresh-air/

Charles Robert Hamilton IV Charles Robert Hamilton V Kevin Michael Harvick Virgil Ernest Irvan III

Brian Scott Earns a Sixth-Place Finish at Iowa Speedway

Brian Scott, driver of the #2 Shore Lodge Chevrolet, stands on pit road - Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty ImagesBrian Scott earned his sixth top-10 finish of the 2013 season at Iowa Speedway after starting third in Sunday morning’s Iowa Pioneer 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Scott battled among the leaders throughout the opening laps of...more»

The article Brian Scott Earns a Sixth-Place Finish at Iowa Speedway is from Catchfence.

Source: http://www.catchfence.com/2013/nationwide/06/10/brian-scott-earns-a-sixth-place-finish-at-iowa-speedway/

Bill Holland Jackie Holmes Bill Homeier Kazuyoshi Hoshino

Why It Makes Sense to Add Biking and Walking Routes Along Active Rail Lines

Despite high train frequency, southeastern Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill River Trail — 60 miles long and about to double in length — provides a stress-free biking and walking experience. All photos from RTC
This post is�part of a series�featuring stories and research that will be presented at the�Pro-Walk/Pro-Bike/Pro-Place conference�September 8-11 in Pittsburgh.
You?ve heard of rail-trails — abandoned rail [...]

Source: http://usa.streetsblog.org/2014/08/18/why-it-makes-sense-to-add-biking-and-walking-routes-along-active-rail-lines/

Kyle Eugene Petty Floyd Anthony Raines Scott Russell Riggs Hiroshi Fushida

A Detroit Grand Prix 2-Fer Benefits Penske Racing's Verizon Champ Bid

Penske Racing answered back in their own 2-race Detroit Grand Prix on their own track at the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle.

Source: http://www.motorsportsjournal.com/archives/2014/06/a_detroit_grand_prix_2-fe.php

Damon Hill Graham Hill Phil Hill Peter Hirt

Power Rankings: How much does Carl Edwards vault up the standings?

Our Power Rankings are far from a scientific formula. In fact, it's the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. And you think we dislike your favorite driver, so it makes sense, right? Direct all your complaints to us at happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com.

1. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 1): Johnson finished seventh on Sunday and led a single lap. He was third late in the race, but the tires were simply worn and he held on for a top 10, though he was the lowest-finishing driver from Hendrick Motorsports. IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER SLUMP? Look for that piping hot take sometime this week.

2. Jeff Gordon (LW: 3): Gordon moves to second by finishing second. Had he not overdriven a corner with about five laps to go, he might have been able to catch Edwards, but we're going to consider this the road course version of what happened to Gordon at Kansas. While on his way to the checkered flag there, he cautiously slid through turns three and four, which made the margin of victory over Kevin Harvick look much closer than it was.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 2): The penalty for Junior's best-ever Sonoma finish? Moving down a spot in Power Rankings. We are so cruel. Evil. Despicable. Every Sonoma race has a battering ram and that battering ram happened to be the No. 88 on Sunday. We don't say that with scorn, either. With the way that road courses have become, it's a product of the racing. It's not like Junior has a pattern of being destructive on road courses.

4. Carl Edwards (LW: 11): This is a season of bad "good" seasons. OK, maybe bad is an overstatement, but Edwards certainly fits the category we're trying to explain. What's been the storyline of Edwards' season outside of his contract status? The lack of speed he and his teammates have had. But here he is with two wins and he's sixth in the points standings. You can certainly be successful and not doing as well as possible -- Edwards is proof of that -- but it just seems like a bit of a disconnect.

5. Kevin Harvick (LW: 5): Speaking of disconnects, here's another guy. He's got two wins, solidly in the Chase and has been one of the fastest cars around and the storyline around Kevin Harvick is "what is going to happen next?" Like at Sonoma, when he led laps, had a fast car and then got caught up in a crash after he was back in the field because of pit strategy and caution flags.

6. Jamie McMurray (LW: 10): McMurray started on the pole and finished fourth even if he didn't feel like a contender for the win after he was passed for the lead by A.J. Allmendinger. And if we want to continue the disconnect theme, doesn't it feel that McMurray is having a better season than he's having? He's still only 19th in the points standings. I guess we can blame the All-Star Race for that.

7. Paul Menard (LW: 9): Two straight top fives for Paul Menard? Yes, you're not hallucinating. It's the power of the sideburns. Save for the win at Indianapolis, this may be the best two-week stretch in Paul Menard's career. If he keeps this up, he'll be Chasing, assuming we don't go on a crazy run of first-time winners in the near future.

8. Joey Logano (LW: 6): Logano couldn't even make it an entire lap before his car was beat up. The nose of his Ford was caved in on the first lap and then, much like his teammate Brad Keselowski, he lost the handling on his car. But thanks to the caution flags, he was able to salvage a top-20 finish out of the race and maintain his position in the points.

9. Brad Keselowski (LW: 5): Keselowski drops four spots after getting spun by Kyle Busch and having an ill-handling car for most of the day. While it'd be fun to think of the incident between Busch and Keselowski as a renewal of their rivalry, Keselowski said on the radio after the spin that he deserved to spin out, and heck, he came down to defend his position on Busch in the first place.

10. Matt Kenseth (LW: 7): Kenseth's crash wasn't his fault by any means and it lamost happened a couple of turns earlier. Had TNT not cut away from the first contact between Kenseth and Earnhardt Jr., the crash would have likely happened while cameras were focused on the two. Instead, as soon as Junior moved Kenseth out of the way in turn four, TNT left for the front of the pack and had to immediately come back after Kenseth was being launched into the tires.

11. Kasey Kahne (LW: 12): Here comes Kasey Kahne? He's up to 16th in the standings after finishing sixth at Sonoma, and his sixth-place finish is even more impressive when you realize that he started 30th. Kahne is the From the Marbles pick to win at Kentucky, so don't be surprised if he finishes 25th because of our jinx.

12. Ryan Newman (LW: NR): Newman gets the final spot in Power Rankings because he's eighth in the standings after finishing 11th on Sunday. Did you know he's 8th in the standings? That's despite no top-five finishes, either. Consistency rules more than ever in this points format.

Lucky Dog: Casey Mears' car looked destroyed after he suffered severe front-end damage in a stack-up in turn four, but he ended up 13th.

The DNF: A.J. Allmendinger led 35 laps, had the best car of the weekend and finished 37th.

Dropped Out: Kyle Larson

�

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/power-rankings--how-much-does-carl-edwards-vault-up-the-standings-180117400.html

Parker Kligerman Trevor Bayne Out! Pet Care Toyota Jason Leffler