*New Venture Gear, the powertrain joint venture formed by General Motors and DaimlerChrysler in 1990, will be restructured in 2003. DC will come to own 100 percent of NVG, though it will remain a separate company and will still do business with GM and other firms. NVG will keep its plants in Syracuse, New York, and Germany. The NVG facility in Muncie, Indiana, will be owned by GM through a wholly owned subsidiary called Manual Transmissions of Muncie that will report to GM's Powertrain organization.
*Further proof that the truck world is getting wackier by the day: The Texas Auto Writers Association has named Volvo's XC90 as the 2003 Truck of Texas. The Lone State scribes arrived at that conclusion by flogging vehicles from 20 manufacturers through an off-road course called the Texas Truck Rodeo. They found that the Swedish station wagon "best suited the needs of Texas." We'd bet there are a few (thousand) Suburban owners out there who might not agree...
*Chevrolet is sponsoring an 18-month nationwide traveling exhibit of rock and roll memorabilia called the Chevrolet Rock & Roll Tour. It's part of Chevy's newest marketing campaign linking the brand with rock music. (You've no doubt seen the TV ads, right?) Among the items on display are one of Elvis' jumpsuits and a guitar owned by Prince.
*On that note (ha!) the Bow-Tie guys said at a recent press conference that they figure more than 200 rock songs have been written with Chevys in them. We can think of a few, but 200? Let's see the list, guys.
Truck Fuel Economy to Go HigherThe White House has approved a measure to increase the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard for light trucks under 8,600 pounds GVW beginning with the 2005 model year. If the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) enacts the ruling, this will mark the first CAFE change for light trucks since the current 20.7-mpg standard was established in 1996. The measure calls for automakers to improve the fuel economy achieved by their light-truck fleets by about a half-gallon per year for three years, so that by 2007 the truck CAFE will be 22.2 mpg.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, quoted in the Detroit Free Press, said the new requirements will "save 2.5 billion gallons of gasoline and improve the environment." Wouldn't you know, though, that environmentalists were disappointed in the ruling? In the same Free Press article, Gary Skulnik, a Sierra Club global warming "expert," complained, "It doesn't seem like a heck of a lot."
Tell that to GM. Its own projections put its truck fleet average further away from the new standards than Ford or DaimlerChrysler, and the NHTSA estimates the General will have to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $678 million to achieve the new goals. One way GM could reach the new target, said the NHTSA, would be to eliminate all engines over 6 liters in displacement. Uh oh.
By comparison, the NHTSA figures Ford would have to spend $50 million to hit the new CAFE numbers, and DaimlerChrysler $11 million. Ford's costs are less than GM's because they have been better at rolling out new fuel-efficient technology, like engines with variable valvetrains and advanced transmissions, the agency said. Both Ford and DC also have gas/electric hybrid trucks in their product plans, which will bring them closer to the CAFE goal.
The White House approved the CAFE increase in December, but the NHTSA won't make it official until after a 60-day period, during which the automakers can lobby the agency to make changes to the rule. We'll keep you posted.
Camp Jeep 2003 Open to the PublicBig news for Camp Jeep fans. There will be two Camp Jeep events in 2003, and both will be open to the public-meaning non-Jeep owners will be able to attend the events.
The first Camp will be held June 26-28 at the Oak Ridge Estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Nelson County, Virginia. The second will be in California, at the Gardner Ranch near Santa Barbara, August 14-16.