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Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Car Market and The Economy 2009

I’m sure that by now you’ve all heard about how the world car market is having serious financial issues. And don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s just the American auto industry that is having problems. After pulling out of Formula 1, Honda, Japan’s second biggest car maker announced recently that they are backing off on spending and minimizing production in preparation for the pending financial nightmare that the global markets are facing. This means everything they had in the works has now come to a complete halt. Like the upcoming Acura NSX successor, the Advanced Sports Car.

But these aren’t the only cars that we won’t be seeing anytime soon, no, here are a few other cars that have been placed on hold for the time being.
Thanks to the current global financial crisis, Honda announced their first unsuccessful quarter in 11 years after posting a $1.5 Billion loss forcing them to cut funding for certain projects.

GM, in an attempt to reclaim its days of glory, they came up with this V16 (yes, 16) powered barge of an auto to compete with the Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7-Series. But alas, we won’t be seeing it any time soon, it was rumored Cadillac didn’t want to spend the money to go forward with this new design, but they did play with the idea of changing out the V16 with a V12 or V10. But perhaps the reason that they decided not to go forward with this new design is because of the Cadillac logo carved out of solid crystal on the steering wheel and the Bulgarian sourced clock on the dashboard.

And yet another car we won’t be seeing any time soon is from Mercedes. A design study Mercedes conducted to find a better cornering system for their sports cars. The system would allow the wheels to lean in the direction of the corner at a maximum of 20 degrees. The tires used in this system are made up of two types of rubber. One is a soft compound that holds grip and the other is a harder rubber like the type found in motorcycle tires.

While MB claims that they want to integrate this concept into their vehicles, we won’t be seeing it anytime soon.

And let’s don’t forget about Chrysler who bid to build an incredible luxury grand tourer. The concept which first hit the scene in 2005 looked like an Aston Martin mangled with a 300C. Underneath was the Viper chassis, but instead of the Vipers potent V10, they swapped in the 300C’s 6.1L Hemi.

This car hasn’t officially been scrapped, but given the current financial condition of the market, we’ll see what happens.

And finally, but certainly not least, let’s discuss BMW’s attempt to raise the upscale luxury car bar. While BMW is staying afloat in this global economic crisis, they are certainly staying cautious. At this time BMW is holding off on all product decisions. It could be a long 2009 with the automobile industry holding off on making any new models.

And the one thing that you should know during this economic crisis is that you can rely on great service at Metric Wrench Billings. Whatever your automotive needs, be sure to stop in and let the certified mechanics assist you in keeping your car running during this global automotive crisis.

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