Autoblog

click above to view more high-res pics of the 2008 Jeep Liberty

Employees at Jeep's factory in Toledo, Ohio reported back to work this week after two months of mandatory downtime. The good news is that they still have their jobs; the bad news is that they've been told to expect another four weeks off before the end of the year. This time, however, the shutdowns will be scheduled in week-long intervals instead of covering an entire four-week period. The slowdown of SUV sales has been widely covered and the Jeep brand has not been immune, including its bread-and-butter Wrangler model that had proven extremely popular a short while back when the first-ever four-door version was unveiled. Of course, back then gas was below $3 a gallon. Besides the Wrangler, Jeep also makes the Liberty and Dodge Nitro at the Toledo plant.


[Source: 13 ABC]

click above to view more high-res shots of the Euro-Focus

News flash: small cars like the Ford Focus are selling beyond expectations (ours anyway) while trucks and SUVs are sitting on dealer lots much longer than auto manufacturers would like. For this reason, Ford is moving as quickly as possible to switch a few of its truck plants into car plants, including its Michigan Truck plant where behemoth SUVs like the Expedition and Navigator were being built. The switchover is going to cost the automaker since these are not flexible manufacturing facilities, with the first bit of retooling ringing the registers to the tune of $75 million bucks -- and that's just for a new bodyshop. The total cost to retool the plant will be in the hundreds of millions. As they say, it takes money to make money. While the plant is being refurbished, workers will be shuffled to the nearby Wayne plant to build even more Focuses. The best bit of news, though, is that Ford will finally be building its small cars from Europe at its converted truck plant, the ones we've all been asking for since the Euro-Focus got a new platform and we didn't. Not that we're still sour or anything...


[Source: The Detroit News]

The HUMMER brand isn't exactly sterling here in the States due to high fuel prices and its standing as the poster vehicle for green groups trying to save the environment from the evils of CO2 emissions. That's probably the biggest reason GM is looking to offload the brand, and while it doesn't seem likely that anyone would want the marque, there are interested parties. According to GM's Middle East Managing Director, Terry Johnsson, one group is a pair of Arab investors. The Middle East has been a player in the automotive landscape over the past few years, as the region is rife with cash and oil and has growing transportation needs. Arab investors were 50% of the Aston Martin sale in 2007, and Abu Dhabi's investment group purchased 5% of Ferrari in 2005.

Many of the early suitors for the HUMMER brand have since decided to bow out. Whether the final buyer is Tata Motors, investors from the Gulf, or some yet unknown party, the General will want to move quickly before the brand's value falls any further. Thanks for the tip, Epyx!

[Source: Reuters]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Jeep Compass

We weren't really sure what direction Jeep was heading when it introduced the Compass in 2007. Built on a shared platform with the Dodge Caliber, the Compass goes against what we normally think a Jeep should be – rugged, tough, capable, and... well... square. The departure from classic Jeep styling hasn't received rave reviews, and the interior has been a source of complaints, as well. Does the Compass deserve the criticism it's been receiving? We aimed to find out and secured a 2008 4x2 Sport model for the Autoblog Garage.

All photos Copyright ©2008 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for high-res gallery of BMW X5 M and X6 M spy shots

Despite earlier assertions to the contrary, all indications are now that BMW is preparing its first batch of M-tuned sport-utilities, including an X5 M and X6 M. Advanced-stage test mules for both have now been spied by a keen photographer right here in the United States, at BMW's Performance Center test track in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The prototype X5 and X6 M have enlarged air intakes with white LED headlamps up front and aerodynamic rear bumpers with quad pipes poking out the back. The trademark M division side gills have been camouflaged, but the exhaust notes are a reported dead giveaway: the X5 M prototype sounding like a twin-turbo V8, while the X6 M sounds more like a V10 or V12. The appearance of the M-tuned crossovers on American soil instead of on the Nurburgring gives us an idea of just who BMW will be targeting with these performance sport-utes. Check out all the spy shots in our gallery below and hit up the source for two spy videos. Mad props to PalBay for the tip and the shots!

[Source: PalBay]

Land Rover sales are tanking along with the rest of SUVs sold here in the States and in Europe, but strong sales in China and Russia are keeping Tata's new luxury SUV brand to within 3% of last year's sales volume. Encouraging sales in emerging markets isn't enough, however, for the Indian automaker to keep from cutting production to hedge against a further worsening of market conditions. In an effort to keep production in line with sales, two shifts have been cut from the Solihull Land Rover plant and 300 workers have been moved to the Castle Broomwich Jaguar plant. Tata is also executing production cuts at the Halewood Jaguar factory where the perpetually disappointing X-Type is produced.

With Land Rover making up all the profits between Tata's two newly owned British Marquees, the Indian automaker is keeping a keen eye on production to make sure the luxury SUV brand continues to bring in profits. If sales begin to slip further, we'd expect Tata to make more drastic cuts, and quickly. Thanks for the tip, Mayur!

[Source: Times of India]

Truck shoppers hoping to grab a Mahindra pickup early next year are gonna have to wait a little longer. It seems the challenges of bringing an India-made vehicle to the U.S. are difficult, and the vehicles now won't go on sale in the U.S. before the fourth quarter of 2009.

Even though 324 dealers have signed up to sell the truck, few of them have actually built the needed facilities. That's not enough to keep Georgia-based Global Vehicles from going ahead with their plans to begin U.S. sales. But GV's CEO John Perez recenly spoke to Mahindra's global managing director Anand Mahindra who, according to Automotive News, said that no truck with his family's name on it was going to fail in the U.S. Mr. Mahindra plans to run a fleet of his company's vehicles over 3.2 million miles of U.S. roads before he'll be approve the trucks for sale here.

The plan is for the trucks to utilize a 4-cylinder diesel engine not yet approved by the EPA. But Perez says he has no fear their January application will have any trouble getting blessed.

While the trucks are getting some U.S. experience, Global Vehicles will continue to sign up new dealers, and hopes to have 450 by the end of 2009. The importer has a sales goal of 50,000 vehicles a year, though Mahindra says it could produce as many as 400,000 U.S.-bound trucks if demand is there. And if Mahindra's promise of 30 mpg holds true, there could be huge demand. If things go well, look for a diesel-powered Mahindra SUV to follow.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd, Pickuptrucks.com]

Click above for a hi-res gallery of the ABT Q5

Every time a new Volkswagen or Audi is released, German tuner ABT Sportsline can be relied upon to come up with performance and appearance packages to enhance them. The latest ride to get attention is the Audi Q5, and as you can see in the renderings ABT sent out, the body kit helps matters, because the showroom-trim Q5 is actually pretty vanilla-looking. The new visuals are backed up by a modified suspension, 20" wheels, more braking power, and performance upgrades for each available engine. Depending on which mill is nestled underhood, horsepower in the ABT-tuned Q5 ranges from 240 horsepower for the 2.0 TFSI all the way up to 310 horses for the 3.0 TDI with the Power S package.


[Source: ABT Sportsline]

The TSCO Vegas to Reno race, part of the Best in the Desert off-road racing series, is 457 miles long through the Nevada sand and scrub. From start to finish takes many racers 12 hours or more, and a driver that goes the entire distance is known as an "Ironman." For this year's edition, Emily Miller of Team HUMMER plans on being the race's first ever Ironwoman.

Miller will be piloting an H2 in the stock class with a navigator, Jake Povey. Some will undoubtedly think it crazy to try winning off-road races in an H2, but Miller's teammate Josh Hall has won the race three years in a row in his H2 SUT. Miller's no stranger to the podium herself, having come second at this year's Terribles 250.

The TSCO Vegas to Reno race happens this Friday, August 22 (that'd be tomorrow), where Miller will probably have some vintage Cake playing on the iPod. You can keep up with all the live action at www.rodhallracing.com, and to you, Emily, best of luck.

[Source: GM]

Click above for high-res gallery of each crash test

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released complete crash test scores today for eight SUVs including the 2009 Ford Escape, 2008 Mitsubishi Outlander, 2008 Nissan Rogue, 2009 VW Tiguan, 2008 Chevy Equinox/Pontiac Torrent, 2008 Jeep Wrangler 2-door, the Jeep Patriot and the Suzuki Grand Vitara. When we say complete crash tests, we mean the IIHS performed front, side and rear crash tests on all eight SUVs.

Each vehicle was given an overall rating of good, acceptable, marginal or poor, and the Escape, Outlander, Rogue and Tiguan earned good ratings in all three tests and, since they each come with electronic stability control as standard equipment, were also named Top Safety Picks by the IIHS. The rest of the group received either acceptable or marginal ratings in some tests, though the worst performing was the Jeep Wrangler 2-door. While the Jeep did earn a good rating in the frontal crash test, its side crash test was rated as poor, the lowest rating possible.

Automakers with SUVs that earned Top Safety Pick awards will now be touting their achievements from the rooftops. Ford has already started, noting in a press release that the Escape tops Toyota and Honda in combined safety and fuel efficiency ratings. Other automakers, meanwhile, are trying to explain away why their vehicles didn't perform as well in the IIHS tests. General Motors issued a press release noting that the Equinox and Torrent earned 5-stars in the NHTSA tests and that the IIHS side crash test is a "single and very sever test."

Follow the jump for the press release from the IIHS that explains their testing procedures and goes further into why each vehicle earned the ratings it did.


[Source: IIHS]