Nutson's Nuggets: Last Week's (April 9- April 15 ) Automotive News In Case You Were Sleeping

Auto Central Louisville KY April 15, 2012 Each week Larry Nutson, The Auto Channel's Chicago Bureau Chief, along with Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Detroit Bureau give you a nugget of the past week's automotive news you may have missed.

If you are a car nut like we all are, you can easily "catch up" on these stories as well as the past 16 years 1,342,965 automotive stories, articles, reviews, rants and raves by just searching for the subject you are interested in The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive, Happy Spring and Baseball Season, see ya next week L.N.

Automotive News: April 9-15, 2012

* According to Polk, most hybrid owners don't replace their vehicle with another hybrid. The loyalty rate was 35.2% in 2008, 39.6% in 2009 and 38.9% in 2010. Toyota Prius owners are the most loyal, and if they are excluded the loyalty rate is 22%. However, hybrids do attract new owners to a brand. The biggest challenge for hybrid makers is that less expensive conventional fuel-efficiency technologies are also advancing rapidly, reducing the fuel-efficiency advantage of more expensive hybrids. The premium price points for hybrids are just too high when so many conventional small and mid-size cars have improved fuel economy.

* The Motorsport Hall of Fame of America announced the 2012 class of inductees - Derek Bell, Neil Bonnett, Pop Dreyer, Vic Edelbrock, Sr., Ricky Johnson, Ed Pink and Danny Sullivan. Induction ceremony will be August 29th at the beautiful Filmore Theater in downtown Detroit. The Motorsports Hall of Fame is currently housed in the Detroit Science Center that is closed because of the dismal economy and they are looking for a new location for the collection. An announcement of a new location may come at the August induction event. Info: HERE.

* With the New York auto show behind us (and a surprisingly impressive show it was) just one more major international auto show remains for this season - Beijing. Underscoring the relevance of this big Asian show is the Porsche's introduction of the high performance SUV, Cayenne GTS. Going beyond the existing Cayenne S, the GTS adds 20 more horsepower to a normally aspirated 420, lowers the ride height by about an inch and lowering the final drive ratio. Can't you just see this one steaking across a Mongolian dirt road throwing up a rooster tail of dust?

* Speaking of China, GM announced this week that they will build three Cadillac models in China in partnership with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. First will be the big, new XTS, replacement for the STS. The Chinese love their Buicks. Let's see if they take to Cadillacs as well.

* More news from GM - the venerable Chevrolet Avalanche, sort of a pickup-SUV clone, is going away but not before offering one last special edition called Black Diamond. GM has been offering huge incentives to move the Avalanche the last few years but didn't want to let it go without a splash. The Avalanche, introduced as a concept at the 2000 Detroit auto show, went on sale in 2001 as a 2002 model. It was named 2002 Motor Trend Truck of the Year upon its introduction.

* News from Europe includes the announcement that Maserati will build a sexy new Alfa Coupe, the car that is expected to lead Alfa's return to the U.S. market in late 2013. Styled much like the beautiful 8C Competizione that was brought into the country in very limited quantities a few years ago costing a quarter million dollars, the new 4C coupe will cost about a quarter of what the 8C cost. Welcome back Alfa.

* Ford Motor Company is recalling 140,310 Focus cars from model year 2012 in the United States to repair a potential problem with the passenger-side windshield wiper motor, according to U.S. safety regulators.

* Fuel economy sells. The average fuel economy for new vehicles purchased in the United States rose to a record 24.1 mpg in March, from 23.9 the previous month.

* A poll of members of AshleyMadison.com, which describes itself as the "world's leading online affair service," found that affair-seekers prefer Toyota and Honda to get to their tryst location. Almost 21% of men seeking companionship outside their vows ranked Toyota as their top brand choice, followed by Ford, Chevrolet, Honda and BMW. Mercedes came last. Women on the road to infidelity have slightly racier taste: 22.3% preferred a Honda over a Toyota. In descending order, their top five picks included Ford, Toyota, Chevy and Mercedes. For women, a Volkswagen is at the bottom of the list. The survey is based on 3,600 responses from AshleyMadison.com members.

* U.S. regulators have proposed to require that light vehicles have an override mechanism that enables a driver to stop a car or truck if the accelerator pedal gets stuck. NHTSA said it was proposing the brake-throttle override rule because research showed it can reduce the risk of high-speed unintended acceleration and prevent crashes.