Nutson's Nuggets - Automotive News Week of September 22-28, 2014

By
Larry Nutson
Senior Editor and Bureau Chief
Chicago Bureau
The Auto Channel

Auto Central Louisville, KY September 28, 2014; Every Sunday, along with Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau give you our "take" on this past week's automotive news as easy to digest nuggets.

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Nutson's Automotive News Factoids - Week of September 22-28, 2014.

* GM's Cadillac brand will become a separate business unit and open a headquarters in New York City early next year, as it moves the global hub for its luxury brand away from Detroit. Johan De Nysschen, who joined Cadillac more than a month ago from Infiniti Motor Co. Ltd., wants to expand Cadillac into new countries and segments, and appeal to younger buyers. He expects the new Soho office, which will include space for events and loft offices, to open likely in second quarter 2015. It will initially house about 60 business, sales and marketing staffers and eventually about 120 employees. The Cadillac announcement came on the same morning as GM VP Mark Reuss’ speech to a Michigan Economic Development conference called MICHauto. Reuss did a decent job of spinning the move while some speculated that the new Cadillac boss, Johan de Nysschen, formerly of Nissan, just did not want to live in Detroit.

* In more Cadillac news, it's the name game. Cadillac is calling its new hi-tech flagship sedan the CT6. This is the fullsize sedan that will be built at General Motors' Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant starting in late 2015. The rear-drive car will be bigger than the XTS and will compete with other top of the line premium brand models. The CT, which may be confused initially with the midsize CTS, stands for Cadillac Touring and signals a coming shift to a simplified naming convention for future Cadillac sedan models. Analysts expect the CT6 will reflect many of the styling queues from the striking Elmiraj concept and come into the market in the fourth quarter of 2015. Insiders say Cadillac is also planning a super halo luxury model above CT6, which may well be designated CT9.

* The list of NACTOY candidates just got shorter. The 2015 North American Car of the Year short list now includes: Acura TLX, Audi A3, Chrysler 200, Ford Mustang, Honda Fit, Hyundai Genesis sedan, Hyundai Sonata, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Toyota Camry, and Volkswagen Golf/GTI. The 2015 North American Truck/Utility of the Year short list now includes: Audi Q3, Chevrolet Colorado, Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford F-150, GMC Canyon, Lexus NX, Lincoln MKC, Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, Nissan Murano, Porsche Macan, Subaru Outback, and Toyota Highlander.

* Chrysler Group will recall nearly 189,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Durangos from the 2011 model year equipped with 3.6-liter V6 or 5.7-liter V8 engines to fix a fuel pump problem that can cause the SUVs to stall.

* Chrysler Group is voluntarily recalling an estimated 349,442 older-model vehicles to correct conditions that may cause ignition keys to become stuck or inadvertently move. Chrysler Group investigated and found the ignition keys on certain model-year 2008 vehicles produced before May 12, 2008, may not fully return to the “ON” position after rotation to the “START” position during engine-startup. Instead, they may remain between the “START” and “ON” positions. If this occurs, windshield defroster and wiper function may be lost. Air bag function is not affected.

* Recall number 67. GM is recalling 221,000 new Cadillac XTS and Chevrolet Impala cars worldwide, because of improper braking that could cause excessive heat and poor performance. The recall covers 2013-2015 XTS cars and 2014-2015 Impalas.

* Ford will recall about 850,000 cars in the United States to fix a software glitch that could lead to a short circuit, delaying the deployment of airbags in the event of a crash. The affected cars are 2013-2014 models Ford C-MAX, Fusion, Escape and Lincoln MKZ vehicles.

* A recall usually involves taking your car in to the dealer. Not with Tesla. A software upgrade is being sent over the air to current Model S owners. Tesla has completed over a dozen over-the-air upgrades since mid-2012. No other automaker is doing this, although many are expected to be doing so within a few years.

* Daimler AG will soon make available 400 Smart cars in Brooklyn, NY as its Car2go short-term rental program gets going there. Customers will use a smart phone app to find available cars and pay 41 cents per minute, $15 per hour or $85 per day which includes insurance and fuel.

* The first settlement was made this week to the family of a victim in the GM ignition switch compensation program run by Ken Feinberg, who handled compensation for 9-11 and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Approximately 850 claims have been received including 150 death claims and 21 have been deemed eligible for compensation with 15 settlement offers made so far. The standard offer is $1 million with adjustments made for other factors.

* Tony Stewart will not be charged by an Ontario County (N.Y.) Grand Jury in the death of Kevin Ward Jr. The grand jury announced that there was no evidence of a criminal act. The case was passed on to the grand jury by Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo last week. The investigation considered Stewart’s history of emotional outbursts and the toxicology report that found marijuana in Ward’s system. The investigation seems to have been thorough and careful. Stewart could still face a civil suit.

* Ryan Hunter-Reay, winner of this year’s Indy 500 race will represent the U.S. and the IndyCar series in the December running of the Race of Champions that will be held in Barbados. This is Hunter-Reay’s second time at the ROC having competed in the 2012 running in Thailand. He has 14 career IndyCar series wins along with wins at Le Mans and Grand-Am.

* A finally this. Chevy has notified new 2015 Corvette owners that using Chevy’s new “Valet Mode” — which records video from the Corvette’s front-facing camera as well as audio from inside the car — could be a felony as a result of the latter feature, which violates certain state laws requiring a person to give consent before recording audio of him or her. Chevy will do a software update to remedy the possible legal twist in a valet illegally driving your Corvette.