Once you live in New York city, getting a taxi, is not really a problem. However if it is raining, New York cabs  disappear faster than a handout to general motors.

If you are tall like i am, getting in to a New York car, is like cycling on a tricycle,  its all knees and elbows. Really awkward, especially if you are after a night out, and it would be awkward to do anything at all.

It could be about to change. A US-based company is looking at importing the big black taxis that are such a part of the London street scene. The TX11 was designed to ferry people around, its doors open reverse,  so it is easy to get in to. It is spacious and the cabs are big, so it is easy to stand in to. 

I think they add a lot of character to the street as well

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Acura was the market mould breaker from the Japanese car markers. A luxury model, that was to take on the big western boys. The initial reaction was that they were making a big mistake, that the American consumer would not go for these cheap imports. To many peoples surprise, the Acura, only marked the first wave of cars in to America, that have gradually come to dominate the market place. They even made a big impact in Germany, where the legendary marques BMW and Mercedes are national badges of honour. Acura made the first move, but they lost out to Lexus and Infiniti, once they started closing in on the west.

That is still how things stand. Acura do make wonderful cars such as the RSX, TSX and NSX are all killer cars for their market segment) but they are no longer meeting the needs of their luxury customers. Lexus and Infiniti just cruised right past Acura with better interiors, more stylish models and more features, than you could shake a chopstick at.

I think that the 2004 Acura TL was the turn around for the brand. The always thought provoking Charles Ofria atFamily Car magazine thinks so. He said, of the new TL, "The new TL feels like it is honed from a solid block of steel that was molded into a car body." While he did not like the fact that it was front wheel drive, this would not be an issue for most drivers. In fact many cars that are luxury brands are front wheel drives.

The TL was a ground breaker for Acura, the RL should be a great boost as well

It is the same old lines from the media again. That bigger is always better, that your car has to be able to reach 150 miles an hour for your suburban shopping run, and that only an SUV will do if you have more than two children. So it is good to see that people are starting to realise that bigger is only bigger, not better, often more expensive, and more hassle to run.

Companies like Lexus and Infiniti.amongst many sell big cars. The engines are big, and they have always sold a lot more than the Acura. Their cars were always modestly sized, in proportion, and with moderately powerful engines. In the land of American excess, they were not popular, not appealing and they didn't sell. 

How all that has changed, as people come to see, that pure free markets like Communism only work on paper, there is always too many close relationships, nod and wink deals, and bailouts for big business friends along the way. I digress

That isn't to sat that Acura are better than Lexus, Lexus are a beautiful wonderful car. The question is why are they talking about now, about creating a car with a V10 engine. How is that sensible. I don't think so, people have seen that big cars are old hat, lots of tin with a big price. I applaud Acura, for sticking with its guns, and hope they will benefit. Here are a few pointers that I would like to see them take on board, ( how modest of me).

1. Competition is very tough at the moment. Acura should do what it does best, focus on small cars.
2. Finish all SUV lines immediately, they are old news, no one wants them or can sell them. Scrap all their lines.
3. Do what you have to do, don't mimic, or follow, you got the Acura right, be confident.

What Acura can do to be better.

1. Do up the RL, it is getting a bit dated, but it still has great potential as a middle class family car.
2. Stay focused on performance-oriented smaller/mid-sized cars. The new TL should sell like crazy if it's marketed properly. And it's not that small of a car.
3. Keep the lines up to date, doesn't mean that you have to change the entire car, just keep them up to date.

Honda, has always been to me a company that seemed to really focus on quality and engineering. It seemed that they have continued to maintain this, that cars should not be fashion whims. I believe that as well. There is enough cars being made that are big engine behemoths, leave that to the companies that want to do it.

Forbes said, "... from our perspective, if Acura wants to make more money, it needs to think bigger."  I think that if Honda just keep the quality higher, that it will do great. It is possible as well, that if they just survive they will do well over the next ten years, as many of their competitors will not.

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Honda Acura

In this the era of cut backs, financial tightness, the err of buying new cars is well and truly over for now. A friend of mine is looking at buying a newer car, and has been looking at some Volvo S40's, from around 2004.

Car reviews are funny things, they are written by people, so they are subjective, the opinions, have to be taken with a pinch of salt, they are best read in bunches, to see what common patterns emerge.

The Car Connection's review of the 2004 Volvo S40 said, "... this car is a more-than-credible alternative to a Passat." and also that"The new S40 ... ought to go a long way to associating a sense of sporty driving fun with the Volvo brand, along with their long-time staple of safety." Thats a great review, stable, comfortable, fun and reliable.

On the otherhand the Detroit News's review of the 2004 Volvo S40 goes straight to the point, "S40 not purebred Volvo." Wow, before you even get to read two lines, they are questioning the family lineage of the car. It is a pretty harsh review of the Volvo S40, but it is not all negative. This is how they finish the review though "Although the average age of the current S40 buyer is close to 50, Volvo says the new model is aimed at 35-40-year-olds. At these prices, I assume those are fairly affluent 35-40-year-olds who won’t mind that their new Volvo rides on the same foundation as a Mazda3 and a European Ford Focus." Ok, so I take it they you wonlt be getting one then.

What do I think of them, well as a family man, Volvo's are the safest cars that you can find, and they are very reliable machines, they do not let this affect the luxury of the car. I think though that if you have 30K, and are under 40 years of age, that you will be able to find a flasher car, with all the features of a volvo.

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2004.5 Volvo S40

Just looking back at an old blog post. That mentioned how chrysler were planning 7-10 new models, a year, for the next three years. If a Paris runway were turning them out that fast, we would never have supermodels.

Do not buy Chrysler's for the next three years

We have all seen that when a company release a new product, any product, that the first run can often have a few wrinkles that need to be ironed out, it's just a fact of life. That is why the second version is always better than the first. Learning curves and all that. So when I say that Chrysler are planning 7 to 10 models a year, I got some shock. How can one turn out that many differing models and make cars of a high quality. ( I know Chrysler, OK stop laughing and read on :) ) Would it not be better to focus on making a few really great cars, and making them market leaders and restoring Chrysler as a cherished and reliable brand.

Flinging mud at a wall and hoping that it sticks, may work very well in politics, but not in business.

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I remember hearing the great Bill hicks, saying that marketing departments were the root cause of all evil in the world, I presume that he was joking, but they sure do put spins on so many things that it is hard sometimes to believe what any business has to say.

The latest case is Subaru. Their legendary Subaru Outback (A Legacy wagon with lipstick) is going to re-classified as a truck, thanks to some engineering changes. Subaru are saying that the market was demanding a truck, and they had to come up with one. So the 2005 Subaru Outback Legacy has been altered enough to be classified as a truck. I know that this is listening to the market place and ones customers, but it is a truck that is based on a cars frame. So what the hell would one want that for. Is there more to it than that.

It seems that when a car is classified as a truck, that it is not under the same CAFE regulations as a car, basically it doesn't have to meet fuel efficiency standards. The horrible regulations that are trying to stop us shipping hard currency in ship containers to the middle east, thankfully George W, has beaten down the CAFE abominations, just like the bank regulation authorities.

"When it comes to CAFE - the EPA method of pressing automakers to make fuel-efficient vehicles - manufacturers must count their products either in a truck fleet or a car fleet.

Trucks still get a break from federal regulators. A manufacturer's fleet of light trucks must meet a 21.0 mpg average for the 2005 model year, while cars must meet a 27.5 mpg average, or face fines.

Bumping the Outback into Subaru's fledgling truck fleet will bolster the average of its car fleet, which is heavily populated with four-cylinder engine cars. Meanwhile, the new Outback gained fuel economy over its previous generation's ratings, which at 22 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway, already were a comfortable fit."

So what was the motivation, to change their fleet fuel standards, to make the first car/truck hybrid. To meet market demand, with SUV sales falling now, will it return to being a car, or become a motorcycle. Stay tuned.

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So Prius are pushing out more hybrids than ever. That bring up the number in my locality to 5, in the heart of liberal Brooklyn, as opposed to 12 hummers in the neighbourhood. So what is happening to the fuel conservation vibe, and the money saving trend that everyone is on these days.

At the moment there are only two major players in the hybrid car market. Honda and Toyota. Honda has been in the nearly there, getting there stage, for a long time, and it really is time for it to start pushing out the boundaries on its cars. Toyota are really looking after this potential. Between the Prius and the Lexus models, they are making a lot of cars that are conventional models, that are running as hybrids, they are really making the technology mainstream, without damaging any of their existing car brands. It is exciting to see the technology being so successfully integrated in to their business.

Volkswagen is not that interested in making hybrids, whilst the American big three, are making some noises, but are slow to commit. How can companies, like VW, GM, Ford and Toyota, all exist and fight in the same market place, and have such differing views. I think that Toyota will win out in the long run, they are really pushing out the technology, being innovative in fuel efficiency and making cars that people want. This always pays off in the long run.

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