House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi appears at
Detroit's auto show




Tirekicking Today at Detroit's Auto Show (January):
Lincoln launches reworked MKX ... Toyota unveils FT-CH compact hybrid concept ... Ford reveals next-generation Focus ... Cadillac shows CTS-V coupe and XTS Platinum concept ... BMW has Active E Hybrid ... Mercedes-Benz introduces E-Class Cabriolet ... BYD (China) brings e6 electric crossover ... Bentley shows Mulsanne flagship ... Buick exhibits Regal GS show car ... GMC unveils Granite concept ... Mini Beachcomber concept debuts ... Volkswagen reveals NCC hybrid concept ... Audi shows e-tron concept ... Chevrolet brings Aveo RS show car ... Honda has production CR-Z hybrid ... Hyundai reveals Blue-Will concept ... Electric Avenue features battery and hybrid models

Green Scene

Tirekicking Today covered the China conference on "green" cars, in Detroit ... Detroit's auto show featured electric theme
Fuel-efficiency takes many forms
Is your clunker worth government cash?
Green Themes at 2009 Chicago Auto Show
"Green" Gathers Speed at Detroit's 2009 Auto Show
• Editorial: Going Green isn't good enough
• 2010 Hybrid Reviews: Ford Fusion Hybrid ... Honda Insight ... Toyota Prius ... Lexus HS 250h


News Headlines

• At California news conference, Toyota explains how engineering Professor's simulation of accelerator-pedal malfunction was "rigged" (3/8)
• Debuts at Geneva Motor Show include 2011 Nissan Optima, Nissan Juke, Maserati Quattroporte GT S Awards Edition (Automotive News, 3/1)
• Chrysler plans 15 reworked vehicles, prior to arrival of Fiat-based models (Autommotive News, 3/1)
• Saab will be sold to Spyker sports car company in the Netherlands, but Hummer appears headed for extinction (2/24)
• Availability of credit for car-buyers improving (Automotive News, 2/20)
• Nissan Leaf electric car will go on sale (or lease) starting in December (2/15)
• Porsche will unveil 911 GT3 R hybrid at Geneva Motor Show (2/15)
• Volvo will offer touch-screen backseat entertainment system with wi-fi (2/15)
• Toyota recalls 2010 Prius and Lexus HS 250h hybrids, to modify ABS software (2/11)
• Mexican president Felipe Calderon announces that Fiat 500 minicar will be manufactured in Toluca, near Mexico City, for sale in U.S. (2/10)
• Early in February, Toyota dealers are repairing faulty gas pedals of recalled vehicles (2/2)
• Toyota recalls 2.3 million vehicles, then suspends sales of eight model (1/26)



Tirekicking Today at the Tokyo Motor Show (October 2009)
Honda reveals coming-soon CR-Z sporty hybrid in concept form ... Mitsubishi shows i-MiEV electric cargo van and concept PX-MiEV ... Nissan exhibits motorcycle-like Land Glider ... Lexus unveils LFA supercar ... Toyota displays Prius plug-in hybrid, FT-86 concept ... Suzuki shows Swift plug-in hybrid and Alto concept ... Mazda exhibits scissor-door Kiyora concept, announces Sky-series engines ... Subaru reveals Hybrid Tourer concept ... Daihatsu features innovative basket utility model ... Lotus, Caterham, and BMW Alpina are the only non-Japanese automakers exhibiting.


Tirekicking Today editor Jim Flammang, a veteran independent auto journalist, contributes product reviews and feature articles to such publications as autoMedia.com and Kelley Blue Book. He has written extensively for a variety of major outlets, including J.D. Power, cars.com, and the Chicago Tribune. Flammang serves on the Board of Editors for In These Times magazine. The author of more than two dozen books also contributes to Consumer Guide publications.

Toil & Trouble

Turning to something completely different, Tirekicking Today is developing a new section on work and labor issues, along with consumer concerns, to augment our automotive coverage. Toil & Trouble builds upon the uncommon views expressed in Work Hurts, one of our Books in Progress. Please check the sampling below, starting with notable headline news items.
Headline News on Work/Labor
Overview: All too often, Toil Is Trouble (Updated: February 2010)
Where do workers stand now, financially? (Updated: March 2010)
Needed Now: Jobs, Not Careers (Updated: February 2010)
New Ways To Look at Work (Updated: February 2010)
Solidarity Forever? Are unions still needed?
Quit calling us consumers! (Updated: February 2010)
Let's break the chain of consumer debt (Updated: February 2010)

Coming Soon:
• Health Care reform: facts vs. fear and fiction
• Job Search shouldn't be a career in itself
• Traditional worklives no longer work
• No more bosses: Can you leave that job behind?
• UAW: Culprit or victim in automakers' woes?
• Prioritize! Living with Less and Liking It
• Reject! For some applicants, job search is futile exercise

"No man is good enough to be another man's master."
George Bernard Shaw,
in Major Barbara


Books in Progress

Jim Flammang, the author of more than two dozen books, is at work on several more. Outlines and excerpts may be seen by clicking on each title.
Steering Toward Oblivion is a caustically critical but humorous observation of the car culture and auto business.
Work Hurts questions the conventional wisdom on work and careers.
Hotel Life, subtitled "Living small in an age of large," assesses the satisfactions of simpler living and minimal consumption.
Absurdities: Lapses in logic and reason (coming soon) is a collection of stinging essays that gaze with disbelief at various aspects of modern life.


True Travel

During 2010, Tirekicking Today will be adding Travel stories to its selection of feature articles. Geared toward travelers on a budget, who prefer a suitcase to a backpack, our articles look at such issues as picking sensible hotels, deciding what to do in a new city, and the easiest ways to book trips. We'll emphasize blending into the community rather than spending valuable travel time among folks from back home. That includes staying at hotels favored by local people.

Here are some of the stories that will appear:
• Historic Hotels Don't Have to Break Your Budget
• What's Wrong With High-end Hotels?
• Even expert travelers can make mistakes
• Online Booking Saves Time, Money, Stress
• Is Mexican Travel Finished?
• Looking Back: Train Travel in Mexico
• Cheap Hotels: Horror or Delight?

City Views:
Mexico City hasn't lost its charms (2/27)
San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico (3/1)
• Tokyo
• Barcelona, Spain
• Palma (Mallorca)
• Paris
• Bruges, Belgium
• Luxembourg City
• Puebla, Mexico
• Veracruz, Mexico
• New York City
• San Francisco
• Miami
• Seattle
• Las Vegas

UPDATED: March 8, 2010

Tirekicking Today: Expert Automotive Views,
News, and Reviews ... now expanding beyond cars

Online since 1995, Tirekicking Today has presented a fresh and distinctive approach to the automotive world, including: Preview Drives of selected coming-soon models; Test Drives of current vehicles; feature stories of interest to car buyers and owners; plus automotive commentary with a distinct and tangy twist. Now, in 2010, the auto business is in crisis. In addition to sagging sales and hard-to-get credit, media outlets such as Tirekicking Today are affected adversely, too. Automakers are hosting fewer media drive programs to launch new models, and invitation lists to those that occur have shrunk sharply. Availability of test vehicles has diminished. Cutbacks are all around.

Although our coverage of cars will continue, it’s bound to lessen, at least for a while. Therefore, we expect to be writing more editorials and feature stories, and fewer reviews. In addition, we are broadening our scope. Tirekicking Today will be expanding coverage of work and labor issues, with an emphasis on new ways to look at jobs. (See Toil & Trouble in box at right). True Travel (bottom right), which emphasizes traveling like the locals on a modest budget, begins with a series of stories on Mexico.

Click here to see What's New for the 2010 Model Year
Click here for a full report on Detroit's 2010 auto show


Excerpt: 1955 - A Boom Year for Auto Sales

Sharp jump was due in part to new styling and options, but even more to prosperity and "easy payments"
The scramble to purchase new autos after World War II demonstrated how firmly entrenched the automobile had already become. Before the war, more than 29 million cars traversed the roads, owned by slightly more than half of American families. During the years following Allied victory, with cars again rolling off the assembly lines, those ownership figures rose steadily. Many who had managed without a car throughout the Depression now felt deprived without one; and returning veterans typically put a brand-new vehicle high up on their lists of goals.

Not surprising, then, is the fact that 1950 was a record sales year. Better than 6.6 million new autos found their way into the hands of eager buyers, bringing the number of registrations over the 40-million mark. It had taken a couple of years for the industry to catch up with demand, but by 1950 most folks who craved a new model could get one - provided they could pay for it. Imported cars like Swedish-built Saab 93 (pictured) began to attract buyers in the mid-1950s, but Detroit's "Big Three" and a few independent domestic makes ruled the American market.

Sales dropped somewhat in the next couple of years, though remaining healthy enough. Not until 1955 did another boom arrive, setting sales records that would endure for the next decade. An astonishing 7,920,186 new cars were sold - up 42 percent from the previous year - with seven out of ten families now enjoying the pleasures of auto ownership and spreading joy throughout the offices of Detroit. ...
Click for Complete 1955 story
See more Excerpts


Books in Progress: Editor Jim Flammang, author of more than two dozen books, is working on four more: Steering Toward Oblivion, Hotel Life, Work Hurts, and Absurdities. Each title views its subject from a similarly uncommon and lighthearted - yet serious - perspective. Also in the works: observations on society and major issues from Mr. Maurice, a stuffed pig who just happens to know everything. Flammang's biography of the Google founders, for fifth-graders, is available at bookstores. Three more books for youngsters were published in summer 2008.

Publishers Invited: Outlines and excerpts now are available online. Please see the box at center right. For further information, contact us at JF@tirekick.com.


   • 2011 Kia Sorento
   • 2010 Acura ZDX
   • 2010 GMC Terrain
   • 2010 Cadillac SRX
   • 2009 Audi Q5 (with 2010 update)
   • 2010 Acuras (TSX V-6, RDX, MDX)
   • 2010 Subaru Outback
   • 2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost
   • 2010 Subaru Legacy
   • 2010 Lexus HS 250h (hybrid)
   • 2010 Ford Taurus
   • 2010 Ford Taurus SHO
   • 2010 Kia Forte
   • 2010 Lexus IS convertible
   • 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
   • 2010 Toyota Prius
   • 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
   • 2010 Kia Soul
   • 2010 Volvo XC60
   • 2010 Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class
   • 2009 Nissan cube
   • 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI
   • 2009 Honda Fit
   • 2009 Acura TL
   • 2009 Kia Borrego
   • 2009 Hyundai Genesis
   • 2009 Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC diesel SUVs
   • 2009 Nissan Maxima
   • 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan
   • 2009 BMW X6
   • 2009 Hyundai Sonata
   • 2009 Subaru Forester
   • 2009 Acura TSX
   • 2009 Nissan Murano
   • • All Preview Drives

   • 2010 Lincoln MKZ
   • 2010 Suzuki Kizashi
   • 2010 Honda CR-V
   • 2010 Buick LaCrosse
   • 2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon
   • 2010 Chevrolet Equinox
   • 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid
   • 2010 Chevrolet Camaro (including SS update, added 2/10)
   • 2010 Lexus RX 350
   • 2010 Mazda3 hatchback
   • Special Drive: Ford Transit Connect van
   • 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid
   • 2009 Mazda MX-5 (Miata)
   • 2009 Nissan 370Z
   • Long Drive: 2009 BMW 328xi
   • 2009 BMW Z4
   • 2009 Mini Cooper S convertible
   • 2009 Volkswagen Routan
   • 2009 Volkswagen CC
   • 2009 Chrysler Hybrids
   • 2009 Chevrolet Traverse
   • 2009 Dodge Ram pickup
   • 2009 Toyota Venza
   • 2009 Dodge Challenger
   • 2009 Suzuki Equator
   • 2009 Mazda6
   • 2009 Lincoln MKS
   • 2009 Chrysler Aspen Hybrid
   • 2009 Ford Flex
   • 2009 Jaguar XF
   • 2009 Pontiac Vibe
   • 2009 Mitsubishi Galant
   • 2009 Dodge Journey
 • • All Vehicle Reviews


Highlights: 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show (December)
2011 Hyundai Sonata; Chevrolet Cruze; Mazda2; Ford Fiesta; Infiniti M; Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid; Volkswagen Up! Lite concept (diesel); Porsche Boxster Spyder ... Audi A3 TDI named Green Car of the Year

   • Highlights: 2010 North American International Auto Show (Detroit)
   • Preview: 2010 North American International Auto Show (Detroit)
   • Highlights: 2009 Tokyo Motor Show
   • Quick Appraisal: 2009 SEMA Show
   • Preview: 2009 Tokyo Motor Show
   • What's New for 2010 (updated 11/27)
   • Fuel-efficiency takes many forms
   • Highlights: 2009 New York Auto Show
   • Highlights: 2009 Chicago Auto Show
   • Highlights: 2009 North American International Auto Show (Detroit, January 2009)
   • Highlights: Paris Motor Show (Oct. 2008)
   • Special Drive: BMW Hydrogen 7 sedan
   • Preview: 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe
   • Over the Mountain: a cautionary tale of highway tragey, from Mexico
   • A visit to Mexican Volkswagen factory
   • Saab's Historic Vehicles in Action
   • Maserati at Road Atlanta
   • All Feature Articles

   • Idiots Rule: Social media shouldn't dictate product plans
   • Are auto ads changing tune?
   • Where are the "Detroit 3" headed now?
   • GM Goes Bankrupt
   • Red Light Cameras can snare safe drivers
   • Going Green isn't good enough
   • Detroit's Little Two?
   • Shrinking credit stymies auto sales
   • Is bailout an excuse to kill UAW?
   • Automaker bailout defies gamblers' rule
   • What happens when fuel prices retreat?
   • Simple Math: 0-60 = zero to silly
   • Auto Industry in Crisis
   • Street Racing on Primetime TV
   • Does bigger still equal better?
   • Where's the outcry over fuel prices?
   • Whatever happened to defensive driving?
   • Speed: They're Limits, Not Suggestions
   • Auto Ads: Push for Speed Turns to Shove
   • Too Many Car Buyers "Upside-Down"
   • Few Cars for Couch Potatoes
   • Are You Subprime?
   • Are Diesels the Answer?
   • Watch this space for new automotive observations.


For a harrowing tale, see our eyewitness account of tragedy on a Mexican mountain road.

Highlights: 2009 National Remarketing Conference
   • I: Market Trends
   • II: Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles
   • III: Used Car Valuations
   • IV: Trends in Used Vehicles
   • V: Pre-Owned Automobile Dealers Alliance

   • Auto History: 1955 - a boom year for auto sales
   • Is your clunker worth government cash?
   • Numbers Count in Used Car Search
   • KBB Explains Consumer Surveys
Please watch this space for helpful new Consumer Advice

Coming Soon:
• Highlights: Automotive News World Congress, plus China conference on electric cars
• Test Drives: 2010 Mazda6
• Features: How hybrids are selling ... Used cars are going strong ... Inside Ford Taurus and Kia plants
• Editorial: Who do car-shoppers trust for information?

Highlights: 2010 Chicago Auto Show:
2011 Ford Edge (and Sport); Transit Connect Electric and natural-gas taxi ... 2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD, plus Diamond Edition Suburban ... Furious Fuschia limited-edition Dodge Challengers ... 2011 Toyota Avalon (plus details on recalls/safety) ... Honda Odyssey concept ... Kia Ray concept ... Suzuki concept Kizashi ... GM´s Mark Reuss addresses media breakfast ... Chrysler/Fiat chief Sergio Marchionne cancels speech to Chicago Economic Club; replaced by design chief Ralph Gilles

All editorials, reviews and articles are available for reprinting.
Editors are invited to contact us for rates and full details.

TIREKICKING TODAY began in 1993 as a monthly print publication. Created by widely-known automotive writer/editor James M. Flammang and associate editor Marianne E. Flammang, it went on the Internet in 1995. Gerald E. Flammang serves as assistant editor. TIREKICKING TODAY gives consumers, enthusiasts, and industry leaders an abundant supply of valuable automotive information. New-vehicle reviews, editorial commentary, and feature articles are added regularly.

©All contents copyright 1997-2010 by Tirekicking Today.
Material may not be reused in any way without express permission from Tirekicking Today.
For information on reprinting and syndication rights,
please contact us at JF@tirekick.com.
If you would like a response to a question or comment, please provide your e-mail address.