KEY POINTS:
A standout sedan from 40 years ago, found in a shed on a farm across the ditch, goes up for grabs in Sydney in a couple of weeks. The 1969 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL was considered the fastest four-door on the planet back then. It used a 6.3-litre fuel-injected V8
engine producing 224kW at 4000rpm and 500Nm of torque from 2800rpm, and came with air suspension borrowed from the company's larger 600 series limousine. Auction house Shannons says the one-owner sale car has 147,600km on the clock and is in good condition, apart from suspension hoses and seals. It comes with the original owners' manual and service books and is expected to fetch between A$3000 ($3735) and A$5000.
* * *
Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, the carmakers that for years were known as Detroit's Big Three, are now jokingly referred to as the "Beg Three" after they sought emergency loads from the US Government. Meanwhile, GM is no longer calling itself the world's largest carmaker, a claim it has made for the last 77 years. GM sales last year fell 10.8 per cent to 8.36 million vehicles, about 616,000 units behind the 8.97 million reported this week by Toyota. GM will now refer to itself as "one of the world's largest carmakers", said company spokesman John McDonald.
* * *
New Toyota president Akio Toyoda has a record of pushing through unpopular decisions. Before e-commerce was a buzz word, he pioneered Toyota's online business initiative using his own money to start Gazoo.com, an online referral service offering information about car features, sticker prices and finance plans. Now the carmaker hopes consumers will return to Gazoo when they want to buy a car.
* * *
GM product chief Bob Lutz has described its Saab subsidiary as "a luxury we can no longer afford". GM is reportedly preparing to turn Saab into a separate company again. It must declare its plans for Saab by February 17, when it lays out its business plan for US government loans. Saab has reportedly cost GM around US$800 million a year since it bought the company in 2000. The future of Sweden's other carmaker Volvo also remains uncertain. Ford boss Alan Mulally has said he has held talks with several bidders. But the Swedish Government isn't one of them.
* * *
Checker Motors, the car parts company that once produced the famous-in-New-York Checker taxi, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The 87-year-old company makes metal stampings and welded assemblies.
* * *
Most carmakers at the Detroit motor show said they will spend less on marketing this year. The exception is Audi - it will spend 15 per cent more on marketing this year than it did last year, says the German company's chief US marketing man Scott Keogh. "If the industry is generally locking the brakes by cutting [advertising] spending, then [sales and image] gains that may have taken five to six years we may be able to make in two to three."
* * *
California hybrid carmaker Tesla Motors is working with Daimler AG to create an electric version of the Smart car. CEO Elon Musk said the first electric Smart would be released late this year or early next.
* * *
Some Japanese carmakers are talking of pulling out of this year's Tokyo motor show, citing the huge cost of setting up a display in a projected gloomy sales year. Some want the show cancelled.
* * *
Elizabeth Shelton, 21, had had too much to drink when she crashed into the rear of a truck in Houston, Texas. Her boyfriend died in the accident and she was convicted of manslaughter. Now she is suing the uninsured truck driver for pain and suffering and US$20,000 worth of damage to her Lexus SUV. The Houston Chronicle says Shelton's dad is a Texas judge.
alastair.sloane@nzherald.co.nz
