Volvo Buses Go New Zealand

Looks like a good source of more finances and funding. And it really does look much like good money. Nothing bad there.
What am I talking about? Well, news have it that Volvo Buses has just received an order for some twenty new Volvo V7RLE city buses. Volvo Buses is the sister of Volvo Cars, a company that manufactures cars and other auto products like Volvo car parts and the whole lot.
Anyhow, the order for these twenty buses was actually straight from Auckland, New Zealand. Their customer is the Infratil Public Transport which makes use of city buses that make use of the Volvo engine technology which has been made just right so much so that it has met the emission standards in New Zealand. You see, the great deal here is that Volvo s engine technology can be said to be advanced for the emission standards would yet have to be effective in the year 2012. It may be some years away already but Volvo s client has made sure that as early as now, they would be coming in ready for the new emission standards.
Rune Lundberg is the head of Volvo Buses Region International and on this new update they received, he says, With this order, we have achieved a breakthrough in the country also with regard to city buses. I foresee favorable prospects for more orders. Sure enough, if such would be the new emission standards and Volvo has the right kind of city buses for it, then more and more orders may come pouring in for the manufacturer.
So what has these Volvo buses got? According to the company, they have used SRC technology and this is what is responsible for the sharp reduction of emission levels on their buses. This technology can be also considered as the technology that would bring in more sales for the company. You see, with SCR technology, Volvo can create buses that would be able to meet the Euro 5 standard on emissions regulations. The new Volvo buses have emissions levels that are 70-90% lower than today s city bus fleet in Auckland, explains Warren Cavel, the general manager of Volvo Buses.



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Honda to Unveil Next-Generation Honda Pilot and FCX Clarity at the NAIS

To welcome the New Year, Honda Motor Co. the producer of high quality Acura CL fender flares will introduce a prototype of its next-generation Pilot at the North American International Auto Show that will be held in Detroit in January 2008.
Autodata has reported that sales of the Honda Pilot have dropped this year by 22 percent to 106,743 vehicles through November as compared to the same period last year.
Aside from the next-generation Pilot, Honda also plans of showcasing its FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle and with these two new models the Japanese automaker is hoping to boost its sales by 2.5 percent by 2008.
Honda Expects Slow Sales Growth in the US And speaking of boosting sales, Honda is expecting for sales growth in the US by 3 percent or more for 2008 that is despite the fact that sales of new vehicles are slumping due to the slowing economy and decreasing consumer purchase that is according to a senior executive.
The executive vice president in charge of Honda s US operations, John Mendel said the he is expecting for industry-wide sales to drop to between 15.5 million and 16 million vehicles in the US next year the lowest tally since 1998.
Mr. Mendel also told Reuters in an interview, "It s going to continue to slow. I just don t know that we re going to get the big whack that doomsayers would predict."
It is not only Mr. Mendel that is having apprehensions about the coming year but same with other industry analysts and executives who have become very worried with the worsening condition of the housing industry aggravated by a spike in mortgage defaults that could greatly affect vehicle sale in 2008.
Despite all these threats, still Mr. Mendel is positive that both the vehicle industry as well as the US economy would start to improve in the second half of next year. This is also the very reason for the 3 to 4 percent projected sales growth by Honda. Mr. Mendel also said, "I think next year is probably on target for that. It seems to me that if you look back at our history we ve tended to prosper more than the rest when times were tough."
The automaker is also positive that even if American consumers would become more selective in their vehicle purchase they have the lineup that could meet up their needs in terms of overall fuel economy and maintaining resale values which according to Mr. Mendel are among the important considerations of shoppers right now.



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Automakers May No Longer Feature CD Players

The dash-mounted CD player could quickly go the way of 8-tracks and quadraphonic sound, a vice president from Siemens VDO said last Thursday at the Ward s Auto Interiors Show in Detroit.
And it will be a welcome demise because it will free up valuable real estate on the dash for all the other cool gizmos drivers lug around these days, like the cell phone, personal digital assistant and music player, said Frank Homann, the vice president of Siemens VDO s Interior Electronics Solutions group.
Never-ending advances in digital music devices, the take-them-everywhere cell phones and finicky customers who expect to customize their vehicles with portable devices, will push CD players out of most vehicles as early as 2012, said Homann.
Many manufacturers already are integrating new sound technologies in automobiles. The Chrysler Group has offered its U Connect system to give customers with Bluetooth phones to connect to a speaker phone in the car. The company recently launched the My Gig system. The said system will burn CDs to a 20 Gig hard drive in the dash.
"There are systems that cost thousands of dollars, while Bluetooth offers a highly successful voice recognition system and hands-free phone capabilities for much, much less," said Jack Withrow, the director of vehicle entertainment and communications for DaimlerChrysler. "Bluetooth chips are becoming inexpensive, and I expect prices to continue to fall."
The UConnect system, installed in the dashboard, serves as the mobile phone s voice-activated dialer, speaker, and audio receiver. The phone can be placed anywhere in the car while the console serves as a cellular conduit as the driver s voice dials and speaks through the UConnect system in the dashboard.
Aside from Chrysler, Ford, BMW, Saab, General Motors, Mercedes and Toyota are also into Bluetooth connectivity. The Ford Motor Co. will introduce its Sync system later this year. It connects a driver s phone to the vehicle, as well as allows an iPod or other music device to be controlled by the car s stereo. It will also play music saved on a flash drive by connecting to a USB port in the car.
BMW s Bluetooth offering will assume the same basic phone-to-dashboard based function as Chrysler s UConnect. Saab s initial application, however, could be just the beginning, Doug Blank said. "The technology is zooming. I assume it will turn into things where cars can download software into car by sitting down in the vehicle with a laptop to download the software. The flexibility of Bluetooth is not restrictive to just cell phones and headsets. Saab is also planning on allowing navigation systems to link with PDAs, Blank added.
The hype of Bluetooth connectivity is accelerating as fast as it could that even EBC Active Brakes Direct could not put it to a halt. "Bluetooth has become a worldwide standard, which has made it more cost effective by definition," said Joyce Putscher, the director of the consumer and converging markets and technologies group for In-Stat in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Chris Dragon, the director of marketing for audio company Harmon/Kardon, said that he does not see carmakers opening their dashes to just any devices. "(Automakers) make a lot of money on those technology packages that include CD players and other things," Dragon said. "I don t see them opening up their electrical architecture to outside people any time soon."
Many of the changes in future interiors will start in the more nimble aftermarket arena, Dragon said. Automakers could save between $20 and $40 a vehicle if they eliminated CD players, noted Homann. They also could save money in other ways, such as consolidating some of the electronics behind the dashboard, he noted. But all of this will definitely take time.



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Buying Your First Classic Car

For most people, owning classic or vintage cars is a dream-come true. Owning classic cars are considered a luxury. It is very expensive and most people cannot afford to buy one, much more to restore one.
If you are considering buying a classic car, you should first think about your budget, how much are you willing to spend on these antique machines? There are some people who spend their saving just to own one.
Vintage cars can also be an investment. After you restore one, the market value of the car would be better than you imagined. Depending on its model and condition, classic cars can be a potential profit maker.
These classics are usually sold in auctions and there are many classic car enthusiasts out there willing to spend a fortune on these cars.
However, before buying one you should consider the following:
Keep in mind that what you want to buy would be described as a collector car.
Decide what car fits your budget. This will probably eliminate those vintages you drool about in major car shows, unless you are very rich. Just one of those cars you see in major car shows can cost you at least hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Researching on where to buy classic cars is not easy. You have to spend a lot of time and effort just by searching one of these cars. Remember that these cars are not manufactured anymore and you do not often see these on your regular used car dealership.
You would probably find one on junk yards or on old people s houses that do sell or throw these classics away. You can even get them with a bargain price. However, these cars are probably covered with rust already and have engines that are in bad shape.
Another good way to look for a classic car is by going to auctions. If you can afford to travel, take time to go to car auctions in different places.
This will give you a chance to offer a bargain for it. You can also opt for a classic car that is in good condition and less restoration will be required.
If you found what you were looking for, compare them. If you are a mechanic you can probably do the comparison yourself, if not, try to bring your trusted mechanic along to help you decide which one to buy. Always remember that the less restoration required the better.
After purchasing the car, the next step would be restoring it. Be prepared to spend a lot of time and money on this phase, since good car parts for classic cars are hard to come by and are usually very expensive to manufacture.
Obtaining the car parts necessary for restoration will be very time consuming and will require you to make many calls in shops that sells antique car parts. One way of easily obtaining classic car parts is by searching in the Internet.
Here, you can obtain hard-to-find parts for the model of your car.
If you do not find one, you can ask a machine shop to manufacture one for you. All you have to do is bring the old part to the shop and they will do the rest.
If you don t know much about repairing cars, much more restoring it, it is probably best if you hire a mechanic to do the restoration or go to one of those classic car restoration shops. These kinds of shops are usually very expensive and not recommended if you bought the car for investment purposes.
This is because some classic cars restored are valued less than what it costs to do the restoration.
After the restoration and paying huge bills for the mechanic or restoration shops, you can now fully enjoy your vintage car for years to come.



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