You don’t see this happen very often, it will be interesting to watch for the outcome.  In a highly unusual move for an automaker, Chrysler is fighting a request from the federal government to recall 2.7 million Jeep vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) asked Chrysler to recall the Jeep models in question because of concerns the fuel tank may leak and contribute to deadly fires if the vehicles are hit in a rear-impact crash.

Chrysler is still formulating a formal response for the federal government, but already started disputing the need for a recall in a press release Tuesday.

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The 2015 looks even better than the amazing 2014! While we’re gushing over the dramatic coupe styling of the 2014 CLA, this cramped, front-wheel-drive entry-level model isn’t going to lead Mercedes-Benz sedan sales. That job, as it’s been since the original 190E, belongs to the more conventional C-Class.

But for 2015, Mercedes is following some of the more radical design of its fresh CLA, especially with its sportier interior fitted with the same air vents that debuted on the SLS supercar a few years earlier and now are migrating to all Mercedes models.

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This looks like a great car! Hyundai has one mission with the next Genesis sedan: Shed the generic design and get luxury buyers to actually consider buying one.

Hyundai’s South Korean headquarters has released renderings of the 2015 model, set to go on sale in the U.S. sometime next spring. The new car, if the renderings are at all close to production, takes cues from the HCD-14 Genesis Concept that debuted in January at the North American.

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What a great looking little sports car! We’ve been without Honda’s high-revving S2000 roadster for five years now. That’s five years without any Honda sports car in the lineup, and while there’s no word if this mini white 2-seater will come to our shores, it will be on display at next month’s Tokyo Motor Show.

Word around the blogosphere is that the S660 designation means it has a 660-cc engine, which is the displacement limit for kei cars, a class of micro vehicles that enjoy tax breaks and are allowed to park in Tokyo without the owner providing proof of a dedicated parking space.

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This is going to cost them a ton of money! Days after the federal government opened an investigation into the 2009 Hyundai Genesis for failing brakes, Hyundai has decided to recall about 27,500 of the luxury sedans from the 2009-2012 model year, according to Hyundai.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had received at least 23 complaints from owners that their brakes had become weak and the brake pedal had gone soft, which caused one owner to rear-end a car and another to apply the parking brake as an emergency measure.

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In a better to be safe-than-sorry move, General Motors has stopped running dealer-incentive programs in New Hampshire in response to a new law requiring automakers to disclose more information about the programs.

GM told its 24 New Hampshire dealers this week that it “will not offer any new dealer sales programs in New Hampshire,” including so-called stair-step programs or other contests that award dealers bonus money for hitting factory-set sales targets.

The move strikes back against a dealer-backed law that took effect this week requiring automakers to provide dealers with advance, written details about their sales incentive programs. The provision requires automakers to explain how they calculated each dealer’s sales target and to disclose the targets of all dealers in the state.

GM contends that the measure will hamstring its ability to quickly respond to market conditions. If GM wants to run a stair-step program on the Chevrolet Malibu to fend off fresh incentives on rival mid-sized sedans, for example, the dealer notifications would delay the move, GM says.

“If we have to build into our timeline the need to share details with and notify all of the dealers about the program, that potentially tips our hand and takes away our ability to respond quickly,” GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney said.

Advance notice

Some other states require automakers to disclose details about how they arrive at dealer objectives, but only upon the dealer’s request. New Hampshire is the only state where automakers must automatically provide advance notice and a written explanation of the program, Carney said.

Under stair-step programs, automakers typically set monthly unit-sales targets for certain models and pay dealers escalating bonuses as they hit pre-determined thresholds above those targets. Dealers often complain that their sales bogeys are ambiguous.

The disclosure provision was one of several changes that took effect this week under revisions to New Hampshire’s Dealer Bill of Rights law. Other new measures include one that prohibits automakers from requiring dealers to remodel their facilities more often than every 15 years, and one that limits factory audits on incentives or warranty claims paid to dealers to a maximum of nine months after payment.

Carney said GM’s decision to pull dealer sales programs was a response only to the disclosure requirement.

‘Shouldn’t be difficult’

Peter McNamara, president of the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association, which lobbied for the changes, believes GM is balking at the requirement for greater transparency. He says notifying dealers of programs in advance and disclosing details “shouldn’t be difficult to do since the manufacturers create the program themselves.”

“Dealers want to know that the manufacturer isn’t simply throwing a dart at a board” to determine their objectives, McNamara said. “If there is a good rationale for why one dealership has a 50-unit objective and another has 25, why not disclose it?”

One New Hampshire dealer who requested anonymity said he believes the disappearance of GM’s dealer incentive money “will cost sales” for GM dealers in the state. He said dealers are worried about losing customers to stores in adjacent states, such as Vermont and Maine, where GM’s stair-step money will continue to flow.

By Mike Colias at www.autonews.com

It seems mid-sized cars are cruising along at a nice clip, with compacts also moving nicely.  Car and light truck sales in the U.S. were up 15 percent for the first half of 2012 compared with the first half of 2011, Automotive News says. Midsize cars were stronger than ever, with the five best-selling models in this category up 23 percent to 804,468 for the period. Dealers used heavy incentives to clear their lots of models replaced this fall, including the Honda Accord, Nissan

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Really looking forward to this smart move by Hyundai! Hyundai intends to put its fuel-cell Tucson into what executives call, oxymoronically, “small-scale mass-production.” By 2015, total production will have reached 1000 units, mostly for Europe. After 2015, the aim is to ramp output further, the company’s European boss saying it could be “up to 10,000 units a year after 2015, mostly for California and Europe, provided the market and infrastructure are up to it.”The car will be built on the regular Tucson assembly line in Ulsan, Korea. It will be lease-only to selected fleets, at launch. After 2015, it will be made available for private buyers, at a projected $52,000.

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