In Europe and other markets, Honda offers its Accord with both 2.0 and 2.4L gasoline powered engines, as well as a 2.2L four-cylinder i-DTEC turbo-diesel. This same car is to be offered in the U.S. as the Acura TSX.
Due to skyrocketing oil prices and increased competition from large retail grocery store and super stores, profit has become almost nonexistent. This has forced the Irving oil giant Exxon Mobile to pull the plug on the fuel retail business in the U.S. The company announced that 2,200 service station across the country will be put up for sale.
Ferrari is recalling 366 612 Scagliettis due to a defect in their F1 transmissions. A faulty sensor causes the the transmission components to overheat causing the transmission to fail. A clutch sensor inside the transmission is at fault for the failure. According to Ferrari, the faulty sensor results in unmonitored heat build-up that then causes the clutch assembly itself to malfunction, making shifting very difficult. 366 of the cars sold between 2005 and 2007 and equipped with the F1 transmission are affected.
In 2003 when Lamborghini introduced the ‘entry level’ Gallardo, they had fears that it would dilute the brand’s aura of exclusivity. Five years later, the Gallardo is the main reason Lamborghini has been able to keep its head above water. After the seeing the success of the Gallardo, Lamborghini has decided to make a more extreme varient, just as it did with the Murcielago LP640.
The future of Mercury, one of Ford’s subsidiary brands, is once again in question. The Lincoln Mercury National Dealer Counsel has already started prying at Ford for details about the brand’s future. Ford and the Lincoln Mercury National Dealer Council are meeting in September to discuss the issue, but so far Mercury’s future looks grim. The only additions to the Mercury product line are a hybrid Milan, and a refresh to the gasoline powered version. The lack of product planning has analyst Jim Hossack predicting that Ford is not planning to kill Mercury, but rather “let it die”.