Hello, my name is Daniel Susco, and welcome
to In the Rearview, where we bring you the
week’s car news, but this time with that
extra je ne sais quoi.
First up this week, we are met with a question,
as we ask, “Could GMC come out with a compact
crossover?”
Given that it doesn’t have one and everyone
else who has one is making bank on their sales,
including two other GM brands, I would say
“yeah, probably, and no surprise.”
Next, our favorite female automaker CEO Mary
Barra was left down one important posting
this week as President Trump dissolved his
Strategy and Policy Forum, apparently deciding
that he didn’t want to hear the opinion
of industry CEOs that much after all.
However, Barra just moved from one board to
another, as she was pretty promptly added
to the board of none other than the Walt Disney
Corporation, so I guess that counts as a step
up.
In news out of Japan, rumors are on the rise
that Toyota will start a new performance sub-brand
called, of all things, “Gazoo,” like that
little green guy from the Flintstones.
Why they would do that I’m not sure, since
that name still sounds goofy to me and the
brand already has a “TRD” or “Toyota
Racing Department” sub-brand here in the
states.
Meanwhile BMW has announced updates for its
i3 electric hatchback, with a redone exterior
and a new sport model that gives the i3 more
horsepower, but otherwise keeps it as a dauntingly
expensive, sub-100-mile electric car, so I
am going to personally call this one a swing
and a miss for the Bimmer.
And speaking of electric cars, Nissan has
announced it will be officially showing off
its new generation of Nissan LEAF at an event
in Detroit.
While I say it’s about dang time Nissan
got its butt in gear and revamped its decade-old
model, I hear rumors that the LEAF is still
only going to come with a range hovering around
100 to 150 miles, so you got a piece of the
ball, Nissan, but that sucker went straight
up and that catcher has a hungry look in his
eyes.
From baseball metaphors, we return to another
American pastime, discussing Donald Trump.
This time, our president has struck down an
Obama-era regulation that would have required
federally-funded projects like highways be
built to better resist floods.
I would think this should have been filed
under “something to hold off on for a while,”
given that another this to happen this week
was humongous flooding in Texas thanks to
Hurricane Harvey.
To be fair, Trump struck it down 10 days ahead
of the hurricane’s landfall, but still,
yeesh—not a good look.
Speaking of regulations, the European Union
has finally officially announced that it would
ditch its old, lax emissions test that let
hundreds of cars through to break the crap
out of their air emissions limits, and setting
up some new ones, rougher and tougher and
ready to stare concernedly up the tailpipe
of a diesel car.
Finally, from there we come back across the
pond to talk about Elio, that tiny car company
that so many people were excited about starting
in 2009, but that seems increasingly likely
to produce nothing but the t-shirts it sent
to its deposit-holders.
We checked up on the still-nascent company,
and it still looks like the brand is imminently
and unfortunately doomed.
Thank you for watching!
For more on any of these stories or for the
latest car news, visit us at The News Wheel,
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