A Different Kind of Car Company

[Jonathan Whatley]

Hey, it's a distance learning Graduate Certificate in Electric Machines and Drives from Missouri University of Science & Technology! Including EE 401, Electric and Hybrid Vehicles. And this one in CAD/CAM and Rapid Product Realization might help getting the next great electric car out of prototype within some of our lifetimes...

[Jonathan Whatley]

The Penske acquisition of Saturn is off, and the company and its dealer network are set to wind down. Even after the dealer network closes, Saturn owners will be able to receive dealer service at GM shops.

[Jonathan Whatley]

And hey, it's an equally distance learning or on-the-ground Master of Engineering Emphasizing Hybrid Vehicle Engineering from Michigan Tech University.

[John Bear]

Yesterday we bit -- well, gnawed a little, anyway on -- the bullet. Realized we just can't forgive GM for taking away our EV-1. So we officially gave up on waiting for the Chevy Volt. And the pure electric Prius. And determined that Volvo's electric is at least two years away . . . maybe more, now that Ford is selling Volvo to the Chinese.

So we signed up for Volvo's factory delivery scheme, just as we did 13 years ago. The car costs 8% less than the local price. Volvo provides two free round trip air tickets to Sweden, 3 nights in a swank hotel, a private factory tour, a bowl of meatballs, a month of insurance to drive around Europe, and then they ship it home free (including paying the customs/duty). And there is an everything-is-covered 5 year warranty. And amazing new safety features, like the in-dash camera that focuses on the driver and analyzes eye blinks and sounds an alarm if the driver is dozing. And a remote heartbeat sensor that tells you, from 100 meters away, if someone is in your car. And two rear-facing cameras in the outside mirrors that warn you if there are cars in the blind spots. And swiveling headlights, just like the 1948 Tucker. What fun.

[Rich Douglas]

BMW has a similar program. What's cool is you can drive your new car on the Autobahn for a week or so, have it shipped to South Carolina, pick it up there, then drive it home on America's anemic freeways.

Three BMWs and I still haven't done it. But it looks like fun.

[major56]

As well does Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) and Porsche, e.g., thru their European Delivery Program. The programs have been around for many years to theoretically promote European travel.

[major56]

The Penske acquisition of Saturn is off, and the company and its dealer network are set to wind down. Even after the dealer network closes, Saturn owners will be able to receive dealer service at GM shops.

Penske Automotive Group only wanted the distributorship rights from GM; not the manufacturing element (e.g., who really wants to deal with the UAW). Penske would have been required to find another third-party manufacturer (e.g., Renault /re WSJ) to make new Saturns in 2011. “The risk was sourcing product and that proved to be too much to overcome to complete the deal" (re Edmonds.com).

[John Bear]

major56: "...who really wants to deal with the UAW..."

John: Well me, for instance. As it happens, for years, as a free lance writer, the only good and affordable health insurance I could get was through the National Writers Union, which operates, improbably, as a 'local' of the UAW: Local 1981. So it had the clout of UAW and the special needs of writers.