Car guys, and I am one, have some blind spots.  We want more car than we really need or can use, and we think we’re better drivers than we really are.  Those blind spots make us poor judges of what most people want or need and of the cars that the automotive industry should be [...]

Typically when we think of advanced electronics in cars most of us think that the new technology is only in the high-end cars like the Mercedes S-Class. This is changing and Ford Motor Company is pushing the envelope with the new 2010 Taurus.
The 2010 model has added a bundle of nifty electronics for safety that [...]

Gasoline or electric?  Hybrid or plug-in.  Lithium ion or fuel cell?  What will we be driving?  It depends on the supply of oil, the price of gasoline, global warming, battery technology and more; but, whatever the outcome, there’s opportunity for semiconductors.Â
Automobile sales are beginning a recovery from a disastrous slump.  Sales will increase more than [...]

In July Semico published a blog, “GM should kill the Corvette.  That blog generated a heavy reader response, much of it defending the Corvette and its pushrod technology.  Having read the responses, I still think the Corvette uses highly-developed but archaic technology; but I also believe that the reasons why GM should kill the Corvette have to do with marketing, [...]

The Corvette is an American icon, the only American car capable of competing with exotic, imported sports carts; but GM should kill it.  The screams of legions of irate Corvette lovers can be heard in the background; but GM should ignore that and kill the Corvette.  One reason is that it uses antiquated technology, developed [...]

Whoever is making product decisions about Chrysler models in the new Fiat/Chrysler company has a problem they need to fix.
On a recent trip to the Bay Area I drove a rental car, a Chrysler Sebring LX Convertible with a 2.4 liter DOHC four-cylinder engine and a four-speed automatic transmission.  It was underpowered.  It understeered badly [...]

Is this the future of the automobile industry?  The Captain, Roger Penske, CEO of PAG (Penske Automotive Group), is buying a car company; but he is not buying the whole company.  Instead, he is buying only the Saturn distribution network and the rights to the Saturn brand.  Under the terms of the agreement GM would [...]

In the middle of a financial crisis, automobile makers worldwide are facing an enormous gamble.  While sales and profits are at a low point, they are being forced by events to invest in hybrid electric vehicles that have an unproven demand.Â
Taxpayers are angry.  They believe that their tax money is being used to rescue car [...]

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Picking on US automakers today seems like piling on, but I have a beef.  Why do US companies always seem to be the last companies in the world to adopt new automotive electronic technologies?  There are many examples, but two will suffice.  In the mid nineties it was J1850 for multiplexing.  The world was [...]

Who could have imagined Chrysler Corp. being rescued by Fiat?  When Fiats last appeared in the US automobile market, they were viewed by most US drivers as quirky little cars from Italy with maintenance problems.Â
I owned a Fiat 124 Sport Coupe during the late sixties.  For the time, it was a great car.  It had [...]