Venezuela and Iran

OPEC is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a cartel which decides how much oil is produced, and at what price it is sold. The US has lost its ability to influence OPEC members because of the Iraq War and the presence of anti-US countries like Venezuela and Iran in the cartel, which have formed an alliance of their own.

Keeping oil prices high has allowed both these countries to become very rich. According to Bloomberg, Venezuela's $182 billion economy has expanded an average of more than 12 percent in the past four years -- the highest growth rate among Latin America's biggest economies. Despite the high oil prices Venezuela and Iran sell gas to their citizens at very cheap rates.


In Venezuela the price of gas is 12 cents a gallon, while Iran provides it at 42 cents a gallon. The Iranian price is actually a 20% increase from the original low price; Iran also introduced rationing of fuel last year, limiting most Iranians to 26 gallons of gasoline per month. And this was only because Iran lacks the capacity to refine all of its petroleum into gasoline for consumption, although it is the fourth largest crude oil producer in the world.

Still 42 cents a gallon is way better than most other countries!

The income from high oil prices has not benefitted both countries. While government subsidizes fuel prices, inflation has hit other essential goods like food. Inflation in Venezuela is at a staggering 29% while in Iran it is a comparable 24%!

What this means is that price-controlled staples are often in short supply in Venezuela. Beef production declined last year even as consumer demand surged. As per Bloomberg:

With inflation taking an increasing toll on Venezuelans' savings, durable goods such as automobiles have become popular products in which to sink cash. The Mazda3 and Ford Fiesta are among the hottest imports. Car sales last year rose 43 percent to 491,899, with imports alone jumping 81 percent. Among the reasons: Venezuela is a nation of car lovers, and driving is cheap. Subsidies keep a gallon of gasoline at about 17 U.S. cents compared with the U.S. average of $3.69 as of May 9. In addition, first-time buyers can get a tax rebate on certain small models.

Iran has the largest auto industry in the Middle-East; Iran Khodro and Saipa are Iran's biggest carmakers. However their car plants are old, and auto parts had to be imported at high prices. But now with Iran rich because of soaring oil prices, international auto giants such as PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Kia, Hyundai, and Fiat have teamed with Iranian auto companies.

Iran Khodro's Samand is based on a Peugeot 405 platform. It is regarded as Iran's new national car, with more than 300,000 cramming Iran's roads since its introduction last year. China's Jinhua Youngman Auto and Iran Khodro, will launch the X12 priced lower than 100,000 yuan ($14,300) is scheduled to hit the Chinese market in early 2009.

Venezuela and Iran formed a joint auto company named Venirauto, which is 51% Iranian and 49% Venezuelan, with engines and technology that the Iranians borrowed from their dealings with European auto-makers. Last year Venirauto released its first 300 units, made up of two car models, the Turpial (base price of $7,906) a 4-door sedan and the Centauro (base price of $11,069).

The Turpial cars, from Day Life. But if the Venezuelans are buying up American models, this joint production has not been that successful. And because of the high demand for cars/SUVs, prices of vehicles actually increase with time, defying all economic logic!

Read More......

Tata Nano competition

We are living in the era of small urban cars and the small car concept is here to stay, as seen in the list of top ten cheapest cars in the US. But in other countries the concept of a "small car" is quite literal....just see the very small car, the Tata Nano:


And now other car companies are creating competition for the Nano by bringing out more small cars in India.

Business India
Vishal Krishna

With Bajaj, Renault and Nissan signing a joint venture recently to manufacture a small car for $2,500 (Rs 1 lakh), the segment will have its second entrant by 2011. Although we haven’t seen one on the roads yet, there is a lot of exuberance about the small car and its market prospects. The segment has captured the imagination of car makers such as Toyota and Skoda.

For players such as Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto, who also have financing arms combined with wide distribution networks, the small car could be a success story. Analysts say that small, fuel-efficient vehicles are here to stay; especially with crude oil prices hovering above $100 per barrel.

The Nano and it's competiton in the small car market have a huge and growing potential, given that car penetration levels in India is nine vehicles for every 1,000 people and given the growth in economy, people’s aspiration for a better lifestyle, and their changing tastes and preferences.

Analysts also feel that safety standards will vary with the build of the vehicle. In India, where top speed of a smaller vehicle is limited to 140 kmph, the policies related to full frontal car crashes and side impacts will be softer in comparison to that of developed markets. They also point out that pollution norms will not be an issue either as a smaller engine would mean a lesser polluting vehicle and most of these cars will comfortably get a Euro IV or Euro III certification.

Read More......

Girl racers in Nascar

A girl racer creates history by becoming the first female driver to win an Indycar championship....that was Danica Patrick at the Indy Japan 300 Race last month. And then Melanie Troxel won the NHRA drag racing (nitro class) titles this Sunday night (May 19). That leaves girl racers in the Nascar championships to break down that final barrier for girls in the sport of car racing.

Canadian Press

Female competitors are no longer a sideshow in most forms of racing, except in NASCAR, that is. As the most celebrated day in motorsports approaches this week, the differences in gender equality have never been more profound. Danica Patrick headlines a trio of three women who will compete Sunday in the Indianapolis 500, but NASCAR won’t have a single woman in its showcase Coca-Cola 600 later that day or in any of the NASCAR-sanctioned events spanning 10 days of racing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Three decades after Janet Guthrie became the first woman to race in the 600, NASCAR still boasts all-male fields at its premier Sprint Cup level. In fact, no woman has raced in the 600 since Guthrie, and the Cup series has not had a female racer since Shawna Robinson ran seven events in 2002.

"I don’t think it’s something NASCAR is really concerned about. A female driver is not something they really need," said veteran racer Mike Wallace. "For a while, a lot of people thought it was a novelty. And I’ve had people close to me say ‘Girls can’t drive.’ Well, maybe they can’t. But maybe there are one or two who can, and we just need to give them a chance."

Wallace speaks not as a driver with 605 career starts spanning NASCAR’s top three series, but as the father of a 20-year-old female racer who dreams of someday making it to the Cup Series. Although she has just one career start in the Truck Series, Chrissy Wallace has taken over the role as NASCAR’s best bet to make it to the big time.

She’s doing it on her own, piecing together a schedule of seven planned truck races this year for Germain Racing. She was a respectable 18th in her debut at tricky Martinsville Speedway and hopes improvement over her next several races will lead to the funding she needs to run a full schedule next season.

"You have to have decent finishes and win races to attract a sponsor," Chrissy Wallace said. "If we don’t get one, we’re probably only going to be able to do a limited schedule next season. It’s all based on performance."

"The issue we have to confront is one of preparation," said Marcus Jadotte, who oversees NASCAR’s diversity issues. "We need to get more young women involved at a young age and hold that interest so their developmental path is that of a normal young male driver."

NASCAR recently began a financial partnership with World Karting Association to help fund opportunities for young female and minority drivers through its Drive for Diversity program. The sanctioning body recognizes capturing the interest of a young driver and holding it until they reach NASCAR’s minimum participation age of 16 can be difficult, and providing opportunities for development at the karting level is a start.

The current nine-member D4D program has three women in it, but Kristin Bumbera, Katie Hagar and Lindsey King all are competing on much lower levels of NASCAR-sanctioned racing. Chrissy Wallace didn’t consider racing a possible career until three years ago, and she’s been playing catch-up ever since. Although she’s won at every level, the sponsorship needed to continue her career isn’t pouring in. It has helped that she has a famous last name and connections but there’s still a stigma that exists among major corporations with money to spend on sponsorship.

Companies might shy away from sponsoring a woman because there’s no proven record of success among female racers in NASCAR. Others might simply be gun shy after Erin Crocker became involved with Ray Evernham, her car owner. Crocker acknowledged the relationship stalled the sponsorship she needed to continue her career at the top level, and Wallace said she believes other women are feeling the affects.

"People question if that’s going to be the same thing that happens with me, but we’re two totally different people," said Wallace, who considers herself friendly with Crocker. "It’s kind of unfair that all female drivers are often based on her experiences. There’s a lot of female drivers out there who are talented and work hard."

Read More......

Top Ten Cheapest

Forbes is known for publishing annual lists of the richest, the most powerful, and the most influential people in the world....including supermodels! It would never come out with a list of the poorest, the most satisfied, or the most enlightened people in the world, would it? But when it comes to cars, and in the context of rising oil and commodity prices, the looming sceptre of pollution and climate change, ForbesAuto has come out with a list of the top ten cheapest cars to own.

The criteria for deciding the cheapest cars were more than just the base cost; it covered fuel economy, maintenance and repair costs, interest and insurance, as well as opportunity costs. The last is the amount you would've earned if the money paid for that car would have instead been invested in certificates of deposit.


1 The cheapest car in the list is the Toyota Yaris Liftback, with a base price of $11,350, and a five-year cost of ownership of $30,820. It has a fuel economy of 36mpg.


2 Honda Fit is priced at $13,950 with a five-year cost of ownership reaching $31,821. It has the lowest maintenance and repair costs among these top 10 and a fuel economy over 30mpg.

3 The Chevrolet Aveo5 is actually the cheapest car in the list with a base price of $10,235, but its high rate of depreciation, and the repair and maintenance costs increase the five-year cost of ownership to $32,059.

4 Nissan Versa S has a high base price of $12,730 but its low insurance premiums reduce the five-year cost of ownership to $32,261, at par with the top of the list Toyota Yaris Liftback.


5 Hyundai Accent GS has a low base price of $10,775 but because it has no resale value (like the Chevrolet Aveo5) its five-year cost of ownership increases to $32,314.


6 Dodge Caliber SE has a base price of $14,000 and a five-year cost of ownership at $32,736.

7 Kia Rio costs only $10,890 but due to high depreciation rate its five-year cost of ownership comes to $32,750.

8 The Chevrolet Cobalt LS has high fuel expenses of 24mpg in the city and 33mpg on the highway. It's base price is also high at $13,925, but due to the low cost of repair and maintenance the five-year cost of ownership comes to $33,362.


9 Scion xD is another of Toyota's babies with a base price at $14,550 and a five-year cost of ownership at $33,486. It has a low cost of operations.

10 The Honda Civic DX sedan has the highest cost price of $15,010 in this top ten list; it's low depreciation is balanced by high insurance cost, which together with the base price push the five-year cost of ownership to $33,759 at the bottom of the top ten cheapest cars list.

Read More......

Hype about Hydrogen

Every car company is bringing out a hydrogen-fuel or hydrogen hybrid cars. There is similar enthusiasm for electric cars and gas-electric hybrids, but not as much as for hydrogen, because these modified vehicles add components like batteries and electric motors etc. to the car which increase their manufacturing costs. Hydrogen fuel cells have a very simple engine, which has auto giants all giddy with expectations about the future of their companies. Even struggling Italian auto giant Fiat unveiled a hydrogen concept car, called the Fiat Panda, seen above. The name is significant, since the Panda is the symbol of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Then there are the celebrities and hydrogen cars; like Jay Leno and Arnold Schwarzenegger prominent among them, who are enthusiastically pushing for the creation of a hydrogen economy to replace the oil economy of the last century. But is there too much hype about hydrogen fuel?



Wired
Chuck Squatriglia

President Bush, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the big automakers agree on this much: They love hydrogen-powered fuel cell technology and its promise of a zero-emission, petroleum-free future.

Unfortunately, experts say it will be 40 years or more before hydrogen has any meaningful impact on gasoline consumption or global warming, and we can't afford to wait that long. In the meantime, fuel cells are diverting resources from more immediate solutions.

"As a climate strategy, it's not very good," said Dr. Joseph Romm, executive director of the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions and author of The Hype About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate. "We don't have the time."

In the short and medium term, however, other technologies offer far greater benefit at far less cost: Cleaner internal combustion engines, hybrids and plug-in hybrids.

To some extent, politicians and policymakers recognize that hydrogen remains a long way off, which is one reason the California Air Resources Board has told automakers to build 58,000 plug-in hybrids by 2014. And automakers are building cleaner gasoline and diesel engines while developing hybrids. But the emphasis remains squarely on hydrogen.

Many hurdles remain to be cleared before hydrogen is a viable source of energy -- not the least of which are making, storing and distributing it on a large scale. Meeting these challenges will require, in the words of several hydrogen proponents, a "Manhattan Project"-level of research and funding. And we're a long way from the hydrogen economy President Bush envisioned in his 2003 State of the Union.

There are 175 fuel cell vehicles in California and more coming.

There are roughly 240 million vehicles in America and about 16 million new vehicles sold each year. That means it takes about 15 years to turn over the fleet. But it takes even longer for new technologies to penetrate the market. After 10 years, hybrids accounted for just 2.2 percent of domestic auto sales last year. Run the numbers and Heywood estimates fuel cell vehicles will need 25 years to make up 35 percent of new vehicle sales and 20 years beyond that to get to 35 percent of the U.S. fleet.

Read More......

Celebrities and hydrogen

Celebrities and the environment. A study by MIT suggests that America's carbon footprint, even by those following a green lifestyle, is twice as heavy as the world average. This is because green enthusiasts, like rich celebrities, may save fuel by driving hybrids but they increase energy use by owning multiple houses, luxury goods, and by availing of air travel. But still celebrities remain the biggest market and brand for publicizing green living.

For this reason BMW, which produced a hydrogen fuel vehicle two years ago, decided to give 100 of these to celebrities. The original BMW7 Hydrogen, which ran on gasoline and hydrogen, has now been replaced by the BMW7 Hydrogen Mono-Fuel.

Fuel Cell Works

BMW announced that the influential J.D. "Dave" Power III, founder of J.D. Power and Associates and board member of Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc., is the latest high-visibility eco-friendly ambassador to receive keys to a BMW Hydrogen 7 - the first hydrogen-powered luxury sedan. Power is the most recent member of the BMW Hydrogen 7 Pioneer Program, which gives industry leaders and prominent figures in entertainment, politics, business and more a BMW Hydrogen 7 for their daily use for three weeks.

While the BMW Hydrogen 7 is not for sale, it is considered to be a milestone in bringing forward hydrogen as the sustainable fuel for individual transportation. Running in hydrogen mode, the BMW Hydrogen 7 essentially emits nothing but water vapor, representing a major step in reducing harmful CO2 emissions. It is not a concept car, but a production model vehicle that has successfully completed the entire Product Development Process.

A number of entertainers, politicians, business leaders and more have already opted for a BMW Hydrogen 7 as their energy-efficient ride of choice in order to evaluate the technology. Those who have recently chosen the vehicle include Will Ferrell, Jay Leno, opera star Placid Domingo, Ed Norton, Jason Bateman, famed director Steve Gaghan, Cameron Diaz, Jeremy Piven, and Prince Albert II of Monaco.



Jay Leno in particular is an enthusiastic proponent of Hydrogen-fuelled cars, and makes it a point to repeat their virtues on his Tonight Show. The fact that only "a little water-vapour" comes out as exhaust, that it drives like a charm, and that it makes little noise. Last week Jay hosted California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on his show; the governor talked of his green dream: a "hydrogen highway" running from Baja all the way up to Alaska, lined every twenty miles with hydrogen filling stations....this has been Arnie's dream since 2003!

Read More......