Archive for June, 2010

The auto industry has gone green with the threat of global warming continually increasing. Automakers have started developing and manufacturing green vehicles or automobiles designed to have limited greenhouse gas emission. General Motors is one of those automakers pushing through with their promise of introducing eco-friendly vehicles in the auto market.

Recently, The Auto Channel reported that the Chevy Equinox, another green vehicle being developed by the Detroit automaker received the Green Car Vision Award from Green Car Journal. This is the first time that the said award was given. The Chevrolet Equinox was named for the award at the ongoing Washington Auto Show.

The Chevy Equinox beat four other nominees for the award. These are the BMW Hydrogen 7, the Honda FCX Clarity, the Phoenix Electric SUT, and the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid. These four vehicles and the Chevrolet Equinox are classified as advanced limited production vehicles.

Ron Cogan, the editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal, said that the Chevrolet Equinox is the best vehicle out of the five to show the way forward in making the industry greener. “The Equinox Fuel Cell is visionary on many levels,” said Cogan. “Zero-emission vehicles destined for our highways in the years ahead will take many forms, from small car platforms to large. Powering a popular crossover model with a future fuel such as hydrogen, and doing so seamlessly with an efficient powerplant that creates no CO2 greenhouse gases, is exemplary and Chevrolet should be commended for this.”

The Chevrolet Equinox got the award thanks to its highly advanced powertrain. The said vehicle is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. This powertrain is complemented with features which consumers in the future will be seeing as standard features like StabiliTrac and OnStar. Apart from those features, the Equinox is also equipped with front and roof rail side impact airbags designed to protect the occupants of the vehicle in the unfortunate event of a crash.

The Equinox also caught the attention of the panel of judges by the fact that it is already being offered to fleets and customers to try it out. Over 100 units of the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell will be made available to consumers in California, New York City, and Washington D.C. for three months.

The Chevy Equinox receiving the award at the said motor show is further indication that Detroit automaker General Motors is serious in its promise to manufacture green vehicles with auto parts as reliable as Dodge bumpers.

Here will teach you that “How To Hit Your Golf Driver”!

First, you should choose the right driver for yourself, such as Callaway FT-iQ Driver at www.wowgolfclubs.com Many golf player all know the callaway, it the old and famous brand!

Your initial golf shot is your most important golf shot in my estimation. It’s sort of like first down in football. If you’re second down and twenty every time you get the ball you’re going to have a long afternoon. I’m used to it, being a Dolphin fan.

If you’re having trouble during a round of golf with hitting your golf driver in the fairway then drop down to your three wood immediately. Maybe after some success with your three wood you will gain your confidence back to try your driver again. The little bit of distance you’ll loose by hitting your three wood will be more than compensated by being on the short grass in the fairway. Work out any problems with your driver in practice not on the golf course.

The first thing you need to understand about a Driver is that the length is probably doing you the most harm. A golf swing is very similar to a group of skaters turning in a circle or a group of soldiers marching in a circle. The outside skater or individuals will have to move that much faster than the rest of the line to keep up. Sure the longer the driver the faster the club head will travel in theory, but eqaully the harder it will be to square the club face at impact thus causing that dreaded slice off the fairway.

To square the golf club up at impact, (impact is actually about three degrees closed with a driver) you need to start rolling your forearms over earlier. Why, because the golf club head is further away from you. If you’re having trouble squaring up the club face first try choking up a little on the golf club. My opinion is golf club manufacturers make the modern drivers too long anyway. Most are about 45 to 46 inches. I prefer 44 inches. Tiger Woods only hits a 43 ½ inch driver.

I also prefer the smaller club heads. Everyone is raving about the hybrid woods that are replacing three irons. Golfers rave about how easy the hybrids are to hit. The heads are SMALL and have a low center of gravity. In contrast the new Drivers have a head the size of a basketball and golfers wonder why they can’t square it up. I recommend the 395cc head as the largest acceptable size, not the 460cc style which is actually more difficult to square up at impact.

Some golfers try to keep their head still or over the top of the golf ball. To make a full turn on a swing with your driver your head might move a little towards your back foot. That’s fine if not desired. You need to be well behind the golf ball at impact. One should have a straight line from the front shoulder to the ball at impact.

Another thing I noticed is that most golfers tend to hit their driver out on the toe. Use some face tape on your driver and witness for yourself where you are making contact with the face of your driver. Usually the best place to make contact is high on the face and just a little inside of center. Different drivers have difference centers of gravity.

I hope you can get the high scores!

In the news: Executives at Toyota Motor’s new plant in a Bangkok suburb point out that the factory in Thailand is the first to run on clean natural gas.

The factory is equipped with robots and parts movers moving silently on the assembly floors. Toyota’s $426 million facility shows that despite the political unrest in Thailand it has not affected global carmakers’ positive views of the country.

Thailand is renowned worldwide when it comes to the production of one-ton trucks, with projected outputs of 853,000 units for this year alone. The said figure outpaced United States which according to J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting produces only 588,000 units of trucks.

Thailand is the second biggest market for trucks since it’s a common sight in rural areas where most farm products are produced. The domestic sales for this year are forecast at 510,000 units as compared to the 651,000 units forecast in the United States.

According to Vallop Tiasiri, director of the privately-funded Thailand Automotive Institute, “The strength of our truck industry lies in the size of our domestic market that makes production cost competitive. Our traditional political and labor stability also help.”

The Toyota plant has started operation last month and occupies 245 hectares or 605 acres of paddy fields, making Thailand as a major export base for small pickup trucks. Plant Manager Charnchai Suppayakom said, “We ship 4,000 right-hand drive Hilux trucks to Australia a month and another 2,000 of the left-hand version to Saudi Arabia.” He also added that the factory’s initial 100,000 annual production capacity can be quadrupled to answer any increase in future export demand.

ToMoCo’s third Thai facility has been able to increase annual vehicle production output to 550,000 of which 40 percent are shipped or exported overseas. The Thai facility will also be used to manufacture Toyota truck parts. The additional 2,000 workers at the Ban Pho plant bring Toyota’s Thai workforce to 13,500 of which 5,000 are permanent staff while the rest are hired on temporary contracts.

Despite the military coup last September in Thailand that has somewhat affected its image as an investment destination for global companies both the Japanese and US carmakers are determined in staying put. Somphob Manarangsan, an economics professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University said, “Japanese firms are investing more in China, but they don’t risk putting all their eggs in one basket. Thai plants are part of their diversification strategy.”

Thailand was able to produce 1.2 million vehicles last year and almost half of which were exported. Thailand’s vehicle tax structure that favors pickups over passenger cars makes the one-tonne truck the champion of the Thai auto industry. Inexpensive diesel has also helped to increase sales. Auto columnist Suphat Tisapong said, “Entry prices for pick-ups and passenger sedans are about the same here at around half a million baht ($14,285). But a pick-up comes with a much larger 2.5-litre engine compared with 1.5 litre for sedans.”

Aside from Toyota, Ford Motor Co, General Motors Corp, Nissan Motor Co Ltd, Mitsubishi Motors Corp, Isuzu Motors Ltd, and Mazda Motor Corp. have also opened factories in Thailand for their export vehicles and mostly have started building their plants after Asia’s 1997/98 economic crisis. Each of them has invested 140,000-180,000 trucks a year, exporting them to 100 countries from Australia and the Middle East to Europe and even reaching Latin America.

Automotive Resources Asia analyst May Arthapan said since most producers have already establish their plants in Thailand there would come a time that the export growth will slow down once output meets global demand . She also added, “The big export rise in recent years is a result of the relocation of production base to Thailand. Once this is over, we should return to more normal growth.”

J.D. Power has estimated that global demand for the small trucks for this year reaches only 2.1 million units and predicted average annual growth of 7.1 percent for the coming 2008 to 2011. As oppose to J.D. Power the Vallop of Thailand Automotive was not that optimistic saying, “This is quite a small vehicle segment with limited growth potential of perhaps 2 per cent a year.” He also added that Thailand would need to shift to other trucks or small sedans once demand for new one-ton trucks ceases.

In recent years the Thai government has offered proposals that include generous incentives for global carmakers just to encourage them to invest in export-oriented facilities for small economy sedans. The Thai government aims to further develop its auto industry which is its second-biggest industry after computers and electronics, employing about 350,000 people and accounting for nearly 15 percent of gross domestic product.