This is pretty interesting. Do you remember my very first post where I talked about the development of the OnStar safety net system? This was at a point where the company was just beginning to use a more advanced mapping system that could pin point cars that were in trouble with alarming accuracy. Well if you made the assumption that this step forward was only the beginning of an overhaul for their system you were correct. OnStar announced today a new service they are to begin offering soon that grows out of the development of their technology. This new service: Remote Ignition Block. This is actually pretty incredible; it’s a new way for law enforcement to prevent car theft. When OnStar receives a report of a stolen vehicle they now have the ability to remotely disable the car from restarting, ensuring that the car thief doesn’t get too far. This new development builds on another recent security feature offered by the company, which is stolen vehicle slow down. This is the same idea as the remote disable feature only this feature will not allow a stolen vehicle to reach speeds high enough for an attempt to outrun the cops to be feasible.

I have one more piece of technology that should prove to be quite amazing from some people. This development, made by Dallas based ATX Group, would allow for the driver of a vehicle to text message while driving hands free. Voice recognition is what makes this possible. To me this only really begs the question, why is this necessary for text messages? I mean, if you’re going to be talking into your phone, why can’t people just make a call? Of course, I don’t understand why people send text messages like 60% of the time (I guess I’m old fashion by enjoying the fact that I can hear somebody that I’m talking to). Nevertheless, this new development should be a nice safety net to keep people from texting while driving (nobody is good at this no matter HOW good you THINK you are). Please people, don’t text and drive.

One more update on the Cash for Guzzlers program. Chrysler is maximizing this opportunity (while scratching and clawing to stay alive) by piggy backing on this program. Their new program: an additional $4500 off of any Chrysler vehicle purchase, regardless of you eligibility for the government program. This means that if you qualify for the Cash for Guzzlers program, you now have the potential of saving up to $9,000 on a new Chrysler. Who do you think this will help more, the failing program, or the failing company?

GM and Chrysler are in talks with lawmakers to reach an agreement regarding the proposed closing of thousands of dealerships. This is obviously in an effort to avoid the proposed legislation that would put their plans on hot water. In case I didn’t go into this on Monday (which I don’t remember doing so) this legislation would take these close to 2,000 dealerships, and restore them to the status they had before GM or Chrysler filed for bankruptcy. Yesterday the Obama administration made it clear that they would be opposed to such legislation, even though the bill was sure to pass in the House.

The National Automobile Dealers Association has been showing up in full force to support this legislation. Their efforts seem to be working as their congressional support has been growing quickly all week. It is still unclear whether or not the measure will pass through the senate as it has only half of the votes needed to pass. We’ll see how this unfolds.

Curious about how the Cash for Guzzlers program (the one that I discussed on a couple of occasions) was panning out? According to a growing consensus, not well. The argument states that it is far to early in our economic recovery to count on a plan like this to work. The problem stated: people may own a gas guzzler that happens to be paid off, the incentive would not in any way be worth the accrued debt of buying a new car. Sounds like a pretty reasonable argument to me, but will this ever reverse the decision to implement this program? Only time will tell.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford Motor Co.’s December sales are faring well, at least through the first two weeks of the month, Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said Tuesday.

Ford, speaking to reporters in Dearborn at an event to preview new models, said a lot will depend on the last week of the month, traditionally the biggest sales week in December because people are off work for the holidays.

“December for us is turning out relatively well,” Ford said. “So far it doesn’t look so bad.”

Ford sales slid 31 percent in November when compared with the same month last year, and they’re off almost 20 percent for the first 11 months of the year. The entire U.S. auto industry is down 16 percent for the year.

Ford says if General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC get the loans from Washington that they have requested to stay in business, it would help Ford by stabilizing parts supply companies.

So far, suppliers have yet to demand payments from Ford, said CEO Alan Mulally. Last week, Chrysler said some of its suppliers threatened to stop shipping to the cash-strapped automakers.

“We have very positive relationships with our suppliers, these are long-term relationships. It’s not like you’d put pressure on each other,” Mulally said in a separate interview Tuesday. “It might be the fact that we are in a different place, it gives a lot of confidence that we’re going to be OK.”

read the rest of the article here…