Autos
– Dodge reports that its 2006 Charger sports sedan has been written into the movie “My Supe r Ex-Girlfriend.” Charger plays itself.
– A two-seat electric car called the Tesla roadster derived from the Lotus Elise promises 250 miles of driving before the need for a 3 1/2-hour recharge of its 6,831-cell lithium ion battery pack. It also boasts zero- to 60-m.p.h. acceleration in about 4 seconds and a top speed of more than 130 m.p.h. Only drawbacks for now are the cost–an estimated $80,000 to $120,000 (including a home recharger)–and the need for federal testing to ensure it meets all safety standards. It could go on sale next year.
FYI
– Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, home of the Mighty Ducks professional hockey team, will become Honda Center in October under a new naming rights deal.
– A strike by its labor union forced Hyundai to suspend vehicle exports from South Korea but the automaker says it has about three months of inventory in U.S. so no supply disruptions are anticipated. Walkouts are virtually an annual event at Hyundai, where the company’s union has gone on strike every summer but one since 1987, demanding pay and benefit increases.
– Toyota has hit the 60,000 production limit on vehicles eligible for a special tax credit designed to encourage more buyers to choose gas/electric cars. So the federal tax credit for buyers of Toyota and Lexus hybrids will be cut in half in October. The $3,150 credit for the popular Toyota Prius, the largest hybrid tax credit available, would shrink to $1,575. Beginning next April, the tax credits will shrink to one-quarter of their original value and will disappear by October 2007.
People
– Mark Bilek, associate publisher of Publications International Ltd., publisher of Consumer Guide magazine in Lincolnwood, has left to become director of Internet operations at the Chicago Automobile Trade Association in Oakbrook Terrace.
– BMW AG has named production chief Norbert Reithofer, 50, to succeed chief executive Helmut Panke, 59, on Sept. 1. This is part of a management shuffle at the luxury carmaker. Panke, CEO since 2002, turns 60 in August, retirement age for top executives under company rules.
———-
Quick Trips are compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.
