Autos
*A 4-cylinder engine will be available on all three price levels of the 2008 Hyundai Sonata instead of just the base GLS. When the 2008 models go on sale this month, the 4-cylinder will be standard, and a 3.3-liter V-6 will be optional, including on the GLS for the first time. Base price on the GLS with the 4-cylinder and 5-speed manual transmission is $17,545; a 4-speed automatic is $1,200 extra. The GLS V-6 comes with a 5-speed automatic and starts at $20,995. Base price is $22,345 on the 4-cylinder Limited and $24,045 on the V-6 Limited. The prices do not include the $650 destination charge.
*Sales of Ford’s F-Series pickups, which account for about a quarter of its U.S. total, fell for a seventh consecutive month in May. F-Series sales dropped 12 percent from a year earlier and have fallen 13 percent this year, to 290,282. Demand for large pickups such as the F-Series has weakened as prices for gasoline and diesel fuel have surged. The F-Series also has had tougher competition with the introduction of the redesigned Chevrolet Silverado and Toyota Tundra.
Safety
*Toyota says it’s not recalling 2007 Tundra pickups because of a flawed part on some V-8 engines. The company last month replaced 5.7-liter engines in 20 of the large pickups after camshafts made by a supplier failed, disabling the engine. Toyota, which builds the engines in Huntsville, Ala., found and fixed the camshaft flaw in February, says spokesman Bill Kwong.
FYI
*Ft. Wayne International Airport will offer passengers a $50 rebate on some flights if it gets a $1 million federal grant. The rebate plan is part of an effort to make the airport an affordable alternative for northeastern Indiana residents who often drive to Indianapolis, Chicago or South Bend for cheaper flights. Airport officials requested $1 million for the rebate program in April. It won a similar grant in 2002 and used the money to attract low-cost carrier ATA.
*About a dozen teens and preteens in Racine, Wis., have redesigned library carts as part of the “Pimp My Cart” program. The effort to get more teens to the library is a spinoff of the popular MTV show “Pimp My Ride,” where average cars are given new life with new parts and features. Library upgrades include adding a car steering wheel to a cart that has the grille from a Chrysler PT Cruiser. The carts were named, too, with “Road Kill” selected as the best design, thanks to parts from a Honda motorcycle and wheels from a Chevrolet Camaro.
*New York City taxi medallions, the license to operate a cab that passengers hail on the street, have sold for a record $600,000 each. The two medallions were bought by a local fleet operator, according to Medallion Financial Corp. The price is 8.3 percent higher than the previous record of $554,148 in a city auction in June 2006.
People
*Chrysler says marketing chief George Murphy is leaving. Murphy, 51, joined Chrysler in February 2001 after leaving Ford Motor, where he was in charge of marketing for the Ford brand. He previously was an executive at General Electric Co. He most recently created Chrysler’s “engineered beautifully” campaign that began May 8.
Also at Chrysler, two vice presidents for vehicle design have been named to replace retiring executives. Brandon Faurote, 32, has been promoted to vice president of advance design; Joseph Dehner, 42, is vice president of small, premium and family vehicle design. Faurote replaces Tom Tremont, 58, July 1; Dehner took over from David McKinnon, 64, June 1.
———-
Quick Trips are compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.
