Autos
*Chrysler is considering offering a youth-based model in place of either its Dodge Grand Caravan or Chrysler Town & Country as part of a push to eliminate overlaps between its brands. President Jim Press has said the automaker wants to streamline its lineup. A possibility is to create a Scion-type vehicle off the minivan platform.
Recalls
*Ford is recalling 124,000 2007-08 Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs to fix the spring system in the door that can keep interior handles from returning to a closed position. The latches still work, but there is concern about them opening in a side collision. Dealers will replace the springs in the door.
*Ford is recalling more than 57,000 2006-07 E-150, E-250 and E-350 vans and 2007 Expedition and Navigator SUVs with 5.4-liter engines. The fuel rail crossover hose, which connects the fuel rails, could crack and leak fuel, potentially leading to a fire.
*Trek is recalling about 49,000 MT220 girls bicycles sold between April 2004 and June 2007 because the frames can break during use. The company has received 13 reports of broken frames, including four reports of minor injuries. Call 800-373-4594 or visit www.trekbikes.com or www.cpsc.gov.
Probe
*The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking into reports of engine fires in General Motors’ full-size sport-utility vehicles. It has received two reports of fires on 2007 Chevrolet Tahoes when the vehicles were parked in a home garage with the engine shut off. Some 423,000 2007 SUVs, including the GMC Yukon, are part of the probe.
Boating
*The National Marine Manufacturers Association has released its recreational boating statistics report for 2006. Nationwide, vessel registration declined to 12.7 million in 2006 from 13 million in 2005, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association recreational boating statistics. A 4.4 percent increase in personal watercraft registrations kept Florida atop the boat heap with 988,652, up 1.5 percent from 2005. California ranked second with 893,828 registrations and Minnesota moved up to third with 862,937, pushing Michigan to fourth with 828,529. Illinois was 10th with 383,615 registrations.
FYI
*Wisconsin drivers can pay an extra $15 a year for personalized vanity license plates — as long as they are in good taste. The state Department of Transportation can refuse any combination of letters or numbers that it believes are distasteful or indecent. Thus far, it has banned about 8,000 letter combinations, including SEXVAN and KSMYBT. Stefan Lonce, who is writing a book about vanity plates, says every state that issues them has the same challenge in preserving good taste. “There’s this poor person at the DMV who is going to decide what is or isn’t allowed on an automobile,” Lonce says. “No one person, no one entity can keep up with the creativity of the people out there. People are really saying a lot, in eight characters or less.”
*GM plans to build a new heavy-duty diesel engine at a plant near Dayton, investing $69 million and retaining more than 1,000 jobs. GM will build the 6.6-liter V-8 turbo diesel, which will meet 2010 emissions standards, at the DMAX plant, a joint venture between GM and Isuzu that employs 1,195.
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Quick Trips are compiled from the notebook of Rick Popely and from Tribune news services.
