The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Bob Lutz is thumbs-down on Tesla: The Spymaster watched with keen interest as the former automotive executive opined on the electric-car company’s future while being interviewed recently on CNBC. Never one to mince words, Lutz bluntly stated that, at the rate
Tesla is burning through cash (it reported a
$619-million loss in the third quarter of 2017), it’s unlikely that the company can survive much longer.
Lutz also inferred that
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s plan to launch an electric transport truck and sports car was mostly smoke and mirrors and an attempt to attract fresh investment. In The Sleuth’s humble opinion, it’s likely that Musk could eventually sell Tesla to an existing automaker (likely China-based) to focus on other enterprises, including SpaceX and Hyperloop high-speed transportation system. Is the next-gen Infiniti QX50 a game-changer? The sleuth certainly thinks so, now that Nissan’s premium division has raised the curtain on the secondgeneration fivepassenger utility vehicle.
What makes the new QX special, aside from a great-looking design, is a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine rated at 268 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. The variablecompression-ratio powerplant (a first for any automaker) reduces compression when maximum torque is needed, but increases it to increase efficiency at lower speeds. The result, claims Infiniti, is an engine that improves fuel economy by up to 35 percent when compared with the 2017 QX50’s 3.7-liter V-6 that has similar output.
Another China-based automaker commits to
launching in North America: After numerous false starts, GAC Auto of China will apparently begin selling cars in the United States in late 2019, starting with a midsized seven-passenger utility model. The Sleuth suspects the Trumpchi GS8, as it’s called in the homeland, could be problematic considering the name similarity to a certain head of state and former reality-show host. The GS8 is equipped with a turbocharged fourcylinder engine that ships torque to all four wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission. At this point the only other China-based car company with similar plans is Geely, which owns Volvo and is building a manufacturing facility in North Carolina. Previously, Geely announced plans to eventually sell cars here on under the Lynk & Co brand.
Lincoln shifts from capital letters to name-brand
recognition: The Spy Guy applauds the marketing team at Ford’s up-level offshoot for replacing the MKX name with Nautilus. He wonders, however, if this same group checked on the meaning of the word before attaching it to the significantly updated 2019 edition. According it Wikipedia, it’s “a cephalopod mollusk with a light external spiral shell and numerous short tentacles around the mouth”). The name was also attached to the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine that was launched in 1954. In any event, the MKX name has frequently been confused with MKZ, which is a four-door sedan. The Nautilus will be available with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder base engine (the 3.7-liter V-6 from the MKX has been dropped), while a 335-horsepower twin-turbo 2.7-liter V-6 carries over.