Autoblog

When the Yugo first arrived on our shores in 1985, it made headlines with its bargain basement $4,000 USD price tag. Of course, four large didn't buy you much of anything, except for a series of breakdowns and the laughter of virtually every motorist that easily passed you by. While the Yugo hasn't been sold in the U.S. since 1991, for the right price you can now bid for the distinct pleasure of owning Zastava, the Serbian company responsible for producing and exporting the biggest punch line in automotive history. The government of Serbia has announced that Zastava, the country's only automaker, is selling off over 90% of its shares this coming April for an undisclosed amount. While the eastern European automaker employs 4,000 workers and can build up to 60,000 vehicles per year, but currently the factory is only producing 15,000 units.

The Yugo was such a disaster when it hit the States, it seemed as though every comedian was required by law to make at least one joke about it. It didn't help that one Yugo owner was killed when the cheap compact became the one and only vehicle ever to be blown off the Mackinaw bridge that connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. If the price is right, though, we're sure someone will sop up the company, if only for the production capacity and cheap Eastern European labor.

[Source: Detroit News]

Click for gallery of high-res shots of the Bricklin SV1 show car

Now here's something you definitely don't see every day, even at SEMA. A Bricklin SV-1! And not just any Bricklin SV-1 either, but the one redone by Dan Woods on "Chop, Cut, Rebuild." Less than 3,000 of these sporty safety cars were built by Malcolm Bricklin between 1974 and 1976 or so, and we can only surmise that a lot less than that remain in working order today. Actually, the handy placard says that number of survivors is somewhere around 1,500. Thank God for placards. Check out the gallery to see some photos of this bright orange pumpkin Bricklin. This was one of those small surprises that make SEMA so much fun, and spotting it on Halloween made it a real treat.

Whatdya know? Malcolm Bricklin's name popped up on our RSS feed reader again. And, yes, the news is China related, but this time the story's completely different. Instead of a budget-priced hybrid car built in China, Mr. Bricklin is working on plans for a luxury-priced plug-in electric car built in China.

But that's probably the least ambitious part of his latest plan outlined in a recent Business Week article.

Mr. Bricklin also wants to create an entire electric car parts manufacturing and distribution network to supply his venture as well as others like Tesla. Business Week asks him what his greatest challenge is. He responds, "Just about everything known to man."

But that's probably only the second most ambitious part of his dream.

Mr. Bricklin wants to build... You sure you're ready for this? OK, he wants to build a flying car. "I've always wanted to build an air car that goes 18 inches off the ground, so we get rid of roads on top of everything else," the 68-year-old entrepreneur told BW. "Tires and frames and all the other crap. The only problem is that I can't find anything that will push it off the ground that doesn't create all sorts of noise, not to mention serious wind and stability problems. In the meantime, I think the electric hybrid is going to be the next serious replacement of the combustion engine."

We want a flying car too, Malcolm. But we also hope you get all those Chinese manufacturing quality problems you keep talking about fixed before you do. And while you're at it, see if you can get the Chinese to figure out how those transporter things work on Star Trek. We'd love to have us one of them.

[Source: Business Week via China Car Times]

Out of the Chery/Visionary Vehicles breakup/separation/whatever currently going on comes a story of one disgruntled would-be designer.

Kenneth G. Grant Jr., former Ford automotive designer who worked on the last Thunderbird and other projects, filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming, among other things, breach of contract on the parts of Chery and Visionary Vehicles. It seems Grant was under the impression he was to be the design chief of the Chery/Visionary Vehicles U.S. studio. When the two companies' plans didn't work out, Grant claims he was left jobless.

Visionary Vehicles, through a statement emailed to Autoblog, says that Grant was fully compensated for design work it requested of him. Visionary's statement goes on to say Grant was not offered longtime employment. The statement ends with " It appears that Visionary Vehicles' inclusion in this case may be an effort to generate more public attention to this complaint."

Read Grant's statement as well as Visionary Vehicles' after the jump.

[Source: PR Newswire]

The relationship between Malcolm Bricklin's Visionary Vehicles and Chinese automaker Chery seems to be changing, Autoweek reports. According to The Wall Street Journal, Bricklin wasn't satisfied with Chery's safety and quality control and will instead design his own cars. The WSJ story says Visionary Vehicles plans to hire Western designers whose creations would be built by a Chinese company to be named later.

Autoblog spoke via email to a Visionary Vehicles spokesperson Wednesday night who said Bricklin has met with 12 Chinese manufacturers and hopes to narrow his list to three early next year. One of those should be Chery. The spokesperson said those three will produce Visionary Vehicles cars in China. Autoweek says their sources suggest The First Automobile Works Group, Shanghai Automotive Industry and Geely are also in the running.

The fate of the 25 or so who signed up to sell Chery autos in the U.S. is unknown.

[Sources: Autoweek; The Wall Street Journal via Car and Driver]

Word out of Detroit today has Chrysler almost ready to sign and seal a deal with Chinese automaker Chery Automobile. We just talked about this a few days ago, but it looks like it's actually going to happen any time now. DaimlerChrysler had previously told us that it really needed a partner if it were going to succeed at the low-margin end of the lineup, where Chery can certainly help with one of its small car platforms. The most likely vehicle coming out of this partnership would be the Dodge Hornet concept in production form. Dodge wants to be more competitive globally and Chery has the ability to produce the subcompacts and superminis Dodge would need to be a real player. Chery has also wanted to establish themselves in the U.S. to help build some credibility for the company, so this might be good for both parties.

Caught somewhere in the middle of this negotiation is none other than Malcolm Bricklin who has been working on his own Chery import deal. Bricklin should be well-known to Autoblog readers. His plans to make the Chery the Yugo Kia of this century, have been met with cynicism, especially after all of the delays and scaling back the project has encountered. But his dreams of bringing low-cost, decent quality cars would live on even if the Chrysler deal goes through. In fact, this would most likely help Bricklin a lot, as Chery would all of a sudden have a little more street cred.

[Source: Automotive News, sub req]

Hebei Zhongzing is the name of yet another Chinese automaker that plans to have its vehicles sold in the U.S. ZX Automobile Co. of North America, which is a subsidiary of China America Automotive Inc., claims that it will be selling SUVs and pickups manufactured by Hebei Zhongzing in the U.S. by late 2007.

Hebei Zhongzing is a small automaker even by Chinese standards, with a total annual output of last year amounting to only 7,840 vehicles. No vehicle in its current lineup meets U.S. emissions and safety standards, either. The company's president acknowledges that "technology is a huge obstacle," according to Autoweek. Meeting U.S. emissions and safety standards has been a thorn in the side of Malcolm Bricklin, whose insertion of Chery Automobile into the U.S. market has been delayed by this country's stiff safety and emissions requirements.

Zhongzing joins Malcolm Bricklin's Chery Automobile and Shufu Li's Geely Automobile Company in the Chinese auto industry's effort to establish a presence in the biggest automotive market in the world.

[Source: Autoweek]

Time to unmark your calendars. Chery, the opening salvo in what is likely to be a tidal wave of Chinese imports into the U.S., is running behind schedule. Visionary Vehicles chief Malcolm Bricklin is relenting on his bid to have cars in American dealerships by late 2007, and when the vehicles arrive, he doesn't expect them to sell as many as originally expected.

Bricklin had targeted 250,000 units in Chery USA's first year, but it will appear that hopefuls and critics  will need to wait until some time in 2008 before seeing how the whole thing pans out.

[Source: Bloomberg News]

(top tip, GP)

Automotive entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin's business successes and failings over the years have been well documented in the media over the years, with Autoblog being no exception. All eyes are on Bricklin to see if his grandiose plans for Chinese automaker Chery can meet with Subaru-like success, or whether the result will be more on the order of the dismal failure of his self-named Bricklin 'safety' sports car, or the discount embarrassment that was Yugo's foray into North America.

But apparently, all of this isn't enough for the once-and-future importer. According to Fortune Magazine's Alex Taylor III, Bricklin is chronicling his daily life leading up to the launch of Chery with a video crew that follows him around 24/7-- reportedly, more than 1,000 hours of footage has been recorded.  Could 'Bricklin: The Movie' be far behind?

[Sources: Fortune Magazine via CNNMoney; AutoNews]

Automotive mogul Malcolm Bricklin announced Wednesday that he has signed Marianne McInerney, former President of the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) to be his Executive Vice President of Dealer/Industry Relations at Visionary Vehicles. The CEO is best known for his instrumental role in bringing Subaru and Yugo to North America, as well as for his ill-fated 'safety supercar,' the eponymous Bricklin SV-1.

 

Visionary Vehicles, you'll recall, is Bricklin's bid to bring Chinese vehicles to the North American marketplace. The high-profile entrepreneur has signed a joint venture with Chery Vehicles, and in the words of the company, this is the group's "first critical hire."

Check the link for the full press release.

[Source: Visionary Vehicles via PRNewswire]