Autoblog

As reported earlier, both Ford and General Motors will be cutting back production during the first quarter of 2008 in an effort to stem the tide of excessive dealer inventory. GM already idled three pick up plants for two weeks and now Ford has temporarily shut down two of its own plants Monday.

The F150 plant in Dearborn, MI and the Explorer plant in Louisville, KY ceased production yesterday and it's unclear as to when the factories will resume their duties. Both models have seen a slip in sales over the course of the year (F150s are down 12.4-percent and Explorers sales have slipped by 23.5-percent compared to 2006), with analysts pointing to the slow economy and even slower house sales contributing to the downturn.

In a related article from the Detroit News, FoMoCo exec Mark Fields says that the automaker is expecting a rough 2008 as car sales in the U.S. continue to slow. Fields asked and answered his own question, saying, "Do I think it's going to be Armageddon? No." And continued by saying that Ford will take the coming year on a month-to-month basis in order to "manage the business appropriately." We'd hope that Ford is looking a little bit further down the line then "month-to-month," but in its current predicament, maybe that's all it can do.

[Sources: Detroit News, Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

As reported earlier, General Motors plans to cut production in the first quarter of 2008 by 11-percent in an effort to limit excessive dealer inventory. The cut would affect both cars and trucks, but GM announced today that it would be halting production of its pickup plants in Pontiac; Fort Wayne, Indiana and Oshawa, Ontario for two weeks beginning on December 31st of this year. The plants currently build the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. An unfortunate way to bring in the New Year, but if it limits discounts, more power to the General.

[Source: Detroit News]

Anyone who feared that Canada's anti-idling law would go unenforced need not worry -- the city of Toronto and Toronto Police Services will ticket drivers (or idlers, as it were) of vehicles left idling for more than three minutes in a 60-minute time window. The infraction goes for $100 with a $25 provincial surcharge and was created to reduce the amount of smog polluting Canada's air.

Authorities are encouraging drivers to spend even less time idling than that, however -- they suggest that drivers don't warm up their vehicles before departing, and spending more than 10 seconds in the same spot should be accompanied by a driver turning his or her vehicle off except while in traffic.

While most would deem such efforts excessive (doesn't turning your vehicle off and on waste more gas?), for the most part the effort is a good one to reduce pollution and improve mileage.

[Source: Canadian Driver]