vLane Blog

Upcoming: #carchat 24; August 19 @ 8PM EST

From Banovsky, Featured Contributor
Posted on August 19, 2009

Filed under GM, General Motors, Industry, Future, Green, WTF, Concept, Crossover, Advice , Humor, This week, Discussion, Social Media, carchat, Chevrolet, Detroit, Twitter, vLane, Buick, Bob Lutz, Fritz Henderson, LOL, Jalopnik

This week, we're talking about the amazing turn of events, apparently based in Twitter chatter, that led to the demise of the (lame) Buick CUV. We also talk about other models we'd kill with 140-character tweets, and our predictions for the North American Car of the Year 2010. That and more on this week's #carchat!

If you're confused, check out the #carchat How-To. Anyone can join us at 8PM EST August 19, but you'll need a Twitter account to ask questions and participate.

However, if you'd like to follow things live, go here at 8 PM EST.

And if you'd like to suggest topics for next week, please tag articles on Delicious.com with "carchat."

This week:

• Discussion: Can we give #GM credit where credit is due in listening?
• Discussion: What other vehicles, from any manufacturer, would we kill via Twitter?
• Discussion: Predictions for North American Car of the Year 2010
• Discussion: Our first cars (thanks, @sassygirlzmom!)
• Help-A-Shopper: Carl Acampado

So click through and read a few links, see some photos, and check out a video related to tonight's discussion.

Quote of the week:

"The teaser shot GM released along with some details shows a clearly reworked front-end from the current Saturn Vue. GM CEO Fritz Henderson's assertion that he's not a fan of badge engineering is getting weaker by the second, as this new model is undeniably a re-badged Saturn Vue plug-in hybrid" — Michael Banovsky, vLane.com, August 6, 2009

Discussion: Can we give #GM credit where credit is due in listening?

Required reading:

• "GM Aborts Crossover After Negative Twitter Response" from jalopnik.com
• "Breaking: GM Cancels Buick Crossover" from autoblog.com
• "Future Buick To Be Plug-In Hybrid" from vLane.com

Discussion: What other vehicles, from any manufacturer, would we kill via Twitter?

Required reading:

Link of the week:

• "GM Aborts Crossover After Negative Twitter Response" from jalopnik.com

Discussion: Predictions for North American Car of the Year 2010

Car of the year nominees:

• Audi S4
• BMW Z4
• BMW 335d
• BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo
• Buick LaCrosse
• Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon
• Chevrolet Camaro
• Ford Fusion/Fusion Hybrid
• Ford Mustang/GT500
• Ford Taurus/SHO
• Honda Insight
• Hyundai Genesis Coupe
• Hyundai Elantra Touring
• Jaguar XFR
• Kia Forte
• Kia Soul
• Lexus HS250 H
• Lexus IS250/350 C
• Mazda3 and Mazdaspeed3
• Mercedes E-Class
• Nissan Cube
• Nissan 370Z
• Porsche Panamera
• Subaru Legacy
• Suzuki Kizashi
• Toyota Prius
• Volkswagen Golf/Golf TDI

Truck of the year nominees:

• Acura ZDX
• Audi Q5
• BMW X5 xDrive35d
• Cadillac SRX
• Chevrolet Equinox
• Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid
• Ford Transit Connect
• GMC Terrain
• GMC Sierra Hybrid
• Honda Crosstour
• Land Rover LR4
• Lexus RX350/450h
• Lincoln MKT
• Subaru Outback
• Toyota 4Runner
• Volvo XC60
• Volkswagen Touareg V-6 TDI

Discussion: Our first cars (thanks, @sassygirlzmom!)

Required reading:

• "What Was Your First Car" from about.com
• "First Car Stories" from hotrodder.com
• "First Car Memories" from stjoenews.net

Help-A-Shopper:

• Full name: Carl Acampado
• Location: Columbus, Ohio, 'Merica
• Twitter handle (if applicable): trx0x
• What you do for a living: industrial/product designer, doofus, wannabe baker, possible ruiner of people's lives
• Tell us what type of driving you do: "spirited", I have been known to run over small curbs, grassy areas, love snow driving, e-braking on ice/gravel
• If you commute, distance round-trip: 20 miles
• Number of people that will drive on this car: 1
• Children? If so, how many: 0
• Three features you can't live without: hmmm, I've lived with having stuff not work, so I'm not spoiled in regards to features. A stereo? I enjoy rear wipers, comfortable seats that hold me in
• Your vehicle must: be "cool", in the sense that it must have something that stands out, that says "that doofus drives...that? Whatevs..." I'm a designer, I'm known to like the strange and eclectic, and I obsess over details, prefer emotion over specs, lust over utility.
• Budget, in total cost or monthly payment: $2000-2500 max...maybe $3k...maybe
• Best car you've owned: only owned 2 cars: '91 Toyota Celica GT liftback, '87 VW Jetta. Both have their +'s & -'s
• Worst car you've owned: '91 Celica after 18 years of hard labor
• Anything else we should know: I <3 2-door hatches and wagons. 2-doors because I don't have friends, no need to make their access easier into my car. Eff 'em.
• Link(s) we should care about: ummm...like car related links? I enjoy fourtitude.com (strange, unnatural Audi fetish), jalopnik.com (of course, was on there back in the day, when commenting privileges were emailed to you by the editor-in-chief!). Non-car related: cyclingnews.com (long time road cyclist), thediscardedlist.com (shameless self promotion, unnatural found lists fetish), lesvoyeursdecheville.tumblr.com (shameless self promotion/joint site with @Deathofarobot & @ericludzenski on Twitter, unnatural leg/ankle/foot fetish, lol), bit.ly/cacampado (of course) and creerdesign.com (which, yes, has not been updated in a while...working through some wordpress issues, will be back soon).

How to follow a discussion on Twitter

Three easy steps:

• Sign up for Twitter
• Load up #carchat in a new tab in your web browser.
• Contribute to the discussion on Tweet Grid, or, on your Twitter homepage, use the box (and 140 characters) to say something pertinent to the discussion. Reply directly to someone by putting an "@" in front of their Twitter name. Be sure to add "#carchat" to whatever you say during the discussion, so that others following along can read what you've written — or questions you may have asked.

Or, just have this window open and watch this widget…be warned, though, it won't update in realtime.

Banovsky is a featured contributor for vLane.