KIA RECALL FOR MODEL YEARS 2007-2011

Kia Motors Corp. is recalling certain model year 2007-2010 Rondo and Sportage, model year 2007-2011 Sorento, model year 2007 Sedona, model year 2010-2011 Soul, and model year 2011 Optima vehicles. The stop lamp switch in the affected vehicles may malfunction. A malfunctioning stop lamp switch may cause the brake lights to not illuminate when the brake pedal is depressed or may cause an inability to deactivate the cruise control by depressing the brake pedal. Additionally, a malfunctioning stop lamp switch may also result in intermittent operation of the push-button start feature, affect the operation of the brake-transmission shift interlock feature preventing the shifter from being moved out of the PARK position and causing the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) malfunction light to illuminate. Failure to illuminate the stop lamps during braking or inability to disengage the cruise control could increase the risk of a crash. Kia will send an interim notification to owners in May. When parts are available, owners will receive a second notification and dealers will replace the stop lamp switch, free of charge. Kia's recall campaign number is SC098.

TESLA EXPECTS PROFIT AS CAR DELIVERIES PICK UP#

TESLA MOTORS INC. the Silicon Valley Auto Maker said it would report a first-quarter profit, sending the luxary electric-maker's shares surging 16% on Monday. The Palo Alto, California maker of $70,000 vehicles lifted its forecast for the quarter after delivering more Model S electric vehicles. Tesla has a backlog of 15,000 orders and books revenue for the vehicles as soon as they are shipped to customers. In 4 p. m. NASDAQ Stock Market trading reported TESLA finished up $6.04 at $43.93. It is reported that TESLA vehicles are being seen more and more throughout the San Francisco Bay area streets and highways. TESLA's business model unlike FORD, GENERAL MOTORS, and CHRYSLER place a store in a Mall with very little if any inventory. The TESLA customer basically builds his car from scratch in the store and the vehicle is shipped out after built. TESLA MOTORS operate state of the art stores however, old school car dealerships have tried to slow them down in their expansion citing out of date State Motor Vehicle Codes requiring dealerships to have a minimum of several thousand square foot of space for inventory storage. The older dealerships of yesterday do not seem to get the message that the days of carrying a million dollar inventory and paying interest on vehicles that are not selling is coming to an end.

#GM BRINGING BACK Z/28 MUSCLE CAR

Remember when you were 16 years old and the coolest guys in your school had a Z. Everyone in town either wanted one or knew somebody with a Z and they were probably next to owning a vette the most popular car in 50 years aside from the 57 Chevy. GM rolled out the Camero Z/28 at the New York International Auto Show. The goal is to have the Z/28 in consumer hands by 2015. The Z introduced in 1967 hasn't benn around since 2002. Earlier this year, GM North American pulled the Stingray name out of mothballs and placed it on the latest Chevrolet Corvette sports car, which goes into production later this year. While car names may stir memories for auto enthusiasts, the coming Stingray and Z/28 won't be the volume leader GM needs to rebuild their market share worldwide. I wonder if the new Stingray and Z/28 will have a state of the art 8 track player included in the price. Reinvention of the muscle cars of the past proves that former auto designers had a better business model for car sales than the new MBA wiz kids.