Industry News

Politician known for harsh motorist laws arrested in brutal hit-and-run death Former Ontario, Canada Attorney General Michael Bryant made a name for himself as a tough-nosed lawmaker that took a hard line against street racing. Among Bryant's hard stance anti-racer policies was a law that gave the police the right to crush any car that was modified for racing – even if the vehicle had no complaints against it. If a report from The New York Times is true, Mr. Bryant could ironically spend the rest of his life behind bars for a brutal hit-and-run accident involving a bicyclist. The incident reportedly began as a minor event and quickly escalated. Bryant allegedly br…

I find this interesting, and there may be a bias in the people in the industry that voted, but almost every time the industry voted a Domestic vehicle, the media made sure they counteracted that with something else... And FWIW, I've been in a FJ, and the interior is nothing special- and a trunk in the bed feature, that makes getting to the spare tire impossible if you have a load in the bed, is not the most innovative feature, but these are opinions: Overall Vehicle Interiors Popular-Priced Car Industry At-Large Vote: Pontiac Solstice News Media Vote: Audi A3 Premium-Priced Car Industry At-Large Vote & News Media Vote: Lincoln Zephyr Popular-Priced CU…

William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 26, 2012 This week, Tesla announced that it's considering boosting production of its Model S sedan to 30,000 units in response to a waiting list that stretches for 10-11 months. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a conference call with analysts that the company is expecting to sell 5,000 Model S sedans by the end of 2012, with 20,000 sales expected next year. That could increase to 30,000 with the addition of a second shift. Currently, Tesla has 12,200 reservations for the Model S sedan. "Our key objective for the rest of the year is to ramp production with a focus on quality and to rollout the Model S experience to a bro…

Well, I just found this on Yahoo business and it kind of angered me. The mentality of these people makes me sick. Here is the article. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070327/ap_on_..._contract_talks This is my favorite part of the piece I from what I have experienced with the UAW, this is a VERY popular opinion:

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com UK Law Firm files Lawsuit against VW UK VW Owners Lawsuit A downtown law firm has filed a group class action lawsuit against VW on behalf of a potential 1.2 million TDI owners. To date according the Euro Autonews web site 10,000 have signed on to be represented. VW has taken a very different approach to Europe and with that, more and more countries are demanding compensation equal to what VW is doing in the US. Last year according to the story, a Spanish court found in favor of the owners that the local dealer was also responsible and judged in favor of the TDI owners that t…

Long read, but in-depth: http://www.thedrive.com/tech/17083/the-battle-for-best-semi-autonomous-system-tesla-autopilot-vs-gm-supercruise-head-to-head?xid=fbshare

BREAKING: GM Delays Decision on Opel's Future The board of US car maker General Motors has postponed making a decision on who should buy its Opel division, which includes Vauxhall in the UK. Follow the jump for the full story. GM Delays Decision on Opel's Future

UAW officials found guilty A federal jury convicts two bosses of demanding unqualified men get jobs after a '97 Pontiac strike. Wednesday, June 28, 2006 Paul Egan / The Detroit News DETROIT -- A federal jury convicted two United Auto Workers officials Tuesday of conspiring to break labor laws and to extort favors from automaker General Motors Corp. in the midst of a bitter labor strike in Pontiac nine years ago. Donny Douglas and Jay Campbell showed no emotion when a U.S. District Court jury returned the unanimous verdicts after a little more than a full day of deliberations. The incidents that sparked the case date back to 1997, when the UAW went out on strike at G…

The good news is that consumers are visiting the gas station less. The bad news is that consumers are spending more at the pump. Wait, those two sentences contradict each other. Which one is true? According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), both of these sentences are correct. Let us explain. As new fuel economy and emission regulations come into effect, automakers are trying to figure out ways to make that gallon of gas go farther. One method that a number of automakers are using is turbochargers. They allow automakers to use smaller displacement engines to improve fuel economy and retain the power of larger engines. The EIA says the market share of tur…

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Samsung, The Next LG Battery Competitor? Samsung has decided to be the next major Li cell supplier to the auto industry and has decided to one up LG in their quest to be the top supplier of super high density Li cells. Back in September 2016 Green Car Report stated that in an interview with Samsung, that they wanted to be equal to if not replace LG as one of the largest Li cell suppliers to the auto industry. They currently supply the cells for the BMW i line of EV auto's. In this story Samsung announced a $400 million investment in a new battery plant in Hungary which would allow the…

https://autos.yahoo.com/hyundai-recalls-nearly-100-000-142600625.html

My question is why is the US government giving tax money to Japan's Nissan Motor Co? The government of Japan would never give GM, Ford or Chrysler this kind of support, and the Japanese government would laugh in their face if they had asked for it. DETROIT (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co will receive nearly $5.9 billion in U.S. government loans to spur development of more fuel-efficient vehicles, the Obama administration said today. Japan's Nissan Motor Co. will receive $1.6 billion, and startup green car maker Tesla Motors Inc. will receive $465 million in advanced technology financing from the Energy Department program. "By supporting key technologies and sound busin…

JULY 18, 2006 Insight By Ed Wallace Detroit Ignores Its Dealers At Its Peril Heavy discounting and added costs by U.S. automakers are bleeding its dealer bodies Most auto industry observers think they know what is wrong with Detroit. As General Motors weighs a possible alliance with Renault and Nissan, and Ford hands out the pink slips and slashes its dividends, the Greek chorus of critics has its favorite targets of what to fix first: expensive labor contracts, poor understanding of the market, mediocre designs and quality, resistance to hybrid technology and an ossified bureaucracy that is out of touch with reality. Yet, the sharp-eyed will have noticed that progr…

NHTSA issues new airbag regulations David Shepardson | Detroit News | Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Motorists will be protected by both head and torso side airbags by 2013, under a new regulation adopted today. The rule unveiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requires automakers to install side curtain and side torso airbags by Sept. 1, 2013. It goes beyond what automakers pledged to do in 2003, when they voluntarily agreed to install side head airbags -- but not side torso airbags. The 291-page regulation will save more than 300 lives per year and 260 serious injuries per year -- a smaller estimate than when NHTSA initially proposed upgradin…

...and it turns out to be pretty effective, especially at lower revs. Less surprising but also interesting: VW's claimed hp and torque numbers are with the defeat device inactive. This would go a long way to explaining why the engines always felt relavively torquey, which in turn would help boost observed FE to well above the EPA's numbers. Read more about it at the link: http://m.motortrend.com/wot/volkswagen-jetta-tdi-dyno-reveals-lower-power-in-test-mode-wvideo.html

...if not, here's your chance to get acquainted to one of the "what if" scenarios that GM found themselves in so often in the 80s. I personally remember a writeup on the Evans GTP variant back when it was still a news item. Interesting stuff, found at the link: http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/throwback-thursday-1985-1988-chevrolet-corvette-gtp-race-car/

Bloomberg reported back in June 2019 that GM was looking at bringing back Hummer to the portfolio. People questioned why bring back a Gas Guzzler and would it really help or hinder GM who was pushing Green and showing off their Bolt EV. President Mark Reuss is on record as saying he loves the Hummer! GM at the time was touting the BEV3 electric platform that will support 20 EVs on the road globally by 2023. Reuss also at the time said that the GMC Denali line and AT4 off-road trucks could all be potentially offered with electric powertrains. GM bought the Hummer brand in 1998, peaked sales in 2006 at 71,524 auto's and was down to 4,000 sold in 2010 as they kille…

James B. Treece Automotive News November 3, 2008 - 1:59 pm ET Dear Mr. President: Please raise the gasoline tax. The country needs to keep moving toward using less imported oil, which means less use of oil -- period. The federal government has mandated higher fuel economy standards. That's a first step. But we tried that before in an era of cheap gasoline, and it failed. You can take fuel-efficient cars to the consumers, but you can't make shoppers open their wallets. They need a reason to want those cars. For a while this year, we had that. With gasoline prices up around $4 a gallon (still a bargain by world standards), consumers wanted fuel-efficient …

William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 21, 2012 Despite an early showing yesterday, Aston Martin has officially revealed the new Vanquish. The Vanquish will take the place of the DBS when it goes on sale in 2013. The Vanquish’s exterior design is a blend of the current DBS and Aston’s One-77 super car. Underneath the sleek design, the Vanquish’s body is comprised mostly of carbon fiber. As we reported on Tuesday, the new Vanquish will ride on Aston Martin’s venerable VH platform, which has underpinned almost every Aston Martin since the early 2000s. Aston Martin says the new Vanquish is 25% stiffer than the outgoing DBS. Power will come from a 6.0L V…

By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com March 25, 2013 For a time, young buyers that wanted a vehicle ventured towards the Japanese brand since they offered the features and content they were looking for. Now the tide is changing with younger buyers going towards American and Korean brands. Bloomberg gathered data from Edmunds and R.L. Polk which showed American automakers increased their share of retail registrations by 1.9% with 18 to 24 year olds and 1.5% with 25 to 34 year olds since 2008. Korean automakers saw the largest jump in retail registrations with a 6.8% increase in 18 to 24 year olds and 5.1% increase in 25 to 34 year olds. Japanese automaker…

G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Top 10 Most Stolen Autos Some might consider it an honor, others a sad statement of the times. No matter how you look at it, it is amazing that in a short 12 months from the last report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) that we have gone from a top 10 list of most common stolen cars to SUVs. REPORT HERE Top 10 List of stolen autos #1 Ford Escape #2 Ford Edge #3 Ford Explorer #4 Jeep Grand Cherokee #5 Kia Sorrento #6 Chevrolet Traverse #7 Nissan Rogue #8 Honda CR-V #9 Toyota RAV4 #10 Chevrolet Equinox Compact SUVs were stolen twice as often as full-size SUVs ac…

Two million Euros and 290mph, to be precise. At least according to the source at the link: http://www.autoblog.com/2016/01/01/bugatti-chiron-290-mph-report/

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2018/06/12/feds-label-fiat-chrysler-uaw-co-conspirators/695076002/ FCA & UAW Co-Conspirators in Corruption Scandal From 2009 to 2015 the federal prosecutors have stated that nepotism was allowed to flourish at a FCA blue-collar training center. The law prohibits employers or those working for them from paying, lending or delivering money or other valuables to officers or employees of labor organizations and from labor leaders from accepting them. From 2009 to 2015 more than $1.5 million worth of illegal payments to UAW officials were made. Some of the illegal benefits are as follows: $365,000 Ferrari and …

Ouch! This is bad news... hopefully for this year only. http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/26/dropout...n-still-needed/

http://www.autoextremist.com/page2.shtml#Rant

Automakers Get Creative with Camo This is war, after all — and a good disguise can keep the competition at bay. by Paul A. Eisenstein (2006-03-06) In the auto-razzi game of cat-and-mouse, Nick Twork has been both hunter and hunted. A decade ago, as a tall and lanky teenager, he began bicycling out to the General Motors Proving Grounds, in Milford, Mich., snapping pictures of future vehicles that strayed a little too close to the perimeter wall. These days, however, Twork is literally working the other side of the fence, as a product specialist in Ford's public relations department. "I've been pretty vocal about things that can lead to a spy shot," he says, like dri…

The number of automakers teaming up to share and develop new vehicles and technologies is growing in an effort to help reduce costs. A new report from German paper Handelsblatt says that BMW and Daimler are considering such a move. Speaking to sources at both companies, BMW and Daimler are looking into possibly jointly developing their next-generation compact cars (BMW 1-Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class) - as part of a wider cooperation that includes sharing autonomous car tech. Working together on a new compact car platform would save the two companies billions in investments. If the two decide to move forward with this, the first cars aren't expected to arrive unti…

Here is a paradox for you: Automakers have been increasing the number of safety features in their vehicles to help protect or avoid a crash. But this has also brought an unforeseen consquence; crash your vehicle and it is more likely that your insurance company will total it. That's according to a story from Automotive News who spoke with Bob Tschippert, senior vice president of Dallas-based underwriter Risk Theory. Tschippert explained that all of these new features has increased the costs of repairing a vehicle, thus causing the chance of an insurance company totaling vehicle to rise. "In the past, if you had a front-end collision, you had damage to the engine…

Tuesday 20th December 2005 Laws bring 24h lighting up time British motorists will be driving with their headlamps on day and night within 10 years after a new Europe-wide agreement that will allow only cars with permanent "lights on" to be sold. The move, from the Cars 21 Group of Euro motor industry chiefs and civil servants, is the final part of a deal to bring the big switch-on to the Continent by 2015. Formal proposals for EU member states will come next year. The plan is intended to cut European road accidents by making cars more visible.

The advanced fuel cell could eliminate range anxiety and make electric cars more practical, while keeping carbon-dioxide emissions low. If you want to take an electric car on a long drive, you need a gas-powered generator, like the one in the Chevrolet Volt, to extend its range. The problem is that when it's running on the generator, it's no more efficient than a conventional car. In fact, it's even less efficient, because it has a heavy battery pack to lug around. Now researchers at the University of Maryland have made a fuel cell that could provide a far more efficient alternative to a gasoline generator. Like all fuel cells, it generates electricity through a chemica…

siemens

By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com March 26, 2013 McLaren is hard at work on their next model that will slot below the MP4-12C as the automaker’s “entry-level” model, McLaren executive chairman Ron Dennis has confirmed to Autocar. Wearing the codename of P13, sources tell Autocarthe model will likely be designed as a Porsche 911 Turbo rival. Power will come a detuned version of McLaren’s twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V8. Power is expected to somewhere in the middle of 450 and 616 horsepower. The transmission will be a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The chassis will be the MP4-12C’s carbon fiber “MonoCell” chassis, which was developed from the start to…

It's that time of year when Consumer Reports announces the results of their brand report cards and for the most part, the results aren't surprising. The top ten were mostly dominated by Japanese automakers with Lexus being on top, followed by Mazda and Toyota. But if you look a little further down the list, you'll find a domestic automaker making the ten. Buick took the number seven spot on their annual reliability survey with the publication giving it an overall score of 69 and recommending 83 percent of their lineup. Buick has a reputation for large, cushy cars, and they’ve really invented themselves pretty quickly. They’re making reliable vehicles, and they’re making…

China is the latest country to investigate possibly ending the sale of gas and diesel vehicles. According to the state's Xinhua News Agency, deputy industry minister Xin Guobin told an auto industry forum over the weekend has started "research on formulating a timetable to stop production and sales of traditional energy vehicles." “Some countries have made a timeline for when to stop the production and sales of traditional fuel cars,” said Guobin. “The ministry has also started relevant research and will make such a timeline with relevant departments. Those measures will certainly bring profound changes for our car industry’s development.” This move is…

A big complaint you'll hear from journalists covering the Detroit Auto Show is the month that it is held. January is a miserable time in the north with cold temperatures and endless amounts of snow. But there could be some relief coming. The Wall Street Journal has learned from various sources that organizers of the show are considering moving the show from January to October. Crain's Detroit Business adds that show officials have been floating this idea for more than a year with automakers, city officials, and Cobo Center. Both say the show's leadership team has yet to make the final decision and could happen as early as 2020. A spokesman for the Detroit Auto S…

From the strange bedfellows' file; Hyundai and Kia have announced a joint investment of 80 million Euros (about $90 million) into Croatia-based Rimac Automobili. Rimac may be known to most people for the fast Concept One electric supercar - the vehicle which Richard Hammond had a serious crash when filming The Grand Tour. "The companies will work closely together to develop prototypes for an electric version of Hyundai Motor's N brand midship sports concept car and a high-performance fuel cell electric vehicle. Hyundai Motor Group will leverage the partnership to build on its existing R&D capabilities to meet its electrification plan, which includes deployment of …

_ 2012 Chevrolet Aveo Previewed GM has released a couple of photos of the new 2012 Aveo 5-door ahead of its Paris debut. Follow the jump to see the other photo and details. http://www.cheersand...t-aveo-preview/

Toyota, Honda must fess up to less vroom New testing standards force carmakers to reduce claims Nick Bunkley / The Detroit News March 13, 2006 It turns out Toyota Motor Corp. isn't as strong as it appears in at least one area -- under the hood. Testing under stricter new horsepower standards reveals that most of the models in Toyota's lineup have less oomph than the company has advertised. Even though the engines are unchanged, the automaker had to lower the horsepower ratings on all but few 2006 Toyota, Lexus and Scion models. The reductions range from 4 to 20 horsepower compared with 2005 models. Honda Motor Co., the No. 2 Japanese automaker, also has downgr…

Are going to go a long, long way towards their survival here in N/A. Those comms are ingenious.

Strategic Vision Announces '06 Total Value Winners Hyundai leads over many brands, including Toyota. GM proves that Asian and European makers are not out of reach. BMW and MINI top all brands as Total Value leaders. These are a few of the results from Strategic Vision’s Total Value Index (TVI), which factors economic issues against the total new vehicle ownership experience. The San Diego-based research firm announced today the winners of its Total Value Awards, which reflect that true value is about much more than the cheapest deal. Reliability, a solid warranty, strong anticipated resale value, durability, and innovation are all part of the definition of “total value.”…

My buddy's brother runs a hydraulic shop where they sell a lot of plows. My buddy told me the shop just got a notice from toyota NOT to install any plows on tundras or the warranty will be voided. Bro is pissed, he'll have to return like 25 toyo-spec plow packages to the manufacturer. Don't know what will happen with those trucks that already have them mounted... Apparently there are frame engineering issues under load that toyo doesn't want to be bothered with fixing or warrantying, but I have not seen the bulletin. Anyone else heard of this?? Oh... what a feeling.... of letdown.... again.

Top 10 Fastest Depreciating Auto's I See Cars Study 4.1 million auto sales reviewed that became CPO resales and this gave I See Cars a clear picture of the top 10 auto's with the highest depreciation. In the Luxury segment, this led by BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-benz E-Class. iSeeCars 10 Best Bargains on Almost-New Vehicles Rank Car Avg. 3-Year-Old Used Price % Depreciation Depreciation Compared to Average 1 BMW 5 Series $ 30,846 52.6% 1.5 x 2 Volkswagen Passat $1…

Generous government subsidies have been behind China taking the lion’s share of global electric vehicle sales in recent years — but now they’re being called to question and face another scandal. While the country saw its “new energy vehicle” sales spike 79 percent last year and its domination of global sales confirmed, that came from government-funded subsidies allowing automakers to offset their manufacturing costs and consumers to pay affordable, competitive purchase prices for electric vehicles (EVs). “The consequence of the subsidy-fueled growth is that it also triggered excess production capacity, because everyone wants to benefit from government support,” …

Will Detroit build new aqua-car? Entrepreneur wants to sell amphibious vehicles by '09 Link to Original Article @ DetNews BIRMINGHAM -- Alan Gibbs' enthusiasm is contagious as he talks about his Aquada, an amphibious vehicle that's a sports car on land and a speed boat at sea. Gibbs, founder and chairman of Gibbs Technologies, showed off what he described as production-ready versions of the Aquada and Quadski, a personal watercraft that doubles as an all-terrain vehicle, at a news conference in Birmingham Wednesday. After some early setbacks, the wealthy business mogul from New Zealand aims to begin selling the amphibious vehicles in the United States by 2009. He is …

More http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_cont...-hybrid-dilemma

INL is the Idaho National Laboratory in southeast Idaho, where my wife works. This article was sent out as a news e-mail to employees, and is assumed non-confidential since it links to public website sources. INL has traditionally been largely a nuclear technology development facility, but is expanding/changing to other areas of study.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...341/1363/AUTO04

GM August Sales Total 246,479 Equalling Highest Total and Retail Sales in 2009 "Cash for Clunkers" Vehicles Up 42 Percent Retail Compared with Last Year August month-over-month retail sales increase led by GM's four core brands: Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac, which were up 21 percent collectively. General Motor's Full August Sales Report. Monthly Sales Leader board for August (click on numbers to go to story) General Motors Company - 246,479 Toyota Motors Corporation - 225,088 Ford Motor Company - 176,323 American Honda - 161,439 Nissan Motors - 105,312 Hyundai Kia Automotive Group - 100,665 Chrysler Group LLC - 93,222 BMW North Ame…

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../511300432/1148

Demographic Groups Rank Most Buzz-Worthy New Vehicles Domestic Launches Creating Most Buzz, Mercedes-Benz CLS Universally Viewed as Sophisticated IRVINE, Calif., May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- New-vehicle launches creating the most buzz differ greatly by demographic and vehicle consideration groups, according to the 2006 AutoVIBES Demographics reports, now available from online research leaders Harris Interactive® and Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research. The annual AutoVIBES Demographics series of reports provide significant insight into the diverse vehicle shopping preferences and opinions of different age groups, ethnicities and segment consideration groups. Most Buzz-W…

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/05/11038136-ferdinand-porsche-sports-car-designer-dies?lite

President Biden and senior officials in the Biden administration hosted a meeting with the major automotive leaders on the Build Back Better agenda with a focus on moving America to BEVs and the supporting needs of the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles to succeed. The list of auto companies that were at this meeting was as follows according to Reuters who reported this quiet meeting happened sometime last week at the end of March, beginning of April. Tesla CEO Elon Musk GM CEO Mary Barra Ford CEO Jim Farley Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson Nissan Americas chair Jeremie Pa…

William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 31, 2012 Back in August, we reported on the rumor that AM General would be offering a kit kit of the C-Series HMMWV, or Humvee. This week, AM General has come out and announced they will be selling a C-Series HMMWV kit. The C-Series HMMWV kit includes a frame, painted body (your choice of either khaki, dark military green, or sand), cooling package, wiring harnesses, fuel tanks, seating, front and rear Torsen differentials, and top. The only thing you'll need to provide is a powertrain and transmission. This allows AM General to avoid anti-pollution laws and fees. This also allows the kit to be offered at a lower…

Turn me on, turn me not on, turn me on... Your voice counts. We seek the car with the most sex-Appeal in Germany. What rightly attracts, must not always have pure power, a six-figure purchase-price and if necessary an Italian name. We have for you per marque a maximum of two models chosen … http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/news/on...05005_15056.hbs

Be it grid storage, computers, cell phones and especially electric vehicles, a safe, long-lasting, and energy-dense battery in a smaller form factor is what every company is looking for in selling their products today. ICE or internal combustion engine vehicles have dominated the last 100 years, but the next 100 years seems to be looking at a major change and while ICE auto's will be with us for some time, technology is going to change the way humans get around in the 21st century. Let's start with a little background information on battery format. You have your Cylindrical size cells that is used by Tesla and a few other companies in the auto industry …

U.S. Supreme Court Halts Chrysler Sale to Fiat Indefinitely Indiana State Pension Fund's request is granted by Justice Ginsburg to stop the sale for an unknown length of time. Story Link

Going Yellow Given a Yellow Light A move by the nation's largest product-safety laboratory to remove its approval of ethanol fuel pumps has frozen the rollout of new ethanol stations and cast doubt on the legal status of the roughly 1,000 stations already selling E85 fuel. Without certification from Underwriters Laboratories, the company that tests thousands of products for safety and manages the "UL" symbol, state officials and ethanol industry executives say E85 pumps may run afoul of state and local fire codes that require "listed" equipment for pumping fuel. A fire marshal in Columbus, Ohio, ordered two E85 pumps shut down last week because of a lack of UL approva…

Auto sales are expected to slide September another weak month in what could be the most sluggish year for sales since 1998 Dee-Ann Durbin | Associated Press | Link to Original Article @ DetNews DETROIT -- September auto sales are expected to be weak because of a credit crunch, high gas prices and the troubled housing market, reflecting an overall slowdown for the year but little effect from the brief strike against General Motors, industry analysts say. Indeed, the impact of the two-day strike could be small in what could become the most sluggish year for sales since 1998, according to industry experts. Jesse Toprak, chief economist for the auto information site Edmu…

Another reason I'm in my last new vehicle (and only 2nd), ever : >>"Ford Motor Company and Honda have met a commitment ahead of schedule to equip most of their vehicles with automatic emergency braking this year, significantly reducing crash and injury risk for thousands of drivers, according to a news release from Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Friday. Ford and its luxury brand Lincoln, along with Honda and its luxury brand Acura, installed the safety feature on more than 95% of the vehicles they produced for the U.S. market between Sept. 1, 2020 and Aug. 31, 2021. Insurance data shows that front crash prevention systems wi…

September 23, 2009 by Alborz Fallah As part of a trial for an interesting new system, South Australian police have begun using patrol cars fitted with a camera system capable of instantly reading and analysing number plates of cars driving past. The Automated Number Plate Recognition camera system will automatically run the number plate of cars through its system and tell the police whether a car is unroadworthy, unregistered, uninsured, or stolen The idea is to take the element of random checking out and have all cars passing by checked allowing police to better catch law offenders. Additionally the technology can be used to catch criminals by linking known offende…

. Report: GM working on more powerful V6 for 2011 Camaro? GM wants Camaro to top Ford's 305 horsepower in base Mustang.

It’s 17 years and they haven’t been able to get them right yet. And they don’t even care! from car connection more proof positive that really there needs to be some dead wood swept out of Detroit.

More Legal Issues for Delphi Delphi Corp.'s creditors committee said this week it found several financial discrepancies in the monthly fee statements of Delphi's attorneys and other hired professionals. The creditors committee -- the court-appointed group that consults and investigates Delphi's bankruptcy reorganization -- found, among other things, that one law firm charged more than $10,000 in travel expenses for just two lawyers without detailing the expenditures; two other law firms charged more than they previously said they would, and an attorney at one law firm reported working exactly 8 hours nearly every day she worked, an uncommon practice. Read "Delphi legal…

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a25915/go-lutz-yourself-the-luxury-problem/ Cadillac was fine in the Thirties, Forties, and Fifties, and then it went downhill, along with Lincoln. That's going to be tough to get back. It can only come from focused and consistent messaging on the excellence of the car, and it's got to be accompanied by dynamite styling. For Cadillac and Lincoln, the priority should be to build the best-looking full-size sedan in the world. If everything you do is the best looking with the best trim, the best leather, and the biggest wheels, the performance just has to be adequate. The car doesn't have to win every high-performance comparison t…

Under the current standards for vehicle emissions, automakers have a variety of ways to achieve compliance. These are known as "compliance flexibilities" which allows an automaker to sell electric vehicles to off-set gad-guzzlers like SUVs as an example. But the recent proposal by the Trump administration to ease emission standards, will remove these flexibilities. The proposal unveiled last week would freeze fuel-economy and emissions standards at their 2020 levels for several years beyond that. This would seem like a positive for automakers as trucks and SUVs/crossovers are selling like hotcakes. But the removal of this provision has automakers crying fowl, saying …

Chevrolet to Unveil Volt MPV5 Crossover at Beijing Auto Show The Chevrolet Volt MPV5 concept will debut at the Beijing Motor Show. The five-passenger crossover rides on the same Voltec architecture as the Volt. Discuss what do you think of the concept here.