Category Archives: new vehicle

Chrysler Group October Sales Up 27%. Comeback Continues

Chrysler Group today reported U.S. sales of 114,512, a 27% increase compared with sales in October 2010. It was the Number Three Detroit automaker’s best October since 2007. This wasn’t good enough to defend its recent Number Three U.S. sales position, as Toyota’s return to the market with better inventories moved it back into the Number Three spot by 20,000 units. Continue reading

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Chevrolet and Nissan Succeed with Plug-in Hybrids and EVs as the Business of Plugging In Shows First Product Results

Success is the verdict about one year after the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and Nissan Leaf EV (electric vehicle) both went on sale, it was revealed last week at the third annual Business of Plugging In Conference in Michigan. And with Cadillac, Ford, Toyota about to introduce the their own plug-in hybrids, and a pure EV version of the tiny Chevrolet Spark coming in 2013, the small niche of electric cars has the chance to grow some more. Continue reading

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Honda Starts Production of 2012 Civic Natural Gas car in U.S.

As it stands now, compressed natural gas or CNG vehicles that are growing clean air darlings – under debatable assumptions about how clean natural gas really is and how it is produced under exemptions from government environmental regulations – are all conversions of mostly Detroit Three pickup trucks and vans with one Honda factory-made exception. Continue reading

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Chevrolet to Produce Spark EV All-Electric Vehicle

Chevrolet today announced it will produce an all-electric version of the Chevrolet Spark mini-car – the Spark EV. It will be sold in limited quantities in some U.S. and global markets starting in 2013 in California. The company needs to the CAFE credits from an EV in order to meet impending fuel economy requirements in the U.S. Continue reading

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Driving the 2012 Hyundai Veloster – a Marketing Twist Aimed at Geeks over What’s a High Mileage, High Style Econobox

For the money Hyundai is selling what it dubs a “reverse halo” vehicle. Marketing babble aside,Veloster is really just a twist on the perennial attempts by salespeople to avoid the feared “econobox” label. The purported Veloster selling points therefore involve high performance electrons in the guise of Hyundai’s Blue Link telematics system with a hands-free phone system with voice recognition, Pandora internet radio, with seven-inch touch-screen display, and video game console connectivity with 115-volt power outlet. Continue reading

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Midsize Chevrolet Colorado Pickup Will Be Built in U.S.

The GM Colorado decision once again raises the Ford Ranger question. Ford Motor once dominated the compact pickup truck market in the U.S. until years of product neglect combined with an assault by Toyota and Nissan pushed it to a footnote in the segment. This first forced the closing of Ford’s Edison, New Jersey plant. The remaining plant in Minnesota did not survive the tentative Ford UAW contract that is now being voted on, and will shut down later this year. Continue reading

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Five of the Top Ten U.S. Best Sellers in September Are from Offshore Brands. Only One Detroit Three Car Makes the List

Five of the top ten selling vehicles in September were from offshore brands, an increase of one from August and only three in July as the new vehicle market continues its slow shift away from traditional trucks and SUVs. Continue reading

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Competition in Chinese Auto Market Results in Cross Shopping Record. U.S. Brands Suffer Because of Poor Fuel Economy

Fuel economy is also among the top rejection reasons, particularly given the sharp increases in gas prices that have occurred in recent years. Fuel economy is becoming a challenge for nearly all manufacturers, but particularly so for U.S. brands. Approximately one in four rejecters (24%) say they rejected a model of a U.S. brand because they expected better fuel economy. Continue reading

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GE and Nissan to Work on EV Charging Infrastructure

In the U.S. several problems are inhibiting widespread adoption of EVs: the high cost of the EV itself even with lavish taxpayer subsidies, which are unsustainable given current deficits; the generation of 50% of electricity in the U.S. by carbon monoxide producing coal, the dirtiest of carbon based fossil fuels; and the lack of a national grid to move power around during peak demand periods. Continue reading

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General Motors to Debut World’s First Center Airbag in 2013

A GM analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System database (FARS) found that far-side impact crashes accounted for 11% of the belted front occupant fatalities in non-rollover impacts between 2004 and 2009. Also implied in the data GM looked at is that much more work remains to be done on interior design, including seat belts that don’t hold an occupant laterally, the now ubiquitous center consoles that are causing serious and fatal injuries, and the seat itself, which allows deadly movement. With intense engineering, some of these problems could be dealt with by passive solutions, which could be far less expensive than adding another airbag to every new vehicle. Continue reading

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Nissan Taking Leaf EV Orders in New U.S. Markets

Year-to-date Nissan has delivered about 7,000 of the pure electric vehicle, which has a range of about 85 miles. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the 2012 Leaf is $35,200 for the SV trim level, and $37,250 for the SL trim level. The monthly lease price begins at $369. Continue reading

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The Business of Plugging In Adds EV Experts to Panels

The Center for Automotive Research is holding a timely conference – The Business of Plugging In, an electric vehicle conference – this October that will discuss the emerging plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) against a background of contentious budget debates in Washington about subsidies for automakers, global warming, emission regulations, and tax policies. Continue reading

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First 2012 Chevy ZL1 Camaro Brings $250 K in Charity Auction

The first 2012 Camaro ZL1 offered to the public sold for $250,000 at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Las Vegas last Saturday evening. The car was offered by Fairway Chevrolet-Buick-GMC in Las Vegas, with 100% of the auction proceeds benefitting the YMCA of Southern Nevada.

Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports and chairman of Hendrick Automotive Group, placed the winning bid and is expected to take delivery of his new Camaro in the first quarter of 2012. Hendricks’s son, Greg, is the president of Fairway Chevrolet. Continue reading

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European Automakers to Standardize EV Charging by 2017

At the moment and for the foreseeable future, the small numbers of owners of EVs in Europe face conflicting recharging methods. If the automakers have their way, the European Commission will endorse the concept and force it on all involved. Continue reading

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Car Spy – New Chrysler Products based on Fiat Platform

The car caught here is based on Fiat’s compact line, which also includes Alfa Romeo versions. The Alfa Romeo brand will be reintroduced to the U.S. starting in 2013, as part of the Fiat 500 franchise. Fiat dealers in the U.S. only have the 500 to sell until then. Whether the actual Alfa Romeo Giulietta – a four-seat compact makes it is unclear. An Alfa two seater is thought to be the first comeback car. Continue reading

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