Tag Archives: autoinformed

National Safety Council: 2015 Traffic Safety Worst Since 2007

NSC says that from January to June, nearly 19,000 people died in traffic crashes across the U.S., and more than 2.2 million were seriously injured, making 2015 the deadliest driving year since 2007. Continue reading

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Isotta Fraschini Wins Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

An Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A Cabriolet was Best of Show at the 65th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Sunday. Continue reading

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Volkswagen Recalls 420,000 Cars, SUVs for Bad Airbags

The fix for this safety recall is still under development even though the first field reports of the defect appeared in 2011. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation has received nine reports from consumers alleging steering wheel clock spring/steering column control module (SCCM) failures in 2012 Volkswagen Passat and CC models. NHTSA opened an investigation last March after VW internal reviews said “low failure rate detected and no impact on vehicle safety” was found at a 2012 meeting. Continue reading

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Test Drive – 2016 Hyundai Tucson Gen Three

Caveat here: The whole industry is moving at a rapid pace toward small displacement force-fed engines, but the real world fuel economy improvements – if any – are heavily dependent on where you drive and how smooth your driving technique is. In stop and go conditions – whether induced by traffic or by drivers that are first to every red light with late braking will not see any gains in our experience. For these people, the new Tucson’s fuel tank has been increased by 1.1 gallons. Continue reading

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Audi, Lagging in EVs, Inks Deal with LG Chem, Samsung

The cell modules – it is hoped – will offer high performance far beyond the only Audi EV extant, the A3 Sportback Plug-in hybrid, aka Sportback e-tron on sale this fall. Continue reading

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‘Affordable’ McLaren Sports Series in Pre-Production

The McLaren Production Centre in Woking, England is now in the pre-production phase for the Sports Series 570S and 540C Coupé that go on sale this fall. These are so called affordable models, if your definition of attainable encompasses ~$200,000. Continue reading

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AM General Starts Mercedes-Benz R-Class Contract Assembly

During 2015, almost the entire MB SUV portfolio will be renewed: the M-Class and the GL-Class will receive a facelift – in line with the new Mercedes-Benz nomenclature. The previous model designations will then be replaced by GLE-Class and GLS-Class, respectively. Mercedes-Benz expects additional sales momentum in 2015 from this product renewal. Continue reading

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Enterprise CarShare, Nissan Start College Car Sharing

Enterprise CarShare and Nissan today announce a multi-year deal that supplies Enterprise CarShare fleets on 90 university campuses exclusively with Nissan vehicles. This is just the latest example of how traditional models of vehicle ownership are under attack from car sharing of inexpensive taxi services. Continue reading

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Jaguar Land Rover in Talks for Slovak Republic Plant

Union officials in the UK immediately called for a guarantee of jobs with wages that are more than twice the £7 average Slovakia rate. Slovakia has plants from German Volkswagen, South Korean Kia and France’s PSA Peugeot Citroën. Continue reading

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Cadillac Joins Rag Trade with Capsule Collection

Sales challenged Cadillac – at 97,358 in the U.S. or -2.4% ytd – is launching a fall / winter men’s clothing line. The new Cadillac Capsule Collection Curated by Nick Wooster that will be available on Gilt.com at full list price. Continue reading

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Mazda Recalls CX-9 Crossovers after NHTSA Safety Query

The recall, due to start in September, comes after NHTSA sent an inquiry to the Japanese automaker about the potential safety defect after receiving customer complaints. Continue reading

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Is the Tesla Bubble About to Burst?

Not surprisingly, the stock market is wary. Tesla stock has dropped for three straight days since the results – more than -5% on Thursday, almost -7% on Friday, and on Monday morning, it was trading down -9% at $236 per share. Continue reading

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Short Circuit! BMW to Control i3 EV Recharging Times

The BMW Group and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in the San Francisco Bay area are starting a program whereby BMW will stop the charging by i3 owners under a new study that has ominous long-term privacy and government control implications for future EV buyers. Continue reading

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Audi A3 Sportback Plug-in Hybrid Priced $38,825 to $47,725

The plug-hybrid will be the first electrified Audi sold here when it goes on sale in October. EPA figures will be announced once they are available from U.S. regulators. Continue reading

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BMW Group Display – 2015 Frankfurt International Motor Show

With a much longer test track (400 meters) than in 2013, the BMW Group stand will now offer active-driving demonstrations of BMW and Mini-brand vehicles for the first time. Continue reading

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