General Motor‘s European subsidiary, Opel has contributed greatly to GM’s engineering and technology development. Despite this, Opel has had difficulty making profit. GM Vice Chairman and Opel’s supervisory board chairman, Stephen Girsky explained to Financial Times Deutschland, “Unfortunately, our plan for making Opel profitable this year did not work.” Analysts suggest causes for Opel’s unprofitability include...
Continue Reading...
Volkswagen‘s Chattanooga manufacturing plant has become the first and only automotive manufacturing facility in the world to receive a Platinum certification from the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). From the onset, Volkswagen had designed their Chattanooga plant, where their popular Passat is produced, to be as green as...
Continue Reading...
Autocar UK is reporting that Land Rover is currently planning for a bigger Range Rover Evoque model, slotting a vehicle in between the Evoque and its Range Rover Sport sibling. Success of BMW‘s X-models and Audi‘s Q-models has encouraged Land Rover to expand its Range Rover brand. Possibly called “Grand Evoque”, it should be based...
Continue Reading...
Subaru‘s BRZ GT300 race car is looking fabulous on the track, but we couldn’t help but wonder where Toyota‘s GT 86 race car was at the Tokyo Motor Show. Apparently nowhere, maybe not even on the minds of Toyota engineers responsible for their GT300 race car. Rather than usher in a new era of racing...
Continue Reading...
Oh we just couldn’t help but think one thing when we saw this teaser video from BMW. By blurring out the key parts of the car – mainly the rear badges – we had to wonder if BMW decided to take a page out of XXX videos from Japan. You know, where they’re notorious of...
Continue Reading...
For nearly two decades, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (more commonly known as just the ‘Evo’) has been the benchmark sports sedan around the world. It might have arrived a bit late in the American market, only going on sale in 2003 with the Evo VIII model, but it has well-established itself as a giant killer...
Continue Reading...
The current state of economy and the ever rising price of fuel is changing car buying habits in American households. Where once mid-size sedans like the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry ruled, those spots are now being replaced by smaller cars like the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Elantra (above). Consumer survey specialists...
Continue Reading...
If you’re stuck on what to get the Land Rover enthusiast in your life, why not surprise them with a Land Rover Experience, an ice hat or a collapsible kettle? These are just a few of the new offerings at Land Rover Gear’s online shop. One of the coolest ideas is the Land Rover Experience....
Continue Reading...
Toyota is issuing out a recall of 210,000 Siennas from their 2011-2012 model year for a labeling issue. The recall is relatively minor, with Toyota equipping the Siennas with stickers displaying the incorrect vehicle capacity weight. The recalled Siennas do not comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 110, “Tire Selection and Rims.”...
Continue Reading...
For the second straight month, Mercedes-Benz topped BMW in sales, bringing them just 1,600 units behind in annual deliveries to its German luxury counterpart. Both brands are trying to replace Lexus, who has been at the top of the luxury sales list for the past 11 years, and this years’ race is probably the closest....
Continue Reading...
Volkswagen has its redesigned Passat to thank as the brand as a whole posted a 41-percent increase in November sales compared to last year’s November. But it’s not all just Passat sales, as other popular VW models enjoyed success compared to last year. Volkswagen’s Jetta sales rose 16-percent from November 2010 to the tune of...
Continue Reading...
With November vehicle sales numbers released, Toyota‘s Sienna still tops the minivan market, but Dodge‘s Caravan in closing in closely for the year while Honda‘s Odyssey and Chrysler‘s Town & Country are no real threat to take the 2011 sales lead. Chevy‘s Camaro however is at the top by a huge margin, compared to its...
Continue Reading...
Just when we thought absolutely nothing negative about Hyundai could hit the press, this happens. A group called Consumer Watchdog has requested that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigate Hyundai’s MPG claim on their popular Elantra model. Hyundai states that the Elantra can get 29-mpg city, 40-mpg highway with a 33-mpg average, but Consumer...
Continue Reading...
GM set a lofty goal of selling 10,000 Chevrolet Volts in 2011 and has finally admitted that they won’t be able to hit their target sales mark this year and probably won’t be achieved until sometime in early 2012. Through the first 11 months of the year, Chevrolet has successfully moved 6,142 Volts while their...
Continue Reading...
Some good news for Chevrolet‘s Volt has hit the news today, with Consumer Reports saying that the electric car has the single highest rate of owner satisfaction of any car this year. CR did also mention that the survey was conducted prior to the media’s reports of the battery-pack fires, but it appears that the...
Continue Reading...
Subaru announced today that they’re stopping sales and issuing out a recall on 2012 models of the Impreza, Legacy and Outback due to complaints about increased brake pedal travel. Around 3,000 cars will be recalled with notices being sent to vehicle owners within the next couple of days. A stop-sale was also put into affect...
Continue Reading...
As expected, Volkswagen debuted the Passat Alltrack at the Tokyo Motor Show and it was pretty much everything we expected it to be – a high-riding variant of the Passat wagon that’s offered in Europe. We have to admit we found it a little peculiar that VW would debut the Passat Alltrack in Japan but...
Continue Reading...
Reports are coming in that Japanese auto manufacturers are looking for ways to cut costs on vehicles being exported to the United States in order to squeeze profits due to the record high yen against the dollar. A prime example is the new GS 350 from Lexus, that has been highly anticipated and praised by...
Continue Reading...
The automotive world is filled with comparison tests, but these usually are held between two or more cars that are currently on sale. What Inside Line did was pit an old Datsun 510 versus a new Nissan Juke. You might think that the Juke would have an unfair advantage, but the 510 they brought out...
Continue Reading...
Audi has plenty to celebrate this year, having eclipsed their previous annual sales record of 101,629 (set in 2010) with a month to go in 2011. Sales through the Thanksgiving weekend stood at 102,055 vehicles, giving Audi an amazing year to go along with having record-setting months in each of the first 10 months of...
Continue Reading...
Volkswagen unveiled the Cross Coupe Concept today at the Tokyo Motor Show, looking to change the way we view SUVs in the future. The Cross Coupe Concept is an all-wheel-drive, plug-in hybrid and looks as if a traditional four-door coupe and an SUV got melded together in the design center. This concept is also Volkswagen’s...
Continue Reading...
Toyota is banking on its plug-in Prius hybrid and other new models to help bring their sales numbers back to pre-2008 status, where Toyota had no trouble grabbing the global sales crown each year. Currently Toyota is poised to lose that trophy to General Motors, undoubtedly due to the earthquake in March in Japan and...
Continue Reading...
Kicking off the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, Mazda unveiled a stunning new concept car that will eventually head to production as the next generation Mazda6 family sedan. A shot at the bold styling direction of brands like Hyundai and Kia, Mazda’s new Kodo design language is certain to bring much needed attention to Mazda dealerships...
Continue Reading...
According to Advertising Age, a sister publication to Automotive News, Chevrolet‘s Cruze, Kia‘s Soul and Jeep‘s Wrangler are among America’s top 25 hottest products for 2011, alongside Dove soap, Arizona Tea, Goldfish crackers, Sharpie markers and the Forever 21 clothing chain. There’s no doubting those three vehicles’ success, but we’d be willing to debate that...
Continue Reading...
sidebar...
