Automotive Industry
News covering the Automotive Industry at large.
503 articles in this category
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Kelly Blue Book has listed the ten vehicles that deprecate at alarming rate and top three happen to be electric vehicles. The Nissan Leaf according to KBB is projected to only retain 18 percent of its new-car price after five years. Behind the Leaf is the Fiat 500e which is expected to retain 21 percent and the Smart ForTwo EV which is expected to retain 21.5 percent. Few key items to keep in mind: Fiat 500e is only available to lease in California A number of automakers, like Nissan have
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Buying and selling vehicles in Cuba is an interesting proposition. If you own or want to buy a vehicle before 1959 (the year when Cuba underwent a revolution and became a communist nation), you don't have to ask the government for permission. If the vehicle built after 1959, then you would have to obtain a special permit from the government which allows you to buy that vehicle. But buying a vehicle in Cuba in the near future will become a much easier affair. The Cuban Government announced last
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If you're looking a vehicle that has the best value in the marketplace, then according to Consumer Reports, you should be looking at the Toyota Prius. The publication announced the results of their annual Best New-Car Value analysis. The analysis looks at the five-year cost for a vehicle to an owner which includes such factors as maintenance, insurance, and depreciation. That cost is factored in with Consumer Reports’ road-test score and reliability rating for each vehicle. This is the second y
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 11, 2013 With the 2014 Detroit Auto Show just a month away, the finalists for the 2014 North American Car and Truck of Year were announced. General Motors dominated the finalists with two models in the car category (Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Corvette) and one model in the truck/utility category (Chevrolet Silverado). Mazda takes the last spot in the cars with the new 3. In the truck/utility category, the Acura MDX and Jeep Cherokee jo
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 7, 2013 The Suzuki Kizashi, a model that was loved by many automotive writers and journalists (your's truly included), but never made a mark on consumers, will not get a second chance. According to Drive.com.au, Suzuki is unlikely to develop a replacement model. “That’s my headache. Kizashi was a very unlucky car,” said Suzuki’s Australian managing director Masaaki Kato. “We had so many arguments about the question: how to handle Kiza
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 30, 2013 The U.S. Treasury's sell off of General Motors stock isn't faring so well. According to a new report from The Detroit News, the U.S. Treasury has reported a $9.7 billion loss on the $49.5 billion bailout of GM back in 2009. This figure comes from the quarterly report from the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program to Congress. The U.S. Treasury original stake in GM back in 2009 was around 60.8 percent. S
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 28, 2013 Consumer Reports has released this year's Auto Reliability Rankings, and not surprisingly Japan is on top. The top three in the rankings are Lexus, Toyota, and Acura. Following them is Mazda in fifth, Infiniti in sixth, Honda in eighth, and Subaru in tenth. That doesn't mean there weren't any surprises. Audi jumped four places to forth, while Volvo climbed a massive thirteen spots to seventh place. GMC was the only American bra
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 28, 2013 California and seven other states have signed a new pact that hopes to increase the number of zero emission vehicles on their roads to 3.3 million by the year 2025. Joining California in this pact are Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, and Vermont. The seven states have already adopted a rule like California where by 2025, 15 percent of vehicles sold must produce zero emissions. To help get to
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 21, 2013 It has been a few months since we had any update from VL Automotive, the group who showed off a Fisker Karma with 6.2L LS9 V8 from the Corvette ZR1 called the Destino. Back in May, Bob Lutz said plans for the Destino were safe, despite the problems Fisker Automotive were having at the time. This past week, Lutz gave an update on where VL Automotive stands. Lutz tells Automotive News that VL currently has 25 Karmas on hand and t
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 16, 2013 Range Anxiety. A condition that still plagues electric vehicles. But it isn't limited to prospective customers who are worried about not having enough juice, it has now spread to rental customers. A number of rental car agencies have now started offering electric vehicles. This allows consumers to try an EV. But renters are returning the EVs much sooner and exchanging them for gas vehicle. “People are very keen to try it, but t
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 16, 2013 Back at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, Aston Martin rolled out a very polarizing crossover concept with a name that hadn't been since the late eighties; Lagonda. Quick history lesson: Lagonda was brand that got its start back in 1906 building luxury vehicles. In 1947, Lagonda was paired up with Aston Martin and would continue building vehicles till the late fifties. Since that time, Aston Martin has used Lagonda as a model name fo
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 15, 2013 On the face of it, sales for new vehicles haven't been better. Total sales for new vehicles could reach 15.5 million this year and some analysts believe that 2014 will see total sales reach 16 million vehicles. But with increase in sales, warning signs are appearing in automotive loans and leases which could put an end to the increases. Automotive News that the average loan length has gone up to 65 months (about five and a half
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 10, 2013 Aston Martin's most questionable vehicle, the Cygnet city car has been canned after being on sale for three years. A source tells Reuters that the decision was made after the company only sold 150 Cygnets. The Cygnet was a Toyota iQ city car dressed up in Aston Martin clothing. The brand hoped to move 4,000 units per year to "environmentally conscious city dwellers". The Cygnet was also a move to help Aston Martin reduce their
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 9, 2013 Don't own a vehicle? You are not alone. In fact, the number of people who don't own a vehicle is increasing. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials released a brief that states the number of American households that don't own a vehicle has seen a uptick. Starting in 1960, the number of households that didn't own a vehicle declined steadily, reaching a low of 8.7 percent in 2007. But since that tim
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 4, 2013 The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to release their results of fuel economy audits done on twenty vehicles. Christopher Grundler, head of the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality tells Automotive News the audits looked at a specific portion of the test cycle known as the coast-down test. The coast-down test has a vehicle run up to 80 MPH and then is allowed to glide to a stop. This test measures the ae
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 3, 2013 Ever wonder why more automakers are jumbling letters and numbers together to name vehicles? Its because there are less names that automakers can legally use around the world. "It's tough. In 1985 there were about 75,000 names trademarked in the automotive space. Today there are 800,000," said Russ Clark, director of marketing for Chevrolet. "The truth of the matter is, across the world, there is hardly a name or a letter that h
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 23, 2013 Reuters is reporting that Fiat will be buying General Motor's share of Italian engine manufacturer VM Motori. VM Motori currently supplies engines for the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 EcoDiesel. "GM's notification to exercise its put option to sell to Fiat its 50 percent interest in VM Motori SpA is in line with the contracts Fiat entered into when it acquired a 50 percent stake in VM in 2010," said Fiat in a statement.
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 17, 2013 Analysts are predicting that new car sales could reach pre-crash levels possibly next year. Sales in 2014 are projected to rise to 16.1 million vehicles, just shy of the 16.15 million cars sold in 2007. Part of this increase is coming from automakers building better products. Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors are real contenders in the compact and midsize marketplace. Also, Korean automakers are giving everyone in the indust
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 3, 2013 In not surprising news, California is the place where most electric vehicles are being sold. New data from Polk says that more than more than 35 percent of electric vehicles registrations come from two California cities: San Francisco and Los Angeles. The California New Car Dealers Association says in the first half of this year, 9,700 electric vehicles were registered and represented 1.1 percent of the state’s auto sales. “A
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 31, 2013 The Advance Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program could be making a comeback. First introduced back in 2008 by then President George Bush, the ATVM program set aside $25 billion to fund advancements in green vehicle technology. However the program was suspended three years after due to two companies who took loans weren't able to pay them back. When the program was suspended, the Energy Department only gave out ab
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 26, 2013 When Ford announced that it was lowering the fuel economy numbers of the C-Max Hybrid a couple of weeks ago, they said the EPA's fuel economy testing was unrealistic for hybrid vehicles. The EPA has come back this week and gave a clear message: "The problem here is really not how the testing is done." Christopher Grundler, the EPA's top auto industry regulator told Automotive News that the EPA's own engineers weren't sure if the
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 26, 2013 The past couple of years has seen the rise of diesel powered vehicles in the U.S. Automakers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Chevrolet have introduced diesel vehicles to acclaim. Other automakers such as Mazda and Audi are readying vehicles to join in the fun. But there are still a number of roadblocks for automakers to bring diesel vehicles into the marketplace. To fight this, The Detroit News reports that Volkswagen is
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 15, 2013 A new mandate issued by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will make it somewhat easier for owners to access recall information on their vehicle. Announced yesterday, the mandate will require automakers to offer a free online tool that allows an owner to search recall information via a vehicle identification number or VIN. This allows an owner to instantly determine if their vehicle is involved in recall or not. "Sa
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 8, 2013 The Chicken Tax, a fifty year-old tariff put in place to tax 25 percent on all imported trucks could be gone in the near future. The U.S. is currently in talks currently in negotiations with the the Trans-Pacific Partnership over free-trade agreements. One of the countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership is Japan, a country that currently imposes strict restrictions on U.S. imports. The U.S. is using the elimination of the Chick
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 7, 2013 Yesterday at at the Center for Automotive Research’s Management Briefing Seminars, General Motors' Chief Economist Mustafa Mohatarem told attendees that the reason young people aren't buying cars because they're not interested. It's more to do with economic reasons. Mohatarem downplayed the reason that young kids are more interested in the internet and what's the latest hot thing in tech, and pushed the rising costs of cars, repa
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 6, 2013 New data from R.L. Polk released today shows that the average age of a vehicle in the U.S. stands at a record high of 11.4 years. That's 0.2 years higher from last year and and nearly two full years higher than in 2007. Passenger cars currently are the oldest vehicles on the road with an average of 11.4 years. Light trucks are not that far behind with an average age of 11.3 years. Interestingly, the volume of vehicles between 6
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 30, 2013 Interested in buying a used car? Then we got some good news for you. According to Associated Press (via The Detroit News), prices of used cars are dropping. Despite hitting an all-time high back in 2011 thanks to fewer used cars in stock, prices since then have been declining. According to to data from auction company Manheim, the average sale price of a vehicle at auction in June was $11,031, down 6 percent when compared to the p
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 29, 2013 Three computer scientists who were going to publish a paper on how to circumvent the security system that verifies the identity of an ignition key have been stopped by the UK High Court. Flavio Garcia, a computer science lecturer at the University of Birmingham and Baris Ege and Roel Verdult, two cryptography experts from Dutch university Stichting Katholieke were going to publish a paper at the Usenix Security Symposium in Washin
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 10, 2013 Convertibles have a small slice of the new car market. That slice seems to shinking even further. According to data from R.L. Polk, sales of convertibles last year barely reached one percent. That's a major drop when compared to convertible sales of 1.6 percent in 2009 and 2 percent in 2006. In all, 151,636 convertibles were registered last year. While that is an increase in number of registations over the past few years, it still
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 3, 2013 Hydrogen, the fuel that automakers say will be available within ten years and doesn't, got some big press yesterday. General Motors and Honda announced a new partnership that will see the co-development of a next-generation fuel cell system and hydrogen storage technologies by 2020. The partnership will also look at reducing the cost of shared components that come from this and contribute to building an infrastructure for Hydrogen.
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 1, 2013 If you been looking at used midsize trucks and wondering why the prices are somewhat high, a new study has an answer to that. According to Black Book, the deprecation rate is much lower on midsize trucks than the whole used car market. In June, used cars as a whole saw a deprecation hit of 1.3 percent. In that same time, midsize trucks saw a 0.7 deprecation hit. Look over the past year and the margin grows wider. Used cars deprecat
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 28, 2013 Here's a story that we're filling under the 'wait and see' file. Reuters is reporting that the Peugeot family, which currently owns a 25.4-percent stake in PSA Peugeot-Citroën automaker and 38.1 percent of voting rights is willing to give up its stake and try to revive a tie-up with General Motors. "GM faces the same overcapacity situation with Opel, and that's why PSA is trying to convince them to merge the two. The Peugeot famil
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 24, 2013 The federal mandate for new vehicles to come equipped with backup cameras has been delayed, once again. According to Automotive News, the mandate has been pushed back to 2015 due to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration examining the cost of implementing this mandate. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, said in a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., that more analysis on how mu
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 19, 2013 Another automaker bites the dust. Carbon Motors, the company behind the futuristic E7 police vehicle has filled for chapter seven bankruptcy (i.e. liquidation) last Friday. The Indianapolis Business Journal says the company's bankruptcy paperworks lists liabilities of $21.7 million and assets of just $18,976. Those assets include one E7 prototype, some furniture, books, and intellectual property. Carbon Motor's business plan hi
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 11, 2013 Pickup Trucks continue to be the lifeblood for the American automaker's financials. A very good thing since truck sales seems to be in very good health - in fact Automotive News says that truck sales are arguably healthier than they were pre-recession, despite the volume is still below pre-recession levels. How? The per-unit profit has increased massively, outpacing the industry average by more than double since 2005. Edmunds say
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com May 31, 2013 With automakers and researchers testing autonomous cars more and more, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration put its regulatory hat on and announced guidelines that outline the recommended rules for the vehicles and drivers. NHTSA in its guidelines says it recognizes five different levels of vehicle automation. Those five levels are, Level 0 - No Automation: Driver is in complete control of the vehicle Level 1-
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com May 21, 2013 This maybe somewhat hard to believe, but German luxury models are cheaper than their Korean counterparts in South Korea. For example, a BMW 528i is around $64,000 in South Korea while Kia's flagship K9 is around $76,400. A difference of $12,400. Consumers in South Korea are taking notice of this and are going towards the Germans. Why are the German vehicles much cheaper? Lowered tarrifs. Thanks to a trade pact introduced back in
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com May 16, 2013 During a congressional hearing on crash-prevention features yesterday, the National Highway Traffic Administration's administrator David Strickland told the hearing that NHTSA was considering a new mandate to require new vehicles to be equipped with an automatic braking system. Automatic braking systems uses either or both radar and cameras to monitor the road for vehicles and objects then apply the brakes if the system detects
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com May 10, 2013 While the midsize sedan market as a whole remains the single largest segment in the U.S., sales of the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry are shrinking due to the rise of crossovers. "While the segment is still growing year-over-year, it's nowhere near what it was growing last year as the industry was launching a lot of new midsize cars," said Bill Fay, the U.S. head of the Toyota brand. The rise of crossovers are being fueled by th
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com May 9, 2013 Another company that was a part of the $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program has suspended operations. Vehicle Production Group or VPG Autos has suspended production of their wheelchair-accessible MV-1 van and laid off nearly all of its 100 employees back in February. This news is only coming to light this week thanks to comments by former VPG Autos CEO John Walsh to USA Today. Walsh explained that VP
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com May 5, 2013 With the problems that Fisker Automotive is currently going through, one of companies that is somewhat effected is VL Productions? How so? Well, VL Productions showed off a vehicle called the Destino at the Detroit Auto Show this year that used Fisker Karma as a starting point, rips out the plug-in hybrid powertrain, and slips in the supercharged 6.2L LS9 V8 from the Corvette ZR1. Planned to go into production sometime in third q
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com May 2, 2013 Coda Automotive is the latest casualty in the electric car industry. Yesterday, the company sent out a press release announcing they would be filling for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the District of Delaware. "After concluding a comprehensive review of our strategic options, the Board of Directors, management team and senior lending group have concluded that focusing on the Company’s energy storage business presents the best opportun
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com April 22, 2013 AAA recently released their annual ‘Your Driving Costs’ study and finds that average American driver is now paying $9,122 per year to keep their vehicle on the road, an increase of 1.92% when compared to 2012. Assuming a person is driving around 15,000 miles a year, that breaks down 60.8 cents per mile. The study looks at the costs of keeping a vehicle on road such as gas, maintenance, and insurance to name a few. “Many facto
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com April 16, 2013 With gas prices on the rise, you would think sales of subcompact vehicles would also be rising? No. Wards Auto reports that subcompact sales are off since October, even though the price of a gallon of gas is rising and holding steady at $3.50 to $4.00 across the country. So why the drop off in subcompacts? Wards has a couple ideas to explain this. For one, the reason might lie in the boom/bust cycle that comes as a result of n
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com April 15, 2013 Back in October, we reported that Ford and General Motors signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop next-generation nine and ten-speed automatic transmissions. Today, both auto manufacturers have gone on the record and confirmed this joint operation. The two automakers aren't saying which specific vehicles will get the nine and ten-speed transmissions, but did say the transmissions are designed for front- and rea
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com & Black-Knight It seems that just yesterday Japanese automakers and their vehicles were seemingly and unanimously praised for their quality and reliability. However, today a new series of recalls out of the land of the rising sun herald a stark reminder that not every automaker is perfect. Today, might finally be a major wake up call for some that these companies are not bullet proof. Today Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazd
It would seem the other shoe has dropped and the Japan auto companies which consumers have always said built bullet proof auto's are now on the receiving end of millions of recalls for poor quality parts. Check out how many auto's affect which manufactures.
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com April 10, 2013 Ford, General Motors, and Ram are continuing their stance on ignoring the SAE testing procedure for towing ratings according to Automotive News. The procedure, named J2807, is designed to reflect how the pickups are really used, and are supposed to be more accurate than the non-SAE numbers, which manufacturers supply. The procedure tests a pickup’s structure, propulsion, handling, braking, and thermal-handling ability, in a se
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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
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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 old
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com March 6, 2013 The end is here for Suzuki automobiles in the U.S. On Thursday, a judge from U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in Santa Ana approved Suzuki's Chapter 11 reorganization plan. The plan calls for American Suzuki's motorcycle, ATV and marine engine businesses to exit bankruptcy and become part of a new, wholly-owned subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corp, Suzuki Motor of America. Suzuki's automotive branch will
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com February 24, 2013 Four months after Hurricane Sandy blasted the East Coast, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) announced its revised estimates for the number of vehicles damaged in the storm's wake. The new total of vehicles damaged in Hurricane Sandy stands at 250,500 vehicles. This number is well above the estimate put out by National Automobile Dealers Association which say that 200,000 vehicles could be damaged. The majority of
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com February 14, 2013 After the whole Hyundai-Kia mileage fiasco, the EPA says it will be conducting more fuel economy audits. Jeff Alson, a senior EPA engineer said at a conference about the government’s 2025 fuel economy standard that the agency performs “routine audits” of manufacturer's mileage claims, but does admits more can be done. “We’ll probably do more of that in the future than we did in the past,” Alson said. Alson also told the c
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com February 5, 2013 The trend of automakers downsizing engines and adding turbochargers to add performance and increase fuel economy has drawn the ire of Consumer Reports. The publication recently tested eleven different vehicles and found that with rare exception, “the turbocharged cars have slower acceleration and no better fuel economy than the models with bigger, conventional engines.” Consumer Reports highlights the Ford Fusion which can
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com February 3, 2013 The U.S. Department of Energy announced a updated strategy to promote green cars and lower the costs over the next nine years at the Washington D.C. Auto Show on Thursday. One part of the original strategy which stated a goal of having a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 has been eased off. "Whether we meet that goal in 2015 or 2016, that's less important than that we're on the right path to get many millions of
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 31, 2013 J.D. Power and Associates recently released their 2012 U.S. Navigation Usage Satisfaction Study and the results aren’t that surprising. Consumer happiness dropped 13 points in the study’s 1,000-point scale to 681, one of the lowest scores J.D. Power has ever recorded in the six years the study has been taken. Even worse was the overall satisfaction in voice controls, scoring 544 points out of 1,000. Even worse news for autom
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 29, 2013 Ray LaHood, the Transportation Secretary of the Obama administration announced today that he would be stepping down. "I have let President Obama know that I will not serve a second term as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It has been an honor and a privilege to lead the Department, and I am grateful to President Obama for giving me such an extraordinary opportunity," LaHood wrote in an email. LaHood has
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 28, 2013 Today Diamler, Ford, and Nissan announced a new partnership to jointly develop a common fuel cell system for vehicle to be ready as early as 2017. The three companies will work together on a common fuel-cell stack and fuel-cell system. Also, the partnership will participate in the adoption of global specifications and component standards, and studying the joint development of other FCEV components. "We are convinced that fue
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 22, 2013 Last year, we reported on new legislation that wouldn't allow any rental-car company or car dealer to loan/sell any recalled vehicle before the necessary repairs have been made. Currently, only new vehicles cannot be sold unless the necessary repairs have been carried out. At the time, rental-car companies opposed the legislation, but have since agreed with it. Now dealers and smaller rental-car companies are fighting for an
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 21, 2013 Last month, Fisker founder and Chairman Henrik Fisker said the company was looking for "potential strategic partners". The search has led the company to China. According to Reuters, Fisker is in talks with certain Chinese automakers. Fisker's focus on China is due to the Chinese government's backing of local manufacturers in their efforts to acquire "green car" technology from abroad, as the government is trying to ramp up d
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 17, 2013 Former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz has been know to speak his mind. At the Detroit Auto Show this week, Lutz told Autocar that he thinks that the technology in the Chevrolet Volt should have been put into a larger vehicle first. “Frankly, unless that customer is philosophically, religiously or economically affiliated to buying an electric vehicle, then they can’t be convinced. The first two types of buyer will buy
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 13, 2013 We're just a day away from the Detroit Auto Show starting and the leaks have been pouring out. Four automakers: Honda, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen have had their showings prematurely revealed within the past week. We'll start with Honda and their Urban SUV Concept. The concept is based on the Fit and has a sporty and dynamic SUV profile. Next is the Infinti Q50 (Yes, the successor to the G Sedan) which was leak
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 8, 2013 Eight months after Google became the first company to be licensed by the state of Nevada to test autonomous vehicles on public roads, Audi becomes the first automaker to be licensed. The German automaker is no stranger to autonomous vehicles. In 2010, a specially-built TTS took on the Pikes Peak Climb, finishing the course in 27 minutes. Audi will use its license to continue developing and refining its autonomous system, whi
Audi becomes the first automaker to get a license to operate autonomous vehicles in Nevada.
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 4, 2013 The Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association lost again in court this week against Tesla. On Monday, Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fishman dismissed the dealers association's case on the grounds of lacking a standing to bring a case forth. This is the latest blow to the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association efforts to stop Tesla from running a store in Boston. Back in November, the Massachus
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January 2, 2013 By Drew Dowdell Managing Editor - CheersandGears.com Avis Budget Group and Zipcar, Inc. have announced an agreement where Avis Budget will aquire Zipcar for $12.25 a share or about $500 million total. Zipcar has about 760,000 members (including yours truly) across 20 metro markets in the U.S., Canada and Europe with locations at over 300 university campuses. Car sharing is now a $400 million per year business in the U.S. market alone. Avis Budget expects to gain $50 million t
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 20, 2012 The Detroit Free Press reports electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt aren't garnering the same residual values as gas vehicles. The report cites data from Kelly Blue Book which estimates the 2012 Nissan Leaf will hold around 20% of its value after five years while a 2012 Nissan Sentra will hold around 30%. The 2012 Chevrolet Volt is predicted to hold around 30% while a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze will hold 38%. A
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 10, 2012 NHTSA is expected to finalize a long-awaited proposal to make event data recorders, the 'black box' standard on all new vehicles. Last Thursday, the White House Office of Management Budget completed a review of the proposal which has cleared the way for NHTSA to finish up the final regulation. The proposed regulation would raise the percentage of vehicles required to have a black box from 91.6% today to 100%. The incremental
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 7, 2012 Today, Aston Martin announced that Italian private equity firm Investindustrial has purchased a 37.5% stake in the company for $241 million. Kuwaiti firm Investment Dar still holds a majority stake in the company. Aston Martin said the deal would allow them to pour $1 billion into new product, funding development through 2018. Investindustrial beat out Indian truck and tractor producer Mahindra and Mahindra. Andrea Bonomi, In
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 6, 2012 A month a after American Suzuki Corporation filled for bankruptcy and announced the closure of its automotive branch, 98% of its dealers (213 dealers) have agreed to a settlement offered by the company. The settlement would compensate dealers 50% within ten days of the agreement, with the rest following after the bankruptcy proceeding. The settlements also allow former dealers to operate as a service centers to provide warranty
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 3, 2012 Fisker would like to forget 2012 if possible. The year hasn't been good to the company with recalls, production delays, fires, delays on the new Atlantic, U.S. Department of Energy freezing a loan, and their sole supplier of batteries filling for bankruptcy. In a interview with TheDetroitBureau.com, founder and Chairman Henrik Fisker said that his company is "actively engaged in conversations with potential strategic partners."
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 27, 2012 After a controversial exit from General Motors that has left a lot of questions, former CMO Joel Ewanick has found a new temporary home at Fisker. Automotive News reports that Fisker has hired Ewanick as its interim chief commercial officer while they search for a replacement. Ewanick takes the place of former CCO, Richard Beattie who retired on Monday. "We would like to thank Richard for his valuable contribution in helping
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 24, 2012 (Note: The weekend edition is back from its long vacation, mostly due to me being busy with other things. Sorry about that. Anyways, enjoy. -WM) Everyday, I go through a number of stories that I will post on Cheers & Gears. However, a good number of stories that I have picked out don’t make it onto the page during the week and either get posted next week or never. That’s where the the Cheers & Gears’ Weekend Edition c
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 21, 2012 Last week, the Massachusetts Superior Court denied a request from the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association for an injunction against Tesla to stop them from running a store in Boston. The lawsuit filled on October 16th argued that Tesla violates Massachusetts' licensing, consumer protection and franchise laws since the company runs their own stores. If granted the injunction, Tesla could only use their storefront
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 15, 2012 The National Transportation Safety Board announced their 2013 Most Wanted safety list which is used to "increase awareness of, and support for, the most critical changes needed to reduce transportation accidents and save lives." On this year's list, the NTSB put "Collision-Avoidance" technologies to be standard on all new vehicles. What the NTSB means by "Collision-Avoidance" technologies are features like rear-end collision w
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 13, 2012 The news of Suzuki automobiles leaving the U.S. has left their dealers with a choice, either take a cash settlement or take Suzuki to court. Last week, American Suzuki Motor Corporation was authorized by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court to borrow $45 million dollars as part of a settlement with dealers. The settlement would give dealers a cash settlement, and a new contract giving the dealers the rights to operate as parts and service
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 7, 2012 Hurricane Sandy was the largest storm in the Atlantic in US history, and the economic damage is beginning to come into view. Automotive News is reporting that around 15,000 new vehicles will be scrapped due to storm damage. About 40% of those are Nissan and Infiniti vehicles that were determined to be unfit for sale. Toyota is next with the possibility of having to scrap close to 4,000 vehicles. Other automakers that have annou
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 5, 2012 We knew the day was coming, just when was the question. Now, that day has arrived. Earlier tonight, American Suzuki Motor Corporation has announced they would be filling for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and close up their automotive division. "In evaluating its position in the highly regulated and competitive U.S. automotive industry, ASMC determined that its Automotive division was facing a number of serious challenges. These challen
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 5, 2012 Tesla announced their third quarter results today and it was a mixed bag. The company announced a $110.8 million loss, a figure that's significantly higher than last year's $65.1 million loss. Tesla partly blames the loss on a slower-than-expected roll-out for the Model S, which went into production in July. Tesla says they have increased production of the Model S from 100 vehicles per week to 200. The company expects to be buil
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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
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 27, 2012 Everyday, I go through a number of stories that I will post on Cheers & Gears. However, a good number of stories that I have picked out don’t make it onto the page during the week and either get posted next week or never. That’s where the the Cheers & Gears’ Weekend Edtion comes in. Its where the stories that gotten forgotten about during the week get their due. In this second edition, we’ll be covering, Two New Honda
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 22, 2012 Earlier this month, we reported that four states; Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon were complaining about Tesla and their stores. "Tesla's factory-owned stores present unfair competition for rival dealerships, are inconvenient for consumers needing repairs and, if left unchallenged, ultimately threaten the franchise system," said a report in Automotive News. Tesla didn't see a problem with their stores. "We do wha
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 20, 2012 (Author’s note: This is a new thing I’m trying out with the news coverage. Let me know what you think about this. -WM) Everyday, I go through a number of stories that I will post on Cheers & Gears. However, a good number of stories that I have picked out don’t make it onto the page during the week and either get posted next week or never. That’s about change with the arrival of the Cheers & Gears’ Weekend Edtion. Its w
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Lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems today said it has sold its automotive business to Johnson Controls and is filing for bankruptcy protection. The moves are a change in strategy for the ailing Waltham, MA-based company, which in August said it will sell an 80 percent share to the auto parts division of Chinese conglomerate Wanxiang for $450 million. Johnson Controls will acquire a significant set of assets for its $125 million investment, some of which were paid with federal aid. A123 Syst
Lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems today said it has sold its automotive business to Johnson Controls and is filing for bankruptcy protection.
The moves are a change in strategy for the ailing Waltham, MA-based company, which in August said it will sell an 80 percent share to the auto parts division of Chinese conglomerate Wanxiang for $450 million.
Johnson Controls will acquire a significant set of assets for its $125 million investment, some of which were paid with federal aid. A123 Systems’ auto business includes its technology, two battery factories in Michigan, a cathode powder manufacturing facility in China, and A123’s stake in two auto parts suppliers in China. Johnson Controls also will put up $72.5 million so A123 can maintain operations during the sale.
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 16, 2012 When we last checked in on the Fisker Atlantic, the mid-size sedan that would take on the 5-Series, A6, CTS, and others, was delayed from next year to sometime in 2014. A new report from Reuters says Fisker has pushed back production of the Atlantic to late 2014 or 2015, a full two years behind the original production date. "The Atlantic is really the volume car that begins to build growth. It creates a business model that is
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 15, 2012 The Tata Nano, introduced in 2009 as the world's cheapest car could be making its way to other countries. Ratan Tata, head of the Tata Group recently revealed in an interview that they are working on a redesigned version to be sold in the U.S. and Europe that could go on sale within three years. "The U.S. is a very enticing market. We are redesigning the Nano for both Europe and the U.S." The redesign will involve a larger eng
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 11, 2012 Small cars are on track to to capture the largest share of the U.S. auto market since 1993 according to Bloomberg. Sales of compact and sub-compact vehicles jumped 50% to 240,288 units last month, giving the segment a 19.3% of market share through September. That's only 1.2% off the highest market share that small vehicles ever got back in 1993. “Traditionally small cars were purchased by people who couldn’t afford anything el
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 9, 2012 The way Tesla sells their vehicles is very different from other automakers. Their seventeen stores are modeled after the Apple Store; most are in malls for anyone to walk in and look at the vehicles. If you want to order a Tesla, you can do an online reservation. This has drawn the ire of dealers and dealer organizations, which have begun legal efforts to make Tesla's factory stores illegal. Their argument: "Tesla's factory-owne
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 1, 2012 Automotive News is reporting that Ford and General Motors have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop next-generation nine and ten-speed automatic transmissions. Sources say that General Motors will take the lead on developing the nine-speed transmission for front-wheel drive and transverse applications. Ford will take on the ten-speed for rear-wheel drive applications. This isn't the first time that Ford and G
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 26, 2012 The calm before the storm that is the auto show season. The beginning point is the Paris Motor Show which begins tomorrow. However, some automaker have made the decision to reveal some of their products and concepts a day earlier. The automakers include Jaguar, Bentley, and Porsche. Lets dive in Next: Jaguar Jaguar's showing for Paris was the new F-Type. Rumored for many years, Jaguar has finally brought a small, two-se
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 26, 2012 On the surface, everything seems bright and sunny at Tesla. The company has begun production of the new Model S sedan, introduced a new charging network for Model S drivers that uses solar energy, and is in the process of planning new models. But, Tesla is showing some signs of setbacks of becoming an automaker. In a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Tesla has downgraded their full-year revenue forecast from $
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 18, 2012 McLaren has just dropped the first official images of its P1 design study that will be shown at the Paris Motor Show next week. Called the company's "next generation ultimate supercar", the P1 appears to take the proportions of the F1 supercar and the design of the current MP4-12C. "Our aim is not necessarily to be the fastest in absolute top speed but to be the quickest and most rewarding series production road car on a ci
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 16, 2012 If you're in the market for a pickup truck, there is some very good news for you. Truck manufacturers are offering rebates ranging from $1,500 to $4,500. So why the large rebates? Well, part of it is to make room for the 2013 models. The other part is due in part to GM. GM's supply of pickup trucks has been growing and growing due in part to the company making sure they have enough supply when they shut down their plants to r
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 16, 2012 This year saw the average price of the used car reach an all-time high due to severe shortage of used vehicles. “The supply right now is so low, that is controlling everything in the used-market values. There just aren’t enough vehicles out there relative to used-car demand,” said Eric Lyman, ALG’s vice president of residual value solutions. However the supply is beginning to increase slowly thanks in part turn-around in new
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 16, 2012 File this under the 'what are they thinking' file. According to Automotive News Europe, the Italian Industry Ministry is in continuing discussions with different potential buyers in the assets of De Tomaso. Yes, the same company name who brought you the Pantera back in the seventies. Back in 2011, the revitalized company showed a concept called the SLS, which looked like to be a BMW 5-Series GT with a bit of Italian flair. Pr
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 4, 2012 With Saab officially bankrupt and its assets sold off, owners of Saab vehicles are now wondering where they should go for their next vehicle. Polk recently released a new study which looked at what former Saab owners now own. The study uses the Polk Disposal Loyalty Methodology, which looks what owners are selling whenever a new car is bought. The study found that Saab owners are moving to a wide variety of manufacturers. Hon
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 28, 2012 From the 'oh not this again' file; Spyker and Chinese automaker, Youngman have signed a new agreement for a joint venture to develop new vehicles. The deal has Youngman Automotive investing €10,000,000 (about $12.5 million ) for a 29.9% stake in Spyker. Youngman will also invest €25,000,000 (about $31 million) for the development of an all-new Spyker vehicle, the D8 P2P (Peking to Paris). You might remember this vehicle as the 2
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 28, 2012 Chrysler and General Motors are banning campaign stops for the candidates running for the U.S. President. The banning hopes to sidestep criticism that might stem from the bailout the two automakers got back in 2008. "This fall, Chrysler will not host campaign events inside its facilities. The company is focused on meeting production demands," a Chrysler spokeswoman told Automotive News. “We’re a car company, not a political pla
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 21, 2012 Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk recently gave an interview with Automobile Magazine talking about the company and what lies ahead. Musk also took the opportunity to rip into Fisker. “It’s a mediocre product at a high price. The car looks very big, and yet it has no trunk space and is very cramped inside, particularly in the rear seats.” Musk also spoke out against Fisker founder, Henrik Fisker. “The fundamental problem with Henrik Fisk
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 20, 2012 Over the weekend, Fisker announced a recall of over 2,000 of its Karma plug-in hybrid sedans due to risk of fires. The recall was issued a couple weeks after a fire engulfed the driver's front side of a Karma sitting a parking lot. Fisker called on the help of Pacific Rim Investigative Services Group to figure out the cause of the fire on August 10. The investigation found the ignition source was a low temperature cooling fan, w
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 16, 2012 Fisker is looking to raise another $150 million to help keep the company afloat. "We need money on our balance sheet" to fund operating expenses. "And we need money to fund the development of the next car," said Ray Lane, a Fisker director and a managing partner at venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to Reuters."We're raising some of that money now, and some later." The reason for the extra $150 million? Earlier
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 14, 2012 Almost two months ago, the vehicle line director for the Chevy Volt, Tony Posawatz announced his retirement. Posawatz worked at GM for more than 30 years at GM. Posawatz was one of the key people overseeing the Volt. Few people at the time expected him to jump back into the industry. Fast forward to today and Tony Posawatz is now the new CEO of Fisker Automotive. He takes over from current CEO, Tom Lasorda who only became Fisker
