Automotive Industry
News covering the Automotive Industry at large.
503 articles in this category
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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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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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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 17, 2012 Distracted Driving is a topic that’s on everybody's minds, and with good reason. Newer vehicles are packed with more technology; ranging from touchscreen infotainment systems options to voice-controlled applications to smartphone integration. It comes as no surprise that the U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, the man who is leading the Distracted Driving cause has announced a new set of proposed guidelines for automakers to lim
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Delphi Automotive is undertaking an ambitious cross-country road trip. The supplier announced that it will be taking an Audi SQ5 fitted with the latest self-driving tech on a trip from San Francisco to New York City. The trip will begin on March 22nd and end during the first week of the New York Auto Show. Delphi is planning to run the vehicle for 6 to 8 hours per day with two engineers in the vehicle to make sure all of the tech is working properly. "Delphi had great success testing its car i
What if a computer drove you across the United States?
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If you were thinking about purchasing a new Fisker Karma, you might want to hear this. Fisker has announced they will be increasing prices on the Karma Plug-In hybrid sedan by 6%. That means the base Karma EcoStandard model will now have a sticker price of $102,000; an increase of $6,150. The high-end EcoChic model will see a $10,000 increase to $116,000. However, if you have put down a $5,000 deposit on the Karma, you're in luck. Fisker says for those who put a deposit down can purchase the K
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 8, 2012 More bad news for the Fisker Karma. A fire which engulfed a Fisker Karma and caused damage to house in Sugar Land, Texas is now be pointed at as the cause. Chief fire investigator for Fort Bend County, Texas, Robert Baker told Autoweek that he belives the Fisker Karma started the fire. “Yes, the Karma was the origin of the fire, but what exactly caused that we don't know at this time,” Barker said. Barker says the owner pulled
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Hyundai and Kia have been hit with the largest penalty in the history of the federal Clean Air Act. The two automakers agreed to a total of $350 million in penalties for overstating the fuel economy ratings for a number of vehicles from the 2011 to 2013 model year. The total was reached through cooperation between the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice, and the California Air Resources Board. Here's how the $350 million breaks down: $100 Million Fine to the Federal Gov
A doozy to say in the least
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A consortium of German automakers which include Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz have agreed to buy Nokia's HERE mapping business for around $3.1 billion dollars. The deal is currently pending approval of antitrust authorities. If the deal is given the go-ahead, the three automakers will own a stake by early 2016. HERE is one of the most advanced and largest digital mapping and location systems. It was originally started back in 1986 with Navteq before being acquired by Nokia in 2007. The servic
Three German Automakers Buy Up A Mapping Service
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It has been hinted at and rumored for a few years. But today, PSA Peugeot Citroën announced they would be making a return to the U.S. During a presentation for analysts and investors at PSA's headquarters in Paris, CEO Carlos Tavares unveiled a ten-year plan that could result in the launch of Citroën, DS, and Peugeot vehicles to the U.S. The plan would be split up into three steps. Step one: Enter the U.S. as a mobility operator from 2017, possibly with Bollore,” said Tavares. Bollore is a
The Good News: PSA Peugeot Citroën is making a comeback to the U.S.
The Bad News: Don't expect it immediately
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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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Automotive News recently reviewed a fair amount of data to answer a question; which automakers are selling more vehicles to rental car companies? Previously, the big three would do "fleet dumping" as a way to prop up sales for the month. But now, Ford and General Motors have actually cut back on selling to rental fleets and number of Asian automakers are picking up the slack. Automotive News compared sales to rental fleets in 2012 to this year's numbers, and GM has reduced its sales to fleet
Ever wonder why rental fleets are somewhat devoid of GM and Ford vehicles, while Hyundai and Kia vehicles are taking their place?
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Yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended a nationwide ban on using any personal electronic devices while driving. The recommendation was made to all US states. So what kind of personal electronic devices are we talking about? The NTSB’s director was specific about wanting to ban phone calls, texting, updating your status on facebook, etc. However, the director was less specific on possible provisions that would allow specific driving related uses like GPS. NTSB cited stu
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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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There are more expenses to owning a new car aside from making a monthly payment. You have gas, maintenance, repairs, and depreciation to worry about. The total cost according to a new study from AAA will depend on the type of vehicle you're driving. AAA's Your Driving Costs study reports that average cost to own and operate a new vehicle in 2017 is $8,469 per year - $706 per month. The study looked at 45 new vehicles from the 2017 model year and evaluated the various costs such as gas and ma
Electric vehicles don't have a great showing here
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The Volkswagen diesel emission scandal has given many a black eye. Robert Bosch GmbH, a supplier of diesel engine technology was one of those as it found itself under investigation by German authorities to see whether or not it aided and abetted in the scandal. The company also had to pay out $327.5 million as part of a settlement in the U.S. But the company isn't giving up on diesel just yet. This week at the Bosch’s annual press conference, CEO Dr. Volkmar Denner claimed they had found “de
But is it too late?
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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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Last October, Chinese automaker Geely unveiled a new global brand called Lynk & Co. This brand stood out in a few ways, Vehicles will be sold online Owners will be able to share their Lynk & Co vehicles to make some money An open application programming interface to develop in-car applications Recently announcing all of their vehicles would come with lifetime warranties The plan was for the brand to launch in China this year, with Europe and U.S. followi
Lynk & Co's plan to go into Europe and U.S. has been pushed back
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With more and more companies test autonomous technologies on public roads, there comes a question of safety of other motorists. A new proposal by the California Department of Motor Vehicles would put an outright ban “driverless” cars that travel with no humans onboard. Automotive News reports the proposal would require all autonomous vehicles to have a steering wheel and pedals when driving on California's public roads. Furthermore, a licensed driver with an “autonomous vehicle operator cert
California's DMV Proposes A Ban On 'Driverless' Vehicles, Not Autonomous Vehicles
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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 us
A new study reports that we spending less time but more money at the pump
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The EPA released their annual report on the trends of emissions and fuel economy for light vehicles and the results are a bit mixed. The average fuel economy of new cars and trucks came to 24.3 mpg for 2014. This was the same fuel economy average for 2013, when the average increased by 0.6 mpg. 2014 was the first year since 2011 where fleet-wide fuel economy didn't increase. Why no increase? The EPA says growing demand for crossovers, SUVs, and trucks along with lower gas prices offset the f
Thank Low Gas Prices and Increased Consumer Demand for Light Trucks
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 15, 2011 Yesterday, the Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill that would overhaul the nation's auto safety laws. The bill includes measures to raise the maximum fine for automakers that delay recalls from $17.35 million to $250 milllion. The bill also includes measures that would give states grants for banning texting while driving or the use of cell phones by teen drivers, increase funding for research, improve the vehicle reca
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Analysts believed that August was going to be the month the auto industry would post its first year-over-year increase for 2017. But then Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, leaving a path of destruction and extensive flooding. Sales for the month would drop 1.9 percent to 1.48 million vehicles when compared to the same month a year ago. "Harvey will also depress one of the most critical selling periods of the year, spanning the August sales month close and Labor Day weekend. In 2016, these 11 days
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 11, 2012 According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic deaths are at their lowest levels since 1949. NHTSA's preliminary numbers show an estimated 32,310 people died in traffic accidents last year, a 1.7% drop from 2010 where 32,885 people died. Deaths in traffic accidents has been decreasing by 26% since 2005. New England and the Great Lakes region saw the biggest decrease in car accident deaths in 2011, with
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Two U.S. Senators are calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to urge owners of General Motors vehicles involved in the ignition switch recall to stop driving them until they are fixed. Senators Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx urging him to ask owners to stop driving their vehicles. "GM has indicated that it could take until October, 2014, before it can complete all the needed repairs. Every da
Two Senators Ask The DoT To Urge Drivers of GM Vehicles Involved In The Ignition Switch Recall To Stop Driving Them
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The rivalry of the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang has been going for ages in the U.S. But now this fight has expanded into China. Automotive News reports that a growing group of Chinese buyers are being drawn towards to these models as the exude the no-apologies Americana attitude. "We're seeing the beginning of a muscle car culture here. Something that is uniquely American appeals to the Chinese consumer. The image that it relays to the automotive public is very positive," said Jam
The Camaro and Mustang fights expands into China
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You find yourself in the showroom, ready to drive away in a new Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf, or Tesla Model S. But there is one big question that needs to be decided, do you buy or lease it? According to a report from Bloomberg, most buyers of EVs tend to lease. In the U.S., almost 80 percent of electric vehicles on the road are leased according to their report. It also says that 55 percent of plug-in hybrids are leased. More than 80 percent of BMW i3s are leased as an example. The key reas
There's a good reason why EV buyers are leasing
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 11, 2012 Automotive legend Caroll Shelby passed away last night at the age of 89 after a lengthy illness at the Baylor Hospital in Dallas, TX. Shelby's shadow extended nearly across automotive world. In the fifties, Shelby was a highly accomplished racer. He would win three U.S. sports-car championships, the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans, and set land speed records at Bonneville. However, a heart condition in 1960 would cause him to stop raci
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Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx wants to increase the maximum fine for automakers who fail to recall vehicles in a timely fashion from the current $35 million fine to a much more painful $300 million fine. The increase is part of a new transportation reauthorization bill whose primary focus is to fund maintenance for highways, bridges, and other infrastructures. On a conference call with reporters, Foxx said the fines on automakers need to be “more than a rounding error” to act as a deter
The Transportation Secretary Wants A Large Increase In The Lateness Fine
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Last month, we reported on a rumor that that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) was in talks about possibly providing funding to electric car start-up Lucid Motors. The fund would provide an initial investment of $500 million, but would expand it to a billion if certain milestones were met. This morning, Lucid Motors announced that it signed an agreement with the PIF totaling over $1 billion, subject to necessary regulatory approvals. If given the go-ahead, Lucid will use the money
Totaling over a billion dollars
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 17, 2011 Steven Rattner, the former car czar that oversaw the federal bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler, said on Thursday to the Detroit Economic Club that the Obama administration's Auto Task Force should have forced all the stakeholders, including the United Auto Workers, to make more sacrifices. "We asked all the stakeholders to make very significant sacrifices. We should have asked the UAW to do a bit more. We did not ask
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 18, 2011 Carbon Motors, the company behind the purpose-built E7 police vehicle sent a letter to President Obama's cabinet on Friday urging them to approve the company's Department of Energy Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan. Carbon Motors applied for ATVM loan program two years ago, but hasn't seen a cent of it. The letter goes on a point by point basis on why they deserve the loan, ranging from the environmental impac
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 15, 2012 Its been working its way through the halls of congress, but according to Car and Driver, the "black box" mandate for cars could be in the books. The Senate has already voted to adopt a transportation bill that has a provision mandating event data recorders to be equipped into new vehicles starting in 2015. The House of Representatives is considering a version with slightly different language. The current state of the bills are "
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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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More and more police departments are going towards crossovers and SUVs for their fleets. According to Automotive News Canada, police departments are going with these vehicles over their sedan counterparts as they are able to fit all of their equipment needed on a daily basis. Officers like them as crossovers and SUVs are easier to get in and out. “We’re all dealing with the same issue, and that is the vehicles are getting smaller, yet there’s still demand for more gadgets and equipment put
The next police vehicle that pulls you over maybe an SUV/Crossover
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Chinese automakers see the U.S. as a land opportunity and have been making promises to start selling vehicles in the near future. None so far have made it. Now one Chinese brand is reconsidering their plans. SAIC Motor Corp., China's largest automaker and partner with GM, has put their U.S. ambitions on hold. Michael Yang, executive director of SAIC Motor’s international department said at a briefing that they have uncertainties about the trade policy between China and the U.S. due to the e
SAIC: You know on second thought, we're going to put our plans entering the U.S. on hold
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 15, 2012 Tesla announced this week they will begin to pay back their loans from the U.S. Government later this year. Tesla chief financial officer Deepak Ahuja told Bloomberg this week, "We are delivering on the milestones, what we're committed to...once we are delivering customer cars, that signifies completion of the project". This suggests once Tesla begins delivering the new Model S sedan out to customers, they will begin paying bac
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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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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 re
Possibly following in the footsteps of France and Great Britain
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More and more automakers are launching subscription services as another option to get into new or used cars. But a new report shows the subscription services are still flying under the radar for most consumers. Autolist recently conducted a survey with 1,428 car shoppers in the second half of April. This is what they found out. 70 percent of shoppers had no idea that such a thing existed Out of the 30 percent of shoppers who knew about subscription services, only half could a
The reasons as to why are somewhat easy to explain
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 19, 2011 A new study from the University of Michigan says the proposed CAFE standards could actually make new cars larger, not smaller. The study used simulations of 473 different vehicles to figure how automakers could modify vehicle dimensions, implement fuel-saving technology features and trade off performance and fuel economy. Pricing was also taken into account. Their results showed that automakers would increase the size of ve
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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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Have you gone out and shopped for new vehicle recently? Are you overwhelmed by the variety of vehicles on offer? For example, if you decide to get a Porsche 911, you have the choice of 22 models. No, that isn't a misprint. Meanwhile other automakers have an array of models that carve out new niches and and mix existing body styles. Consider this, Audi sells 50 different variants around the world, a five-fold increase from the 90's when the German luxury automaker only sold 10 different variants.
Overwhelmed By The Choice of Automobiles? You're not the only one.
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The recovery process of Hurricane Harvey is in full swing and nowhere is this more apparent than the amount of people heading to dealers. Steven Wolf, chairman of the Houston Automotive Dealers Association tells Automotive News that dealers in the Houston area "abnormal" traffic as people come in looking for a replacement. The sudden rise isn't that surprising as the Houston metro area is about the size of New Jersey. Wolf said the first order business for many folks is to get back into a
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The past month has been quite strenuous on the relationship between the Environmental Protection Agency and the State of California. Back in April, EPA chief Scott Pruitt announced they would be rolling back the fuel-efficiency regulations set towards the end of President Obama's tenure. The EPA also announced that it was considering revoking California's waiver to set their own emission standards. A few days later, we reported that the officials from the White House, California, and automakers
It is getting a bit messy
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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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The Takata Airbag recall now stands as the largest vehicle recall ever due to how many vehicles around the world use them. In the U.S. alone, 19 auto manufacturers have recalled 49 million vehicles with the airbags that can shoot out shrapnel in the event of an accident. 11 deaths and 184 injuries in the U.S. have been linked to these airbags. Due to this, Takata has been facing numerous lawsuits and investigations. A new report says that Takata is close to closing one of those investigations.
Takata could be settling with the Justice Department over the massive airbag recall
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Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariffs on about $200 billion in Chinese goods beginning next Monday. The tariffs are set at 10 percent and could rise to 25 percent in January if the Chinese government refuses to offer concessions. Today, the Chinese government announced that it would take retaliatory action by placing tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods. This is bad news for automakers as the Detroit Free Reports that more than 100 car parts - ranging from tires
Increased tariffs on car parts are to blame
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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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'Autonomous Emergency Braking' (AEB) and the various names this system goes under have the same goal; to bring the vehicle to a stop if the driver doesn't fails to engage the brakes. But a new study done by AAA reveals not all systems are equal and a very worrying trend concerning a consumer's belief in the system. There are two types of emergency braking systems, ones that are designed to bring the vehicle to stop to avoid a crash and ones that reduce speed to limit the severity of a
A new study reveals autonomous emergency braking systems aren't all equal
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Sales of new cars in the U.S. have been dropping in the past three months and analysts believe April's sales results will be much the same. But why are sales falling? It comes down to prices of new cars going up and up. According to data from ALG True Car, the average new-car price rose two percent when compared to last year. Kelly Blue Book reports that the average transaction price in March increased 1.7 percent to $34,342 when compared to the same time last year. There are a number of fa
It's the prices stupid
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About a year ago, European antitrust regulators became very suspicious that BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen were involved in a longstanding automotive cartel that colluded on restricting certain emissions control devices for the market. Raids were carried out at various facilities, but nothing came out. That changed yesterday as the European Commission has opened a formal investigation. "The Commission is investigating whether BMW, Daimler and VW agreed not to compete against each other on the
BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen are involved in the investigation
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 17, 2012 Fisker has a lot of problems: money, delays, and an investigation into a Karma fire are just some of them. And it doesn't look like the problems are going to end soon. Inside EVs got their hands on some leaked documents that were dated "a few weeks ago" dealing with the new Atlantic sedan. First the bad news. Originally, Fisker said that production would begin in late 2012 before hitting the market in early 2013. The leaked docu
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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 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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April's auto sales are one most automakers would like to pretend never happen due to big declines. But if there is a silver lining to April sales, it has to go to small sports cars. Automotive News ran the numbers and found that sales of small sports cars rose 3.4 percent so far this year. Contrast this with 12 percent drop in overall demand for cars. The big winner in this group was the Mazda MX-5 Miata with sales up 35 percent so far this year. Sales in April declined slightly from March
There is a slight silver lining to April's sales figures
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 20, 2011 Tesla has released pricing and specifications of their upcoming Model S and it looks pretty good if the company can meet them. The Model S' pricing is broken down by battery capacity and the range, with the 40-kWh battery pack model starting at $57,400, the 60-kWh battery pack model starting at $67,400, and the 85-kWh battery pack model starting at $77,400. There will also be a performance model which will use the 85-kWh ba
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California is one of most stringent states when it comes emissions in vehicles. Case in point is a law that says an estimated 15 percent of vehicles sold in the state must be a zero emission vehicle (ZEV). But this law has created a rift between regulators and automakers. Regulators want automakers to build ZEVs, but automakers worry that if customers aren't willing to buy them, they'll need to offer big incentives. Four automakers - Ford, General Motors, Honda, and Toyota have issued a complai
A Logjam is appearing between California and Automakers over Emission Rules
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Sales of new cars have been reaching all-time highs and part of the reason comes down leases. The Detroit News reports that nearly one in three vehicles built for the U.S. is leased. Data from Edmunds shows 2.2 million vehicles were leased in the first half of 2016. Not only is this up 13 percent from the same time year, it is double the volume from 2011. Steven Szakaly, chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association tells the Detroit News there is plenty of space for more lease
Leasing is becoming very popular for buyers because of low payments
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We all know someone who takes things a bit a too far. In the case of automakers, that someone is EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. Back in April April, Pruitt announced a serious rollback of fuel economy regulations that were set in stone during the Obama administration. In a summary of the proposed draft, the EPA would rollback the fleetwide average from 46.8 mpg for the 2026 model year to around 37 mpg - the fleetwide average for the 2020 model year. The draft also mentions pre-empting "Californ
This isn't what we exactly wanted. -Automakers
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 21, 2012 The annual "Car Wars" report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch states that Ford, General Motors and Toyota will gain back share and that Hyundai and Kia will lose share by 2016. The report is based on the rate at which automakers launch new products. Ford has the highest rate with 26% of the lineup being replaced by 2016. GM follows next with 25% and Toyota is next with 24%. The report says with these replacement rates, Ford sho
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With the average price of new cars on the rise, the price of used cars follows suit. A new study done by Edmunds finds the average price of a used car has hit a new record high in the second quarter. The average price of a used car has climbed to $18,800, up 7.6 percent when compared to the same time last year. "People are buying more trucks and SUVs, and they're getting them better equipped. More expensive new vehicles means more expensive used vehicles," said Jessica Caldwell, analyst at E
Used Car Prices Are Climbing
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In 2009, the U.S. saw its lowest number of pedestrian deaths. But since then, that number has increased by 46 percent as pedestrian crashes have become more frequent and deadlier. Why is that? The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a study today investigating the possible reasons. One key indicator is the number of crashes involving SUVs. According to IIHS data, between 2009 and 2016, fatal single-vehicle crashes involving SUVs rose 81 percent - the largest increase of any vehi
Highest amount since 2009
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New cars are getting more and more expensive. Kelly Blue Book reported earlier this month that the average transaction price of a new car was $35,541, up 1.8 percent compared to the same time last year. This has more consumers checking out the used car lot, causing demand to rise. “Customers forget a new car is now more than $30,000 and they expect it to be $20,000,” said Brian Allan, a senior director at Galpin Motors Inc., to the Wall Street Journal. “When people see the price has go
New cars are just too expensive
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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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Automakers have been trying different technologies and ideas in an effort to boost fuel economy and reduce emissions. On paper, the new technologies do make a difference. But in the real world, it is a completely different matter. Emissions Analytics, an independent U.K.-based company has been investigating what technologies actually make a difference in reducing emissions and fuel consumption. For the past four years, the company has tested over 500 vehicles in the U.S. since 2013 in real
On paper is one thing, the real world is another matter
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 28, 2012 To say Fisker Automotive has been living in interesting times could be an understatement. Their first vehicle, the Karma only starting arriving back in December, when it was actually due out months earlier. Then in February, the company halted work on the Nina family sedan at their Wilmington, Del plant. That was due to them and Department of Energy hashing out new terms of a $529 million loan. Now, Fisker has announced tha
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A new study finds that General Motors is dead last when it comes to relationships with suppliers. Automotive consultant group Planning Perspectives Inc (PPI), released the results of their annual study which asks the biggest suppliers to rate the six automakers who sell more than 85 percent of vehicles in the U.S. Suppliers rated GM low in many key areas such as communication skills, protection of intellectual property, unwillingness to adjust prices due to unforeseen increases, and overall tru
General Motors Is The Worst To Deal With According To Suppliers
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Automakers are leveraging new technologies such as automatic parking systems, concierge services, and mobile internet to bring people into showrooms. But a new study done by J.D. Power reveals that a number of owners aren't using it. J.D. Power published today the 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience Report, a new study which looks at 33 tech features in vehicles and ask owners if they have ever used them. According to the report, at least 20 percent of owners have never used 16 out of
With All Technology Being Added to Cars, You Would Think Owners Would Be Using It... Not So.
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Technology is moving at a rapid rate and it seems every aspect of our lives are affected by it. Take for example cars, many believe in the future that cars will be fully self-driving and be powered by some sort of alternative powertrain. One person believes that kids born now will not even need a driver's license because of this technology. Henrik Christensen, head of UC San Diego’s Contextual Robotics Institute said in an interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune said in about 10 to 15 y
Kids born today may not need a driver's license
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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
How new safety features are causing more vehicles to be totaled
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 22, 2011 When the US Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood thinks the NTSB’s recommendation of banning mobile electronics is a bad idea, you know it’s a bad idea. Speaking with the Detroit News, LaHood states he doesn’t supports the NTSB’s recommendation. "The problem is not hands-free. That is not the big problem in America." LaHood has been banging the drum on distracted driving in the U.S. for awhile, with him prodding states to
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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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Many new cars are fitted with various driver assist systems; backup cameras, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, and lane-keep assist to name a few. But this has introduced the problem of drivers becoming too reliant on these systems, causing them not realize the limitations and taking their own "preventative measures". The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety published a report this month looking into drivers' experiences with the assistance technologies
Drivers rely too much on assist systems
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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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The automotive industry in the U.S. has been enjoying one of the best years in terms of sales. But one segment is seeing a drop in their sales. That segment is the midsize sedan. Automotive News reports that the demand for midsize sedans is at a five-year low. The numbers tell this sad story. In the first quarter of 2016, sales of midsize sedans dropped 3.4 percent. The second quarter saw sales dropped 13 percent, while the third quarter saw a whopping 21 percent drop. For the month August,
I keep on falling
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While many still think electric vehicles are a niche, a new study from IHS Automotive suggests that EVs are actually catching on more quickly than hybrids when they were first introduced. The study looked at the cumulative global sales of the first-generation Toyota Prius, Chevrolet Volt, and Nissan Leaf in the first four years. IHS Automotive found that the Toyota Prius moved 52,200 units from 2000 to 2004. However, the Volt and Leaf have sold more vehicles in their respective four-year timefr
Are Electric Vehicles Catching On Quicker Than Hybrids?
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Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced that he had reached an agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to open trade talks between the two nations. Previously, the president had threatened a 25 percent tariff on cars to reduce imports and encourage more production in the U.S. The two agree that the "sanctions on auto exports won’t be applied while the talks take place." A key topic of talks will likely be giving better access to U.S. cars to be sold in Japan, something Preside
Its all about that perception
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 27, 2011 Mahindra, the company who promised to bring small diesel powered pickups to the US has been having their share of problems. Fallout between them and their importer, Global Vehicles USA and lawsuits from dealers have delayed the introduction. A couple of weeks ago, Mahindra Planet, "The Unofficial Mahindra U.S. News Source," reported that Mahindra and Navistar, the international truck and bus builder had worked out a deal to
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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 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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The US government is pulling back on some of their financial support for electric vehicles. Coming this Saturday, a tax credit which allows taxpayers to deduct 30% of the cost an electric vehicle charger (good for up to $30,000 in commercial cases) will be discontinued. If you're thinking the 30% deduction is a bit high, last year the deduction was set at 50%. "The timing of this couldn't be more unfortunate," coming just as more electric cars are on the way." said Genevieve Cullen, vice pres
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 29, 2012 Last fall, the Department of Transportation and eight automakers began a study to assess drivers' acceptance of accident-avoidance technologies. The study, called the Connected Vehicle Safety Pilot Program put people on closed roads in cars that were equipped with the technologies and asked what did they think about it. Out of the 688 participants in the study, 92% wanted the technology in their vehicles and more than 90% believ
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As the Diesel Emits: Continental CEO Says Volkswagen's Diesel Mess Could End Diesel Cars In the U.S.
Continental AG's CEO says the diesel scandal that Volkswagen finds itself embroiled in could kill the marketplace for diesel vehicles in China, Japan, and United States. Elmar Degenhart tells German publication Boersen-Zeitung, "The diesel passenger car could sooner or later disappear from these markets." Degenhart also revealed that diesel had a market share of only 1 to 3 percent in these countries. This pales in comparison to Europe where diesels make up 53 percent of the market.The CEO of Continental AG says Volkswagen Diesel Scandal could kill the diesel market in a few countries
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As PSA Group - parent company of Citroen, DS, and Peugeot - gradually makes moves into possibly selling vehicles into the U.S., they are taking the next step by engineering their next-generation vehicles to meet U.S. regulations. "That means that from three years down the road we'll be able to push the button, if we decide to do so, in terms of product compliance vis-a-vis the U.S. regulations," said PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavares to Automotive News. Tavares also said PSA has decided whi
It appears PSA Group taking the next step into their U.S. plans
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Drew Dowdell - CheersandGears.com After 30 years, the ever increasing subsidy for ethanol produced from corn has expired. When Congress adjourned for the year last week, they did not renew the ethanol subsidy that has cost taxpayers some $45 billion during its lifetime. Every gallon of ethanol pumped provided corn growers with a 45 cent subsidy. Most of the savings from ending the subsidy to go towards reducing the US's budget deficit. At the same time, a 54 cent per gallon tariff on ethanol i
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 1, 2012 The Fisker Karma sports some sleek lines and daring proportions for an plug-in hybrid vehicle. The one it doesn’t sport is space. One only needs to see the Karma’s trunk to realize how much of a priority the design took over the space. However, at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, Fisker showed off the Surf concept. The Surf takes a regular Karma and extends its roofline with a hatchback/wagon/shooting brake body style to give
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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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A number of German automakers are recalling a number of diesel vehicles to tweak the engine management software to produce less nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. Reuters reports that Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Porsche, and Volkswagen have agreed to recall 630,000 diesel vehicles to tweak engine management software. The software in question can turn off emission treatment systems to improve engine performance and increase the services interval. Is it legal? Yes, thanks to a legal loophole that
Most German automakers are recalling A number of diesel vehicles to rework engine computer software
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 31, 2012 Despite the fullsize car getting a kick in the pants with vehicles like the Chevrolet Impala, Toyota Avalon, and Ford Taurus, the fullsize car is becoming an endangered species. R.L. Polk & Co reports that the fullsize sedan market has seen its relevance halved. Fullsize sedans have seen their market share drop from slightly above 5% of all vehicles sold in 2006 to just 2.3% in the first three months of this year. Also, the
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Since the Volkswagen diesel emission scandal came to light, more scrutiny has been put on automakers and emissions standards. Recent real-world tests of European market diesel vehicles have revealed a number were 10 times over the legal limit for emissions. With stricter regulations coming into effect next year, automakers are reconsidering their investment in diesel. Case in point is Renault. Reuters has learned from sources at the company that it believes diesel engines will disappear fro
Renault sees a dim future for diesel in Europe
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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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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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PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavares told attendees of the Automotive News World Congress yesterday they are employing the know-how from Opel engineers to develop vehicles for the U.S. market. Tavares declined to say which brand will lead the charge but did hint that future Opel models would be engineered to be compliant with U.S. regulations. Launching one of PSA Group's brands will be the last step in the company's 10-year plan of re-entering the U.S. market. Already, PSA is offering mobility se
Also announced plans to electrify their entire lineup
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 28, 2011 For the past decade, the best selling luxury brand has been Lexus. However, 2011 has been a fall of grace for Lexus and caused them to relinquish their top selling crowd. Now, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are fighting to see who becomes the top seller. At last tally, BMW holds a slight edge of Mercedes, selling 1,582 more vehicles than Mercedes in November. Now, entering the final month of 2012, both are going all out on incentive
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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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We have heard countless promises and teases from various Chinese automakers about entering the U.S. market. But one automaker appears to be making a serious effort to make it a reality. Last week at the Detroit Auto Show, Guangzhou Automotive Group (GAC) announced that it plans on launching the GS8 SUV in later 2019, and will attend this year's National Automobile Dealers Association convention in March. "We will attend the NADA convention in preparation for entering the North America
We might have a Chinese automaker selling vehicles in the U.S. by 2019. Might.
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PSA Group's decade-long plan of possibly returning to the U.S. continues forward and they are facing their next roadblock, setting up a dealer network. Trying to convince dealers to sell brands that haven't been sold since the early nineties. But the French automaker believes they have a solution, using a tech-centric approach that will be affordable. "We see the high cost of doing this business; we see the challenges that exist in profitability for dealers and OEMs. We believe with the new
There's a fair amount of tech involved
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On Friday, California regulators voted to require that automakers stick with the Obama-era emission regulations for vehicles sold in the state, no matter the efforts of the Trump administration to weaken the standards. This basically means vehicles built for through 2025 model year comply with the state’s standards and can legally be sold there. Beginning with the 2026 model year, vehicles have to meet the stricter standards if automakers want to sell vehicles in the state, along with the 12 oth
Still is vowing to work with the national government to establish a national standard
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 29, 2011 2012 is bring forth some significant changes for automakers that were planning to invest in China. The National Development and Reform Commission (NRDC) and the Ministry of Commerce announced that January 30, 2012, the country will stop encouraging foreign investment in the auto industry. The NRDC states the decision was made to help nurture their domestic brands. Jenny Gu, a senior market analyst at LMC Automotive in Shang
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com June 3, 2012 With gas prices going up and up, automakers are offering fuel-efficient versions of their compact cars to help stretch a gallon of gas farther. Consumer Reports wanted to see if these fuel-efficient compact models are worth the extra $500 - $800 from their non fuel-efficient models. They picked up a Chevrolet Cruze Eco, Ford Focus SFE, and Honda Civic HF to test the claim. Each of the vehicles were equipped with an automatic tra
