Chronicling the Ever-Changing Automotive Industry
It has long been known that Ford competes directly with Chrysler and GM. After reading a press release on their new “Noise Vision” technology, I have to wonder if Ford isn’t aiming far higher than its domestic rivals, at least in one aspect of their vehicles. Ford’s new technology allows engineers to “see” the sounds intruding on a car’s passenger compartment and subsequently engineer those sounds out. More details following the jump.
Continue reading ‘Tech: Ford's "Noise Vision" Technology’
Lexus has long been rumored to be creating their own supercar. The Japanese luxury brand which was created by Toyota, and first brought cars to the US in 1989, has finally shown pictures of it, and anyone lucky enough to be in Los Angeles this week will be able to see it up close and personal.
Continue reading ‘A Supercar like non other: the Lexus LF-A’
With so many cars having been introduced this year at the L.A. Auto Show, A good synopsis of what’s been going on this week is called for, rather than a lot of details that won’t make a huge difference in your buying decisions in the next 12 months. That said, we’ve reported on some of the cars below (you can click on their name to read Road Reality’s report), but here’s a list of cars I think are going to make a splash when they go on sale, in alphabetical order, followed by a description for each car:
2011 Chevrolet Volt
2011 Ford Fiesta
2011 Hyundai Sonata
2011 Mazda Mazda2
2011 Toyota Sienna
2010 Volvo S60
Continue reading ‘Wrap-up: 2009 L.A. Auto Show’
Mini Cooper
In 2001, the Mini Cooper really brought the small car to America. BMW, the current owner of the Mini brand, showed that Americans were willing to pay for a premium small car. The Mini gets good gas mileage, has “go kart” handling, plenty of creature comforts, and sells for thousands more than its same-size siblings.
Continue reading ‘Micro Machines – Tiny Cars in the US?’
Every year since 2003, Kelly Blue Book has released the names of cars they predict will have the best resale value after 5 years of ownership. KBB has just released this year’s winners, and Toyota took top honors this year as the Top Brand, with its Lexus division winning Top Luxury Brand. Toyota may have trouble staying on the top in resale, if its current recall has anything to do with it.
Continue reading ‘KBB Releases its 2010 Best Resale Value Awards’
It was announced Tuesday that Koenigsegg, a Swedish supercar manufacturer, has dropped out of a deal to purchase Saab from GM. Contrary to previous press releases from GM stating the “winding down” of Saab if a buyer could not be found, they are now saying that they, “… will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week.” Expect more news posted here next week as GM figures out what to do with its quirky subsidiary.
My prediction is that GM will sell off Saab to another buyer. There were other companies interested in Saab before Koenigsegg, and now they can come to the forefront. Realistically, GM doesn’t need Saab, so they should sell it off, or shut it down. This would get rid of unnecessary overhead and costs on GM’s part. While some reports have declared an end to the automotive recession, I believe we are far from it. The downward slide in sales may have slowed or stopped by this point, but I think it will be a long time before the American automotive market will be able to support sales of 13-17 million new vehicles per year.
by John Suit
Sources: Automotive News, GM
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