Automotive News (Page 1114)

Only the weekend stands between us and the opening of the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, and with companies preparing to show off their best and brightest for the new year, Chrysler has offered up a single rendering of the new 2011 Chrysler 200 Super S by Mopar.

Since the new Chevrolet Camaro was introduced, the people have been clamoring for a droptop and we are now one step closer to the hitting the market as the 2011 Camaro Convertible configurator is now live on the Chevrolet website.

Mopar (the aftermarket division of the Chrysler Group) introduced the radical Ram Runner last Easter along with showing off the Raptor-hunting Ram at a variety of shows but at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show the Ram Runner package will be introduced as an orderable package.

Just as the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and LG Chem, Ltd. announced reaching a licensing agreement to make and use Argonne's patented cathode material technology in lithium-ion battery cells, GM announced its own agreement with Argonne.

President Barack Obama has signed into law a requirement that hybrids and electric vehicles emit noises the blind and pedestrians can hear to avoid being struck by the vehicles that sometimes run silently.

The 2011 Chrysler 300 will make its formal debut next week at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show but today, the Chrysler Group announced pricing for the new flagship sedan, starting at just $27,995.

General Motors announced in mid-December that Cadillac would be returning to racing with a pair of teams competing in the SCCA Challenge GT class in Pratt & Miller-prepped CTS-V Coupe race cars and today, GM rolled out a spread of pictures showing off the sexy Caddy race cars.

When Ford introduced the 2012 Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca in August of 2010, they suggested that this could be the best-handling Mustang ever and to commemorate this new factory-built race car, Ford is working with the Barrett Jackson Auto Auction to sell a 1-of-1 2012 Boss 302 Laguna Seca in Grabber Blue.

In addition to the Leadership in Engineering 2010 award, 2011 will mark an important milestone for 3D Systems, the 25th anniversary of the invention of Stereolithography (SLA) by founder, Chuck Hull.

The booming Chinese auto industry may be dominated by highly efficient compact cars but the growing popularity of luxury cars and exotics allowed Ferrari to post their best ever Chinese sales in 2010.

Among the big-three Japan-based auto companies in the United States, Nissan was the biggest winner by far in 2010. Sure, both Honda and Toyota sold more vehicles than Nissan. So both remain larger retailers. But Nissan grew at a much faster pace in 2010. In fact, while Honda and, especially, Toyota struggled to keep up with the recovering pace of U.S. auto sales, and while both lost market share, Nissan performed better than the market at large, and gained share.

Dodge has taken the 2011 Challenger SRT8 392 and Charger R/T around the country to show off the beefed up coupe and redesigned sedan, and while they were on the road they hit a dyno shop to see just how much power these two modern Mopar muscle put to the road.

Buick has released details on the Verano compact luxury sedan that it is introducing at the Detroit Auto Show. This will be Buick’s first entry into the compact luxury segment when it goes on sale in the third quarter of 2011.

Automakers have strict ethics guidelines to keep product news secret these days. After all, with all the tech gadgets available today, you have to literally go out of your way not to communicate. So, it’s easy to understand how Renault could have its electric vehicle plans compromised, especially when it’s an alleged inside job.

That association with the NBA appears to be paying dividends for Kia, which has ended 2010 with record annual sales of 356,268 units, up 18.7-percent over 2009 and a 16.6-percent increase over the annual mark set in 2007.

Hyundai is set to do battle with OnStar just as the latter is ready to offer its product to anybody willing to buy the OnStar mirror and pay the subscription. Telematics is the new automotive boxing ring.

Lexus grew at a slower rate than the rest of the recovering U.S. auto industry, but at the end of 2010 it still retained its title as the most popular luxury-vehicle brand in America. But with a growth rate of barely over six percent for the year, Lexus faces a danger of being dethroned by Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which ended 2010 with strong momentum and growth rates much higher than the Lexus level.

Annual sales reports from around the American auto industry are in and with them, we have a clear picture of the Top 10 best-selling vehicles in the US market with the Ford F-Series taking the top spot once again.

A year that started badly for Toyota also ended badly. In December 2010, sales of Toyota brand vehicles dropped 5.9 percent from the same month in 2009. The decline put Toyota's total, 12-month vehicle sales for 2010 nearly a half percent lower than 2009 sales – a dismal performance for a major brand in a year in which total U.S. vehicle sales rose 11 percent. Toyota's overall rank among U.S. car companies slipped to third place in 2010, dropping below Ford for the first time in four years.

We have been hearing about Volkswagen's New Midsized Sedan for months now and thanks to a not-so-subtle plug on the company website, we know now that the car known just as the NMS will be formally introduced at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show.

Ford Motor Company was the worst of the Detroit Big 3 in terms of percentage growth with just below 7% improvement over December 2009 but Ford does claim the bragging rights of having the bestselling single brand in the industry.

Consumer Reports, which has more than 7 million print and online subscribers, is out with an article in its February issue that pans the Ford and Lincoln My Touch systems, which operate the vehicle’s entertainment, climate and navigation systems.

General Motors capped off a strong rebound year in 2010 as leading the nation in corporate sales in December with 224,185 units sold – an improvement of 7.5% over 2009.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee continues its march through all of the automotive awards with its pick as Autoweek’s 2011 Best of the Best in the truck category. The Cadillac CTS-V took home the honors in the car category.

Hyundai finished 2010 with record sales of 538,228 with almost all of its 103,164 unit growth coming from the phenomenal success of its Hyundai Sonata. The midsize sedan saw growth in retail sales of 90,349 – the highest in the industry.

Driven by strong E class sales, Mercedes posted an 18 percent growth in annual sales in 2010 with 225,007 vehicles sold in the United States. It also reported its strongest sales month of the year in December with sales of 21,469 vehicles.

December 2010 sales numbers from around the industry are in and although the Dodge and Chrysler brands saw a decline in sales compared to December 2009, the Ram and Jeep brands had big months – helping to make the Chrysler Group to be the strongest of the Detroit automakers in terms of monthly growth.

The recession must be over. That might be what some people might think in the wake of the announcement that Porsche sales were 29 percent ahead of 2009 with total sales of 25,320. Porsche says the Panamera Gran Turismo and the debut of the all-new Cayenne.

Audi is coming off a 2010 that was its best ever with more than 100,000 models sold for the first time, easily eclipsing the former record of 2007 when it sold 93,506 vehicles in 2007. Sales were up 22.9% over 2009 when it sold 82,717.

The Associated Press is reporting that 7 major auto insurance companies are suing Toyota for the unintended acceleration issues that have destroyed the automakers reputation in the US market.