Henderson’s assurance isn’t very assuring

In his first press conference as the new CEO of GM, Fritz Henderson delivered a blow to General Motor’s future for most reading between the lines.
Henderson spoke with confidence that the automaker will succeed, but he did say that GM would be willing to go into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier than June 1 should [...]

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Fisker moving forward fast

Fisker is in a race to bring it’s Karma to market by the end of the year and to do that they will need dealerships. To that end they have been seeking said dealers in a pretty agressive fashion.
The company announced today that it’s signed up its first group of 32 dealerships. These retailers can [...]

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Smith to build Newton in Kansas

Some months back we dropped a story about Smith Electric building an electric delivery truck for the UK and that Ford may bring said truck to our shores in the near term. Plans are being finalized to do just that and Smith will be building the Newton delivery van in Kansas.
Smith Electric Vehicles US Corporation [...]

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CARB applies pressure

In an election speech our new president was chided for bringing up the idea that proper tire pressure could save millions in gas and help supress greenhouse gases as well. Now it seems that CARB (California Air Resources Board) is taking that suggestion seriously.
Last week CARB adopted a regulation to force the 40,000 businesses in [...]

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Buffet brings BYD to America

Last year billionaire investor Warren Buffet bought a 10% share of Chinese Big 3 automaker BYD for 1.8 billion Hong Kong dollars. One of the reasons he did this was certainly for their F3DM vehicle, which is the first plug in hybrid developed in China. BYD was at the Detroit Auto Show this year and [...]

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The Honda Insight has arrived

The last month has been a blur for Honda no doubt, they released the new Insight, which is designed to compete with the popular Toyota Prius in Japan and the car has become an instant hit selling over 20,000 copies.
As of today there are exactly 478 2010 Honda Insights for sale from all U.S. dealerships, [...]

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Screamin’ Cool

This is the car show season and even though there isn’t a solvent company making cars today there are some hot concept cars out there. We really love the idea of a future car, but personally I feel like this is now and let’s see what is real today.
Tesla has made more waves in the [...]

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Shocked, but not surprised

It appears that in Michigan there is more going on than the Spartan’s making the Final Four.
In effect our president has taken over General Motors as of today. He has called for Rick Wagoner’s job and overridden GM’s board or directors. Wagoner is out, Obama is running a car company from the White House and [...]

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Toyota talks tough on hybrids

Toyota has had the lead in hybrid cars from the beginning with the very popular Prius. The car has styling and great gas mileage not to mention over a million vehicles on the road. That dominance is being challenged by Honda’s new Insight, not from the performance side, nor the styling elements, but from price. [...]

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Obama shifts future focus

Over the past two administrations there have been varying focus on future vehicles, and which of the emerging technologies the government would support. During the Clinton administration $1.5 billion was spent on  hybrid-electric research. In the Bush years $1.2 billion was spent for hydrogen technology. Now, with Obama in power, the technology pendulum is swinging [...]

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Ford gets big tax credit

Traditionally Michigan is where American cars are made. If the next generation of cars will be electric then Michigan want the cars and batteries made there as well. To help that to happen the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) has awarded Ford Motor Company a $55 million refundable tax credit to help fast-track electric vehicle [...]

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Ford Cleveland is back

Back in the 60’s and 70’s when muscle cars ruled the roads a Ford Cleveland engine was sought after because of it’s horsepower. That “Cleveland” designation was a key component and still means something today.
Cleveland is actually a specific plant owned by Ford that has been closed since 2007. Ford has reopened its Cleveland Engine [...]

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Tata Nano is the world’s cheapest car

The automotive world has been taking a close look at emerging markets for some time now, countries like China already have a  version of their Big 3. One other market that has a lot of need, but few domestic manufacturers is India. Most automobiles in India are imported, but they do have a domestic maker [...]

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First Kia hybrid

Kia is owned by Hyundai and has been in the U.S. market for some time, but it is rare when we actually get any news from the Korean automaker. So far this year they have announced a new boxy SUV called the Soul that looks like a winner and that their Sprectra line will be [...]

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AutoNation launches new program

Unless you live in a big city you may not have heard of AutoNation, but they are huge. So big in fact that they have started to emulate Hyundai’s sales ploy of Buyers Assurance Program.
On Wednesday AutoNation uncovered a program that covers up to six months of car payments on new or used vehicles for [...]

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