Cobo readied for car show
New floor plan adds more space for automakers’ displays, aisle for the expected 700,000 visitors.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
With less than two weeks until Cobo Center opens its doors to the world’s automotive press, work crews are making their final push to ready scores of displays [...]
Auto loans have the whiff of bad debt about them
Monday, December 31, 2007
Ken Bensinger / Los Angeles Times
When Jennifer and Bobby Post traded in their 2001 Chevy Suburban last year for a shiny new Ford F-350 turbo diesel with an extended cab, it seemed like a great deal. Even though they still owed $9,500 on [...]
2008 Chevrolet Impala 50th Anniversary Edition – Auto Shows
A front-drive V-6 Impala to recall glory days of the past.
BY JAKE HOLMES,
December 2007
The Impalas of today are a far cry from their rear-wheel-drive forebears such as the first stand-alone 1959 model with a 355-hp, 348-cubic-inch V-8 or even the 1961 “SS” model that tore up drag [...]
Car sales likely worse in 2008 than in 2007, analysts say
December 28, 2007
By DEE-ANN DURBIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT — Industry analysts are predicting a lackluster end to an already dismal year for automakers, likely the worst in nearly a decade.
Holiday discounts failed to bring consumers out of their funk, and December sales are expected to fall around [...]
GM electric car takes off on YouTube
Business Insider
Saturday, December 29, 2007
More than eight years after discontinuing the now-notorious EV1 electric car, General Motors Corp.’s quirky little ride just won’t go away.
Fans of the EV1 still haven’t forgiven GM for halting the electric car program — and destroying most of the cars — in 1999. That [...]
EPA to release memos on fuel ruling
It’s a sign that battle over Calif. goals has far to go
December 28, 2007
BY H. JOSEF HEBERT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — A Bush administration decision to prevent California from imposing higher fuel-economy rules — which had been seen as a major victory for automakers — appears headed for more scrutiny.
The Environmental [...]
Serbia to sell Yugo automaker
Friday, December 28, 2007
Associated Press
BELGRADE, SERBIA — Serbia’s only carmaker and producer of the much-maligned Yugo will be sold next year, the government said Thursday.
In an advertisement published in the Politika daily, Serbia’s Privatization Agency said nearly 90 percent of the company’s shares will be sold in April.
Zastava, based in the [...]
Toyota to roll out concept pickup
Small hybrid truck to debut at Detroit auto show adds solar panels to charge GPS system and displays.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Christine Tierney / The Detroit News
Toyota Motor Corp. will unveil a concept for a small hybrid pickup at the North American International Auto Show in January.
Toyota said the A-BAT show [...]
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Auto briefs
Ford aims for better kid test dummies
DEARBORN — A high-tech insert, similar in size and shape to a 6-year-old’s abdomen, is being developed for crash test dummies to help improve vehicle safety for children. The prototype is part of an effort to make pediatric crash dummies and crash tests more real [...]
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Buzzing about battery power
Chevrolet Volt generates surge of traffic on Web
GM’s eco-friendly concept car draws a cult following
Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News
The Chevrolet Volt is slowly consuming Lyle Dennis’ life.
A year after casually launching a blog devoted to General Motors Corp.’s ambitious efforts to build a battery-powered Chevy, Dennis, a neurologist [...]
100% recyclable vehicles is Detroit 3 target
December 25, 2007
FREE PRESS STAFF
Ford Motor Co. said Monday it is working with General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to make cars and trucks as close to 100% recyclable as possible.
The Detroit automakers are working through the U.S. Council for Automotive Research’s Vehicle Recycling Partnership to obtain that goal.
Already [...]
End of cell system strands users
Analog’s shutdown cuts off some OnStar, alarm services
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Peter Svensson / Associated Press
NEW YORK — When Adele Rothman bought her 16-year-old son a car in 2003, she made sure to pick one that had OnStar, the onboard communications and safety system.
What the Scarsdale, N.Y., resident didn’t know was [...]
Vehicle sales expected to fall for Dec.
Experts say weak housing, credit markets hit automakers and will carry into the new year.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
Analysts are predicting much weaker U.S. car and truck sales this month as the industry braces for an even tougher 2008.
Sales for the month are expected [...]
Six reasons to buy a sQuba
Switzerland’s innovative Rinspeed, maker of the Splash hydrofoil car that flies over water, released images last week of its new wonder car: the sQuba, capable of diving to depths of 33 feet.
The sQuba, made by Switzerland’s Rinspeed, is capable of diving to depths of 33 feet. (Rinspeed)
Here’s why it [...]
A NEW LOOK AT THE 80-YEAR PROMISE
UAW health trust faces big doubts
Some experts, workers fear retiree funding will run out
December 23, 2007
BY KATIE MERX
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
First of two parts
A historic new trust intended to pay the health costs of UAW retirees from Detroit’s automakers could run out of money much sooner than the 80 [...]
