Posts Tagged ‘car news’
Great mileage, good performance – but is it worth the price?
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.24, 2013
At 46 mpg highway, the new Chevy Cruze Turbo Diesel gives even hybrids a run for their (gas) money.
It looks like your run-of-the-mill Chevrolet Cruze, albeit with a nicely loaded interior. But it only takes a second, after you slip behind the wheel and turn the key, to recognize something’s different.
There’s that chattering sound from under the hood that tells you this is the new 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Turbo Diesel, the first time any of General Motors’ U.S. brands has put an “oil burner” under the hood of a passenger car since 1986. There’s good reason why it’s taken so long considering the disastrous diesels it produced in the mid-‘80s, models so bad they almost single-handedly destroyed the American diesel market.
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But it’s a new world. Technologies such as high-pressure injection and turbocharging have transformed the modern diesel, making them smooth, quiet, quick and clean. Or, at least, that’s what we’ve experienced from other manufacturers, such as Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. So TheDetroitBureau.com went to Hell and back – Hell, Michigan, that is, to see if the new Cruze Turbo Diesel was anywhere near as good as the competition.
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Tags: 2014 chevrolet cruze turbo diesel, Chevy Cruze diesel, Cruze diesel, auto news, auto reviews, car news, car reviews, chevrolet news, diesel reviews, diesel technology forum, diesels, gm diesel, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automobiles | 1 Comment »
Chevrolet launches Cruze diesel, considers other options.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.24, 2013
The 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel will have the highest highway mileage rating of any non-hybid passenger car sold in the U.S.
The company that all but killed the diesel engine is now hoping to bring it back.
For the first time since 1986, General Motors began selling a diesel-powered passenger car this week, and company officials say that a successful launch of the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Turbo Diesel could convince them to add additional “oil burners” to the line-up.
“We’ll be watching very closely,” said Chris Perry, vice president of marketing for the Chevrolet brand, adding that with the launch of the Cruze Diesel, Chevy hopes to give some “real competition” to the European makers that currently dominate the small but growing U.S. diesel market, especially Volkswagen.
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Diesels were a significant part of the U.S. market in the late 1970s and early 1980s as American motorists struggled to deal with rising fuel prices after two Mideast energy shocks. But the market took a tumble late in the ‘80s, in part due to some major quality problems with GM diesels, especially an Oldsmobile engine that had a tendency to fail catastrophically.
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Tags: 2014 chevrolet cruze turbo diesel, Audi diesel, Chevy Cruze diesel, Cruze diesel, VW diesels, auto news, car news, chevrolet news, diesel technology forum, diesels, gm diesel, gm news, passat diesel, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, vw jetta diesel
Posted in Automobiles | 1 Comment »
Former GM “car czar,” Chinese supplier reportedly offer $20 mil for failed plug-in maker.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.24, 2013
Former GM car czar Lutz meeting with reporters at the Detroit Auto Show.
General Motors’ former “car czar” and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz reportedly is part of a group making a bid to purchase the assets of fast-failing plug-in carmaker Fisker Automotive.
The $20 million offer would be part of a pre-packaged bankruptcy deal, according to the Reuters news service. Fisker, which produces the $100,000 Karma plug-in hybrid sports car, laid off three-quarters of its staff in April and senior executives subsequently told a Congressional committee that a Chapter 11 filing was quite likely to follow.
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Credited with the original concept that eventually became the Chevrolet Volt plug-in, Lutz did not return a request for comment. But he recently expressed his interest in Fisker through a bylined column on the Forbes blog. He described the Karma as “quite possibly the most beautiful four-door sedan ever,” and referred to its underlying technology as “ground-breaking.”
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Tags: Fisker layoffs, auto news, battery cars, bob lutz, car news, fisker, fisker atlantic, fisker automotive, fisker bankruptcy, fisker karma, fisker lutz, fisker news, lutz fisker, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, plug-in hybrids, thedetroitbureau, vl motors, wanxiang fisker
Posted in Automobiles | 2 Comments »
by Joseph Szczesny on May.24, 2013
Datsun is set to make its return with a launch in India next March.
Nissan will launch five new models as part of an ambitious plans to bring back the Datsun brand – which will make its debut in India, starting in March of 2014.
The re-introduction of the Datsun brand, which Nissan shelved in the early 1980s, is a key part of an effort by Nissan to boost its market share in South Asia, company officials said in Mumbai. Nissan plans to expand its Indian dealer network from 95 to 145 outlets to coincide with the Datsun launch – and hopes to increase its market share there fivefold.
“Datsun is an important part of the heritage of Nissan,” said Ashwani Gupta, program director of Nissan’s newly-created Datsun Business Unit.
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“We will offer our customers in India modern and spirited cars that they will be happy and proud to own—at an affordable price,” added Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, who has said the Datsun brand’s launch plans will focus on “optimistic,” up-and-coming customers in high-growth emerging markets.
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Tags: Carlos Ghosn, India auto market, auto news, car news, datsun, datsun india, datsun news, datsun relaunch, datsun return, datsun revival, india cars, joe szczesny, nissan news, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automobiles | 2 Comments »
This time it’s more than just plain vanilla.
by Joseph Szczesny on May.23, 2013
The new sedan - the IS 250 shown here - adopts the Lexus spindle grille design.
It wasn’t all that long ago when Lexus dominated the U.S. luxury market, but despite its continuing strength in quality and customer service surveys, the Toyota luxury brand has been losing momentum to European makers BMW and Mercedes-Benz, never mind upstarts such as Audi.
It doesn’t help that the buzz around its vehicles has shrunk to something like a very faint hum, its sales more and more dependent on its primary crossover vehicle, the RX. While that may be propping up the numbers, it also might trigger a sense of déjà vu for the sepia-tinged era when station wagons ruled the road.
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Company officials, notably including Toyota President Akio Toyoda are clearly worried and looking for ways to kick-start the brand. Among other things, they’ve been talking a lot about passion, these days, something that Lexus translates as the more sporty design language that one finds on the newly restyled Lexus IS. The good news is that with this entry-level sedan beauty is more than skin deep, the 2014 IS reminding us why Lexus soared to the top of the U.S. luxury market in the first place.
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Tags: 2014 lexus is, 2014 lexus is 250, 2014 lexus is 350, 2014 lexus is f-sport, 2014 lexus is review, auto news, auto reviews, car news, car reviews, joe szczesny, lexus design, lexus is, lexus reviews, lexus spindle grille, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automobiles | 3 Comments »
Maker separately plans to end production in Australia.
by Joseph Szczesny on May.23, 2013
A Ford C-Max Hybrid rolls off the line at the maker's Michigan Assembly Plant.
Ford Motor Company plans to roll-out 200,000 additional vehicles this year to meet customer demand in the U.S. where the market is continuing to gain momentum after the worst industry downturn in decades.
The maker expects to pick up a large chunk of that added volume by trimming back its normal two-week summer shutdown at select plants. That alone should add another 40,000 units of volume, Ford said.
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At the same time, the second-largest Detroit maker has decided to shutter the company’s manufacturing operations in Australia. The maker has been losing money “down under” for years and follows a number of other automakers who have decided to cease production there.
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Tags: U.S. auto sales, auto news, car news, ford australia, ford boosts production, ford capacity, ford ends production in australia, ford news, ford production, ford summer break, ford third shift, joe szczesny, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automobiles | 1 Comment »
Pickup trucks show particularly strong demand.
by Joseph Szczesny on May.23, 2013
The surge in truck demand should be especially good for GM as it launches the new Chevy Silverado.
Sales of new vehicles appear to be holding steady during May with strong demand for pickup trucks helping set the pace, analysts are reporting.
Just how much the market will be up for the month is a matter of debate, with forecasts ranging from 6% to 9%. Significantly, consumers are driving much of the growing demand, though fleets are also increasing sales which could be a sign of a recovering economy.
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“We’re in a nice place in terms of retail sales,” said Mike VanNieuwkyuk of global vehicle research at J.D. Power & Associates. Car sales have recovered nicely from the recession and have maintained their recent momentum, VanNieuwkyk noted during a panel discussion at the Wards Auto Interiors
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Tags: auto incentives, auto industry sales, auto news, auto sales, car news, car sales, jd power car sales, joe szczesny, may 2013 auto sales, may 2013 car sales, thedetroitbureau, truck sales
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Makers dispute who paid off the government first.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.23, 2013
Tesla CEO Elon Musk boasts his automaker was first to completely pay off its federal loans.
It began with a seemingly innocuous statement from Tesla Motors but has quickly escalated into a spitting match with Detroit’s third-largest automaker, Chrysler.
On Wednesday, the battery-car start-up announced that it would pay back the remaining $451.8 million that it owes the U.S. Energy Department nine years ahead of schedule, using money it expects to raise from an upcoming, $1.1 billion stock offering.
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That prompted the irrepressible Elon Musk, the constantly tweeting Tesla CEO, to declare that Tesla will become “the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.”
Or will it? Not according to Chrysler.
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Posted in Automobiles | 3 Comments »
Battery car captures nation’s highest mileage rating.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.23, 2013
The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV can be purchased for as little as $17,500 in some locations due to federal, state and local incentives.
General Motors will begin selling its new Chevrolet Spark EV at select dealers in California and Oregon next month for a base price of $27,495 including destination charges.
Since the little battery-electric vehicle will qualify for a federal tax credit of $7,500, that will bring its effective price to $19,995 – and possible even lower thanks to various state and local tax credits. The maker also plans to offer a three-year, $199 a month lease after a downpayment of $999.
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That will position the Chevy Spark EV as one of the lowest-priced battery cars on the market, a move Chevy hopes will increase the appeal of the vehicle in a market still skeptical of electric propulsion. Based on EPA forecasts, the maker claims motorists could save as much as $150 a month on gasoline.
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Tags: auto news, battery cars, car news, chevrolet battery car, chevrolet news, chevrolet spark ev, chevy battery car, chevy electric vehicle, chevy spark ev, electric vehicles, lithium batteries, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, zero emissions vehicles
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Move means profit for taxpayers on controversial loan.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.22, 2013
The Tesla Model S is generating 30% gross margins, according to the California maker.
Tesla Motors today confirmed it will pay back a more than $450 million loan it received from the Department of Energy, part of a controversial Obama Administration program intended to encourage the development of clean, high-mileage automotive technology – but which has seen several high-profile failures by companies that received some of the taxpayer-funded loans.
Earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk signaled his plan to pay off the program more than a decade ahead of schedule – a move meant to reduce Tesla’s interest costs but which also is expected to generate a profit of as much as $12 million for the U.S. Treasury.
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“I would like to thank the Department of Energy and the members of Congress and their staffs that worked hard to create the ATVM program, and particularly the American taxpayer from whom these funds originate,” said Musk, referring to the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program. “I hope we did you proud.”
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Tags: Tesla Model S, auto news, battery cars, car news, electric vehicles, elon musk, energy dept loans, fisker karma, fisker loans, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, tesla motors, tesla news, tesla repaying doe loan, tesla repays loan, thedetroitbureau
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