Automotive News (Page 1107)

President Obama continues to use the auto industry's robust turnabout as a talking point as he pushes a platform of prosperity to boost Americans' morale. In Bettendorf, Iowa, the president told workers who make car hoods and doors at an Alcoa plant about the critical role he sees for manufacturing in America's return to greatness.

Michigan's Legislature, in support of teenagers statewide, has given its blessing to House Bill 4533 and sent it to Gov. Rick Snyder to sign and implement. The new legislation eases driving restrictions for teens who are good drivers with exemplary records.

Toyota today voluntarily recalled 45,500 Toyota Highlander Hybrid and 36,700 Lexus RX 400h trucks from the 2006 and 2007 model years so it can inspect for a faulty part.

Scion's high-tech, affordably priced xB utility vehicle, continuing to take aim at hipsters, will be outfitted with Bluetooth hands-free and streaming audio as well as HD Radio for 2012. It is on track to reach dealer showrooms in July, the Japanese car company said today.

The proposed legislation in Massachusetts that would force auto manufacturers to provide computer codes to third party repair shops and mechanics is heating up. Manufacturers understandably are unwilling to hand over data they consider proprietary, but the opposition says non-compliance gives OEMs a virtual monopoly over certain repairs, bypassing the traditional competition of the American marketplace.

A Mobile, AL county jury has returned a $40 million wrongful death verdict against Kia Motors of America after five years of litigation and two appeals to the Alabama Supreme Court. The case, filed by Tonya Leytham, was focused on the A97 seatbelt buckle installed in Kia Sportage and Sephia models from 1995 to 2000.

The Electric Vehicles Standards Panel (EVSP) of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) gathered in Detroit last week to lay the groundwork for a strategic roadmap defining the standards and conformance programs needed to cultivate widespread acceptance and deployment of electric vehicles as well as the correlating infrastructure within the United States.

Astonishing the throngs crowded into the auction tent, an immaculate 23-window Volkswagen microbus sold for more money than any of the muscle and classic cars at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Orange County California over the weekend.

In April, the organizers of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb announced that the 2011 Nissan Leaf electric vehicle would be competing in the 2011 Hill Climb event along with one other purpose-built electric race car that set the original record for an electric vehicle ascending the famous mountain race course.

Ford will export its Ranger pickup truck out of South Africa and sell it in 148 different countries.

Saab has announced that they have sold 50.1% of Saab Automobile Property to a consortium of Swedish real estate investors – a sale that brings the automaker 255 million Swedish Krona and a year of free rent in their Trollhattan production facility.

The new Chevrolet Cruze has quickly become one of the brand’s bestselling cars – even doing so well as to lead the segment in sales last month – and now it appears as though General Motors might offer up a 2-door coupe of the popular C-segment model.

A hearing is planned today in Santa Cruz, California to make rental cars safer.

Necessity is the mother of invention goes the old saying and the current emphasis on greening the planet and extending the mileage squeezed out of every gallon of petrol seems to be having just that consequence. The Chevrolet Cruze keeps finding ways to extract more and more from every gallon with technology like deceleration fuel cutoff (DFCO), that completely suspends fuel delivery when you brake, restoring the flow when you accelerate again.

A new Smartphone app is designed to protect your rights when dealing with police by recording your rate of speed every five seconds and storing the data in a spreadsheet compatible with Microsoft Excel. The My Max Speed app protects you from flawed police equipment or alleged infractions aimed at secondary violations like the failure to use a seatbelt.

For the third consecutive year the ubiquitous Toyota Camry has taken the title of Most American Car despite new competition entering the race. The Toyota sedan is built in Georgetown, KY and Lafayette, IN and has fended off challenges for the honor by newcomers including the Ford Explorer, the Chevrolet Traverse and the GMC Acadia. It is closely followed by the Honda Accord and the Chevy Malibu, which take second and third respectively.

Jaguar will take center stage this weekend at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed in Britain.

NADAguides in its 2011 Second Quarter Car Buyer's Market Report selected six models from Toyota, Acura, Dodge, GMC and Hyundai as Top Recommended Current Buys. The vehicles that offer great values and good deals from the showroom floor are the Toyota Tacoma Double Cab V6 Manual, Toyota Venza I4 AWD, Acura TL, Dodge Challenger R/T, GMC Terrain SLE-2 and Hyundai Azera Limited.

Italian magazine Motociclismo has somehow gotten a hold of leaked studio photographs of the Ducati 1199, several months ahead of what was supposed to be a November revealing at the EICMA Milan motorcycle show.

The U.S. White House proposal on Monday to update the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to 56.2 mpg may be ambitious, but not out of the range of feasibility. Nor does have to cost an arm and a leg as some in the auto industry are crying.

The Chevrolet Camaro holds the leading role among cars that can talk in the modern Transformers series and with Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon set to hit theaters on June 28th, Chevrolet has announced the newest special edition Transformers-themed Camaro for the 2012 model year.

Another day, another piece of information in the saga that has become the Saab brand as it appears that Swedish real estate firm Hemfosa is reportedly ready to buy the automakers Trollhattan plant with the intention of leasing it back to Saab.

The folks at Audi recently built a pair of gorgeous R8 Spyders earmarked for donation to the Elton John Aids Foundation and when the final gavel had sounded, these mirrored convertibles raised just shy of one million dollars for charity.

University of Connecticut basketball player Maya Moore (pictured) won the Honda-Broderick Cup today, making her America's best female college athlete of 2011. She is the first to win the high honor two years in a row. Moore, who now plays for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA, beat out other finalists Blair Brown, a Penn State volleyball player, and Sheila Reid, a cross country and track and field standout from Villanova.

Ho hum. Another trophy for the mantle. Lexus is the No. 1 car company again in the 2011 J.D. Power & Associates Initial Quality Study. It is the fourth year in a row that the luxury marque has emerged as the best-quality car there is in the world.

Contrary to popular belief, President Obama wasn’t the only diplomat to announce a theatrical release of oil from strategic reserves. Fact is, the International Energy Agency (IEA) decided last Thursday night to release 60 million barrels of oil from the strategic reserves of several member nations, and America was one of those nations. [UPDATE June 27, 2011: IEA now states per Reuters it will release 41.9 million barrels of crude and 19 million barrels of refined products, changing the mix ]

With skateboarding guru Tony Hawk standing on the auction block displaying a nervous smile, the “hawkized” custom 2011 Ford Mustang he commissioned for charity sold for $65,000 Saturday evening at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Costa Mesa, California.

Meet the next creative force in the auto world. Porsche Cars intern Anna Frey designed the livery that appeared on a 911 GT3 Cup race car that was driven Saturday in the 200-cars-from-25-countries Porsche Carrera World Cup Race at the Nürburgring track in Germany.

President Obama is being criticized by a Fairfax, Va., group for releasing reserves of domestic oil into the U.S. marketplace to make gasoline more affordable for American drivers.

June 30, 2011 may be another date which will live in infamy for the auto industry as the Federal Reserve will end all buying and propping of mortgage back securities and bonds.