Speaking at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, FoMoCo CEO Alan Mulally praised the incoming President-elect Barack Obama, but said that whoever is appointed “car czar” should not interfere with the automaker’s product plans. “My god, I hope that a car czar does not get into the product strategy of the companies,” Mulally said during a dinner with [...]
Tata owned Jaguar and Land Rover announced today that they will be cutting 450 jobs today due to a “severe” reduction in demand for new cars. The cuts include about 300 management level jobs and 150 salaried agency staff. The group said that managers will not be receiving any bonuses in 2009 and management pay [...]
“The horsepower war is over,” AMG boss Volker Mornhinweg told AutoCar. Mornhinweg said that AMG is now going to focus on pursuing higher fuel-economy for its future cars while trying to better performance levels. He said that AMG will do that by cutting weight, optimizing the engine and using other alternative fuel-saving technologies. According to Mornhinweg, we’ll get [...]
We reported yesterday that the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show may be canceled since some non-Japanese automakers have decided not to attend the October show. It seems like General Motors, Chrysler and Ford are some of those “non-Japanese” automakers. According to Rick Brown, president of GM Asia Pacific, the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show had cost GM [...]
Ford is hoping the Fiesta will win fuel-economy conscious consumers over when it is launched in the U.S. in 2010. To help gain some traction for Ford’s latest global compact car, Ford will be handing out 100 Fiesta’s to 100 tech-savvy enthusiasts under a new program called “Fiesta Movement.” Ford will ask the 100 lucky [...]
According to one of Volkswagen’s key engineers, the mid-engined Volkswagen BlueSport roadster concept that was unveiled in Detroit earlier this week is at least three years away from production. What’s the reason for the three year wait? The BlueSport is produced from production parts from a new transverse front-engined MQB platform that isn’t going to [...]
Update: Chrysler dropped us a short e-mail saying: “Chrysler Vice Chairman and President denied reports and rumors that the Company is in discussions to sell its brands or plants. LaSorda, in a conference call with reporters this morning, also addressed rumors regarding deals with specific companies.” —— According to sources familiar with the matter, Chrysler is [...]
There were over a dozen production debuts at this year’s 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit – but there were a few that caught enough of our and the medias attention to make it onto our Top 10 2009 Detroit Auto Show Production Debut. The list goes from no. 10 to no. 1 with [...]
The two largest Japanese automakers, Toyota and Honda, came to Detroit this past weekend with two new hybrid vehicles. The 2010 Toyota Prius and the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid vehicles will hit dealerships in April going head-to-head with each other. If you’re currently in the market for a hybrid – we want to know which one you [...]
The 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class made its debut at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show this past weekend. We’re guessing you’re tired of seeing pictures of the car and are probably wondering what it looks like speeding down the road. Lucky for you we just uploaded two videos of the new E-Class in action. Check them out [...]
