Who the heck is Mikko Hirvonen? The Finnish rally driver currently drives for the BP Ford World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship and has placed third in the drivers’ championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers’ title in both 2006 and 2007. So it’s only right that Hirvonen takes the new 2011 Ford [...]
Usually when you think of government incentives on new vehicle purchases you expect the customer shopping for a new car to get a tax credit if they purchase something that makes mother nature happy. Well, China is doing things a little differently. The Chinese government has started paying subsidies of up to 60,000 yuan ($8,784 [...]
Forget for a second that Toyota’s President and CEO Akio Toyoda is a media shy executive who doesn’t really come out of his cocoon to answer questions about the company’s massive recall woes. Before taking up the high ranks at the company founded by his grandfather, Toyoda had a lot of training and mentoring under [...]
Known as the “World’s Most Famous Car” (at least by RM Auctions), the James Bond 1964 Aston Martin DB5 will go up for auction in London later this year. The model is one of two, and the only one remaining of the original 007 DB5s, that appeared alongside Sean Connery in “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball.” The [...]
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration said today that it has opened a formal investigation on the 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans for a possible pedal entrapment due to floor mats. The NHTSA warned owners that gas pedals could become stuck if all-weather floor mats are stacked on top of the cars’ standard [...]
GM is in the middle of a very shaky time with regard to its marketing department. In the past year alone, 17 of GM’s marketing leaders have either left the company or changed jobs, and there have been 4 U.S. marketing chiefs. This turmoil has left a clear mission for current U.S. marketing chief Joel [...]
According to many safety system and electronics suppliers, should the NHTSA require that all vehicles be equipped with black boxes similar to those in airplanes, the cost of the units could triple, if not more, bringing total cost to anywhere between $4,000 and $5,000 per unit. The automotive safety legislation currently before the house stipulates [...]
Toyota has been ordered by a U.S. District Court judge to turn over the bulk of documents sought by class-action attorneys from previous investigations into claims of Toyota vehicles racing out of control. The company has 30 days to comply. This decision marks the first defeat for Toyota since the consolidation of scores of personal-injury [...]
Later this month, Chrysler Group LLC will begin selling the brand-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee through its dealerships nationwide. So far, the company says that interest in the new Grand Cherokee has been very strong with the first batch of orders coming in 30-40 percent higher than initial expectations. Chrysler says this will be the [...]
Nissan is betting that Toyota Prius lovers will fall in love with the new Nissan LEAF electric-car. According to Nissan Division Vice President Al Castignetti, more than half of the 130,000 hand-raisers who have shown interest in the LEAF so far have been Prius owners. “That’s a pretty significant signal to us,” Castignetti said. “It [...]
