Fisker Automotive recently announced that it has raised $40 million to build its plug-in hybrid vehicles. Roger Ormisher, a Fisker spokesman, said that Fisker has ‘no specific usage’ for the additional $40 million but gives the company a ‘nice comfortable cushion.’ Well, it seems like Fisker is looking for an even more comfortable cushion. The [...]
This past weekend the Lexus CT hybrid hatchback made its racing debut on the Nurburgring during a gruelling endurance race while competing in the Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy against the Lexus LFA, Porsche models and BMWs. Almost 200 cars took part to line up for the start and of course the Lexus CT wasn’t the first one to cross [...]
For all cars sold in the United States (and we mean all the cars sold in our 50 states), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 15,174 complaints involving unintended acceleration from 2000 through March 2010. Toyota recalled millions of vehicles worldwide since 2009 because of the similar flaws. The NHTSA announced today that it [...]
China’s largest car distributor Pangda Automobile Trade Co Ltd, Saab Automobile and Spyker announced that the three have signed a Memorandum of Understanding where Pangda will rescue debt-ridden Saab in a deal worth as much as 110 million euros ($155 million USD). “Pang Da shall make a EUR 30 million payment for the purchase of [...]
FoMoCo CEO Alan Mulally is rolling in money – literally. The Dearborn automaker’s head made $1.74 million on Friday by exercising and selling some performance-based stock options. According to a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mulally bought 250,000 shares at $8.28 and sold them for $15.25. The options, which were a part [...]
The U.S. Patent Board has given General Motors the No. 1 innovator rank out of 182 companies in its quarterly automotive and transportation industry scorecard. The Patent Board analyzes analyzes intellectual property performance across 17 industries and determines the leader in each sector based on measurements that include the number of patents, impact on the [...]
Earlier this year, Volkswagen said that it was unlikely to launch an R version of the Polo since it couldn’t make a business case for it and since it doesn’t want to jeopardize sales of the Golf R or Golf GTI. However, earlier this month, Volkswagen released the Volkswagen Polo R WRC – that’s right a [...]
Toyota announced today that the Prius alpha will be delayed in Japan from its original launch date. While some buyers in Japan will have to wait until April next year for deliveries, U.S. delivery remains on schedule. “Following Toyota Motor Corporation’s announcement in Japan today that delivery of the Prius alpha will be delayed, Toyota Motor [...]
For the 2012 model year, Mercedes-Benz vehicles have received some significant upgrades including a more fuel-efficient 7-speed automatic transmission and more powerful direct-injection gasoline engines, including a new turbo 4-cylinder, a normally aspirated V6 and bi-turbo V8 – some with ECO Stop/Start technology. Most 2012 Mercedes-Benz models are now available with a new audio headunit with a [...]
At the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi unveiled the R8 e-tron Concept. The Audi R8 e-tron received a lot of attention with stellar technical specs that include four electric motors – two each at the front and rear axles – producing 313-hp and a maximum torque of 3,319 lb-ft of torque (501.5 lb-ft in real world [...]
