To give us a taste of summer, Suzuki is showing a new outdoor/beach concept vehicle at the New York auto show. The Suzuki Makai is a bright orange hatchback with all the features necessary to drive to the beach with the sun and wind in your hair. On the open top are two custom surfboards [...]
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Ford and General Motors were quick to highlight their latest efforts to enhance their image as fuel-economy champions during today’s press conferences. Ford showed its new Lincoln MKZ hybrid, claiming that it’s the “most fuel-efficient luxury sedan in America.” Ford says it will get similar mpg as its Fusion hybrid–but with lots more luxury features. [...]
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Positive news coming from Gotham this year includes the unveiling of several new wagons. Many of my colleagues and I have been big fans of wagons for years and welcome this renaissance. Some of our current favorites include the Subaru Outback, VW Jetta, and Mazda5 (CR’s Family Hauler Top Pick). In general, wagons tend to [...]
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A Cadillac rep introduced the new CTS-V station wagon to a group of car writers last night by saying it was built as a car for automotive journalists.
While it is true that a seemingly disproportionate number of car writers seem to favor wagons, including several at this organization like, well, me, Cadillac better not be [...]
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Mazda chose the New York Auto show to announce pricing on the new Mazda2 subcompact, and to say the launch date has been moved up to July of this year, several months earlier than had been planned.
Two trim levels of the four-door hatch will be offered, Sport and Touring. Sport models will begin at $13,980, [...]
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Chevrolet has long been considered about as American a car company as American car companies get, but a Chevy executive dropped an interesting tidbit at a media event this week touting the upcoming Chevrolet Cruze small sedan.
Sixty percent of the all-American car company’s sales now happen outside the United States. Chevy has already sold [...]
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After facing pressure from Congress and the public, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced three simultaneous investigations into unintended acceleration.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) is working with the National Academy of Sciences to broadly examine causes of unintended acceleration and electronic vehicle controls across the auto industry.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a [...]
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The long-awaited and much-hyped 2011 Chevrolet Volt is edging ever closer to production, and GM engineers assure us that production samples of the plug-in, extended-range electric car will arrive in showrooms before the year is out.
For those who have managed to dodge the media barrage thus far, the Volt is essentially an electric car with [...]
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Today, Nissan announced that its upcoming Leaf electric vehicle will sell for $32,780, plus $800 destination. A $7,500 federal tax credit for electric cars will bring the total cost down to $25,280. A three-year lease will be available for $349 a month. (For contrast, the electric Mini Cooper E was leased this past year at [...]
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AT&T has launched a new anti-texting ad campaign for TV, print, and in-store video aimed at helping to reduce the crashes and deaths from distracted driving. The ads show the simple text messages that were sent right before deadly crashes. As with most texts, these are short and insignificant with one or two words like [...]
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