by Ken Zino | Jun 16, 2010
Volkswagen of America held a party yesterday for its bigger and cheaper Jetta in New York City. By all accounts, everybody had a swell time at the unveiling of the 2011 version of a sedan that dates back to 1979 when a trunk was grafted onto a hatchback Golf model. An...
by Ken Zino | Jun 16, 2010
The European car market took a sharp turn for the worse in May. Registrations declined 9% from a year earlier as “cash for clunkers” schemes that were in place last year expired. It was the second straight monthly decline. The latest trend has negative financial...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 16, 2010
After having the Berlin government reject a bailout request for its troubled Opel subsidiary, General Motors is withdrawing a bid for help from other European governments and will now seek to fund the operation’s recovery on its own. The announcement is the latest...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jun 15, 2010
General Motors and its joint ventures posted record sales in China during May, selling a total of 196,004 vehicles and surpassing GM’s sales in the U.S., where GM posted sales of 167,325 units. GM’s operations in China were buoyed by strong demand for the...
by Ken Zino | Jun 15, 2010
The picture is worth more than any further words can possibly add, I think. However, readers, er viewers, are encouraged to supply a caption of their own – if they can add some humor to the subject, say Wind Spill! Tagged with: auto humor | humor | ken zino |...
by Ken Zino | Jun 15, 2010
Funny thing about incremental gains in automobiles, they eventually add to something big. Last year was something big for Hyundai Motor America as it picked up more than one percentage point of U.S. market share during the worst business climate since the Great...
by Bryan Laviolette | Jun 15, 2010
It’s time for NASCAR to improve the racing at Michigan International Speedway. The speedway has seen numerous improvements over the years, mostly to better the fan experience outside the track itself, but Sunday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 illustrates...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 15, 2010
While his career spanned much of the post-World War II auto boom, former General Motors President F. James MacDonald may best be remembered for the time he served as the maker’s second-in-command, a period during which it suffered some of its sharpest declines, both...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jun 14, 2010
The United Auto Workers Union will select new leaders this week as it holds its 35th Constitutional Convention in Detroit as it struggles with a sharp decline in membership, a battered public image and fading clout at the bargaining table. “It’s a union that has a...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 14, 2010
After 15 months on the job, the “czar” overseeing White House efforts to revive communities hit by the automotive downturn is stepping down. Ed Montgomery, who previously served as a dean at the University of Maryland, has been named the new dean of public policy at...
by Ken Zino | Jun 14, 2010
BMW of North America is recalling 2008-2011 1-Series cars because the front seat belt pretensioner, if it goes off in an accident, could ignite the insulation surrounding it. BMW told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a terse filing that it would...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 14, 2010
Who needs hybrids? Though gasoline-electric powertrains certainly raise the bar when it comes to fuel efficiency, you don’t always have to go quite so high-tech, as a review of the last quarter-century’s biggest mileage misers will reveal. More than half the cars on...
