by Ken Zino | Jul 7, 2010
General Motors and NASA engineers continue to prepare Robonaut 2 for its planned September mission to the International Space Station aboard the space shuttle Discovery, GM said today in a statement. This new generation robot can use its hands to do work beyond the...
by Bryan Laviolette | Jul 7, 2010
In the long history of Dodge and its in-house parts division, Mopar, the two have never collaborated on a vehicle together. That changes with the introduction of the limited-edition Dodge Challenger Mopar ‘10. Dodge will build a low-volume version of the 2010...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jul 7, 2010
With no domestic competitors to worry about anymore, Chrysler has been firming up its hold on the market segment it created, more than a quarter-century ago; but increasing competition from foreign makers threatens to loosen its grip on the minivan market. In its...
by Jim McCraw | Jul 6, 2010
Elaine Bannon has a secret she’d rather not keep. Bannon is a glamorous 48-year-old mechanical engineer and MBA whose job it is to produce winners for Ford Motor Company, including the Ford Edge, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKX and Lincoln MKT – in fact, all of Ford’s...
by Ken Zino | Jul 6, 2010
Renault released this morning the first glimpse of its latest concept car, DeZir (D-zI’-er), ahead of this year’s Paris Motor Show in October. Renault has just passed Ford Motor as the third largest brand in Europe, based in part on a strategy of...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jul 6, 2010
Further cementing its hold on the long independent Porsche AG, German rival Volkswagen has appointed its top car-model strategist to run the sports car company. Matthias Mueller, 57, is the new chairman of the board of Porsche management, moving from Volkswagen AG...
by Ken Zino | Jul 6, 2010
Subaru of America is recalling 74,000 Outback and Legacy 2010 models because of defective wiring in the steering column. It is part of a larger global problem, where the Japanese initially tried to fix the issue with a service bulletin claiming it was an isolated...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jul 6, 2010
Jeep has always had a certain panache and swagger that reaches all the way back to the original off-roaders that American soldiers fell in love with during World War II. For decades, that gave the Chrysler brand a leg up over its competition, so much so that it often...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jul 6, 2010
What did they know and when did they know it? It’s the sort of question that can bring down a president – or raise some serious concerns about an already troubled automaker. Like Toyota, where a spokesman acknowledges the company knew about the problem with stalling...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jul 5, 2010
When the first Fiat-branded products begin making their return to the U.S., late this year, they’ll be sold in a separate network of showrooms, rather than sitting alongside models sold by the Italian maker’s American arm, Chrysler. It has been more than two decades...
by Ken Zino | Jul 4, 2010
The Fourth of July celebration and the three-day weekend that accompanies it this year are right in the middle of the peak driving season in the United States. It also marks our non-independence days, as the U.S. continues to import oil at a gas guzzling rate of about...
by Ken Zino | Jul 3, 2010
Toyota executives in Japan have directed the Lexus division of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, to prepare for a recall on 138,000 Lexus vehicles powered by 4.6- and 5.0-liter V8 engines and 3.5-liter V6 engines. The safety related recall will cover 2006, 2007 and 2008 GS, IS...
