by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 5, 2011
By the end of this month, about 69,000 General Motors customers will use OnStar to get into their locked cars, 10,000 will use the service to call for police or an ambulance, and as many as 3 million will use OnStar to map out a route. Yet despite the fact that the GM...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jan 4, 2011
Car sales finished 2010 on a high note with virtually every manufacturer posting sales increases, and with the seasonally adjusted annual rate of car sales, or SAAR, coming in at a year-high 13.3 million. The unofficial sales tally for 2010 was over 11.5 million...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 4, 2011
Already facing a raft of lawsuits stemming out of its problems with runaway vehicles, Toyota has now been sued by seven insurance companies. The insurers, which include such major names as Fireman’s Fund and Ameriprise, want to recover money they’ve had to pay out to...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 4, 2011
Nearly three years after it made its striking debut in concept form, Hyundai is offering up this new teaser shot of the 2012 production version of its Veloster concept vehicle. Due for a formal debut at next week’s North American International Auto Show, the Veloster...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jan 4, 2011
General Motors and Ford Motor Co. both reported strong sales numbers for December – leading both domestic makers to forecast the pace of the ongoing recovery will continue picking up in 2011. Ford reports its sales surged 6.7% for December, while GM nudged into...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 4, 2011
It has frequently been hailed as one of the most significant new technologies to show up inside an automobile, but Ford Motor Co.’s new touch-screen MyFordTouch and MyLincolnTouch systems are taking fire from the influential Consumer Reports magazine. The non-profit...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jan 4, 2011
Disgruntled auto workers are planning to demonstrate outside the North American International Auto Show again this year just as United Auto Workers President Bob King is scheduled to launch a charm offensive the union’s top brass hope will coax workers from non-union...
by Marty Bernstein | Jan 4, 2011
The last strains of Auld Lang Syne have faded until next December 31st but the annual bacchanal of Car of the Year, or COTY, corporate ego/hype awards culminates next week at the Detroit Auto Show with the selection of the car and truck of the year, as determined by a...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 3, 2011
Conventional wisdom would have it that Chrysler is in a holding pattern this year, awaiting some of the big new product launches promised as part of its new affiliation with Italy’s Fiat. But, yet again, conventional wisdom would be wrong. True, some of the most...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 3, 2011
Hoping to get potential buyers to plug into the upcoming launch of its new Focus Electric, Ford is offering this little tease of its new battery car, which first popped up on its Facebook site. The Focus Electric will actually be the second battery-electric vehicle,...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 3, 2011
While most of us were waving goodbye to 2010, over the weekend, Ford Motor Co. was raising a toast and saying farewell to the Mercury division. The long-struggling brand has been slowing phasing itself out following the decision to take Mercury off life support, last...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 3, 2011
Fiat may take a majority stake in its U.S. ally, Chrysler Group LLC, said Sergio Marchionne, who serves as chief executive of both the Italian maker and its American partner. The move could come even before the planned Chrysler IPO, which is expected to take place...
