by Bryan Laviolette | Apr 12, 2012
As automakers get better at making electrified cars, the line is going to start to blur between hybrids, extended-range electric vehicles and electric cars. Take this Kia Optima Hybrid. The early hybrids could hardly attain or maintain any speed with the gas engine...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 11, 2012
This is the latest update of TheDetroitBureau.com’s initial report, posted at 5:30 PM EDT. An explosion at a battery vehicle research lab at the General Motors Technical Center resulted in six injuries, including one hospitalization. The lab was evacuated and...
by Joseph Szczesny | Apr 11, 2012
Slowing car sales have not bothered General Motors and its joint ventures in China – which now appear on track to set another all-time record for 2012. GM reported it sold 257,944 vehicles in March in China and 745,152 vehicles during the first quarter of 2012,...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 11, 2012
It may be difficult to celebrate when you’re paying $3.92 a gallon for gas but the good news is that’s a penny cheaper than where the national average for a gallon of regular stood last week, according to the AAA. Indeed, while there are still plenty of pessimists...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 11, 2012
Before fretting over the check you might have to write Uncle Sam in the coming days consider the hefty tax payout the auto industry makes each year – about $135 billion annually, according to a new study by the Center for Automotive Research. In fact, the industry...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 11, 2012
It wasn’t all that many years ago when we began seeing significant news emerging from the Beijing Motor Show. Of course, it wasn’t all that long ago that China emerged from being an automotive backwater to being the world’s biggest car market. And this year is likely...
by Bryan Laviolette | Apr 11, 2012
So just how serious is Mini about the Yachtsman amphibian? As is it’s tradition, the automaker sent out an April Fools Day press release, this time featuring a supposedly amphibious Mini. Sporting a massive bow extension and an air intake that makes the car look...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 10, 2012
Remember “sticker shock”? After several years of heavily discounting their products in a desperate bid to keep assembly lines rolling, automakers are finding themselves back in the driver’s seat once again – pushing prices to record levels. And it’s “not a blip,”...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 10, 2012
This story was revised to correct details about the wireless charging system used in the Dart and by other manufacturers. If you’ve ever tried to charge up your iPhone or MP3 player only to discover the wire is missing, Dodge has a neat solution it plans to introduce...
by Joseph Szczesny | Apr 10, 2012
With two automakers – among the state’s largest employers — adding their weight to rising pressure on Alabama lawmakers, the state is ready to revise a controversial crackdown on illegal immigrants. The law, which has inadvertently nabbed several foreign...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 10, 2012
Both Ford and Nissan are abandoning major hybrid-electric vehicles that might seem perfectly suited for a time when fuel prices are rapidly approaching record levels and consumers are looking for higher-mileage alternatives. Nissan will no longer offer a hybrid Altima...
by Joseph Szczesny | Apr 10, 2012
The fuel economy of the average new vehicle sold in the United States has topped 24 miles per gallon for the first time ever, according to researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. Using the numbers shown in the “Munroney” window...
