by Paul A. Eisenstein | Aug 10, 2012
Audi was facing a big problem as it finishes development of the new R8 e-tron. The battery-electric version of its 2-seat supercar has no back window – which makes it a little useless to offer a rearview mirror, at least a conventional one. Instead, the maker is...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Aug 10, 2012
General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson is putting his money where his mouth is. During a conference call with GM staff, the executive insisted all the turmoil the maker has been through will ultimately pay off – something he said he would back up by personally...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Aug 9, 2012
“The rich are different from you and I,” or so F. Scott Fitzgerald reportedly told Ernest Hemmingway. If you don’t believe it, just check out what people are driving in some of America’s wealthiest neighborhoods. That’s what the folks at TrueCar set out to discover...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Aug 9, 2012
They are some of the oldest sports in the Olympics, dating back to the days of the ancient Greeks, but even events like the javelin, discus and hammer throws are getting a modern update with the help of British automaker Mini. Call it Mini Me, perhaps, but the BMW...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Aug 9, 2012
General Motors will make an unspecified investment into a small start-up hoping to turn a low-tech material into a high-tech solution to one of the auto industry’s most challenging problems: making safer, higher-mileage vehicles without pricing them out of the reach...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Aug 9, 2012
Hybrid vehicles have landed on the radar of a growing number of American motorists, according to a new Harris Poll. Nearly a third will consider buying one of the high-mileage vehicles and almost a quarter of those surveyed indicating they’re more interested in...
by Joseph Szczesny | Aug 9, 2012
A small backwater a decade ago, China has become the big engine of the global auto industry – but while passenger car sales posted another double-digit gain last month, the pace of the growth has been slowing noticeably this year raising big concerns for manufacturers...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Aug 8, 2012
General Motors’ controversial marketing czar Joel Ewanick was brought down by a whistle-blower who revealed that the executive was trying to hide the true cost of a deal with the British soccer team Manchester United, according to a new report. A one-time Hyundai exec...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Aug 8, 2012
Toyota expects to increase its already vast North American production network, a senior U.S. official revealed, adding niche products on top of the core vehicle lines that currently roll off an assortment of assembly lines in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The move...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Aug 8, 2012
Hyundai’s Korean assembly lines have once again been hit by a strike, the maker’s increasingly militant union failing to reach terms on a new contract. The walkout won’t shut Hyundai down entirely, employees planning to halt work for several hours at a time between...
by Joseph Szczesny | Aug 8, 2012
After scoring a hit with its latest compact sedan, the Elantra, Hyundai is aiming to broaden the nameplate’s appeal with two spin-offs, the Elantra Turbo and the even sportier Elantra GT. The maker has good reason to want to expand the line-up, considering Elantra’s...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Aug 8, 2012
Desperate for cash and struggling to restart its production lines after discovering a costly manufacturing defect, battery maker A123 has inked a tentative deal with a Chinese auto parts firm that could generate $450 million in much-needed cash. But, in the end, the...
