by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 21, 2013
Nissan plans to launch a new battery replacement program in 2014 that could let owners of the Leaf electric-vehicle benefit from anticipated improvements in lithium-technology that could result in smaller, lighter, longer-range – and less expensive – batteries over...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jun 21, 2013
With steady growth in North American sales pinching capacity throughout the auto industry, Toyota Motor Corp is struggling to maintain its market share and now plans to boost capacity with a $200 million investment at three key factories in the U.S. Toyota is far from...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 21, 2013
The assembly line creeps along at a glacial pace. For the next few months, the workers at the sprawling plant on the outskirts of the Sichuanese capital of Chengdu will be carefully trained before the first cars actually roll into Chinese showrooms. But eventually,...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 21, 2013
Beyond the high cost of electric-vehicle technology, perhaps the biggest turn-off for consumers has been the lengthy time needed to recharge products like the Model S. Or so goes conventional wisdom. But the maker has set out to show that recharging the sedan doesn’t...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jun 20, 2013
In another blow to battery-cars, analysts for the National Automobile Dealers Association have noted a steep drop in the value of used plug-in electric vehicles. Trade-in prices are expected to decline nearly 30% this year—the highest depreciation of any vehicle...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 20, 2013
It’s already on tape to be the most powerful “base” Corvette ever produced, and when the seventh-generation ‘Vette hits market over the summer, it will also come in as the fastest, for the first time ever breaking the 4-second mark. Well, put an asterisk in the record...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 20, 2013
Hoping to boost its appeal in the expanding crossover market, Volkswagen is weighing the opportunity of putting its two Cross Blue concept vehicles into production in both the U.S. and China, and possibly other markets around the world. The two well-received show cars...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jun 20, 2013
General Motors Co. continues to go big in China. GM and its Chinese partners broke ground this week on not one but two new assembly plants as well as a major expansion of the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center. The new assembly plants are located in Shanghai in...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 20, 2013
Honda will launch a new version of the Accord Hybrid this coming October featuring an all-new two-motor drivetrain that should deliver up to 49 miles per gallon in the city, the maker claims. The 2014 Honda Accord will be one in a wave of new hybrids utilizing the...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 19, 2013
After years lagging the imports, General Motors has surged to the top of the charts in the 2013 J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey, the most influential measure of vehicle quality during the first months off the showroom lot. The new study also reveals that, on the...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 19, 2013
We’re coming up on the centennial of the moving assembly line, the seminal event that helped put America on wheels. Today, there are more cars than licensed drivers in the U.S. – but a new study adds to growing concerns that America’s love affair with the automobile...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jun 19, 2013
While it may be a painful process, one of the real measures of whether an automaker has made it into the big leagues is when it has to recall some of its products. And while the announcement by Tesla is miniscule compared to the 2.7 million Jeeps being recalled – or...
