by Joseph Szczesny | Nov 25, 2013
U.S. new car sales are expected to continue their upward trend for November, though preliminary figures suggest some makers could slide into the negative column as the rate of the industry’s recovery seems to be slowing from the torrid pace earlier this year. New...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Nov 25, 2013
American motorists have long lived by the mantra, “bigger is better.” And that’s been fine for automakers, as well, as they’ve traditionally tied prices – and profit margins – to the size of the vehicles they’ve sold. But with the steady run-up in fuel prices,...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Nov 25, 2013
With three different automakers announcing production plans for new fuel-cell vehicles at the L.A. Auto Show, hydrogen power is back in the headlines. But even with Honda’s global autos chief Tetsuo Iwamura calling the technology the “ultimate” solution in the search...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Nov 22, 2013
“A sale isn’t always a sale,” or so says John Mendel, the top American executive at Honda, which has long steered clear of the daily rental and other fleet sales that prop up many of its competitors’ sales charts. Honda has traditionally focused its marketing efforts...
by Joseph Szczesny | Nov 22, 2013
After seeing its sales surge this year, Mazda is looking forward to another sold year of growth in 2014 by adding diesel power to its product line for the first time. The diesel-powered Mazda6 will join the maker’s lineup next spring, which is later than many...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Nov 22, 2013
With a goal of becoming the world’s largest automaker in mind, Volkswagen AG plans to invest $114 billion to upgrade factories and roll out an array of new vehicles for its more than a dozen different brands. The maker, currently third in global sales behind Japan’s...
by Michael Strong | Nov 22, 2013
Nearly 100,000 Kia Sedona minivans are being recalled to fix problems related to corrosion in cold weather climates in the United States and Canada. The recall affects Sedona minivans from 2006 through 2012 sold or registered in Canada and in 20 U.S. states and...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Nov 22, 2013
Mini rolled into the L.A. Auto Show this week with an all-new version of its popular Hardtop model, but equally big news was the debut of two all-new engines. And while the new Mini is getting a little more maxi – its overall length stretched by 4.5 inches – the...
by Joseph Szczesny | Nov 22, 2013
There are plenty of folks who climb the wall when they watch Ron Burgundy, the character played by comic Will Ferrell. But for the folks at Chrysler, the inept anchorman has become something of a hero – a big hero. Originally brought to life in the 2004 film,...
by Michael Strong | Nov 21, 2013
Toyota is the latest automaker this week to jump headlong into the hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle market with its plan to begin selling its FCV in Japan in 2015 with the United States and Europe to follow. The Japanese maker’s announcement follows similar...
by Joseph Szczesny | Nov 21, 2013
Even though there are only 40 days left on the calendar in 2013, Volkswagen of America (VOA) expects to have the final decision on whether to build the Cross Blue mid-sized utility vehicle by the end of the year the top VOA executive told reporters during a roundtable...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Nov 21, 2013
What’s clear is that the federal government has opened an investigation into the three fires involving Tesla vehicles – and the potential that the Model S battery-electric vehicle suffers from a significant safety design defect. What’s less clear is how that probe got...
