by Bryan Laviolette | May 17, 2012
Fuel economy requirements are about to increase and carmakers are going to be scrambling to find ways to squeeze more miles out of a gallon of gas. And to do it, automakers are going to count on the electric motor and battery to help. General Motors is reintroducing...
by Bryan Laviolette | May 9, 2012
For decades, Volkswagens were the car you bought if you wanted something just a bit different than the Camrys, Accords and Malibus. If you lust after a more expensive German sedan, but you’re spending Chevrolet money. For a long time, it worked well enough. The...
by Bryan Laviolette | May 3, 2012
ST. LOUIS – Someday, the high-energy teenagers competing at the FIRST Robotics World Championship may be the ones designing some future successor to this Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon. In fact, General Motors is counting on it. That’s why the automaker sponsors 74 teams in...
by Bryan Laviolette | Apr 25, 2012
There’s two ways to tell the story of the Fiat 500. Story no. 1: It seemed like a relatively simple trip. Two people, two duffel bags, one box of Easter flowers, a computer bag, one dog. But crammed inside the Fiat 500, no one was happy about the space allotted to...
by Bryan Laviolette | Apr 25, 2012
Two U.S. senators are asking the Obama administration to explain the process it used to approve a $529 million loan to Fisker Automotive, which has suspended work on an electric car it planned to build in the U.S. Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Judiciary...
by Bryan Laviolette | Apr 17, 2012
What exactly is luxury? Is it fast? How about big? Does it have exquisite design? Can it possibly be described as compact? Whatever you think constitutes luxury, Buick hopes one attribute you start to associate with luxury is small. With fuel prices, as well as fuel...
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 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 Bryan Laviolette | Apr 6, 2012
In 2008 when the Detroit Lions were hitting rock bottom, there was little point in talking about Xs and Os because the team was so horrid as to be utterly noncompetitive. It wasn’t so much a football team as just a collection of players brought together by one of the...
by Bryan Laviolette | Apr 2, 2012
While BMW’s X1 has been available around the world for several years, the smallest BMW sport ute has not been sold in the U.S. That will change for 2013 and BMW will show a facelifted version of the X1 at the New York auto show, according to the automaker. At...
by Bryan Laviolette | Apr 2, 2012
Mini fans have become accustomed to the brand introducing new takes on the classic Mini theme. But now, the automaker plans to give motorists a vehicle that they can use on the 70 percent of the planet that its regular cars can’t access. The automaker is...
by Bryan Laviolette | Mar 29, 2012
The traditional – and expensive – in-car navigation system is about to move one step closer to extinction. Chevrolet will introduce GogoLink, a navigation system that connects with the owner’s smartphone and displays maps and directions on a car’s...
