The Auto Blog .ru

Auto sales in California are red hot right now. The Detroit News reports that sales of new vehicles are up 17.7 percent in 2012, outpacing overall U.S. growth, which sits at a still healthy 13.3 percent. And since gas prices are still extremely high, cars accounted for a reported 62.7 percent of sales, while SUVs dropped to only 24.4 percent.

The car versus-SUV-paradigm isn’t all that surprising given the price of petrol, but what is surprising is the brand that has received the biggest sales increase on a percentage basis. The Chrysler brand (aka the 200, 300 and Town & Country) is up a whopping 222 percent through March.

That’s a shockingly big bump, but perspective comes with a glance at 2011 numbers. Last year, Chrysler sold just 2,470 vehicles in the largest car market in the U.S., compared to 7,955 sales in the first three months of this year. Chrysler has been so bad in California that in 2011 it reportedly accounted for only one percent of overall sales.

We don’t know how much of this increase is accounted for with fleet sales of the Town & Country and 200, but at the very least it’s probably safe to assume that rental car companies probably don’t make up anything close to the 222 percent increase. It seems Chrysler may have a (somewhat muted) pulse in Cali after all.

Chrysler sales explode in California, up 222%

So, we think the crew at our sister site Translogic have lost their minds. Either that or they’re trying to steal our jobs.

While nominally a show and blog about mobility, most weeks Translogic is discovering all manner of geeky automotive technology, while driving alternative-fuel vehicles powered by electricity, the sun, wood, or whatever crap they can find. This week, however, for the 100th show, they straight-up went to the track to drive supercars. At Disney World. Speedway.

Take that, greenies and transportation wonks. Everyone loves to flog roadgoing sex from Lamborghini and Ferrari, even – make that especially – Translogic host Bradley Hasemeyer.

Scroll down to watch the excitement.

Continue reading Translogic celebrates 100 episodes, goes to Disney World

Translogic celebrates 100 episodes, goes to Disney World

Continue reading 2013 Audi S7 [w/video]

2013 Audi S7 [w/video]

Scion has high sales hopes for its new rear-wheel-drive FR-S sports car. According to Ward’s Auto, Jack Hollis, Scion’s vice president, said that he anticipates sales as high as 20,000 units each year. “We’re confident we can sell every one we get our hands on,” Hollis stated.

The FR-S is slated to hit dealerships at the beginning of June and Scion projects that it will sell around 10,000 units before the end of the year, with an additional 20,000 cars finding homes in 2013. The automaker already has 1,243 pre-sale orders for the FR-S.

The nearly identical Subaru BRZ will also be sold in the United States, but parent Fuji Heavy Industries has less ambitious sales hopes. Subaru is only looking to move between 5,000 and 7,000 units annually. Hollis believes the FR-S, which is priced at $24,200 (not including $730 for destination) will sell in higher numbers largely in part to Scion’s larger network of dealers.

Scion targeting 20,000 annual FR-S sales

The latest hotted-up safety car for DTM is the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series. If we’d been in a racing accident, we’re not sure we’d trust the men who stepped out of a car that’s half steroids, half Satan, but after 12 years of providing the safety cars (along with Audi) for the German touring car series, we’ll assume Mercedes-Benz knows what it’s doing.

The most powerful C-Class ever will rush to the scene with 517 horsepower, an “aerodynamically optimised light bar” and other Christmas lights, AMG Track and Aero packages and an AMG-specific exhaust.

The safety car is more powerful than the 500-horsepower Mercedes actually racing in the series, so if it weren’t for the extra weight it’s carrying, it might even beat the other cars to the scene of the accident. You can read all about it after the jump and peep it in the high-res gallery of images.

Continue reading Mercedes C63 AMG Black Series launched as DTM safety car

Mercedes C63 AMG Black Series launched as DTM safety car

There’s a certain German sports car that the designers at CH Auto might have been dreaming about before they penned the Lithia. We don’t think this kind of inspiration is anywhere near criminal, though, and before anyone broaches the topic of Chinese design, they should know that the CH Auto’s design chief is an ex-General Motors man: Dan Darancou, who has work on the Buick Invicta Concept and the SEMA Chevrolet Camaro Black on his resume.

CH Auto helps automakers prepare cars for sale in China, from design through to engineering – part of Darancou’s brief is to make sure those two departments work together. The Lithia, showed off at the Beijing Motor Show, has probably been done as a company calling card. Powered by lithium-ion batteries, the spec sheet claims a 150-kilometer range (93 miles).

CH Auto’s Lithia EV strikes an Audi-like profile in China

Chrysler Group had nothing but good news to share this morning as it has reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2012. The headline-hogging number is that the automaker’s first quarter profit quadrupled from $116 million a year ago to $473 million this year. All that was on the back of U.S. sales that increased 39 percent year-over-year. The rise in sales also resulted in Chrysler Group increasing its market share in the U.S. from 9.2 to 11.2 percent.

With such an impressive first quarter, Chrysler is targeting an equally impressive year. Its forecast for profit in 2012 has been set at $1.5 billion, while last year it earned just $183 million.

Here are the rest of Chrysler’s first quarter financial highlights:

• Net revenue for the quarter was $16.4 billion, up 25 percent from $13.1 billion last year
• Has $1.3 billion in free cash flow, ended the quarter with $11.3 billion in cash, up from $9.9 billion last year
• Net industrial debt was reduced to $1.3 billion from $3.4 billion last year
• Worldwide vehicle shipments for the quarter were 607,000, up 25 percent from 485,000 last year
• Fleet sales were 31% of total sales, flat versus Q1 2011
• Highest Canadian market share of 15 percent, first time ever
• International sales of Chrysler Group vehicles rose 80 percent to 67k

Continue reading Chrysler Group reports quadrupled Q1 profits on U.S. sales increase

Chrysler Group reports quadrupled Q1 profits on U.S. sales increase

There has been a lot of discussion from industry analysts about who will replace Ford CEO Alan Mulally, but he’s not the only CEO of a major American automaker that will eventually need a successor.

Dan Akerson, CEO of General Motors since shortly after its emergence from bankruptcy in 2009, told Automotive News in an interview that he hopes his successor comes from within the automaker’s ranks, as opposed to bringing in an outsider. Candidates are said to include GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky, North American head Mark Reuss and global product leader Mary Barra.

Interestingly, Akerson himself was imported from a private equity firm called The Carlysle Group, and he has indeed had to learn how the auto industry operates, as he told AN:

“This is the funniest industry. Most industries people are straight up with it. Here everybody slaps everybody on the back, you just got to make sure they don’t have a knife with it.”

Despite this acknowledgement, Akerson is still not one to pull punches. GM’s CEO famously said of Ford’s luxury brand, “They are trying like hell to resurrect Lincoln. Well, I might as well tell you, you might as well sprinkle holy water. It’s over.” And he’s not backing down. “A little bit of holy water wouldn’t hurt, I won’t back off that.”

If a rumored billion-dollar investment and a slew of heavily updated models is equivalent to “holy water,” we’d say Ford must agree with Akerson’s assessment.

GM’s Akerson thinks successor should come from within; “won’t back off” criticism of Lincoln

To some residents of Midtown Manhattan, sex is a problem. Specifically, sex in cars is a problem and they’ve asked the Community Board to ban weekend parking on their streets.

The board granted the request, citing chronic drug use, double parking and rampant sex. Unfortunately, the board has no power to enforce the ban and is awaiting a review by the Department of Transportation. If passed, the NYPD will presumably get involved and start asking frisky fornicators to get a room.

Half the problem could take care of itself soon. Patrons of two nightclubs in the area are being blamed for the illegal displays of public affection, medication and parkification: The Parlour Midtown and Rebel NYC. The Parlour’s liquor license is is under review due to “several violations.”

And, by the way, if you’re wondering how to properly do the backseat mamba, check out Carma Sutra (kinda NSFW) for some helpful tips. Just stay out of Midtown.

New Yorkers want parking ban to curb… sex in cars?

There’s little doubt that commercial vehicles are almost as vital to an automaker’s sales figures as passenger vehicles are, and to that end many have dedicated commercial vehicle operations. The Fiat group’s is called Fiat Professional, and it’s just rolled out its latest offering.

Called the Punto Van, it is, as you might have guessed, a Punto hatchback, stripped down and fitted with body panels where the windows usually go. Capable of carrying 35 cubic feet and 1,150 pounds of cargo, the Punto Van is powered by a 1.3-liter MultiJet II diesel in three states of tune (75, 85 or 95 horsepower), two trim levels and three colors.

Taking the place in its line-up where the previous versions of the Grande Punto and Punto Evo sat, Fiat Professional just took the wraps off the new Punto Van at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham, England, with order books opening later this month. Scroll down for the official press release.

Continue reading Fiat Professional reveals new Punto panel wagon

Fiat Professional reveals new Punto panel wagon

Say what you will, but in this business you’re nobody until you have your own watch line. Ferrari has several, Bentley teams up with Breitling, Aston Martin partners with Jaeger-LeCoultre, Bugatti with Parmigiani Fleurier… the list goes on and on, and now includes one more: Carroll Shelby and David Yurman.

The collaboration was forged over the timepiece you see here, created to accompany the 950-horsepower Shelby 1000 unveiled at the New York Auto Show just last month. The David Yurman Limited Edition Shelby 1000 timepiece features a Swiss-made Valjoux 7753 automatic chronograph in a 43.5mm stainless steel and rubber case with tachymeter bezel and guilloche racing stripes on the galvanized steel dial.

It’s affixed to the wrist by a rubber strap with snakeskin texture, and only 300 examples will be made: 150 in bare stainless steel and 150 with a black PVD coating. It’s the first of many Shelby-branded wristwatches that the David Yurman brand will be making for Shelby, and you can check it out in high-resolution by clicking the image above and scrolling down below for the full press release.

Continue reading Shelby teams up with David Yurman for wristwatch line

Shelby teams up with David Yurman for wristwatch line

Most accidents in motorsport will immediately terminate any chance you have of winning the race. Not so when you’re nickname is “Crazy Leo.” Rally driver Leonid Urlichich demonstrates in the videos below how you can shake off an accident like a boxer recovers from a right hook.

The footage comes from the 2012 Rallye Perce-Neige held in early February where Leo and his navigator Carl Williamson were competing in the woods of Maniwaki, Quebec. Leo reportedly tapped the brakes while careening flat out down a snowy straight and his Subaru WRX STI doth protested. The car spun around backwards and slammed, rather violently, into a telephone pole. Amazingly, the damage was mostly cosmetic and the car wound up facing the right way on the track, so Crazy Leo just hit the gas and continued on to ultimately finish the rally in second place.

Scroll down to watch a trio of videos showing the accident as well as the crowd’s reaction to Leo’s recovery.

Continue reading Rally car slams into pole, continues on to finish second

Rally car slams into pole, continues on to finish second

Clearly, we weren’t the only ones who spent the better part of their childhoods building all manner of strange and wonderful Lego vehicles. We’re pretty sure we had this design knocked out back in the early 80s, but as far as we know, exactly no one has figured out how to fit easily removable tracks to a conventional vehicle in real life. We’ve seen some pretty neat track conversions, mind you, but they’ve always required a fair bit of work and the removal of a vehicle’s wheels. But not the Track N Go.

This creative solution for foul-weather-mastery comes from AD Boivin, a company better known for marketing products for powersports vehicles like motocross bikes and snowmobiles. The company says that this is the world’s first wheel-driven track system, and judging by the video available after the jump, it appears quite capable when fitted to what looks like stock GMC Sierra and Ford F-Series Super Duty 4×4 pickups blasting through the snow.

The video indicates that the system is a prototype, and it doesn’t show how easily the tracks can be secured to the vehicle’s wheels (though it does briefly show that you drive onto the tracks before locking them in place – no jacking required). AD Boivin doesn’t say if and when the Track N Go will actually come to market, let alone what sort of fitments will be available and how much the system will cost. While we’re waiting, we’ll just watch the video one more time…

Continue reading Track N Go treads dangerously close to awesome

Track N Go treads dangerously close to awesome

Have you ever bought a brand new cars only to forget where you put it? How about 300 of them? Probably not – unless you’re Miami-Dade County, which was recently reunited with 298 vehicles it bought brand new between 2006 and 2007.

The county “discovered” this fleet of no-mileage vehicles after reading about them in a Spanish-language newspaper there (see the source for more images). Most of the misplaced motorcade is made up of Toyota Prius hybrids whose warranties either expired with very few miles on the odo or will very soon.

Looking to save some face, the county has rushed at least 123 of the hybrids into service. The Toyota warranty covered the hybrid bits for eight years or 100,000 miles, but we’re not sure if that covers cars parked for five of those eight. We’re also not sure what that much time in Miami heat and humidity does to an unused hybrid powertrain, but it can’t be good.

The county, as you probably guessed, is looking into how it lost so many cars. The leading theory is that they might be part of Carlos Alvarez’s time as mayor. He was the mayor during the period the Toyotas were purchased, but a 2011 recall election successfully removed him from office. Apparently the voters “felt, among other reasons, that he had been behind multiple acts of misappropriation of funds.”

We’ve tried to contact Toyota to see what kind of warranty support these cars will get but haven’t had any luck so far. We’ll update with their response.

Hundreds of 5-year-old municipal vehicles found in Miami that were never used

Beneath the gorgeous and impossibly long looking hood of the Mazda Takeri Concept lies plenty of real estate. By our estimation there’s room for any number of powerplants, from a high-revving rotary to a twin-turbo V6. However, when Mazda launches the new 2014 Mazda6, which will ape the looks of the Takeri show car, it will only contain a measly little four-cylinder, according to Autoweek.

So that’s being a bit harsh, as despite the reported demise of a V6 engine option for the Mazda6, at least it will be getting a Skyactiv four-banger, according to the report. Skyactiv is, of course, Mazdaspeak for its suite of technologies that includes its next-generation powertrain with direct injection and a fancy new automatic transmission design, a combination we liked a great deal when we sampled it in the CX-5 crossover.

With Hyundai, Kia, and Chevrolet having dumped their V6’s in favor of an all-four-cylinder lineup for their midsize sedans, we’re not surprised to see Mazda follow course. We do, however, wonder how the beleaguered Japanese brand intends to compete when it comes to performance.

With 155 horsepower and 150 lb-ft of torque, the 2.0-liter Skyactiv four in Mazda’s new crossover isn’t particularly powerful, so we hope we might see a slightly larger displacement version with a few more ponies for the bigger sedan. Or one with forced induction. Or how about a diesel engine option? Mazda has promised a diesel for North America, though it hasn’t specified which vehicle it will arrive in. The automaker has committed to deploying a stellar 2.2-liter turbodiesel four making 173 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque for the CX-5, at least in Europe. Now that might be just the ticket to make a top-trim Mazda6 get up and go.

Next Mazda6 to go four-cylinder only

It’s been almost a fortnight, which just might be a record, since we last visited a previously unheard-of supercar-maker. Next up to keep the high-po exotic ball in play is Tushek Supercars, hailing from Slovenia (that’s here), with its quaintly archaically named Forego T700. The company just made an appearance at the Top Marques Monaco with its first car, the 444-horsepower Renovatio T500 (pictured in our gallery below) with a modular hardtop, but the T700 will push things much further.

Founder Aljosa Tushek told Autocar the T700’s targets: less than 2,200 pounds, more than 700 horsepower, up to 3.3gs for cornering. That latter number sounds like a math error would not only double the Renovatio’s number, it would triple the cornering force sustained by the Lamborghini Aventador around the Nardo test track.

The limited-to-30-units Renovatio is priced at £245,000 ($394,934 U.S.) with deliveries promised later this year. Due in 2013, you can expect the T700 to outdo the T500’s price by at least double as well, and you can expect both of them to never be sold in the U.S.

Slovenian supercar builder aims to tackle Lamborghini Aventador

Chrysler and Pure Detroit have agreed to a settlement in the legal wrangling over Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” tagline. According to The Detroit News, the automaker and T-shirt purveyor have asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuits against one another. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Chrysler had sued the entrepreneurial company in March 2011, after Pure Detroit sought to cash in on the popularity of the phrase following last year’s Super Bowl ad featuring Eminem. Chrysler has its own line of “Imported” merchandise, which it has used to fund charitable organizations. Pure Detroit counter-sued and went on selling its wares after a judge refused to grant Chrysler an injunction against the smaller company in June 2011, according to the report. Pure Detroit maintained that Chrysler’s campaign “amounts to false advertising,” said the News, because none of the vehicles (the 200, 300 and Town & Country) shown in the ads are built within Detroit proper.

The pair of legal combatants had agreed to mediation in March. Their resultant deal should preempt a trial that would have taken place in August.

Chrysler vs. Pure Detroit “Imported From Detroit” legal dustup settled

Imagine you’re a spy shooter at the Nürburgring. You’ve got your ancient Ford Scorpio parked nearby, but you’ve hoofed it up to the top of a hill in the hopes of getting the perfect angle on the track. Three heavy cameras are strung about your body like you’re a contestant in The World’s Strongest Man competition. It’s early and you are tired. And cold. The morning temperature was in the single digits Celsius, and while you’re not exactly sure what that translates to in the Fahrenheit scale, this certainly ain’t Miami.

Your job is boring. Boy racers driving all manner of would-be performance cars squeal by, inexpertly holding a line that betrays their inexperience. “Go back to your video games, kids,” you think as you nurse your cramped and sore legs. You shift your position and the wait resumes. Sport bikes zip by and the wail hurts your ears. You get up and stretch before resuming your regimen. A momentary break in the traffic causes you to do a mental rehearsal, double-checking your gear.

Then you hear it: The tires, disembodied from the roar of an engine, but creating their own telltale sound. You reach for the camera with the longest lens and barely get it up to your eye as the electric sports car whooshes towards you, followed by the loud rumble of something more internally combusted. The camera is now firing on all cylinders as you expertly track the car’s pace for the few seconds it’s in your field of vision. A Porsche enters the viewfinder and you exhale, lowering the camera and turning your back to the track.

The Audi R8 E-Tron will take just one lap of the Nürburgring that day, but you were there to capture it. It may not surface again before it goes on sale next year, but you don’t care about that. You need to hustle back to the car to download the images, so the world can see what an R8 without exhaust pipes looks like, so the fanboys can obsess about the extra cooling vents in the hood for the batteries and the blacked-out rear window.

You will e-mail the photos across the Continent, across the ocean, back home. You’ll get a few bucks deposited in your German bank for your trouble, but that won’t happen for a while yet. By then you will have taken more photos and sent more e-mails.

And drank countless lagers. It is still early, but you think of the cliche about it being noon somewhere and head off home. Nobody will be in your favorite expat bar at this time, but you think there must be at least one bottle left in your refrigerator.

Audi R8 E-Tron test mule does quick but quiet hot laps on Nürburgring

Last week, Ford announced that it would be creating the world’s first all-electric pace car in the form of the Focus Electric hatchback. Set to lap the oval at the Richmond 400 at the end of this month, the official Focus Electric NASCAR pace car was unveiled to the public at Richmond International Raceway today, showing off the battery-powered vehicle wrapped in its decidedly modest racing livery.

We recently had our first opportunity to drive Ford’s all-electric Focus and find it to be a pleasant and engaging – if inconspicuous – EV. These large decals certainly help the BEV to stand out, and we’re interested to see how the Focus Electric looks while its whirring along in front of some power-hungry NASCAR racers.

Scroll through our high-resolution image gallery above to see a few shots of the zero-emission Focus pace car, and scroll down for Ford’s original press release.

Continue reading Ford releases photos of Focus Electric NASCAR pace car

Ford releases photos of Focus Electric NASCAR pace car

The classic video game Frogger is 30 years old, and some fans of the game think it deserves a place in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s The Art of Video Games exhibition. Frogger’s age means that the public may have forgotten about the road-crossing amphibian, so Tyler DeAngelo, Renee Lee, and Ranjit Bhatnagar have pulled gameplay into the 21st century with a more immersive experience by tracking traffic along Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and using that data to generate the vehicles Frogger must dodge.

Passersby can try their luck avoiding the many taxicabs at the arcade cabinet the creators have parked on the sidewalk as a way to increase awareness of Frogger and boost their campaign to get the game into the Smithsonian. Rest assured, when real-life traffic makes the game all but impossible to play, there’s a “classic” mode that still allows players to completely escape reality, just like the good old days. Check out the video by scrolling down, and if you like what you see, you can lend your support here.

Continue reading Fifth Avenue Frogger uses real NYC traffic in classic video game action

Fifth Avenue Frogger uses real NYC traffic in classic video game action