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Memorial Day weekend is one of the premiere road trip holidays. According to the American Automobile Association, more than 30 million people will hit the road this weekend, averaging 642 miles each. That means, for many, crossing state lines. And nowadays, that’s more confusing than ever. Speed limits may vary, but at least those are posted. Cell phone laws, however, are much more confusing.

For example, if you were driving from Michigan to Florida, you could legally text while driving in Ohio and Florida, where there are no laws banning it. But in between, it’s illegal, as 38 states have laws against texting while driving.

There are 10 states where you couldn’t hold my phone to my ear, as these states ban drivers from using hand held devices and require hands-free cell phone use.

Younger drivers, those with learners permits or under 18, may face stricter enforcement in some states, though it’s unclear exactly how a cop can figure out someone’s age at 70 miles per hour.

Of course, some cities have their own laws, as well, banning everything from texting while driving to dancing with girls. Make sure you know those laws as well. Or, just stay home, no one really wants to go to Bomont anyway. To see exactly what your state’s laws are regarding cell phone use while driving, check out the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety listing or scroll through the maps in our gallery above.

America’s cell phone laws, state by state

The numbers haven’t been definitively crunched, but it is expected that the estimated 32,310 traffic fatalities in 2011 were the lowest on record in the 62 years that records have been kept. Yet the good news about the total number of fatalities masks regrettable news for traffic safety authorities: automobile fatalities are down, but motorcycle fatalities are up.

After a steady rise in motorcyclist death rates through the first decade of the new century, numbers fell in 2009 and the beginning of 2010. Observers hoped the trend would continue, but that didn’t happen when deaths ticked up slightly over the course of 2010 and stayed steady through 2011.

Causes are varied, from high gas prices leading more people to ride motorcycles to inadequate training for both riders and automobile drivers on how to ply the roads safely. A report breaking down the numbers also “noted that 29 percent of fatally injured riders in 2010 had a blood-alcohol concentration at or above the legal limit, and 35 percent of motorcycle riders involved in fatal crashes were speeding.” It didn’t, however, indicate how much of those numbers overlapped – how many of those riders were over the limit when they died.

Nor does it look like current developments will allay the trend in the near-term. Only 19 states require riders to wear helmets, Michigan just repealed its compulsory helmet law and five other states are considering such measures. Again, the overall number of fatalities is welcome news considering how many more people and cars there are on the roads now compared to 1949, but the takeaway for motorcyclists is that there is now more reason to be extra careful when you ride.

Motorcycle fatalities stay steady while auto deaths decline

Better Fuel Economy At Any Cost

Brands like Infiniti built their empires convincing the world that the badge on the hood shouldn’t matter nearly as much as the bones underneath, but Japan’s cadre of luxury brands isn’t the only group peddling bang for the buck these days. Manufacturers from Kia to Volkswagen now come with cabins packed with luxury amenities. Even the lowly Ford Fiesta can offer buyers high-quality leather seating and enough technology to put the subcompact into geosynchronous orbit. So why bother stepping up to the mid-level luxury league at all? What differentiates a nice car from a fine automobile beyond a little inflection and a lot of marketing?

European brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz happily prattle on about pedigree and superior engineering, but at the end of the day, a luxury machine simply has to feel special. Foodies often speak of the fifth flavor, umami. Directly translated, the word means “good taste” with an element of savoriness, and automotive luxury is built on that same intangible sensation. Perhaps better than either Acura or Lexus, Infiniti has become a master of that something special, offering its customers elegant style, well-crafted interiors, innovative technology and a superb driving experience. The 2012 Infiniti G25 looks to add superior fuel economy to that list, but can it do so without losing its luxury essence?

Continue reading 2012 Infiniti G25

2012 Infiniti G25

Could it be? Could Subaru finally be killing the Tribeca?

We’ll admit it. We’ve been waiting for this day since we first spied the 2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca. So has every other too-clever-by-half automotive journalist who slammed Subie’s range-topper when it debuted in late 2005, looking like it had been styled by whatever group-think team General Motors had canned for unleashing the Pontiac Aztek on the world. We never thought Plan B9 From Outer Space would last this long to begin with, and we wouldn’t be surprised if someone told us that Subaru has been keeping the slow-selling, three-row crossover in production just to keep the automotive journalist peanut gallery from gloating. We do love to gloat.

Of course, the report from Motor Trend is nothing more than a rumor at this stage, and Subaru’s official response is that there will be a 2013 model year Tribeca. And who knows, maybe the powers that be at Fuji Heavy Industries will shove another delightfully refreshed model year down the pipeline. Volvo’s been doing it for years.

Subaru Tribeca getting the axe?

Renault has confirmed the unveiling of an Alpine concept at this weekend’s Formula One Grand Prix de Monaco, but as we get closer there are new details alongisde new questions. Just yesterday came the leaked image of a concept called the A110-50C, heavily based on the Renault DeZir concept, that could turn out to be the thing itself or pure Photoshop fancy. French press is reporting that Renault COO Carlos Tavares has confirmed that a 400-horsepower concept will appear that “could be homologated and on the road in the future,” and it will take a lap of the Monaco course.

Another story in the French press has a picture of Sebastian Vettel sitting inside a vintage Alpine 110 racer – the car that all this hubbub is about, an example of which is pictured above. It was taken in mid-April for German GQ magazine at the Barcelona F1 circuit. Vettel and Tavares will supposedly be presenting the concept, but that report indicates the car is called the ZAR and suspects the first letter is for “zero emissions,” the second for Alpine, the third perhaps for Renault. A report in CNET France also claims the ZAR appellation for the concept, allowing that the meaning of the acronym can only be supposition for now. True, the DeZir was an all-electric concept, so either the A110-50C/ZAR has 400 electric horsepower and there isn’t any mid-mounted 3.5-liter Nissan V6, or Renault has found a way to break every single law of internal combustion… or we just don’t know what’s really in there.

We’ll should know all come Friday at 1:00 PM local time.

* UPDATE: The leaked image (inset) is the real deal. Renault has released some teaser photos and a video, and the reveal will happen on French Yahoo! Autos on Friday at 1:01 p.m. Monaco time. Scroll down to watch the teaser vid.

Continue reading Renault confirms 400-HP Alpine concept debuting on Friday *UPDATE [w/video]

Renault confirms 400-HP Alpine concept debuting on Friday *UPDATE [w/video]

Renault has confirmed the unveiling of an Alpine concept at this weekend’s Formula One Grand Prix de Monaco, but as we get closer there are new details alongisde new questions. Just yesterday came the leaked image of a concept called the A110-50C, heavily based on the Renault DeZir concept, that could turn out to be the thing itself or pure Photoshop fancy. French press is reporting that Renault COO Carlos Tavares has confirmed that a 400-horsepower concept will appear that “could be homologated and on the road in the future,” and it will take a lap of the Monaco course.

Another story in the French press has a picture of Sebastian Vettel sitting inside a vintage Alpine 110 racer – the car that all this hubbub is about, an example of which is pictured above. It was taken in mid-April for German GQ magazine at the Barcelona F1 circuit. Vettel and Tavares will supposedly be presenting the concept, but that report indicates the car is called the ZAR and suspects the first letter is for “zero emissions,” the second for Alpine, the third perhaps for Renault. A report in CNET France also claims the ZAR appellation for the concept, allowing that the meaning of the acronym can only be supposition for now. True, the DeZir was an all-electric concept, so either the A110-50C/ZAR has 400 electric horsepower and there isn’t any mid-mounted 3.5-liter Nissan V6, or Renault has found a way to break every single law of internal combustion… or we just don’t know what’s really in there.

We’ll should know all come Friday at 1:00 PM local time.

Renault confirms 400-HP Alpine concept debuting on Friday

Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile has been jettisoned from the dwindling pool of bidders for Saab after tendering an offer of $492 million for the whole kaboodle. Exact reasons weren’t given for Youngman leaving the table, but according to a report in Autoweek.nl, “Chinese bureaucracy” was partially to blame and there apparently wasn’t complete confidence in the Chinese company’s finances.

Reports say the bidding is meant to close in the next week, but we still don’t know who all the bidders are – India’s Mahindra & Mahindra, China’s Geely/Volvo and at least one as-yet-unknown entity are after the whole company or select assets. Swedish media was hinting at another bidder with electric car knowledge, not from China, to take control of Saab. And if that same Autoweek.nl story is correct, Spyker’s Victor Muller didn’t leave the premises empty-handed, as “Spyker would be the licensing agent of the Saab 9-5 and continue to be paid for its use.”

China’s Youngman bails on Saab, Mahindra still in the mix

Struggling To Find A Reason For Being

The six basic building blocks of life are sulfur, phosphorus, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen. Arrange those in any number of ways and you can get either a single-celled paramecium or Angelina Jolie. The Mini brand works much the same way. Take the same group of engines, interior bits and exterior design elements, combine them in various ways and you get everything from a three-door hatchback to a five-door crossover.

It all started with the three-door hatchback, but Mini kept reconfiguring its basic elements to create a full range of automobiles that now includes the Convertible, Clubman wagon, Countryman CUV, a new Roadster, and this little guy: the 2012 Mini Coupe, available for our test purposes with the aggressive John Cooper Works package. All members of the Mini clan, however, share the same DNA and do little to hide their lineage.

Truth be told, just the idea of the Mini Coupe has few fans around the Autoblog offices. What point is there to a Mini that’s smaller, heavier and more expensive than the standard hatchback? It seems to some that the Coupe exists just because it’s an easy and obvious way to configure those basic Mini building blocks. But just because one can build something doesn’t always mean one should. There’s got to be a reason.

Does the Mini Coupe have a reason for being? Or is its existence owed simply to the fact that it could be made, so it was?

Continue reading 2012 Mini John Cooper Works Coupe

2012 Mini John Cooper Works Coupe

During a meeting of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Toyota president Akio Toyoda offered a “Chapeau!” to his fellow CEOs by listing his favorite cars from other makers. He listed just one vehicle from five makers represented on the board, in alphabetical order: the Honda NSX, Isuzu Bellett, Mazda Cosmo, Mitsubishi Pajero (our Montero) and Nissan Skyline.

Toyoda didn’t give his reasons for choosing these car beyond each being “memorable.” Even so, going through the list any car enthusiast knows the Honda (Acura in the States) NSX needs no introduction nor explanation. The Mitsubishi Pajero is probably as well known for it’s off-road excellence as it is for its name change in Spanish-speaking lands due to the word “pajero” – all the more intriguing when it’s apparently named after an Argentine cat, Leopardus pajeros. And although the “Skyline” moniker was made famous overseas by the GT-R, the Nissan Skyline that Toyoda references has a long history and is our Infiniti G.

The Mazda Cosmo (pictured) was an Italian-esque little coupe produced from 1967 to 1995, the first series production vehicle with a two-rotor rotary engine. The Isuzu Bellett was that firm’s in-house replacement for the English Hillmans it was rebranding, the first Japanese car to get GT badging (it would also get a GT-R version), and it would cover just about every segment with sedan, coupe, station wagon and pickup truck variants.

Toyota CEO lists favorite cars from other automakers

Automobile Magazine scribe Jason Cammisa was sent into the desert to referee four carbon-fiber-bodied wild animals fighting it out over the quarter mile: the V8 McLaren MP4-12C, the V10 Lexus LFA, the V12 Lamborghini Aventador and the W16 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. It’s a tough job, innit?

The Head 2 Head race was run elimination style, with the winner of each two-up challenge facing the next devil up the totem pole. Although you might not have any doubts about the eventual victor, how each of these supercars fared is good watching. See all the screaming for yourself in the video below.

Continue reading Bugatti Veyron, Lexus LFA, McLaren MP4-12C and Lambo Aventador in 1/4-mile shootout… who wins?

Bugatti Veyron, Lexus LFA, McLaren MP4-12C and Lambo Aventador in 1/4-mile shootout… who wins?

A month ago, Jaguar Land Rover signed a joint-venture agreement with China’s Chery Automobile Company. JLR’s 12.1 billion yuan ($1.9 billion U.S.) investment, if approved, will pay for a plant in Changsu to build Jaguars, Land Rovers, engines and joint-venture models. The facility will also house a research and development center. Chery has submitted the paperwork to clear the deal with the Chinese government. The agreement must pass muster with the Ministry of Enviroment Protection, after which it will go to the National Development and Reform Commission.

When the agreement was first inked an Indian analyst said, “it will be some time before we see the results,” a nod to the fact that government approvals can take a long time. Subaru is an instructive example, having signed an agreement with Chery a year ago. Sources said the deal was ready to be approved last November, but that was the last that has been heard of it – it’s still waiting on the necessary signatures.

But JLR has the long view in mind: it sold 38,890 vehicles in China last year – all imported – a figure representing double-digit sales gains for both brands. The proposed factory will have a capacity of 130,000 units, providing a healthy buffer in case the bureaucracy sits on things.

Chery requests Chinese approval of $1.9B joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover

When we asked Volkswagen last year why it was building a factory in the U.S., after having missed the irrationally volcanic era of car sales, we were told that even a 12-million-per-annum market was still too big to ignore. A report in Reuters paints Ford’s situation in China somewhat the same way: Ford is only now attacking the Chinese market, building plants and increasing local capacity there, after numerous other players have established their positions.

Nevertheless, there’s still much to play for. Whereas our market is expected to hang around in the 12- to 15-million-unit range, China’s market is predicted to hit 30 million cars per year by 2020. Said one analyst, “People are saying the Asia Pacific auto industry by 2020 is half the world’s industry.” A little piece of China’s colossal market will, anywhere else, still be considered a pretty big piece of pie.

After years of false starts and missteps in The Middle Kingdom, Ford sells six cars in China now, but they weren’t developed for the Chinese market and haven’t taken off with buyers there. Over the next three years Ford intends to introduce 15 more cars, many of them SUVs, and 20 engines to the Chinese market that can make better impressions on the locals.

That won’t put it anywhere close to market leaders General Motors – which already sells 35 cars there and is lining up 60 more models, and has the preeminient Buick brand – or Volkswagen. But even the 3.1 percent share that one analyst predicted was in Ford’s reach by 2020, up from 2.8 percent now, will be enough to turn Ford’s currently desultory Chinese-market profits into something like a $700-million spigot once its production and offerings are stabilized.

Ford is investing $600 million and $760 million in two projects with its JV partner Changan Ford Mazda Automobile to expand capacity to 1.5 million autos per year. At the moment, The Blue Oval has no plans to take Lincoln across the Pacific.

Ford finally takes serious aim at the Chinese market

If we had a dollar for every time we read a headline that said, “[insert automaker here] considering a diesel for U.S. market,” we’d have a pretty sizable stack of Washingtons. So why, then, is this story of particular interest?

After the website Efficient Automobile wrote about the possibility of Kia offering a diesel-powered Optima here in the United States, the automaker took things a step further, addressing this on its Facebook page. Kia’s North American public relations team asks its loyal followers, “Would you drive a diesel?” And from what we can tell after a quick scan of the comments, there yeses certainly seem to outweigh the nos.

In Europe, the Optima is available with a 1.7-liter turbo-diesel four, good for 134 horsepower and 239 pound-feet of torque. The decidedly vague story from Efficient Automobile also states that the diesel Optima shares many of the visual upgrades that we have on the U.S.-spec Optima Hybrid, including a lowered ride height and special wheels.

It’s worth mentioning that Kia’s North American PR Facebook account is largely geared towards the U.S. media, and we have yet to meet a single member of the automotive press who wouldn’t drive a diesel. But since Kia PR does not restrict its Facebook page, perhaps this is a small way for the automaker to gauge customer interest about the possibility of offering a diesel-powered car here in the United States. And to answer the question at hand, yes, Kia, we would.

Is Kia considering a diesel for the U.S.?

When McLaren was bringing its new MP4-12C to the United States, there were fears that Americans wouldn’t recognize the name. After all, the team from Woking is known principally for competing in Formula One, which has had a spotty presence in the U.S. at best. Those fears proved to be misplaced, as customers in the States have been snatching up all the McLaren supercars they can get their hands on. And part of that might come down to the days when McLaren didn’t only race in America, it dominated.

The bulk of McLaren’s victories on this side of the Atlantic were notched up in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, a radical form of sports-prototype racing campaigned in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, which Bruce and company won five times in a row. But Can-Am wasn’t the extent of McLaren’s success in America.

In 1970, the team entered into the Indianapolis 500 with its own car design. The following year, McLaren came back with a radically different design that scored pole position and finished the race in second place. And the year after that, the legendary Mark Donohue piloted his McLaren M16B fielded by the Sonoco-Penske team – complete with its Offenhauser four-cylinder turbo engine producing upwards of 700 horsepower – to the checkered flag.

Not only did McLaren win at Indy that year, but it also won races in Formula 1, Formula 2 and Can-Am, entering the history books as a force to be reckoned with. It would go on to win at Indy twice more in 1974 and 1976, and became the first car to exceed 200 miles per hour on the famed oval in 1977.

Now forty years later, McLaren is celebrating the first of its Indy by showcasing the #66 Sunoco-Penske car at the second annual Celebration of Automobiles in the speedway’s infield. There it will be displayed alongside the current MP4-12C to showcase just how far the company has come since then. You can check out the historic high-resolution images in the gallery and the details in the press release below for more info.

Continue reading McLaren celebrates 40th anniversary of Indy win

McLaren celebrates 40th anniversary of Indy win

If you thought Mercedes-Benz has expanded its range of luxury automobiles to gargantuan proportions, well… you’re right. But its commercial vehicles division hasn’t been missing a step, either. The German truckmaker is still in the process of launching the new Citan urban delivery van, and is already working on its next offering to the truckers of the world: the Antos.

Designed from the get-go as a short-radius distribution truck, the Antos pioneers a new class of maneuverable and versatile workhorse. Still in the development phase, the Antos will be revealed in full at the Commercial Vehicle IAA this coming September, at which point it will be made available in a staggering array of configurations. Mercedes-Benz plans to offer the Antos in two cab styles, with no fewer than thirteen powertrain options (ranging from 238 horsepower up to 510) and a whopping 67 wheelbase lengths to make it almost infinitely adaptable to whatever use its owners and operators have in mind.

The possibilities with a truck like this are virtually endless, extending to refrigerator boxes, flat beds, high cubes and beyond. Scroll down below to read more about it in the full press release.

Continue reading Mercedes-Benz launching new Antos short-radius distribution truck

Mercedes-Benz launching new Antos short-radius distribution truck

Running a high-end automobile manufacturer like Bentley or Bugatti has got to be a dream job for most any business executive. And Wolfgang Dürheimer gets to run them both – but not for much longer, according to the latest reports coming in from trade publication Automotive News Europe.

According to ANE, the former Porsche development chief is set to move to Audi in a broad management restructure aimed at reducing the average age of Ingolstadt’s seven-member management board. In his new capacity, Dürheimer (53) is tipped to replace Audi’s current development chief, Michael Dick (60), who is expected to retire later this year.

Along with Dürheimer, Volkswagen marketing director Luca de Meo (44, formerly of Fiat) is expected to replace Audi sales chief Peter Schwartzenbauer (60), while Volkswagen purchasing manager Bernd Martens replaces his Audi counterpart Ulf Berkenhagen, who will take up the same role at the group’s commercial vehicles division. Audi production chief Frank Dreves is also expected to leave his post, though no replacement was named in the report.

Of course with any game of musical chairs – or “Reise nach Jerusalem” as they call it in German for some reason – replacements will need to be found for the positions being left vacant. We’ll be watching who is named head of Bentley and Bugatti, both roles that Dürheimer assumed from Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen (pictured above at right), who last we heard was still in the group organizing its classic vehicles division.

Bentley/Bugatti chief Durheimer moving to Audi in management shake-up

Now that the title of world’s largest maker has become a clear and eager battle, we can expect more regular updates on the progress of the combatants. Bloomberg reports that Toyota snagged the #1 crown in Q1, taking it away from General Motors with 2.49 million units sold across its five brands compared to 2.28 million for GM. Volkswagen was just another tenth down at 2.19 million units sold.

What all three might appreciate even more than the crown – except for VW, who is monomaniacal about the No. 1 tag – is that sales volumes and profitability are up, at least in America. Toyota’s sales rebound from the catastrophes of last year (and indeed, the last few years) is being underlined by its performance here, where the Prius Plug-In is the third-best seller against a background of the nation’s best car sales market in five years. Even with double its usual fleet sales in Q1, Toyota expects this financial year’s profits to double.

The year isn’t over yet and it remains close, but for now it looks like there’ll be good news for everyone. Well, until 2016, when Volkswagen is predicted to vanquish all challengers at the top of the podium, two years ahead of its own ridiculously ambitious schedule.

Toyota takes title of World’s Largest Automaker… again, for now

Autoblog reader Ed sent us this screen shot from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, showing that General Motors has apparently trademarked the name Riviera for use on automobiles. It’s no secret that the Riviera name resonates well with anyone familiar with Buick’s history, and since the production coupe’s death in 1999, the name Riviera has only been resurrected once for the 2007 concept car you see here.

So, why is GM registering the Riviera name again? Your guess is as good as ours. As GM Inside News points out, it could be nothing – automakers will, from time to time, trademark a host of words or alphanumeric sequences (Ford, for example, has trademarked everything from MKA to MKZ for potential Lincoln use). But then again, this isn’t the first (or second, or third) time that we’ve heard rumors about Buick potentially adding a coupe to its lineup, and the Riviera name would certainly be appropriate.

GM trademarks Riviera name

Ford is crying foul over Japan’s desire to join a proposed free trade agreement among Asia-Pacific countries. The Trans-Pacific Partnership aims to reduce regulatory hurdles among its participants, but Steve Beigun, Ford vice president for international government affairs, claims the Japanese auto market is “the most protected automotive market in the developed world,” and that the industry is unnecessarily dependent on exports to survive. Beigun’s solution? Force the Japanese auto industry to restructure before allowing Japan in on the TPP. In industry speak, that means closing down factories.

That’s an odd claim given that Japan can’t possibly have a lower tariff on imported cars: zero percent. For comparison’s sake, importers looking to bring vehicles into the U.S. face a 2.5 percent tariff. But Beigun says Japan uses non-tariff barriers and currency manipulation to discourage imports. Beigun declined to elaborate on what those “non-tariff barriers” are. William Duncan, the director of the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association, has been quoted as saying Beigun’s assertions are “rather bizarre.”

If Japan is guilty of currency manipulation, it’s doing a poor job. The yen is currently at a near all-time high against the U.S. dollar, and Japanese manufacturers have steadily worked to move production out of their home country over the past two decades. All told, 70 percent of the machines Japanese automakers sell in the U.S. are built on American soil. So, why is Ford up in arms over Japan? It could be the manufacturer wants to put the country, and its manufacturers at a disadvantage in the markets covered by the TPP.

Ford says Japan should reduce size of auto industry before trade talk participation

Automobile’s Georg Kacher goes deep into the Volkswagen product plan, looking at the 32 models that the group’s ten brands will roll out over the next five years. These vehicles are expected to drive VW to the top of the mountain in 2018, where the flag for World’s Largest Automaker awaits.

The armada is based on three platforms: MQB for transverse FWD/AWD cars like the VW Golf, MLB for the longitudinal FWD/AWD cars in Audi’s stable, and MSB for AWD/RWD front-, rear- and mid-engined cars like the Porsche 960.

Said to be due in 2015, the 960 is the supercar discussed last year as a bridge model between the 911 and 918, but Kacher has it listed with the MSB-M platform cars like the Porsche Boxster/Cayman and Lamborghini Aventador, not the front-engined MSB-F or rear-engined MSB-H cars. Yet the 960 is said to be a Ferrari-fighting “four-door coupe” powered by a twin-turbo flat-six. We’ll wait for clarification on the number of doors, since in September of last year, Kacher’s scoop for Car posited the 960 as a mid-engined coupe priced “on the creepy side of €200,000.”

Other intriguing notes from the plan: for VW, a CC coupe is planned for 2016, the Passat might get a coupe variant, the second-generation Scirocco “has the potential” for U.S. sales and the Eos will be replaced; Audi is desgining an even edgier third-generation TT, the A4 will experiment with e-quattro, and the next-generation A6 will break the same-sausage, different-lengths design mold.

Porsche 960 to be a Ferrari-fighting four-door coupe