Report: Geely announces $11 billion investment in Volvo

Li Shufu and Stefan Jacoby of Volvo Volvo is poised to rapidly inflate its presence in China, and it believes the way forward is through an $11 billion spending plan. “We want to revive Volvo and give the brand its strength back,” says Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Automobile Holdings. Speaking with German magazine Wirtschafts Woche, Shufu disclosed that Geely will put up $11 billion for a new engine factory, increased research and development and technology upgrades. However, Volvo’s Per-Ake Froberg tells Reuters that Volvo itself will be providing the funds through borrowing and other means.

No matter where the funding comes from, the investment is meant to aggressively drive the Volvo brand in the Chinese market, where the Swedish brand sold about 50,000 cars last year. Geely wants Volvo to account for 20 percent of the premium car market in just three years(!) with a target of 200,000 vehicles for 2014. It’s all part of an ambitious plan to double Volvo sales over the next ten years, and for its stewardship, Geely will get a new premium brand for China that uses Volvo tech and engineering. In addition, the two brands will be combining their purchasing power to get better deals from suppliers and small engine and electric vehicle development will also be shared between Volvo and Geely.

As the last Swedish brand standing, it’s heartening to see that Geely has designs on increasing Volvo’s sales. Here’s hoping the recently voracious appetite for cars in the Chinese market doesn’t shortchange American buyers looking for Nordic iron.

Geely announces $11 billion investment in Volvo

    



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    Spy Shots: Next-gen Infiniti G mule spotted testing in Sweden

    Infiniti G Mule Spy Shots - front three-quarter mule photo

    We already had reason to believe that the next generation of the Infiniti G is poised to add a few new variants, including a diesel model, thanks to recent Nissan trademark filings. But now our spy shooters have caught some Infiniti development mules out in the wild, cars they say sounded like diesels.

    There’s not too much that can be seen in these photos, as the mule uses a modified current-gen body. But the car definitely looks like it has a wider track, which could point to the next G being a bit larger (or at least meaning it’s not going to shrink). We can also see two extra air intakes in the front bumper, just under the grille.

    The photographers tell us that the cars were snapped near a Mercedes-Benz test facility in Northern Sweden, leading us to assume that a diesel G is likely to be powered by an engine developed out of the Daimler-Renault-Nissan partnership that was announced two years ago.

    Check out all the high-res spy shots in our gallery.

    Next-gen Infiniti G mule spotted testing in Sweden

        



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      Lego world’s largest tire manufacturer, celebrates 50th anniversary of its wheel

      lego tires

      In a tire manufacturing landscape thick with companies that are over a century old, the world’s biggest tire maker is a relative upstart with just fifty years under its belt. The Lego Group, yes, Lego, makes more rolling stock than anyone, molding 381 million wheels each year, with sizes as small as a half inch and going up to 4.2 inches in diameter.

      It turns out tires are an integral part of the Lego success story. Lego had been producing kits for more than a decade before the 1962 debut of set #400. That kit included the first version of the now-familiar Lego tire and quickly became a best-seller, accounting for 820,400 sales all on its own in 1967. Before the Lego wheel arrived on the scene and kicked off its revolution, cars in the Lego realm were pre-molded affairs, and some clever children created 8-bit-looking wheels with the Lego bricks themselves.

      With such a long history of building beloved toys, you’d think Lego would tie up with a manufacturer of car tires and put the Lego brand on tires we can put on our daily drivers. Make ours Z-Rated, please.

      Lego world’s largest tire manufacturer, celebrates 50th anniversary of its wheel

          



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        Official: Tesla Model S "almost ready"

        2013 Tesla Model S - front three-quarter studio shot

        Tesla Motors
        is close to rolling out the first Model S electric five-doors from the company’s Fremont, California plant, and customers who reserved the Model S Signature Series are already sending in their specification requests, indicating that the company will likely hit its July deadline for first deliveries.

        Tesla has also added three colors – Piano Black, Lacewood and Banana Leaf – to its interior options and Internet connectivity will be an option on all cars, the company said in a letter to prospective customers that was posted on its blog last week. Tesla also said it would personally deliver the cars to the location of the customer’s choice.

        The Model S, the second model from Tesla after the Roadster, will be priced starting at $57,400 for a version with a 160-mile single-charge range before the $7,500 tax credit goes into effect. A 300-mile-range version goes for about $77,000. Read here for Autoblog’s “First Ride” impressions.

        Earlier this year, Tesla said 2012 sales may triple last year’s revenue of $204.2 million and forecast Model S sales at 5,000 units for this year. That’s more than double the 2,100 of the $109,000 Roadsters that Tesla sold over the past four years.

        Tesla Model S “almost ready”

            



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          Video: Watch a bus driver block escape of hit-and-run driver

          bus driver blocks hit and run

          There has been plenty of debate about whether bicyclists should be able to take up a lane typically reserved for motor vehicles. While that argument is far from settled, we can all agree that hit-and-run accidents between cars and bikes have got to stop.

          At least one bus driver seems to agree with that statement, as evidenced by the action displayed in this video posted by the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania police department. The driver in question, a minor, faces multiple charges.

          After seeing the bicyclist get hit, a quick-thinking bus driver can be seen blocking both traffic lanes, leaving the hit-and-run driver with nowhere to go. Well done. Hit the jump to watch the traffic camera footage.

          Continue reading Watch a bus driver block escape of hit-and-run driver

          Watch a bus driver block escape of hit-and-run driver

              



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            Report: GM’s Ewanick mulls turning Chevy ad campaign into sitcom

            Chevrolet

            If you haven’t noticed, NBC’s The Office has really jumped the shark since Steve Carrell left the show at the end of last season. Or maybe the beginning of the end was Pam and Jim’s wedding during the sixth season. Regardless, the point is that the show is no longer very funny or edgy, nor does it ever make the audience uncomfortable in the way the brilliant original BBC version did. Rather, as the main characters in the American version of the show have become caricatures, The Office has grown predictable and formulaic.

            And this is why Chevrolet can launch an ad campaign like its “Under The Blue Arch” series. Despite the brief, 30-second running times of the ads, the characters are instantly recognizable and the “plots” are easy to follow. Although the scenes set in a Chevy dealership play with the tropes created by the Emmy Award-winning series, they do so to little comic effect. Because comedy isn’t the point – these are ads, after all, full of ham-handed product information and designed to sell cars.

            If anyone should understand that it’s Joel Ewanick, General Motors’ Chief Marketing Officer. Yet he told Automotive News at the New York Auto Show that GM has “talked about turning this into an actual show because we’ve got so much material.”

            Well, that Chevy product line isn’t nearly the joke it once was, but if you say so…

            Let’s just chalk this one up to Ewanick being a bit starstruck. “Under The Blue Arch” was created by Randall Einhorn, one of the directors of The Office, and it “stars” Wayne Wilderson, who appeared on the NBC show in 2006.

            Click past the jump, where you can watch a few of the ads.

            Continue reading GM’s Ewanick mulls turning Chevy ad campaign into sitcom

            GM’s Ewanick mulls turning Chevy ad campaign into sitcom

                



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              First Viper to be auctioned off for pediatric cancer charity

              2013 SRT Viper

              Cancer sucks. And pediatric cancer sucks the worst. Without hesitation, we would trade all the exotic cars in the world for a cure.

              But you know what doesn’t suck? The new Viper. So it’s pretty cool that Chrysler will auction off the first one to benefit the Austin Hatcher Foundation For Pediatric Cancer. The organization, based in Chattanooga, TN, is an official charity of the American Le Mans Series, which is presumably why it was picked. At the Viper reveal at New York, Chrysler also announced it would resume racing in the series.

              So the first 2013 SRT Viper will cross the stage at Barrett-Jackson Orange County, which goes down June 22-24. It’ll be interesting to see what it brings in, considering the first 2013 Chevrolet Corvette 427 convertible’s $600,000 hammer price earlier this year at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale.

              And if you aren’t deep-pocketed enough to get in on the Viper hunt, helping out the Hatcher Foundation doesn’t require bidding – you can make a donation at the organization’s website.

              Click past the jump for the full press release.

              Continue reading First Viper to be auctioned off for pediatric cancer charity

              First Viper to be auctioned off for pediatric cancer charity

                  



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                Exclusive: Five Questions with Ralph Gilles about the 2013 SRT Viper

                f02b1 040412wilssensnyiassrthr0111 opt Exclusive: Five Questions with Ralph Gilles about the 2013 SRT Viper

                The 2013 SRT Viper stole the New York Auto Show this week with its 640-horsepower 8.4-liter V10 and the promise of even better tire-melting performance. It’s the crown jewel in Chrysler’s Street and Racing Technology brand headed by Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of SRT, Senior Vice President of Chrysler Design and the man most credited with resurrecting this beast.

                Discontinued in 2010, the Viper was always a brutal and unforgiving car. It was the baseball bat of supercars.

                Autoblog got a chance to sit down with Gilles and ask him five questions. Always the gentleman, Gilles answered six.

                Gilles and his team walked a narrow line refining the Viper to the point of Italian Boss Sergio Marchionne’s acceptance, but still remaining true to the car.

                Before, the Viper was brutal, it’s transmission tunnel heated up so much, the sparse cockpit turned into a crock pot. It did not even offer stability control, now required by law, meaning one wrong move, one slip of the clutch and the Viper would be wrapped around a light pole faster than an airbag deployment.

                Even getting out of the Viper, with its side-mounted exhaust pipes, could be a challenge, giving the car one last chance to leave its mark, literally, on your calf.

                Autoblog got a chance to sit down with Gilles and ask him five questions. Always the gentleman, Gilles answered six.

                AB: The new design is pure Viper, but it seems to have some influence from those Italian super cars. What’s the percentage of the Viper that’s American, percentage that’s Italian?

                Gilles: Maybe five percent Italian. The seats, the seats are the same supplier as Ferrari. It’s all American. Done inside, done outside, it’s all all American.

                Continue reading Five Questions with Ralph Gilles about the 2013 SRT Viper

                Five Questions with Ralph Gilles about the 2013 SRT Viper

                    



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                  Study: These are the 10 new cars with the highest percentage of male ownership

                  b392f ferrari 458 italia opt Study: These are the 10 new cars with the highest percentage of <i>male</i> ownership

                  Last week we brought you Inside Line’s list of the 10 cars most likely to be owned by a women. The Volvo S40 came out on top among the ladies. But what’s most likely to be owned by a guy? Minivans? Fuel-efficient hatchbacks? Hybrids?

                  No.

                  At the top of Inside Line’s list is the very masculine, testosterone-oozing Ferrari 458 Italia. It should be no surprise that 95.3% of 458 owners are men. We sure would like to meet the other 4.7%.

                  Ahem. Anyway, in second place is the BMW 1 Series M Coupe, then the Audi R8, the Mercedes SLS AMG and then, at No. 5, the Ferrari California. So far, we’ve pretty much recited every male motorhead’s ultimate wish list. Seriously, what self-respecting man doesn’t put himself to sleep every night running through the gears of any of those cars?

                  At No. 6, is the perennial Porsche 911, then the Nissan GT-R at No. 7 with 87.9% male ownership. No. 8 is the obligatory GMC Sierra pickup closely followed by the Ford F-Series at No. 9. Rounding out the list at No. 10 is the consummate mid-life crisis Chevy Corvette with 86.9% male ownership.

                  So where does that leave the Ford F-650? Are there really that many women buying that monster?

                  These are the 10 new cars with the highest percentage of male ownership

                      



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                    New York: Editors’ Choice: Top Five New York Auto Show Debuts

                    f4f67 dsc9976 New York: Editors Choice: Top Five New York Auto Show Debuts

                    Despite having a media center that’s plagued with bad coffee and prone to the occasional journalist fight, the New York Auto Show is one of our favorite automotive expos. It’s not an all-out automotive blitzkrieg like Geneva, but the vast majority of New York debuts are actual, honest-to-goodness production cars rather than spiffy concepts that only show what could be possible. And if you’ve paid attention to our show coverage, some mighty big nameplates had some show-stopping debuts here in the Big Apple. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

                    We’ve walked the show floor, sipped some free coffee, shook hands with plenty of executives, and after two days of New York madness, we’ve come up with our picks for the five best reveals here at the show. Which of the 38 new cars took top honors? You’ll have to scroll down to find out.

                    Continue reading Editors’ Choice: Top Five New York Auto Show Debuts

                    Editors’ Choice: Top Five New York Auto Show Debuts

                        



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                      Report: Daihatsu Copen, Japan’s last kei convertible, ending production

                      Daihatsu Copen

                      You may not have ever heard of a car called the Daihatsu Copen, but it’s ending production and we’re sad to report it. The Copen is (or was) made by the budget Toyota brand and stands as the only convertible kei car – those being the whimsical little cars that zip around Japan – still on the market.

                      A tiny two-seat roadster with a 1.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the Copen was a favorite among customers for being just downright fun. But apparently after ten years of production, there just aren’t enough of those customers left to justify its continued production.

                      As a result, Daihatsu is reportedly discontinuing the line, with no apparent plans to replace it. Before it does, however, a 10th anniversary edition is reportedly in the works, with production limited to just 500 units. But with only 2,000 Copens sold last year, that represents a full quarter of production.

                      Daihatsu Copen, Japan’s last kei convertible, ending production

                          



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                        New York: We obsessively covered the 2012 New York Auto Show…

                        a5794 autoshowny628x308033012 New York: We obsessively covered the 2012 New York Auto Show...

                        The 2012 New York Auto Show has officially vomited on its shoes, stumbled out of the bar and taken a seat on the subway between a homeless person and RuPaul impersonator (actually, it might really be RuPaul). That’s right folks, the party’s over, and the Big Apple has told us that we don’t have to go home, but we can’t stay here.

                        Like a wasted hipster on his hands and knees scrounging loose change off the floor, we’ve gathered together all of the cars and concepts that debuted at this year’s show. Enjoy perusing our 2013 New York Auto Show playlist while we pop a Tums and concentrate on surviving the cab ride to LaGuardia.

                        Good night, New York! #dropsmicwalksoffstage

                        Continue reading We obsessively covered the 2012 New York Auto Show

                        We obsessively covered the 2012 New York Auto Show…

                            



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                          New York: Acura MDX ready to S.H.I.E.L.D. the Avengers from harm

                          S.H.I.E.L.D. Acura MDX live at New York Auto Show reveal

                          Move over, Batmobile, and make room in the geekosphere for the latest comic book superhero ride.

                          Acura, as you may be aware, signed a multi-picture deal with Marvel to have its cars featured in a raft of superhero movies. The Japanese luxury brand’s cars were there at the end of Captain America, they were there in Thor, and they’ll be there in full force in the highly anticipated upcoming superhero spectacular, The Avengers.

                          Most prominent of these will be the NSX-like roadster Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has been spotted driving on set, but that won’t be the extent of it for the Honda brand. Feast your eyes on the MDX which Acura has prepared for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division – the fictitious government agency that brings the gang together.

                          The S.H.I.E.L.D. MDX with the Sentinel Package is, according to its ficticious Monroney, packs the same Palladium-powered titanium engine, nine-speed transmission and diamond quartz brakes as the Stark roadster, albeit packed into a more capacious form. It’s got an aerial drone stored in a briefcase in the back, a cloaking device, bulletproof body, repulsor cannon and advanced targeting system.

                          So what would a fictitious vehicle like this set you back? MSRP (with destination and Sentinel package) is pegged at a nearly $6 million. Suck on that, Bugatti Veyron.

                          Acura MDX ready to S.H.I.E.L.D. the Avengers from harm

                              



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                            Official: 2013 Chevrolet Spark to start at $12,995*

                            2013 Chevrolet Spark - front three-quarter view

                            General Motors is taking a big gamble in a little way with its 2013 Chevrolet Spark. The Detroit automaker is betting that high fuel prices and an increased awareness of one’s ecological footprint will mean more consumers are willing to entertain a new car with an even smaller err… footprint. The Spark will join other minicars like the Fiat 500, Scion iQ and Smart ForTwo, none of which have met with significant sales volume. On the other hand, its big brother, the Sonic has performed well in the early going. In addition, the Spark offers more physical volume than its peers – as well as a set of rear doors – so practicality appears to be solidly in favor of Camp Chevy.

                            The five-door Spark will test America’s appetites for small car life with a starting price of just $12,995 (*including delivery) when it arrives in Chevrolet showrooms later this year. Available in a trio of trims, the lineup will start with the well-equipped LS model that includes a whopping 10 airbags, air conditioning, power windows, OnStar and 15-inch alloys.

                            Stepping up to the 1LT trim will cost $14,495, but it adds an audio system with seven-inch color touchscreen, USB connectivity and satellite radio. Additional features include keyless entry, power mirrors, cruise control, Bluetooth (”for select phones”) and mundane items like visor mirrors and floor mats. The range-topping 2LT ($15,795) will be distinguished by a unique set of 15-inch wheels, sportier body-color fascias, fog lamps and additional exterior brightwork. Inside, heated, leatherette-covered seats and a leather-wrapped wheel spruce up the cabin.

                            Regardless of which trim spec is selected, buyers will find a 1.2-liter Ecotec four-cylinder underhood, and a five-speed manual is standard equipment, though a four-speed automatic can be substituted for $925.

                            GM announced back in October that it will also bring a Spark EV to “select markets” in the U.S. sometime in 2013, though it has yet to announce pricing or an on-sale date for the pure electric runabout.

                            Continue reading 2013 Chevrolet Spark to start at $12,995*

                            2013 Chevrolet Spark to start at $12,995*

                                



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                              Report: Improving Chevy Volt sales leads GM to shorten summer shutdown

                              2011 Chevy Volt in profile

                              Just the other day, we heard that General Motors might extend its traditional two-week summer shutdown to three weeks for the Chevrolet Volt. But, after record Volt sales last month, we wonder how the calendar looks in Hamtramck now. We wonder because we are hearing reports that the current shutdown – originally scheduled to run for five weeks, from March 19 to April 23 – will be shortened by a week. GM originally decided on the hold to reduce supply that had grown too large because of soft demand.

                              Don LaForest, the chairman of the United Auto Workers bargaining committee at the Hamtramck plant where the Volt is made, told Talking Points Memo that GM is “adding a week of production back in.” The Detroit News reports that GM President of North America Mark Reuss said the same thing Wednesday during the New York Auto Show. Reuss said, “We’re doing it because we sold a lot.”

                              Increasing sales numbers (GM sold 2,289 Volts in March – well over double February’s 1,023-unit total) come at a time when some of the right-wing attacks on the plug-in hybrid appear to have calmed down. LaForest told TPM that his union workers have been confused about these criticisms. “I don’t think Newt or Mitt have said a single negative thing about the Nissan Leaf,” he said. “They’re attacking our car to get at the President. But our car is going to change the way America does business. It’s a breath of fresh air.”

                              Improving Chevy Volt sales leads GM to shorten summer shutdown

                                  



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                                Official: BMW prices 6 Series Gran Coupe, M5 and M6 for U.S.

                                2013 BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe live at reveal

                                If you’ve been saving your spare change to pick up one of these new BMW models later this year, well, now you can more accurately estimate how many wheelbarrows full of nickels you’ll need to dump into the Coinstar machine at your local grocery store.

                                We’ll start with the 2013 6 Series Gran Coupe. While we already knew the six-cylinder 640i Gran Coupe would start at $76,895 including destination charges, prices on the V8 models have now been set. The 650i will sell for $87,395, while the 650i xDrive model will command $90,395. Both are powered by a twin-turbo, 445-horsepower, 4.4-liter V8, which BMW says can propel the all-wheel-drive version from 0-62 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds. (The rear-wheel-drive model is a tick slower at 4.6 seconds.) The 640i goes on sale in late June, with the V8 models coming towards the end of summer.

                                The M series cars will command substantially more, with the 2012 M6 Convertible commanding all of $113,995 when it goes on sale in June. The M6 Coupe and M5 will go on sale in late summer as 2013 models, with the M6 carrying a $106,995 MSRP and the M5 listing at $90,695. All three models will share a twin-turbo, 560-horsepower, 4.4-liter V8.

                                The price of a fourth M vehicle, the revised 2013 BMW X6 M, has also been announced. It will sell for $93,795, a $2,600 increase from this year’s model. For more details, scroll down to check out the official release.

                                BMW prices 6 Series Gran Coupe, M5 and M6 for U.S.

                                    



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                                  New York: Carlos Ghosn: Still bullish on battery electric vehicles

                                  8e479 carlos ghosn nyas 2012 New York: Carlos Ghosn: Still bullish on battery electric vehicles

                                  Carlos Ghosn is not backing down.

                                  Giving the keynote speech at the 2012 New York Auto Show today, the president and CEO of Nissan said that he stands behind his prediction that EVs will make up 10 percent of the market by 2020 in the places they are available. He also said that he expects Nissan to sell 1.5 million zero emission cars by 2016.

                                  Ghosh brushed off a question about somewhat slow Leaf sales by pointing out that the Leaf is still constrained by supply, given the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last year as well as the strong yen. Leaf production in the UK and U.S. that will start in the near future (later this year for Tennessee, early 2013 for Sunderland) will make the car more available to more people. “I don’t want you to take a one-month or two-month sales result in one particular market to try to make your opinion about the evolution of a very important technology for the industry,” he said. “I think the electric car will hold its promises. All the stars are lining up to make it a very important segment. … I am not at all changing my bullish approach.”

                                  Ghosn has reason to be bullish. Nissan has sold 27,000 Leafs worldwide since introducing the car in late 2010, and 11,000 of those sales were in the U.S. And, he added, “The Nissan Leaf has had no quality problems.”

                                  Looking forward, Ghosn also said that the challenge is to reduce the cost, size and weight of the battery and “we have to do it fast” because government incentives will not last forever. Luckily, the industry has changed enough in the last half-decade to make this possible. He said:

                                  One of the biggest evolutions we are seeing in our industry is the battery. As you know, when we started our electric car goals, it was in 2006, there were not a lot of battery makers in the world. Fortunately, with our drive and with the drive of other carmakers, the number of battery makers and companies investing in batteries has really been impressive. Today, you can find very good batteries, extremely competitive, in Korea, in Japan, in the United States. The Chinese are investing in batteries. … The life of the battery is going to be longer than the life of the car.

                                  Carlos Ghosn: Still bullish on battery electric vehicles

                                      



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                                    Official: 2014 Chevrolet Impala debuts all-new design

                                    901ff 2014 chevrolet impala 016 opt Official: 2014 Chevrolet Impala debuts all new design

                                    To hear Chevrolet tell the story, the Impala is super popular with the public. True, it was one of the ten best-selling cars the U.S. last year, but take away sales to rental, government and commercial fleets, and we’d bet our last dollar that the Impala is no more popular than its competitors, probably less so considering its age. That’s why Chevrolet is hoping its all-new Impala for 2013 will do what the last model couldn’t: attract folks who don’t buy their large sedans in bulk.

                                    The 2013 Chevrolet Impala clearly looks considerably better and more modern than the car it replaces, which hadn’t received a thorough redesign since 2005. The face up front is the Bowtie brand’s new corporate visage, which can also be seen on the refreshed 2013 Traverse. It’s an attractive mug with clean lines, little-to-no clutter and a full suite of high-tech HID and LED lighting elements. At least in pictures, the rest of the new Impala looks brawny and muscular compared to the last model’s antiseptic lines. Its wheels, meanwhile, will range in size from a large 18 inches in diameter to a super-sized 20 inches.

                                    901ff 2014 chevrolet impala 009 opt Official: 2014 Chevrolet Impala debuts all new designWe also universally approve of the Impala’s new interior design, which sports a dual-cockpit concept, as well as a 4.2-inch information screen between the gauges and an eight-inch screen atop the center stack. However, we’re having a hard time with that steering wheel, which doesn’t live up to the rest of the cabin’s aesthetic standards.

                                    Power for the new Impala will come from a range of three engines, all featuring direct injection: a 2.4-liter four-cylinder with eAssist producing 182 horsepower/172 pound-feet and achieving an estimated 35 mpg highway, a 2.5-liter four-cylinder producing 195 hp/187 lb-ft and a 3.6-liter V6 producing 303 hp/264 lb-ft. All will mate to a six-speed automatic and drive the front wheels only.

                                    The Impala has also received a slew of new available active and passive safety systems, including Full-Speed-Range Adaptive Cruise Control, Collision Mitigation Braking, Forward Collision Alert, Lane Departure Warning, Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert.

                                    We’ve included the official press release from Chevrolet below and will update the gallery will more official images as soon as they’re available. And later today we’ll show you what the Impala looks like in person from the floor of the New York Auto Show.

                                    Continue reading 2014 Chevrolet Impala debuts all-new design

                                    2014 Chevrolet Impala debuts all-new design

                                        



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                                      Report: Reputation of electric cars takes a hit in Japan due to tsunami aftermath?

                                      2011 Nissan Leaf undergoing IIHS crash test

                                      Electric vehicle owners like to think of themselves as green, but that color may be taking on a more glowing, radioactive hue in Japan.

                                      The ecologically friendly reputation of electric cars in Japan is taking a hit since last year’s meltdowns of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant have made more people concerned about a primary source of electricity throughout the country, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

                                      The meltdown – caused my last March’s earthquake and ensuing tsunami – created a 12-mile radius around Fukushima where people are barred because of radiation issues. Before last year’s disaster, the Japanese government planned on having nuclear power eventually supply half of the country’s electricity, up from a third, but those plans have been put on hold.

                                      Nissan, which has said it expects to sell 1.5 million electric vehicles around the world by 2015, has sold just 12,000 battery-electric Leafs in Japan since launching the model in 2010, according to the report. There have been positive associations drawn between the EV and its role in the earthquake relief efforts (between the Mitsubishi i and the aftermath, too) and Nissan even touted the way some battery packs that were damaged in the quake survived intact.

                                      Rising gas prices make charging an EV in Japan about 90 percent less expensive than filling a tank. That said, electricity prices may spike expenses stemming from fixing the Fukushima plant increase. The higher cost might be the way EVs could get lumped together with nuclear energy in some consumers’ minds.

                                      Reputation of electric cars takes a hit in Japan due to tsunami aftermath?

                                          



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                                        March 2011 - Fool on a Hill Edition

                                        Chrysler Keeps Winning, Hyundai and Kia Set Records

                                        eb489 uphill car 1325715318 March 2011   Fool on a Hill EditionAnother chapter has been written in the comeback story of Chrysler, which reported a 69.7-percent sales increase in March compared to a year earlier. We’re starting to wonder, though, what will happen if gas prices continue rising. If consumers begin to shift their tastes back to smaller, more fuel efficient cars, Chrysler will find itself without much to offer. The promising Dodge Dart is coming but not here yet, and Chrysler doesn’t offer any passenger vehicles as hybrids or diesels. The Ram 1500 is of course available with a diesel, but we doubt consumers will flock to it for a respite from rising fuel costs.

                                        Hyundai also had a good month of sales in March. Actually, it had the best month of sales in its history of selling cars in the U.S. Nearly all of its high-volume products are selling well, while the Veloster is picking up momentum and adding all-new sales to the mix. Soon, the completely redesigned Azera will go on sale, which means this new all-time sales record likely won’t last long. Its Korean counterpart, Kia, also enjoyed its best month ever.

                                        A couple of automakers who seem to be teetering on the edge of trouble are General Motors and Honda. GM can be happy with positive performances last month from Chevrolet and GMC, but Buick and Cadillac continue to falter and find themselves on the very bottom of our sales chart trends this month. Honda, meanwhile, hasn’t seemed to have found its footing as well as rival Toyota, despite both companies reporting that their production lines are completely restored following a year of disruptive natural disasters.

                                        Check out how the rest of the industry did in our monthly sales chart below, and visit our By the Numbers section to see all past months.

                                        *Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 28 selling days in March 2012 versus 27 selling days in March 2011, so there will be a difference between monthly sales volume and the average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company. Also, brands are combined and reported as companies only if their sales figures are released jointly.

                                        March 2011 - Fool on a Hill Edition

                                            



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