The Auto Blog .ru

It’s that time once again for Cars.com to release its annual American Made Index. What constitutes an American-made car, however, is just as debatable now as it ever has been. That being the case, there are a number of notable changes since the last time the crew released its list.

First and foremost, the Toyota Camry is (somewhat ironically) still at the top of the American Made Index. But second place is a bit of a surprise, with the Honda Accord making a debut appearance in the runner-up position. Notably, it takes the place of the Ford F-150, which falls off the list entirely.

Why the sudden change? It seems the Accord now boasts a 75-percent American parts percentage (which is the minimum allowable to make this list) as it is now being assembled in two separate plants based in the United States. Ford’s F-150, however, saw its American parts percentage fall from 80 percent down to just 55 percent – a scenario Ford calls “pretty common.”

Ford does make a good presence on the AMI list, though, with both the Escape (third place) and Focus (fourth place) making a comeback after a brief disappearance the last time around. General Motors earns fifth place with the Chevrolet Malibu, which is GM’s only vehicle on the latest AMI edition. Chrysler nabs number seven with the Dodge Ram 1500 and nine with the Jeep Wrangler.

See the complete American Made Index after the break, and check out additional commentary from Cars.com here.

[Source: Cars.com]

Continue reading Cars.com American Made Index ranks Toyota Camry #1 again

Cars.com American Made Index ranks Toyota Camry #1 again

      

Tags: Car, cars, chevrolet, chrysler, dodge, dodge ram, epa, focus, ford, ford f-150, general motors, gm, honda, iCan, Jeep, photo, Photos, test, Time, toyota, USA

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 6.22.10

    

Tags: 2.1, 2011, Audi, banner, chevrolet, focus, ford, France, honda, hybrid, lexus, lexus lfa, lfa, nissan, review, ring, sale, special edition, spy shots, tC, volkswagen

Lotus Engineering has reached an agreement with the Spanish Fagor Ederlan Group to develop and produce a small engine for use as a range extender in electric vehicles – a system similar to that found in the Chevrolet Volt. Lotus first showed its 1.2-liter inline-three engine at the Geneva Motor Show in the Evora 414E and Proton Emas concepts.

Both cars used a similar series hybrid powertrain architecture, where an electric motor provides the drive torque while the engine only drives a generator to sustain the battery after the plug-in charge has been depleted.

Because this new engine is designed specifically for use as a range extender rather than a primary power source, Lotus has been able to optimize the efficiency and reduce the weight. An adapted off-the-shelf engine like the one in the Volt is still designed to hold accessories like the alternator, air-conditioning compressor and power steering pump. Lotus has left out these structures for a lower cost and mass.

Lotus and Fagor Ederlan will take the 47 horsepower engine to production and offer it up to any automaker that wants to build an extended range electric vehicle, but no production timing or customers have been announced yet.

[Source: Lotus]

Continue reading Lotus and Fagor Ederlan Group to produce range-extender engine

Lotus and Fagor Ederlan Group to produce range-extender engine

    

Tags: accessories, Car, cars, chevrolet, concept, design, geneva, geneva 2010, Geneva Motor Show, horsepower, hybrid, Lotus, photo, Photos, plug-in, ring, SIM

The times, they are a changin’ for Top Gear. Everyone’s favorite motoring show has undergone quite a few transformations over the years, and that doesn’t look to stop with the next season. Viewers can expect to see a few sad but inevitable changes come to fruition, starting with the death of the Chevrolet Lacetti. For those of you who don’t have an archive of creatively obtained episodes lurking about on your hard drive, the miserable little car had been the subject of abuse at the hands of a myriad of celebrities in the show’s infamous “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment.

We’re not entirely sure what happened, though we have to imagine it had something to do with repeated missed shifts and the fact that the sedan spent more time in low orbit than actually lapping the show’s track. Either way, it’s off for good, and you can expect the guys to send it on its way in style.

Then there’s word that Clarkson, Hammond and May will actually be toning down the stunts this season. While speaking with The Daily Telegraph, James May said that things had gotten a little out of hand over the past few seasons, and that the show would be working to return to basics somewhat. We have no idea what that means, but we’re guessing there might be a few less helicopter chases in the cards. But there will be explosions. Lots and lots of explosions…

[Source: Top Gear, The Daily Telegraph]

Top Gear retires Chevrolet Lacetti, toning-down stunts

    

Tags: Car, chevrolet, gm, preview, review, ring, Time, UK

As far as we know, General Motors has no plans to build a convertible version of the CTS Coupe. But where automakers fear to tread, the aftermarket is usually happy jump in. High Springs, Florida-based Drop Top Customs is reportedly hard at work on a rag-top conversion for Cadillac’s new coupe, adding yet another model to its range of custom convertibles.

Over the past few years, the company has mainly focused on Dodge Challengers and Chevrolet Camaros, but with a factory Camaro convertible about nine months away, the CTS has the potential to fill the gap. DTC produces all of the parts for its conversions in-house and most jobs cost less than $20,000. Considering the fastback styling of the CTS Coupe, we’re not sure how well it will translate to a soft-top – or how it’s going to affect structural rigidity – but we’re looking forward to how it turns out.

[Source: Detroit News]

Drop Top Customs readying Cadillac CTS convertible?

    

Tags: 2011, 911, cadillac, Cadillac CTS, cadillac cts coupe, camaro, challenger, chevrolet, chevrolet camaro, Coupe, CTS, CTS Coupe, CtsCoupe, dodge, Dodge Challenger, Florida, focus, general motors, gm, Other, photo, Photos, ring, tC

It was said that the Top Gear crew (and Fifth Gear, too) would be back in June, and it looks like they’re going to limbo just under the line.

Your reintroduction to the three guys who hang out in the hangar will involve Jeremy exploring the demise of three-wheeled cars behind the wheel of a Reliant Robin, James May tackling that Icelandic volcano, Richard Hammond doing something “dignified” with a Chevrolet Lacetti and the Stig burning ethanol in a Bentley Continental Supersports. The fun gets going on Sunday, June 27, but feel free to cue the cheesy music now…

[Source: BBC]

Gentlemen, Start Your Torrents: Top Gear Series 15 Sunday

      

Tags: Car, cars, chevrolet, Free, fun, gm, iceland, music, ring, super, UK, Z4

There was a time when General Motors was a design leader. Before the Aztek, before the Catera, before the Sunfire and before the Citation, GM was synonymous with bold, strong, emotional automotive design. The General was so good at it that in the 1950s it was able to flood dealerships and stress factories just by tweaking a given model’s sheetmetal a few shades. Imagine anyone caring about a new rear end on a 2011 Chevy Malibu. Yet the revised bodywork of the 1956 Bel Air was a major cultural phenomenon.

The name Harvey Earl – the legendary head of GM design from 1927 until 1958 – still strikes reverence into the hearts of many. One glance at his famed Buick Y-Job, a 1949 Cadillac or the original Corvette is enough to see why. Earl’s parting shot was the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado – the one with the tail fins that could nearly touch the moon. Then you have Earl’s successor, Bill Mitchell, the man responsible for the third generation Corvette, the 1966 Toronado and the magnificent boattail Buick Riviera.

For a variety of reasons, in the 1970s General Motors and striking design parted ways. GM’s styling wandered through the desert, swapping glitz, purpose and chrome for tighter profit margins, increased badge engineering and a large patina of plain ol’ dull. All you need to do is take a gander at the third-generation B-bodies to see how far GM went in the wrong direction. Let’s not even mention cladding.

For the last decade or so there have been signs of hope. Vehicles like the Chevrolet SSR, Pontiac Solstice, C6 Corvette and the new Camaro were proof that GM and great design are on the road to reconciliation. As a division, Cadillac has made the biggest strides with their Art and Science design motif, showing great signs of life. The front end of the second generation CTS is fantastic. From a pure design point of view, and with the possible exception of the now dead Pontiac Solstice, no General Motors product has been world class since Mitchell retired in 1977.

That changes now. Meet the 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe.

Photos by Damon Lavrinc / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading First Drive: 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe is audacity in motion

First Drive: 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe is audacity in motion

    

Tags: 2011, 911, cadillac, Cadillac CTS, cadillac cts coupe, camaro, Car, chevrolet, chevy, Corvette, Coupe, CTS, CTS Coupe, CtsCoupe, design, general motors, gm, photo, Photos, POI, Pontiac, profit, ring, tC, Time, tweak

Just weeks after starting production of the new 2011 heavy-duty pickup trucks at the Flint, MI assembly plant, General Motors suspended work last Thursday to replace a defective component. Engineers found a problem with the unidentified part during routine testing and immediately found a replacement. Three shifts of Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra HD production were canceled on Thursday and Friday, but assembly is scheduled to resume on Monday morning.

Trucks that have already been built and shipped to dealers over the past four weeks will also be retrofitted before customer delivery. In July, GM will also add production of light-duty pickups at Flint.

Photos by Sam Abuelsamid / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Report: GM suspends production at Flint HD pickup plant over part issue

    

Tags: 2011, 3G, 4G, chevrolet, chevy, duty, general motors, gm, GMC, photo, Photos, Pickup, pickup truck, ring, SD, test, truck

The Detroit auto industry’s annual summer shutdown is a tradition that goes back many decades, but this year, General Motors is taking a pass. It comes from a time when the new model year started in September for every car and they all debuted simultaneously, usually in dealer showrooms. The shutdown was the two week period in the summer during which all the plants installed updated tooling for the new models.

In more recent times, the practice has persisted as a time to do maintenance and other work that might interfere with production – even if it hasn’t coincided with the launch of a new model. This year, however, GM’s inventories on many models are running so low that nine of the automaker’s 11 assembly plants will keep producing vehicles during the designated shutdown period. Among the plants that will stay open are the Detroit-Hamtramck plant that builds the Cadillac DTS, the Delta Township plant builds the Lambda crossovers and the Chevrolet Corvette plant in Bowling Green, KY. Full press release after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading GM nixing summer shutdown, hiring thousands of temps to meet demand

GM nixing summer shutdown, hiring thousands of temps to meet demand

    

Tags: AMC, cadillac, Car, chevrolet, Corvette, design, general motors, gm, green, Other, ring, SIM, Time, update, USA

J.D. Power Initial Quality Study analysis

When I bought my first new car, back in 1973, I’d been warned by friends to expect a good half dozen defects that would need to be straightened out by the dealer. It turned out there were only five, I quickly counted, before taking my little sedan back to the shop for repairs. I was lucky. The worst problem I had to deal with was a loose mirror. A college chum, meanwhile, got stuck with a bad transmission on the new Chevrolet he bought about the same time. But he took it in stride, as long as it got fixed right. And so did just about everyone else. Dealing with defects was a part of buying a car back then.

But things started to change even before I was ready to trade in. The twin oil shocks of the ’70s initially put the focus on fuel economy – more specifically on high-mileage imports. But as memories of gas lines faded, the emphasis shifted to the unexpectedly high quality the best of the Asians were delivering.

One could argue – as an NPR talk show host did during my appearance this morning – that J.D. Power and Associates, with surveys like the Initial Quality Study, made Toyota and Honda by quantifying that quality gap. And it was a big one, domestic makers routinely suffered twice the number of “problems” of the top foreign makers. Of course, even the imports had their issues back then, but as quality became a watchword, even the worst manufacturers suddenly started to make it a top priority, and, year-after-year, the defect count for the typical car rolling off the assembly line has steadily shrunk.

According to Power’s latest survey, the average buyer of a 2010 car, truck or crossover is experiencing about 1.08 problems during the first 90 days of ownership. More precisely, in the language of the Initial Quality Survey, there are an average of 1.08 “problems” per 100 vehicles.

The products produced by the worst manufacturer on the list, Land Rover, suffered 170 problems per 100, or 170 PP100 – less than two glitches for every vehicle. Put another way, that’s less than half what the best makers could deliver in the early years of the IQS. The best individual model, the Lexus LS, racked up just 55 PP100 on the latest study, which translates into just one complaint ticked off on the Power survey form by every other buyer.

Continue reading TheDetroitBureau.com on Autoblog with Paul Eisenstein

TheDetroitBureau.com on Autoblog with Paul Eisenstein

    

Tags: 3D, Car, chevrolet, CTS, epa, focus, honda, lexus, Other, ring, tC, test, Time, toyota, truck

	Predictably Irrational author says Toyota Prius succeeds on quirky looks alone Cd says what?		From Plum Crazy to Key Lime, the color of the Nissan Leaf is up to you Hot pink, anyone?
	Daily Mail columnist goes off (the deep end) criticizing electric cars Lets get real.	Other news: Nissan Leaf home charging assessments now underway, add’l $100 fee attached VW reconfirms Jetta hybrid for 2012, boasts “best-in-class” MPG rating First 4,400 Chevrolet Volt owners could get free home charging stations

AutoblogGreen for 06.18.10

      

Tags: abg, autobloggreen, Car, cars, chevrolet, electric car, Free, green, hybrid, nissan, Other, toyota, vw

Let’s get this out of the way right now: the 2011 Honda CR-Z is not a CRX redux. To compare the two – no matter how much Honda may want to – is to misunderstand the former and besmirch the latter.

No, the hybrid CR-Z is an entirely different beast. Despite its three-door shape and two-seat configuration, it has about as much in common with the O.G. hatch as a big-screen remake of your favorite childhood TV show. The basic components are there, but the whole concept has been throttled to within an inch of its life with high-tech gadgetry, odd casting decisions and a questionable demographic.

But to Honda’s credit, its rhetorical comparisons to the CRX have died down considerably since the CR-Z debuted in concept form and then progressed into a production model. Honda may have recognized after a lukewarm introduction outside the U.S. that glomming onto nostalgia will only get you so far (see: Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro). And to make something special – a vehicle that transcends the emotional baggage of its predecessor – you’ve got to evolve the concept and avoid relying on rose-tinted sentimentality.

To an extent, that’s exactly what Honda has created. It hasn’t built another hot hatch – the lightweight, K20-powered three-door enthusiasts crave – and instead it has attempted to meld the technology of the moment into a greenified competitor to the Mini Cooper. Think of it as the rogue lovechild of the original and current Insight, with a few sporting genes spliced into its DNA. But can a hybrid hatch be an entertaining steer? We took to California’s twisties and clipped a few cones to find out.

Photos by Damon Lavrinc / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading First Drive: 2011 Honda CR-Z

First Drive: 2011 Honda CR-Z

    

Tags: 2011, ARM, camaro, challenger, chevrolet, chevrolet camaro, concept, dodge, Dodge Challenger, green, honda, hybrid, LG, NOS, Other, photo, Photos, tC, Time, U.S., UK

When the Chevrolet Volt finally hits the market late this year, the U.S. Department of Energy will help out by providing free 240-volt home chargers for 4,400 early buyers. The chargers are made either by ECOtality (which will install 2,600 Volt chargers) or Coulomb Technologies (1,800 chargers). In all, the DOE is helping to fit around 15,000 plug-in vehicle chargers across America. Of course, ‘free’ might be a relative term here. That’s what the headline says, but Tony DiSalle, product and marketing director for the Chevrolet Volt, said in a statement that, “For Volt owners who want to install a faster 240-volt charge station, we expect the Department of Energy project to save $1,000 and $2,000.” We have heard that these chargers will cost around $2,000.

What does the DOE get from this? Data. Part of the deal is that Volt drivers agree to let the government agency collect information to help “understand what is required for widespread electric vehicle use.” Nissan also has a partnership with ECOtality to bring home chargers to Leaf buyers and Ford is also working with Coulomb.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading First 4,400 Chevrolet Volt owners could get free home charging stations

First 4,400 Chevrolet Volt owners could get free home charging stations

    

Tags: 2011, chevrolet, chevy, epa, ford, Free, general motors, green, nissan, photo, Photos, plug-in, ring, U.S.

It’s always refreshing to see a car move from rendering to real life. When we first laid our eyes on the Rossi SixySix, we were immediately smitten with the car’s design. It promised to blend the hefty horsepower and handling prowess of the C6 Chevrolet Corvette with legendary looks of the ‘63-’67 Stingrays. That was nearly two years ago, and we had all but written the SixtySix off as nothing but a sexy piece of vaporware. According to CorvetteBlogger, we were wrong. The company has just finished all of the tooling necessary to bring the vehicle to life, and the first car will get an unveil this weekend at Detroit’s EyesOn Design event.

The car has undergone a few changes on the road to reality, namely in the front end. We’re not entirely smitten with the new nose design, but the rest of the car has stuck fairly close to the renderings we fell for not so long ago. Under the new bodywork, the drivetrain remains unmolested, and word is that the company can perform the whole conversion, including the cost of a brand-new C6 Corvette, for around $130,000. Yeah, it’s good looking, but for that kind of money, one could conceivably lay his hands on a ZR1, or even a very drivable original ‘63 split-window.

[Source: Rossi via CorvetteBlogger]

Rossi SixtySix fuses C6 technology with split-window Corvette style

    

Tags: 3D, Car, chevrolet, Corvette, design, Google, Hardware, horsepower, NOS, photo, Photos, preview, review, ring, sex, Sexy, Video

Back in 1998, Rene Fernandez received two DUIs in a span of three months. The first judge sentenced him to probation, the second judge, Edwin Collier, sentenced him to 60 days in jail but suspended the sentence. Last August, the now 45-year-old Fernandez was inebriated at more than twice the legal limit, got into his Chevrolet Tahoe and started driving, ultimately plowing into a Honda Accord in the oncoming lane.

That Accord was driven by 85-year-old retired Judge Edwin Collier, who had his wife, 81-year-old Ellen Collier in the passenger seat. Yes, it was an accident involving the same Fernandez and the same Judge Collier from 1998. Fernandez is now looking at an 18-month stint in a Montgomery County, Maryland prison for the DUI and the life-threatening injuries he caused to the Colliers.

[Source: Business Gazette Image: Getty]

Report: Serial drunk driver hits judge who let him off 11 years earlier

      

Tags: chevrolet, gto, honda

In 2007 General Motors broke Chinese sales records with over one million vehicles sold. That sounded pretty impressive at the time, but just three years later GM’s sales have come so far so fast that the General is now officially selling more vehicles in the Land of the Great Wall than it is in the States.

The Detroit Bureau reports that GM’s China sales are up 54 percent in 2010 versus the first five months of 2009, with 1,032,665 cars and trucks sold so far this year. The General isn’t doing nearly that well here in the U.S, with 882,277 units sold during the same period.

The biggest reason GM’s sales continue to outpace the growth of its competition is the shot in the arm provided by the Chevy brand. The Bow Tie brand’s sales are up 104 percent on the year, led by a 113 percent increase in sales of the Cruze. GM sold 14,524 copies of the Cruze in May alone, while the new-for-2010 Sail already hit 7,616 sales. While Chevy is quickly growing in the Chinese market, the still hot Buick brand is starting to show some signs of leveling off. Sales of the Tri-shield are up a mere 22 percent so far this year. Cadillac appears to be stealing a bit of Buick’s thunder as well, as the Wreath and Crest is up 98 percent on the year.

[Source: The Detroit Bureau]

GM: Big(ger) in China

      

Tags: ARM, cadillac, Car, cars, chevrolet, chevy, China, general motors, gm, Official, photo, Photos, ring, sale, Time, truck, ynews

Small wagons might not have much of a place in the United States, but overseas, they do very well, thank you. Take the Opel Astra, for example – its wagon variant accounts for around 25 percent of its overall sales. Thus, Opel hasn’t wasted any time in creating the wagon (Sports Tourer) version of the new Astra, and while it will make its public debut this October at the Paris Motor Show, General Motors is already spilling the virtual beans.

Inside, the Astra Sports Tourer uses a new FlexFold rear seat system, which allows rear seats to be folded down simply by pressing a button in the tailgate. We commonly see this feature on larger SUVs and minivans, and the Astra is the first compact wagon to have this function. With the rear seats down, the Sports Tourer can accommodate up to 54.7 cubic feet of haulables.

Not only is the Astra Sports Tourer quite functional, it has the makings of a vehicle that’s relatively good to drive, too. Opel has fitted its FlexRide adaptive suspension system to the wagon, with standard, tour and sport driving modes. Eight engine choices are available, ranging from 95 to 180 horsepower, including the turbocharged 1.4-liter four that’s slated for use in the U.S.-market Chevrolet Cruze.

It looks to be a fun little wagon, this Astra, and it makes us wish that there were enough buyers for such vehicles over here in the States. Have a look for yourself by either scrolling through the gallery below or watching the video (complete with Shaft-inspired soundtrack) after the jump.

[Source: Opel]

Continue reading Officially Official: Opel loads up new Astra Sports Tourer [w/video]

Officially Official: Opel loads up new Astra Sports Tourer [w/video]

    

Tags: 2011, chevrolet, feature, fun, general motors, gm, horsepower, LG, Official, opel, photo, Photos, sale, SIM, tC, Time, U.S., Video

Not too long ago, there was a time when all of the vehicles in an automaker’s portfolio weren’t required to wear the same uniform. Each model could be its own unique expression of the brand’s strengths without being forced to schedule an appointment with the corporate plastic surgeon. Granted, some marques lost a bit of identity with scads of mismatched children running around the lot, but the world’s automotive variety pack was considerably more interesting. If you didn’t like the face on one product, but wanted to stick with the brand, there were a plethora of options to choose from.

That’s not the case anymore. We live in a world of increasingly unified automotive design, and while that’s resulted in a few products missing the mark in a big way (we’re looking at you, Acura), just as many manufacturers have created some real winners by spreading the corporate face among its progeny. Dodge’s decision to share the Ram grille across its line was one of the best moves the company has made in recent history, and Ford and Chevrolet have similarly benefited from strong familial design cues.

Now Mercedes-Benz is looking to walk down the same path by spreading its upright grille to the 2011 R-Class. The move isn’t so much of a shot in the arm as a shot of espresso for the Silver Arrow’s awkward duckling, but it should help the luxury people mover blend in amongst its more beautiful brethren.

Photos by Zach Bowman / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading First Drive: 2011 Mercedes-Benz R-Class is better by a nose

First Drive: 2011 Mercedes-Benz R-Class is better by a nose

    

Tags: 2011, ARM, chevrolet, CTS, design, dodge, ford, mercedes, mercedes-benz, NOS, photo, Photos, POI, SIM, tC, Time

Just after we flip our calendars to the year 2011, we’ll have three new sedans on the street, all poised to compete against one another and priced from around the $16,000 mark – the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta, 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and 2012 Ford Focus. Each car has a lot of positives and we’re sure the automotive media will be lining up comparison tests as soon as each are ready. But right now, we want to know what you, the reader, thinks has the makings of the best $16,000 sedan. Read the details and vote for your pick below.

2011 Volkswagen Jetta

• Dimensions (inches): length: 182.7, width: 70.1, height: 57.1
• Engines: 2.5-liter inline-five with 170 horsepower, 177 pound-feet of torque; 2.0-liter turbo-diesel four with 140 hp, 236 lb-ft; 2.0-liter turbocharged four with 200 hp, 207 lb-ft; six-speed automatic, dual-clutch and manual transmissions will be available
• Fuel economy: Over 40 mpg for TDI diesel models
• Available features: Navigation, Bluetooth, 60/40 split rear seat

2011 Chevrolet Cruze

• Dimensions (inches): length: 181.0, width: 70.7, height: 58.1, wheelbase: 105.7
• Engines: 1.8-liter naturally aspirated inline-four with 138 horsepower and 125 pound-feet of torque; 1.4-liter turbocharged four with 138 hp and 148 lb-ft; six-speed manual and automatic transmissions available
• Fuel economy: 40 mpg for Eco models
• Available features: Bluetooth, USB connectivity, OnStar support

2012 Ford Focus

• Dimensions (inches): length: 179, width: 72, height: 58, wheelbase: 104
• Engines: 2.0-liter naturally aspirated inline-four with 155 horsepower, 145 pound-feet of torque, mated to a five-speed manual or six-speed dual-clutch automatic; 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four reportedly in the works with 240-plus hp and a six-speed manual
• Fuel economy: 40 mpg highway targeted for base 2.0-liter model
• Available features: SYNC, active park assist, navigation

View Poll

Note: Official specifications for the 2011 Jetta and 2012 Focus have not been released as of this writing, but these are the details that Autoblog has learned through industry sources.

The $16,000 Question: Jetta, Cruze or Focus? [w/poll]

    

Tags: 2.0, 2011, bluetooth, Calendar, Car, chevrolet, chevy, feature, features, focus, ford, ford focus, FordFocus, gm, horsepower, navigation, Official, Other, photo, Photos, POI, tC, test, USB, volkswagen

This week,Chris joins Sam, Dan and Alex on a phone line from 1922. News topics we cover are a short chat about the exciting action at Le Mans, the Chevrolet/Chevy memo flap, Mini’s nipping at Porsche’s heels, GM’s HD pickups, and the new Volkswagen Jetta. It’s a short, sweet sub-one-hour podcast this week. See you soon!

Autoblog Podcast #182 – Le Mans, Chevrolet, GM HD Trucks, Mini’s aggression and the new Jetta

In the Autoblog Garage:

BMW X6 M
Lexus HS250h

News:

• Le Mans
  
• Chevy vs. Chevrolet
• Mini taunting Porsche
• New Volkswagen Jetta
• General Motors HD Pickups

Hosts:
Chris Shunk, Dan Roth, Sam Abuelsamid, Alex Nunez

Runtime: 54:32

---

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly

Feedback:
Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com
Voicemail: 734-288-8POD (734-288-8763)

Review the show in iTunes and take our survey

Autoblog Podcast #182 – Le Mans, Chevrolet, GM HD Trucks, Mini’s aggression and the new Jetta

      

Tags: 2011, A4, Apple, Audi, bmw, BMW X6, Chat, chevrolet, chevy, duty, Free, general motors, gm, GMC, iTunes, lexus, mp3, Official, Pickup, Porsche, review, Time, truck, volkswagen, X6