General Motors has announced a recall of certain 2011 and , and models for wipers that may fail under heavy snow. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, snow or ice buildup may restrict the wiper movement, which may in turn lead to the wiper arm loosening from the vehicle. The ensuing reduced visibility could increase the risk of an accident. The recall only covers models currently registered in heavy snow states – about 50,000 units – including Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware and Idaho, among others. The full list may be found in the recall report .
GM is expected to begin notifying owners on Monday, April 16, and dealers will address the issue free of charge. In what sounds like one of the simpler and quicker recall fixes we can remember, dealer technicians will tighten the wiper arm nuts to prevent the wiper arms from becoming inoperable. Click for the full recall notice.
Production of the upcoming Maserati Kubang may be set for the Jefferson North plant where builds the on which the high-riding will be based, but that doesn’t mean that the Trident marque is giving up on production in its home country of Italy anytime soon.
According to statements made by union officials, Maserati is gearing up to produce a new four-door sedan at a facility on the outskirts of Turin – although whether that is the larger replacement for the or its upcoming baby brother remains unclear – but that’s not all. Maserati, according to reports, has also been tasked with building the 4C sportscar for sister-brand Alfa Romeo, much like it had with the higher-end 8C Competizione that came before.
Between the two new sedans, the SUV, the ongoing production of the line and the Alfa 4C, Maserati sure seems to have its hands full – with a little game of musical factories – for a brand currently represented by two model lines.
is getting religion when it comes to light-weighting its vehicles. The company has entered into a new partnership with to develop carbon fiber that can be manufactured at affordable prices for high-volume applications. That, of course, is the holy grail of weight reduction, which is why other manufacturers like General Motors are also to try and achieve the same ends.
Now before you get too excited about the carbon-fiber in the photos, understand that it was just a limited-production car shown at in 2009, and it carried a price tag of $135,000. That’s the problem with carbon fiber parts – they are expensive because they are much more difficult to manufacture in volume than steel.
But if Ford and other carmakers are going to achieve the sorts of fuel economy improvements required by new regulations, they’re going to have to either scale carbon fiber or dramatically shrink the size of most vehicles. Ford says it’s targeting a 750-pound weight reduction per vehicle by the end of the decade.
No matter how hard you try, you can’t out run the Internet. Just ask Bobby Patton. The man thought he could pull a quick one by representing a 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle as an incredibly rare, incredibly valuable Z16.
For those of us who aren’t soaked in obscure General Motors model history, Z16 models featured brakes lifted from full-size sedans of the day, a unique rear axle, a stiffer boxed frame borrowed from a convertible and a uniquely trimmed L37 396 V8. Other details like special trim work, badges, VINs and various engine and axle stampings help identify the hopped up Malibu models from their kin.
Patton missed the memo on those details, apparently, opting instead to slap some 396 badges on the fender and call it a day. While that may have been enough to fool a local car show judge, it became an issue when he listed the coupe on an auction site for $100,000. Jeff Helms, the owner of a site dedicated to nothing but Z16 models, quickly pointed out that the Chevelle boasted a fake VIN copied from a photo on his website. Patton then attempted to defend himself, saying he bought the car that way.
Patton closed the auction after four days, but not before the Ohio State Patrol got wind of the suspicious ‘65. Officers contacted the previous owner, who proved the car had been sold with 327 emblems. It didn’t take long for Patton to face charges of Tampering with Records, Possessing Criminal Tools, Telecommunications Fraud and Attempted Simulation. He pleaded guilty to the first charge and received two years of probation. Head over to for the full tale, and remember, the Internet is watching.
If you’ve ever tried installing an infant car seat in say, a , you understand that just because a car has LATCH anchors doesn’t mean your car seat is going to fit. Those anchors are supposed to make child restraint installation a breeze, but according to a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, many automakers aren’t following the spirit of the law requiring them.
The study looked at the 98 top-selling vehicles from 2010-2011 and found just 21 that met its criteria for having “easy-to-use” LATCH hardware. Making the list were the ; ; , , and ; ; , and ; and ; ; ; ; ; and ; and ; and .
The researchers used a test fixture that adhered to guidelines developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers to develop three criteria for evaluation. The first was having anchors that were easy to see and not buried beneath rear seat cushions. The second was having the LATCH attachment points unobstructed by seatbelts, foam or other parts of the seat. The third was that adults could correctly install the seats using less than 40 pounds of force.
While the study found that the majority of models didn’t nail all three criteria, the list of vehicles that didn’t meet any of them was much shorter: ; ; ; and ; ; and .
to see a video about LATCH and read the full release from IIHS.
It’s no secret that the is an Americanized version of the Opel Insignia, and even uses this fact to try and persuade the public that the car is a European sport sedan rather than just a way to try and make some profit from the black-ink-challenged Opel unit. The Opel Insignia is headed for a mid-cycle facelift very soon, and camoflaged test cars have been snagged by spy photographers.
While the models in the photographs are a European-spec hatchback and a wagon, there’s clearly a new grille in the works, and the headlights and tail lamps will be changed, plus some other minor nips/tucks. The Insignia will debut the changes first, and we’d expect the Regal to pick them up soon after.
More details are filtering in about at the Technical Center battery research lab in Warren, Michigan.
First, the number of people injured has climbed to five, with one taken to the hospital and four treated at the scene. The local deputy fire chief said none of the injuries were life-threatening. The fire department also told the local mayor that it was fumes from hydrogen sulfide that caused the explosion, but GM declined to comment on that aspect. We learned yesterday that a battery under “extreme testing” caused the explosion.
According to The Detroit News‘ David Shepardson on , “Chemical gases from the battery cells were released and ignited in the enclosed chamber. The battery itself was intact” , “All areas of the Alternative Energy Center except for the battery lab and adjacent offices will operate normally on Thursday.”
Unnamed sources have told the media that it was a prototype battery pack made by A123 that caused the fire. Fox News that pack was being tested for use in the Chevy Spark EV and other all-electric vehicles. Batteries made by A123 were recently involved in in the .
How important is the auto industry to state and federal governments? According to the Center for Automotive Research, the industry accounts for $135 billion in annual taxes. In fact, a reported 13 percent of all state taxes comes from the automobile, or $91.5 billion in total.
Just as impressive is the overall money that Americans pour into their four-wheeled transportation. CAR estimates that auto sales come in at $564 billion, and parts, repairs and other services add in another $173 billion. And those are the staggering numbers generated in an auto market of only 12 million units per year. So far, 2012 auto sales appear to be moving closer to 14 million units, which should help push the $735 billion total closer to the $1 trillion mark.
The income generated by cars and trucks is certainly significant, but a good portion of that income goes toward new roads. Of the $43 billion that ends up in federal coffers, $29 billion comes from fuel taxes. On the state level, two-thirds of the $91.5 billion comes from taxes on fuel. Still, that amounts to 10 percent of California’s overall revenue and a knee-wobbling 23 percent of revenue in Oklahoma.
Auto jobs also contribute serious coin to Uncle Sam, with Michigan leading the way. Uncle Sam took in $2.2 billion from The Mitten State, followed by Ohio and California. to read the CAR press release.
J.D. Power and Associates created the Power Information Network (PIN) in 1993 to collect and analyze dealer transactions on new and used cars. Power uses the data from more than 10,000 dealerships to “improve business for automotive dealers, manufacturers, lenders, and other companies in the industry.” The wider use of consumer data captured at the point-of-sale is what concerns dealers, and it’s probably that reasoning which has led to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) partnering with J.D. Power to codify how the information is used and to enhance its application.
It isn’t yet spelled out clearly how the tie-up will alter the relationship between dealers and J.D. Power, but it appears to give the NADA a better position in the food chain and flow of customer data, and more protection for dealers and for the data itself. for a press release about the announcement.
There have been plenty of rumors surrounding the fate of and its relationship with its longtime parent company, Proton. Some are saying that Dany Bahar has been axed as CEO, that the company is undergoing bankruptcy protection, and that its involvement in Formula One has drawn to a close. Lotus itself is hard at work quashing those rumors – attributing most to the people at Caterham – but among them we have some juicy tidbits of information regarding its arrangement with the Formula One team formerly known as Renault.
Having sold most of its stake in its team to Genii Capital, Renault reverted to an engine supplier role the year before last, and Group Lotus stepped in as title sponsor, which is an interesting relationship for an automaker to have with an F1 team that it does not own or run itself – and not dissimilar to the sponsorship arrangement has with Red Bull Racing. The deal has Lotus holding branding rights, merchandising license and title sponsorship with the team.
As part of the arrangement, however, Proton granted Genii a £30 million ($48 million) loan against which Genii leveraged the team’s entire assets. So in addition to the 10 percent of the team which Proton has the right to buy at any time, it could take another 10 percent if Genii defaults on the repayment of its loan. But if Genii proves incapable of paying back Proton altogether, the Malaysian automaker could find itself in entire possession of a leading F1 team. Just what they’d do with it if it no longer owned Group Lotus, however, would remain to be seen. for the full statement.
The production crew for recently stopped by the Nürburgring to recreate Niki Lauda’s infamous Formula One crash during the 1976 Nürburgring GP. Lauda’s car suffered a catastrophic failure on the second lap, launching him into the guardrail and placing his crumpled machine in the path of Brett Lunger’s Surtees-Ford. The two collided and it wasn’t long before Lauda was trapped in burning wreckage. Lunger and a handful of other racers fought to pull Lauda from the flames. Those on hand succeeded in rescuing the Austrian, and while he lapsed into a coma and suffered disfiguring burns, he was back in the cockpit within two months.
Just before the race, Lauda had pressed for a boycott of the dangerous race. The area in which the crash occurred is now known as Lauda Links.
Rush will follow the volatile 1976 F1 season and two of the primary characters that defined the year: Lauda and James Hunt. to see bystander video of the stuntmen in action.
According to at least one unnamed source, is as good as done. Reuters reports that has taken a good hard look at Ducati’s books and found “no major stumbling blocks.”
Another source says Ducati’s largest shareholder, , has agreed to discuss the cyclemaker’s sale to no one but Audi.
Volkswagen’s annual shareholder meeting is April 19 and an announcement concerning Audi’s purchase of Ducati could come before then. Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera has reported that Audi’s bargaining exclusivity rights will expire April 15, at which point Investindustrial will then be free to shop around for a Ducati buyer.
As an American living in Italy, there are often entire month-long stretches where I drive nothing but European cars that will sadly never come out to play on American soil. Such is the case for the abundantly adored Audi A6 Allroad Quattro seen here. I was initially of the assumption that since the had already been confirmed for the U.S. that the A6 Allroad would be coming as well, but I am dismayed to report otherwise.
Such a pity, too. The business case for giving North America the whole range of Audi models that Germany offers apparently just doesn’t pan out financially – and for some of us, it’s the old predictable story of unrequited love across the chilly Atlantic.
Team Ingolstadt brought me into their home in Neckarsulm just north of hilly Stuttgart for this drive through the area’s precisely cultivated fields of hops. The aroma of beer is everywhere here, which may go some way toward explaining just why the new A6 Allroad felt so good under and around me as we freight-trained along the Swabian two-lanes.
A few years ago, we brought you on the speculative values of Pagani supercars. Whether as investments or frivolous purchases, those with the means, it seemed, were paying well above list price to get their hands on one of the rarest supercars on (or off) the market. But that was just as the world was on the brink of financial collapse. Surely with the global economy still in the drink years later, nobody’s paying those kinds of figures for something as extravagant as an exotic supercar… right?
Wrong. In fact, it seems, the value for Pagani models has only gone up. According to Evo magazine editor-in-chief (and Zonda owner) Harry Metcalfe, buyers with the means are paying as much as double the already grandiose list price to get their hands on a Zonda or Huayra. Apparently the white Huayra that Pagani displayed at the never reached the Middle Eastern buyer who ordered it a year prior and was supposed to take delivery after the show, having flipped it to another buyer who was willing to pay him an astounding 1.8 million euros for the car. That’s $2.35 million in American greenbacks, or twice the 900,000 euro ($1.18m) list price.
Think that was an isolated incident? Hardly. A Zonda F Roadster (said to be the last ever made), a 2008 Zonda F coupe and a used Zonda C12S were all, according to Metcalfe’s sources, recently sold for double their MSRPs. So if you’ve been scrimping and saving every dime to get your hands on a Pagani, better keep saving.
Early reports are filtering in this morning of an explosion at a General Motors Technical Center battery research lab in Warren, Michigan. According to The Detroit News, a battery exploded injuring one or two people.
According to the report, Warren’s fire department received a call at around 9AM this morning, only to find two injured and “a small fire” stemming from the explosion. A General Motors spokesman apparently put the number of injured parties at one, so there is still some confusion about the number of people affected by the incident at this point.
A HAZMAT team was dispatched to the Tech Center and the building has been evacuated, with all employees accounted for. Detroit NBC affiliate WXYZ is on the scene with a live feed that you can . The extent of the injuries and damage, along with what caused the explosion, are not immediately clear, but we will have more details as they become available, so stay tuned.
*UPDATE:Video added . ** UPDATE: In a statement added after the jump, GM now says the explosion was caused by “extreme testing of a prototype battery” that is “unrelated to the or any other production vehicle.”
Because new wheels ain’t cheap, and spray paint isn’t permanent enough, Foliatec offers vinyl .
For only about $65 (plus shipping from Germany) a can, any kustom kar owner can get all fast-and-furious on their wheels, mirrors, bumpers, vinyl tops, dashboards, ex-girlfriends, etc. – pretty much anything metallic or plastic.
Foliatec says the “rubber-like coat” is fairly durable and protects whatever it covers. And when you tire of looking like a Vin-Diesel-wannabe, the street-racer “green silky matt” easily peels off to instantly return $500 to the resale value of your pocket rocket. Or choose one of the other two spray vinyl colors available: anthracite metallic and black matt. Either should last you well into your mid-20s.
Formula One has many homes: the Formula One Management company that controls its commercial aspects is based in London, the FIA that governs its sporting aspects is based in Paris, and you’d certainly have a point to make if you asserted its spiritual home was in Monaco. But none of these places are where its stakeholders are looking to float its Initial Public Offering. No, that place is Singapore.
CVC Capital Partners – the investment group that owns the majority of Formula One – has been toying with floating an IPO on the Singapore Stock Exchange for several weeks now, and according to reports is gearing up for the move. Both Bloomberg and Reuters are expecting that the stock issue would constitute about 20% of the business, likely to come mostly out of CVC’s end which amounts to 63.4 percent, and not that of its manager Bernie Ecclestone whose stake comes to 5.3%. (Lehman Brothers holds another 15.3%, Ecclestone’s ex-wife Slavica owns 8.5%, with the remaining 7.5% divided up between various minority investors.)
With the overall value of the business estimated at $10 billion, the 20% tipped to be offered on the open market is expected to bring in $2 billion in capital for its sellers, however CVC could opt for the minimum 15% to raise $15 billion. So… why Singapore? The vital Asian business capital has apparently been chosen to help F1 drum up support in the Far East, a region where grands prix are held in Malaysia, China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore itself.
There are lots of automotive videogames, from realistic racing games like Gran Turismo and Forza to fun driving games like Mario Kart to social games like Disc Drivin’ for iOS. But there is only one Grand Theft Auto.
No other video game brings the dark humor inherent in mayhem like the GTA franchise, and it looks like a new installment will be here in a scant six months. According to a report on Joystiq, a Linked In resume for an animator and employee at game developer Rockstar was spotted listing Grand Theft Auto V with a shipping date of October 2012. Since then, the resume has been removed from the site and Rockstar is not commenting, according to the report.
Of course, the video game industry is as notorious for slipping shipping dates as it is for rumor mongering, so while you might want to place your preorder on Amazon, don’t be surprised if you’re still waiting come Christmas. Joystiq is skeptical about an October shipping date, pointing out that Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has already announced BioShock Infinite for an October launch, which would put the two titles in unnecessary competition.
Until then, we still have the , which you can see if you scroll down.
What is thought to be a band of thieves broke into eight cars at a park-and-ride lot in Salem, New Hampshire. Then it is thought they went next door to Cars, Inc. and stole a , a and a 2003 . The and getaway drivers reportedly went on about their business quietly. The driver, on the other hand, decided to flaunt what he got: at 2 a.m. he drove eight miles over the border to Methuen, Massachusetts, pulled into the local police station and did donuts in their front lot.
But wait, there’s more: he took off, entertained himself for two hours, then went back to the police station at 4 a.m. and whipped up a few more hot, rubbery circles. A police cruiser was on scene and gave chase, but the 911 pilot got away.
A little later in Lawrence, MA, two miles from Methuen, someone called police to report a rolled 911. The stolen wheels were recovered, the thief in question was not. We have no doubt the Methuen PD – once the screaming stops – is preparing to put that through a forensic and DNA investigation that would make CSI proud. for the news report from WHDH.
The next year and a half will be an interesting period for . The automaker has announced that it will launch five new models over the course of 15 months, starting with the that at the last week. What’s next? Take a close look at the image above and those mysterious shapes under the white sheets aren’t exactly tough to decipher.
Left to right, first up is clearly the hatchback, the five-door follower of the not-so-highly regarded sedan that launched late last year. Want another glimpse of what could be in store for the large-rumped Versa? Have a glance at its overseas cousin, the . The North American model will no doubt be different, but the Tiida indeed previews what could be in store.
The next two models aren’t really a surprise – that big crossover is the that we’ve already seen in , and the middle car is the midsize Altima sedan. Moving one more space to the right, there’s a smaller CUV that is, without question, the next-generation . Lastly, that’s the new hanging out at the far right. The next Sentra has already been tipped to receive an Altima-like front fascia, and that’s immediately noticeable even under the white sheet.
The 2013 Pathfinder will go on sale later this year, following the launch of the new Altima. As for what’s next, your guess is as good as ours. As Car and Driver reports, the fact that Nissan has confirmed that one of these cars is the new Sentra makes us think it’ll be the next one to arrive, not to mention the fact that it’s the one most desperately in need of replacement.
J.D. Power and Associates created the Power Information Network (PIN) in 1993 to collect and analyze dealer transactions on new and used 
