Blog Posts by: Joshua Duval  

Known ubiquitously in America as the car of choice for law enforcement agencies, the Ford Crown Victoria is a rear-wheel drive behemoth that offers everything police officers need. But with Ford ending production of the Crown Vic - one of the oldest vehicles on the market - by 2011, law ...    Read more

Despite the fact that General Motors has killed the Saturn Vue 2-Mode Hybrid, the Environmental Protection Agency still released its fuel economy numbers: 27 miles per gallon in the city, 30 mpg on the highway, and 28 mpg combined. GM had previously estimated that the system would get 30 mpg ...    Read more

Chrysler said yesterday in a letter to Congress that it would begin accepting product liability claims filed before June 10, 2009, the day it emerged from its government-backed bankruptcy as a new organization.Chrysler Group ("new Chrysler") purchased many of Old Carco's ("old Chrysler") assets on June 10, but ...    Read more

Confirming reports that emerged out of Japan earlier this month, Toyota has announced it will end production of its vehicles at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in Fremont, California. The decision follows weeks of uncertainty about the future of the plantafter General Motors's withdrawal from the joint venture ...    Read more

Two out-of-state companies may turn a vacant Ford plant in Wixom, Michigan, into an energy park, spending $725 million to renovate the facility and create 4300 new jobs. The 320-acre site, which has 4.7 million square feet of factory space, used to churn out Thunderbirds and, more recently, Lincoln Town ...    Read more

General Motors has already identified its four "core" brands, but now it must work on solidifying the identities of those brands and begin marketing them to the world. First stop: Mexico.Across the border, GM sells three of the four core brands -- Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC -- but pairs them ...    Read more

Though the details of the Fiat-imposed reorganization of Chrysler are relatively scarce, the two automakers will do their best to present themselves as a happy family next month at the Frankfurt auto show. They are reportedly expected to share floor space at the show, displaying their vehicles side by side.The ...    Read more

With several new vehicles in its lineup and a determined focus on improving its gasoline engines to increase fuel economy, Mazda seems poised to take advantage of automobile-starved consumers once the market rebounds. In the next two to three years, Mazda will reportedly introduce an all-new Tribute based ...    Read more

It isn't just Chrysler's creditors going after Daimler anymore. Chrysler itself has filed a lawsuit against the German firm, claiming its former parent is refusing to honor contracts to supply partsfor some of Chrysler'smost important vehicles.In the suit filed last Friday, the Detroit automaker claims that Daimler is withholding parts ...    Read more

AlthoughFordwas the first of the Detroit three automakers to win concessions from the United Auto Workers union in response to the collapse of the U.S. auto market, Chrysler and General Motors both eventually won more concessions than Ford. Now, Ford is holding discussions with the UAW to further alter the ...    Read more

Images the of new Hyundai ix35--or the Tucson, as it's knownhere in the U.S.--have been leaked ahead of the vehicle's slated unveiling at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show next month. The Tucson is getting a major overhaul for its next iteration, and the new vehicle is much ...    Read more

If you're in the market for a Hummer and a firearm, we've found the perfect place for you: Lynch Hummer in St. Louis, Missouri.Fighting to survive after high fuel prices corralled consumers into small cars and instigated a media backlash against the Hummer brand, as well as an economic recession, ...    Read more

General Motors will reportedly remove its corporate logo from its vehicles in the 2010 model year in an attempt to shift focus off the automaker's name and emphasize its four "core" brands.GM's new executive committee decided earlier this month that the silver "GM" logos should be removed starting with 2010 ...    Read more

Despite prior concerns that the Chinese government would block the sale of Hummer to Chengdu, China-based Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company, sources familiar with the negotiations say the sale could be completed this week.Citing two people familiar with the talks between General Motors and Tengzhong, Bloomberg said executives from ...    Read more

The Cadillac Converj concept wowed everyone at least year's North American International Auto Show with its sleek design and shocking sensibility. With the Converj, GM could feasibly spread the development cost of the Voltec powertrain across two brands and reap higher profit margins by sticking the technology in a svelte ...    Read more

Honda hasn't publicly tinkered on an electric car program for quite some time. But as the technology continues to garner traction in the automotive industry, speculation suggests the Japanese automaker will make a late return to the segment in the near future.Without citing a source, the Japanese Nikkei newspaper reported ...    Read more

After just two years, deputy CEO Jim Press is reportedly leaving Chrysler before the year is over, according to three unidentified sources.The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Press, 62, is expected to leave Chrysler this year, citing three people who have been informed of the executive's plans. Chrysler ...    Read more

Chrysler and Hughes Telematics displayed some high-tech vehicle diagnostic and in-car telematics systems with a cool factor challenging Ford's SYNC system back at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but it seems they'll never actually appear in production vehicles. According to a filing submitted to the United States ...    Read more

Rather than divert development dollars to a wide range of largely niche technologies like hydrogen- and electric-powered vehicles, Mazda prefers to focus on making the gasoline engine more efficient. In order to meet its 2015 deadline of increasing fuel economy across its model line by 30 percent, the Japanese automaker ...    Read more

If you're thinking about cashing in on the CARS program, this weekend may be your last chance to do so. Just a few days after the National Automotive Dealers Association urged its members to stop applying for 'clunkers' credits, and asked the government to end the Cash Allowance Rebate System, ...    Read more

General Motors' experimental eBay website is generating interest, but few sales for the Detroit automaker. In the program's first nine days, the auction site has listed 16,228 vehicles and completed just 45 sales."It's way too early in the program to have any concrete understanding of what's going on," ...    Read more

One point of contention in the lawsuit filed against Daimler AG by Chrysler's creditors is the alleged undervaluation of the automaker's Auburn Hills-based Chrysler Complex. According to the creditors, if Daimler had sold the real estate to Cerberus Capital Management back in 2007 at more than just 20 percent of ...    Read more

As the U.S. government's Car Allowance Rebate System continues to generate sales for car dealers, the National Automotive Dealers Association has warned its members that any dealership that continues filing cash-for-clunkers deals risks not being repaid by the government. In order to get proper bearings on the program's status, NADA ...    Read more

Two drivers from Australia have broken their own "48 Contiguous U.S. States Fuel Economy Guinness World Record" this week, driving 9000-plus miles in three weeks while returning 67.9 miles per gallon.Helen and John Taylor set the previous record, 58.82 mpg, in 2008. The pair has over 80 fuel economy and ...    Read more

It was bad enough when General Motors announced it was going to kill Pontiac--and the excellent G8 sedan along with it--but then the General toyed with us, giving us conflicting reports over whether the G8 would be sold as a Chevrolet once Pontiac goes away. (It won't.) Now we're hearing ...    Read more