Blog Posts by: Todd Lassa  

THE CONTIDROME, GERMANY – We’re going to need a new verb. Tuesday night, I became the first American journalist (and we became the second publication overall, after a German magazine) to get behind the wheel of a Continental AG automated development car. It was one of two black U.S.-spec Volkswagen ...    Read more

Elsewhere in this automotive world, Elon Musk is telling Bloomberg he wants the Tesla Model S to have Google’s autopilot technology – that’s his preferred name for autonomous cars. Cadillac issued a press release a few days ago touting the advancements it’s making with SuperCruise, the company’s autonomous technology promised ...    Read more

Ford Motor Company set a sales record in China last month, selling 81,387 vehicles, a 65 percent increase over March ’12. Still, that’s small beer next to arch-rival General Motors, whose March ’13 sales rose 12.6 percent, to 290,538 cars and trucks. More China-centric products built with local partner Changan Ford will ...    Read more

If the Mercedes-Benz Concept GLA, which premieres this weekend at the Shanghai motor show, doesn't quite look like a smaller version of the upright GLK-class you expected, look no further than the BMW X1. When a production version of the GLA goes on sale in the U.S. in fall 2014, ...    Read more

DEARBORN, Michigan – Ford’s new 1.5-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine will take over from the 1.6 EcoBoost as the Fusion’s volume engine immediately when it becomes available at the beginning of the 2014 model year, says Joe Bakaj, powertrain engineering vice president. The new engine actually is based on the 1.6-liter EcoBoost ...    Read more

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The days of double-digit sales increases are over, because we are no longer comparing year-over-year numbers against dismal statistics. Car sales ended 2012 at 14.5 million, so if we buy, say, 15.1- to 15.5-million this year, the increase won’t look as dramatic. That didn’t stop auto execs from revealing a ...    Read more

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WOODCLIFF LAKE, New Jersey - The new 2.0-liter turbodiesel in BMW's upcoming 2014 328d will be priced between the 328i twin-turbo four and the turbo I-6 335i when it goes on sale in the U.S. later this year. The diesel four will be available in the 3-series sedan with both ...    Read more

DETROIT – Cadillac will fill the gap between the naturally aspirated, 3.6-liter CTS and supercharged CTS-V with a 420-horsepower, 430 pound-foot twin-turbo 3.6 V-6 engine. The new engine will be officially unveiled at the New York International Auto Show later this month and premiers in the 2014 Cadillac CTS that ...    Read more

GENEVA - Here’s what I saw during press days at the 2013 Geneva International Motor Show. Pocket guide? Yeah, if you’re reading it on your smartphone. Cue the overly dramatic music: The BMW 3 Series Gran Touring is here … the first presser I actually made on ...    Read more

GENEVA – Mercedes-Benz previewed its 2014 CLA250 just before the Detroit show, then whisked it off to a fashion show in Berlin. With first drives just concluding, Geneva qualifies as a kind of world premiere for its front-drive “baby CLS.” Our review goes off-embargo Wednesday afternoon. The show also gives Mercedes’ ...    Read more

It was the E39 BMW M5. I worked for a different car magazine when we finally got one in the office, shortly before the 1999 Detroit auto show, if memory serves. The editor-in-chief couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel and drive it to his home in one of the ...    Read more

Texting, tapping in a phone number, entering a navigation destination, changing the radio station, and eating breakfast are good ways to describe how too many people drive a car these days. The Pandora's box of electronic distractions can't be closed. Continental AG says complete banishment of electronics inside your car ...    Read more

Porsche famously changed the name of its 901 to 911 shortly before the 356 successor premiered at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt 50 years ago this autumn. Peugeot had already laid claim to triple-digit model designations with a zero in the middle, and you don’t want consumers to confuse ...    Read more