As South Korean automakers continue to push for upscale European clients they are also offering General Motors a chance to push a Chevy into Europe which has so far struggled in the continental market. Thomas Serdan, the new president of Chevrolet told in Europe last Tuesday that it is evident from the pricing of Hyundai and Kia that they certainly want to move up the market and when everybody is pushing forward certainly more space is created for others.
According to a recently published report, fuel efficiency of new vehicles sold in the U.S. has reached an average of 24.9 miles per gallon, and this result is achieved despite the growing sales of CUV and SUVs. As per Michael Sivak, from the University of Michigan, it is not surprising that overall fuel economy is America is on an improving curve as more and more buyers are opting for fuel efficient models of different classes of automobiles.
General Motors, the giant automobile manufacturing company in the world, has launched its typical “stair-step” program yet again to broaden the sales incentives for Chevrolet dealers to pump up the sales revenues this year. The sales figures for 2013 and 2014 Chevrolet cars such as Camaros, Impalas, Sonics, and Cruzes will be included in the program for August.
Ford Motors recently announced lowering of their rating for fuel economy on C-Max Hybrid vehicles. It was a forced decision after they faced lawsuits and heavy criticism from users of this car everywhere. Their stated fuel economy for the car initially was 47 mpg, which is now going to become 43 mpg. Naturally, this decision is going to cost the automobile giant, a pretty penny in the coming times.
The all-new, fully redesigned Mazda3 recently announced their EPA rating for the 2014 sedan model. It has a 29 mpg for city and 41 mpg for highway fuel economy figure involving manual six-speed transmission. This announcement covers their 2014 sedan with four-cylinder, 2 L, 155 hp engine. Addition of automatic transmission in this new model boosts their city rating but their highway, fuel economy remains unchanged. City ratings increased by 1 mpg.
In a recent study involving new model vehicles for gauging owner satisfaction, Porsche and Range Rover took the top slots. Volkswagen Group was the clear leader with their five different nameplates getting thumbs up from vehicle owners everywhere. These included Audi Allroad, Porsche Cayenne, Volkswagen Passat, Porsche Boxster, and Volkswagen GTI. Some of the attributes the survey included while judging the vehicles were, performance, layout, design, and fuel economy, among others.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently levied a staggering $3.2 million penalty on Expert Global Solutions, a Texas based auto-lending company. This Texan concern was guilty of harassing consumers in the U.S. through their debt collection calls. Their behavior was a violation of the Practices Act, which calls for fair collection of debt.
Drivers in California are in for a treat with the California Department of Insurance revealing a further drop in the auto insurance rates in the state. This is the second time this year that this state has made amends to its auto insurance program, thus making it more affordable for the common man.
CarMax Inc., the largest retailer of used vehicles in the nation, recently announced its plans to open four new stores in the coming times. These are to be located in Washington State, Alabama, Pennsylvania, and New York respectively. Work is going on in this regard at an almost war footing and the company is hopeful that these stores will begin operations by 2014, by the March-May period.
As an expansion of rolling over 249,000 SUVs in last August to check for a short in the circuit board in the drivers’ door, General Motors, a top-tier auto manufacturer, has recalled an additional 231,000 vehicles that might also have the danger of electrical short, which can cause fires. The sports utility vehicles involved in both the recall segments include Buick Rainier, 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT, 2006 GMC Envoy XL, GMC Envoy, 2006-2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer, Isuzu Ascender and Saab 9-7X. According to General Motors, about 443,000 of the SUVs of more than 480,000 that were recalled are in the United States itself.
With the focus on globalization, Toyota Motor Corp., one of the leading auto manufacturers in the world, entered the American market in North America and South America with two familiar names for drastically different markets. Jim Lentz is the new CEO for Toyota in North America, whereas Steve St. Angelo will head for the Caribbean and Latin America. Their performance uniquely in these two markets will determine the company’s success in the biggest market ever, the United States of America, and in the region with one of the highest growth potentials ever.
The recent decision of the Obama government to sell more of their General Motors stakes finally confirms the resurgence of the auto industry in the country. This is surely hearty news for the domestic industry, which has been struggling with a near collapse for years now.
Followed by the tremendous destruction that the city of Oklahoma witnessed last week, people need a lot of help and support in the months to come. With the focus to drive the tornado relief effort in Oklahoma, several leading automakers across the world have come up front to donate vehicles, money and necessary supplies to aid in the rebuilding and recovery process in the coming months. Top auto manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, and Chrysler have stepped forward to support the residents in Oklahoma to recover from the significant destruction and loss that they met last week.
According to forecasters, U.S auto sales for the month of May are expected to bounce back after a ‘slowdown’ in April. This, according to forecasters, will dramatically ease the apprehension of yet another “spring collapse.” Full sized pickups will witness strong sales, driving the market yet again as the real estate industry continues to bounce back after a dwindling scenario. “Surprising” dip in the month of April was a real worry to the automakers because the early three years witnessed strong sales in the first quarter, only followed by swooning spring.
Practice speeds from Indianapolis 500 never gained as much attention as the new kid on the block Carlos Munoz. This twenty one year old youngster from Columbia kept the onlookers in throes with his 223.023mph run, which was the fastest lap among the Sunday bunch. His vehicle was the fifth in line at Andretti Autosport. Driver for Michel Andretti kept exchanging their position but ultimately Munoz won the laurels due to his trail blazing run.
Working against the trends S Sedan model from Tesla stables helped make unprecedented profits for this California carmaker. The huge profits have surprised even the company, which had not considered such a huge success for its electric car. Their $11.2 million profits have effectively shut the mouth of skeptics who were predicting demise of the concept even before it got on the floors. While Elon Musk, the Tesla founder was keeping an optimistic expectation, the news of record sales in electric car segment has come as a pleasurable surprise on all counts.
Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor today confirmed the shifting of their Lexus production to US soil. Towards this purpose, the company is all set to invest over five hundred million dollars. A production unit in this luxury vehicle is to come up in Georgetown, Kentucky. The president is hopeful that the first of updated sedans from Lexus will roll off the plant by 2015. Toyoda, by the way is the grandson of Toyota Motor’s founder.
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