Latest Car News
GM Confirms: Cadillac CTS Coupe to Arrive Next Year
Posted: Nov. 23, 2009 11:11:28 a.m.
The Cadillac CTS is, by most accounts, the best American-made sport sedan. It’s been taking the fight to the BMW 3-Series for several years now, and is gaining ground. It’s high-performance edition, the CTS-V, has even topped the legendary M3 in some comparison tests. But to truly knock off the German king of the entry-level luxury segment, Cadillac would need a CTS Coupe and a hardtop CTS convertible.
Check off another box. The Coupe is coming.
Fewer Than 200 People Have Taken GM Up on Money-Back Offer
Posted: Nov. 23, 2009 11:11:28 a.m.
General Motors’ 60-day money-back guarantee program appears to have been a success for the automaker. Out of 222,000 people who’ve bought GM cars since the program launched in September, the AP reports, “Just 193 people have returned their vehicles.” In a few cases, GM Vice President of Global Product Engineering Mark Reuss told the AP, buyers didn’t even leave GM behind – they just “traded up to another GM vehicle with more features than the one they originally ...
Volvo Gives Away Edward's Car from New Moon
Posted: Nov. 23, 2009 11:11:48 a.m.
Why do vampires drive Volvos? It seems like crash protection wouldn’t matter particularly much to the undead. Yet, there they are, all over movie screens, driving Swedish cars best known for their high-tech crash avoidance features and unusually rigid safety cages.
The Boston Globe explains, “Vampires have taken a bite out of pop culture, thanks in no small part to the massive success of the Twilight books and films. To keep rabid fans of the series appeased, stores from ...
Report: More Chrysler Dealers Could be Forced to Close
Posted: Nov. 23, 2009 11:11:00 a.m.
To help its return to profitability, Chrysler trimmed its dealership network by a third earlier this year. It may soon begin to lose more dealerships – this time without advance planning.
Bloomberg reports, “Chrysler Group LLC may lose as many as 145 more U.S. dealers unless the retailers can find lenders to finance their new-vehicle inventory.”
Dealerships generally don’t own the cars they sell. Instead, they finance new cars through a special financing vehicle known as a “floorplan loan ...
Chevy Volt Will Warn Pedestrians With a Friendly Chirp
Posted: Nov. 23, 2009 11:11:46 a.m.
The 2011 Chevy Volt will run nearly silently. An “Extended-Range Electric Vehicle,” the Volt can drive under battery power alone for up to 40 miles before its gasoline engine starts – meaning that it makes no engine noise to warn pedestrians of its presence.
Because of its virtual silence, CNBC reports, “GM has built in a "chirp" for drivers to announce/warn pedestrians when they are driving by. This chirp is gentler than a car horn blaring and drivers sound it ...
Chrysler Aims to Top Quality Surveys by 2012
Posted: Nov. 20, 2009 09:11:58 a.m.
Ford may have made the slogan "Quality is job one," famous, but Chrysler is taking it to heart.
The Detroit News reports, "Chrysler Group LLC is backing claims that it will be a quality leader by the end of 2012 with a revamped, refocused and much larger quality team, tougher standards and a commitment to achieving sustainable quality gains crucial to its long-term success by changing company culture."
Autoblog acknowledges that the quality climb will be a steep one for ...
GM and Chrysler Won't Be Required to make Electric Cars
Posted: Nov. 20, 2009 09:11:53 a.m.
After the government bailout of Chrysler and GM left the feds in charge of many areas of the companies, there were fears that politicians and bureaucrats would start dictating each company’s product line. The Obama administration is saying that's not the case.
Reuters reports, "The Obama administration's preference for robust electric car production will not influence its oversight of taxpayer equity in General Motors and Chrysler, an administration official said."
As much as the administration would like ...
Buick Regal to Have Manual Transmission Option
Posted: Nov. 20, 2009 09:11:52 a.m.
Buicks may have the reputation of being the car of choice for hitting the early bird special, but how do you think your granny would like to row her way through a snick-snick manual tranny on her way to the fabric store?
Buick seems to think she'd like it just fine. Better yet, Buick thinks you wouldn't mind slipping through a standard on your way to the fabric store (or early bird dinner, or wherever you go).
Yesterday ...
Toyota and IIHS Snipe Over Top Safety Picks
Posted: Nov. 19, 2009 10:11:56 a.m.
It seems like Toyota just can't catch a break. First, the global recession cuts into sales. Then, they have a massive recall of millions of Toyota vehicles due to reports of unintended acceleration. After that, Volkswagen takes Toyota's title as world's largest automaker. Then, there are quality issues: Business Week reports, "This year, for the first time, Hyundai Motor passed Toyota in a J.D. Power & Associates survey that measures how many problems a model has in ...
BMW 5 Series GT Pricing Announced
Posted: Nov. 19, 2009 10:11:05 a.m.
The price, along with a few first test drives, of the car no one knows quite what to do with, have come in.
Car and Driver says, "Trying to describe the BMW 5-series Gran Turismo can sound a bit like trying to solve a riddle: What has the rear seat of a 7-series, the driving position of an X5, and the over-the-road dynamics of a 5-series?"
Motor Trend tries to make sense of the 5 Series Gran Turismo by putting ...
