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By on October 13, 2012

After a trip to Russia last Wednesday and a thorough look at Japan on Monday, here I am again, annoying you with ever more worldwide car sale figures. This time let’s get back to basics and look at the best-selling hybrid/electric cars in the USA, a category up 75 percent year-on-year…

Can’t get your head around why you would buy cars that  run on batteries? That’s ok, you can discover the best-selling models in 168 countries and territories in my blog and you’ll see most of them still are good old gas-guzzlers. Or today I can also offer you the Top 277 best-selling models in the USA over the first 9 months 2012

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By on October 12, 2012

Vice President Joe Biden’s net worth has been estimated to be as low as a quarter-million dollars — chump change by the standards of Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney — but surely that’s enough money in the bank to pick up a decent Trans Am, right?

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By on October 12, 2012

Brazil detailed their new five-year national auto policy, which is meant to spur investment in new auto factories, locally sourced parts content and reduced vehicle prices.

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By on October 12, 2012

Travis writes:

This might seem a little frivolous, but this is a genuine dilemma that I’m currently facing right now. I’ve been looking to replace a 2006 Pontiac GTO that I’ve had for 4 years. It’s been fun, comfortable, and mildly expensive to maintain in the last year with random small but non-typical GM parts-bin stuff falling apart. I got into an accident a few days ago which pushed around the engine enough to declare the car a total loss. Lucky me me for being safe, also lucky me for not having to sell my car while also getting partial refunds on the $2700 that’s been dropped into it in the past 3 months. (Read More…)

By on October 12, 2012

If you haven’t been paying attention to my life story (discretely woven into my reviews), I’ll spell it out clearly: I live in what is considered to be a temperate rainforest on the California coast, the nearest asphalt or concrete surface is over a mile away, and I have a deep (some say questionable) love […]

By on October 12, 2012

Think of it as a merger of the equally sick: PSA’s automotive division (Peugeot Citroen) and Opel could be put into one company, a joint venture between GM and PSA, La Tribune reports with Reuters providing the translation. (Read More…)

By on October 12, 2012

The Chinese Army was a great admirer of Benzes, so much that they built their own. Bamin State Automobile Works, or Bamin Automobile for short, was based in Minhou in Fujian Province. The company was owned by the Chinese army, it was also called the ‘PLA 7427 Works’. Bamin Automobile started business in the late 1980′s with a local licensed variant of the Beijing 212; the Bamin BM212A/BM213A. (Read More…)

By on October 12, 2012

Volkswagen wants to go back to its “People’s Car” roots, and plans to launch a new low-cost brand by about 2015, Reuters says. With a a price range of between 5,000 and 10,000 euros ($6,500-$12,900), Volkswagen wants to emulate the success of Renault’s Dacia. Nissan resurrected Datsun as a low-cost brand to help gain market share in lucrative emerging markets. (Read More…)

By on October 12, 2012

German unions know that “end of October” means more for GM than October 31. German  unions now demand a final deal with Opel by October 26. If there is no deal, it will cost Opel: Opel can defer paying a 4.3 percent industry-wide wage rise until October 31, if there is no deal, Opel has to pay. Also on October 31, GM will publish its third-quarter earnings. (Read More…)

By on October 12, 2012

Strong demand is spurring Chevrolet to import more Chevrolet Spark minicars from Korea – though Chevrolet won’t release their initial projections or how many Sparks will be imported in the next round.

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By on October 12, 2012

Yesterday, I asked you to take a ride around Virginia International Raceway with me in the 2013 Shelby GT500. What I didn’t mention was that I had a brief dice with world-famous instructor and VIR hotshoe extraordinaire Peter Krause in his Sports 2000 racer.

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By on October 12, 2012

Volkswagen published group totals for September. They are not quite the 6.8 million rumored a few days ago, but close enough. According to Volkswagen data, groupwide sales reached  6.71 million for the first three quarters of 2012, up 9.7 percent. In September, sales were up 6.5 percent to 801,000. In China, Volkswagen pierced the 2 million barrier. (Read More…)

By on October 12, 2012

As part of a cost-cutting measure, workers at the Opel/Vauxhall plant at Ellsemere Port, UK, will switch to a four-day week from the current five-day setup.

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By on October 11, 2012

(NSFW Language)

Chrysler is launching a series of “buzz cars”, a fancy name for special edition package that will ostensibly maintain consumer interest in their cars as they progress over the model cycle.

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By on October 11, 2012

 

Chevrolet is betting that the number 13 will be lucky one. The GM brand announced on Wednesday that they will be introducing 13 redesigned or completely new vehicles for the North American market in 2013. While a number of those are expected, like the new Impala and the latest iteration of the Silverado fullsize body-on-frame pickup, according to GM spokesman Michael Albano the automaker is “thrilled” that two of the thirteen cars and trucks will be “complete surprises”. Joining the Impala and Silverado, among the non-surprises there’s going be a new Traverse CUV, a diesel Cruze and an electric Spark (sorry, I didn’t name the car).

“13 is a big year for Chevrolet. You know some of them. There’s a lot of chatter about others and a couple will be complete surprises, which we’re thrilled about.”

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