It’s hard to get excited about driverless cars. Some auto executives wince at the prospect of designing cars for people who aren’t going to drive them. But others, even noted car guys such as Bob Lutz, former vice chairman of General Motors, say it’d be wrong to dismiss them out of hand. Automated cars, if… Continue reading
Overdrive
News and commentary on the auto industry and the vehicles they're producing
Bollore Bluecar (Francisco.J. Gonzalez )
Europe electric car sales struggle for life; Bollore Bluecar big in France
In America, the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt are battling to win the electric car stakes. In Europe, the battery-only Leaf and the Opel-Vauxhall Ampera (an extended range electric Volt with a different badge) are the big name contenders, but they have been eclipsed by the battery-only Bollore Bluecar. “The battery-only what?”, I hear you… Continue reading
Chrysler likely to rescue Fiat financials as Europeans report first quarter results
Later this week European car manufacturers will begin announcing their financial results for the first quarter and Fiat, Chrysler’s Italian owner, looks like being a notable sufferer from the economic crisis. Peugeot-Citroen of France, GM’s new alliance partner, is also likely to have gone backwards in the first quarter, but along with its compatriot Renault,… Continue reading
Jeep, Chevrolet prosper as Europe car sales dive
Most of Europe’s big name car manufacturers were fighting off red numbers in the first quarter as European buyers were spooked by economic worries; but not Jeep and Chevrolet. GM Europe’s Opel and Vauxhall brands, flinching under the threat of plant closures and job losses, saw Western Europe sales dive 16.4 per cent to 260,000… Continue reading
Fiat's Marchionne should spell out what European action he wants
Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne should spell out exactly what he wants the European Union to do to help ailing auto manufacturers who are losing huge amounts of money because they have too many factories stamping out more cars than people want to buy. In Turin, Italy, this week he apparently criticized the Germans for getting… Continue reading
Akerson praises Ford, Chrysler CEOs
General Motors CEO Dan Akerson — who gave up more than $100 million to leave Carlyle Group to helm the Detroit automaker — has no criticism of the pay of his fellow auto CEOs. In a Detroit News interview Friday, Akerson recounted that the Treasury Department — which oversees pay at GM as part of… Continue reading
GM Europe's 2012 losses could reach $1.5 billion as plant closures rumored
Despite GM Europe’s protestations that it had no plans to shut plants to stem a flood of red ink at its Opel-Vauxhall subsidiaries, rumors gathered momentum today that a closure announcement was imminent. The rumors were generated because an Opel Supervisory board meeting was being held. GM put out a statement this afternoon saying a… Continue reading
Americans drive more in January
Despite high gasoline prices, Americans drove more in January — largely due to the unseasonably mild winter. The Federal Highway Administration says in a report released late Friday that Americans drove 1.6 percent more miles in January — or 3.5 billion miles — compared with January 2011. Overall Americans, drove 224.8 billion miles in January.… Continue reading
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- Peugeot 508
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- Peugeot 208
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- Citroen Berlingo
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- Citroen DS5
GM ally Peugeot of France makes worthy cars, but is under financial, Korean pressure
Peugeot stopped selling cars in the U.S. in 1991, so many Americans will wonder what kinds of vehicles it makes and ask what convinced General Motors to form an alliance with the French company, which also makes Citroens. Peugeot-Citroen is the second biggest car maker in Western Europe measured by sales. For the first two… Continue reading
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- Audi A4
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- Audi S4
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- AudiA4 Avant interior
New Audi A4 closes in on BMW 3 Series
Audi, Volkswagen of Germany’s luxury subsidiary, has revised its mainstream A4 model, and although it might not look very much different on the outside, it represents a big step forward in matching the driveability of the long-time champion in this class, the BMW 3 Series. BMW has just unveiled an all-new version of its 3… Continue reading