New Hyundai Sonata planned in 2014
SEOUL, March 21 (Reuters) -- South Korea's Hyundai Motor plans to launch a revamped version of its mid-sized Sonata sedan in 2014, chief executive Kim Choon-ho told Reuters on Wednesday. The latest version of the sedan was launched in September 2009 in South Korea and early 2010 in the United States. Sonata, which competes with Toyota Motor Corp.'s Camry, is Hyundai's top-selling model in the United States and helped the South Korean automaker achieve record sales and market share there last year. It was Hyundai's third-best selling model in South Korea last year. Kim also told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry meeting that the revamped version of the large-sized Genesis would be introduced in late 2013.
Posted Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Review:2012 Volkswagen Beetle
What's New for 2012 The Volkswagen Beetle has been completely redesigned for 2012, and ditches the "New" from its name despite actually being new for the first time in a decade. For now, it is available in a coupe body style only. Introduction The last "new" Volkswagen Beetle pioneered the automotive retro trend when it debuted way back for 1998. Thanks to distinctive styling and little touches like a flower vase on the dash, the New Beetle was an immediate hit with younger buyers and Baby Boomers alike. But that homage to the 1960s lasted so long without any changes that it eventually became an homage to the 1990s. In a way, the New Beetle has been a retro version of itself in its waning years. So it's with welcome relief that Volkswagen has introduced the redesigned 2012 Volkswagen Beetle. An entirely new model based on the most recent mechanical underpinnings from the redesigned VW Golf, the 2012 Beetle is a car that's a little less cute but a lot more functional. At first gl...
Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Review:2012 Infiniti G37 IPL
There's an almost infinite amount to love about the Infiniti G37 line. In sedan or coupe form, X or S guise, the vehicles deliver that difficult-to-attain blend of rear-wheel-biased performance, content and refinement with a manageable price tag. With the excellent VQ37 3.7-liter V6 engine pounding under the hood and the buyer's choice of manual or automatic gearboxes pushing power to the rear or all four wheels, the G37 family is one of the market's best arguments against sliding behind the wheel of a BMW 3 Series. That is, unless you wanted a truly serious performance machine. German titans like BMW and Mercedes-Benz have been lapping European racetracks under their M and AMG banners for decades, honing performance hardware that customers would merrily plop down fat stacks of cash for later. While Japanese luxury automakers have been somewhat slow to embrace performance sub-brands, recent years have seen an explosion of consonant-laced badging stuck to sharper machinery. Among J...
By Zach Bowman Posted Saturday, March 17, 2012VW, Ford lead in U.S. auto quality survey
DETROIT, July 12 (Reuters) - Less than a month after Ford Motor Co (F.N) was pummeled in one quality survey, a second survey has ranked it the No. 2 highest-quality U.S. automaker. The second survey, released by Strategic Vision Inc on Tuesday, said that customers' overall feeling about their vehicles is more important than particular problems. Ford owners reported more problems with their vehicles than the industry average, but rated the overall quality of the vehicles highly, according to the survey. They were particularly happy with the Ford Mustang coupe and convertible, the Flex, and the F-150 and 250/350 pickup trucks. "People think of quality in a very different sense than just counting problems," said Christopher Chaney, a Strategic Vision vice president in charge of automotive research. A company's use of new technology or styling can also play important roles, he said. On a statistical basis, Ford tied with American Honda Corp and Nissan Motor Corp in for the No. 2 r...
By Clare Baldwin - Bernard Orr Posted Tuesday, July 12, 2011Delek Auto in talk to buy Kamor Motors
Delek Auto on Sunday corroborated Calcalist's exposure that the company is negotiating with the holders of Kamor Motor's controlling interest to acquire full control of the company at a value of some NIS 245 million ($72 million), a value 55% higher than Kamor Motors' market cap. According to Delek Auto, the deal is pending completion of the tender offer for all of Kamor Motors' shares, according to which the company will acquire all of Kamor Motors remaining holdings based on the same company value, approval of the company's suppliers and approval of the Antitrust Authority, among others. Kamor Motors reported a projected profit of NIS 150 million ($44 million) as a result of the deal. According to the Calcalist report, Delek Auto – controlled by Gil Agmon – is to acquire full control of Kamor Motors, the importer of BMW and Mini Cooper, from publicly traded Kamor Ltd. which is controlled by Danny Brenner. Delek will acquire the 64% stake in Kamor M...
By Golan Hazani Posted Sunday, July 10, 2011Kia Coupe Concepts Coming to Frankfurt
What’s Korean for pony car? According to a recent report from the U.K. publication What Car? Kia is set to step into the spotlight at the coming Frankfurt and Detroit auto shows with—get this—two separate rear-wheel drive, V-8 powered coupe concepts. Ever since Hyundai revealed the Genesis coupe, rumors have been flying about the possibility of Kia getting a similar car for its lineup (the 2008 Kia Kee concept is pictured), but it looks like Kia wants to take it a step further. According to What Car?, Kia head Hank Lee admitted the need for something like a powerful, V-8 coupe, saying the company needs halo model to draw more customers into its showrooms. As the Genesis coupe has, a Kia sports coupe could provide a challenger for the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger. It is possible coupe concepts will be based off of the long-rumored, rear-drive K9 sedan that is expected to slot above the Optima in the Kia lineup. The K9, which is coincidently also s...
By MotorTrend Magazine Posted Thursday, July 7, 2011GM to offer free car insurance
The insurance coverage is offered "at no additional cost," according to GM (GM, Fortune 500). and will be provided by MetLife Auto & Home. "We want to give residents of Oregon and Washington another reason to discover Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles," said Chris Perry, U.S. vice president of General Motors Marketing. The insurance -- part of a marketing test that will run through Sept. 6 -- includes both liability and physical damage coverage, GM said, and exceeds the minimum requirements in the two states. Oregon and Washington were chosen for the program because GM hasn't been gaining market share in those states as quickly as it would like, GM spokesman Tom Henderson said. If the program is successful there, it could be moved out to other parts of the nation, he said. GM's sales are up 11%, overall, so far this year compared to last year. Retail sales, which exclude sales to corporate fleets, are up 16%, the automaker announced Friday. The program was created bas...
By Peter Valdes-Dapena Posted Thursday, July 7, 2011Job Loss Claims at Odds with Experts and Common Sense
According to the auto industry, setting strong fuel economy and carbon pollution standards will cost the U.S. auto industry hundreds of thousands of jobs. But their analysis is flawed in three fundamental ways. The first two ways -- inflated cost estimates and assertion that consumers won’t buy more fuel-efficient cars – are not surprising. However, their third, implicit argument, adding fuel efficiency technologies won’t increase the number of jobs required to build each car, is completely counter intuitive and wrong. Both the UAW and the U.S. Energy Information Agency disagree with the auto industry on this fundamental point. Instead they both agree that greater fuel efficiency means more technology -- such as batteries, turbochargers and lower rolling resistance tires -- and more jobs per vehicle to design and build these components. By simply changing this one assumption in the auto industry’s job analysis (and ignoring for now their inflated cost and sales impa...
Posted Wednesday, July 6, 2011Old auto parts to be verified
They have constituted teams who would verify the purchase of the old auto body parts lying in the markets. In first phase, the police have served notices on 400 shopkeepers of Chaklala Road while shopkeepers of Railway Road markets would be served notices within couple of days. “Anybody who fails to produce invoice of import and other proof of purchase of old auto-body parts would be treated according to law,” Raja Rashid inspector Waris Khan police station said. He, however, said dealers had not been given any deadline for getting their products verified from local police. He said the shopkeepers had to produce proof of their purchase, the name and identity of the seller or the customs invoice, if they had imported the old auto body parts. According to the police the city has highest rate of car theft and street crime. As part of the campaign, which is likely to start next Wednesday, the Chaklala Road would be blocked from both sides and the police team would check old a...
Posted Monday, July 4, 2011BMW two green new cars arrives September
The new BMW 520d EfficientDynamics uses a 2.0-litre 184hp diesel to average 62.8mpg and emit 119g/km CO2. The new BMW 5 Series is thus 10% more efficient than even the best German rival in the executive car sector. Crucially, it claims a 13% Benefit In Kind company car tax rating, giving BMW an advantage over key competitors. The Audi A6 2.0 TDI 177, for example, is rated at 18% for company car tax. The new BMW X1 xDrive20d EfficientDynamics uses a 163hp version of the diesel engine. Despite still offering four-wheel drive, this compact SUV can also average 62.8mpg, and emit 119g/km CO2. Such fuel economy makes it the greenest BMW X 4×4 product ever. Both new BMWs are also as fuel efficient as a Citroen C3 Picasso diesel, a BMW 116d, a VW Golf 1.6 TDI 105 and the Greenline version of Skoda’s Yeti. The green new BMWs have a series of efficiency tweaks to help them return high fuel economy. Auto Stop Start, brake energy regeneration and low rolling resistance tyres are fitted...
Posted Monday, July 4, 2011