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BEIJING -- The Warren Buffet-backed Chinese carmaker BYD Co. defended the safety of its e6 electric car Tuesday after the vehicle was involved in a fiery collision that killed three people and raised new concerns about one of China’s most ambitious companies. BYD, which was considered one of China’s most promising brands just a few years ago, said Saturday's crash in the southern city of Shenzhen took place after a drunk driver in a Nissan GT-R coupe, speeding at 112 mph, slammed into an e6 taxi, killing the driver and two passengers. The driver of the Nissan sports car fled...

Go to any given dealership with 100 new cars. On average, just four of the 2012 models will have manual gearboxes. The trend of the vanishing third pedal is nothing new, notes The Detroit News. Even a decade ago, just 8.5 percent of 2002 models were manuals. The paper’s own automotive reporter even confesses she never learned to drive a stick shift until it essentially became a job requirement. It’s more than a little contradictory to automotive reviews (including many you’ll read here) extolling the pleasure of enthusiastic driving with a true manual gearbox. Likewise, purists gravitate to manuals for...

With electric vehicle technology becoming more desirable to the average consumer, Ford applied its innovative design sense to the two-wheel market and created the E-Bike concept vehicle. Unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, this sleek, cross-gender bike is powered not with gas, but by a lithium-ion battery. The drive system is subtly embedded in the 5.5-pound aluminium-and-carbon construction frame for a cool, minimalist look—perfect for the energy (and image) conscious city commuter. Why now? More than 30 million motorized bicycles were sold globally in 2010, with an increasing market share in Europe. Because the E-Bike can also be ridden...

There are lies, damn lies, statistics—and official EU car fuel consumption figures. I and others have been banging on about this for years; the figures quoted by manufacturers in their ads usually (but, interestingly not always) bears absolutely no relation whatsoever to what happens in the real world. … To get those “official” figures, new cars are subjected to something called the “New European Driving Cycle”, a series of short runs on a “rolling road” where the car is accelerated, put on a short cruise and decelerated under laboratory conditions. All the car makers have to put their cars through...

There are little Prii, big Prii, plug-in Prii, racing Prii, and now – just revealed at this weekend’s Tokyo Auto Salon – there are full-fledged, fully-equipped, and very Real Toyota Prius camper vans. Starting with a new, 3rd-gen Prius, the conversion company adds a streamlined, fiber-reinforced plastic shell that expands the Prius’ interior into something that’s, well, livable! The “living area” has room for a small coffee table with booth-type seating and underseat storage which can be converted to a queen-size bed (as shown, below), with an additional “permanent” bed in the forward section (above the cockpit). At the rear...

Tennessee is the home for the production of the 2013 Infiniti JX. This is the first luxury vehicle ever produced in the “Sounds Good to Me” state. The first 2013 Infiniti JX rolled off the production line in Emerald Green. A special ceremony at Nissan’s Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant was organized to celebrate the occasion. The 2013 Infiniti JX 7-passenger ride is set to go on sale nationwide at Infiniti retailers in the upcoming month. Susan Brennan, Vice President Manufacturing Smyrna – Decherd exclaimed, “We are extremely proud and honored to be building this world-class vehicle right here in Middle...

The Link above is for the photos of the car leaked from a Czech Blog, but is their a bigger story?Look at this car compared to the Volt, obviously easier on the eyes, but will it spark a bigger debate? I.E., the free-market approach of product improvement vs the Governments envolvement in GM and lack of market acceptance of the Volt.What we know from the web. * It will use the very good handling "Ford Mondeo" Chassis ( possibly new or upgraded ) * It will probably be 4 or 5 star crash rated, seems to be Fords redesign mantra...

Drug Enforcement Administration agents have raided an Oklahoma car dealership that the government suspects may be one of about 30 such businesses in the U.S. involved in funding the terrorist group Hezbollah. DEA agents say the car lot of Ace Auto Leasing in Tulsa is part of a huge network that is selling cars and drugs -- and then using the money to support terrorism against the U.S., myfoxphoenix.com reports. During Friday's raid, agents could be seen carryout out filing cabinets and other items. They also questioned employees and took inventory. "They're making big time money and it's going right...

The National Transportation Safety Board wants a complete ban on cellphone use while driving, even on hands-free calls. Some will protest this as yet another government encroachment on freedom, but we should think twice before rocking the boat here. After all, have you considered how lucky we are that the government lets us drive cars at all? Imagine if cars hadn’t been around for a century, but instead were just invented today. Is there any way they’d be approved for individual use? It’s an era of bans on incandescent bulbs; if you suggested putting millions of internal-combustion engines out there,...

Here’s the first known victim of the latest CAFE (government fuel efficiency) increase to 35.5 MPG: The compact pick-up truck. And the American truck buyer. Ok, that’s two victims. I’ve just discovered that Ford has dropped the Ranger – America’s last compact-sized truck - for 2012. But not from its lineup. Just from its U.S. model lineup. Not only will the Ranger continue to be sold in export markets, the 2012 model will be a heavily updated model which, among other things, will offer a new diesel engine...

Electric car maker Aptera Motors is closing after failing to woo enough investors to bring a new sedan to market. Aptera CEO Paul Wilbur said the Carlsbad, Calif.-based company closed its doors Friday and laid off all 30 of its employees. The company was hoping to get a $150 million loan from the Department of Energy but needed to raise matching funds, Wilbur said. He said Aptera had trouble drumming up interest from investors, who have been spooked by the difficulties other small electric car makers have had. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla Motors Inc., for example, has racked up millions...

Introduction What really goes on in the back rooms of car dealerships across America? What does the car salesman do when he leaves you sitting in a sales office and goes to talk with his boss? What are the tricks salespeople use to increase their profit and how can consumers protect themselves from overpaying? These were the questions we, the editors at Edmunds.com, wanted to answer for our readers. But how could they really know that our information was accurate and up-to-date? Finally, we came up with the idea of hiring an investigative reporter to work in the industry and...

The Obama administration’s new proposal to double the fuel efficiency of cars by 2025 may cost up to $157 billion and add $2,000 to the price of passenger automobiles, according to two federal agencies. In the proposed rule posted on their websites, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency predict the administration’s new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards would add an average of $2,000 to the price of each new passenger vehicle sold by 2025. The NHTSA attributes the increased consumer costs to the price of developing new fuel-saving technology. However, the highway agency predicts...

The recession and high gas prices have been major deciding factors in car purchases in the past several years. This can be seen on the list of the ten cars and light trucks models with the greatest unit sales growth in the last five years, as per data from Edmunds. Interestingly enough, the list does not have a single major Japanese car company model on it. Instead, it is dominated by cars from U.S. companies, second tier Japanese manufacturer Subaru, and upstarts from South Korea, all of which grew sales by at least 60 percent. Decades ago, Honda, Toyota, and...

“Electric car On verdant green Invent a turn Invent a dream Electric car The new machine…”So go the lyrics to a recent popular children’s song — aptly titled “Electric Car” — by 80s nerd rock band They Might be Giants. Proof that even at so young an age, we are being indoctrinated into the delights and benefits of electric vehicles. But is this “new machine” a genuine reality for our country and can convenience retailers carve out profitable space for the technology on their lots? “It’s a safe bet that consumers will eventually swap their gas-powered cars and trucks for...

Chrysler is getting rid of the soccer mom staple Dodge Grand Caravan minivan, the company announced on Monday. 2013 will be the last year the Caravan is sold, despite the fact it is currently the best selling Dodge vehicle on the market. The more upscale Chrysler Town and Country minivan will continue on as the only van the company offers. Chrysler created the modern minivan in when they introduced the 1984 model year Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager models. Chrysler will replace the Dodge Grand Caravan minivan and the Dodge Avenger mid-sized sedan with a single crossover in 2013, Chrysler...

The world's oldest running car, an 1884 De Dion Bouton Et Trapardoux Dos-A-Dos Steam Runabout, made history Friday, fetching $4.62 million at RM Auctions' Hershey, Pennsylvania event. Before a packed house, the 127-year-old ride quickly eclipsed its $500,000 starting bid. By the time the dust had settled, the gavel fell at $4.2 million. The final price included a ten-percent buyer's premium. The crowd began applauding as soon as the car crept onto the stage and the enthusiasm didn't wane until well after the sale. The Runabout had been in the same family for 81 years prior to the sale, and...

The Obama Administration’s new fuel economy standards will result in the retail price of average motor vehicles to increase over $11,000, according to a study conducted by the Center for Automotive Research. --------------------------------------------------------- The Obama administration’s new fuel economy standards would require automakers to produce cars and light trucks with an average fuel economy of 54.5 mpg by 2025. The Center for Automotive Research says their study is “the result of 11 months of effort and investigation by researchers at CAR in 2010-2011.”

Remember the Tom Cruise movie “Minority Report?” It was the one where the “Precrime” police unit armed with new technology arrested you before you committed a future crime they could detect. Fast forward to today’s self appointed traffic cops. In their ideal future, any automobile you’ll purchase will have an in-car alcohol detector to stop you from “drinking and driving” before you get the opportunity. (Despite drunken driving fatalities being at an all time low, i.e., one per every 274,244,948 miles driven, some activists can’t rest until they can get to every last drop). To be clear, I’m not talking...

Last May, Dutch biologist Arnold van Vliet embarked on a bold and buggy mission to count how many insects are killed by cars -- and six weeks later, the results are in. To perform the census of bug vs. car fatalities, the researcher enlisted the help of around 250 drivers to count the number of squashed insects on their front licence plates per distance travelled. After some simple math, van Vliet has arrived at a figure that is nothing short of astronomical. With the help of volunteer squished-insect-counters submitting data to a web site devoted to the dead bug census,...

DETROIT (AP) -- The Chevrolet Cruze, the most popular car in the U.S. last month, will come in a diesel version that could boost gas mileage to around 50 mpg, two people briefed on General Motors Co. product plans said Monday.

Never purchased a used car. Looking at an 07 accord exl, 57000 for 12000 private owner at a garage Price looks in line with vehicle. I know about car fax and will pay to have a Honda dealer look at it but before I get that far; How can a novice tell if the engine is the original and what else should I keep an eye out for? Thanks in advance

Delivering his first address to a joint session of Congress in February 2009, Barack Obama told the assembled legislators that his plans for a federal spending binge of nearly a trillion dollars was “not because I believe in bigger government – I don’t.” Rather, he said, the stimulus plan was intended to “put people back to work and put money in their pockets.” More than two years after that speech, two things are clear: Obama’s empirical projections were inaccurate and his ideological protestations were disingenuous. Indeed, the stimulus plan was not, as Obama tried to frame it, a triumph of...

With a significant increase in sales, Kia Motors is planning to invest $100 million in the US to boost up their production to meet the increasing market demand. This South Korean giant will utilize this money to increase the production of their Georgia plant by 20 percent. The Georgia plant, Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. (KMMG), currently produces 300,000 vehicles per annum, which will be increased to 360,000 vehicles per annum after the proposed expansion. The plant currently employs about 3000 people and additional 1000 people are already hired by the automaker for the proposed additional production. The expansion plan...

INDUSTRY EXPERT: REMINDS PUBLIC OF UNPOPULAR BAILOUT - Barack Obama, who recently stopped by the CIA to “thank” the agency for its part in the bin Laden mission by referring to himself 35 times, is firing up his next victory tour: Taking personal credit for the unpopular bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler. Ironically, Obama’s latest brag-fest may actually end up hurting the two firms, an industry expert told CNSNews.com. While hailing Chrysler’s repayment of 2009 bailout loans last week, the O-man couldn’t help but take credit for the automaker’s revival. Obama said it was because of his own action...

It’s a general rule of thumb that whenever a politician says something negative about their opposition, they better not be guilty of the same thing, otherwise they would end up looking incredibly foolish. The latest pol to suffer from this is Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Since she began her tenure as head of the DNC, Wasserman Schultz has gone on the offensive against the Republicans. She accused the GOP of “waging war on the unemployed” and slammed their budget proposal as a “path to poverty.” But her latest attack on the opposition backfired in a major way....

Want to know how socialists think? Check out Michael Moore on MSNBC this evening, wishing President Obama would use the government's power over the auto manufacturers to . . . kill the internal combustion engine. As everyone knows, politicians and pundits know more about the market than billions of consumers. You don't want to ride the rails? Tough. Watch Moore make his government-knows-best suggestion to kill the engine of progress to Larry O'Donnell this evening. View video here.

Legend has it that a Modesto, California couple purchased the car in 1950, only for the wife to be widowed shortly thereafter when her husband died trying to save a drowning woman. The distraught lady placed the sleek Chevy in storage for 12 years, but later traded it for a new 1962 Rambler ($1650) from a nearby dealer: he recently sold the same car for $60,000. And surely worth it, the car dealer decided from the start to preserve it, so he barely took it out of the garage for 45 years... thus the all-original mint condition and an...

NEW DELHI (MarketWatch) -- Tata Motors Ltd. TTM -0.42% has started exporting the Nano minicar from April, a move that will likely help India's largest auto maker by sales further lift sales of the world's cheapest car and reduce its sole dependence on the home market. The Mumbai-based company, which controls the Jaguar and Land Rover luxury car brands, exported 498 units of the Nano in the past month, according to data issued Monday by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, the local automotive industry lobby group. ... The company has said also that it could start selling the Pixel,...

General Motors unveiled the first model of its new car brand aimed specifically at China on Monday, aiming to strengthen its sales lead in the world's top auto market by wooing middle-class drivers. The Baojun 630, an affordable yet sporty 1.5-litre-engine sedan, has been produced by GM and its partners Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Group and Wuling Motors and was unveiled ahead of this week's Shanghai Auto Show. "GM is proud to be introducing our newest brand to the people of China," said Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group. "The Baojun 630 will address the...

It seems improbable to some that Hyundai, the company that once sold a car so inexpensive you could charge it on a credit card, would unleash a car that costs $58,000 and competes with the finest luxury cars in the world. Those who sniff with disdain may do well to remember that some esteemed luxury automakers had humble origins. Consider, for example, Jaguar, which started as a manufacturer of motorcycle sidecars. Given that every automaker has access to the same auto- industry suppliers, and thus the same technology, it comes down to this: Which brand do you like, and how...

Global Economy? 23 Facts Which Prove That Globalism Is Pushing The Standard Of Living Of The Middle Class Down To Third World Levels From now on, whenever you hear the term "the global economy" you should immediately equate it with the destruction of the U.S. middle class. Over the past several decades, the American economy has been slowly but surely merged into the emerging one world economic system. Unfortunately for the middle class, much of the rest of the world does not have the same minimum wage laws and worker protections that we do. Therefore, the massive global corporations that...

Turkey and Iran ally for a new European project Carmakers selling cars in Europe could soon get a new and tough competitor as Iranian carmaker Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) and Turkey's Hema Endüstri have shaken hands for a new project that will spawn an entirely new automotive brand. The first project will be a passenger car that will be made in Turkey, officials of the two companies said after signing a memorandum of understanding, with more details to be disclosed at a later date. The two partners are yet to pick a location and a plant to manufacture the new...

This is an absolutely unacceptable amount of bloodshed: SAN DIEGO -- A taxi cab driver plowed slowly into a crowd on a sidewalk in San Diego's busy Gaslamp District early Saturday, injuring more than two dozen people, police said. We cannot have automobiles doing this sort of damage. 25 people were injured, 17 of them requiring hospitalization, and one woman had her leg severed. These are astounding and utterly unacceptable injures. These evil things called "taxi cabs" are responsible for the horrifying damage done in San Diego. That's a type of automobile, and of course we can't trust any of...

Accolades keep pouring in for the Chevy Volt, the electric car darling of the 2011 Detroit auto show, including the show's North American Car of the Year award this week from a jury of swooning auto journalists. In his corny acceptance speech, General Motors vice-chairman Tom Stephens' thanked "all of the jurors who Volted, or voted, for the Chevrolet Volt," a plug-in electric hybrid with gas backup. Its all-electric rival, the Nissan Leaf, was a runner-up. But public acceptance, pricier sticker numbers, charging challenges, and a willingness to break old driving habits (goodbye to pedal to the metal) will determine...

On our brand new 2011 Jetta, we just discovered a flaw,imo, no parking lights, only day-time FRONT lights (no lights rear of car). I was thinking that could be dangerous, because many people count on parking lights in the early dusk, and might think the day-time lights also have lights in the rear. Some people also count on parking lights (with rear lighting) if they pull over to the side of the road, say with car trouble, and choose parking lights, rather than the hazard lights. We thoroughly read the part on lights, so it won't be a problem for...

Everyone's heard of the extended-range Chevrolet Volt and all-electric Nissan Leaf, and many know about Tesla Motors, maker of that lightning-quick electric roadster. But there's another California startup with an all-electric car close to production that most of the public is unaware of: Coda. The car itself is simply called the Coda sedan. It's based on a heavily modified two-generations-ago Mitsubishi Lancer, and, honestly, it doesn't look like much from the outside. Certainly it made few waves at the LA Auto Show last week. There was just one on display and it was locked, so I couldn't even get a...

During a recent powertrain briefing, Hyundai revealed some more details about its new 5.0-liter Tau V8 and 1.0-liter Kappa three-cylinder engines that will be used in a variety of global markets in the near future. Slated for use in the Genesis sedan as well as the larger Equus, Hyundai's new V8 will use direct injection to produce 429 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque. That's a healthy increase of 59 horsepower and 8 ft-lbs of torque over the 4.6-liter V8 it's replacing, while also increasing fuel economy by one mile per gallon to 18/26 thanks to an all-new eight-speed automatic...

My GMC 2002 Envoy has tripped over 113,000 miles. While still in great condition and it is not costing me anything other than gas and oil for now, I am quite tempted to move it out of the garage and get a 2010 Toyota Highlander, Limited Trim package, NON-hybrid. With the economy on the edge, I have a pre-approved loan through my State Farm group at 3.49% @36 mos. but ONLY until 10/31/10. Toyota will match this rate plus $750 cash back. They also have 2 years of free maintenance for routine things. So, who has experience with the Highlander...

Should new cars be required to get 62 mpg by 2025? That's one scenario under an Obama administration notice filed Friday for drafting mileage standards covering the period from 2017 to 2025. The fleet of new vehicles may need to meet a standard set somewhere from a low of 47 mpg to a high of 62 mpg, the administration said in its notice of intent. An initial assessment shows the additional costs for producing high-mileage vehicles ranges from $800 to $3,500, its notice stated, but that cost could be "higher" when a more detailed analysis is completed. The notice added,...

A $7.25 million, 850-foot pedestrian bridge and guardhouse for the Volkswagen plant won approval from a city panel Tuesday. The steel-and-glass structure, more than one-quarter the length of the Walnut Street Bridge that spans the Tennessee River, will serve as the main entrance to the auto plant. The pedestrian bridge, paid from city, Hamilton County and state funds as part of the automaker’s incentive package, will cross over a stream and one of VW’s vehicle test tracks and negotiate a steep change in elevation at the site, officials said. “It will be an extraordinary bridge,” said Steve Leach, the city’s...

Volkswagen plans to pick Mexico as the site for an engine plant to serve its assembly plant in that country and the automaker’s Chattanooga factory, according to a report. Automotive News reported Tuesday an announcement could come as soon as today. Last month, Frank Fischer, chief executive of VW's operations in Chattanooga, told the Times Free Press he didn't expect the engine plant to come to the city. “We said, ‘Please do it,’” Fischer said in August. “We were supporting it.” But VW officials were looking at manufacturing capacity and consumer demand in locating the plant, he said. Mexico had...

When the NUMMI auto plant in Fremont shut down in April, many pronounced it dead -- a triple victim of the recession, sliding auto sales and General Motors' bankruptcy. But NUMMI is about to be reborn. Electric-carmaker Tesla Motors, which stunned the world when it announced plans to purchase the plant in May, officially takes ownership Oct. 1. Already, many Tesla employees call the plant the "Tesla Factory." Forty people regularly work out of a Tesla office that's been set up on the parking lot -- taking breaks under three red patio umbrellas similar to those at the company's Palo...

I’ve been mulling this one around in my head for quite awhile; with Detroit’s recent near collapse I’ve been trying to draw some parallels with the general state of affairs in this country. Many of you on Free Republic are quite in tune with self-sufficiency- perhaps this may ring a bell with you. Detroit started losing me about the time I came of age to drive, 1975. I grew up helping my dad do maintenance and minor repairs on 60’s cars. Later I owned some 50’s vintage stuff. Unfortunately, I have owned many more recently made vehicles ( none newer...

Is the 3,000-mile oil change outdated? --- I STILL remember learning from my father how to carefully remove a dipstick to check the oil level in our cars. It was drilled into me — along with turning off the lights when you left a room and clearing the plates off the table after dinner — that oil needs to be changed every 3,000 miles or so. I’m not sure what I thought would happen if I didn’t, but I vaguely imagined an unlubricated engine grinding to a halt. Childhood habits are hard to undo, and that’s often good. To...

I am ordering parts to repair the torque tube on my 1970 Opel GT. The question I have is, why is it there? What purpose does it serve? It would seem to me that a simple driveshaft would suffice, but no, I have a heavy (everything seems heavy in an 1800 pound car) piece that serves, as far as I can see, no purpose. I have read the Wikipedia definition of what it does, but this makes no sense to me. Can someone tell me in layman's terms why it is there?

A nine-day traffic jam outside Beijing has drivers fuming, street vendors turning a quick profit and Chinese traffic authorities struggling for answers. Traffic has been slowed to a crawl since August 14 on a 100-kilometer stretch of National Expressway 110 that runs between Beijing and Heibei province. Officials say the jam is caused by an increase in trucks carrying goods to Beijing and by highway maintenance work along the route. Highways have become numerous and complicated in and around Beijing in recent years as the Chinese public has made a large shift to motorized travel over the past 30 years....

This freeper's fast-moving, 4-minute YouTUbe video set to AC/DC's tune of, "Back in Black" shows the eye-popping cars of the 2010 Concours d'Elegance in breathtaking Pebble Beach, California, USA. Viewers see priceless classic antique restorations, ultra-exorbitant American & European super cars, and in-person sneak previews of upcoming production automobiles. The other day I posted YouTube part 1 of the recent Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance/Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Today I made a new YouTube video, showing more cars. I also posted a link the other, more political parody twist I put on the show. This freep is still dazed, as he...

CARS around the world are making do with fewer cylinders to save fuel; the engine of the Tata Nano, to cite one extreme case, has just two. Yet this is America, land of cheap gasoline and home of the brave V-8, a country where 4-cylinder engines have mainly populated rental fleets and econocars. So the question nags: how low are we willing to go in the cylinder count, especially for models that stake their images on power and prestige? Ford has already made waves with the announcement that its EcoBoost 4-cylinder will be available in the redesigned Explorer. But cowboys,...

Go over the FR Verboten Detroit News and Free Press for the story. Ouch, how is this really going to work...