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Note: The following text is a quote: Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMonday, November 23, 2009 Arrests Made in Case Involving Conspiracy to Procure Weapons, Including Anti-Aircraft Missiles Arrests were made today in a case involving a conspiracy to procure weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles. A criminal complaint, unsealed today, charged Dani Nemr Tarraf with conspiring to acquire anti-aircraft missiles (FIM-92 Stingers) and conspiring to possess machine guns (approximately 10,000 Colt M4 Carbines). In addition, Tarraf and other defendants — including Douri Nemr Tarraf, Hassan Mohamad Komeiha, and Hussein Ali Asfour — were charged with conspiring to...

Motorists should be forced to pay to drive on the busiest roads to slash greenhouse gas emissions, the Government's climate change watchdog says today. The Climate Change Committee, led by former CBI chief Lord Turner, wants ministers to introduce compulsory road pricing to prevent global warming. Under the controversial scheme, cars would be fitted with electronic tags and tracked either by satellite or roadside beacon. Charges would rise at times of peak congestion to around £1.50 a mile. In a report to MPs, the advisers called for a carbon revolution - with thousands of wind turbines, nuclear power stations...

WASHINGTON — With 2010 models arriving in auto dealer showrooms, the Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers that buying a new car, light truck, motor home or motorcycle could qualify them for a special deduction for state and local sales and excise taxes on their 2009 tax returns. Purchases made before Jan. 1, 2010, qualify for this deduction under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. The deduction is limited to sales and excise taxes and similar fees paid on up to $49,500 of the purchase price of a new vehicle. The deduction is reduced for joint filers with modified...

Company Announces Plan For Baldwin (Mobile) Car Plant Bringing 6,000 Jobs Friday, September 25, 2009 By GEORGE R. ALTMAN MONTGOMERY — Hybrid Kinetic Motors plans a $1.5 billion car plant,employing nearly 6,000 workers, in Baldwin County within three to five years, company and state officials said Thursday. But state leaders said much work needs to be done — particularly fundraising by HK Motors — before the hybrid car plant can be built, and it is far from certain that the project will be completed. "We're waiting now to make sure that we have all the pieces in place, so we...

WASHINGTON (AP) - It's revived business at car dealerships, taken gas-guzzlers off the road and given a badly needed boost to struggling auto factories. By many measures, the government's Cash for Clunkers program has been a success. Yet as it winds down, there is another lasting image: the hasty planning and troubled execution that nearly derailed the program early on and, lately, has led some frustrated dealers to drop out amid long waits for the government money.

Conservation: The Chevy Volt is said to be able to get 230 miles per gallon. That's if it's continually plugged into a fragile and overburdened power grid. Where will you be when the lights go out? Since most U.S. electricity generation is not carbon-free, the Congressional Research Service agrees. The "widespread adoption of plug-in hybrid vehicles through 2030 may have only a small effect on, and might actually increase, carbon emissions," it observes. "If you are using coal-fired power plants and half the country's electricity comes from coal powered plants, are you just trading one greenhouse gas emitter for another?"...

Hyundai Motor America said Wednesday it would begin selling its premier luxury sedan in the U.S. late next year, based on the success the South Korean company has had with its other models in the states. Hyundai is bringing the Equus to U.S., piggybacking on the positive response it received from the Genesis sedan, which received the North American Car of the Year award earlier this year. U.S. sales of the Genesis soared 225.5 percent in July, helping Hyundai post an overall sales increase of 19.5 percent. The Equus competes with Lexus, BMW and Mercedes in South Korea.(continued)

Not everyone is content with blending in. Some style their hair into a Mohawk, others adorn themselves with elaborate tattoos, and even more dress in all sorts of wacky clothing that most of us would consider wearing only on Halloween, all in an effort to be unique. And some people's desire to be distinctive doesn't stop there. While a nondescript sedan or sport-utility vehicle does the trick for many, there's a small cadre of Americans that isn't content with a car that looks like a car. They follow another path in terms of the rides they drive. The following (all...

Most of us are familiar with the general details of this Clunker program. The auto dealerships in our area are rolling out a lot of advertising to bring people in their showrooms starting tomorrow. Likely, many in the rest of the country are doing the same.If there are Freepers who are auto dealers or otherwise familiar with the program, their comments would be especially welcome.My situation is this: I can't afford a new car but I have an eligible automobile (less than 25 years old, driveable, continuiously registered and insured for the last year and an EPA rating of less...

Sara was late for work. The alarm clock didn't alarm, the kids were unusually slow getting ready for school, and nothing went right. She finally got to her car -- a brand new 2020 Chevy Adventure. She touched the finger-print secured start button. Nothing. It wouldn't start. She touched it again. Nothing. Furious, she banged the steering wheel with her fist. Then she noticed the paper hanging from the receipt printer on the dash. "Your designated visa account rejected your Road Use Tax in the amount of $87.32 for the month of June, 2020. You must insert a valid account...

American motorists afraid that repairing the family car might break their budget are increasingly turning to Christian repair garages that offer honesty and charity as well as mechanical expertise. Christian Brothers Automotive, founded in Texas in the early 1980s, has just opened its 59th franchise in the recession-hit suburbs of St Louis, Missouri as part of its plans to have 120 outlets across the United States. Most are currently based in the South’s Bible Belt but the company is now expanding north. Nearly 80 per cent of Americans describe themselves as Christians so the company’s philosophy of ministering to its...

The ultra-budget Tata Nano is being hailed by many as the biggest leap forward since the Model T Ford. So, if they're right, it's more important than the Beetle. More important than the Mini. More important than man's conquest of the moon. And amazingly, more important too than the invention of Sky+. I don't think they are right though. Because the only thing that makes it stand out is the low, low price. Brilliant. But I could make a cheap car if I built it in a factory made from wattle and mud, paid the workers in rice and motivated...

Hitler Among the Cars, 1939 Adolf Hitler tours the 1939 International Auto Exhibition in Berlin. Three years before, at another Berlin auto show, Hitler announced that Porsche would design the "People's Car," or Volkswagen, an affordable, practical vehicle for the working German family.

Am I wrong in wondering why the Obama administration (another $4 billion to GM last week, for example) is pumping billions of money we don't have into a company that is almost certainly going to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection anyway? I thought the billions were to keep the auto companies from having to file bankruptcy.

I didn’t realize the socialist horror of what the administration has done until I got to the end of the Bob Lonsberry’s article, “Government Wrong To Hose Car Dealers.” Then, I realized the author had missed the central point. Lonsberry fails to understand who finances the auto manufacturers; the dealerships. By destroying the manufacturer’s financing arm Obama destroys any possibility that the manufacturers can ever recover. Government support, and, therefore, control, will be required forever. Here’s how the pre-Obama financing system functions. Let’s say your dealership sells 100 cars a month. You keep an inventory of 200 cars on-hand. The...

SHANGHAI — After a century in which American tastes largely set the course of the global automotive market, China is poised to increasingly take on the role of global trendsetter. Automakers say just as car buyers around the world saw more sport utility vehicles and cup holders because that was what Americans wanted, they will probably see more features that the Chinese favor, from greater fuel efficiency to more comfortable backseats. Vehicle sales in China passed those in the United States in the first quarter, as China has weathered the global downturn much better, and there are growing signs that...

Fisker Automotive announced that it raised $85 million in venture capital backing from New York-based Eco-Drive (Capital) Partners LLC, a European-American investment consortium, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.

The global financial crisis is suffocating the Detroit automakers, but the problems at General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler have been festering for years—even when the mighty "Big Three" were earning billions. Aging factories, inflexible unions, arrogant executives and shoddy quality have all damaged Detroit. Now, with panicky consumers fleeing showrooms, catastrophe looms: There will be plenty of business-school case studies analyzing all the automakers' wrong turns. But, as they say in the industry, it all comes down to product. So here are 10 cars that help explain the demise of Detroit: GM and Chrysler need a multibillion-dollar government bailout to...

BMW Magnetic Tow Technology 01/04/2009 BMW’s award-winning EfficientDynamics programme has been taken to the next level with the announcement of an innovative fuel and emissions saving system called Magnetic Tow Technology (MTT). In a bid to retain its World Green Car of the Year crown, BMW will launch MTT across its range today. The unique system, developed in conjunction with NASA, works via a discreet unit located in the front valance that projects an enhanced magnetic beam 20 metres in front of the BMW. Once a suitable target car is located and the BMW is magnetically locked on behind...

Mumbai: Under the cover of darkness, the world's cheapest car arrived in Mumbai yesterday. Aditya Anand reports on the buzz surrounding the unveiling of the most-awaited car of the year this evening. 12.30 am, Sunday: Under the cover of darkness in the dead of night, when Mumbai's incessant traffic had slowed down, and pedestrians were few, seven gleaming cars purred their way into the rolling grounds at the Parsi Gymkhana, Marine Drive. The world's cheapest car, the Tata Nano, had finally arrived in the city for its unveiling today, with a security guard in each vehicle. The cars reached the...

WASHINGTON -- A proposal to boost auto sales by offering government-funded discounts to consumers who trade in old cars for new, more efficient models got a boost Wednesday from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But the proposal, which also is supported by Detroit auto makers and the United Auto Workers, is coming under fire from some foreign auto makers critical of a provision limiting the vouchers to vehicles built in North America. That limitation would exclude some of the most fuel-efficient cars and trucks sold in the U.S., including the Prius from Toyota Motor Corp. A bill introduced Tuesday by Rep....

Horsepower can be so overrated. At least that’s what the developers from HumanCar, an industrial design firm, are betting on with the Imagine_PS, or Power Station, vehicle. The vehicle uses electric motors and regenerative braking along with human power to keep it moving at a decent clip. “The human part is a patented bi-directional human-power interface, which is like a rowing action that uses your entire body,” says Chuck Greenwood, CEO. “One to four people can operate these cars and they create enough electricity by themselves to power computers, cell phones, etc.” He claims that the car is able to...

In tonight's mini-State of the Union, President Obama said the "nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it." One problem. We didn't. That would be Karl Benz, in Mannheim, Germany. Just sayin'...

General Motors Corp., nearing a federally imposed deadline to present a restructuring plan, will offer the government two costly alternatives: commit billions more in bailout money to fund the company's operations, or provide financial backing as part of a bankruptcy filing, said people familiar with GM's thinking. The competing choices, which highlight GM's rapidly deteriorating operations, present a dilemma for Congress and the Obama administration. If they refuse to provide additional aid to GM on top of the $13.4 billion already committed they risk seeing an industrial icon fall into bankruptcy... Treasury Department officials believe GM needs at least $5...

In late June I wrote here that the sky-high price of oil made no sense, and urged investors to get out. This was back when virtually everybody took it as holy writ that the world was rapidly running out of oil, and that unceasing demand growth from the United States and the developing economies of China and India would sustain a permanent bidding war for this dwindling resource. A week later, oil traded at all-time highs of $147 per barrel. But that turned out to be its last hurrah. Less than six months later, the price of oil had crashed...

Fiat and Chrysler said Tuesday they have agreed to form a strategic alliance that would give the Italian auto empire a 35-percent stake in the troubled U.S. carmaker and could eventually bring it full control. The deal means Chrysler, which is fighting off bankruptcy and struggling to sell less fuel efficient larger models, would have access to new markets and cheaper, more environmentally friendly technologies. Fiat Group SpA, which makes Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo vehicles, would gain a foothold in the huge U.S. market. The company has bounced back recently with cars such as the tiny 500 two-door hatchback,...

The Air Car, made by French company MDI, could be launched by Tata Motors in India by 2010-11. Replying to an email query, the French company said, "We will release in France the first cars for the Air France company before June 2009. The cars will be available for the public at the end of 2009." Mumbai-based Tata Motors, India's third biggest car manufacturer had signed a licensing agreement with MDI for manufacturing the car in India. The agreement between the two envisages development and refinement of the technology. The Air Car doesn't require traditional fuel options like petrol, diesel,...

Maximum driving fun with minimal fuel consumption: that's how VW has started car year 2009 by presenting the Concept BlueSport roadster at the North American International Auto Show. "The BlueSport proves to be a compact and passionate car with a clear Volkswagen signature. The car offers pure dynamics with a powerful 134kW Clean Diesel engine that is combined with the characteristic Volkswagen philosophy of efficiency," Volkswagen's board chairman Martin Winterkorn confirmed at the Detroit show. The Concept BlueSport is making its appearance at the car show in Detroit with a Flex Silver exterior and orange fabric convertible top. "It is...

Like dogs and fine wine, cars age differently than humans, giving us a skewed perception of car age. But now there's a formula to tell us how old your car is in people-years. We have to tip our hat to the folks at Blue Donut for putting together this interesting formula for determining age: There's a simple formula for calculating this (a formula I invented). Take the mileage on the car's odometer and divide by the model year. The result is your car's age if it were a person. Example: a 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier with 131,824 miles on it. Do...

Oregon is among a growing number of states exploring ways to tax drivers based on the number of miles they drive instead of how much gas they use, even going so far as to install GPS monitoring devices in 300 vehicles. The idea first emerged nearly 10 years ago as Oregon lawmakers worried that fuel-efficient cars such as gas-electric hybrids could pose a threat to road upkeep, which is paid for largely with gasoline taxes. "I'm glad we're taking a look at it before the potholes get so big that we can't even get out of them," said Leroy Younglove,...

The rolling script of the Pininfarina trademark is as much a part of a Ferrari Testarossa as the V-12 engine, but ownership of the name that spells Italian sports car design has been forfeited in a mountain of debt. The founding family of Pininfarina has lost its battle to keep control of the design firm and boutique car manufacturer. After months of wrangling, a banking syndicate led by Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit have agreed to reschedule debts of almost €600 million (£575 million), but the family must sell its 50.6 per cent stake in the company. Potential buyers of the...

"New global positioning system technology and congestion pricing can reduce traffic jams. In mid-January, 10,000 transportation professionals, including people from the incoming Obama administration, will convene in Washington D.C. at meetings of the Transportation Research Board, part of the National Science Foundation, to discuss solutions ... "London’s system of road pricing, with cars charged $16 to enter the center, is held up as a model for other cities. But its main flaw is that drivers pay flat fees, and are not charged by miles driven or by routes taken. "A better scheme would be to have drivers pay per mile,...

Hopping on a streetcar to get to work has a 1930s vibe to it. While streetcars continue to ride the rails in many European cities, they have largely vanished from American cities, and they have a nostalgic aura. But in spite of this, and spurred by the current economic downturn, Americans continue to use public transportation at record levels. More than 2.8 billion trips were taken on public transportation in the third quarter of 2008 -- a surge of 6.5 percent over the third quarter of 2007 and the largest year-to-year increase in 25 years. Light rail had the highest...

“GOP to Detroit: Drop Dead!” So may have read the headline Friday, had not President George Bush stepped in to save GM, Ford and Chrysler, which Senate Republicans had just voted to send to the knacker’s yard. What are Republicans thinking of, pulling the plug, at Christmas, on GM, risking swift death for the greatest manufacturing company in American history, a strategic asset and pillar of the U.S. economy. The $14 billion loan to the Big Three that Republican senators filibustered to death is just 2 percent of the $700 billion the Senate voted to bail out Wall Street. Having...

Want to own a car once driven by the man who will soon be president? President-Elect Barack Obama's Chrysler 300c is up for auction on eBay. The 2005 blue Chrysler 300c Hemi, totally loaded and equipped with a sunroof and gray leather interior. It only has 20,000 miles and is still under the manufacturer's warranty. In July 2004, Obama took delivery of the car from Park Plaza Dodge in Forest Park, Illinois. In 2007, Obama swapped his Chrysler sedan for a Ford Escape hybrid. In February '08 the eBay seller purchased the car from the dealership. The current bid for...

(edit) The Highway Data Loss Institute of the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety has released its report on the most frequently stolen vehicles in the United States from the 2005-2007 model years, based on the number of claims per thousand vehicles insured.Unlike a list of the overall number of vehicles stolen, the HDLI tells you the odds that your car will be snatched based on how many others are on the road. It’s like a bad lottery. Car thieves must also steal their gasoline, because 9 of the top 10 vehicles are some of the largest cars and trucks on...

The car was the symbol of the prewar 20th century. Henry Ford's Model T, Volkswagen's people's car and even Britain's Morris Oxford were more than just industrial products. Suddenly, industrialisation was able to offer the mass of consumers cheap, convenient and individual mobility. The car changed industrial civilisations and their cultures. Detroit was the undisputed centre of the industry. It manufactured more cars than anywhere else - four out of five across the globe as late as the mid 1950s. Its cars shaped American society. Americans yearned to climb into its Buicks, Cadillacs and Mustangs. The cars denoted your identity...

Now that automakers are all busy gearing up to make electric vehicles, consumers should be getting a choice of roomy, speedy, gasoline-free models that charge up at a standard 110-volt socket. So when will those cars roll out of factories so plentifully that prices drop to what ordinary people can afford? That was the question at the Electric Drive Transportation Association conference and exhibition in Washington this week, and on Capitol Hill as well, as the Big Three automakers made a pitch for aid. The recession, the credit crunch and the dominance of oil-driven transportation will make it difficult. However,...

Not so many years ago, cars that produced 300 horsepower or more were considered rather rare and desirable things. Generally only the top tier of sports car or the very most posh boulevardiers had engines that could muster such prodigious output, and the price tags of the vehicles reflected it. These days though, thanks to depreciation, a decade-long power race, and newly changing customer tastes, 300 horsepower cars can be had for much more reasonable rates—often less than $10,000. Those power and dollar figures are exciting starting places for those second-hand shoppers who may be looking for a deal on...

WASHINGTON — U.S. president-elect Barack Obama's top adviser has a warning for U.S. automakers: Without a plan to retool and restructure, there is very little taxpayers can do to help...

LOS ANGELES, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will cut another 18,000 units from its planned production in the United States in response to the downturn in industrywide auto sales, the company said on Thursday. The latest production cuts mean Honda will have cut 50,000 vehicles from its planned U.S. production since August when its sales began to fall in the world's largest vehicle market. The move by Honda follows similar steps by Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Nissan Motor Co (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock...

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Why does a Yugo have a defroster on the rear window? To keep your hands warm while you push it. That's just one of the "Yugo jokes" about the cheap and much-maligned subcompact that won notoriety for being one of the worst cars ever exported to the United States. Today, the last Yugo, once the pride of communist Yugoslavia's automobile industry, will roll off its Serbian production line in Kragujevac. It will be missed here -- but probably not in America. Soon after it hit the U.S. markets in 1986, selling for the bargain-basement price of just...

If ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it: a sporty subcompact that seats five, offers a navigation system, and gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. Oh yes, and the car is made by Ford Motor (F), known widely for lumbering gas hogs. Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC) in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe....

Tomorrow, some of you will help select the next president of the United States. In the never-ending stream of polls comes one that any car lover can appreciate. According to research by automotive price guide Kelley Blue Book; your vehicle preference reveals your political preference. The company says that Sen. John McCain leads among owners of domestic and luxury cars, including GMC (61 percent of owners prefer McCain), Chevrolet (60 percent), Buick and Dodge (58 percent), Ford (57 percent), Lexus, BMW and Lincoln (52 percent). Kelley's research also finds that 66 percent of full-sized truck owners support McCain, as do...

The number of layoff announcements involving at least 50 workers rose in September to the highest level since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks seven years ago, the government said Wednesday. There were 2,269 mass layoff actions, up 497 from August, according to statistics released by the Labor Department. That was the most mass layoffs since the 2,407 in September 2001. "At large firms, basically what I see is an across-the-board, shotgun approach," said Paul Sarvadi, chairman and CEO of human resources outsourcing firm Administaff in Houston. "If they anticipate revenues going down, then they see how much they need to...

In the future, you're going to hear much more about HCCI, or homogeneous charge compression ignition. Besides universities and national laboratories, virtually every major automaker is working on this promising technology. Research on HCCI, underway for about three decades, is now producing tangible results. General Motors has shared the results of its considerable research in this area with two drivable concept vehicles, a 2007 Saturn Aura and Opel Vectra, each with a 2.2-liter Ecotec four-cylinder engine incorporating HCCI. General Motors claims up to a 15 percent fuel savings with the 180-horsepower engine while meeting current emissions standards. This results from...

As the cost of driving seems to rise every day, drivers are looking to get the most out of every tank. While some use alternate modes of transportation, many people need their cars on a daily basis. For those in the driver's seat, there are simple ways to increase fuel efficiency and save at the pump. John and Helen Taylor can attest to that. The couple, who holds the Guinness World Record for Fuel Efficiency, set the record in 2006 when they averaged 52.1 miles per gallon in a record-setting road trip around the world. By using Shell "FuelStretch" tips,...

Senator John Warner (R-Virginia) suggested that Congress consider banning unnecessary automobile travel in order to help save gasoline. “In 1974, when we faced oil prices of $12 per barrel, Congress set a national 55 mph speed limit,” Warner remembered. “Studies showed that this saved 167,000 barrels of oil per day and reduced highway fatalities by an estimated 4,000 per year. Now, with oil prices more than ten-times higher we need more drastic action.” Under Warner’s proposal all non-essential automobile travel would be banned. A “Bureau of Travel Permits” would be established within the Department of Transportation and charged with determining...

DETROIT, July 4 (UPI) -- A mini-car designed by the General Motors (NYSE:BGM) Corp. for Asia and Latin America may soon be available in U.S. showrooms, a company spokesman says. GM spokesman Dee Allen said the automobile giant was reviewing its current sales plan in the United States following new demands in the domestic auto market because of soaring gasoline prices, The Detroit News said Friday. "Everything is under review," Allen said. "Obviously, the market has been changing rather rapidly." General Motors already used a 2007 New York auto show to unveil its new two-door hatchback, the 11 and a...

With the U.S. auto market worsening for Ford Motor Co. almost daily, managers told union officials Friday that the company will have to further reduce its factory work force in the coming months. The slumping U.S. economy has cut U.S. auto sales by 8 percent during the first five months of the year, but it's been a double hit on Ford, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC as consumers shun their high-profit pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles for more fuel-efficient models as they cope with $4 per gallon gasoline. United Auto Workers union officials were told in a meeting...