There’s no question that consumer automotive preferences have changed. Just go by a dealership and look at the lonely lines of SUVs and pick-ups that Americans, burned from their foray into $4 a gallon gas this summer are eschewing in favor of smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles and hybrids. Some drivers, however, are going a [...]
In today’s edition of the New York Times, Bill Vlasic has an interesting piece called “Fully Loaded” (well that’s what it’s called online, at least, my Kindle edition bills it as “Cars With the High Tech Comforts of Home.”) To read the piece you will have to have a NYTimes free account, so I’ll hit [...]
It’s hard to get too optimistic about anything automotive at the moment. Edmunds is predicting that October sales across the industry may be down as much as a staggering 29 percent. We’re talking a potential three decade low here. But at the same time, Barak Obama is saying that if he wins, he’ll concentrate on [...]
I have an open lust for a MINI and so this post on Engadget caught my eye. The Mini E (electric) will be on display next month at the LA Auto Show with 500 units available in the U.S. on lease to 500 “commercial and private customers in California, New York and New Jersey sometime [...]
iPod Becoming Standard Auto Equipment
I read an interesting statistic on MacUser the other day. A study be iSuppli reports that 58 percent of new cars in the United States, regardless of trim level, now have iPod integration — meaning the day may come when you don’t have to endanger yourself and others on the road [...]
Although gas prices are, at last, thankfully coming down a bit, the price per gallon is still hovering around $3 and larger economic woes continue to make a trip to the pump a pain in the . . . well, you get the idea. People are trading out of their monster SUVs and trucks and [...]
Seems the automotive buzzword these days is “electric.” We’ve all heard about the Chevy Volt. We’ve seen the elegant, sporty Tesla — that none of us will ever be able to afford. We’ve heard about the third-party conversions of the Prius to a plug-in version. And now, no less of a designer than Pininfarina has [...]
Airbags may not be the sexiest auto tech to discuss — until you need them. I never thought twice about airbags in my old Taurus until an elderly man, who thought he was in the turn lane, came to a full stop in my lane. I couldn’t avoid hitting him and the impact set off [...]