Overall hybrid vehicle sales are showing significant growth in 2006 compared to 2005, but not all the players are celebrating. Honda has only managed to move 4,924 Accord hybrids by the end of October, compared to 15,269 in 2005, a drop of 67.8…
Category: Autoblog
New Canadian budget includes fuel economy carrots and sticks
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty unveiled a new budget in parliament this week, and it includes incentives for Canadians to drive greener vehicles. The Vehicle Efficiency Incentive will provide a tax break of up to $2,000 to people who buy more…
German transmission builder ZF producing hybrid motors for Mercedes
German transmission supplier ZF has just started building production samples of a new electric motor that will be part of Mercedes-Benz new mild hybrid system. Mercedes co-developed the system with BMW and displayed it in several different vehicles…
Ford SUV assembly plant workers get 9-week unplanned vacation
Ford has seen the writing on the wall for sales of the Expedition and Lincoln Navigator full-size SUVs. Both vehicles are built at the Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, MI and sales of both have tanked this year. With gas at $4/gallon 37 percent fewer…
General Motors to introduce smaller 1.4L turbo on US small cars next year
It looks like General Motors is going to move forward with production of new turbocharged 1.4L four cylinder engines next year and best of all we'll get them in some U.S. models. Last summer at GM's annual powertrain technology showcase, the company…
Toyota to test Prius PHEV in Oslo, Norway
Toyota Prius PHEV – Click above for high-res image gallery
With all the bad news about Toyota recently, it's about time for something a bit more positive. Toyota is in the process of deploying a fleet of several hundred plug-in Priuses in Japan,…
SmartUSA hits the road to preview the ForTwo
Click the photo for a high-res gallery of the ForTwo
SmartUSA is hitting the road starting this month to introduce America to the Smart ForTwo in advance of the sales launch early next year. The US distributor will have three teams trekking to fifty…
Detroit 2009: Crosshairs on a Europa make a Dodge Circuit EV
Click the Dodge Circuit EV for a high-res gallery
As suspected from some recent spy photos Chrysler's ENVI group has continued to work on the car that first appeared last fall as the DodgeEV. The car that was nothing more than a Lotus Europa with an…
Jeep adds diesel option to entry level model and cuts price by $1,000
Click the Jeep for a high-res gallery
If you're in the market for a truly off-road capable, mid-sized SUV with great towing capability that gets better-than-expected fuel economy, Chrysler has just made it a little easier on your wallet. They have…
Geneva debut for Dodge roadster
Apparently Dodge hasn't completely given up on the the idea of a smaller cheaper sports car than the Viper. After showing a number of concepts over the last decade including the Copperhead, Slingshot and the Razor (shown above), Dodge may be showing…