american cars
Ford Planning Return of the 5.0
4
Few engines have received the iconic status of the Ford Mustang’s 5.0. The motor disappeared in 1996 but now appears to be ready to make a comeback. News of the return comes out of Australia where Ford Australia product development boss Russell Christophers has confirmed a new 5.0-liter V8 is currently undergoing development in the…
Mercury Sable Latest Recession Casualty
The last Mercury Sable will roll off the assembly line this Thursday. The latest casualty of the worldwide economic downturn, the Mercury-branded Taurus has been produced alongside its vastly more popular brother since 1986 – with a short production stoppage in 2006. While Ford recently unveiled an all new Taurus, the decision was made to…
New Fisker Karma Video Shows It’s a Performance Car Too
It’s the Fisker Karma like you’ve never seen it before. This video (no doubt leaked on YouTube to keep up the marketing buzz surrounding the luxury hybrid) shows the Karma sliding through pylons and screeching its tires. Until now all we’ve ever seen are carefully crafted beauty shots and auto show snaps. With just over…
Corvette ZR1 “Hero Edition” To Be Raffled Off For Charity
General Motors has built a one-off “Hero Edition” Corvette ZR1, which will be raffled-off for charity. The car will be paired up with a 1967 Corvette 427 convertible and will be given away to the lucky ticket holder at the end of the year as a part of the Win The Vettes Corvette Dream Giveaway….
General Motors Axes Cobalt SS Sedan
Thanks to a little investigative journalism, the folks over at Autoblog have uncovered that General Motors will cut the Cobalt SS Sedan from its product lineup for 2010. A sad day indeed. The discovery came about due to GM hosting its Order and Reference Guides online. Look for the Cobalt and noticeably absent is the…
GM Canada Adds Shifts to Keep Up With Camaro Demand
As General Motors continues to report record losses, there are still some small success stories to report. The reborn Chevy Camaro is one of them. While plants are being idled and employees being let go across the company, at the Camaro assembly plant in Oshawa, Canada, workers can’t keep up with demand. The Peterborough Examiner…
Ford Transforming Michigan Trunk Plant into Compact Car/Electric Vehicle Plant
Ford will spend $550 million to transform it’s Michigan truck plant into a facility that bill be used to built the new Ford Focus, including an electric version of that vehicle. By transforming the Michigan Trunk Plant into a compact car facility as many as 3,200 jobs will be saved as demand for large SUVs…
Ford Focus RS Spied in Detroit
Stoking the rumors that Ford is planning to bring its impressive Focus RS to the U.S. are some amateur spy photos of the hopped-up compact, taken just outside Detroit. Forum user 2004SVTAutoXer took the photos in the up-scape Royal Oak neighborhood and posted them on FocusFanatics.com. The 2009 Focus RS is powered by a turbocharged…
Before Bankruptcy Chrysler Tried to Sell to Chinese, Partner with Everyone
Before Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 late last week the automaker explored every option, including selling the company to the Chinese and forging partnerships with any other manufacturer that expressed even a remote amount of interest. In public bankruptcy filings, made at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Chrysler’s co-president and vice-Chairman Tom LaSorda…
Pontiac Dealer Wants to Buy Brand, GM Not Interested
Jim Waldron, the owner of a Pontiac dealership in Michigan has revealed that he and a group of investors submitted an offer to buy the scheduled-for-termination Pontiac brand from GM. Waldron made the announcement on ABC’s local WJRT station and said that he expects to hear back from the company this week. GM representatives, including…
Obama to Announce Chrysler Bankruptcy Tomorrow
President Obama is expected to announce tomorrow that Chrysler will in fact file for bankruptcy; according to a report by Bloomberg. The Wall Street Journal, however, says that Obama currently has two speeches drafted for tomorrow’s press conference: one if the struggling automaker files for Chapter 11, and one if it doesn’t. The Chapter 11…
New Cadillac Model Coming for 2012
Cadillac’s entry-level European BLS Amid all the terrible news coming out of the U.S. auto sector, there are some glimmers of hope… sort of. While General Motors is cutting models and whole brands, it is making a commitment to introduce a new Cadillac model under the CTS. Unfortunately it won’t be the rear-drive 3-Series fighter…
General Motors to Eliminate Pontiac Brand on Monday
As the saying goes, “It’s all over but the crying.” Edmunds is reporting that its source inside General Motors has let slip that the Pontiac brand will officially be eliminated. The announcement is expected to be made next Monday as a part of a more thorough reorganization of the struggling automaker. General Motors PR rep…
General Motors To Idle Plants for Two Months This Summer
Several major news outlets are reporting that General Motors is planning extended shutdowns of its U.S. plants this summer. The plants would be idled for as much as nine weeks from mid-May through July. While it is common practice for plants to idle for a “summer break” during the sunny season, that period has traditionally…
Dodge Circuit EV First Drive: Our Ironic Earth Day Adventure
To celebrate Earth Day, Chrysler invited a select group of media to the Green Ride N Drive, (held during the SAE Show in Detroit today), to get behind the wheel of the Dodge Circuit EV. So in an act of automotive environmental irony that has to this day only been perpetrated on the planet by…
Ford F-150 SVT Raptor Priced at $38,995
Ford has yet to officially set pricing for the 2010 F-150 SVT Raptor, but Pickuptrucks.com is reporting that the truck will start at $38,995. Ford apparently shared the info with select media attending the Terrible’s 250 at Primm off-road race. The sub-40K price gets you the 320hp 5.4-liter V87 engine with 390 ft-lbs of torque,…
Buick Business MPV Concept Unveiled at Shanghai Auto Show
It’s a well-known fact that the Buick is a dominant force (and growing) in the Chinese marketplace, so it’s no surprise that the traditionally traditional brand used the Shanghai Auto Show to debut an important new concept. The real surprise is that this crossover is anything but traditional. The Buick Business MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle)…
Fiat Ready to Walk on Deal With Chrysler After Canadian Union Refuses to Budge
Fiat is about ready to walk away from a potential partnership with Chrysler says CEO Sergio Marchionne unless the U.S. automaker can significantly cut labor costs. While the United Auto Workers union has made it known that it is willing to work with Fiat and Chrysler management, the Canadian Auto Workers union isn’t. “From what…
Corvette GT1 Z06 Not Competing in New York
General Motors used the New York Auto Show to stage the official first showing of its GT1 line of special edition Corvettes. The car wasn’t competing for the spotlight, however, as GM generally ignored the car and instead decided to focus on its new SUVs – like the GMC Terrain and Yukon Denali Hybrid. The…
Cadillac CTS-V Nürburgring Record-Holder Up For Auction at Barrett-Jackson
Looking for a real piece of American automotive history? Sure, you could saunter down to the Barrett-Jackson auction in Palm Beach, Fla. this weekend and bid on a classic Corvette that speaks to all that General Motors once was, or… you could bid on a vehicle that was made just last year and is one…
Yukon Denali Hybrid: Another GMC Set to Debut in N.Y.
General Motors will be putting the focus on its GMC brand at the New York Auto Show, with the launch of the Yukon Denali Hybrid – as well as the new 2010 Terrain. Using GM’s two-mode hybrid system the “green” Yukon Denali boasts city fuel-economy that has been improved by more than 50 percent. Unfortunately…
2010 GMC Terrain Headed to New York Auto Show
On Friday we brought you news that the 2010 Chevy Equinox will be priced at $1,800 less than the previous model and today we can tell you the Equinox’s sister SUV, the GMC Terrain, is set to launch at the New York Auto Show. There is no official word on pricing but you can expect…
Chevy Impala To Go Rear-Wheel Drive?
Current Commodore-based Lumina SS as sold in the Middle East and Africa Even if General Motors survives its current financial woes, it has a serious problem on its hands regarding future products. Take the Chevy Impala for instance. Sure it’s not very exciting, nor is it much to look at, but its a top seller…
Challenger SE Rallye Announced With New 5-Speed Auto.
New for 2009 is the Dodge Challenger SE Rallye model, which comes standard with a long list of exterior updates and, more importantly, a five-speed automatic transmission. The new tranny is the same unit found paired to the V8 HEMI engines in R/T and SRT8 models. It’s no surprise then that it offers an aggressively…
