domestic cars
Report: Upcoming Chevy Orlando May Get Voltec Plug-in Hybrid System
GM’s new communications boss has confirmed that the automaker is looking at equipping the upcoming Orlando MPV with a plug-in hybrid system similar to the one used in the Chevy Volt. Jon Lauckner, VP of global program management at GM hinted at this earlier this year and now Lutz is being more specific telling GM-Volt.com…
Ford Posts Surprising Sales Gain of 2% In July
With the current state of affairs in the auto industry, smaller than expected losses have been cause to celebrate, so imagine the party the folks over at Ford must be having right now as the company announced today that it actually posted a sales gain. Last month Ford’s 10 percent loss was seen as a…
Report: Penske In Talks With Renault to Sell French Cars As Saturns
If all goes as planned the Penske-owned Saturn brand could be selling rebadged vehicles from French automaker Renault in the U.S. Thought to be a wild rumor at first, Renault has now confirmed that Penske has in fact approached the automaker to supply both parts and cars. Currently Penske Automotive Group has a tentative deal…
Report: National Corvette Museum to Raffle Off Custom 2010 Grand Sport
To celebrate its 15th anniversary the National Corvette Museum (NCM) is holding a raffle for a new 2010 Corvette Grand Sport. Tickets aren’t cheap at $150 a pop, but with just 2,009 tickets being sold the odds of winning are pretty good. The NCM Corvette Grand Sport Coupe was custom designed by the folks at…
Report: Last Pontiac Solstice Rolls Off Assembly Line as GM Closes Another Plant
Earlier this week General Motors officially turned off the lights and locked the doors at its Boxwood Road assembly plant for the last time, marking the end of the line for the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky. The two vehicles (along with the Opel GT) were manufactured at the plant in Wilmington, Delaware, which is…
Official: Ford Mustang to Race in 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series
As promised, Ford Racing will bring the Mustang to NASCAR, starting next year in the Nationwide Series. Looking rather un-Mustang-like, with the exception of a decal strip across the front that bears some resemblance to the narrow grille and headlight assembly on the 2010 Mustang, Ford says the cars will be part of a limited…
Fisker Karma to Make Driving Debut at Laguna Seca Raceway During Monterey Historics
Just a year and a half after it was first unveiled as a concept car the Fisker Karma is set to take to the road track during the Monterey Peninsula’s Classic Car Week. On August 15th, the plug-in hybrid Karma will run two laps of the world-famous Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca course at 11:10 a.m…
Report: Chevy Debuts Transformers Edition Camaro
Autobots: roll out, and now you can too with the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro Transformers Special Edition. The Bumblebee inspired creation was officially introduced yesterday at a fitting venue, Comic-Con in San Diego. “When the first Transformers movie was setting box office records, we had countless customers asking to purchase the ‘Bumblebee’ Camaro,” said Karen Rafferty,…
Report: SMS 460 Mustang Prototype Photos Emerge
Steve Saleen’s new company SMS Supercars is just about ready to unleash its version of the 2010 Mustang and has released a complete ordering guide for both versions of the Pony Car, as well as a few images of a near-completion prototype. The images show a significantly more aggressive design with a new front fascia,…
Report: Ford Confirms EcoBoost 4-Cylinder With At Least 230 Horsepower
Ford has just confirmed that it will bring an EcoBoost 4-cylinder engine to marker starting next year. The new engine will be a 2.0-liter gasoline four-cylinder and use a turbocharger to deliver at least 230hp and 240 ft-lbs of torque. Much in the way that the 365-hp EcoBoost V6 delivers V8 power with V6 duel-economy,…
Breaking: New Chrysler Incentive Doubles Cash-for-Clunkers Rebate
In a bid to get inventory moving out of showrooms in a hurry, Chrysler has decided to offer a new incentive program that would double the value of the government’s cash-for-clunkers program. Chrysler will offer $4,500 off (or 0 percent financing for 72 months) on most of its 2009 inventory – excluding the Dodge Challenger,…
Report: GM Bringing Chinese Market Buick Regal to North America
General Motors is planning to bring over its Chinese market Buick Regal to North America as either a 2011 or 2012 model. The car is based on the Opel Insignia and is slated to be a more entry-level Buick, costing several thousand dollars less than the LaCrosse, which is priced at $27,085. Originally, GM had…
Report: 10 Minute Barrier Still Stands at Pikes Peak as Best Efforts by Ford, Suzuki Come Up Short
Both Ford and Suzuki had high hopes heading into this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, but both were disappointed as neither automaker managed to run the 156 turn course in under 10 minutes. Suzuki pilot Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima still managed to run the fasted time of the day, however, at 10 minutes, 15 seconds…
Report: GM Launches ChevroletVoltage Social Networking Site to Help Promote Upcoming Volt
To help promote the upcoming Chevrolet Volt and provide owners and potential owners with a place to discuss the ground-breaking car, General Motors has launched a new forum called ChevroletVoltage.com. And to help kick-start interest in the forum, GM has released a video of the build process for the prototype Volt cars. The Voltage…
Report: Ford Poised to Pass GM as Top Seller in the U.S.
According to a recent report on the auto industry, published by Merrill Lynch, Ford is poised to surpass General Motors and become the top-selling automaker in the U.S. over the next four years. The reason for Ford’s forecasted success is its new line of products, including the Fiesta sub-compact (pictured above). Currently Ford holds a…
Report: Pontiac G8 Has No Future at New GM Says Lutz
Yesterday we urged GM CEO Fritz Henderson to sit down with his new Vice Chairman Bob Lutz to get their stories about the future of the Pontiac G8 straight. Now they have, and the news isn’t good. Bob Lutz posted on GM’s corporate Fastlane Blog that the G8 will not live on as the Chevrolet…
Report: 2010 Dodge Caliber Photos Reveal Improved Interior
Thanks to CaliberForums member ResumeSpeed we have this grainy photo of what is reported to be the interior of the 2010 Dodge Caliber. Along with that photo came a list of upgrades being made to the sub-compact’s interior in an effort to improve the overall look and feel of the cockpit. As the photo shows,…
Report: Pontiac G8 Future as Chevrolet Caprice Back in Doubt
Perhaps General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson and his newly appointed Vice Chairman Bob Lutz should sit down, have a talk and get their stories straight. After consistently saying that the Pontiac G8 would be eliminated with the rest of the Pontiac brand, it seemed as though Henderson had a change of heart after his newly…
Report: New Corvette GT2 Racers to Make ALMS Debut at Mid-Ohio
Last year Chevrolet announced that it would retire its GT1 Corvette Racing team after dominating the class for close to a decade. In its place Chevy would run a lower-level GT2 team in a class that has become increasingly competitive. This year the GT1s still ran in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) during the…
Report: Cadillac CTS-V Coupe is Planned Says Bob Lutz
When General Motors emerged from bankruptcy protection and announced that it would unretire Bob Lutz, it seemed like an odd move, considering Lutz’s interest in performance cars and the fact that he’s 77 years old. Enthusiasts, however, rejoiced and with good reason, as over the weekend the former product boss and now Vice Chairman let…
Dodge Viper to Live On Says Chrysler
Today Chrysler reconfirmed its commitment to the Dodge Viper, saying that it will live on despite the company’s bankruptcy and new ownership. The Dodge Viper was scheduled to be eliminated from the company’s lineup as of December of this year and the automaker had searched to find a buyer. Not only will Chrysler continue to…
Report: Pontiac G8 to Live On as Chevrolet Caprice
Calling the Pontiac G8 “Too good to waste,” GM’s new product boss, Bob Lutz, has just announced that the car will live on, rebadged as a Chevrolet Caprice. The news comes as a surprise, considering GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson has been unwavering in his insistence that the car would be eliminated from the New GM. Apparently…
Ford Limits 2010 Shelby GT500 Production to 2,000 Cars
Decades from now versions of the 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 will sell at auctions like Barrett-Jackson for significantly more than their ’09 counterparts. The reason? Sure, they sport a revised body and even more power – 540hp and 510 ft-lbs of torque to be exact – but the real reason will be because of their…
Top Chevy Volt Engineer Says Hybrid Has the “Feel of a Sports Car”
Last week Andrew Farah, Chevrolet’s top Engineer responsible for the upcoming Volt plug-in hybrid, said that the car would be a sporty rival to Japanese alternatives. Now he is taking that claim a step further, telling Automotive News that it will have, “the feel of a sports car.” In fact, Farah doesn’t say that the…
