Category Archives: Auto

Rolling restaurants: Some cities floor it, others tap the brakes

By doris | Published: August 6, 2011

Full Story at msnbc.com SEATTLE — Craving a gourmet meal on the fly? Food trucks plying American streets are delivering increasingly varied and sophisticated fare to the urban palate. Mobile kitchens offer hamburgers made from grass-fed cows, artisan breads, ethnic blends like Korean tacos and gourmet dishes that stand up next to fine fare from [...]

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Automakers dreaming up ways to meet new mileage standards

By doris | Published: August 3, 2011

Full Story at msnbc.com Mazda is offering a sneak peek at its new crossover, the CX-5, which will make its debut at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show. While the sculpted styling reveals the practical application of the Japanese maker’s new Kodo design language, what really matters is hidden under the hood.

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GM will spend $328M to update Mich. pickup factory

By doris | Published: July 19, 2011

Full Story at msnbc.com FLINT, Mich. — General Motors is spending $328 million to update a factory in Flint, Mich., where it will build the next generation of full-size pickups. The investment will pay for equipment to build the new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, which are due in showrooms early in 2013. [...]

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Gas prices hit a sweet spot for US automakers

By doris | Published: July 4, 2011

Full Story at msnbc.com DETROIT — Gas prices have hit a sweet spot for U.S.-based automakers. They’ve fallen enough to spur pickup truck sales, yet remain so high that newer small cars are selling as well. That isn’t the case for Honda and Toyota, however. They ran short of small cars because of production problems [...]

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US auto sales up in June, but Japan still hurting

By doris | Published: July 1, 2011

Full Story at news.Yahoo.com DETROIT (AP) — Gas prices hit a sweet spot for automakers last month. They fell far enough to spur pickup truck sales, yet remained so high that small cars sold well, sometimes just hours after reaching dealers’ lots. That made June a good month for General Motors and Ford, which have [...]

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Watch out for falling gasoline prices

By doris | Published: June 11, 2011

Full Story at msnbc.com The failure of oil-producing nations to agree this week on boosting output sparked worries that the price of crude and gasoline could be headed higher again. But a number of oil industry watchers think those worries are misplaced. “Right now the real story is not so much what’s happening in Vienna,” [...]

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Toyota forecasts $1.6 billion profit drop

By doris | Published: June 10, 2011

Full Story at money.cnn.com NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Toyota Motor Corp. forecast that it could lose more than $1 billion in profits in the current fiscal year because of disruptions from the tsunami and earthquake that ravaged Japan in March. Toyota released its forecast Friday for the fiscal 2012, projecting that net profit will drop [...]

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Ford announces Chevy Volt competitor, C-Max Energi

By doris | Published: June 9, 2011

Full Story at money.cnn.com NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Ford will soon produce a competitor to General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt. The new van-like compact car, due out next year, will be available in the U.S. in two hybrid versions. One of those, the C-Max Energi, will be a plug-in hybrid with capabilities similar to those of [...]

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Ford to build its smallest engine ever

By doris | Published: June 2, 2011

Full Story at money.cnn.com NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Ford will build a three-cylinder engine — its smallest engine ever — with better fuel economy and all the power of a larger one, the company said Thursday. The new EcoBoost engine, comparable to that found in a cruiser motorcycle, is in the final phase of development. [...]

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May auto sales dip as price strategy backfires

By doris | Published: June 1, 2011

Full Story atnews.Yahoo.com DETROIT (Reuters) – Major automakers are on track to report far weaker May auto sales than expected on Wednesday as higher vehicle prices prompted consumers to put off purchases in the face of a weakening economy. The tightening supply of vehicles, especially small cars, after the Japan earthquake emboldened many companies to [...]

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Patriotism pays off

By doris | Published: May 28, 2011

Full Story at msnbc.com NEW YORK — There’s less money this summer for hotel rooms, surfboards and bathing suits. It’s all going into the gas tank. High prices at the pump are putting a squeeze on the family budget as the traditional summer driving season begins. For every $10 the typical household earns before taxes, [...]

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High gas prices change holiday travel plans

By doris | Published: May 27, 2011

Full Story at money.cnn.com NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The high price of gas is forcing many Americans to change their travel plans for the Memorial Day weekend, according to a survey released Friday. A CNN/Opinion Research poll showed that one in four adult Americans have altered their plans for this weekend because of high gas [...]

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GM invests $131 million to build next Corvette

By doris | Published: May 4, 2011

Full Story at money.cnn.com NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — General Motors is investing $131 million in the Bowling Green, Ky. factory that builds the Chevrolet Corvette as it prepares to roll out the next generation of the sports car in a couple of years. In the process, the automaker will add about 250 jobs at the [...]

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Electric Car Boom Could Deliver a Surge in Grid Power

By doris | Published: April 30, 2011

Full Story at money.cnn.com (gigaom.com) — Here’s the bad news about electric vehicles: They’re going to be hell on the grid. The Utilities Telecom Council trade group reports that electric vehicles will require a 16-fold increase in power usage in the next decade, putting pressure on utilities to find out how to handle car charging [...]

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