Nissan, following the success of the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight, will introduce in 2010 its first electric vehicle. Infiniti, the Nissan luxury brand, will soon follow with a hybrid with an in-house drivetrain. The electric and hybrid will be powered by lithium ion batteries made vis a partnership with NEC of Japan.
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In its yearly
report on automobile reliability, Consumer Reports has released its
2009 model calculations. Asian automakers dominated the top results,
Chrysler suffered a sharp decline and Ford overshadowed its Detroit
rivals. Toyota’s Scion xD was named as the most reliable car.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced ts best and worst gas mileage averages list for 2009 models. Each car is respectively listed with its city and highway mpg averages listed.
Chrysler manufactured the first mini-van 25 years ago. And now it's on the automotive forefront again with a new eco-friendly version of the Town & Country. The vehicles were unveiled as part of the Earth Day celebrations.
Toyota is hoping the 2009 Venza, is “the right vehicle at the right time.” That’s the message from the manufacturer as it unveils its new offering positioned between two of its long-time mainstays, Highlander and Camry.
The biggest automotive news of 2008 remains the ongoing crisis among the “Big Three” manufacturers — General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. But beyond all the serious stuff, there was a lot of fun and intrigue for automotive enthusiasts in 2008. This year marked the sixth full year of The Weekly Driver reviews and the corresponding web site, www.theweeklydriver.com. I reviewed 32 new cars in 2008, Audi to Volkswagen, BMW to Suzuki. I drove about two dozen other vehicles at car shows and manufacturers’ functions. And a few dozen additional reviews from contributing writers also appeared on this site and I viewed my favorite new car, a 1954 Kaiser Darrin. Below is the second edition of www.TheWeeklyDriver.com’s Cars of the Year, 2008.
It didn't take long. Moments after President Barack Obama's speech Monday night, numerous automotive web sites and the Washington Post's fact-checker columnist brought attention a common mistake made by the president's speech writers.
The Nissan GT-R and Dodge Ram 1500 have captured top honors from the International Car of the Year Awards. The 13th annual awards, which are judged by a panel of 16 automotive journalists and presented by Road and Travel Magazine, aim to honor new model year vehicles that "reach beyond power and performance by tapping into lifestyle compatibility." The Dodge Ram topped the Ford F-150 and Subaru Forester to win the truck segment, while the Nissan GT-R beat out the Dodge Challenger and Ford Flex to win the car portion of the competition.
President Obama has signed a memorandum requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider an application by the State of California to set more strict auto emissions and fuel efficiency standards. If the EPA grants the waiver, California and 13 other states would be permitted to set their emission standards presumably more stringent in all instances the reguirements set by federal law. TheWeeklyDriver