Auto For Speed

The new GM’s plan to interact better with the world is working quite well seemingly. Users of the online forum at GMblogs are quite impressed with the company’s plans for better, more fuel-efficient vehicles. During one of the discussions on the company’s Eco Initiative project GM designers explained how difficult it is to meet customer expectations when it comes to eco-friendliness because different customers have different ideas of what eco-friendly means. Read the rest of this entry »

A Lamborghini hybrid? How exactly would that work? As in, what can a legendary supercar-maker like Lamborghini do with that kind of technology other than shaving a few points off their fuel-economy numbers?

Well, the details are few, but Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann has told the Germany auto industry weekly Automobilwoche that the technology could first make it to the Gallardo model and that we could see a Gallardo hybrid by 2015. Read the rest of this entry »

Last month, we sampled the 2010 Cadillac SRX in naturally aspirated, 265-horsepower guise, and after a week behind the wheel we are convinced General Motors’ luxury brand finally has a competitive crossover to take on the segment-defining Lexus RX. Along with Cadillac’s unique angular styling and a full complement of amenities, the SRX surprised us with an edgy chassis that wasn’t afraid to cut the rug when pulled onto the dance floor. Read the rest of this entry »

The secret to a successful vehicle launch event, in addition to offering all-day access to food and nightly binge drinking, is scheduling events that help put the hack journo in the mindset of the vehicle’s target customer. For the launch of Land Rover’s heavily freshened Land Rover LR3, rechristened LR4, the itinerary included an opulent dinner with his Grace, the 10th Duke of Roxburghe (say ROX-bruh), at his residence, Floors Castle in southeast Scotland. Owing to the go-anywhere nature of the brand, we dressed up in carry-on-wrinkled Yank interpretations of appropriate attire, boarded our dapper Landies, and set out along the historic carriage approach to the castle, which fords the River Tweed. Water that would have been just above knee high on a horse and well below the floor of a proper carriage lapped midway up the doors and submerged the new proximity-view cameras mounted in the front bumper, affording us a salmon’s-eye view. It was also moving swiftly enough to push the 5850-pound Rovers just a bit downstream. Read the rest of this entry »

One of Japan’s three biggest automakers has stolen a major march on its two main rivals. While Honda and Toyota delight greenies by selling hybrid cars like the Insight and the Prius, Nissan has been relatively quiet on the eco front. Now the company has revealed what it has been working on and it should shake up the auto industry.

The new Nissan LEAF – the name is not an acronym but signifies purity and greenness – is a fully electric-powered car which Nissan says is the world’s first affordable zero-emission vehicle. Prices have not been announced to verify the affordability claim but the company states that it will fall within the C segment. In other words it will be priced to compete with cars like the VW Golf, Dodge Caliber, Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus. Read the rest of this entry »