Miscellaneous

Are you getting tired of the constant reminders that being severely overweight is unhealthy? The condition can lead to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, being hard of breathing, and now increased chances of dying in a car accident. To reiterate in case you missed it: Yes, you're more ...    Read more

The wheelchair-vehicle automotive segment is not one that often gets press, but an interesting and unsurprising trend is emerging now that thousands of mostly young, injured veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are in need of transportation. "They just don't want minivans," said Doug Eaton, president and chief executive ...    Read more

It sure seems like there are a lot of banks these days, and the more crowded the market, the better the rewards. Well, if you have one million dollars, that is. Case in point: Community Bank, which is the official Bank of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is changing its name ...    Read more

General Motors managed to sell more vehicles than any other automaker on planet earth in 2011 and now its CEO, Dan Akerson, is getting paid. Sort of. Last year marked Akerson's first full year at the helm of GM, and now he gets to cash in on a $7.7 million ...    Read more

The old expression "never make the same mistake twice" could be dubbed Jaguar's unofficial mantra as the automaker preps a new, yet-unnamed small sedan. Jaguar has made it known that the all-new car will be just that, new, and won't imitate the X-Type, a vehicle widely regarded as a failure. "We ...    Read more

Auto enthusiast sites have been buzzing for some time now over Carroll Shelby and his health. Shelby, born in 1923 in Texas, has an illustrious career in car racing and design. He is most well known for the original Cobra, a small British AC Ace sports car with a huge ...    Read more

Late last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into model year 2004 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans, and 2003 Chevrolet Express full-size vans. Over 80,000 vehicles could be potentially by the investigation. Now the federal agency is upgradings its investigation of the Ford Freestar and ...    Read more

There have been times we've all wished life were more like a video game. You score points for making it through the end of the workday. Your health bar increases at lunchtime; anything to make the mundane seem more entertaining. Some people just have a way of making it all come ...    Read more

General Electric boss Jeff Immelt made no secret that the world hasn't been as receptive to electric vehicles as forecasters first thought, but he doesn't expect sales to stay down forever. Even with the disappointment surrounding EV sales, Immelt told Automotive News that his company would continue to invest in ...    Read more

At the request of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the United States government has decided to extend the comment period on distracted driving regulations that would affect what technology makes it into new vehicles. The deadline was originally set to expire today, but thanks to the extension automakers have until ...    Read more

Coda Automotive, which is currently in its infant stages as an automaker, told the Detroit News yesterday that it's working on an "entry-level" electric vehicle for the United States. It will build this EV in partnership with Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors. Coda boss Phil Murtaugh said the California-based start-up ...    Read more

Once upon a time, horsepower drove the development of most cars. A couple of fuel crises (OK, more than a few) and car crashes (and their lawsuits) changed the focus to higher fuel economy and safety features like airbags and even the humble seatbelt. Car safety, like entertainment systems and road ...    Read more

Full-size pickup trucks comprise a massive number of automaker sales in the U.S. every year. But the market's changing, with high gas prices and an even higher amount of government regulations for fuel economy coming by 2016. The vehicles had to change. The Chevrolet Silverado needed to change. And it will, ...    Read more

Could you have guessed we're but seven months from a presidential election? Because, if you couldn't, there's plenty of political ninny fighting and bickering going on every day in Congress to remind you. The latest comes from Republican senators Charles Grassley (Iowa) and John Thune (South Dakota), who both asked Energy ...    Read more

A few years back, Chevrolet created a laugh-worthy marketing campaign, lauding its cars as "An American Revolution." It wouldn't have been so funny if one of the most prominent new cars in its advertisements weren't the Chevrolet Aveo, a much-criticized little car made in South Korea by what used to ...    Read more

Our fellow reporters' lost looks echoed our own feelings as we stepped into the Mercedes-Benz Transmission LA event at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). While we were covering the latest automotive news deep with the confines of our offices, they had spent the day gunning ...    Read more

"Comply to my three conditions, or I'll sue you." That was Judge Dudley Gray II's paraphrasing of a letter sent by Heather Peters to Honda's customer service department on November 18 of last year. The letter spoke louder than any evidence previously submitted in the ...    Read more

It's been an agonizingly slow process, but it appears Alfa Romeo is finally laying the groundwork down for its (eventual) return to the United States. The Fiat subsidiary has registered the brand of its 4C sports car, the first Alfa vehicle to go through such a process Stateside in almost ...    Read more

Always been confused by those alphanumeric car names introduced by ze Germans not so long ago? Well, get ready to pull out your smartphone and bring up your Mercedes-Benz app. Our colleagues over at Automobile Magazine report the automaker plans to revamp its lineup's naming scheme to make order out ...    Read more

Weeks before I set off for Hankook Tire’s development and manufacturing facilities in South Korea, Automotive.com’s biggest kahuna, Angus MacKenzie, discussed the importance of tires with me from his Australian point of view. During our dinnertime conversation, he explained the difference between U.S. and international consumers when it comes to ...    Read more

Audi's had a bit of a busy week. First, the German luxury division made it official that it would be purchasing storied superbike maker Ducati. Then, and much closer to home, Audi announced it would be breaking ground on its first North American plant in Mexico. Here are the details: ...    Read more

When Americans rejected diesel-powered cars as smokey, wheezy, and loud in the early 80s, Europeans continued to embrace the technology for its excellent fuel efficiency, refinement, and torque—pulling force of an engine. Of course, it didn't help that the American-designed passenger car diesels of the era were some of the ...    Read more

Michigan, in a rare turn of events, is actively repealing a safety law. In a move that will surely appease a strange, irrational set of motorcyclists, it’s striking the mandatory helmet law (that it shares with 19 states, and Washington, D.C.) off its record. Badass bikers and crotch rocketeers alike ...    Read more

A study released this week says that despite the higher upfront costs of going green, an electric car could end up more cost-effective and produce fewer emissions than many economy cars—or even hybrids. The Union of Concerned Scientists, a 400,000-member organization whose roots go back to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ...    Read more

It's been a little while coming, but it appears Infiniti is finally set to make a serious run at German competitors Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Thanks to an interview with an anonymous source close to the Japanese automaker, the 2014 model year is shaping up as a busy one for Infiniti. ...    Read more