Opinion

Hybrid naysayers constantly say hybrids aren't worth the extra cost because it will take years to recover the premium paid for their high-tech vehicles versus a non-hybrid equivalent. Interestingly, they fail to mention hybrid vehicles are extremely well-equipped with many standard features, while their gasoline-only siblings are usually the cheaper ...    Read more

The car business is big business—very big business. And charting the changes from year to year can be a little tough. But when investment banks get involved, their goal is to be absolutely sure of what's on the horizon to keep investors interested in the right companies, referencing knowledge of future ...    Read more

Americans, seeing the economy still in flux (and politicians worse than useless during election year) continue to keep a keen eye on gas prices. General Motors fuel economy engineers Ann Wenzlick and Beth Nunning recently took the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze LT for a typical workday drive to figure out the ...    Read more

Are you one of the few who actually notice those ads surrounding your Facebook page? Well, get ready to see one less advertiser. General Motors rocked both the automotive and business worlds this week when it confirmed reports it was pulling its ads from social media darling Facebook. The U.S. largest ...    Read more

It's funny how time flies when you're having fun. And what fun the BMW M division, the company's motorsports offshoot, has been. BMW M came on the scene in 1972, complementing what connoisseurs had already found out with the "Neue Klasse" cars the automaker started making in the 1960s. BMW already built incredibly ...    Read more

The nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently announced three vehicles -- the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu ECO, the 2012 Hyundai Azera, and the 2012 Toyota Prius c -- as the latest recipients for its Top Safety Pick award. The IIHS tests vehicles for safety in frontal and side crashes, rollovers, and ...    Read more

After hanging around with Germans for a while, it's possible to get the impression that most are born without a sense of humor. Then they surprise you every once in a while. Take, for instance, Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller. He told German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung that the automaker was no longer ...    Read more

Numbers matter to automakers, for they not only represent how their business is—or is not—doing, but can be used as a psychological weapon that'll either help or, more often, hinder the competition. Along both lines, Toyota recently re-passed U.S. rival General Motors as numero uno in sales worldwide. Toyota sold nearly ...    Read more

Sitting in a long commute with hoards of traffic is probably bad for your blood pressure, sure. But a new study says it could also be a factor in poorer fitness levels and putting on the pounds. That news comes by way of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine which recently ...    Read more

Its election year time. How can you tell? We normally credible and focused sites start spewing off on popular and topically subjects that only tangentially relate to their product. Take our site, for example. You probably came here to shop for your next car, getting details on particular makes, models, our ...    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

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 California Air Resources Board, or CARB, unanimously approved the latest air emissions law for the state. First reported by Automotive.com way back in 2009, the latest CARB regulations are some of the strictest and most comprehensive in the nation, affecting car emissions, fuel composition, ...    Read more

Car enthusiast favorite Mazda has been taking it on the chin the past few years, from its separation with Ford, the earthquake—and subsequent tsunami—in Japan, and reduced sales as Americans insist on fuel efficient vehicles versus fun-to-drive ones ("zoom-zoom!"). The automaker has addressed most of these issues; parts supplies are ...    Read more

Everyone knows to slow down at a school crossing zone. Apparently, though, common sense seems to go by the wayside when parents are dropping off their kids at school. That's the personal observation by Kristin Varela in her blog post on Allstate.com. She notes how parents allow their children to stand ...    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

For possibly the first time in history, government regulations and consumer tastes have coincided. On the one hand, government regulations here in the States and abroad require car engines to have fewer emissions and be more fuel efficient than ever before. On the other hand, consumers are buying such ...    Read more

Car enthusiasts considered the Pontiac G8 sedan as one of the best Pontiacs built for General Motors' sporty brand. Unfortunately, the Pontiac G8 was also the brand's swan song; GM shut down Pontiac, along with HUMMER and Saturn, in 2009. Since then, car enthusiasts have been foretelling the "rebirth" ...    Read more

The Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV4 rank among the most popular and best-selling mid-sized crossovers here in the States. With Honda massively refreshing the CR-V for 2012 (first unveiled at the 2011 Orange County Auto Show, then detailed at the LA Auto Show), you can imagine ...    Read more

Anticipation We rolled in to the desert sometime after 9 p.m. amid a downpour. Our hotel was in Palm Springs, approximately 20 miles away from Coachella, where 90,000 bodies were huddled, freezing, enduring the elements in the name of the experience. After all, this is the biggest music festival on 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

Both car buyers and dealerships like high residual values on vehicles. Car owners like them because it makes it easier to sell their vehicle for a good price later, and dealerships like them for pretty much the same reason. All automakers covet such an accolade on their brand (witness Toyota, ...    Read more

The Department of Transportation today announced that it has proposed new legislation to require automakers to install a "brake-throttle override" for unintended acceleration. Which is stupider than the stupidest stupid you could ever stupidly imagine. "America's drivers should feel confident that anytime they get behind the wheel they can easily maintain ...    Read more

Earlier this year, we reported Land Rover was having difficulty fulfilling orders for its Range Rover Evoque crossover SUV. Well, the inevitable happened: at last week's New York Auto Show, Land Rover announced it has sold out of all Range Rover Evoque vehicles for 2012. A spokesperson for the ...    Read more

Gas prices are skyrocketing and Americans are looking for relief. After blaming the government (of course), rational car owners look to drop their SUVs and crossovers for something that offers a bit more mpg, oftentimes shopping for a hybrid. Witness Toyota's difficulty in filling its Prius c orders. So ...    Read more