James Martinez, Author
Articles
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Chrysler's recent announcement revealing its new global alliance with Italian auto giant Fiat now means that the company has to hurry to re-establish itself in the market. In order to do this,...
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Cadillac STS-V and Pontiac G6 GXP absent from 2010 GM lineup
General Motors is trimming its model lineup to get rid of its underperforming sport models across all its brands. Just yesterday, it was revealed that Chevrolet will no longer offer the Impala SS variant for 2010, nor will it offer the 2010 Cobalt SS sedan. Following in the footsteps of these two...
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Lexus predicts 1,600 IS Convertible sales per month, starting price below $40,000
Lexus' much anticipated IS Convertible went on sale in Tokyo today, a car that the Toyota luxury division has been working on for the past year or so in order to compete with similar offerings from BMW and Audi. With the new convertible, Lexus has revealed that it will be hoping to steal away sales...
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GM issues first recall for Chevrolet Camaro
GM's much awaited 2010 Chevrolet Camaro has only been on dealership floors for a few weeks but the car has already suffered its first recall due to an exposed power cable. The issue lies in the V8 Camaro's battery, which in some cars has been experiencing short circuits due to the exposed cable...
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Novitec Rosso boosts Maserati’s GranTurismo S with new supercharger package
Germany’s Novitec Rosso is one of favorite tuners when it comes to modifying exotic metal and the company’s latest package for the Maserati GranTurismo S shows exactly why. This is just the second tuned Maserati from Novitec’s recently established ‘Novitec Tridente’...
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Nissan targeting MX-5 with Silvia (240SX) replacement
As brilliant as the GT-R is, its premium price tag and limited availability means it will be out of reach for most sports car lovers for some time to come. Then there’s the new 370Z but it too can be a bit expensive for younger fans. Sadly, Nissan’s affordable sports car, the Silvia...
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Following the unveiling of the original ‘Razor’ Audi R8 at the Essen Motor Show last year, German tuning firm PPI Automotive Design GmbH has unveiled an even more aggressive version of...
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Beat the Heat in Miami: New program allows drivers to drag race police cars
In Miami, the thrill of racing down a strip of asphalt with police sirens blaring behind you was an experience once reserved for escaping criminals or the extremely brave. In a recent development, however, this experience will soon be available to all, with police officers now giving motorists the...
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Coast to coast trek picked for this year’s Gumball 3000 Rally
The long wait is finally over for Gumball 3000 fans around the world as this year’s event has just kicked off. The 11th edition of the annual rally started in Los Angeles and will see the parade of rock stars and royalty trek across the country to Miami. The 3000 mile route, incorporating...
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Chrysler to close 8 U.S. plants by 2010
This past week’s bankruptcy announcement for Chrysler means the decisions will be coming hard and fast. The carmaker has already confirmed that overlapping models and some slow-sellers will be dropped but there will also be a lot more cutbacks as revealed by new bankruptcy documents filed...
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Holden Prepares Business Case To Sell Commodore Under Different GM Brands
Pontiac's demise has left a lot of people in the lurch, including General Motors Company’s [NYSE:GM] own Australian subsidiary Holden, which lost a vital contract for the supply of its Commodore-based G8 sedans to the North American market. The Aussie subsidiary is not giving up on bringing...
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Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli sheds light on resignation
News of Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli's departure has been making the rounds recently, but now the resigning chief has shed some light on the matter. Unlike his former counterpart at General Motors, Nardelli insists that he was not asked by the Obama administration to step down from the helm at...
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The Corvette Grand Sport is back. Set to roll in later this year as a 2010 model in both coupe and convertible bodystyles, the new Grand Sport combines the standard Corvette LS3-based powertrain with...
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Arden develops twin-screw supercharger kit for Land Rover’s new 5.0L V8
German tuner Arden has developed a twin-screw supercharger kit for Range Rover’s new 5.0L V8 engine, which not only boosts top end power but also improves driveability right across the rev range. According to Arden, extensive development and testing has resulted in a high-end supercharger...
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Daimler agrees to offload 19.9% stake in Chrysler
Last October Daimler was forced to write-down the value of its remaining 19.9% stake in Chrysler to zero, yet up until now the German auto giant was still trying to sell the shares. Daimler has announced today that is has reached an agreement to unload its remaining stake in Chrysler, while also...
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GM in talks with Toyota to source replacement for Pontiac Vibe
General Motors revealed in its latest viability plan that it will cut more than 21,000 jobs and reduce its total number of assembly, powertrain, and stamping plants in the U.S. from 47 last year to just 31 by 2012, but the company is still in talks with Toyota about sourcing a new model to replace...
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BMW reveals U.S. pricing for X5 M and X6 M performance SUVs
We bet there are still thousands of BMW M fans out there reeling from the fact that the performance division is launching its first ever SUV model, and a turbocharged one at that. Those fans better get used to it fast as BMW has just revealed pricing for the new X5 M and X6 M SUVs, which will start...
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Government preparing for possible Chrysler bankruptcy
As the April 30 deadline for Chrysler to restructure its business looms closer, the Treasury department has begun to prepare a bankruptcy filing for the struggling carmaker. The news highlights the severity of Chrysler's situation should it fail to enact a deal with Italian auto giant Fiat, but the...
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Chrysler may be on the brink of bankruptcy but that hasn't stopped the company from trying to claw its way back into the now burgeoning electric market - with the help of the U.S. Postal Service....
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Fesler-Moss accessories line for Chevrolet Camaro announced
Fesler-Moss may be relatively unknown in tuner scene but its two individual constituents, Chris Fesler and Jon Moss have been involved in the aftermarket segment for quite some time. For those who don’t know, Chris Fesler is the man behind Fesler Built, a vehicle customizer and manufacturer...
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Bright Automotive unveils new 100mpg plug-in hybrid 'IDEA' van
A new automotive startup based in Washington DC named Bright has just revealed its latest product - a plug-in hybrid commercial van that the company claims will achieve a fuel economy of 100mpg. Named the Bright IDEA, the slipper-shaped van certainly looks the part, and if it lives up to the...
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Chrysler creditors offer to swap debt for equity
Chrysler's race to turn its debts into equity took a major turn for the better today, with an offer from a group of banks and hedge funds that hold almost $7 billion in debt. The group is proposing to exchange around $2.5 billion of Chrysler's debt, but only in exchange for close to 40% of the...
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Ford working on next-generation lithium-ion batteries
One of the biggest things holding back the mass embrace of the electric car is their supposedly short driving range compared to conventionally powered cars, as well as their relatively expensive nature considering the youth of the technology and low production volumes. To combat this, Ford claims...
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Volkswagen may overtake Toyota by Q1 end
For a long time it seemed that Toyota's position as the world’s biggest carmaker was virtually unassailable, but now industry analysts are predicting that for the first quarter of 2009, the Volkswagen Group may have finally overtaken the Japanese carmaker in volume. While the results are not...
James Martinez