Industry

Carmakers have been vocal about the increase to vehicle prices new CAFE regulations will likely cause, with GM execs, including vice chairman Bob Lutz, revealing it could add up to $6,000 to the price of a new car. However, higher vehicle prices are only one negative outcome of the new regulations...

Most major carmakers saw double digit percentage drops for their June U.S. sales levels as consumers continued to shift away from gas-guzzling SUVs and pickups and seek out more fuel-efficient compact cars and hybrids. GM saw its sales drop 19% in June on the back of a similar result in May, while...

Update: General Motors is extending its 0% financing offer through July 7 on selected vehicles. Success of the original sale, which ran from June 24-30, has led the company to continue it in the hopes of boosting summer sales and starting July off on a strong note, especially as the U.S. enters the...

Researchers from America’s Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have found that the impact from accidents between cars and pickups or SUVs could be greatly reduced if heavier vehicles were forced to meet the same bumper design requirements as cars. The IIHS plans to formally petition...

With North American auto sales expected to reach 15-year lows by the end of the year and further declines expected as customers hold on to their cars amid a weakening economy, record fuel prices and rising car prices, some states in the U.S. and Canada are investigating plans to boost sales by...

Following the news that Ford has been in talks with a number of firms from China and Russia about a possible sale of its Volvo subsidiary comes new reports claiming that Renault was one of the initial carmakers interested in acquiring the Swedish label. An inside source close to the negotiations...

Rampant speculation about the short-term future of Chrysler has been circulating the web for the past week or more, with pundits and analysts alternately claiming bankruptcy or sale equally likely. Chrysler has officially denied all claims of an impending bankruptcy, but it has decided to reduce...

While Honda's sales in the U.S. are actually increasing, and Toyota and Nissan are losing only single-digits of production, Mitsubishi has decided to cut production and jobs in the face of decreased demand and poor market conditions. The move will reduce output from the Normal, Illinois factory by...

Rating vehicles on a scale of 1 to 10, the new labels will take into account the particulate and greenhouse gas emissions and assign a corresponding score, to be displayed on the window. The higher the number, the better, with the cleanest vehicles on the road rating a 10. The state will also...

May sales in the U.S. were the first firm indication of the fuel-price and economic downswing-driven sea change in American car buying habits. Now a preliminary J.D. Power June report shows that the downhill plunge in sales begun in May is getting steeper. May saw Ford's total sales figures plummet...

If the EPA approves new greenhouse-gas emissions caps, the car industry will be powerless to stop California from swiftly enacting even tighter carbon emissions rules, according to the latest ruling handed down by a U.S. District Court judge in Fresno, California. The decision finds the 45-day...

Plug-in hybrids, conventional hybrids and pure electric vehicles (EVs) are the hot topic as fuel prices rise with no end in sight. The future of transport appears to be almost certainly electricity-driven, and Renault, which just confirmed it was working on EVs in earnest last week, hopes to be one...

The House committee on climate change and energy independence has told the U.S. government that current CAFE regulations forcing carmaker fleet-wide fuel economy levels to average 35mpg by 2020 is not enough. Instead, the committee wants to see that deadline brought forward to 2015. The...

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama met with the CEOs of both Ford and GM this week and has come to the conclusion that there is a consensus on what needs to be done to turnaround the U.S. auto industry. One of the most common solutions is the need for greater federal funding for new technology...

The latest word from J.D. Power and Associates' series of surveys shows U.S. new car buyers aren't as satisfied with their purchases, not because the cars are in any way worse, but because fuel prices are higher. The average score for new car satisfaction fell two points on the 1,000 point scale to...

Taking into account everything from city design to engine technology, the California Air Resources Board has set a goal for reducing the state's airborne pollution to 10% below current levels by 2020. The broad sweep of the plan makes it the most comprehensive of any state in the U.S. A...

Executives at the Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] are racing to work out a solution to free-falling full-size SUV and pickup truck sales, and a temporary solution may come in the form of the already long-in-the-tooth Ranger. Shifting the F-150's sales focus to workplace and industrial use could also...

Sir James Dyson, known for inventing the famous bagless Dyson vacuum, has turned his efforts towards creating an improved electric motor for automobiles. Dyson has been seemingly enamored with the electric car revolution, going so far as to predict that electric cars could outnumber their petrol...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has slammed Senator John McCain's proposed $300 million prize for the creation of an advanced car battery, calling it a “gimmick” designed to grab attention but offer little aid for the fuel crisis. Despite the latest remark, Obama has...

GM announced this week that prices on all its 2009 models would increase by 3.5% and now the CEOs of both Audi and Renault-Nissan are predicting similar price hikes for their respective fleets due to rising raw material and production costs. Both Audi’s Rupert Stadler and...