James Martinez, Author
Articles
-
Ford has revealed pricing for the latest addition to its F-150 pickup truck line, the new 2010 F-150 SVT Raptor. The pumped-up pickup is a purpose-built off-road version of the popular F-150...
-
Hyundai’s U.S. chief sees Genesis nameplate becoming new luxury sub-brand
Hyundai has traditionally been recognized as a maker of affordable hatchbacks and compact cars but in the past couple of years we’ve seen the quality and design of its cars improve greatly. So much so that the South Korean carmaker can be considered a genuine rival to some of the mainstream...
James Martinez -
Arizona joins growing list of states for Renault-Nissan EV pilot program
Nissan's electric vehicle (EV) involvement in Project Better Place programs in Denmark and Israel, plus test fleets in its home market of Japan will be joined by a new agreement with the state of Arizona. The deal will have cars hitting the streets of Phoenix late next year, and will see...
James Martinez -
GM says Pontiac and GMC are safe, updated restructuring plan coming tomorrow
General Motors is currently seeking a buyer for Hummer, is looking to sell a stake in Opel, plans to cut its ties with Saab, and is open to almost anything with Saturn, but despite the drastic moves the auto industry task force established by President Obama is still seeking more. After rejecting...
James Martinez -
McLaren Splits Off Automotive Group, New Unit To Be Headed By Ron Dennis
Having recently parted company from Mercedes Benz, hired a new design director and started work on a new supercar, the team at McLaren is as busy as ever, but still not busy enough, it seems. To add to their plate, McLaren Group has spun its automotive division off to form a separate company...
James Martinez -
Lamborghini says 2008 most successful year ever for company
In spite of a world-wide economic crisis, Lamborghini has just announced a profit rise of almost 30% in 2008. In a year filled with turmoil in the automotive world, Lamborghini actually managed to move forward, selling 24 more units than the previous year to give it sales of 2,430 cars. In total...
James Martinez -
The Fast and the Furious franchise may not be known for its Oscar-winning performances or well thought-out plot developments, but that hasn't stopped the fourth instalment 'Fast & Furious' from...
-
Tesla roadster goes 241 miles on a single charge - while rallying
One of the biggest criticisms of electric vehicles is the limited driving range they offer when compared with conventional diesel and petrol powered cars. However, the belief that driving an electric vehicle will leave you stranded after a couple dozen miles is starting to lose credibility, fast...
James Martinez -
Tanner Foust's V8-powered 2009 D1 Formula Drift Scion tC
Last year we reported on the RS*R 400hp Scion drift car that was competing in the D1 Formula Drift Championship. After its first successful seasoning campaigning the tC sports coupe in Formula Drift, Scion decided to return to the series in 2009 with another team supporting a second tC, and this is...
James Martinez -
Raser Technologies working on 100mpg Hummer H2 plug-in hybrid
Hummer may have been one of the most demonized vehicle brands of the decade, with both poor sales figures and a terrible environmental reputation - but now Utah’s Raser Technologies is using the iconic Hummer H2 as a base for its new electric technology, which it claims can give the Hummer a...
James Martinez -
Volkswagen Cans Scirocco For U.S. To Avoid Competition With GTI
Volkswagen has consistently dismissed rumors the new Scirocco would be sold in the United States and about a year ago the carmaker’s sales and marketing chief Detlef Wittig blamed a weak U.S. dollar for the decision. Now VW's Tom Wegehaupt has put the kibosh on the U.S. Scirocco due to fear...
James Martinez -
Nissan GT-R Picked As 2009 World Performance Car Of The Year
Not to be outdone by the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards from the Detroit Auto Show, the organizers of the New York Auto Show are heavily promoting their own ‘World’ and ‘Performance’ titles and today revealed the winners for this year’s awards. The...
James Martinez -
Brand new versions of both the Chrysler 300 and Jeep Grand Cherokee are coming in the next couple of years, kicking off a product renaissance at Chrysler that will include the launch of 24 new or...
-
Audi reveals U.S. pricing for Q7 TDI Clean Diesel
Audi today released pricing for its 2009 model-year Q7 TDI SUV, the German carmaker's first clean diesel vehicle for the U.S. market. Featuring a 3.0L V6 diesel engine – the same unit as the Volkswagen Touareg TDI - the Q7 TDI is scheduled to arrive in U.S. dealerships later this month...
James Martinez -
New York Auto Show debut for Mercedes Benz GL-Class facelift
Mercedes Benz has some big plans for this week’s New York Auto Show, with no less than three world debuts planned, as well as the as the U.S. debuts of the 2010 model year E-Class Sedan and Coupe, and an early look at the 2010 model year facelift for the S-Class. The three world debuts...
James Martinez -
Suppliers only allocated $3.5 billion in aid, not $5 billion
In the first major sign that the U.S. government was keen on helping out the entire domestic auto industry and not just the Detroit 3 carmakers, the U.S. Treasury approved a $5 billion aid package last month for automotive parts suppliers. The aid is to come in the form of guarantees for...
James Martinez -
New Fast & Furious movie smashes box office records
The Fast and the Furious franchise may not be known for its Oscar-winning performances or well thought-out plot developments, but that hasn't stopped the fourth instalment 'Fast & Furious' from smashing a number of box-office records in its opening weekend. In what has surprised many...
James Martinez -
Ugur Sahin Design Teams Up With Mallett For 999-HP Corvette Z03
Ugur Sahin, the Dutch-based designer of the previous Ferrari Dino study, has plans to put one of his latest creations, the stunning Z03 Corvette concept into production. The car looks similar to the Dino concept, as well as the Ferrari 599-based Vandenbrink GTO but is designed around a much cheaper...
James Martinez -
Nissan is just a year out from entering its giant-killing GT-R supercar into an FIA sanctioned GT1 race, with the company confirming that a race-prepped version will be available for sale to teams...
-
eBay watch: Dodge Challenger widebody convertible by West Coast Customs
Dodge may have ruled out building a convertible version of its Challenger muscle car but if you’re determined enough to purchase one then there are a score of vehicle customizers across the country willing to serve your needs, for the correct price. One such customizer is California’s...
James Martinez -
Project Kahn takes on the Bentley Continental Flying Spur
By now we've all probably heard of Project Kahn, a British outfit that specializes in customizing certain models from prestige automotive brands such as Aston Martin, Ferrari and Mercedes Benz among others. Now, the folks at Kahn have unveiled their latest transformation, this time taking the...
James Martinez -
Lightning Hybrids unveils hydraulic-hybrid sports car at Denver Auto Show
A company born out of Colorado is planning to launch an advanced hybrid sports saloon that will eventually compete in the multi-million dollar Automotive X-Prize competition to successfully build and market a 100mpg vehicle. The first prototypes are currently in development but a concept version of...
James Martinez -
GM will maintain global product strategy even if it loses control of engineering centers
Becoming efficient is GM's key goal right now, both in bringing back its own financial security and at the same time convincing the auto industry task force to provide crucial loans. To achieve this goal, GM will be trying to preserve its global product strategy that helps it reduce costs for model...
James Martinez -
Spy shots: Barely disguised Opel Insignia OPC
We’ve seen a number of prototypes for the upcoming OPC Opel Insignia sedan and Sports Tourer wagon in the past 12 months but this is the first time that we have seen the car in its almost production ready state. OPC, which stands for ‘Opel Performance Center,’ is the name given to...
James Martinez