Bentley goes Diesel Power

The luxury of behemoth Bentleys are now going to support some fuel economy with diesel powered engines. Read more

MotorMediaWatch March 31

Blind pedestrians may not hear hybrid cars
By Martin Zimmerman
Cars that are quiet while in electric mode may provide no warning to pedestrians.(LAT)+++

Honk if you’d love an electrical lesson
My horn quit working on my ‘99 Civic; I was hoping to fix it myself. Can you offer pointers? (TST)+++

Mini maximized
It’s my considered opinion that the BMW Mini Cooper is the most successful car design of the past 20 years. (TST)+++

Why Today’s Cars Are Hard to Repair
After spending a dirty and frustrating hour replacing a burned-out headlight, our columnist decides to examine why cars have become so difficult and expensive to repair. (WSJ)+++

Auto designers try making Hot Wheels for new competition
DETROIT - General Motors Corp. designer Amaury Diaz Serrano still remembers the day in 1968 when his father bought him his first Hot Wheels car - a blue Camaro - at a Sears in his native Puerto Rico. (SJM)+++

Detroit native Dave Schembri gets Smart
After 30 years in the industry, Save Schembri, 54, is certainly qualified to run Smart USA. But he seems a most unexpected pitchman for this little European car, given that he was born in Detroit with gasoline pumping through his veins. (DFP)+++

American Axle strike tipping the nation closer to a recession
As the UAW strike against American Axle & Manufacturing moves through its second month with no end in sight, the auto industry’s latest labor dispute has become about more than wage and benefit cuts for a few thousand workers.(DFP)+++

Ford must use windfall well
Enough already with the whining about the money Ford wasted on Jaguar and Land Rover. That horse left the barn years ago. Much as the company’s critics might wish otherwise, Ford wasn’t going to turn the British brands into money trees.(DFP)+++

Supplier moves to hire as workers picket
UPDATED AT 11:15 A.M. — Nearly five weeks into the UAW strike at American Axle & Manufacturing Inc., the company is hiring workers at four plants in New York and Michigan that are subject to the work stoppage, to replace striking workers and for future positions at the auto supplier.(DFP)+++

New campaign focuses on people
Former Toyota Motor Corp. executive Jim Farley, now chief marketing officer at Ford Motor Co., will unveil his first multimedia campaign at Ford: “Ford, Drive One,” in Las Vegas on April 10 and 11.(DFP)+++

Revved up: What’s hot and what’s not in autos
Revved: Tata Motors buys English brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. In a reversal from British colonial days, someday the sun will never set on the Indian car industry. Stalled: UAW membership falls to pre-World War II levels. What would Walter Reuther do?(DFP)+++

Auction to benefit hurt journalist
Brenda Priddy, noted automotive spy photographer, has organized an auction to help pay the medical bills of Detroit automotive journalist Frank Washington, who was attacked while walking in the city.(SFC)+++

2007 Yamaha V-Star 1300

Yamaha showcased the latest versions of their mid-size 2007 V-Star Touring Cruiser, which graduates, moving up from an 1100 to a 1300 (1304 cc) model designation. There is both a base model - the V-Star 1300(SFC)+++

Losing lottery tickets used to create HUMMER H3
With the rise in fuel prices in recent years, the HUMMER brand has been the poster child for gas-guzzling. For some, however, the rugged vehicles represent a dream come true.(AUTOBLOG)+++

2009 HUMMER H2 and H2 SUT will be E85 compatible
In Dallas, a businessman has spent half a million dollars to install nine pumps that dispense E85, E10, and biodiesel. The catch: the businessman is a HUMMER dealer, and the pumps are next to his dealership.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Land Rover Freelander 2 Commercial: less sport, more utility
Land Rover’s versatility is legendary, but its detractors claim that its vehicles’ utility has been sacrificed on the altar of luxury. Never willing to compromise, newly-acquired Land Rover has answered with the Freelander 2 Commercial.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Buyers dropping more coin on the 2008 Chevy Malibu
The 2008 Chevy Malibu has snatched up awards and media accolades, and JD Power data shows that customers are paying Chevy dealers handsomely to own one.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Monaco GP
If you’re an F1 buff looking to spend a whole lot of time not doing whatever work you’re supposed to be doing, head over to the Monaco Grand Prix Library.(AUTOBLOG)+++

$100K for a Tiger Woods-used Enclave? Seriously?
In January, EA Sports held an online contest for Tiger Woods 08 players on the XBOX 360. First prize was a 2008 Buick Enclave CXL courtesy car used by Tiger during December’s 2007 Target World Challenge golf tournament. Tiger won the tournament, finishing seven strokes ahead of ‘07 Masters champ Zach Johnson.(AUTOBLOG)+++

John Herlitz, designer of ‘70 Barracuda, ‘71 GTX, dead at 65
John Herlitz packed a lot of memorable MOPAR into his 35 years with Chrysler.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Chrysler product developer quits after 2 months on the job
Twenty-four year Chrysler employee Mike Donoughe has left the company after two months in his new post.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Upcoming Pontiac Ute gets five stars in Australian crash test
For those of you interested in picking up one of the new Pontiac G8 ST utes when they come to the US next year there’s good news(AUTOBLOG)+++

Pair of KITTs, right to last KR sells for $300,000 at Barrett-Jackson
While we wouldn’t give high ratings to the Knight Rider pilot movie on NBC, we are still fans of the star of the show, KITT. (AUTOBLOG)+++

April Fools already? Lamborghini offers branded barf bag
Lamborghini apparently has a sense of humor; how else would you explain the exotic brand’s website using an image of a small paper bag with a bull logo and the automobili Lamborghini script, described as a sick bag, as the entry to the merchandise section of its website?(AUTOBLOG)+++

Prius fighter: Honda reveals details about new global hybrid
Honda’s upcoming dedicated hybrid model is expected to debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, and a recent interview with Honda CEO Takeo Fukui revealed that the car will look similar to its hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the FCX Clarity.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Motor Trend claims Nissan GT-R making at least 507 HP
For car buffs it’s baffling (and pretty cool, too) to see a $70,000 Nissan weighing nearly 4,000 lbs whoop up on lighter, more powerful cars.(AUTOBLOG)+++

American Axle strike idles first GM passenger car plant
When the American Axle strike began, GM had a 106-day supply of pickup trucks on dealer lots, and even a month-long strike likely wouldn’t have hurt the Detroit automaker. (AUTOBLOG)+++

MotorMediaWatch March 28

It’s cool to care
After Mustang’s latest Bullitt edition comes something a little less macho — the ‘Warriors in Pink’ 2009 Ford Mustang. (LAT)+++

Great Garages: Richard Munz More than a decade ago, real-estate developer Richard Munz sold all of his Ferraris when he fell in love with American hot rods. Now his garage has more than 40 cars and 20 motorcycles. (WSJ)+++

Calif. regulators may relax rules on zero-emission vehicles, again, but require more hybrids

SACRAMENTO - California regulators are considering a 90 percent cut in the number of battery-powered and hydrogen vehicles that automakers must produce by 2014, a move that would weaken tough auto emissions rules that 12 other states have adopted. (SJM)+++

Saab 9-3 2.0T Sport Sedan

The Saab 9-3 lineup receives a substantial styling update along with more horsepower. The exterior design changes are closely related to the Saab Aero X concept car. The front end is dramatically restyled featuring a… (SFC)+++

American Axle chief: Jobs can be moved outside United States
Dick Dauch, chairman and chief executive officer of American Axle & Manufacturing, lashed out Wednesday at UAW leaders for striking his company and refusing even to discuss what Dauch said was already a pattern of lower wage-and-benefit deals already reached with Dana Corp. (DFP)+++

GM to pay in coolant repair cases
WASHINGTON — General Motors Corp. has agreed to pay as much as $800 each to millions of customers to settle lawsuits that it sold about 35 million vehicles with faulty coolant and engine parts. (DFP)+++

Ford unloads losing Jaguar, Land Rover
Ford Motor Co. finally closed the book Wednesday on the money-losing Premier Automotive Group, announcing it had reached an agreement with Tata Motors, part of an Indian conglomerate, to sell Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.3 billion. (DFP)+++

Luxury brands a big step up, say Tata Motors execs
Welcome to the big time, Tata Motors. The Indian conglomerate the Tata Group built its first passenger car just 10 years ago, but the company introduced itself to a global audience Wednesday when it agreed to buy Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co. (DFP)+++

Fixing Ford mistake costs city
As shareholders watch Ford Motor Co.’s stock after the automaker’s announcement Wednesday that it is selling some of its assets, Allen Park has its own concerns about the car company. (DFP)+++

SAIC 2007 profit triples
SAIC Motor Corp., China’s biggest automaker, said 2007 profit more than tripled after it bought stakes in ventures with General Motors Corp. and Volkswagen AG.(DFP)+++

Build your own Tata Nano. You know you want the sticker package
For the time being, you have to live in India to buy a Tata Nano. The new people’s car is slated for domestic consumption only for now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t unleash your inner Nano shopper.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Mitsubishi L200 Savana snorkels into Brazil
This week, Mitsubishi’s Brazilian operation announced the return of the L200 Savana (the model had been previously available).(AUTOBLOG)+++

Nissan cutting production in Mexico to compensate for low U.S. demand
It’s been easy to forget about Nissan’s small car offerings with the recent introduction of the redesigned Maxima in New York and the impending arrival of the GT-R for the first time on U.S.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Porsche 911: Ultimate car from the ’80s?
Growing up as a child in the ’80s had its ups and its downs. Sure, every generation looks back at its past-self and wonders-out-loud(AUTOBLOG)+++

Daihatsu teams up with Provision to create 3D holographic dash
Forget about light-emitting diode (LED) or liquid crystal display (LCD) dashboards. According to Daihatsu, the next hot ticket will be 3D holographic technology.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Microsoft heading to NASCAR
Kickin’ racing games like Forza 2 and PGR4 aside, Microsoft is one of the biggest companies not involved in motorsports. But after partnering with McLaren on the development of Formula One’s new standardized, traction-control-less engine management unit, the software giant could be changing its mind.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Njection and Garmin partner to identify speed traps
Njection is a website for guys like us. In addition to their forums and picture resources, they have compiled a database of more than 50,000 speed traps worldwide(AUTOBLOG)+++

Hyundai Motor America responds to cranky South Korean journalist
A few weeks back we posted a video of a South Korean automotive journalist performing one of the first road tests of the new Hyundai Genesis sedan, albeit the South Korean market model.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Caparo building two new cars beyond the T1
The British engineering team at Caparo has quickly made a name for itself by diversifying its production and design expertise with the absolutely insane T1 supercar(AUTOBLOG)+++

BMW considering cutting the cylinder count on M-models?
Of all the things that have hampered performance over the last two decades, vehicle weight is at the top of the list.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Mercedes confirms Wagener as new design chief
Following yesterday’s news that longtime Mercedes design chief Professor Peter Pfeiffer - known as “the three Ps of automotive design”(AUTOBLOG)+++

Lamborghini ceases production of Gallardo Superleggera
The king is dead; long live the king. With barely a whimper, the short-lived and short-geared Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera has slipped quietly into the night.(AUTOBLOG)+++

BMW celebrates 30 years of the M1
In 92 years of business, the creators of “The Ultimate Driving Machine” have produced only one mid-engined supercar. (AUTOBLOG)+++

Euro Accord Tourer wins Red Dot Award for design
Honda’s Euro-spec Accord Tourer (a.k.a. wagon) has taken home the the 51st international Red Dot Award for high quality design, marking the third time that Honda has managed to win this award.(AUTOBLOG)+++

MotorMediaWatch March 27

Nissan’s electric charge
We’ve already seen the gasoline-powered Nissan Cube, which should be on sale here early next year. (LAT)+++

Ford sells Jaguar, Land Rover to India’s Tata Motors
DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. is selling its storied Jaguar and Land Rover businesses to India’s Tata Motors Ltd. (SJM)+++

Tough sales month expected
Just like everyone else in Southeast Michigan, Desta Woudenh is worried about declining home values, high gas prices and the economic slowdown. (SJM)+++

Electric car goal could be cut again
California’s once-ambitious, always-controversial plan to require automakers to sell electric cars faces a vote this week that, advocates say, would effectively gut the program. (SJM)+++

Dash’s Car Navigator Gives Smart Directions
The Dash in-car navigator harnesses its user network to give smart directions and traffic information. If it becomes popular, it could be a big deal.(WSJ)+++

Ford Unveils Jaguar, Land Rover Sale
Ford announced an agreement to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands to India’s Tata Motors for about $2.3 billion, as the U.S. auto maker tries to focus on its restructuring. (WSJ)+++

Filling Up Will Be a Breeze for Danish Drivers
Danish utility Dong Energy is expected to announce a partnership with a California start-up to build a nationwide system to charge electric cars, in a major expansion of the European country’s green energy policies.(WSJ)+++

American Axle chief: Jobs can be moved out of U.S.
Dick Dauch, chairman and chief executive officer of American Axle & Manufacturing, lashed out today at UAW leaders for striking his company and refusing even to discuss what Dauch said was already a pattern of lower wage-and-benefit deals already reached with Dana Corp. (DFP)+++

Tata, Ford reach $2.3-billion deal on Jaguar, Land Rover
Ford Motor Co. is selling its Jaguar and Land Rover brands to India’s Tata Motors Ltd. in a deal that will net the U.S. automaker $1.7 billion — roughly a third of the price it paid for the two luxury brands. (DFP)+++

Top Ford recruiter to depart
Joe Laymon, Ford Motor Co.’s top talent recruiter and labor negotiator during the tumultuous past few years for the Dearborn automaker, is leaving Ford for a similar human resources post with Chevron Corp., the nation’s second-largest energy company. (DFP)+++

Computer models ease Ford workers’ tasks, raise quality
If you want to know why Ford Motor Co.’s quality is improving so much, visit the automaker’s virtual labs, where engineers use computer models to make sure autoworkers can assemble cars and trucks, as well as thousands of their moving parts, properly and with ease. (DFP)+++

Chrysler shuffles development execs again
For the second time in two months, Chrysler LLC has announced changes to the ranks of top executives overseeing vehicle development.(DFP)+++

Pioneer Suspension smooths out the sinkholes, supposedly
The ads that get your lasting attention are the ones that make you respond. And we have no doubt that’s exactly what you’d do if while cruising down the boulevard you happened upon what looked like an impact crater.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Ford Australia denies American RWD platform development
That didn’t take long. After Monday’s article in the Detroit News reporting that Ford’s U.S. operations were going to be developing its own RWD platform here in the States(AUTOBLOG)+++

UPDATE: BMW North America notified of eBay winner’s plight
We apologize for yet another update on the saga of Ken Tanisaka and his efforts to wrench a fairly won BMW M3 sedan from the iron grip of BMW of Lincoln, Nebraska, but this story just keeps rolling on providing new and interesting twists by the hour.(AUTOBLOG)+++

SALE! 11 Bugatti Veyrons that are ready for new homes
If you’re in the market for a Bugatti Veyron, first we’d like implore you consider how wonderful it would be to have your daughter marry a blogger.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Volkswagen may bid on Yugo, um, we mean Zastava
It was just the other day that we looked back at the automotive punchline that was the Yugo in America. In all actuality, though, the Serbian automaker Zastava that’s currently for sale,(AUTOBLOG)+++

Mosler announces MT900 Challenge spec race series in Europe
Mosler Automotive, which has had tremendous success in the last few years of GT racing in Europe, has announced a new race series specifically for MT900 race car owners.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Hot Oil: SEAT offers limited-edition Leon FR550 TDI
While it sister company Audi continues to forge ahead in Le Mans-class racing under diesel power, the SEAT division is likewise launching an assault on the British Touring Car Championship with an oil-burning Leon TDI.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Stolen donut van chased by cops, LOTS of cops
Whatever you do,kids, do not steal a donut truck and try to drive that bad boy through Tama County, Iowa.(AUTOBLOG)+++

3 days, 3,000 miles, 1 GT-R: Inside Line’s Godzilla road trip
According to our friends at Inside Line, there are seven U.S.-spec Nissan GT-Rs in the country at this moment.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Maruti Suzuki unveils ironically named Swift DZire sedan
It’s a shame that more of Suzuki’s line-up isn’t as well designed and executed as the nimble little Swift hatchback. But we swear, this was not what we had in mind.(AUTOBLOG)+++

GM Europe reveals Corvette Competition to kick off racing season
The Chevy Corvette trails only the Ford Mustang in number of special editions offered from the factory and by third-party tuners.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Jaguar/Land Rover prognostications come out of woodwork
With the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover really, truly official, it hasn’t taken long for every automotive news outlet to come out with its own take on the future of both storied marques.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Solving Michigan’s decrepit roads by going back to gravel?
The usual line from a preacher at a burial is “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust”.

Mercedes SL65 Black will offer SLR performance for less
One of the biggest criticisms of the Mercedes SLR McLaren was that, impressive though it was, the performance just didn’t justify the enormous price tag.(AUTOBLOG)+++

U.S. Volkswagen plant to source 80% of parts locally
VW hasn’t yet publicly committed to building one or even two factories in the U.S. (though it’s apparently considering the South, specifically South Carolina), but is making statements that sound like it’s definitely on the way.(AUTOBLOG)+++

PWNED: Kid tries to pass off CLS 55 AMG as his own, gets caught
Some people are just pathological. At first, it was amusing that Fresh C280, a member of the MDStreetScene forums, would claim to own a Mercedes CLS55 AMG.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Mercedes design head stepping down
Over the last three decades, there’s been a common thread making Mercedes designs instantly recognizable and a lot of credit for that belongs to MBZ design boss Peter Pfeiffer.(AUTOBLOG)+++

Dodge launches 2009 Journey with helping hand: $1,000 cash back
You thought you knew how much a Dodge Journey costs. Well, it’s actually a thousand dollars less than that. (AUTOBLOG)+++

Lotus to celebrate 60th anniversary a few years early
Lotus has always done things a little differently, so it should come as no surprise that the sportscar-maker is celebrating its 60th anniversary even though it’s only 56 years old (AUTOBLOG)+++

Online-Entertainment made by Daimler: Mercedes follows, GM and BMW with Web Music Show

Mercedes-Benz, the automobile division of the German Daimler AG, has launched its own music show on its own Internet-based television station. According to the company, this latest marketing drive mirrors the migration of advertising away from print and TV toward the Internet — a move that Mercedes’ competitor BMW AG has tried successfully with a series of film shorts. Mercedes is using the Web to shift attention away from individual cars, and instead draw attention to the brand itself.

Just last week, another Daimler competitor, General Motors announced to shift half of its $3 billion advertisin budget to online-marketing within three years.

Last month, Daimler introduced “Mixed Tape Music Magazine,” a monthly online show featuring video clips by artists such as Jennifer Lopez and Mark Ronson. The show is an attempt to reach out to youngsters with interests “beyond cars,” Mercedes-Benz says.

By focusing on promoting music rather than its S-Class luxury sedan, the company hopes to draw the “customers of tomorrow” and get them to associate the Mercedes-Benz brand with being hip.

Mercedes News Release via TechFever.Net and WSJ

Nissan Denki Cube, Hip 2 be Square…

Well Nissan is ready to give the Scion xB and other small cars a run for their money after revealing the Denki Cube at the 2008 NY Auto Show. The car is currently available in its homeland Japan, but an electric version is about to head to the United States. Read more

Stilet trike, Mad-Max or Half Lie2?

At the Motobike Salon, a motorbike trade fair in Moscow, there is a eye-catching trike which probably warped through another dimension. Something only the adventurous and rebellious drive, it for sure can be yours too.

The company Luber Custom developed this Stilet Trike, it makes 500 Hp with a 5.7 liter V8. Read more

Mitsubishi ‘I’ car: Maybe the iPod of small cars …?

Mitsubishi is learning quickly, since the small car market is on the rise over the muscle cars and gas guzzlers. The ‘I’ Car by Mitsubishi was a concept revealed in 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show, but now this concept is about to hit the streets later next year in Japan. Read more

Hyundai Genesis: Genesis of luxury with a new badge

Hyundai’s Latest Genesis is for sure making a lot of noise, the car is going to be launched in a Sedan and a Coupe version. But the big news is that the Korean car giant is planning to launch a Luxury Car Segment. Read more

Merc sabotages its new E-Class prototype: Daimler, take those ugly tapes off it …

Mercedes Benz did a great job hiding the new E-Class behind the tapes, but people at CAR magazine U.K. did a great job un-hiding it. Read more

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