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Honors go to Saturn Aura and Chevy Silverado
At the 2007 North American International Auto Show, GM won awards for both best North American Car and North American truck in a competition judged by automotive journalists, according to an article in the Detroit Free Press.
The midsize Aura beat out two other finalists: the Toyota Camry and subcompact Honda Fit… The Chevrolet Silverado beat out the Ford Edge and Mazda CX-7 to win truck of the year.
Ed Peper, general manager of Chevrolet, said the award validated the company’s pride in the Silverado.
"We are very proud of this great new truck," said Peper. "Everybody has worked extremely hard to get this day and time."
This is the second time in the contest’s 14-year history that one automaker swept the awards. Last year Honda’s Civic and Ridgeline won.
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- Extended Warranty for Every Vehicle
Get an extended warranty for any car, truck, motorcycle or RV on any make, year or model, with any mileage whether your vehicle is new or used.
“Autonet Mobile launches its new wireless service that turns any car into a WiFi Hotspot at the Consumer Electronics Show”.
According to a recent BusinessWeek article, a company called Autonet Mobile is launching a service at the Consumer Electronics Show next week in Las Vegas that allows any car to be a secure, mobile, WiFi Hotspot. Any car on 95% of roads in the United States will be able to extend broadband on-the-go Internet service to every passenger in the car, on a variety of devices simultaneously.
The Autonet Mobile Unit is priced to retail at US$399 with a monthly service charge of US$49 and turns your car into a secure mobile hotspot, allowing multiple WiFi-enabled devices to connect, and giving passengers unparalleled access to data, music, games, chat, and anything else they might like to access in their second home–the car. Moreover, the device can easily be removed from the car and put into a small bag.
Thus, users can shuttle between the car and a residence, hotel or vacation spot, extending the usability of the Autonet Mobile Service beyond the car. For business travelers, families on vacation or couples on the go, bringing connectivity out of the car and into the hotel room is an additional benefit.
You can currently get every mobile lifestyle service in your car except WiFi – this may be the invention that bring the United States into true nationwide adoption of broadband. The portable service could potentially be used as a substitute in areas where high-speed internet connections are currently not available.
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- Extended Warranty for Every Vehicle
Get an extended warranty for any car, truck, motorcycle or RV on any make, year or model, with any mileage whether your vehicle is new or used.
“First convertible for luxury brand since 2002”.
At the Detroit Motor Show this month, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars will be debuting its first convertible offering of the past five years. Production starts later on this summer, according to CNN Money.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars had unveiled a concept car version of the convertible in 2004, and announced it planned to have a convertible version of its Phantom sedan in Fall of 2005, setting 2007 for production. The North American International Auto Show will be the first unveiling of the production model.
The two-door, four-seat car will have a 6.75-liter, V-12 engine. The roof will have five layers of material, lined with cashmere, to ensure quiet when the roof is up.
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- Extended Warranty for Any Vehicle
Get an extended warranty for any car, truck, motorcycle or RV on any make, year or model, with any mileage whether your vehicle is new or used.
Designate a driver, get a cab, or utilize local services.
Every year, the potential for serious automobile fatalities is reduced by responsible New Year’s Eve driver safety. To keep out of harm’s way this holiday, you’ll want to remember to make arrangements in advance, to get home other than driving.
You can either
- Designate a driver in advance
- Bring extra money for a cab, or,
- Investigate local transportation or volunteer-run services that will take you home safely.
Volunteer groups that offer door to door service are all over the news this year. Las Vegas, Nevada has a service called Designated Drivers. Several nationwide automobile clubs are offering to drive you home and tow your car on New Year’s Eve, whether you are a member or not. And in many cities, local transportation is free on New Year’s Eve.
Have a Safe and Happy Holiday!
See Also
- Extended Warranty for Any Vehicle
Get an extended warranty for any car, truck, motorcycle or RV on any make, year or model, with any mileage whether your vehicle is new or used.
Volkswagen AG GTI named 2007 Auto of the Year
The Volkswagen AG GTI, was named Car of the Year for 2007 by Automobile Magazine.
Gavin Conway, editor-in-chief of Automobile Magazine, said the sporty version of the VW Golf, now in its fifth generation, was the unanimous pick of the magazine’s senior editors because of the way it combined performance and affordability.
Starting at under $23,000, the 2007 GTI has a 200-horsepower, four-cylinder engine that takes the 2-door version to 60 mph (97 kph) in 6.6 seconds. The GTI also gets highway fuel economy of 30 miles (48 kms) to the gallon, Conway said.
"It’s a great car to drive as well as being an easy car to live with," he said.
The choice was forecasted to spark minor controversy, as their readership was likely to expect a more expensive choice. However, the senior editing staff leaned towards what they felt was a more "a more responsible approach to performance driving", which led them to judge on the basis of factors such as how many miles to the gallon cars in contention could get.
See Also
- Extended Warranty for Any Vehicle
Get an extended warranty for any car, truck, motorcycle or RV on any make, year or model, with any mileage whether your vehicle is new or used.
Vehicle to Vehicle communications are in development in major auto companies.
Major auto companies such as DaimlerChrysler have announced anti-collision systems that rely on the ability of vehicles to be able to communicate to each other via on-board technology. General Motors has followed up with its own announcement about developing vehicle to vehicle communications systems as well.
Like DaimlerChrysler’s system, V2V uses Wireless LAN (WLAN) technology, GPS and a vehicle’s numerous computer controlled active safety systems to relay data back and forth between vehicles.
The system is capable of relaying such data as Emergency Brake Warning, Blind Spot/Lane Change notification (with accompanying blinking LEDs in the side view mirror and vibrating driver’s seat), Forward Collision Warning and Emergency Vehicle Warning (with location and direction of travel for the emergency vehicle).
See Also
- Extended Warranty for Any Vehicle
Get an extended warranty for any car, truck, motorcycle or RV on any make, year or model, with any mileage whether your vehicle is new or used.
“The Nissan Green Program 2010 is specifically focused on reducing CO2 emissions both from our products as well as from day-to-day corporate activities. “
According to Automotoportal, Nissan is sharing details about a program they have started that is designed to launch a greener initiative throughout the company. Its three focuses are to reduce CO2 emissions, reduce exhaust emissions and accelerate efforts toward recycling.
…In order to make reducing CO2 part of the major decision making processes of the company, CO2 has been added to internal management performance indicators. Previously, the indicators were quality, cost and time (QCT). Starting this fiscal year CO2 has been added to create QCT-C.
“Our product development philosophy is to deliver in a sustainable way, the right technology, at the right time, in the right market, and at the right value to the customer,” said Carlos Tavares, Executive Vice President, Product Planning and Corporate Strategy, Nissan Motor Company.
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Could be related to cooling of housing market, analysts say.
An article in Reuter’s today says the luxury car and SUV markets are facing a decline, reflected by a dip in sales.
Driven by aging baby boomers at the peak of their earnings power and dominated by European and Asian brands, the luxury segment of the U.S. auto market has grown by 20 percent since the start of the decade.
That growth, which came despite a pullback in the pace of less-pricey auto sales over the same period, brought the luxury segment to about 12 percent of 16.9 million vehicles Americans bought in 2005.
But luxury car sales are down about 4 percent this year, and some analysts are seeing a potentially worrying connection with another venue for conspicuous consumption: real estate.
Overall car sales had been on a downturn, but premium vehicles have been insulated from this trend until now. The possible link to the housing market has largely been based on the parallel decline of luxury car purchases and the housing market observed in California.
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“IRS Increases Vehicle Reimbursement Rate”
The IRS has increased the vehicle reimbursement rate.
The Internal Revenue Service today issued a 2007 allowable vehicle reimbursement rate of 48.5 cents per mile, despite a moderation in gas prices compared with the volatile post-Hurricane Katrina prices of a year ago.
The 2007 rate is an increase from the 2006 rate of 44.5 cents per mile.
Many businesses use this rate as a guideline for their compensation of business travelers who use private vehicles to do company business.
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“Government wants to keep confidential some vehicle safety data” – Detroit Free Press
According to a recent article in the Detroit Free Press, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to keep certain vehicle safety data private.
From the article:
The proposal, similar to past versions, came in response to a ruling by a federal judge earlier this year that the agency had failed to provide enough notice to comment on an early warning system plan. In the March ruling, District Judge Richard J. Leon sent the proposal back to the agency.
The early warning system was part of legislation approved by Congress following the massive recall of Firestone tires in 2000. It required automakers and other manufacturers to submit data on deaths, injuries, consumer complaints, property damage and warranty claims.
NHTSA said its proposal would consider certain early warning information as confidential, including production numbers not involving light vehicles, consumer complaints, paid warranty claims and field reports.
Apparently the requested disclosures violate a public records law that prohibits sharing information that could result in privacy intrusion.
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