autolineonautoblog

GOVERNMENT WANTS 60-MPG CAFE Last year, when the federal government set Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards at roughly 35 miles per gallon by 2015, automakers squirmed uncomfortably. Though that should be an achievable target, it won't be easy. It means Americans will have to buy ...

Car Prices Will Climb For Years Have you've been watching car prices lately? They seem to go up every month. Forget everything you've been reading about sales incentives, bargain leases or low-cost financing. They just mask the fact that automakers are quietly bumping up MSRP's every chance they ...

Don't Laugh, The UAW Could Come Roaring Back Back when I was a UAW member many moons ago, earning my college tuition by busting my ass in the factories, the union was an incredibly powerful labor organization. With nearly 1.3 million members, it had enormous political clout in Washington, D.C. ...

Ethanol Booming, Despite the Drawbacks Just a couple of years ago American-made corn ethanol was vilified in the media. It was blamed for soaring food prices, and for causing food riots in Mexico. The UN even accused the U.S. of depriving the world of food. What a difference a couple of years ...

It's Not Easy Designing Dirt Cheap Cars Some of the most famous cars in the history of the auto industry were some of the cheapest ones. The Ford Model T, the Volkswagen Beetle, the Citroen 2CV and the BMC Mini were so successful mainly because they were so affordable. Now the industry is ...

How GM Can Repay All the Taxpayer Money General Motors can be pretty ham-handed when it tries to manipulate public opinion. The latest gaffe involves the company's newest advertising campaign, bragging to the public that it paid off its $8 billion in government loans. Listening to those ads you ...

Will They Ever Stop Writing Regulations? Every single year, for almost 40 years, politicians and regulators have written piles of laws and regulations to control the automobile. And yet, there's no end in sight. Right now they're working on regulations that will take us out to 2025 and beyond. ...

COUNT THE POUNDS, NOT JUST THE PONIES Gearheads the world over have always talked in terms of horsepower. The bigger the number, the better we like it. The type of engine and its output are always one of the first statistics covered in any test drive or car review, because we want to know! But ...

RUNAWAY TOYOTAS? WHAT ABOUT DRIVER ERROR? No one wants to touch it. Not Toyota, not NHTSA, not any politician. But the issue has to be raised. Driver error is most likely at the root of these sudden unintended acceleration incidents. Unintended acceleration is not a new issue for the auto ...

Unintended Accleration? Beware of TV Network Fraud You've already seen the ABC News piece about a college professor rigging up a Toyota Avalon so he could induce a short circuit that would cause unintended acceleration. It's a frightening demonstration. And as detailed yesterday, it's also bad ...