Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[PSA: Chevy owns 94% of Uzbekistan car market for make benefit glorious nation]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/06/psa-chevy-owns-94-of-uzbekistan-car-market-for-make-benefit-gl/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/06/psa-chevy-owns-94-of-uzbekistan-car-market-for-make-benefit-gl/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/06/psa-chevy-owns-94-of-uzbekistan-car-market-for-make-benefit-gl/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



General Motors has been the largest automaker in the United States since before many of your parents were born. And The General managed to keep its sales lead in spite of a very public government-assisted bankruptcy and the loss of four brands. But while GM's 20 percent market share remains impressive, it doesn't come close to the success the automaker has achieved in... Uzbekistan?

Inside Line reports that GM currently owns 94 percent of the Uzbekistan market, with 59,000 of the 63,000 vehicles sold so far this year. Impressive, right? Well, if you remove commercial trucking from the equation, GM's share of the market is 98.6 percent; a healthy temperature by any measure. You're probably (not) wondering how The General managed to secure the entire Uzbek market. The answer is simple: GM is part owner of a join venture plant that is capable of producing 250,000 vehicles per year. The facility was a joint venture between UzAvtoSanoat and Daewoo, and since GM controls the Korean automaker, the plant basically makes Daewoos with Bowtie badging. The facility currently produces the Chevrolet Matiz, Lacetti and Captiva (shown above).

So it appears the Uzbekistians (Uzbekistanis?) are a very loyal bunch that go to great lengths to support local jobs. Now the competition knows what to do to break Chevy's dominance; provided anyone can find Uzbekistan on a map.

[Source: Inside Line]

PSA: Chevy owns 94% of Uzbekistan car market for make benefit glorious nation originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>caption contestCaptionContestchevy captivachevy lacettichevy matizChevyCaptivaChevyLacettiChevyMatizDaewoogeneral motorsGeneralMotorsgmgm uzbekistanGmUzbekistanlacettimatizUzbekistianUzbekistiansTue, 06 Jul 2010 08:28:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19539913/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2010/07/06/psa-chevy-owns-94-of-uzbekistan-car-market-for-make-benefit-gl/19539913/article-detail.xml 19539913 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/07/chevrolet-captiva-front-3-4-black-2011_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/07/chevrolet-captiva-front-3-4-black-2011.jpg <![CDATA[Detroit 2010: Caption Contest - What the heck are Bob Lutz and Elon Musk talking about?]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/13/detroit-2010-caption-contest-what-the-heck-are-bob-lutz-and-e/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/13/detroit-2010-caption-contest-what-the-heck-are-bob-lutz-and-e/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/13/detroit-2010-caption-contest-what-the-heck-are-bob-lutz-and-e/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



Bob Lutz has been an important guy in the auto industry since before most of us were born. Elon Musk is the reason your eBay transactions go so smoothly (he was the co-creator of PayPal). Together, they don't seem to make much of a team. Well, they wouldn't make much of a match if Musk weren't the CEO of Tesla Motors. Elon makes electric cars. Bob wants to make electric cars. Both are (*ahem*) outspoken and give good soundbites. Upon further review, it makes perfect sense that the two men were hanging out at the Detroit Auto Show. But what were they talking about?

We have some ideas, but they probably aren't as creative as yours. We'll get you started with some appetizers, but we're really just looking for you to provide the main course:
Lutz to Musk: "You think you're nervous right now, but you really just have range anxiety"
Musk to Lutz: "We have more batteries in one car than you have in 500 Volts"
Lutz to Musk: "$500 million? $50 billion!"
Help us out with some better captions by leaving some tender verbal vittles in Comments.

Detroit 2010: Caption Contest - What the heck are Bob Lutz and Elon Musk talking about? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bob lutzBobLutzCaption contestCaptionContestDetroitDetroit 2010Detroit Auto ShowDetroit Auto Show 2010Detroit2010DetroitAutoShowDetroitAutoShow2010elon muskElonMuskLutzMuskNAIASNAIAS 2010Naias2010teslatesla motorsTeslaMotorsWed, 13 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19314204/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2010/01/13/detroit-2010-caption-contest-what-the-heck-are-bob-lutz-and-e/19314204/article-detail.xml 19314204 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/bob-elon_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/bob-elon.jpg <![CDATA[Caption Contest: Giving the gift of green against our better judgement]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/13/caption-contest-giving-the-gift-of-green-against-our-better-jud/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/13/caption-contest-giving-the-gift-of-green-against-our-better-jud/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/13/caption-contest-giving-the-gift-of-green-against-our-better-jud/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



The move to electric-powered vehicles is still in its fledgling stages, but there are plenty of signs that the next few years will finally start ushering in battery-powered transportation for the masses. But there's one class of vehicle that has almost always been powered by batteries: R/C cars. Slap in a couple of 9-volt batteries and a slew of AA cells, and kids of all ages get to pretend they're Ken Block in the backyard until mom says it's time to clean up for supper.

Now that full-sized rides are finally "catching up" to their scaled-down counterparts, it appears that at least one toymaker, New Bright, has decided to take the next step: an R/C car that needs no batteries. It's called the Ecomobile, and it looks like a solar-powered freehand interpretation of a Smart ForTwo mated with a Toyota Prius. As you can see by its packaging, the Ecomobile takes great pride in the fact that it's ecopowered, economical and ecofriendly. It's even packaged in recyclable materials. It's $29.95. Al Gore can't stop smiling.

But how does it run? Well, you have to leave it out in the sun for one hour for every five minutes of play time. It's reportedly slow, too, and much like the EVs we've experienced in the real world, reviewers have said that the solar-powered toy doesn't quite run as long as its OEM-promised times state. Sound like fun? We don't think so either. So, in the spirit of the holidays, we've decided to come up with some of our favorite captions and/or headlines for this eco-tastic (or is that eco-tragic?) new toy. Here are some of our not-so-hilarious efforts:
  • You traded in your sports car for a Prius? Now you can limit your children's fun too!
  • The Ecomobile: Because your kids aren't teased enough already
  • The perfect toy for the kid who likes to wait to have fun
  • Now mom can't bitch about leaving toys in the backyard
  • Sweet! A toy that kids north of the Mason-Dixon line can't play with until May
As you can plainly see, we need your help. Head for the comments section and give us your best headlines for this not-so-fun-looking toy. You won't win anything for trying, but your efforts could help a misguided parent choose a different (and cooler) toy for their kid.

Caption Contest: Giving the gift of green against our better judgement originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>battery powerBatteryPowercaption contestCaptionContestecomobileradio controlled carRadioControlledCarrcrc carRcCarremote controlledremote controlled carRemoteControlledRemoteControlledCarsmart fortwoSmartFortwosolarsolar carsolar powerSolarCarSolarPowerSun, 13 Dec 2009 20:01:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19256907/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2009/12/13/caption-contest-giving-the-gift-of-green-against-our-better-jud/19256907/article-detail.xml 19256907 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/ecomobile=s_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/ecomobile=s.jpg <![CDATA[Adventures in re-branding: The caption contest]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/03/adventures-in-re-branding-the-caption-contest/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/03/adventures-in-re-branding-the-caption-contest/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/03/adventures-in-re-branding-the-caption-contest/#commentsFiled under:


Click image to enlarge

Many thanks to all who commented and, in some cases, sent links to various (mis)adventures in re-branding they've seen in their daily travels. They're always good for a laugh. Special thanks to Bryce, who e-mailed us the above photograph, which he says he took outside his local Safeway. Aren't the Peterbilts usually backed up to the loading docks behind the store? Man, some people can't follow directions.

Anyway... caption contest. Do your thing and have some fun.

Adventures in re-branding: The caption contest originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>caption contestCaptionContesthyundaiidentity crisisIdentityCrisispeterbiltSun, 03 Aug 2008 12:01:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/1273881/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2008/08/03/adventures-in-re-branding-the-caption-contest/1273881/article-detail.xml 1273881 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/08/peterbiltaccent_450_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/08/peterbiltaccent_450.jpg <![CDATA[Insert Caption Here: Pontiac Sunfire with bees]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/insert-caption-here-pontiac-sunfire-with-bees/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/insert-caption-here-pontiac-sunfire-with-bees/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/insert-caption-here-pontiac-sunfire-with-bees/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Alright, so we're going to try something a little different for us. We'll periodically pull a car-related photo from the news, and ask you to come up with captions to fit the image in 'Comments.' Prizes? Ahh, we wouldn't dare corrupt the artistic process with something so materialistic-- our readers are too smart for that, and would see right through us. 

Take your best shot. We'll even start you off with one...

"On second thought, Walter mused... perhaps retrofitting Ethel's Pontiac with a honeycomb grille wasn't the best of plans."

[Source: The Advance Leader]

Insert Caption Here: Pontiac Sunfire with bees originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bee swarmbeekeeperbeesBeeSwarmcaptioncaption contestCaptionContestpontiac sunfirePontiacSunfiresunfirewaspFri, 09 Jun 2006 12:28:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/631391/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2006/06/09/insert-caption-here-pontiac-sunfire-with-bees/631391/article-detail.xml 631391 http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/06/sunfire-buzz-resized_thumbnail.jpg http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/06/sunfire-buzz-resized.jpg -1 2