Autoblog

Cars.com has updated its American Made Index, and the list has flip-flopped some models right off, while others have hopped onto the top ten. Cars.com uses the parts origin information from the window sticker, along with the location the vehicle is manufacture at and sales numbers to determine which vehicles have the most US-based content. Ford's F150 and Explorer are the chocolate wafer to the rest of the list's cream filling, sandwiching everyone else between their respective #1 and #10 rankings. General Motors has the most vehicles in the top ten list, with the quartet of Cobalt, Malibu, G6, and Silverado 1500. Not surprisingly, Toyota's Tundra, built in Indiana and Texas, makes the grade at #5. Chrysler's Sebring is that company's only placing on the list, though even the same generation of a particular model can place high one year and fall off the next as automakers juggle OEMs and running changes. If sales of light trucks continue their precipitous fall, the AMI may look radically different the next time around. Four of the ten are body-on-frame trucks, and there's also a pair of minivans, all set to suffer in sales as buyers start to move en masse to more efficient vehicles.

[Source: Cars.com]

Back in December, we told you about the new method the government would be using to calculate fuel mileage. For the first time in twenty years, they decided to make changes to better reflect real-world driving conditions and driver behaviors. The changes went into effect starting with 2008 model year cars, and are evident in the newly styled window stickers on those vehicles (shown above). We correctly surmised that most estimates would go down by some degree using this new formula. In our comments, many of you immediately noticed that this would unfairly bump some vehicles into the gas guzzler tax bracket. Apparently, you had reason to be concerned.

Revealed after some sleuthing by the boys at Dubspeed Driven, the EPA is still using the 1991 tax schedule and gas guzzler calculation method. That essentially means that the exact same car that skirted the gas guzzler surcharge last year, could be a scofflaw in 2008. Cars like a Nissan 350Z, for instance. It's combined 23.15 last year kept it out of the gas guzzler bracket, but under the new formula, it's a $1,300 offender at 21.15 mpg.

There's no mention anywhere on the EPA website about the new testing procedures or the fact that 2008 vehicles will likely be reporting lower mpg compared to 2007 Monroneys. Scared at the possible backlash when their vehicles appear to be getting poorer mileage, major carmakers have banded together to create a website to help educate consumers about the apparent drop in fuel economy, but nothing seems to be in place at the EPA to account for the change. Trucks, some sport utilities and minivans are all still exempt from gas guzzler tax, however.

[Source: Dubspeed Driven]

Volvo has seen fit to finally price the S80, its flagship sedan, for the U.S. market. The S80 3.2 I6 will start at $38,705 and the S80 V8 will begin at $47,350. The 3.2 I6 model features the Scandinavian brand's new in-line six-cylinder engine that develops 235 horsepower and 236 ft-lbs. or torque and is available only in front-wheel drive, while the V8 model packs a 4.4-liter eight-cylinder producing 311 horsepower and 325 ft-lbs of torque with all-wheel drive standard. Both cars shift via a 6-speed auto with Geartronic sequential shifting.

Volvo is expecting about 45% of S80 sales to come from the U.S. and Canada, which sounds about right to us as this sedan is shaping up to be a worhty contender. It's also worthy to note that while it's true the S80 desperately needed a more robust powerplant in the form of a V8 to compete in this segment, the price of the top-end model is now nearly $8,000 more than the outgoing model that was powered by a 208-hp, turbocharged inline five-cylinder. Of course, the new, less expensive 3.2 I6 model easily outguns that old five-banger in every category for nearly the same price (MSRP of 2006 Volvo S80 2.5T AWD is $39,360). The price of the S80 V8 also comes in far below the base sticker of other import V8 luxury sedans like the Audi A6 4.2, BMW 5-Series with the 4.8-liter V8 and Lexus GS430.

Read Volvo's press release after the jump...

[Source: Volvo]