The last couple of days, we've all been inundated with news of Chrysler's sale to Cerberus, and that's what we lead Podcast #66 with. As much as it makes analysts and pundits foam at the mouth, news about the sale is a pretty dry affair. We'll be keeping an eye on how things go with the newly independent Chrysler, though.
Their UCS study, called Automaker Rankings 2007: The Environmental Performance of Car Companies, examined the emissions from every car made by eight car makers, representing 96% of cars and trucks sold in the US. The report lauds Honda for achieving the better-than-average smog scores in every class, while Toyota, which came in second, was praised for being the only manufacturer to improve its global warming performance every year since 2001. (Honda's environmentally-themed F1 team was left o
In their third annual Bottom Line Design Awards for ingenuity in business success, Business 2.0 and Frog Design have awarded the H-racer hydrogen fuel-cell powered toy as one of "the 11 coolest new products on the Planet." The toy car, created by Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, comes complete wi
The United Kingdom's Environmental Transport Association (ETA) annual awards have named the Honda Civic Hybrid Britain's greenest car for the second straight year. Finishing ahead of the Vauxhall Corsa 13.CTDi and Toyota Yaris 1.4 Diesel, the Civic won out for its superior combination of engine size, fuel consumption, noise pollution and safety impact on pedestrians.
R.L. Polk & Co. announced the winners of its 11th Automotive Loyalty Awards during the 2007 Automotive News World Congress a week or so ago. Some of the companies and cars that won may surprise you. First off, General Motors won the Overall Manufacturer award... for the seventh consecutive year. While GM's future is looking a little rosier right now, the past seven years were not as kind. Turns out GM faithful didn't care. Next up is the Make, or brand, with the most loyal customers. You'll
Jim Press, the president of Toyota Motor North America (TMA), has been announced as the recipient of this year's 2007 Automotive Industry Executive of the Year award, which surprisingly marks the first time (though probably not the last) that a Toyota exec has earned the honor. You may remember last year's recipient was Bill Ford, Jr., who technically no longer holds the position a
Motor Trend has gone and named the 2007 Mercedes-Benz GL450 its SUV of the Year. We apologize if you were waiting with baited breath for the December issue of MT to arrive because you like to find these things out for yourself, but if that's the case then we can't help you. The GL450 beat out 22 other SUVs including such contenders as the new Acura RDX and MDX, four variants of General Motors' GMT900 platform (Escalade, Tahoe, Suburban and Yukon Denali XL), the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Naviga
Accomplished race driver, living legend and patriarch of a veritable racing dynasty Mario Andretti is being honored by the Italian government with the title of Commendatore della Repubblica Italiana. The prestigious award will be presented on October 23 by Consul-General Antonio Bandini at the New York Columbus Citizens Foundation.
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class received high praise from the Austrian motor specialist magazine "Firmenwagen" with the magazine's readership voted the luxury sedan as "Fleet Car of the Year 2006." The S-Class was chosen in recognization to its array of technology such as:
