First the Korean automaker was assuring to take over your payments in the event that you couldn’t pay your bills until the end of the year. Then they were paying you to buy one of their cars until the end of the year. Well if you are worried about the upcoming summer gas hike, Hyundai has got you covered once again. With a program called gas lock, the automaker is allowing customers to buy in to a program allowing them to purchase gasoline for only $1.49, quite reassuring with prices expected to exceed $3.00 in the near future.
Our question is why are all the incentive programs being offered until the end of the year? It would have been nice if you told us about these things back in January. At least with gas Gas Lock, Hyundai promises you up to a year’s worth of liquid. It looks like the deals will only be getting better as the seasons come and go, heck they will probably be giving away Genesis Coupe’s after Christmas, if so, we’ll be in line.
While $1.49 sounds good, mid-grade and high test will come at a premium, $1.64 and $1.79 respectively. However those prices aren’t bad either, even though the Lambda V6 has been tuned to run just fine on 87 octane.
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The American automaker Dodge has announced that its models might be sold wearing Alfa Romeo badges in Europe. Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said that all Dodge models might be sold as Alfa Romeos in Europe, and all Alfa Romeo models as Dodges in the U.S. The cross breeding of cutures would certainly make for an interesting lineup. It makes sense after all, if an automaker is going to invest the amount of money it takes to produce a vehicle, why limit yourself to just one market.
According to Marchionne: "Dodge is the American muscle car, while Alfa Romeo is the European muscle car. How we dovetail these two brands is very important. The level of competition between these two brands is tremendous because they are both going after the same customer." The man from across the Atlantic had some pretty bold words to say, but it would be nice to have Vipers allowed in the Targa Florio.
You can’t say that Akio Toyoda isn’t keeping busy.
Ever since the new president of Toyota ascended to the position a few weeks ago, the grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda has made a number of aggressive moves that designed to rejuvenate the struggling company. For one, it recently formed a partnership with UK-based Aston Martin, under which Toyota will supply Aston Martin with the Toyota iQ, which Aston Martin will sell in the UK as the Cygnet.
And now it looks like Toyota is far from finished.
According to reports circulating in Germany, Toyota is also in the process of
establishing a partnership with yet another European car maker: Daimler.
Continued after the jump.
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Before you get on the road this long 4th of July weekend make sure you give vehicle a solid once over. Like Mario Andretti used to say: "There’s alot riding on your tires." So if you are a fan of the blue oval brand then you might want to pay attention to this.
Haven’t we heard this news before?
A car manufacturer recalls their vehicles because they found out there was something wrong with them. Now we have the latest recalls courtesy of both Ford.
It’s been reported that Ford is recalling 1,357 of its 2009 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigators because of defective brake lights.
According to the geniuses at Ford, a malfunctioning switch can result in a delay in brake stop-lamp illumination and in some cases, could be the difference between an accident and a close shave.
Fortunately for the fine folks at Ford, there has yet to be a reported accident that came as a result of this glitch and to their credit, they`re not going to wait around for the first one to happen.
So if you have either a 2009 Ford Expedition or a Lincoln Navigator and you happen to notice that your tail lights aren`t working the way they`re supposed to, you might want to contact Ford at (866) 436-7332 to have this problem fixed. You never know, it just might save you a ton of money in potential damages.
The recall for the Explorer and the Navigator will begin on or before July 6.
General Motors may be a long ways from getting back on its feet in the US, but in another country, the Detroit-based manufacturer is standing tall.
Despite a tenuous hold on the US auto market, GM can take comfort in the fact that they’re Chinese consumer base has more than picked up the slack, accounting for a whopping 814,442 vehicles in sales in the first six months of 2009.
It doesn’t come as the least bit surprising to us to see China establish themselves as the world’s leading auto market. After all, the country still comprises about 1/6th of the entire world’s population so naturally, that many people would entail a lot of customers too. GM also benefited through a number of stimulus policies the Chinese government has implemented, allowing foreign brands to import their products easier.
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General Motors and Toyota may have ended their 25-year run as production partners at the NUMMI plant in California. Yet despite the split, the two auto giants are still in the works on a new partnership. We’ve heard that Toyota is in talks with GM about the possibility of supplying a rendering of Toyota’s popular Prius hybrid vehicle to its Detroit-based counterpart.
While the plan has yet to be finalized, sources have said that the two heads of both companies - Toyota president Akio Toyoda and GM top dog Fritz Henderson - are expected to convene at the GM headquarters in Michigan sometime in August.
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In today’s day and age, the Internet has become the best place to advertise your products. It’s free, it’s got tremendous traffic, and communication travels so fast you can reach somebody from halfway across the world in a matter of seconds.
One car manufacturer that has taken advantage of the many booms the internet provides is BMW, and it has done so by invading social networking sites. That’s right. If you think Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube are just means of wasting time on-line; guess again.
BMW will bring the X1 SUV to the Frankfurt Motor Show, but for now we can only admire images of the small SUV. Looking identical to the X1 Concept, the production version will go on sale in Europe by the end of the year followed by sales in the North American market to begin in early 2011.
Placed below the X3 in the lineup, the BMW X1 will be powered by a wide range of engines, including a 2.0 Liter four cylinder making 143 HP or 170 HP and a 3.0 Liter straight-six pumping out 265 HP. The diesel line-up will include a 2.0 Liter 4 cylinder engine producing either 143 HP, 177 HP or 204 HP.
Continued after the jump with official images.
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We’re right in the middle of summer and it seems that everybody’s just about ready to put on their sun blocks and head out for a vacation. But before doing so, you might one want to hear about this interesting new promotion by General Motors:
The 72-Hour Sale.
While this sale doesn’t exactly translate into GM cars being offered at slashed prices at discount bins, it does allow prospective – and well-qualified - buyers to be offered a low-rate financing of 0 percent for up to 72 months on a number of 2009 and 2010 cars, including the Chevrolet Silverado, the GMC Sierra, GMC Yukon XL SUVs, the Chevrolet Impala, and a slew of Pontiac models including the Vibe, the G3, the G5, the G6, and the G8. Other GM models also have their own reduced rates of financing of 0 percent for up to 60 months – also for well-qualified buyers. For more information on this once-in-a-lifetime program, including a full list of current offers, conditions, and eligible vehicles, prospective buyers can log on to http://www.gm.com/shop/currentoffers/<
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The 2010 Ford Focus is taking on a European feel.
Apparently, the latest model of the Focus franchise will not be produced on its home continent and instead, will be manufactured exclusively at Ford’s Saarlouis production plant in plant in Germany.
While it may seem strange to produce the Focus from across the pond that is the Atlantic, Ford justifies their reason by saying that the move will allow its European division to get back on its feet. According to John Fleming, the Chairman and CEO of Ford Europe, “Our objective is to return to sustainable profitability as soon as we can.” He also added: "We’ve already shown that we will make the necessary decisions and do whatever is required to ensure that Ford of Europe emerges from the downturn as a leaner and stronger company, ready to take on the opportunities presented once the economic situation finally improves."
The Focus is not the only Ford vehicle that will be produced exclusively in Europe. One of its variants, the Focus C-Max MPV will be produced in Valencia, Spain. Incidentally, the same plant in Valencia that produces the C-Max will distribute the vehicle to all the European markets and if plans push through, all the markets outside of Europe, including the US.
With the industry taking a massive hit in America and in Europe, it figures that Ford is putting all its resource into making sure that all of its plants have an opportunity to keep their heads above water.
There are eyesores and then there are EYESORES.
This custom-made Hummer H1 we found on Ebay must have had a cruel -yet extravagantly rich - owner whose sole purpose in purchasing this Hummer was to outfit it with an inordinate number of LCD TVs. How else can we explain this monstrosity of a creation.
On the outside, it looks like the Hummer was butchered and replaced with separate parts from an array of metal sheets that somehow ended up resembling a vehicle. If the vehicle`s exterior isn’t enough to drive you away from this monstrosity, the interior will most definitely will – unless of course you`re a big fan of ostrich leather dashboards and the aforementioned number of LCD TV`s that has somehow turned the interior of this Hummer into one of those military-issued mobile HQ units.
Now, of course, we`re not exactly demanding you to never entertain the thought of buying this car, but if you ever wish to be taken seriously by all of your peers for the rest of your life, use this one and only time to heed our suggestions.
If you browse through the Ebay page of the seller, you`ll notice that he said that over $185,000 were put into this Hummer to make it look like what it is now. But then you`ll also realize that the `Buy it Now` price only rounds up to $89,000 – almost a 100,000 less than how much he spent for it.
We`ll say it again, this is one bargain you`re better off not pursuing.
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