Tag Archives: april 2011

Hyundai announces trade-in value guarantee program!

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

Via Consumer Reports

With a marketing strategy that takes aim at concerns about depreciation–and to drive up new-car sales–Hyundai has announced a new trade-in program that offers buyers a guaranteed price for their new vehicle, if they trade it in for another Hyundai within two to four years. It’s sort of a confidence-building measure, like the super-long warranties Hyundai started offering in 1999.

The guaranteed trade-in value will be determined by the Automotive Lease Guide (ALG) forecast of the vehicle’s future value. Between two and four years after purchase, if customers want to trade in their current Hyundai for a new one they will receive at least what was originally guaranteed. If it’s worth more at the time of trade-in, the customer will get the higher assessed price.

Honda might release a new CR-V this fall!

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

Via Autoblog

2010 Honda CR-V


The 2012 Honda CR-V is coming, and you can expect the successful compact crossover to continue in its current mold despite being an all-new generation. There’s virtually no official information on the next iteration of the popular CUV, but since the current formula outsells even the Toyota RAV-4 and is still among the top finishers in comparison tests, we wouldn’t expect any wild departures.

Fuel economy is likely to improve from the current CR-V’s figure; front-wheel drive models may even hit 30 mpg on the highway, up from the current 28 mpg. C/D suggests that the current CR-V’s 180 horsepower output is probably not subject to change. And while it seems odd to be talking about what’s staying the same on a new model, the CR-V’s massive sales numbers make it a golden goose for Honda that must be handled very carefully, not unlike the conservatively recrafted 2012 Civic that was just revealed at last week’s New York Auto Show.

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

Via Consumer Reports

Crash test: Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf tops in safety
Apr 26, 2011 9:00 AM
The Nissan Leaf in IIHS’s front impact test.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has tested the crash-worthiness of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf, two plug-in electric cars that have garnered much attention in these days of rising gas price. The good news: Both the American extended-range electric hybrid and Japanese all-electric sedans can save you gas without sacrificing safety.

The IIHS says both high-tech vehicles earned a “good” rating for front, side, rear and rollover crash protection. They also come equipped with electronic vehicle stability controls as a standard feature and were rewarded with the IIHS’s “Top Safety Pick” award. So far this year, only 78 other vehicles—7 of which are green, hybrid cars—were given this high IIHS distinction for exceeding federal safety standards.

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68.7 mpg in 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid?

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

Via Autoblog

2012 Honda Civic Hybrid
The 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid is officially rated at 44/44/44 city/highway/combined, but the folks over at Hybrid Cars have squeezed 68.7 mpg out of their test unit.

By using some hypermiling techniques on a ten-mile course consisting of country lanes, some light highway motoring and with a handful of stoplights along the route, Hybrid Cars achieved what it calls the “upper limit” of what any 2012 Civic Hybrid driver should expect in terms of fuel economy. At an impressive 68.7 mpg, the Civic Hybrid is certainly a fuel-sipping vehicle if driven using some gas-saving techniques, but the real fuel economy tests will come when everyday Joes slot in behind the wheel and pilot Honda’s hybrid sedan under more “normal” driving conditions. Until then, let’s just say that the fuel economy rating of the 2012 Civic Hybrid slightly improves upon the 40/43/41 numbers sported by the 2011 model.

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Hyundai Hunts the Prius

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

Via Truth About Cars

Hyundai updated its web-only “save the asterisks” video for the New York Auto Show, as it continues to highlight fuel economy as a key brand value. And the brand didn’t miss the opportunity to talk about future fuel-efficient products either, as InsideLine reports that Hyundai is promising two more vehicles rated at 40 MPG highway or above in the “next couple of years.” One is the Prius competitor, which was previewed with the Blue Will concept, and which appears to now be a dedicated hybrid-only model, after having been initially tipped as a plug-in hybrid. The other? Hyundai won’t say, but an exec does tell the Edmunds blog that…

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An Alternative to the Hybrid? Honda’s Natural Gas Civic!

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

Via Honda in the News

2012 Honda Civic image

The Honda Civic Natural Gas is America’s only manufacturer-built natural gas passenger car. While there’s certainly growing demand for hybrids amid rising gas prices, Honda believes there will also be demand for the Natural Gas, with its wide-ranging environmental and historical operational cost advantages.

Formerly known as the Civic GX, the Civic Natural Gas has been updated for the 2012 model with more style, safety features, and technology. But one of the biggest changes is the nationwide availability of this natural gas-powered model.

According to Honda, the natural gas has historically cost about 30 percent less per gasoline-gallon-equivalent compared to gasoline when purchased at public fueling stations. Natural gas also produces extremely low smog-forming emissions. It’s for this reason that the Civic Natural Gas qualifies for a state-issued decal allowing single-occupant access to high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) “carpool” lanes in California and several other states.

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Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: Equus Top Safety Pick!

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

Via LeftlaneNews

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety today revealed its findings from the crash testing of the recently introduced Equus ultra-luxury large sedan, naming the car a Top Safety Pick after securing the highest possible rating of “good” in front, side, rollover and rear crash protection.

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Nissan Comes Out With Environmental Education Program

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

Via Nissan In The News

2011 Nissan Leaf image

Nissan remains committed to the environment and to innovation. That’s why the automaker is investing in a new education program for children, as Nissan recognizes that kids are often the most effective at creating change.

Nissan’s in-class and online educational outreach initiative, called “Choose Zero,” will begin in middle schools and elementary schools in seven states this month. The curriculum will help students make and advocate for changes that reduce carbon emissions in their homes, schools and communities.

Choose Zero curriculum was developed with the help of Kaleidoscope Youth Marketing and it will reach 2.5 million students in 7,500 schools across the United States.

To get parents and teachers excited about the curriculum, Nissan is also offering them the opportunity to sign up online for a chance to win a three-year lease on a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle. There will be two parent winners and two teacher winners nationwide.

“Nissan is committed to empowering people of all ages – including children – to make changes that reduce carbon emissions,” said Brian Carolin, senior vice president, Sales and Marketing, Nissan North America. “We are excited to bring environmental advocacy into classrooms through valuable resources for teachers, parents and the students while also educating them on the Nissan LEAF technology and environmental benefits.”

HONDA MOTOR HAS THE BEST RELATIVE PERFORMANCE IN THE AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS INDUSTRY

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

Via Zacks

 

 

 

HONDA MOTOR HAS THE BEST RELATIVE PERFORMANCE IN THE AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS INDUSTRY

Apr 12, 2011 (SmarTrend(R) News Watch via COMTEX) — Below are the top five companies in the Automobile Manufacturers industry as measured by relative performance. This analysis was compiled based on yesterday’s trading activity as we search for stocks that have the potential to outperform.

The article…==>

Toyota/Microsoft Alliance to make Greater Car Communications!!!

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

Via Car and Driver

 

 

 

Together, Toyota and Microsoft are investing $12 million in Toyota Media Service Co., a Toyota subsidiary. (If that sounds like an insignificant amount of money for two of the world’s largest companies to squander, that’s because it is.)  The alliance will create a cloud-based platform for car-to-car, phone-to-car, and grid-to-car communication. As such, the first Toyotas to benefit from the tech will be electrics and plug-in hybrids, the first of which should arrive in the U.S. and Japan in 2012.

Besides a dash of money, Microsoft is applying its cloud-based Azure computing platform to the partnership. Its advantages, according to ever-animated Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, are its scalability and reach; the system will work in all 170 of Toyota’s markets, not just a select few.

The unnamed system promises to let drivers remotely control things like charging and climate control (helpful so that the car reaches the desired temperature while plugged into the grid, so that more of the car’s electrons can be used for locomotion), and feeds battery-level and maintenance information to a smart phone. Onboard GPS will dynamically monitor the distance to charging stations.

 

The idea is nothing new. Indeed, Nissan already has a simple system, called Carwings, that lets Leaf drivers monitor and control charge and climate-control status from an iPhone or through a web browser. The Chevy Volt’s OnStar Mobile app carries many of the same features. Ford will offer a more feature-rich app for the Focus Electric, which happens to use Microsoft-branded Value Charging to charge the battery during off-peak hours, something the Toyota system also promises.

As for how the cloud-based info will work with Toyota’s recently introduced Entune infotainment system, Toyota president Akio Toyoda basically said that the systems could work together. We think they’ll have to. A crazy-faced Ballmer added that the cloud-based system is more of the back end, while Entune is an interface.

While not groundbreaking, the Toyota-Microsoft tie-up certainly has some weight behind it. Today’s symbolic announcement and symbolic venture funding should evolve into a useful set of applications for EV and PHEV owners, something that we believe will soon be expected of any car that plugs into the grid.

 

Testing Intelligent Transportation!

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

via Autopia

 

 

 

We’re finally seeing progress in a plan to create an intelligent transportation system where our cars and our roads communicate to make our commutes a little smoother.

Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) and Russ Carnahan (D-Missouri) have introduced landmark legislation authorizing Uncle Sam to choose six cities to test “intelligent transportation systems.” That’s a catch-all phrase for applying many different technologies to our roads, the goal being integrated infrastructure that communicates with cars. We’re talking about things like synchronizing traffic lights and beaming real-time traffic info into vehicles. There’s nothing particularly shocking about this, as a lot of this tech already is used to some degree in industry.

 

 

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Nissans Snug Kids Program!!

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

via Nissan in the News

 

 

Nissan Juke image

Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it would create a new resource on Safecar.gov that would collect information from automakers regarding which child restraints fit properly in their specific vehicles. And although details of NHTSA’s Vehicle-CRS Fit Program are still being finalized, Nissan North America is already on board. In fact, the company has been helping consumers learn which child-restraint systems properly fit in Nissan (and Infiniti) vehicles since 2002.

That’s when Nissan launched its industry-leading Snug Kids program, developed directly in response to consumer interest in this important information. But first, a Nissan team of certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians personally devoted thousands of hours to evaluating hundreds of child-safety seats for compatibility with Nissan (and Infiniti) vehicles.

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Google’s Driverless Toyota Prius!

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

via Autoblog and Youtube

Google Driverless Car

Google Driverless Car – Click above to view video after the jump

Sebastien Thurn has made it his life’s work to save one million lives from traffic accidents. Thurn has been instrumental in the development of Google’s DARPA Challenge-winning driverless car technology at Stanford University, and he’s confident that his technology can not only save lives, but eliminate traffic jams.

Thurn’s footage of a driverless Toyota Prius is nothing short of incredible, showing the cars successfully navigating deserts, highways and city streets clogged with traffic and pedestrians. So far, the driverless car’s most impressive journey has been from San Francisco to Los Angeles down Highway One.

Beyond just city and highway driving, Thurn has provided footage of the driverless Prius and a driverlessVolkswagen Passat successfully navigating an autocross-style cones course, proving these cars can handle a wide range of driving styles. The cars function by employing a series of sensors to detect their environment, and use a computer program to respond to what’s going on around them.

Thurn was on hand at this year’s TED Conference to discuss the idea and show footage from 140,000 miles of driverless car tests conducted by Stanford. The TED Conference serves as a forum for innovative ideas, publishing video seminars and ideas year round, and hosting two in-person conferences per year. The foundation has been holding conferences and publishing content on a creative commons license since 1990. Check out the video after the jump.

Road Test: 2011 Highlander by Car and Driver [Toyota]

Posted by Pohanka of Salisbury on

Via Car and Driver

 

 

 

For 2011, a modest face lift better distinguishes the Highlander’s hybrid calling, while a larger V-6 engine offers the tandem benefits of more fossil-fueled grunt and improved fuel-economy estimates.

The Basics

The substitution of Toyota’s ubiquitous 3.5-liter V-6 for the previous 3.3-liter is the most noteworthy change for 2011, bringing the Highlander hybrid up to spec with the Lexus RX450h. With 231 hp and 215 lb-ft of torque (versus the RX’s 245 hp and 234 lb-ft,) the V-6 is joined at the front axle by a 167-hp electric motor. A 68-hp motor at the rear axle provides on-demand all-wheel traction, with both motors sourcing juice from a nickel-metal hydride battery. Combined output is 280 hp, 10 more than the regular Highlander’s 3.5-liter V-6, but 15 fewer than the RX450h’s total.

As in the RX hybrid, a continuously variable transmission transfers power to the wheels while also removing any enjoyment from the driving experience. It’s sluggish and causes the engine to drone under acceleration. Although city/highway fuel-economy ratings of 28/28 mpg are up from last year’s 27/25 figures, we managed 22 mpg over nearly 800 miles of mixed driving—a mere 1 mpg better than the last Highlander V-6 we tested—making us think that upping the battery capacity would have been a better strategy than switching to the larger V-6. (We managed 25 mpg in a similarly rated, all-wheel-drive RX450h.)

Also new for 2011 are a revised grille and front bumper unique to the hybrid, as well as blue-tinted lenses for the projector-beam headlights and body-color rocker panels with chrome accents. As a result, the hybrid has cleaner lines than the standard Highlander’s, as well as a slight visual return on your investment, although it remains stealthy enough to get lost in the Whole Foods parking lot.

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