(October 25, 2014) DETROIT — In 18 months, the durability team at General Motors’ Milford Proving Ground can put a vehicle through an entire lifecycle. Durability tests are long, repetitive and physically demanding.

(October 25, 2014) SANTA MONICA, Calif. — TrueCar, Inc. has reported on a shift in consumer new vehicle preferences this year, with demand for Toyota’s Prius softening, as gas prices stabilize.  Simultaneously, a sustained economic recovery is boosting demand for full-size pickup trucks, as Ford releases a fully revamped version of its benchmark F- Series.

(October 24, 2014) SANTA MONICA, Calif. —TrueCar, Inc. today released its October 2014 sales and incentives forecast, which shows the Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (“SAAR”) for October of 16.3 million new vehicle sales. TrueCar’s 2014 full year Sales Forecast remains at 16.4 million vehicles.
   
New light vehicle sales in the U.S. (including fleet) are expected to reach 1,278,800 units for the month, up 5.9% from October 2013. With the same number of selling days, the Daily Selling Rate (DSR) for this October is 5.9% greater than that of October 2013.

(October 23, 2014) DES PLAINES, Ill — California has the most luxury vehicle thefts in the country according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), which today released its latest report on luxury vehicle thefts.

NICB analysts review data contained in the National Crime Information Center's stolen vehicle file and identify thefts of luxury vehicles as defined in the 2013 market classifications published by Automotive News.

(October 21, 2014) RHINEBECK, N.Y. — New research from Phoenix Marketing International, a global marketing services firm, has released the results of a recent study that focused on vehicle on demand and car sharing services such as Uber, Lyft, ZipCar and Cars2Go. The research revealed that as awareness levels continue to increase, consumers are more likely to rethink the purchase of a car.

“Vehicle on demand and car sharing services have been making headlines as they continue to disrupt consumers’ needs,” said Dennis Syrkowski, president, Automotive for Phoenix Marketing International.

(October 20, 2014) WASHINGTON — Experience behind the wheel may matter more than age when it comes to the safety of young-adult drivers, according to two new studies by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. These results suggest that states could reduce road crashes, fatalities and injuries by extending graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws to novice drivers beyond age 17.

AAA is promoting this research as part of National Teen Driver Safety Week, which takes place from Oct. 19-25.

(October 16, 2014) IRVINE, Calif. — When it comes to car shopping, women are driven by features — engaging in extensive research to find the best fit — while from the outset many men are revved about a particular car brand, according to a study just released by Kelley Blue Book kbb.com.

One-in-five men know the exact vehicle he wants, while women are twice as likely to be undecided about what vehicle they desire, the study revealed.

(October 15, 2014) TOKYO — Typhoon Vongfong, this year’s fiercest storm, might have weakened when it made landfall on the Japanese archipelago on Sunday, but a storm of different proportions was brewing inside the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation on Tokyo Bay.