News archive

October 2011

Toyota's Daytona 500 pace car to be shown at SEMA

Tags:

(October 28, 2011) Strange as it may seem, the 2012 Toyota Camry will serve as the pace car for the Daytona 500 in February. And the pace car will be on display at the 2011 SEMA Show Toyota exhibit next week in Las Vegas.

It will be the first time a non-GM, Ford or Chrysler nameplate has paced the “Great American Race.” David Reutimann, Camry Sprint Cup Driver for Michael Waltrip Racing, will be on hand to talk about the Camry Pace Car during a press conference at the SEMA Show in the Toyota exhibit on Nov. 1.

Lexus to show off custom-built cars at SEMA

Tags:

(October 28, 2011) LAS VEGAS — Lexus will display some cutting edge style here next week. Lexus returns to SEMA, the world’s largest specialist auto show, with a display showcasing the work of America’s top customizers, plus its own latest sports designs.

For its fifth appearance at the show, Lexus is presenting nine cars, three of them special commissions that explore the potential for more extreme styling and performance.

Ford Explorer hits the 100,000-sales mark

Tags:

(October 27, 2011) DEARBORN, Mich. — America’s love affair with the Ford Explorer is stronger than ever with more than 100,000 Explorers sold this year – making it the fastest-growing midsize utility in the nation.
 
“The Explorer continues to be one of the strongest vehicles in the Ford portfolio, and we are excited to see it surpass the 100,000-sales plateau for the first time since 2007,” said Amy Marentic, group marketing manager. “The success of this vehicle is further evidence we are delivering products that people want.”

'Urban Vehicles of the Year' announced

Tags:

(October 27, 2011) DETROIT — Decisive magazine has announced "The 2012 Urban Vehicles of the Year" after their selection by a panel of independent automotive journalists.

The Urban Wheel Awards judging panel spent several months determining the most stylish, practical and attainable new vehicles for 2012 by driving and evaluating dozens of cars and trucks in a variety of North American urban settings before settling on the three winners.

GM to be first automaker to domestically produce electric motors

Tags:

(October 27, 2011) WIXOM, Mich. — From home appliances to children’s toys, electric motors are all around us and have nearly a century of automotive use dating to Charles Kettering’s invention of the electric starter first used in 1912. With the emergence of electric vehicles, electric motors also will play a bigger part in future vehicles.

GM's landfill free plant count rises to 78

(October 26, 2011) DETROIT — General Motors has added two plants in Rosario, Argentina to its roster of manufacturing facilities that send no waste to landfills. The assembly and stamping plants in the South American country bring GM’s landfill-free plant total to 78.

The plants accomplished the designation through a variety of recycling and reuse activities, such as:

Ford to build full-sized Transit van in Kansas City

Tags:

(October 26, 2011) KANSAS CITY — Ford has confirmed Kansas City Assembly Plant workers will build its full-size Transit van — Europe’s best-selling commercial vehicle — when the new product joins its North American lineup in 2013.
 
This is another example of the company’s One Ford strategy to serve customers with world-class vehicles and leverage global assets, including common platforms, and brings new jobs to greater Kansas City.

Recycled plastic bottles find new use in next Ford Escape carpeting

Tags:

(October 25, 2011) DEARBORN, Mich. — They’re found nearly everywhere — on desks and in break rooms at work, on kitchen tables and counters at home, rolling under seats in cars, on the sidelines of athletic fields and heaped in trash cans and recycling bins.
 
They’re plastic beverage bottles, and seemingly not of much use when they’re empty.

BYD opens N.A. Hq. in Los Angeles

Tags:

(October 24, 2011) LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Chinese automaker BYD today opened the company’s North American headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. BYD is expected to spend nearly $100 million to expand the building to house 150 engineers, research and development and management personnel, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

No kidding — 16 people squeeze into new VW up!

Tags:

(October 24, 2011) The up!, the smallest new Volkswagen, is a very spacious car. To prove this thesis, employees at Volkswagen Communications made an attempt at an unofficial world record.

The results: not only is it possible for four people to sit comfortably in the new up! in normal use – if one really tries hard, many more people can fit into the car: 15 women and one man (should we envy or feel sorry for this guy?) squeezed themselves into its interior spaces. It was not all that comfortable any more, we must admit!