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Tagged: cars

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The Detroit Auto Show
10:55 am
Sun January 9, 2011

Drumroll Please - Car and Truck of the Year award coming soon

The winner of the coveted North American Car and Truck of the Year Award will be announced Monday morning at the North American International Auto Show.

The awards are unique in the United States because -- instead of being given by a single media outlet -- they are awarded by a coalition of automotive journalists from the United States and Canada who represent magazines, television, radio, newspapers and web sites. 

The finalists for North American Car of the Year are:

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Auto
8:43 pm
Thu January 6, 2011

Big 'techie' show attracts automakers

Credit CES
Reporters checking out the latest gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Automakers are getting ready for the big auto show in Detroit next week, but before they land there, many leaders in the auto industry are attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

The show started today and will run through the 9th. Organizers says it's "the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow."

CNBC's Phil LeBeau says the show used to attract little attention from the auto industry, but that's changed since more electronic gadgets are finding their way into new cars and trucks.

LeBeau says the car makers are seeking new ways to increase their profits:

In car entertainment and connectivity, systems like Sync are increasingly must have add-ons for car buyers. And they have no problem paying for them. These systems drive higher transaction prices and greater profit margins.

Ford Motor Company President and CEO, Allan Mulally, will give a keynote address to the conference tomorrow at 11 a.m. CES Conference organizers say "Ford constantly innovates and launches new technologies, like SYNC with speech recognition, that make the driving experience safer through technology."

Auto/Economy
7:53 pm
Wed December 22, 2010

The critics pick the "ugliest cars of the decade"

The auto analysts have weighed in and the car that tops the list (all together now)... The Pontiac Aztek!

Former Car & Driver editor Csaba Csere says of the Aztec:

If you have ever heard that saying that a camel is a horse designed by a committee, the Aztek is the application of that concept to a car.

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Auto/Economy
4:44 pm
Wed December 22, 2010

Your 7 fugliest cars from the past decade

We asked our Facebook friends to give us their picks for ugliest car of the past decade.

As Tanya M. says, "clearly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

That's true Tanya... except when it comes to the Pontiac Aztek (sorry Elizabeth C.!).

If our Facebook friends were stranded on a desert island with twelve strangers, and they were the last ones standing, clearly they would not appreciate being given an Aztek as a tribute to their survival skills.

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Auto/Economy
3:20 pm
Mon December 6, 2010

Gov. Granholm makes announcement in Sterling Heights

Inside Chrysler's Sterling Heights Assembly Plant
Credit Barack Obama's Flickr photostream
Inside Chrysler's Sterling Heights Assembly Plant

Update: 3:20pm:

The Detroit Free Press reports on what we expected from the announcement at Chrysler's Sterling Heights Assembly Plant.

Chrysler will add a second shift in early 2011 of about 900 additional workers. Many of those workers will be workers who are called back from temporary layoff.

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Auto Sales
2:49 pm
Wed December 1, 2010

Good numbers for U.S. car makers

Car lot
Credit Lester Graham / Michigan Radio
Auto sales are up

Ford sales are up 24%, Chrysler sales are up 17%, and GM's are up  11%. It's been a good news week for the "Big Three" (can we still call them that?). Chrysler and GM also announced they plan to hire more workers in Michigan, and the Brookings Institution says Metro Detroit is recovering.

Here are some figures from a number-laden Detroit News article on auto sales:

  • Sales for Chrysler's Jeep brand were up 58 % for November compared to a year ago
  • Ford's year-to-date sales total 1.74 million vehicles - growing at a pace double the industry average
  • Ford's F-Series trucks were up 26 %
  • GM's big brand Chevrolet was up 18 % for the month compared to a year ago, its sales strengthened by the new compact Cruze and popular Equinox and Silverado

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