2008

Any competent financial advisor will tell you that, almost invariably, buying a brand new car is a bad investment. With very few exceptions, as soon as you drive a new car off the lot, its value drops significantly. Hopefully, the now publicly traded stock of Tesla Motors will fare better than ...

Hey, always thinking that only Japanese and Europeans have a lot of fuel-efficient vehicle choices? American automakers also have fuel-efficient models in their lineup, usually based on "global" models designed for other markets, like GM does with its Opel/Vauxhall European subsidiary or its Daewoo ...

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Japan-spec 2008 Nissan CubeThe Nissan Cube is coming to the U.S. next Spring, and we'll get our first look at the U.S.-spec car when it makes its debut at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show. I recently had the opportunity to drive a Japanese-market edition ...

You might remember that France has a tax rebate system (bonus/malus) for vehicles depending on their CO2 emissions. As in the UK and in Spain, car sales in the first trimester of 2008 have been remarkably affected. For instance, 50 percent of car sales are of vehicles under four meters long. The ...

Late 2008, Mercedes Benz will clean up its diesel GL, ML, R class SUVs with Bluetec, making them 50-state legal. MotorWeek kicked the tires on the GL320 CDI (see video below the fold) and they seemed to like it. The diesel version of the GL ($54,225) will be $2,500 cheaper (yes, cheaper) than the ...

In his CES keynote, part of which you can watch above, General Motor's CEO Rick Wagoner hints that an announcement with the release date for GM's first plug-in hybrid is coming "very soon." GM told us the release date for Saturn Vue plug-in might be in the end of 2008 or "2009-ish" range. From what ...

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/US_Govt_you_will_pay_3_50_for_gallon_on_gas_by_June'; Ah, Spring. Astronomically it starts on the vernal equinox (March 20) and ends on the June solstice (June 21). Greek goddess Persephone's kidnapping by Hades (see painting) represents the changing of seasons. ...

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/environment/Did_Toyota_hybrid_sales_peak_in_2007'; 2007 was a good year for hybrid sales. Total US sales in hybrids for 2007 were 40 percent higher than hybrid sales in 2006. Market-research firm J.D. Power & Associates thinks the total sales increase from 2007 to ...

The Chinese car maker, BYD Automobile Co Ltd, plans to mass produce a hybrid gas-electric car the second half of next year. BYD showed a full electric car, the F3e, a car based on its F3 sedans, at last year's Beijing auto show. I assume BYD's planned hybrid is based on the F3 sedan as well. The ...

The hybrid price war is heating up. Mercury has released pricing for the 2008 Mariner hybrid. It's $26,620 and 2WD. The 2007 Mariner Hybrid was only 4WD and $28,615. Okay, maybe the price is lower because it's 2WD and not 4WD. I guess the price drops maybe a response to the loss of some tax ...