corporate-average-fuel-economy

Now that the federal government has at last firmed up the fleet average fuel economy and CO2 standards for the next five years, you might wonder how much vehicle models will have to improve to meet those mandates. In a surprising number of cases, it might not be as much as you think. Why? There ...

I fully agree that we need more fuel efficient vehicles. But I also firmly believe that the vast majority of American drivers (and others around the world) will always buy the biggest, most powerful vehicle they think they can afford to operate. When gas was cheap in this country, they bought big ...

When Nissan introduced the Titan pickup truck earlier this decade, they became the first Japanese Automaker to directly challenge the U.S. manufacturers in the full-size truck segment. Unfortunately for Nissan, the gamble didn't pay off, but the company knows when to stop throwing good money after ...

The theme of this year's Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress is "A Climate for Change" and the host company is Chrysler. Chrysler's VP of Regulatory Affairs, Deb Morrissett, spoke today at an SAE luncheon in Detroit in advance of the Congress next month. Morrissett spoke about the new ...

When people like GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz talk about how new fuel economy regulations are going to add $5-6,000 to the price of new cars and trucks, it's worth examining how they come to those numbers. Obviously there are some cars today that can achieve the 35mpg level without being insanely ...

Last month Chevrolet officially revealed the fastest, most powerful Corvette of all time, the 2009 ZR1. At a minimum of 620hp, the ZR1 will very likely be the most powerful Corvette that ever gets built, at least with an internal combustion engine. Fuel economy rules and rising prices will mean ...

In a stunning statement of the obvious, Chrysler Co-president Jim Press told Automotive News (subs req'd) that "The Hemi is not the power-train of the future." Given rising fuel prices and new fuel economy requirements, the days of the legendary HEMI are surely numbered, at least in cars and ...

A year ago the Zeta rear-wheel-drive architecture developed at General Motors Holden division in Australia looked set to spawn a host of new North American models. The platform that under-pins the new Pontiac G8 and the upcoming Chevrolet Camaro now looks like it will have much more limited ...

A new dual overhead cam V-8 engine for General Motors luxury car applications that was scheduled for production in 2009 has been canceled. This is the first known change in future product plans to follow the recent passage of new fuel economy rules. GM had announced plans a year ago to invest $300 ...

While the corporate average fuel economy requirements in the energy bill that was passed last week mean a lot of extra work for automakers, some see it as an opportunity. One of those is Ricardo. The engineering consultancy that specializes in power-train work has set up a new unit called Total ...