Car brands should make emergency auto braking standard

The data related to the number of cars sold in 2017 that featured automatic emergency braking systems wasn’t especially surprising, but one truth seems to emerge: they are, perhaps obviously, far more common in brands that provide auto braking as standard equipment across the bulk of a model’s trim lineup. If it’s an option, and especially if it’s restricted to a package exclusive to an upper trim level, people will skip it.

Toyota sold the largest number of vehicles with automatic braking – 1.4 million cars out of 2.5 total – which is indicative of the fact that many of its cars and crossovers come standard with it as part of the company’s Toyota Safety Sense package. That number should also go up in 2018 as the new Camry comes standard with Toyota Safety Sense. General Motors was next, selling 551,777 vehicles. This is somewhat of an outlier as safety tech is almost always optional on GM’s volume-selling vehicles, however, it’s also widespread and available throughout most of their models’ trim levels. Read more

Kia and Hyundai cars will feature AI assistants in 2019

Hyundai and Kia have never failed to represent in the use of modern technologies for their vehicles. They have reputations as early adopters of in-car tech, and that’s truer than ever now that voice assistants are becoming a practical reality on the road. Both companies aim to include AI assistants in their upcoming cars from 2019.

Hyundai and Kia have been working with SoundHound to create an Intelligent Personal Agent (based on Houndify) that both makes proactive suggestions (such as reminding you of a meeting) and offers remote control of both your car and your home. This sounds a whole lot like what other voice assistants do, but the car brands are counting on support for “multiple-command recognition” as the ace up their sleeve. If you tell your car to check the weather and turn on the lights at the same time, it’ll do both instead of scratching its head like so many other AI helpers. Read more

Christmas gifts: Elderly couple stopped with 27kg of marijuana

An elderly couple is facing felony charges in Nebraska after police pulled them over and discovered the unwrapped Christmas presents they planned on delivering to their friends and family in Vermont and Boston were actually just 27kg (60 pounds) of weed.

Patrick Jiron, 80, and Barbara Jiron, 83, were on their way east from their home in northern California to visit family for the holidays when they were pulled over by sheriff deputies in York County, Nebraska. The deputies, after catching the whiff of the strong scent of marijuana, say that they asked the driver about the smell, and were told that there was contraband in the truck. After receiving consent for a search, the deputies took a look around the Toyota Tacoma and eventually — with the help of the county’s canine unit — found all of the bud, alongside multiple containers of concentrated THC. Read more

Dodge introduces the world's fastest Christmas tree

Winter holidays are right around the corner, and so last-minute shoppers are going to be in a serious rush to get all the items they need, especially Christmas shoppers that haven’t even put up a tree yet. Those seriously late folks may want to invest in a Challenger Hellcat because apparently they can go an incredible 174 mph with a Christmas tree strapped to the roof.

In the company’s latest video, John Hennessey explains they came up with the idea of creating the world’s fastest Christmas tree so they reached out to Dodge to see if they had a Challenger SRT Demon available. Dodge didn’t but the company happily sent over a Challenger Hellcat Widebody. During a baseline test, the Challenger was able to hit a top speed of 177 mph (284 km/h) with the makeshift roof rack but not the tree. When the tree was added to the roof, it didn’t have much effect on the car’s performance as the model was able to hit a top speed of 174 mph (280 km/h). Read more

Merry Christmas!

Enjoy the holidays with a new nice car from Repokar Auto Auction. Make the 

deal of your life today and have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Adolf Hitler's Mercedes-Benz is going up for auction!

In most cases when you hear about rare cars being sold with famous past owners, you assume that those previous owners are movie stars, singers, or racing drivers, but not dictators like Adolf Hitler. But that’s exactly who owned the 1939 Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser Open Tourer, and you can be listed on the owner history, too, since the vehicle will be auctioned on January 17. 10 percent of the sale price will be used for education about the Holocaust and preventing another one.

The car was commissioned by SS officer and chauffeur for Hitler Erich Kempka. It was used as a guest car for visiting dignitaries, and for big Nazi parades. It was used in those parades between 1939 and 1941. Considering the car would be used to transport Hitler, it was outfitted with additional protection. Armor plating was fitted to the sides and bottom of the vehicle. The windshield is bullet resistant, and an armored panel can be raised up at the back behind the seats if a greater threat was determined. Read more

Dealers ask for a compensation for recalled cars

Recalled vehicles are increasingly landing on dealers, but automakers aren’t required to compensate them for lost revenue and extra expenses. Dealers are counting on state lawmakers to change that. Even though stop-sales usually affect just a fraction of a dealership’s used-cars inventory.

There is no law to adress the problem on used vehicles under a stop-sell recall , but Federal law requires automakers to give monthly payments equal to 1 percent of the value of any new car that can’t be sold because of a recall. Read more

This 'Top Secret' Toyota Supra is going up for auction!

Next month, during the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon, Black Hills Auto Auction Inc will offer a modified 1994 Toyota Supra. It’s no ordinary modded Supra, though, it’s a famous gold-colored Supra from Japanese tuning company Top Secret, and its claims to fame are incredible speed and a V12 under the hood.

The number of cylinders under the hood of this 1994 Supra has doubled, and it isn’t a V12 from Ferrari or Aston Martin. It’s a 5.0-liter V12 developed by Toyota and used in the old Toyota Century, the company’s Japan-only luxury sedan. Top Secret didn’t stop there, having added a pair of turbochargers, a nitrous oxide system and stronger engine internals. In total, the car has 930 hp and 745 pound-feet of torque, all of which goes to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. Besides the powertrain upgrades, the car received a body kit that makes it hard to recognize the car as a Supra from the front, but the greenhouse and taillights are dead giveaways. Read more

Probe underway into genocide of Ford workman during KY plant

Probe underway into genocide of Ford workman during KY plant: Ford Motor Co. lost an employee identified in local reports as Ivan Bridgewater, 41, worked as an electrician at plants. The Occupational safety and Health Departament has launched an investigation to determine the cause of his death.

Sgt. John Bradley, a spokesman for the Louisville Metro Police Departament, said that emergency medical services were arleady on the scene when officers arrived, about 12:55 a.m. Eastern time Saturday, but unfortunetly by the time they did the man had arleady been deceased, he died because of a blunt force trauma. A deputy corner confirme the assessment, adding that Kentucky’s medical examiner has not yet signed off on a case of death, pending further study.Read more

Ford is planning to end North American production of Fusion

Ford Motor Co. plans to end North American production of its Fusion midsize sedan at the end of the decade. The automaker has begun informing suppliers that it will not build the next-generation Fusionat its plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, where the car is currently made. It’s unclear whether Ford would stop selling the Fusion in the U.S., replace it with a different vehicle, or build it elsewhere. A spokesman declined to comment.

The car will not be shipped to the United States from China, Ford said Wednesday, denying a Reuters report that the automaker would consolidate global production of the Fusion and Mondeo sedans in China. Ford currently builds the Mondeo in China for that market as part of its joint venture with Changan Ford, and it makes the European Mondeo in Valencia, Spain. Read more

Uber charges a passenger over $14,000 for a 21-minute ride

When all the bars close, Uber‘s surge pricing can be astonishing. You might hear a lot of horror stories, but they probably don’t compare to the story of a Toronto passenger who claimed he was charged over $14,000 (CAD $18,518.50) for a 21-minute ride.

The brief trip was from 12a Widmer St. to 30 The Queensway. The ride was supposed to cost under $20. Uber has stated that it has since issued a full refund to the passenger. The company’s spokesperson said that there was an error and it has been resolved. He added that they apologized to the passenger for his experience. A friend of the overcharged customer tweeted on Saturday about disputing the price. Read more

Audi of America marks November sales increase

Audi of America, a unit of AUDI AG, reports a November sales increase of 12 percent to 19,195 deliveries, as the Q7, new Q5 and the new-to-the U.S. A5 Sportback, lead consumer demand.

Consumer demand for the new Q5 and Q7 helped drive November’s sales increase. Deliveries of the Q5 were up 31 percent to 5,467. The Q7 deliveries increased to 3,292, and have now increased 23 percent year-to-date. SUV sales for Audi increased 23 percent to 10,351. Read more

Porsche aims to launch multiple variants of its all-electric Mission E

Green car sales are on the rise. Nearly every mainstream automaker has or is working on a fully-electric vehicle to meet ever-increasing customer demands. Porsche has yet to launch its first all-electric car, the Mission E, but it is already warming up to electric cars after seeing demand switching to the hybrid versions of its vehicles. Now, they say that they are even working on all-electric ‘derivatives of the Mission E’. The German automaker announced that around 60 percent of all new Panamera models in Europe were equipped with a hybrid drive.

Worldwide, the Panamera E-Hybrid makes up 60 percent of that model’s sales. In Scandinavia, that number jumps to 90 percent. Demand is only going to grow as different regions begin to offer tax incentives and other bonuses for driving electric or electrified vehicles. Porsche is pivoting, setting up the Mission E to reach an even wider audience than originally predicted. Porsche wants to sell 20,000 Mission E sedans each year. Considering the success of cars like the Tesla Model S, it doesn’t seem like that far of a stretch. Read more

2012 Kia Soul for sale!

4 Door Wagon, automatic transmission, FWD, 2.0L 4cyl, gasoline, 252652 miles. The handling is outstanding for how high the profile of the vehicle is. The wide stance of the car allows it to handle amazing! The storage capabilities are outstanding as well! With the rear seats folded down you can haul an amazing amount of stuff. Moreover, it’s roomy enough that you can fit 5 adults in it! More details here: https://repokar.com/car/4868/Kia/Soul/Texas/Pearland/2012-Kia-Soul

$3,800

November electric car sales decline as customers await new Leaf

For those who prefer to purchase green cars, the arrival of the Tesla Model 3 and the new-generation Nissan Leaf electric vehicles can’t come soon enough. U.S. sales of hybrids and plug-in vehicles last month fell from year-earlier totals, as Tesla customers awaited deliveries of the Model 3, whose 310-mile single-charge range was confirmed by the U.S. EPA last week, while Nissan was preparing to sell the 2018 model-year Leaf. November’s domestic electric car sales, which had been up more than 8 percent through October, declined 1.9 percent to almost 39,000 units. Plug-in vehicle sales were up, though by only 3 percent to about 14,000 units.

Front and center was Nissan, whose new-generation Leaf sales have gotten off to a great start in Europe but whose 2017 Leaf sales all but disappeared, plunging 88 percent from a year earlier to just 175 vehicles. Ford, that had been tracking ahead of 2016 figures all year, also had a rough month, with green-car sales declining 14 percent to 6,301 units, as Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi Plug-in Hybrid sales dropped 60 percent and 27 percent, respectively, from a year earlier. Read more

The amazing 1954 Jaguar D-Type race car goes up for auction!

The end of the year is fast approaching, your Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping is done, and the mutual fund you help manage is paying out some serious bonuses. What do you do with all that sweet cash? Well, if it’s over seven figures, we suggest hanging on to it until January when it could help you buy this amazing 1954 Jaguar D-Type race car.

We guess you’ve heard of the D-Type. For those of you unfamiliar, it’s Jaguar‘s famous race car that gave birth to the road-going XKSS, one of which was owned by Steve McQueen. The D-Type was known for its successes on the track, and frequent appearances at Le Mans, with a victory at the endurance race in 1956. This particular car also raced there in 1954 with the Jaguar factory team, and behind the wheel was Sir Stirling Moss. According to RM Sotheby’s, it led the race for a major chunk, but eventually retired due to brake issues. Read more

Automakers predicted a competitive December

Major automakers predicted a competitive December as they rushed to sell cars and boost their numbers before 2017 ends. Most of them posted mixed U.S. November new car sales. Now they’re trying to sell down 2017 model-year vehicles, offering high discounts to consumers as the year-end nears. In 2016, the industry reported record annual sales of 17.55 million units.

Discounts have been above 10 percent of the average transaction price for 16 of the past 17 months. The National Automobile Dealers Association expects new vehicle sales to decline to 16.7 million units in 2018, after dropping to 17.1 million for the full year in 2017. If that forecast comes true, the race to move new vehicles off dealers’ lots will only intensify next year. A worrying trend for the automotive industry was a rising number of subprime loans. Subprime levels are at just over 20 percent of originations, against more than 30 percent prior to the Great Recession, but recent increases remain a concern. Read more

The 2019 Lamborghini Urus is officially the fastest SUV in the world

Lamborghini launches its flawless Urus SUV, creating a new niche in the luxury segment with benchmarking power, performance and driving dynamics, unparalleled design, luxury and daily usability. The Lamborghini Urus features a 4.0 liter V8 twin-turbo engine delivering 650 hp (478 kW) at 6,000 rpm, maximum 6,800 rpm, and 850 Nm of maximum torque already at 2,250 rpm. With 162.7 hp/l the 2019 Urus claims one of the highest specific power outputs in its class and the best weight-to-power ratio at 3,38 kg/hp.

The Lamborghini Urus accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, 0-200 km/h in 12,8 seconds and with a top speed of 305 km/h it is the fastest SUV available. Its low-line coupé styling and commanding road position belie the very comfortable ride, higher ground clearance, and luxurious space within together with the latest technologies. The 2019 Urus provides easy driving in the city, maximum comfort during long journeys, thrilling super sports car dynamics on the road and track, and versatile off-road abilities in a range of environments. Read more

2018 Saleen 1 revealed at LA Auto Show

The Saleen 1 was finally unveiled at the LA Auto Show as a compact, elegant mid-engine sports car that looks surprisingly finished coming from such a low-volume manufacturer. Although the car displayed at the auto show is just a prototype, we were surprised at how good it looks in person slathered in a dynamic orange paint. Even its leather-swathed interior didn’t have the usual glued-together toy-like appearance expected of cars like this.

Moving away from the high-powered exclusivity of its previous model, the Saleen S7, the Saleen 1 (or S1) will be a lightweight sports car. It will cost only $100,000 USD. With a mid-mounted 2.5-litre turbo four built and tuned in-house, the car will produce 336kW and around 475Nm of torque. This will propel its approximately 1225kg body to 97km/h in about 3.5 seconds. Low weight is also helped by the Saleen’s all-aluminium tub chassis and its 100 per cent carbon fibre body. Read more