Volkswagen – world's No 1 carmaker despite diesel emissions scandal?

This may surprise you, but Volkswagen has become the world’s biggest car manufacturer, overtaking Toyota in the number of new vehicles sold in 2016 despite the damage it suffered in the diesel emissions scandal. Toyota had been the biggest seller for the past four years but its 2016 sales total of just under 10.2m vehicles, fell short of the more than 10.3m cars sold by VW.

General Motors is reporting its 2016 sales next week, but industry analysts said it had no chance of overtaking VW. GM was third behind VW last year and held the top spot in 2011, when Toyota’s production was disrupted by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. It marks the first time that the German manufacturer has become the global bestseller, a record it has achieved despite having being beset by scandal for rigging emissions tests for its diesel vehicles. Riding out prosecutions, fines and vehicle recalls in the US, the VW group – which includes the Audi, Porsche and Skoda brands – recorded an overall 3.8% rise from 2015. Read more 

Is the Mazda MX-5 Miata a decent daily driver?

Although the Mazda MX-5 Miata is far from the fastest sports cars out there, you have serious problems if you’re not smiling after driving the Miata. We must admit that it is a surprisingly versatile car. It can also be a decent daily driver thanks to its solid gas mileage and usable trunk. But, it doesn’t excel in every driving situation. Specifically long trips at high speeds. 

We decided to test the Mazda MX-5 Miata Club, doing a roughly 500-mile round trip, that was almost 80-percent highways. One thing we can tell for sure is that we geard every single mile. Our MX-5 Miata had the minimally insulated top also found on the base level trim, and at highway speeds the wind and road noise fills the cabin with a loud, steady roar. We suppose this won’t be a problem for fans of white noise, and it can be overcome by the stereo. However, over a few hundred miles, it starts to bother. The suspension, while superb for carving corners, also gets tiresome. Read more

The 2019 Toyota Supra proportions and beautiful curves

The 2019 Toyota Supra proportions and beautiful curves: Toyota Supra gets refreshed for 2019 and new renderings show off the sports car's attractive styling. Here are some pictures of the upcoming model which illustrate its proportions and beautiful curves.

The forum's renderings highlight the parallels between the Supra and the FT-1 concept, which suggested in 2014 that Toyota was serious about reprising its iconic sports car. Up front, we see wide headlights, a pointed nose, and side strakes that frame the face of the car and likely aid aerodynamics. In back are taillights and aero that also echo the FT-1. While these features are not obvious in spy shots, the final production model will look much like the concept car. We're inclined to agree.

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Japan responds to Donald Trump's trade pressure

Japan responds to Donald Trump's trade pressure:It didn't took look for Japan to give an answer to the intensifying trade pressure from US President Donald Trump with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe rumored to be meeting the head of Toyota Motor Corp this week and business lobby Keidanren setting up a Trump task force. On February 10 he will visit Washington in order to discuss the issue with the US leader, and we expect them to find a solution towards the trade deal between the countries, and of course the automotive sector.

Ahead of those talks, Abe will meet with Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda. One of them said the meeting would take place on Friday. A spokesman for Abe denied the reports, telling a news conference he was not aware of any meeting between the two having been scheduled.In a phone call with Abe on Saturday, Trump reiterated his pledge to create jobs in the United States and asked that the Japanese auto industry contribute.

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Will the used car prices fall after several years of rises?

If economists and remarketing experts are correct, 2017 will finally be the year of significant declines in used-vehicle prices. It’s a trend that has been a long time coming. Similar predictions were made in 2015 and 2016 by those same experts. Instead, used-vehicle prices held relatively stable at or near record levels for the past few years.

Various indexes that monitor used car pricing showed slight dips in used values last year, though they remain well above pre-recession levels. Strong demand for new and used light trucks, a growing market for certified pre-owned vehicles and younger – hence, higher-priced – vehicles coming off lease have disguised a lot of the downward pressure on prices in the used market. Read more

You're going to want this 2017 Ford F-150 Convertible!

There are some days where you feel like you just need a convertible and for those who are fortunate enough to own one, they can roll outside and drop the top to appreciate the great weather when it rolls around. However, most of the time, if you have a truck, that simply isn’t an option. Sure, if you haven’t Jeep or maybe a Ford Bronco with the removable top, the option to appreciate a sunny day in a convertible setup is completely possible but what happens if you drive a regular old pickup truck and want to have the convertible feel?

The ultimate in luxury custom convertible, armored vehicles, and automotive design and engineering. That’s how Newport Convertible Engineering describes itself and, from the looks of this particular example of the F-150 breed, the company ain’t kidding. Starting from a SuperCrew model in Platinum flavor, NCE decided that it would be best to chop off the roof of the full-size workhorse. NCE doesn’t name a price for the conversion, but it does mention that this here is a 2017 Ford F-150 equipped with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 that’s boasting direct and port fuel injection. With 375 hp and 470 lb-ft at 3,500 rpm, it sure is sufficiently powerful for towing and highway cruising alike. Another highlight is, of course, Ford’s 10-speed automatic. Read more 

Spy pictures of the upcoming 2018 McLaren P14

Spy pictures of the upcoming 2018 McLaren P14: We've got some teasers of the upcoming McLaren P14 before, but I guess they aren't enough to show us whether the car we are awaiting for is worthy that or not.

So we have to say this time the early leakage serves the car maker right. McLaren P14 is set for debut at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in March so it’s about time they started opening up about it and let the public know what kind of specs the new Super machine is going to boast. Looks-wise, as you can see here, while retaining the same general profile as its predecessor, the P14 has taken a turn toward elegance rather than the sheer sportiness that was the 650’s most apparent characteristic.

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Ford auto sales beat expectations once again?

Ford auto sales beat expectations once again?: Ford dealers and Ford executives sounded a typically optimistic note at this year's National Automobile Dealers Association convention here, based on record U.S. auto sales in 2016 and growing confidence that even if auto sales decline a bit in 2017, they won't decline much.

Dealers are concerned about a drop in car sales as opposed to trucks, but all in all he said dealers are happy with Ford's current product lineup. They do have concerns about car models – as the whole industry does – as to what the public wants. Forecasts for 2017 call for a small decline in auto sales. The same was true for 2016, but 2016 auto sales beat expectations and the record set in 2015 – just barely – due in part to a high level of discounting.

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Mercedes-Benz shares its future sports cars and sedans ideas

Mercedes-Benz shares its future sports cars and sedans ideas: Mercedes shared with us its plans on future and we really love what we got to see. The previews of the upcoming sports cars and sedans it built were also shown this week at a forum in Germany.

We see images of a curvy sports car study (the silver car) with huge wheel arches flared out almost like pontoons. There's also what appears to be a rear-engine hypercar (white car); we've been reading reports about it for months. Additionally, there's a red sporty saloon, as Mercedes calls it, also among the photos. It features prominent rounded fenders and a bold horizontal grille.

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Automakers can only be saved by new products!

Automakers can only be saved by new products!:If automakers want to increase their car sales they need to take in consideration this important tip: consumers love new products! If you offer something new in the market you must know that this is a key differentiator among other brands, who might do even better.

Even high-flying brands begin to lose momentum when portfolios grow stale, he said without naming names. The industry franchise assessment is an off-the-record briefing to retail industry leaders on the condition and outlook of each brand in the U.S. Sargent declined to discuss the specifics of the 2017 review. But he acknowledged that older products are often at the root of problems -- real or perceived -- in a brand’s reputation, the retained value of its vehicles, customer relations andvehicle appeal.

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Elon Musk floats the idea of a carbon tax to Trump

Tesla Motors Inc. CEO Elon Musk is pressing the Trump administration to adopt a tax on carbon emissions, raising the issue directly with President Donald Trump and U.S. business leaders at a White House meeting Monday regarding manufacturing. A senior White House official said Musk floated the idea of a carbon tax at the meeting but got little or no support among the executives at the White House, signaling that Trump’s conservative political orbit remains tepid on the issue. Ford CEO Mark Fields also attended the meeting.

Musk has made social media overtures to Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. While CEO at Exxon, Tillerson acknowledged the climate is changing and described a carbon tax as the most efficient means of embedding the cost of carbon in economic decisions from oil companies to consumers. Exxon Mobil has lobbied on Capitol Hill for a revenue-neutral carbon tax to take the place of an array of environmental regulations that raise the cost of fossil fuels. Read more 

The Dodge Demon gets the widest front tires of any production car ever

Another week, another 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon teaser. We knew this thing was going to be built for the drag strip, but even we weren’t expecting this: The Demon will wear 315-width drag radials in the back and in the front. Those are the widest front tires ever fitted to a production vehicle, and they make the Demon the first car to wear drag radials from the factory.

The Demon takes the widest-front-tires crown from the last-generation Camaro Z/28, which wore 305-width tires all around. And while it might seem odd to slap such wide front tires on a car focused on drag racing, think of it this way: When you’ve burned through the rear tires, you can just rotate the fronts to the back and keep on going. Or if you’re a frequent drag strip visitor, you can swap some skinny wheels and tires on the front and have two sets of rear tires ready to roll. Read more 

Ferrari 550 Maranello WSR the super rare classy up for auction

Ferrari 550 Maranello WSR the super rare classy up for auction: Ferrari 550 Maranello is one of the few modern classic cars whose price haven't become much higher since the car got revealed, but those good times might soon get over, so car lovers are trying to get their piece of art as soon as possible. This World Speed Record edition is a super rare beauty for auction.

Actually, it’s even better than that. This Ferrari 550 Maranello WSR is one of only 33 units built worldwide, and one of the only 10 right-hand-drive examples. That makes it rather special, and that’s even before you take into account the fact it has just two owners from new and only 33,800 miles on the clock. The car is set to be auctioned on 25th and 26th February with an estimate of £180,000 to £220,000. And the only way that price is going from here is up.

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US Auto Sales Begin to Falter in January

US Auto Sales Begin to Falter in January: It's a hard goal for the car industry in US to sell more than 17 million cars and light trucks year. Buyer demand will become sated at one point. Of course there will come the moment when manufacturers will be forced to offer less attractive deals in order to keep the customer interested, but even this strategy can't work forever.

Thus, sales would begin to drop from their recent peak, which will create a set of difficult challenges for car companies that operate in the United States. A forecast for January sales predicts a dip of 3% to 1.13 million, which translates into 31,000 vehicles. Some car companies will start to be part of trends that may erode their earnings.Specialists predict the drop will be extremely uneven among manufacturers. Volkswagen, which also owns the Audi and Porsche brands, will begin to rebound sharply from a sales collapse brought on by a diesel engine cheating scandal.

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US auto industry faces struggles in January?

It’s obvious that the auto industry is not able sell 17 million cars and light trucks in America year after year. At some point buyer demand will become sated. Higher interest rates will force manufacturers to offer less attractive deals. Thus, sales would begin to drop from their recent peak, which will create a set of difficult challenges for car companies that operate in the United States. A forecast for January sales predicts a dip of 3% to 1.13 million, which translates into 31,000 vehicles. Some car companies will start to be part of trends that may erode their earnings.

Analysts say the drop will be extremely uneven among manufacturers. Volkswagen, which also owns the Audi and Porsche brands, will begin to rebound sharply from a sales collapse brought on by a diesel engine cheating scandal. Its sales will rise 17% to 42,500. However, this will still make Volkswagen a tiny participant in the American market, second only to China in size, with a 3.1% share — smaller than any other large global manufacturer. Volkswagen trades places from year to year with Toyota Motor Corp. as the world’s largest manufacturer. Read more 

Ford's top-selling car gets "shocking" 2 stars in crash test

The massively popular Ford Mustang GT V8 Fastback coupe has received a disastrous two-star safety rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), based on testing conducted by sister organisation Euro NCAP, and more than a year after its local launch.

In response, a disappointed Ford defended the Mustang’s very sub-par safety performance across an array of procedures, while promising to add autonomous emergency braking and a lane-keeping aid to new cars from 2018. Given the fact the Mustang managed around 6208 sales in 2016, triple its nearest rival, the impact to buyers could be significant. Two stars is one of the lowest ratings in ANCAP’s history, though this week’s result stems from new, more stringent testing criteria than many other vehicles tested in earlier years. Read more

The 2017 Audi R8 Spyder costs $175,100

The 2017 Audi R8 Spyder costs $175,100: The new Audi R8 has already been revealed and we have been waiting for the new drop-top version after. Of course the price-tag on it won't be a small one, and not everyone here can afford such a luxury but anyways it costs around $175,100.

Available only in V10 guise, starts at $175K and that is before you put any options on it or take into account the $1,250 destination charge. But hey, the R8 is an exotic super car and it still costs considerably less than its rivals from Ferrari and McLaren. V10 engine and seven-speed S-tronic with glorious motorsport careers to brag about, aluminum and carbon fiber construction, one of the coolest cockpits in the world, and a cloth folding roof which you can operate on the move up to 31 mph. Speaking of speed, the 540 hp and 398 lb-ft of torque engine enables the R8 Spyder to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 198 mph.

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China green car sales outsold US & EU sales

China green car sales outsold US & EU sales:

Analysts were expecting China to sell more than 60,000 green cars and hybrids but the truth is that only 44,874 new electric cars were sold by December. But let's be honest, even with these results they outsold more plug-in vehicles than US or Europe did. Overall China car sales share rose to a record of 1.45% above the USA (0.8%) and Europe (1.4%).

Despite the “disappointing” plateauing in December, which is a bit like what happens when you expect that Usain Bolt will break the 0–100 meter world record every time he goes on the track, looking at the big picture, the 351,861 electric car sales registered in China during 2016 represent approximately 46% of aLL plug-ins sold worldwide this year, with Chinese carmakers responsible for 43% of all EV production in 2016.

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Automakers are pushing new investment and job growth in the U.S.

Detroit automakers are pushing new investment in U.S. production of trucks, crossovers and SUVs to tap into the higher profit margins these vehicles yield. They make an awful lot of money. Automakers spend about the same amount to make a vehicle, whether it’s a crossover or truck or sedan. 

Yet a full-size pickup truck has an average transaction price of almost $40,000. A large SUV has a transaction price of $58,000 and even a mid-size crossover moves off the dealership at nearly $35,000. But the average transaction price of a compact sedan is less than $19,000 and a mid-size family car is less than $22,000. Analysts say that automakers earn about $1,500 to $2,000 for a passenger car. It’s obvious that the trucks and SUVs are driving the profitability of the automakers. That’s why automakers are doubling down on brisk-selling trucks and SUVs. Read more

Now your R8 can have those sweet ghost flames you've always dreamed of

Audi has developed a new technique that allows owners to have matte, tattoo-like images etched onto their cars. While initially available on the Audi R8 and R8 Spyder, the technique can be applied to any model, and it goes on after the component has been painted.

In fact, the process is relatively simple. Audi places a template on the car with the desired design and then uses a special powder to basically sandblast the paint, roughening the surface of the clear coat. The result is a matt area with a depth of just a few thousandths of a millimeter, less than the width of a human hair, that’s basically a permanent decal. Audi can currently handle images up to one meter square and will accept nearly any image that doesn’t violate third-party copyrights, presumably excluding any obscene image as well. Just wait for someone to test the limits on that one. Read more 

Ferrari 458 Speciale and McLaren 675LT have a new competitor Ford GT

Ferrari 458 Speciale and McLaren 675LT have a new competitor Ford GT: Ford released performance figures for its Ford GT a few hours ago, with the top speed of 216 miles per hour. What's really impressing here is not the speed but the fact that it's Blue Oval's647-horsepower supercar bests the benchmarks from McLaren and Ferrari on a track. 3.1 seconds better than a Ferrari 458 Speciale.

Ford's claim that the GT has a dry weight of 3,054 pounds. Dry weight is the alternative truth of the automotive world, in that it has no bearing on reality. Technically it refers to a car's curb weight with no fluids whatsoever, which is almost impossible to prove and can differ greatly from the rolling curb weight. Ferrari and McLaren list non-dry curb weights of 3,075 and 2,927 pounds, respectively. The latter is listed as DIN, or German standard weight, which includes 90 percent of the fuel. US-spec cars are often heavier due to crash regulation necessities like side-impact airbags.

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Electric car sales predictions for 2017

Electric car sales predictions for 2017: We don't know if the electric car sales are poised to accelerate in sales, or will they be stuck in neutral, but the latest forecast tells us what could occur under existing policies as technologies continue to evolve.

Previously we had been expecting electrics to remain a tiny share of U.S. vehicle sales for decades to come. But now we see a brighter future for electric vehicles, with annual sales topping 1.2 million cars by 2025 plus an additional 186,000 light trucks. That's nearly double its forecast from last year, and nearly 10 times its forecast from 2014.

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Ford launches a new brand to sell auto parts to fix competitors' cars

Ford Motor Co. is expanding its customer service division with a new Omnicraft brand of aftermarket parts to cover non-Ford and non-Lincoln vehicles. It has been claimed that the addition will allow dealers to service between 85 and 90 percent of competitive makes, generating more business. It’s the first time the automaker’s service division has added a new brand in 50 years. 

Now, owners of non-Ford vehicles have access to quality parts at a competitive price, backed byFord and installed by Ford’s world-class certified technicians. Ford will immediately roll out about 1,500 parts numbers to roughly 500 Ford and Lincoln dealers nationwide. They expect all 3,200 dealers will be covered by some point next year. Read more