International Business Times

Eleanor Mustang Sold: 'Gone In 60 Seconds' Car Sold At Auction For $1M [VIDEO]

Cvand003 — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:36:10 GMT

Photo: Mecum "Eleanor," the famous 1967 Ford Mustang driven in the 2000 movie “Gone In 60 Seconds,” has sold at auction for $1 million.

Dubai Police Add $1.4M Bugatti Veyron To Fleet One Month After Adding $450,000 Lamborghini Aventador [PHOTO]

Cvand003 — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:41:33 GMT

Photo: Dubai Police Dept. As if one supercar were not enough, the Dubai Police Department has gone and added a $4 million Bugatti Veyron to its already impressive fleet.

Honda Steering Back Into Formula One Racing - A Sign The Japanese Automaker Is Ready To Play With These New Smaller Engines

Angelo.Young — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:48:35 GMT

Come 2015, Honda Motor Co Ltd (TYO:7267) will be back on the racetrack with its old teammate, McLaren. Honda and McLaren won four Formula One world championships between 1988 and 1992 with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost behind the steering wheels.

The announcement marks a return of Honda to the F1 circuit. Honda pulled out in 2008 after the global auto market took a turn for the worse. The company thinks the new F1 regulations on smaller engines will give it an edge.

Experian Report Says Auto Repos And Late Car Payments Rising In 2013 As Lenders Ease Borrowing Standards

msingleton — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:47:10 GMT

Auto loan delinquencies and car repossessions rose in the first three months of 2013, suggesting that dealers and lenders have resumed selling cars to consumers who may be high credit risks, according to a Experian PLC (LON:EXPN) report.

A May 14 report from Experian's automotive credit unit shows that 30-day and 60-day loan delinquencies increased considerably by 1.3 percent and 12.4 percent respectively when compared with the same period in 2012.

Chrysler Recalls 469,000 Jeep SUVs

Konrad Krawczyk — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:51:26 GMT

Today, Chrysler announced a recall of 469,000 Jeep SUVs worldwide because they can shift into neutral on startup without the driver's knowledge.

United States safety regulators said cracks in one of the vehicle's circuit boards can cause a faulty signal to be generated as the vehicles are initially powered on, the A.P. reported.

South Korean Automakers Kia And Hyundai Hold Back On US Manufacturing Investment While Expanding In China

Angelo.Young — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:15:48 GMT

Like its competitors, the Korean duo Hyundai Motor Co. (KRX:005380) and Kia Motors Corp. (KRX:000270) have their sights set on grabbing greater shares of China’s ballooning auto market by expanding local production.

Meanwhile, neither has committed to expanding production in the U.S., and Hyundai has even put on hold its aforementioned plans to open a factory in Alabama or Georgia.

Honda Recall 2013: Automaker Recalls 46,000 Fit Sport Vehicles For Electronic Stability Control Issue [PHOTO]

Cvand003 — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:28:11 GMT

Honda Motor Company (NYSE:HMC) is recalling 46,000 of its Fit vehicles in the United States and Canada to fix a problem with the electronic stability control (ESC) system software. Affected vehicles include model-year 2012-2013 Honda Fit Sport cars manufactured between May 23, 2011, and March 22, 2013.

April 2013 US Auto Sales Forecast: Down About 10% From March, But Up About 11% From April 2012

Angelo.Young — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:09:57 GMT

The world’s top automakers will release their U.S. April sales numbers on Wednesday, and analysts expect them to show a decline compared with March's sales level. However, at the same time, analysts expect an increase compared with the year-earlier figures as the industry heads toward its best six-month stretch since the Great Recession.

Analysts expect that total light vehicle sales declined by approximately 10 percent from the March level but increased approximately 11 percent from the number of vehicles sold in April 2012.

Four Warning Signs That Weak Manufacturing Numbers From The US, Germany and China Signal A Global Economic Slowdown, Say Analysts

msingleton — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:42:06 GMT

Key economic indicators reveal that a showdown has begun following disappointing numbers about manufacturing activity and industrial production from leading world economies.

Clear declines reported by the U.S., Germany and China within a week of one another signal what analysts call a spring slowdown. But unlike previous years, this slowdown introduces U.S. sequestration and deepening German weakness to the trend, and they could heighten the impact beyond spring.

US Manufacturing Is Not As Strong As Some Say

Fiat Considering Returning Chrysler To The US Stock Exchange Once It Secures The Rest Of The US Automaker From A Union Trust: Report

Angelo.Young — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:38:41 GMT

Chrysler Group LLC hasn’t been a publicly traded company since German automaker Daimler AG unloaded it on a private equity firm in 2007 after one of the least successful mergers in automotive history.

Now, the current majority owner of the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based carmaker, Italy’s Fiat SpA (BIT:F), reportedly wants to make Chrysler public once again by floating shares, either separately from Fiat or as a combined company.

Shanghai Auto Show 2013: Did A 29-Year-Old Chinese Buyer Drop $6.5 Million On A Bugatti? [PHOTOS]

Angelo.Young — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:36:01 GMT

Photo: An Ke car dealership in Shanghai The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse WRC on display at Auto Shanghai 2013.

Ford (F) Motor Company’s Q1 2013 Earnings Preview: Profits Down 3.2 Percent As Woes In Europe, South America Weigh On China, U.S. Growth

Angelo.Young — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:12:52 GMT

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is expected to post a 3.4 percent decrease in profit for the first three months of 2013 as declining sales in Europe and Latin America offset increases in the U.S. and China.

The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker will release its first-quarter earnings statement Wednesday before U.S. stock markets open. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Ford to report net income of $1.54 billion, or 38 cents per share, compared to $1.59 billion, or 39 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter.

GM Getting Serious About China’s Luxury Auto Market With Its Cadillac XTS

Angelo.Young — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:47:45 GMT

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) is on a mission to grab a larger piece of the Chinese luxury automobile market and says it plans to unveil a new Cadillac every year through 2016.

"With a refreshed SRX and a locally produced XTS and the right powertrain, we really expect it [the Cadillac brand] to start to take hold," Bob Socia, head of GM's China operations, says in an interview Friday, with the Wall Street Journal.

March 2013 European Autos Sales: No End In Sight For Europe's Economic Woes

Angelo.Young — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:06:44 GMT

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association released its latest monthly figures on Wednesday, and they aren’t pretty.

Passenger car registrations in the 27-nation European Union bloc, a key indicator of auto sales and European consumer sentiment, slumped 9.8 percent in the first three months of the year, and they were down 10.2 percent in March compared to last year, to 1.3 million vehicles.

Traditional Rivals Ford, GM Announce Agreement To Build Shared Advanced Transmissions For Vehicles

Angelo.Young — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:10:19 GMT

North America’s top two automakers, General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), are joining forces to create a better automatic transmission for front- and rear-wheel drive vehicles -- a move aimed at increasing overall performance and efficiency.

The collaboration announced on Monday between the Detroit Big 3 rivals aims to create a nine- and 10-speed automatic transmission, up from the current six- and eight-speed transmissions.

Are Hybrid Vehicles, Like The Prius, Leaf, Volt And C-Max, Really Environmentally Safe? How Much Fossil Fuels Do They Use?

Cvand003 — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 13:21:50 GMT

Virtually every automaker is touting its green credentials these days by offering new versions of old cars with “environmentally sound” engines, in other words, hybrid electric vehicles, or HEVs.

Profiling China’s Super Rich Second Generation: HAC Elite Sports Car Club

s.song — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:44:05 GMT

Rich Second Generation is a term that has become ubiquitous in China. It refers to the kids of the first generation of self-made Chinese entrepreneurs who first became successful in the 1980s, following China’s economic reform under Deng Xiaoping’s leadership.

GM South Africa Expects A 20% Boom In Its Chevy and Isuzu Car Sales In The Next Two Years, Mostly In North Africa And South Africa Markets

msingleton — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:58:16 GMT

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) is betting that its next big international markets will be populous urban centers in Africa. The U.S. car giant sold 180,000 vehicles on the continent in 2012, giving it a 10 percent market share, just behind Toyota, which sold 237,000. The GM South Africa subsidiary (GMSA) anticipates hitting the 2 million-car sales mark sometime in the next two years as the growing middle classes in North Africa and South Africa trade up from motorbikes and jalopies to brand-new vehicles.

Dubai Police Add $450,000 Lamborghini Aventador To Fleet Of Vehicles [PHOTO]

Cvand003 — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:53:36 GMT

Photo: Dubai Police Department Dubai Police Department adds £360,000 Lamborghini Aventador to fleet

Bugatti Veyron Stripped Of 'Fastest Production Car' Title, Hennessey Venom GT To Take Top Spot [VIDEO]

Cvand003 — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:41:43 GMT

The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, once named the fastest street-legal production car in the world, has been stripped by the Guinness Book of World Records of its acclaimed title.

Fisker Automotive Lays Off Majority Of Employees Amid Financing Struggles

Cvand003 — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:07:53 GMT

Fisker Automotive, Inc. laid off a majority of its employees – 160 in total – from its Anaheim, Calif., headquarters on Friday, as it struggles to reach a financing deal that would save the American automaker.

Detroit Electric Unveils $135K SP:01 Electric Car To Rival Tesla's Roadster And Boost The Fully Electric Car Market

msingleton — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:42:54 GMT

Photo: autoevolution Detroit Electric unveils 2013 electric sports car

US March 2013 New Auto Sales Surge As Americans Show More Confidence In The Showroom

Angelo.Young — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:31:18 GMT

U.S. auto sales continued their bull run into March as American consumers eschewed high fuel prices and gravitated to trucks and SUVs as their confidence in the state of the economy has risen along with the rebounding housing market and modest jobs growth.

Toyota USA Sales In March Rose 1 Percent, To 205,342 Vehicles

Angelo.Young — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:23:21 GMT

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. said Tuesday it sold 205,342 units in March, up 1 percent from last year.

“We had our best month since Cash for Clunkers in August of 2009,” said Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations for the U.S. subsidiary of the Japanese automaker. “A strong first-quarter close and increased consumer confidence continue to position the auto industry as a leader in the economic recovery.”

GM March 2013 US Sales Up 6% in March, 9.3% For First Quarter; North America's Largest Automaker Said Small Business Purchases Rose 32 Percent

Angelo.Young — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:08:30 GMT

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM), North America’s largest automaker, announced Tuesday it sold 245,950 cars and light trucks in March, a 6 percent rise from last year as consumers flocked to the company’s redesigned crossovers, such as the Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia.

The Detroit auto giant cited a stronger housing market as a driver behind a 32 percent rise in small business purchases.