Categories: Car News

According to a recent press release, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing a new regulation that would mandate automakers to install backup camera safety equipment in all passenger vehicles, including trucks, minivans, and buses weighing 10,000 lbs or less. The proposed law would force automakers to install backup cameras in 10% of their products by 2012, 40% by 2013, and all new vehicles built by 2014.

Well, here's a name I all but forgot. De Tomaso, an Italian automaker that I best recognize from my exotic car picture books from my childhood in the 1980s, has a new model to show and it should be launching at the Geneva Motor Show. A few leaked pictures from Italian auto rag Quattroruote provide a teaser of a car with Tomaso's new logo on the grille and badge on the back.

For the first time in years, Ford outsold GM in the number of automobiles purchased by the U.S. government in 2010. Interestingly, even though the U.S. government has a major interest in General Motors, the automotive company that some call “Government Motors”, it selected more Ford cars and trucks to provide for its fleet car use than from GM,

Ford wasn’t all that far behind GM in previous years, but this year the marketplace has shifted in Ford’s favor. While a number of reasons are responsible for Ford's success, it seems that customer confidence in the Blue Oval may be one of the biggest factors.

General Motors has, no doubt, had some hurdles to overcome in the past couple of years. The biggest recession in 70 years hit every part of the auto industry. It may have affected GM the most, as evidenced by the company's momentous layoffs, loss of brands such as Pontiac and Saturn, not to mention a government bailout and bankruptcy just to keep its doors open.

Although GM has not made a full  recovery to its pre-recession status in the auto industry, the company's future plans are laid out and ready to take off. On November 30^th, 2010, the 2011 Chevy Volt was introduced, a line of cars that would make way to showrooms floors, starting in December. This exciting news comes three years, ten months and eighteen days since an initial thought appeared in the minds of GM.

The Lamborghini Jota is getting palpably close. It seems like every day or two there's another rumor or report about it. Lamborghini already gave us a close look at the V12 powertrain behind its seats; we've seen countless spy photos; the Murcielago was officially put to bed with much fanfare and there's even been an 11th hour name change. Just show the damn car already!

Well, Lamborghini is already doing that. At least if you're a wealthy, pre-existing Lamborghini customer. The Raging Bull is deploying its top staff around the world, showing off the Jota/Aventador to an exclusive group of handpicked customers. Of course, these little gatherings are no-photo affairs, so they're not doing the rest of us any good.

The struggle to create greener ways of living doesn’t stop short in the car industry. In fact, most recently, General Motors CEO Dan Akerson, along with some of the company’s top engineers, have made a decision to hire as many as 1,000 new engineers, but not just your average everyday engineers. In fact, they were hired to help GM become a more green and clean company, and to work with Akerson and others to research and improve various technologies that are necessary to provide a safe, effective, and customer-friendly electric vehicle.

The news for the automotive industry just keeps getting better!  GM, Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen, and Subaru have all posted double digit sales increases for November.  Just as analysts have predicted, the auto industry would reach a rate of over 12 million for its annual adjusted selling rate. Octobers’ rate was 12.2 indicating that slowing of sales was minimal in the seasonally slower November/December period, a sign that the automotive industry is recovering from last years’ record low.

I don't know what was more sad: that the Dodge Viper ended production this past summer or that the celebratory last model was covered in a sickly, yellowish-brown paint that just left irremovable scars on my brain. Actually, I do know, it was the latter. Luckily, Dodge chief Ralph Gilles has confirmed that the next generation Viper will be coming in 2013. And from what we've heard so far, it should handily erase all memories of that other Viper.

The problem is well-defined: in order to move toward a cleaner automotive market with EVs and plug-in hybrids leading the way, we need a better charging infrastructure. A car just isn't much good if it runs out of power in less than 100 miles and there's nowhere to charge it.

Governments and corporations have been teaming up to help provide this infrastructure in the markets that are going to be launch pads for the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf and others. The latest player is a bit of a curveball: Cracker Barrel restaurants. The chain announced today that it will install electric charging stations at 24 of its locations across Tennessee.

It looks as though November may bring great news for the automotive industry, as well as the economy, as auto sales seem to be shaping up for a strong monthly sales report.

With recent months increased demand for trucks and SUVs, U.S. light vehicle sales are projected to rise to a level that may equal the fastest pace in 2010.  This week, automakers will release November sales numbers, which analysts are estimating to reach an adjusted annual rate equal of 12.2 million units, according to a recent Bloomberg News report. That figure is a close second to October’s gross adjusted annual rate of 12.3 million units.

It appears there was a good reason the Mercedes Biome concept was a little more flirty with the media than its competitors in the LA Design Challenge: Mercedes is actually working on a production car that will be loosely based on the Biome design. The Biome-inspired car will be Mercedes' answer to eco-supercars offered by German competitors, including the Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid and BMW Vision EfficientDynamics.