Category: Auto Industry

Toyota offers free badge of honor to Prius owners

Filed under: Car Buying, Hybrid, Marketing/Advertising, Hatchback, Toyota

Toyota Prius badge

To commemorate the epic milestone of one million Prius hybrids sold in the United States, Toyota is literally giving away “Prius Goes Platinum” badges to more than 11,000 current Prius owners.

If you own a Prius, don’t delay. Starting today, only the first 1,000 Prius owners who sign up at ToyotaPriusProjects.com will get their hands on a free custom-molded, adhesive-backed vehicle badge. The next 10,000 takers get their badges in sticker form, while everyone else gets their badges digitally. The auto-generated badge reflects, in an artistic sort of way, the CO2 emissions saved by each individual Prius.

Attention Prius owners: Click here to claim your one-of-a-kind “Prius Goes Platinum” badge.

Toyota offers free badge of honor to Prius owners originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Own your own copy of the Road & Track Special: The Space Edition

Filed under: Etc.

Road & Track Space Edition coverThe crew from Road & Track recently teamed up with NASA astronaut Drew Feustel to create a special-edition issue of the magazine to commemorate STS-134. Along with the infamous April Fools features on both the space shuttle Endeavour and the NASA Crawler, Feustel picked out a handful of his favorite R&T stories from the magazine’s illustrious past.

Those include an epic muscle car shoot out from 1967 that covered the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and the Plymouth Barracuda as well as a stack of choice Peter Egan columns. Feustel also threw in a piece on the Lamborghini Miura S from 1988 as well as another article on the Austin-Healey Sprite 1100 from 1963. All told, the collection sounds like the best of Road & Track history.

A copy of the issue is currently circling above Earth on Endeavour right now, but you can order up a terrestrial copy for your own enjoyment from the Road & Track site. Tell them we sent you.

Own your own copy of the Road & Track Special: The Space Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mercedes-Benz outfits a luxury Eurocopter

Filed under: Etc., Mercedes-Benz, Design/Style, Luxury

Eurocopter EC145 by Mercedes-Benz

Eurocopter EC145 by Mercedes-Benz Style – Click above for high-res image gallery

To many people around the world, Mercedes-Benz and its silver star of glory represents the epitome of luxury and style. Want to be chauffeured around in a limousine? An S-Class or a Maybach is what the doctor ordered. Need a bit more space? A luxed-out Sprinter van is at your service. But if you’re looking to soar above the skyline and take that Benz luxury with you, the German automaker’s design studio has partnered with Eurocopter for this unique whirly-bird.

Unveiled at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibit in Geneva, this EC145 – a favorite for luxury travel as it is for medevac teams and a myriad other applications – has had its cabin outfitted by the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio on Italy’s Lake Como. There, design chief Gorden Wagener oversaw the fitment of the chopper’s cabin with all the usual Benz touches, from ambient lighting to wood trim. The cabin has also been arranged in a flexible layout, with seats that can be moved around on rails to seat up to eight passengers or removed to offer extra space for the privileged few.

The project is the first initiative of Mercedes-Benz Style, the automaker’s new product-design division, who we expect will be rolling out a number of licensed designs over the course of the coming years. Follow the jump for the full press release, and check out the high-resolution images in our gallery.

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Mercedes-Benz outfits a luxury Eurocopter originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Why you shouldn’t steal a GT500 and drive through deer country

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Ford, Humor

shelby gt500 hits deer

Ford Shelby GT500 meets a deer – Click above to watch (NSFW) video after the jump

The internet is an amazing place. There’s so much information available for free and people from across the globe can communicate instantly. A flip-side to the amazing power of the internet can be revealed by digging through any forum. While most forums are filled with people who enjoy discussing a shared passion, they also become home to folks who enjoy spouting off ridiculous falsehoods and creating a vision of reality that doesn’t quite exist. That practice can invoke internet justice, and one member of SVTPerformance.com found out this out the hard way.

A video was posted to YouTube, which showed a man driving a Ford Shelby GT500 down a dark road. Amidst the howl of the car’s supercharger, the occupants talk about what it would be like to hit a deer on this road… and then they hit a deer. The rest of the clip involves yelling, not safe for work language and the driver fleeing the scene after running an oncoming car off the road.

The sleuths at SVTPerformance.com identified the driver as board member “Grant218” (later changed to “Grant Theft Auto”). Grant explained that he borrowed his dad’s GT500, and the damage isn’t as bad as it seems. After reading through many (many) pages in the thread, we find out that Grand stole the car from a man he knows, put over 300 miles on the Shelby(!) and then tried to return it and hide the damage.

Moral: You can’t hide the truth from the internet. Click past the jump to watch the clip, then join us over at SVTPerformance.com as we continue to dig through the hilarity that is this thread. We’re going to warn you though, the language is NSFW, and the thread will suck up the rest of your life the day.

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Why you shouldn’t steal a GT500 and drive through deer country originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: 2012 Audi A6 Avant arrives, automatically acquires adulation

Filed under: Car Buying, Wagon, Europe, Audi

2012 audi a6 avant

2012 Audi A6 Avant – Click above for high-res image gallery

We love a good station wagon. Audi has just pulled the wraps off its sleek new 2012 Audi A6 Avant, and we’re already swooning over the capacious cargo-hauler.

‘Lightweight’ seems to be the buzzword for the latest A6 wagon. The body is comprised of bits of aluminum (20 percent of it in fact), and the A6 benefits from composite construction that integrates high-strength steel where needed to keep passengers safe. The lightweight approach to construction has helped the 2012 A6 Avant drop 66 pounds versus the previous model, and depending on the powertrain installed, the new car is as much as 154 pounds lighter than the one it replaces. The base A6 2.0 TDI Avant, for example, weighs just 3,616 pounds.

The A6 Avant is available with a choice of six engines and four transmissions. The base unit is a 2.0-liter TDI turbo-diesel four-cylinder that produces 177 horsepower, and is rated to consume approximately 47 miles per gallon when paired with a six-speed manual gearbox. A larger diesel is offered in the form of a twin-turbo 3.0-liter TDI mill, available in 204-, 245- and 313-horsepower configurations. That last one will push the A6 Avant from 0-60 miles per hour in 5.4 seconds.

Two petrol engines are offered, measring 2.8 and 3.0 liters, and both units employ variable valve technology. The 2.8-liter FSI engine produces 204 horsepower while the 3.0-liter TFSI pumps out 300 horsepower thanks to the attached supercharger. Besides the aforementioned six-speed manual, the A6 Avant can be fitted with a CVT or the seven-speed S-Tronic gearbox. However, the 3.0 TDI is equipped with an eight-speed Tiptronic transmission.

It seems there’s no word yet on whether this Audi wagon is making the jump across the pond to pose in U.S. dealerships. For now, it’s slated to go on sale in Europe later this summer with a starting price of €40,850 (approximately $58,288 USD). Read the full details in Audi’s press release, after the jump, and click through our image gallery for a smattering of high-res photos.

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2012 Audi A6 Avant arrives, automatically acquires adulation originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hyundai launches Genesis Prada sedan in South Korea

Filed under: Sedan, Hyundai, Luxury, South Korea

Hyundai Genesis Prada

Hyundai Genesis Prada – Click above for high-res image gallery

As recently as a decade ago, mentioning brands like Hyundai and Prada in the same sentence would have seemed laughable. But today’s Hyundai is a very different company with a very different image. And no car could sum up such a transformation more than the Genesis.

Two years ago, the Korean automaker announced a partnership with the Italian fashion house with a concept car, but has now launched the production Genesis Prada in its home market. The special edition luxury sedan is distinguished by special paint – either Brown Moro, Blue Baltico or Black Nero – with a shark-fin antenna on the roof, offset by dark chrome trim and special 19-inch alloys. Saffiano parchment leather swaths the interior along with piano lacquer black trim and a rear-seat entertainment system. And of course you can count on the requisite badges to identify this Genesis as different from all others.

Hyundai’s celebrated 5.0-liter V8 with 424 horsepower is on pushing duty, mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Distribution will be constricted initially to South Korea, before availability will commence in limited numbers of China and Middle Eastern markets. Follow the jump for more details and check out the high-resolution images in our gallery for a closer look.

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Hyundai launches Genesis Prada sedan in South Korea originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Why some Nissan Juke owners are getting a $400 check in the mail

Filed under: Crossover, Hatchback, Nissan, Earnings/Financials

2011 nissan juke

2011 Nissan Juke – Click above for high-res image gallery

The Nissan Juke is offered in two different drivetrain flavors: front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. When marketing the Juke early on, Nissan listed the gas tank capacity at 13.2-gallons. That’s true… for the front-wheel-drive model, however, the all-wheel-drive Juke has a smaller 11.6-gallon tank. Nissan caught the error and corrected it, but not before approximately 4,000 Juke owners purchased the all-wheel-drive Juke and assumed they had the larger tank.

Not content to simply issue an all-encompassing apology, Nissan is sending out letters to each one of those 4,000 Juke owners (out of the 22,000 folks who have so far purchased a Juke). But there is more than just a letter inside the envelope. Nissan is also including a check for $400. Head over to ConsumerSearch.com to read the letter that Nissan sent, then feel free sound off in the ‘Comments’ regarding the 400 bones.

Do you think this is a cool move by Nissan or would you still be upset as a Juke owner?

Why some Nissan Juke owners are getting a $400 check in the mail originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Judge’s ruling paves way for owners to sue Toyota over economic losses *UPDATE

Filed under: Government/Legal, Toyota

toyota emblem

If Toyota was hoping to end its ongoing unintended acceleration-related legal issues, the latest bit of courtroom news will make the automaker quite unhappy. U.S. District Judge James Selna has ruled that vehicle owners can sue Toyota over economic losses. Some Toyota owners claim the automaker is responsible for diminished resale value of vehicles wearing the Toyota badge.

“A vehicle with a defect is worth less than one without a defect,” said Selna.

Toyota, however, has stated that it remains confident it will emerge from the courtroom victorious. Selna’s ruling moves the burden of proof over to the plaintiff’s lawyers, and Toyota believes that no such proof of wrong-doing on its part exists. Lawyers for the plaintiffs will be tasked with proving that the automaker was aware of a defect and chose to ignore it.

One particular issue from Toyota’s point of view, with regards to James Selna’s ruling, is the judge has applied a California law to the case. One that may make it easier for plaintiffs to recover damages. Toyota argues that vehicle owners from all over the country are involved in the lawsuit, and therefore local state laws should be applied with respect to the owner’s location. Either way, it appears that Toyota’s legal drama is going to continue for quite some time.

*UPDATE: Toyota reached out to Autoblog.com for clarification. It appears the ruling has not yet come down, but that Selna is merely considering the application of California law to a case that reaches across the entire country.

Judge’s ruling paves way for owners to sue Toyota over economic losses *UPDATE originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Chrysler developing TR Ram Life Style Truck to compete with Honda Ridgeline

Filed under: Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Crossover, Chrysler, Dodge, Canada

2006 Dodge Rampage concept

2006 Dodge Rampage Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

Does the world need a competitor to the Honda Ridgeline? While sales figures of Honda’s half-truck would lead us to believe consumers aren’t clamoring for such a vehicle (Honda only sold 16,142 Ridgelines in 2010, barely more than the 13,047 Dakota’s Dodge moved), recent reports indicate that Chrysler seems to think otherwise.

We’ve known for some time that Dodge was considering a small urban-style pickup – ever since it showed off the Rampage Concept (shown above) at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show and then mentioned it again in Chrysler’s rambling five-year plan announced in 2009 – but talk of the so-called Lifestyle Pickup had cooled off… until now.

According to wheels.ca, Chrysler suppliers were recently briefed on the automaker’s future product plans, and a replacement for the unloved Dakota is on the docket. It’s thought that Chrysler may build the vehicle in Windsor, Ontario atop its minivan platform, which lends credence to the Ridgeline comparison.

We have to wonder if the crossover platform employed by the latest (and very well-received) Durango might be a better bet, but we’ll surely reserve judgement until something more concrete than these rumors begin to surface. We’re also curious as to whether the small pickup would wear a Dodge or Ram badge. Stay tuned for more…

Chrysler developing TR Ram Life Style Truck to compete with Honda Ridgeline originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spy Shots: Is this 2012 Honda CR-V test mule packing a third row of seats?

Filed under: Spy Photos, Crossover, Honda

2012 Honda CR-V spy shot

2012 Honda CR-V spy shot – Click above for high-res image

While Honda may have to delay rolling out the successor to the current CR-V crossover, a shortage of parts resulting from the crisis in Japan doesn’t mean it isn’t still working on the project. And while we hadn’t seen any prototypes running before, we’ve now received our first glimpse.

The test mule in this solitary spy shot is wearing a bra over the front end and some taping around the hind quarters, but is otherwise fairly naked for all to see. So what are we looking at? Heavily revised styling for a start, with tail-lights that extend up the D-pillar like the current model but with a rather Volvo-like shape to them. Our intrepid auto spies also suggest the extended rear end could be making room for a third row of seats (wonder what that D-pillar tape job is hiding?), but from where we sit, it looks mighty cramped.

Beyond the design, we can expect a slightly more powerful and more efficient version of the current model’s 2.4-liter VTEC four. Expect production to begin in Ohio and Ontario before winter rolls back around.

Is this 2012 Honda CR-V test mule packing a third row of seats? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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