2011 Archives | Page 3 of 57

Ndamukong Suh returns to his roots with the 2011 Chrysler 300

Filed under: Sedan, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Chrysler, Celebrities

Ndamukong Suh returns to his roots in Chrysler 300

Ndamukong Suh returns home in a 2011 Chrysler 300 – Click above to watch video after the jump

Chyrsler hit a high note when it employed the services of Eminem to show off the new 2011 200 sedan. That commercial put the exact type of spotlight on Detroit that the city was looking for. The automaker is going back to the same well stylistically for a new spot featuring the 2011 Chrysler 300. It’s still tied to The D, but this time shows a person returning to their roots back in Portland, Oregon.

That person is Ndamukong Suh, defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He’s returning to the place that made him the man he is, and he’s using a new Chrysler 300 to take him there. It’s not as overtly dramatic as the Eminem ad, yet it still works at both pulling you into a piece of Suh’s world and showing off the new sedan. Click past the jump to check it out.

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Ndamukong Suh returns to his roots with the 2011 Chrysler 300 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 May 2011 18:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Chrysler 200 Limited

Filed under: Sedan, Chrysler, Reviews

Sebring Replacement Gets A Seat At The Big Kids Table – Barely

2011 Chrysler 200 Limited

2011 Chrysler 200 – Click above for high-res image gallery

You don’t have to take a trip to Egypt to know what the pyramid of Gisa looks like. It’s an amazing feat of engineering, the construction of which continues to confound scientists to this day. But while Gisa is a true world wonder, Egypt is also home to many structures that were never completed. Half-built pyramids, obelisks that were intricately cut out of solid bedrock only to be left un-hoisted and 1,000-ton rocks that were dragged by hand for miles and left sitting unused. Why would anyone go through all that effort without finishing what they started?

We’ve long asked the same question about the Chrysler Sebring. Engineers took the time to come up with all the components needed to craft a new sedan for Chrysler, yet the steering, chassis and engines were woefully unfinished works. When looking at the Sebring, it’s like designers threw darts at a wall to find the right sketch, and the same lack of completeness could be felt on the inside, where rubbery materials materials were assembled with the precision of a sofa cushion fort.

Luckily for Chrysler, the Sebring and those unfinished Egyptian objects have one more thing in common: They’re both consigned to history. Chrysler’s designers and engineers have worked together to right the wrongs of the Sebring, and those efforts have led to the newly named 2011 Chrysler 200. We spent a week with a nicely equipped Limited model to see if Chrysler’s mulligan can go toe-to-toe with its peers in a very competitive mid-size sedan segment. Continue reading…

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2011 Chrysler 200 Limited originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 May 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson [w/video]

Filed under: Truck, Ford, Reviews

Wooing With Big Power, Questionable Bling

2011 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson

2011 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson – Click above for high-res image gallery

It was fun to own a truck for a while, but fuel prices and a global recession eventually caught up to the recreational truck owner. Sales of the Ford F-Series came in at 413,000 units in 2009, while 2010 improved to 528,000. Combined that adds up to roughly the same amount of trucks Ford sold in ’05 alone. Does the precipitous drop in truck sales mean that high-dollar pickups of the past are on the outs? Not even close.

The F-150 lineup now features Lariat, Platinum, King Ranch and particularly awesome Raptor variants, each with their own hefty price tag. The Raptor is an off-roading beast of epic proportions, while the Lariat, Platinum and King Ranch offer plush accommodations and equipment that are matched by great looks and supreme capability. And if none of those options appeal to the $50,000 truck buyer, Ford continues to offer the F-150 Harley-Davidson edition.

For 2011, Ford’s brand-borrowing super truck now boasts more power, new looks and an even fancier (for better or worse) cabin. We took the reins of a fully loaded Harley-Davidson-branded F-150 to see if this pricey pickup has the right mix of luxury and performance to bring back the low impact luxury truck owner. Continue reading…

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2011 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 04 May 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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April 2011 – Double-Digit Edition

April Showers Bring Double-Digit Sales Increases

Lincoln, Lexus, Infiniti and Chrysler are the only nameplates that failed to boast improved sales in April of 2011 when compared to the same period one year ago. Besides those Debbie Downers, things are looking pretty darn good for automakers in the United States.

We’re awfully curious to see what the impending summer selling seasons will have in store for Japanese automakers as they continue to claw back production lost due to the devastating earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the country just weeks ago, but for now, it seems no shortages have yet to significantly impact any sales figures.

Breaking individual model sales out a bit yields some interesting results. For instance, the Chevrolet Cruze, with 25,160 sales, outsold the Toyota Corolla (24,215) but fell about a thousand units shy of the class-leading Honda Civic (26,777).

The Ford brand also outsold Chevrolet, for those interested in that age-old American bragging right, but perhaps more interesting is the stunning success at Buick. With 18,413 total sales, Buick managed to outsell Lexus (again) and is knocking hard on the doors of such luxury stalwarts as BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

There were a number of heavily redesigned models that boasted huge gains over their predecessors, such as the Volkswagen Jetta (16,955 total sales, a 74-percent increase) and the Jeep Compass (4,050) and Grand Cherokee (9,802), which each outsold their 2010 counterparts by over 180 percent.

In all, the top 19 performers each posted double-digit sales gains in April of 2011. Impressive performances, to be sure. Check out all the numbers in our handy-dandy chart below.

*UPDATE: Added Mazda and Mitsubishi to chart.

Brand/Company	Vol. %	Apr-11	Apr-10	DSR %*	Apr-11	Apr-10
Saab	223.72	696	215	211.73	26	8
Mitsubishi	105.52	8,081	3,932	97.91	299	151
Porsche	81.57	3,172	1,747	74.84	117	67
Mini	67.73	6,446	3,843	61.52	239	148
Jeep	64.85	32,384	19,645	58.74	1,199	756
Scion	59.63	5,710	3,577	53.72	211	138
Kia	56.73	47,074	30,036	50.92	1,743	1,155
Buick	51.16	18,413	12,181	45.56	682	469
Volvo	40.87	6,404	4,546	35.65	237	175
Hyundai	40.28	61,754	44,023	35.08	2,287	1,693
Jaguar	39.40	1,249	896	34.23	46	34
Ram	29.46	19,260	14,877	24.67	713	572
GMC	28.81	31,204	24,224	24.04	1,156	932
Chevrolet	25.43	169,794	135,369	20.78	6,289	5,207
Ford	24.53	182,542	146,589	19.91	6,761	5,638
Volkswagen	23.37	28,542	23,135	18.80	1,057	890
Cadillac	15.99	13,127	11,317	11.70	486	435
Nissan	14.51	64,765	56,558	10.27	2,399	2,175
Dodge	14.24	44,320	38,795	10.01	1,641	1,492
Honda	9.92	113,195	102,978	5.85	4,192	3,961
Suzuki	9.33	2,132	1,950	5.28	79	75
Mazda	8.99	20,638	18,935	4.96	764	728
BMW	8.88	18,801	17,268	4.85	696	664
Mercedes-Benz	8.67	19,157	17,628	4.65	710	678
Land Rover	8.48	2,982	2,749	4.46	110	106
Acura	8.26	11,604	10,719	4.25	430	412
Audi	7.50	10,018	9,319	3.52	371	358
Subaru	6.74	24,762	23,198	2.79	917	892
Toyota	2.07	141,964	139,080	-1.71	5,258	5,349
Lincoln	-0.59	7,236	7,279	-4.27	268	280
Lexus	-4.26	17,576	18,359	-7.81	651	706
Infiniti	-6.24	6,761	7,211	-9.71	250	277
Chrysler	-8.97	20,379	22,386	-12.34	755	861
Fiat	NA	882	0	NA	33	0
COMPANIES
GM	27.01	232,538	183,091	22.30	8,613	7,042
Chrysler Group	22.49	117,225	95,703	17.95	4,342	3,681
BMW Group	19.59	25,247	21,111	15.16	935	812
Ford Mo Co	16.43	189,778	162,996	12.12	7,029	6,269
Jaguar Land Rover NA	16.08	4,231	3,645	11.78	157	140
Nissan NA	12.16	71,526	63,769	8.01	2,649	2,453
American Honda	9.76	124,799	113,697	5.70	4,622	4,373
Toyota Mo Co	1.33	159,540	157,439	-2.42	5,909	6,055

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 27 selling days in March 2011 versus 26 selling days in March 2010, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company. Also, brands are combined and reported as companies only if their sales figures are released jointly.

April 2011 – Double-Digit Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 May 2011 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Lexus CT 200h

Filed under: Hybrid, Hatchback, Lexus, Reviews, Luxury

Lexus Hatches A New Take On Responsible Performance

2011 Lexus CT 200h

2011 Lexus CT 200h – Click above for high-res image gallery

Armchair quarterbacks have been quick to charge Toyota with losing its engineering nerve, labeling it a brand content to churn out safe, middle-of-the-road milquetoast offerings for every segment in which it competes. Admittedly, this isn’t the same company that once marketed a supercharged, mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive minivan shaped like a suppository, nor is it the same company that sold homologated rally specials alongside its workaday iron. But to say that there are no bold spirits in Toyota City just ain’t so – just look at the bonkers LFA supercar, for goodness’ sake.

But you needn’t have a millionaire’s bankbook to see that the Japanese automaker still has cheek to spare – just check out the 2011 Lexus CT 200h. Not only is Toyota’s premium marque dipping its toes into America’s compact luxury market – a segment that nobody but Mini has figured out how to make big dollars on – it’s doing so with a hybrid, an expensive powertrain configuration that, Prius aside, only sells in marginal volumes.

Admittedly, Lexus has made no bones about the fact that it’s squarely targeting Europe with the CT (a market where hatchbacks consistently do big business and “small premium” is not an oxymoron), but make no mistake, this is a brave bet. Lexus says it’s gunning for 1,000 units a month – a small number in the grand scheme of things – but it’s expecting the moon when compared to competitors like the Audi A3, BMW 1 Series and Volvo C30, which typically sell in the hundreds per month. Yet this bold bet is showing early signs of paying off. Thanks in part to heavy advanced marketing, Lexus cleared its decks of over twice that many units in March – 2,199 – the CT’s first month on sale.

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Gallery: 2011 Lexus CT 200h: Review

2011 Lexus CT 200h

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2011 Lexus CT 200h originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Officially Official: 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Porsche

2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0

2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 – Click above for high-res image gallery

Enough with the leaks and speculation. Here it is. The 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0. The ultimate naturally aspirated 911 and the 997’s motorsports-infused swan-song.

As the name would suggest, this latest limited-edition 911 packs a 4.0-liter flat-six derived from the 911 GT3 RSR racer, complete with forged pistons, titanium connecting rods and a crankshaft pulled directly from its track-bred descendent. The result is the most powerful NA 911 to date, with 500 horsepower peaking at 8,250 rpm and maximum torque – 339 pound-feet – coming in at 5,750 rpm.

That massive engine partnered with a host of lightweight kit (carbon fiber buckets, front fenders, luggage compartment lid and “weight-optimized” carpets) allows the 2,998-pound (wet, mind) GT3 RS 4.0 to run to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds, crack 124 mph in less than 12 seconds and top out at 193 mph.

A six-speed manual is the only gearbox available and the Carrara (their spelling) White paint comes standard, along with central twin exhausts, massive rear wing and the first production application of air deflection vanes on both sides of the front bumper (dubbed “flics”) to improve stability and exert an extra 426 pounds of downforce at speed.

And before you ask, the RS 4.0 ran the Nürburgring in 7 minutes and 27 seconds, putting it in contention for one of the fastest production cars ever run around the Nordschleife.

If you’ve got $185,000 laying around in your hedge fund, get your orders in now. Only 600 will be produced when sales begin later this year. Full details in the press blast after the jump.

Gallery: 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0

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Officially Official: 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Forbes releases 2011 Worst Cars on the Road list

Filed under: Car Buying, Budget, Hybrid, Sedan, SUV, Truck, Etc., Crossover, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, GM, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Smart, Luxury

2011 Cadillac Escalade

Forbes’ Worst Cars on the Road – Click above for high-res image gallery

Forbes has released its 2011 Worst Cars on the Road list, and the outcome is not pretty for American manufacturers. With the exception of the 2011 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the 2011 Smart ForTwo and the 2011 Nissan Titan, the cars on the list are all American-made. Worse than that, they all come from two manufacturers: General Motors and Chrysler. Ford managed to avoid the list completely.

To determine which cars get the dubious honor and which don’t, Forbes compiles results from six studies by Consumer Reports including the Most Reliable Cars Report, Best and Worst Safety Performance Survey, Best and Worst Fuel Economy, Highest Cost of Ownership, the Best and Worst Values Report and Consumer Reports’ overall scores for new cars.

Chrysler made the list with the 2011 Chrysler Town & Country, which racked up dismal scores for reliability and cost of ownership. Both the 2011 Jeep Wrangler and the Jeep Liberty made the cut, with the Liberty scoring poorly for reliability and fuel economy. The Wrangler joined the Liberty in the reliability department, and also ranked for worst value, and made a spot on Consumer Reports’ Worst Cars list. The 2011 Dodge Nitro and Dodge Dakota made the list for similar reasons.

The picture is almost as bleak at GM, where offerings from Chevrolet and Cadillac crowded the picture. The base model 2011 Cadillac Escalade earned spots on the Worst Value, Highest Cost of Ownership and Worst Safety Performance lists. The 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid hung with the Cadillac for Worst Value and safety, and earned a spot on the Least Reliable roster as well. The Chevrolet Aveo and Chevrolet Colorado rounded out the worst General Motors offerings for 2011.

Though the results make it seem like General Motors and Chrysler still can’t do anything right, there are plenty of vehicles from both manufacturers that didn’t make the list. Added to that, luxury vehicles like the Escalade are at a disadvantage in the value and cost of ownership categories. Head over to Forbes for further explanation on how the worst cars are weeded out. Thanks for the tip, Irving!

Gallery: 2011 Forbes Worst Cars on the Road

2011 Cadillac Escalade 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid 2011 Chevrolet Colorado 2011 Chevrolet Aveo 2011 Chrysler Town and Country

[Source: Forbes]

Forbes releases 2011 Worst Cars on the Road list originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 World Car Awards: How close it was

Filed under: New York Auto Show, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, Alfa Romeo

On Thursday the 21^st of April, the seventh annual World Car Awards were given out in a ceremony at the New York International Auto Show that was duly covered by Autoblog.

Full disclosure: I, Matt Davis, European Editor of this online obsession Autoblog, am both a co-founder and co-chair of the World Car Awards, and I intend to shamelessly soapbox herein about the WCAs, at least until the bosses toss me out on the sidewalk.

The WCAs comprise four awards: World Green Car, World Car Design, World Performance Car, and overall World Car of the Year – known as the WCotY. There is no other widely known award even remotely like this, as all four take into account truly global cars from every region of the world. The overall WCotY, in particular, pits cars of every type from every make on the globe, some of which may not be available in the English-speaking world, against one another and, in the end, we 66 international jurors shake out a winner, two runners-up, and the rest.

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2011 World Car Awards: How close it was originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Wrangler Unlimited diesels

Filed under: SUV, Jeep, First Drive, Diesel

Jeep’s Best And Brightest Lose Their Spark Plugs, Add Whoop-Ass

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD – Click above for high-res image gallery

We’re all suitably bowled over by the chest-hair enhancing Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, with its compression-ratio gulping 6.4-liter Hemi V8 booming out 465 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. Love it all, but we have trouble seeing anyone on Earth actually realizing its promised 13 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, much less its pie-in-sky 450-mile range. Give us a break, Jeep. Tell us anything, but don’t tell us to embrace this new raging V8 as the ecologists’ super SUV. It has Track mode, for the love of Pete. Say hello to $5+ fun every 10 or so miles when the SRT8 is driven as Jeep’s engineers have clearly intended. Then we dare you to tow anything and afford it. We’re by no means damning the utterly awesome SRT8, just saying…

If you read enthusiast outlets, a diesel Jeep has been one of the leading wish-list items, well… forever.

One other recent improvement for Jeep in time for its 70th anniversary – beyond this latest Grand Cherokee lineup that continues to shine – is the nearly 100-percent better (and now nearly competitive) Compass. Then, in the near future, the Patriot and Compass will likely – and rightly – merge into one model, there will be a new entry-level “B SUV” and we suspect the Liberty will return to its proper name, Cherokee. Top all of this off with the promised rebirth of the legendary Grand Wagoneer three-row down the road, and it’s all looking right on track.

So, where’s the common-rail direct-injected turbo diesel?

The Europeans have just been shown their next-generation Jeep turbo diesels and we had a chance to sample these latest and greatest oil-burners at the Fiat Auto proving grounds in Balocco, Italy. We grabbed the ones we like the most: the Grand Cherokee 4×4 Laredo with 3.0-liter CRD V6 and gnarly-yet-comfortable Wrangler Unlimited Sahara with 2.8-liter four-cylinder CRD and wondrous six-speed manual. Word has it that the Grand Cherokee CRD is set to hit the States by late 2013. The Wrangler in Trail-Rated Rubicon guise with a 3.0 CRD V6 and six-speed manual is many off-roaders’ dream chariot, but there is currently no talk of this happy-hour cocktail coming our way or even ever exiting from Jeep’s Toledo, Ohio plant. That’d be a pity.

Continue reading First Drive: Jeep Grand Cherokee and Wrangler Unlimited diesels…

Gallery: 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD: First Drive

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD

Gallery: 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 2.8 CRD: First Drive

2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 2.8 CRD

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2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Wrangler Unlimited diesels originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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