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Detroit City Council honors Chrysler’s Super Bowl commercial [w/video]

Filed under: Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Chrysler

Chrysler 200 Super bowl ad

Chrysler’s Super Bowl commercial – Click above to watch the video after the jump

Chrysler’s two-minute long Super Bowl commercial won nationwide praise for its uplifting, can-do message about the embattled city of Detroit. And if you think the novella-sized spot for the Chrysler 200 was popular across the U.S., then you can imagine how the ad played within the borders of the city itself.

The Detroit Free Press reports that the Detroit City Council paid homage to the Eminem ad with an official recognition on Tuesday. The council tipped its hat to Team Pentastar for painting the city in a positive light, adding that the spot “helped to paint a positive portrayal of our beloved city on a national level by filming the entire commercial inside the city of Detroit and showcasing all of our great landmarks.” Chrysler brand CEO Olivier Francois said that the ad paid homage to a great city and the home of the auto industry.

When we first saw the two-minute commercial we couldn’t help but think that Chrysler should have featured the hot-looking 300 instead of the Sebring-derived 200 (even though the former is built in neighboring Canada). But in retrospect, we’re thinking that the power of this ad made the car itself an afterthought in the long run. Hit the jump to watch the commercial again.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

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Detroit City Council honors Chrysler’s Super Bowl commercial [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is your city one of the top ten worst speed traps in America?

The weather is finally beginning to turn warm in parts of our great nation, and with spring looming, plenty of people have an eye on scratching their road trip itch. Before you take to any wide-open expanse of tarmac, it might be worth taking some time to note some of the worst speed traps in the country. Yahoo Autos has gone through the trouble of ranking the top 10 cities with the worst speed traps in the U.S., and while no one should be surprised to see that Los Angeles, California has claimed the number 10 spot, there are a few surprises on the list.

Colorado Springs, Colorado managed to break into the top five with a number four ranking. The locality boasts a heady 186 speed traps, and local law enforcement says that they’re happy to write citations for drivers who exceed the limit by 1-4 mph. But it was Texas that took the cake by driving away with three of the 10 spots, including the top two. Austin took the silver metal with 189 traps, while Houston was crowned the speed trap capital of our nation with a staggering 373 hotspots. Head over to Yahoo Autos to check out the full list.

[Source: Yahoo Autos | Image: Mark Wilson/Getty]

Is your city one of the top ten worst speed traps in America? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chicago 2011: 2012 Buick Regal eAssist live in the Windy City

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Hybrid, Sedan, Buick, GM

2012 Buick Regal eAssist

2012 Buick Regal eAssist – Click above for high-res image gallery

We received the first details about Buick’s new Regal eAssist earlier today, but we’ve just returned from seeing the car in person before the Chicago Auto Show officially kicks off tomorrow. Visually, the more fuel-efficient Regal looks no different than the standard car, save the addition of eco-friendly 17-inch alloy wheels and low-rolling-resistance tires.

What’s most important about this car is what’s under the hood – a 15-kilowatt electric motor that offers 15 horsepower and 110 pound-feet of torque for initial acceleration thrust, matched with Buick’s 2.4-liter direct-injected inline-four. Combine that with regenerative braking and a start/stop system for the engine, and the end result is a Regal that’s capable of achieving 26 miles per gallon in the city and 37 mpg highway.

Buick’s new eAssist system first debuted on the larger LaCrosse sedan, where it will serve as the base powertrain for 2012 model year vehicles. With the Regal, however, the eAssist model will slot just above the base 2.4-liter car and below the Regal Turbo, which uses the automaker’s 220-horsepower 2.0-liter Ecotec inline-four. Pricing will be announced closer to the eAssist’s official launch later this year.

Gallery: 2012 Buick Regal eAssist: Chicago 2011

2012 Buick Regal eAssist

Chicago 2011: 2012 Buick Regal eAssist live in the Windy City originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford investing $400M in Kansas City plant for unnamed new car

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Ford

2009 Ford F-150 at Kansas City Assembly Plant

Ford has announced plans to invest $400 million in its Kansas City Assembly plant in Missouri. The company is shifting production of the Escape from that facility to its Louisville, Kentucky plant, which will open up a line for an unnamed model. There’s some indication that the FoMoCo crew is planning to build the Transit Connect alongside the F-150 at the Kansas City facility. Regardless of what model Ford plans to build there, the company’s investment will go toward new tooling, a new body shop and other improvements, while managing to save 3,750 jobs in the process.

Ford will receive around $150 million in tax breaks over 10 years for keeping the Kansas City plant up and kicking as part of the 2010 Missouri Manufacturing Jobs Act. The legislation provides tax incentives for automakers who retain jobs through new investments.

The Blue Oval is now in the process of retooling a total of four plants for upcoming products. The company just recently announced that it is investing $600 million in the Louisville, Kentucky plant to produced the next-generation Escape. Hit the jump for the press release.

[Sources: Ford, Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

Continue reading Ford investing $400M in Kansas City plant for unnamed new car

Ford investing $400M in Kansas City plant for unnamed new car originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Detroit 2011: 2012 BMW 650i Convertible goes topless in the Motor City

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Convertible, Performance, BMW, Luxury

2012 BMW 650i Convertible

2012 BMW 650i Convertible – Click above for high-res image gallery

In addition to the scorched orange 1 Series M Coupe at the BMW booth in Detroit was the new 2012 BMW 650i Convertible. Under the sharply creased (and rather long) hood lies a 400-horsepower, twin-turbocharged, direct injected V8 that manages to shove out 450 pound-feet of torque between 1,750 and 4,500 rpm. All that grunt will be sent to the rear wheels through either a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission.

BMW claims the new 6 Series Convertible can drop its flying-buttress-equipped fabric top in exactly 19 seconds an there’s also a 10.2-inch screen to control the standard iDrive technology package. Not bad, but such niceties are to be expected when you are asked to pay a wallet-busting $91,375 for the privilege of owning one, which you’ll be able to do sometime in the spring of 2011.

Take a gander at the live photos in our high-res image gallery below, and if you decide this is exactly what your garage is missing, now would be a good time to start saving those pennies.

Gallery: 2012 BMW 650i Convertible: Detroit 2011

2012 BMW 650i Convertible

Gallery: 2012 BMW 650i Convertible

Detroit 2011: 2012 BMW 650i Convertible goes topless in the Motor City originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost rated at 16 city, 22 highway

Filed under: Truck, Ford

2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost smokes its tires – Click above for high-res image gallery

It’s official: Ford’s 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engine, as seen in the 2011 F-150 pickup truck, has been rated at 16 city and 22 highway by the EPA. And it’s also officially the engine to get if you’re shopping for a new Blue Oval workhorse.

To put it all into perspective, the 365-horsepower, 420-pound-foot EcoBoost-equipped F-150 offers 3,060 pounds of payload and 11,300 pounds worth of towing capability – both of which are best-in-class – and it gets better fuel mileage than any comparable engines offered by Ford’s competitors (see the graph after the break).

All this baked-in, twin-turbocharged goodness won’t even cost the buyer all that much money, as the EcoBoost engine option adds just $750 to the cost of a truck that would otherwise be equipped with the perfectly acceptable 5.0-liter V8, or $1,750 over the cost of the base 3.7-liter V6.

Money well spent, we’d say, especially considering that the more powerful EcoBoost beats the 5.0 when it comes to fuel efficiency (15/21) and nearly matches the 3.7’s 16/23 rating. Probably not when smoking its tires, though…

Want to know more? Feel free to check out the complete press release after the break.

Gallery: 2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost

[Source: Ford via PickupTrucks.com]

Continue reading 2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost rated at 16 city, 22 highway

2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost rated at 16 city, 22 highway originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Lotus city car confirmed for 2013

Filed under: Concept Cars, Coupe, Hybrid, Paris Motor Show, Hatchback, Lotus, Electric

Lotus City Car

Lotus unveiled a flurry of new concept models earlier this year at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. Five brand-new concepts took center stage, but there was a sixth vehicle unveiled that got far less press – the Lotus City Car. According to CAR Magazine, Lotus head Dany Bahar says that the City Car will arrive in production form for an October 2013 launch date.

The City Car rides on a platform developed for a range-extended hybrid powertrain. A 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine powers electric drive motors, which are mated to a single-speed transmission. This means that around town, the Lotus City Car will be able to run solely on battery power, while the gasoline engine can kick on for needed assistance if necessary.

Lotus is planning to build three versions of the City Car; one for Asia, a European version and eventually a sportier model.

[Source: CAR Magazine]

Report: Lotus city car confirmed for 2013 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Think recalling 850 City EVs over braking issue in “extremely” wet conditions

Filed under: Recalls, Electric

Even though U.S. production of the Think City started off well the other day, all is not fine in Think land. The company is recalling 850 City cars throughout Europe because the brakes on the electric car can weaken under “extremely humid conditions.”

A Think representative told AutoblogGreen, “Major, prolonged exposure to water could cause a small malfunction in the electronics. The brakes would still work, but required increased pressure to use.” This problem could appear in instances of severe rain or after intense car washes. James Andrew of Think Europe tells NRK (Google Translated) that the repair includes wrapping the pump circuit in an epoxy, which “solves the problem fully.” Importantly, new models are not affected. We’ve driven the City in wet conditions and have never experienced this problem.

There are also stories floating around that say that Think has not provided City vehicles to the European crash testing organization EuroNCAP, like this one on VG Net (Google Translated). EuroNCAP needs three vehicles to crash, but VG Net reports that Think reportedly said it could not spare the vehicles. In fact, Think told AutoblogGreen, it will send vehicles to EuroNCAP in early 2011, adding, “We are of course supplying the vehicles. There is no story there.”

[Source: NRK, VG Net (both Google Translated), Think]

Think recalling 850 City EVs over braking issue in “extremely” wet conditions originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Google quietly logs over 140k on autonomous cars in U.S. city traffic

Filed under: Technology

Sebastian Thrun, the man behind Google Streetview and work on Stanley, the autonomous vehicle from Stanford that’s won DARPA competitions, has teamed up with Google to create a fleet of self-piloting vehicles that have racked up over 140,000 unmanned miles. A handful of the vehicles have traveled 1,000 miles without any human intervention at all, and there’s been only one crash – when one of the autonomous vehicles was rear-ended by another car.

Of course, it will still be a long time before you’re popping down to the corner Ford dealer to pick up a Fiesta AI Edition. Still, to have seven cars plying California streets and highways making their own decisions puts us that much closer to concluding the first generation of data acquisition. One day the threat of car crashes could be virtually eliminated, if only we could get computers that didn’t crash.

[Source: Google, New York Times]

Report: Google quietly logs over 140k on autonomous cars in U.S. city traffic originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2010 Woodward: 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 makes its Motor City debut

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Ford

2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 – Click above for high-res image gallery

We may have gotten our first glimpse of the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 at this year’s festivities in Monterey, but the Blue Oval folks quickly hot-footed the new ‘Stang back home to Detroit for a showing at this year’s Woodward Dream Cruise.

It may be raining at this year’s Dream Cruise, but the Boss still looks like its ready to devour some pavement. It’s certainly built to handle that task, what with a 440-horsepower version of Ford’s 5.0-liter V8 under the hood. In both standard spec and special edition Laguna Seca trim, we’re big fans of the Boss treatment, and it’s certainly causing quite a stir here in gloomy metro Detroit.

Click through the gallery below to see high-res shots of a few different Boss Mustangs live from Woodward Avenue, and check out the dream cruise for yourself by visiting our livestream.

Gallery: 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302: 2010 Woodward

2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302

2010 Woodward: 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 makes its Motor City debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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