close Archives | AutoDepot

Close games lead to higher motorist fatalities

Filed under: Safety

For die-hard sports fans, a home-team win can make the whole week better. But according to a study by researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of South Carolina, winning can also be deadly-at least for motorists.

The schools focused on fatal accident rates the cities involved in 271 significant (i.e. playoff, rivalry, etc.) pro and college football and basketball games from 2001 to 2008. Fans were then asked to rank close games, and the results were compared against National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data for those game days. The results were startling; in areas where the winning team team won a close game and had a high number of fans on site (whether at the actual game venue or in the team’s hometown if it was playing on the road), road fatalities increase significantly.

The results don’t show that those involved in these accidents actually watch the games, but they illustrate a pattern of more aggressive road behavior following close games. In fact, prior studies found that fans’ testosterone levels of fans increase with a close win, while the losing team sees no rise. The research shows that alcohol also plays a factor, which comes as no surprise. It’s interesting to note, however, that while some fans on both sides are obviously to partake in a drink (or several) while watching the game, the cities of losing teams didn’t show an increase in fatalities.

The moral of the study might be to stay off the road after your team wins.

[Source: USA Today | Image: Maveric2003/Flickr via CC 2.0]

Close games lead to higher motorist fatalities originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Close games lead to higher motorist fatalities”

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.

Continue Reading 2011 World Car Awards: How close it was…

Continue reading 2011 World Car Awards: How close it was

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.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “2011 World Car Awards: How close it was”

Video: The very worst kind of lift-off close call

Filed under: Truck, Etc., Safety, Videos, Dodge

Hmm, that doesn’t seem centered anymore – Click above to watch video after the jump

Working with a car on a lift can be a dangerous if you don’t understand what you are doing. Procedures have to be followed and safety is the name of the game. As one very lucky mechanic learned, even when something looks centered on a lift, it may not be safe.

Timing is, as we often hear, everything in life. The guy in this video should feel pretty good that the other person came in to talk to him. Otherwise he might have been the meat in a Dodge Ram/Concrete floor sandwich. Slip off the jump to see why garage lifts require that you always stay alert when a vehicle is in the air. Thanks for the tip, IHateAirplanes!

[Source: Youtube]

Continue reading Video: The very worst kind of lift-off close call

Video: The very worst kind of lift-off close call originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Video: The very worst kind of lift-off close call”

Report: Lincoln plans to close 200 metro dealers, upgrade the rest

Filed under: Ford, Lincoln, Luxury

Lincoln Concept C – Click above for high-res image gallery

Now that Ford has officially announced that its Mercury division would be going the way of the Dodo, and with Blue Oval-branded models like the Taurus SHO proving that the Dearborn automaker can indeed move itself a bit upmarket, the next logical concern is addressing what will happen to Lincoln. That’s especially true given the fact that Lincoln’s 82,847 total sales in 2009 are a mere pittance compared to that of class-leading Lexus, which moved 215,957 vehicles.

One of the big problems with Lincoln is that there are just too many dealerships trying to sell a car to in-market customers. To wit, Lincoln currently boasts a whopping 1,221 stores in the States. By way of comparison, Lexus has 230, Audi has 270, BMW has 338 and Mercedes-Benz has 352. Do the math and it’s easy to see that each Lincoln dealership doesn’t sell very many vehicles – in fact, they’re averaging just two sales per week.

According to Automotive News, Ford has a two-part plan to inject some life into its moribund Lincoln outlets. First, the total number of dealerships will be reduced by at least 200, and most of those closures will happen in large metropolitan markets where there are already multiple stores. Second, remaining outlets will be heavily upgraded in order to compete with Lincoln’s targeted competitors.

Will it work? Hard to say, but if the brand can build models like the rumored production version of the Concept C showcar, it could certainly inject some life into Lincoln. In any case, we should get a few more details around October 4, which is when Lincoln’s annual dealer meeting is scheduled to begin.

Gallery: Lincoln Concept C

[Sources: Automotive News – sub. req., Bloomberg]

Report: Lincoln plans to close 200 metro dealers, upgrade the rest originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: Lincoln plans to close 200 metro dealers, upgrade the rest”

Spy Shots: Audi R4 up close and in camo

Filed under: Concept Cars, Spy Photos, Etc., Audi, Design/Style

That mysterious Audi coupe we saw in grainy video form is slowly becoming more clear. The above photo shows off some of the styling lines, even though the curly-Q camo is trying hard to hide them. Originally, the internet was abuzz with word that this vehicle could be related to Audi’s all-electric e-tron. Now, however, many are now backing away from that thinking – the large brakes, sporty wheels and shining tailpipes suggest otherwise. This could very likely be an R4 coupe or cabrio prototype basking in the Austrian sun, getting ready for a reverse ski-jump workout and laughing at our attempts to figure out what it is.

Our friends at GermanCarBlog may have a better idea as to exactly what’s going on here. They believe this is not the e-tron, not the R4 coupe or cabrio, but the S5-based Audi Anniversario project. That’s right folks, we may be staring at a long-awaited update to the beloved Ur-Quattro.

What exactly is sitting under the Van Gogh-esque wrap job remains to be seen. In the meantime, our eyes will remain glued to the ‘tubes until we learn more.

[Source: R4um, GermanCarBlog]

Spy Shots: Audi R4 up close and in camo originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Spy Shots: Audi R4 up close and in camo”

Report: Despite meeting with governor, Ford set to close Minnesota Ranger plant

Filed under: Truck, Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford

2010 Ford Ranger – Click above for high-res image gallery

According to The Detroit News, Ford officials met with Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty yesterday to discuss the future of the automaker’s St. Paul assembly plant. The facility, which builds Ford’s Ranger compact pickup has been earmarked for closure for some time, but despite the roundtable session, the Blue Oval says it still plans to shutter its operations.

Pawlenty’s administration had been hoping that the signing of a new state law in April allowing the government to offer Ford a series of tax breaks would be enough to keep the Twin Cities operations open, but apparently it wasn’t enough – the plant will close, although an end-date remains uncertain.

Closing the plant will also close the book on the aging Ranger, though Ford has confirmed that the model name will live on with other, larger models in foreign markets. Thus far, rumors of a new North American Ranger (and even an on-air slip by Ford president Alan Mulally) have amounted to nothing, and with Ford committed introducing more economical engines to its F-150 full-size pickup, it appears highly unlikely that a U.S. Ranger will receive an encore any time soon.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Report: Despite meeting with governor, Ford set to close Minnesota Ranger plant originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: Despite meeting with governor, Ford set to close Minnesota Ranger plant”

2010 Woodward: I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Dream Cruise

Filed under: Misc. Auto Shows

Close-ups: 2010 Woodward – Click above for high-res image gallery

The Woodward Dream Cruise is all about classic, unique and nostalgic vehicles spanning over 100 years of automotive history, but sometimes even more can be seen by zooming in and studying the details of these fabulous machines.

We scoured Woodward Ave. with a magnifying lens looking for those special angles that make you appreciate good automotive design. These are the close-ups of the 2010 Woodward Dream Cruise. Check ’em out in the high-res image gallery below and let us know your favorites.

Gallery: Close-Ups: 2010 Woodward

2010 Woodward: I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Dream Cruise originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 22 Aug 2010 20:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “2010 Woodward: I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Dream Cruise”

Volvo sale to Geely to close next week?

Filed under: China, Europe, Volvo, Earnings/Financials, Luxury

Volvo may finally part ways with Ford by the end of next week. The Detroit Free Press reports that the Blue Oval is aiming to close its $1.8 billion sale of the Swedish automaker to Geely in as little as 10 days, though Ford has merely said that its goal is to hand over the Volvo reigns by the end of the third quarter of this year. The move to send Volvo packing is part of Ford CEO Alan Mulally’s strategy to slim the company down to focus on its core brands – a scheme that seems to be working so far.

In the meantime, Volvo managed to turn a profit of $53 million before taxes in the second quarter of this year. The news is a big leap from the same time last year – in the second quarter of 2009, the brand lost a heady $237 million. Ford’s sale of Volvo seems to have been on glacial pace, partly due to the number of government agencies in the U.S., Europe and China that were needed to sign off on the deal. By the time the ink dries on the last document, Geely will have secured the largest overseas acquisition of any Chinese automaker so far.

[Source: The Detroit Free Press]

Volvo sale to Geely to close next week? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Volvo sale to Geely to close next week?”