The Truth About Cars
The Truth About Cars is dedicated to providing candid, unbiased automobile reviews and the latest in auto industry news.
1.1 entries/week | Last update: 22 minutes ago
found about 47 hours ago by Edward Niedermeyer
Sales of GMs core brands dropped 10.6 percent in August compared to their Cash-For-Clunkers-fueled August 2009 performance, but overall sales were down 25 percent. Because the C4C program helped The General shift more value-oriented models, Buick...
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found about 46 hours ago by Edward Niedermeyer
Sales of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles fell 10.7 in August, as Ford’s success in last August’s Cash-For-Clunkers sales binge hurt year-over-year comparisons. And though that gives Ford a good excuse for its first year-over-year monthly...
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found about 46 hours ago by Edward Niedermeyer
Chrysler was one of the few firms that didn’t see much of a bump from last August’s Cash-for-Clunkers programs (due, it claimed at the time, to inventory shortages), and as a result it’s one of the few firms that actually increased sales this...
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found about 46 hours ago by Bertel Schmitt
This was the Ooops month, previously called August. Before you get a heart attack from looking at the numbers, keep in mind that they are comparing with “Crazy August” of 2009, U.S. light vehicle sales were driven nearly up to the good old days...
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found about 44 hours ago by Michael Karesh
The third-generation Camaro, so much swoopier than anything else on the road back in 1982, looked more like a concept car than a production car. The throaty V8, though pitifully weak by today’s standards, at the time was easily capable of getting...
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found about 44 hours ago by Edward Niedermeyer
Subaru and Hyundai/Kia have been two of the strongest-growing brands in America over the past year or so, but even their momentum wasn’t enough to prevent “uh-oh” moments this month. Subaru sales fell 23 percent, despite another strong showing...
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found about 42 hours ago by Edward Niedermeyer
The Japanese “Big Three” automakers all saw significant sales drops in August, thanks to similarly large increases in August 2009 sales spurred by Cash For Clunkers. Toyota/Lexus/Scion sales fell 34 percent, as Camry and Corolla crashed down...
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found about 40 hours ago by Edward Niedermeyer
Automotive enthusiasm is a hugely diverse phenomenon, and for plenty of hobbyists, the smaller the car the better. The NY Times recently caught up with a few such microcar mavens at the Microcar/Minicar World Meet, and helped shed some light on the...
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found about 40 hours ago by Paul Niedermeyer
Well, my attempt at slowing you down was totally futile. And (to my knowledge), we have a double winner: tklockau won for the second time in a row. Must try harder…but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve failed...
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found about 40 hours ago by Edward Niedermeyer
Automotive News [sub] reports that Mitsubishi will have to give UAW workers at its Normal, Ill plant a $1.60/hr raise because it doesn’t yet know what vehicle or platform it plans to build there in the future. Mitsubishi’s 2008 contract with the...
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found about 30 hours ago by Bertel Schmitt
Sometimes, strength is a weakness. Especially in currencies. The still surging Yen makes Japanese Exports expensive and unprofitable. Despite a lot of talk from their elected officials that the Yen is too high, manufacturers are thinking it will go...
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found about 30 hours ago by Cammy Corrigan
Ferrari is sending engineers all around to the world to investigate “thermal incidents”. Now what’s a “thermal incident” you might ask? It ain’t a mistake that happens in your long johns, that’s for sure. It’s corporate speak for...
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found about 30 hours ago by Cammy Corrigan
The Automotive World reports that Ford has agreed to a settlement with non-union employees and retirees who incurred stock losses. The plaintiffs brought the suit against FoMoCo because they lost billions of dollars investing their 401k’s into...
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found about 27 hours ago by Bertel Schmitt
Toyota has been selling many hybrids since they introduced the Toyota Coaster Hybrid EV minibus in 1979. A few months later, they stared mass-production of the Prius, and it’s been a runaway hit. In Japan, the Prius is leading the charts. The...
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found about 26 hours ago by Bertel Schmitt
Don’t take it as gospel. The China Automotive Technology and Research Center is known for its early, but not always its most precise numbers, although their precision has improved lately. If they have their act halfway together, then a new...
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found about 25 hours ago by The Newspaper
A team of experienced class action lawyers is taking on California’s red light camera industry, and photo enforcement companies are expressing unease. Last month, the law firm of Pearson Simon Warshaw and Penny, LLP filed suit in San Mateo County...
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found about 25 hours ago by Cammy Corrigan
People have a lot of fears with electric cars/extended range electric cars. Will the government subsidies distort the market? Can manufacturers be able to sell them profitably? Are they really that environmentally sound? But the one which gets...
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found about 23 hours ago by Edward Niedermeyer
The de-Ramification of the Dodge brand took another important step today, as Dodge previewed its new Ram-free logo. Similarly, the new 2011 Durango (on which the updated logo appears) has also had the Ram taken out of its Rama-lama-dingdong… er,...
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found about 23 hours ago by Edward Niedermeyer
Looking for proof that politics are an overriding concern for GM during its forthcoming IPO: look no further than a report by Reuters which claims that GM’s roadshow is set to begin on Nov. 3 and will last two weeks, the sources said. The IPO is...
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found about 22 hours ago by Edward Niedermeyer
TTAC’s readers have rightly gained the reputation for being some of the best vehicle/automobilia identifiers on the planet. We keep you on your toes with several Curbside Classic Clues each week, but now we have an opportunity to flex those skills...
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found about 22 hours ago by Paul Niedermeyer
There’s a wise old saying that warns not to propose marriage to a woman until you’ve met her mother. What if potential MIL is out of the country for an extended period, and you’re in a hurry? You could do what I did in 1977: look in the garage...
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found about 21 hours ago by Sajeev Mehta
One of the world’s foremost authorities on Automotive Journalism recently got their hands on a trio of Corvettes just for fun. But what unfolded was on the verge of hilarity, if not for their self-proclaimed journalistic superiority over us...
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found about 16 hours ago by Edward Niedermeyer
Your faithful editor just dodged a bullet. And no, not from our owners, who might have wondered why I just took off for the better part of a weekday. Truth is, for the past several hours I’ve been trying to buy a car I don’t particularly need…...
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found about 7 hours ago by Bertel Schmitt
Seasonally, August is never a great sales month in Germany. People don’t buy cars in August. They drive cars. They are out of the country and on vacation. This August was an exceptionally crummy one in Deutschland. Only new 200,885 passenger...
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found about 2 hours ago by Bertel Schmitt
Days after Vladimir Putin, well, encouraged foreign carmakers to come to Russia, open car factories and better bring the latest technology, or else, Martin Winterkorn announced that Volkswagen is planning a new assembly line at Russia’s GAZ and...
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found about 2 hours ago by Bertel Schmitt
GM, Toyota, and Ford reported subdued August sales numbers for China today. This rains on the parade of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center. It said yesterday that August sales in China rose 55.7 percent. Did we say “don’t take...
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found about 1 hour ago by The Newspaper
While red light camera firms are facing significant legal peril as vehicle owners in California and Florida are fighting citations in court through class action lawsuits, the stakes are even higher when the companies themselves battle one another in...
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found 37 minutes ago by Edward Niedermeyer
Yes, it’s real. And no, it’s not an Impreza. But it will help Chevy continue its campaign of cannibalism against Opel, as GM’s presser notes that Hatchbacks play a critical role in many markets. The total compact segment in Europe represents...
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found 22 minutes ago by Cammy Corrigan
When Ford sold Aston Martin to Prodrive, Ford retained a small stake in Aston Martin. But that isn’t the only venture in which Ford and Prodrive work together. Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) is a joint venture between Ford and Prodrive based in...
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