Vehicles: Page

Lear: All Hands on DECS

The supplier’s Dynamic Environmental Comfort System represents a radical new approach to seat construction that drastically reduces weight and improves recyclability.

By Tom Murphy • April 16, 2008

FEV, Raser to Deliver Two Plug-In SUVs This Year

The extended-range PHEVs are able to drive 40 miles in all-electric mode, with near zero emissions. A 4-cyl. engine only runs to charge the lithium-ion battery.

By Tom Murphy • April 15, 2008

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 stories from WardsAuto

Automakers are evaluating their long-term strategies, revisiting their product mix, and approach to both retail and manufacturing approach along the way.

By WardsAuto staff

Advanced-Powertrain Technology Can Influence Consumers

The benefits of today’s advanced powertrains represent a key 2008 selling feature for dealerships today, a panel of experts tells attendees at the SAE International World Congress.

By Cliff Banks • April 14, 2008

France Eyes Burgeoning U.S. Diesel Market

For a generation, light-duty diesels barely have been a blip on the radar screen for most Americans. Diesel-powered Volkswagens and Mercedes-Benzes have been little more than oddities on the U.S. landscape for the past 25 years or so, and they have done little to change the bad impression most American consumers have of compression-ignition engines. Thanks to the recent introduction of ultra-low sulfur

By William Diem and Drew Winter • April 1, 2008

Exatec’s Window of Opportunity

It wasn't that long ago the idea of using nylon instead of metal for engine intake manifolds or clear polycarbonate for headlight lenses was considered a pipe-dream. It took years of hard work to get various auto maker and government specifications changed, but now plastic has taken over both these applications. Vehicle windows, or glazing as they are known to vehicle designers, seem poised at a similar

By Drew Winter • April 1, 2008

PSA Pursues 2-Pronged Strategy for Diesel Hybrids

It was something of a surprise when Jean-Martin Folz, then CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroen, introduced two diesel hybrid prototypes to the press in January 2006 because Folz and most of the European industry at the time were groaning about hybrids due to cost. But Folz argued if people were willing to pay more for a diesel because it was 20% more fuel efficient than a gasoline engine, people would pay

April 1, 2008

Better Fuel Economy, Higher Prices?

The cost of new technology needed to meet 2020 U.S. fuel-economy requirements could cause at least a momentary hiccup in new-vehicle demand, General Motors Corp. Vice Chairman Robert Lutz predicts. The new rules, which call for the U.S. fleet to average 35 mpg), will add thousands to the price of each vehicle, Lutz says. Customers will have to take it (price increases), because we'll have to meet

By Herb Shuldiner • April 1, 2008

Everyone Tries to Get Lessee To Buy Vehicle

One way to dispense with an off-lease vehicle especially if it has low-residual issues is to try to get the lessee to buy it. That approach took root last decade but is less effective now because just about everyone is trying to mitigate losses that way as an end-of-lease strategy, says Bruce Harris, a vice president at Volkswagen of America Inc.'s captive finance firm, VW Credit Inc. The success

By Steve Finlay • April 1, 2008

Diesel Tech Considered Strategic Resource in France

Diesel engines are critical to the success of Renault SA and PSA Peugeot-Citroen, and thus they are critical to the French supply base, research laboratories and government. More than a year ago, France created Mov'eo, a regional organization or competitive cluster that encourages cooperative automotive research among small and large industries, government labs and universities in Ile-de-France (the

By William Diem • April 1, 2008

Alternative Fuels to Expand Dealers’ Powertrain Offerings

Although some skeptics question whether such vehicles will sell, dealer group chief Mark Schienberg is optimistic about their chances as gasoline prices rise to unprecedented levels.

By Steve Finlay • March 20, 2008

Mazda to Debut Stop-Start System on Next Mazda3; Unveils Fuel-Efficient Mazda2

Measures, such as stop-start technology that shuts off the engine at idle, are just the tip of the iceberg in developing more fuel-efficient and less-polluting vehicles, Mazda chief says.

By Christie Schweinsberg • March 4, 2008

Scirocco Returns to Geneva

Also taking their bows are three “green” models, including the Golf TDI Hybrid concept, the natural-gas-powered Passat Variant TSI EcoFuel and the Sharan BlueMotion van.

By David E. Zoia • March 3, 2008

French Researchers Warn of Hybrids’ Green Facade

Researchers in France, Concerned about the growth potential of hybrid-electric vehicles, say hybrid technology is not sustainable, and the current rush to HEVs could delay development of more advanced fuel cell-powered vehicles. Jean-Jacques Chanaron, research director at the French National Center for Scientific Research, along with Julius Teske of the Grenoble School of Management, say in the International

By Herb Shuldiner • March 1, 2008

Whiplash Regs Becoming Pain in Neck

The future may see a lot fewer serious whiplash injuries, thanks to a fresh crop of front-seat head restraints hitting the market that comply with a new federal safety standard. But like some notorious past examples of safety features that never gained public acceptance, early evidence says vehicle buyers think the new whiplash-mitigating restraints the less-expensive, variety are a genuine pain in

By Bill Visnic • March 1, 2008

Noise Control and Regular Fuel Sets New GM DIG V-6 Apart

The new engine was designed to burn regular fuel from the start. A 2-mode hybrid version is coming.

By Gary Witzenburg • Feb. 27, 2008

Morgan LIFECar Concept to Bow at Geneva

The hydrogen fuel-cell sports car has a 200-mile range and took the auto maker and a consortium of suppliers more than two years to develop.

By Mike Sutton • Feb. 26, 2008

Ricardo to Benefit From Greater Engineering Needs

The engineering firm’s Total Vehicle Fuel Economy service is well suited to helping technologies to market in the face of tough new fuel-economy standards.

By Mike Sutton • Feb. 8, 2008

Suzuki Bucks Trend With New Small Pickup

Even as sales plummet, Suzuki still sees a need for compact pickups and will attempt to win over customers who already own Suzuki motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles or marine engines.

By Tom Murphy • Feb. 7, 2008

Pininfarina 4-Door Concept Set for Geneva Debut

The Sintesi borrows elements of its passenger compartment from the innovative Nido concept, a futuristic commuter car designed and engineered by Lowie Vermeersch, now in charge of design at Pininfarina R&D.

By Giancarlo Perini • Feb. 1, 2008

Acura First to Get Honda Diesel

A vehicle from Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s Acura brand will be the first recipient of the auto maker's long-awaited 4-cyl. turbodiesel engine next year, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui tells media at the Detroit auto show. Fukui says there is no grand plan to make Acura a diesel brand, but the product cadence of the unnamed Acura model coincided with Honda's promised 2009 U.S. debut of its clean diesel. The auto

By Christie Schweinsberg • Feb. 1, 2008

Powertrain Poster Child: Mazda Motor Corp.’s DISI 2.3L Turbocharged DOHC I-4

It's hard for us to believe 2008 marks the third 10 Best Engines appearance for this one. When the engine launched in 2005 for the '06 Mazdaspeed6, it was a radical piece of work something we've come to expect from Mazda's powertrain unit. This engine is the poster child for how affordable horsepower has become. Yes, there are models from Japanese auto makers with hyper-tuned turbocharged 4-cyls.

Feb. 1, 2008

Audi Puts Super Diesel in Concept R8

Add another 500-hp super car to the growing list. But this one, the Audi R8 V12 TDI concept, is diesel powered. Audi AG says it is writing a new chapter in diesel technology with the R8 V12 TDI's race-bred 5.9L V-12 engine, which already appeared in concept form at last fall's Paris auto show lodged under the hood of Audi's Q7 cross/utility vehicle. The larger-displacement V-12 is derived from the

By David Zoia • Feb. 1, 2008

Power Plus Good Fuel Economy: Audi AG’s FSI 2.0L Turbocharged DOHC I-4

We've always said Audi AG, more than any other auto maker of the last 20 years, has been the avatar of advanced engine technologies later adopted for mainstream application. No better case makes the point than the FSI 2.0L DOHC I-4, winning a 10 Best Engines award for the third consecutive year. The power-dense, fuel-sipping FSI 2.0L is the engine many auto makers only now say they're gearing up to

Feb. 1, 2008

Even Ferrari Is Bitten By the Biofuel Bug

With the ink still wet on a congressional mandate to boost fuel economy to 35 mpg by 2020, every auto maker at this year's Detroit auto show is talking about fuel consumption even Ferrari SpA. The Italian icon for exotic sports cars unveils a concept F430 Spider Biofuel designed to run on E85, an alternative fuel made up of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. A growing number of E85 flex-fuel vehicles now

By Tom Murphy • Feb. 1, 2008

288 American Dealers Sign Up To Sell Vehicles From India

A total of 288 U.S. dealers have signed up to sell two diesel SUVs and a pickup truck built by Indian auto maker Mahindra & Mahindra, Ltd., according to importer Global Vehicles' CEO, John Perez. The count approaches the 300 target set by Perez for March and has brought the Alpharetta, GA-based importer about $40 million in committed franchise purchase fees at the rate of $125,000 to $150,000 per

By Mac Gordon • Feb. 1, 2008