Vehicles: Page

Castrol Getting Funky With It

Despite America's love affair with cars, there's a growing need for qualified people to fix those objects of adoration. That's why BP Lubricants USA kicks off the 2005 Castrol Snytech Outperformers Scholarship Program. It's a funky way to interest young car enthusiasts in careers in the automotive service and repair industry. The program includes a nationwide search for worthy winners. It targets

April 1, 2005

The Ultimate in Exclusivity: Hand-Built Engines

Customers who chip in the substantial extra cost for vehicles crafted by the various auto makers' in-house tuners want, first and foremost, enhanced performance. But they're also chasing something more elusive in this day of $30,000 Benzes and McMansions in every suburb: exclusivity. And for the horsepower-hungry, what can be more exclusive than a thundering powerplant lovingly assembled by hand just

By Bill Visnic • April 1, 2005

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

Diesel on Mercedes R-Class Menu

NEW YORK – Mercedes-Benz promises it eventually will add a diesel version of its forthcoming R-Class cross/utility vehicle alongside gasoline versions in the U.S. The R-Class hits the U.S. in October with a 3.5L V-6 and a 5.0L V-8, capable of 268 hp and 302 hp, respectively. A 3.2L diesel engine will be available in Europe from launch, and could be available in the U.S. as soon as 2006, Paul Halata,

By John D. Stoll • March 23, 2005

Mercedes Standardizes Diesel Particulate Filters in Europe

GENEVA – DaimlerChrysler AG’s Mercedes-Benz unit delivers European consumers added environmental benefits by deciding to make particulate filters standard on every diesel-powered passenger car beginning this summer. The particulate-filter equipped diesel vehicles initially will be available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The European Union’s latest EU4 emissions standards (which

By Kevin Kelly • March 3, 2005

GM Europe Launches Massive Test Drive

GENEVA – In an effort to rebuild its tattered image in Europe, General Motors Corp. will provide its European dealers with 35,000 vehicles for consumer test drives for at least the next three months, the auto maker announces here at the Geneva auto show. Called the “Million Mile Test Drive,” the program kicks off today and involves GM’s Opel and Vauxhall brands, although additional nameplates eventually

By Brian Corbett • March 1, 2005

Don’t Dismiss Consumer Reports

Motor City people often think the editors at Consumer Reports magazine are left-wing tree-hugging American-car-hating worshippers of anything made by the Japanese or Germans. And they love anything that goes really slow and uses gasoline by the dropper. I'm here to tell you that is just not true. Here's why you have to stop dismissing CR and its critiques: Detroit engineers and executives don't spend

By Jerry Flint • March 1, 2005

Rinspeed Chopster Bows at Geneva

Chopped, dropped and tuned are terms normally reserved for hot rods and sport compact cars, not cross/utility vehicles. But Rinspeed AG and EDAG Engineering & Design AG have side-stepped conventional thinking and exploited their collective custom car-building knowledge to develop what may be the world’s most extreme CUV, the Rinspeed Chopster, which makes its formal debut at this week’s 2005 Geneva

By Mike Sutton • March 1, 2005

Visteon Settles In

The work stations are honeycomb shaped, the ceilings lofty, the hallways wide, the lighting soft and inviting, the overhead storage bins purged forever and the cafeteria deserving of at least three stars. On a stroll outdoors, the architecture is a curious blend of colonial Boston, old-world Germany and state-of-the-art college campus. Welcome to Visteon Village, the new headquarters for North America's

By Tom Murphy • Feb. 1, 2005

BMW Bi-Fuel Cars on Tap for U.S.

BMW AG will put a small number of 7-Series bi-fuel cars on the road that can run on liquid hydrogen or gasoline with the flip of a switch. The technology was tested on the H2R Hydrogen Record Car that set nine land speed records, proving BMW's contention that hydrogen can replace gasoline for conventional internal-combustion engines without foregoing performance.

Feb. 1, 2005

Audi Sees Sales Up, Diesel Leadership

DETROIT – Saying Audi of America Inc. will sell more vehicles this year than the 78,000-plus units the company moved in 2004, Johan de Nyssthen, recently installed executive vice president, promises the surging upscale unit of Volkswagen AG will focus on “comfortable growth” this year. Although Audi’s 2004 worldwide sales of 779,000 units was an all-time high, de Nyssthen says the U.S. subsidiary

By Bill Visnic • Jan. 10, 2005

DaimlerChrysler Mercedes 3.2L DOHC I-6 Turbodiesel

What’s not to like about an advanced-technology turbocharged inline 6-cyl. diesel that, compared with a same-size gasoline V-6 in a midsize luxury sedan, punches the car from 0-to-60 mph (97 km/h) a half-second quicker – and deals out more than 30% better fuel economy? What’s not to like, indeed, about DaimlerChrysler’s spectacular Mercedes CDI 3.2L I-6 turbodiesel, the latest generation of Mercedes

By Bill Visnic • Jan. 4, 2005

Give Me Diesel or Give Me Death!

Like a child at Christmas, I could hardly wait to get my hands on the Mercedes E320 CDI. Imagine: a fine German luxury automobile combined with the brute power of a 3.2L I-6 turbodiesel, all right here in the land of red and blue states. As the key turned, I was rewarded with the sweetest of sounds: a very low rumble coming from the engine bay I only could liken to the purring of a conventional gasoline

By Kevin Kelly • Jan. 4, 2005

Seats Without Sensors

Key Safety Systems could have an active low-risk-deployment passenger-side airbag that will eliminate the need for seat-embedded occupant position sensors in cars by '07, thanks to the use of ticker-tape-like polyester sensor strips. Key (formerly Breed Technologies Inc.) is in talks with auto makers in Asia, Europe and North America about supplying the component to future vehicle programs. One OEM

By John D. Stoll • Jan. 1, 2005

WARD’S 10 Best Engines 2005

An emphasis on fuel-saving technology, such as hybrids, diesel and cylinder deactivation, emerged as a theme in this year’s 10 Best Engines competition. Click here for full coverage.

By Bill Visnic • Jan. 1, 2005

Ringing Endorsement

As a high-volume SUV program was preparing to launch a few years ago for a Big Three auto maker, wind noise and water leaks suggested a serious problem with a closure panel. Eager for a solution, the auto maker first had to identify the source of the problem, which baffled its body engineers. Perceptron Inc., a supplier that specializes in laser-based measuring, got the call to analyze five doors,

By Tom Murphy • Jan. 1, 2005

Certified Programs Get Serious

Certified used vehicles have become such a growing profit center that auto makers are adding extended powertrain warranties as a selling feature and including loan offers with low interest rates for cream-of-the-crop pre-owneds. As sales of certified used vehicles head for a record 1.5 million mark this year, Mitsubishi has entered the ranks of certified program sponsors with a segment first. The

By Mac Gordon • Dec. 1, 2004

McKinsey: Electronics Need to Become Core Competency

As the gizmo-driven fever generated by Convergence 2004 hits the auto industry full steam this week, at least one top management consulting firm is advocating a degree of cold calculation in the introduction of innovation. “Let’s be very clear, this is a little bit of a revolution we (in the auto industry) are going through,” says Stefan Knupfer, McKinsey and Co.’s leader-North American automotive

By John D. Stoll • Oct. 18, 2004

Standardization Finally Coming for Vehicle Diagnostics

DETROIT – It’s been a long haul, but standardization for handling the diagnostic information from autos finally is becoming a reality, say engineers at the Convergence 2004 conference here. Electronics and powertrain engineers speaking at the “Automotive On/Off Board Diagnostics” session say the industry has gathered enough momentum behind the movement to standardize basic diagnostic information handling

By Bill Visnic • Oct. 18, 2004

Europe with NADA Kids

The year was 1967. Dustin Hoffman debuted in The Graduate. A Time magazine reviewer at the time said: OK, he was good, but can he handle other acting roles besides that of a disillusioned youth corrupted by decadent elders? An adult character in the movie oozed of artificiality with his one word of advice: Turns out, anyone who took that tip would have done well. Hollywood trials and tribulations

Oct. 1, 2004

Underhood Electronics

If you love cars isn't the first word that pops into your brain when you're talking about powertrains. But lets face it, today's most glorious engines in fact, any new engine at all can't sputter out its first exhaust note without the help of sophisticated electronics under the hood. That's why organizers of the bi-annual Convergence conference are devoting four sessions to powertrain issues Oct.

By Drew Winter • Oct. 1, 2004

All-Wheel Drive for All

Think all-wheel drive for vehicles never meant to travel off-road is a passing fad? An oddity for those who appreciate a little engineering overkill? Then check this list of 11 new-for-’05 cars offering AWD most for the first time. If the AWD system isn’t standard, it’s offered as an option for a surprisingly low price that reflects how hardware improvements and new electronic controls have enabled

By Bill Visnic • Sept. 30, 2004

Ferrari Unveils ’05 F430 Monza

Ferrari SpA takes the wraps off its newest 2-seat performance beauty, the ’05 F430 Monza during the Paris auto show. The F430 will replace the volume-leading 360 Modena, which replaced the F355 in 2000. ’05 Ferrari F430 The F430, designed by Carrozzeria Pininfarina SpA, features Ferrari’s 4.3L V-8, producing 490 hp and a top speed in excess of 196 mph (315 km/h). Ferrari says the F430 can accelerate

By Kevin Kelly • Sept. 24, 2004

Politics of Big Vehicles

When they walk into showrooms ready to plunk down their hard-earned income to buy a new car, Americans choose vehicles that are larger than those sold anywhere else in the world. But political forces may dramatically limit consumers' choices forces that will cripple the domestic industry, while handing a bonanza to foreign auto makers. Driving conditions in the U.S. are vastly different from those

By John McElroy • Sept. 1, 2004

DASEC’s Challenge

As U.S. emissions regulations become more stringent in the coming years, auto makers and suppliers must bolster their engineering and testing capabilities a mission that is neither inexpensive nor simple. Earlier this year, Motorola Automotive added an entire test bench to its ambient vehicle test cell in Dearborn, MI, at the company's Detroit Applications and Systems Engineering Center (DASEC). Now,

By Tom Murphy • Sept. 1, 2004

Pumping Up The Power of Flex

TRAVERSE CITY, MI Packaging flexible manufacturing into an assembly cell makes it possible for Cosma International Inc., a division of Magna International Inc., to center on niche and low-volume vehicles, Frank Horton, executive vice president-engineering, says at the Management Briefing Seminars here. Cosma’s flexible cell is unique, Horton says. It has robots with collaborative motion, meaning they

By Alisa Priddle • Aug. 5, 2004