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10.5 Million Alternative Fuel Autos on Roads Today

Automakers kicked off National
Alternative Fuel Autos Week by announcing that there are 10.5 million
Alternative Fuel Autos on the nation’s roads today, according to 2006 sales
data from R.L. Polk and Co.
The Polk sales figures also reveal that an unprecedented 1.5 million
Alternative Fuel Autos were sold in 2006, surpassing automakers’ sales
expectations by 50 [...]

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GM Autos slash their Advertising spend but not online.

GM have slashed their advertising budget across the board all except in their internet ad spending, has advertising reached the tipping point? Is the web the Holy Grail of advertising now?
The facts point to newspapers as being the worst hit.
(the chart compares January through November ‘05 to spending during the same period in ‘06):
Newspapers – [...]

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Bush checks out battery-powered autos in Capital

President Bush peered under the hood of an all-electric sport utility truck parked at the White House Friday to stress that his goal of reducing gasoline use by 20 percent over the next decade is realistic. “I firmly believe that the goal I laid out—that Americans will use 20 percent less gasoline over the next [...]

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New Baby Land Rover

New Baby Land Rover

This is a sneak peak at a possible new arrival Freelander SUV from Land Rover. Initially aimed at the European market, it is uncertain whether the baby ute will be brought to North America. However, with rising fuel costs and the demand still high for so-called SUVs, discussions are ongoing. Code-named L358 and often referred [...]

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Did you get a new car for Christmas

According to the stats December saw the fastest increase in sales in the last 9 years. The strongest markets were automobiles and retail. Bloomberg stated: Canadian retail sales rose at the fastest rate in nine years in December, adding to recent gains in exports and wholesaling that suggest the economy is in a broad- based [...]

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Chrysler-GM buyout

Rumours abound that GM Motors could buy Chrysler seems to be gaining some traction. Chrysler who builds around 2.5 million vehicles a year would keep GM ahead of rivals Toyota. Hyundai had also been tipped as possible owners but we will have to wait till the dust settles to see if that is likely.
Daimler-Benz paid [...]

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Thieves target catalytic converters from autos

Just when you thought the Kelowna bait car program could help you sleep easier at night. The latest is that thieves are now targeting catalytic converters. The anti-pollution devices contain small amounts of platinum, rhodium and palladium, and the value of these precious metals has been rising sharply, making catalytic converters a hot commodity in [...]

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Ford to bring back once popular Taurus name

Ford to bring back once popular Taurus name

DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. will rename its slow-selling Five Hundred model the Taurus, a name Ford previously had used for a car that became the nation’s top-seller, two company officials said Tuesday.
The officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition they not be identified by name because the official announcement had not [...]

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Detroit Auto Show 2007: Clean Diesels are Coming

Detroit Auto Show 2007: Clean Diesels are Coming

They’re not getting as much attention as the electrics, but these fuel-savers will be here much sooner.
BY DAVE VANDERWERP, January 2007
Many are touting the Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric-car concept as the star of the Detroit auto show, and a much-needed answer to future fossil-fuel woes. And yes, the technology is sound and the concept is [...]

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Phoney auto parts a $1B problem, Ford says

According to CBC News there is a rising problem with counterfeit auto parts.
Ford has dispatched undercover investigators to seek out counterfeit and pirated auto parts, a problem that is putting the public’s safety at risk and costing about $1 billion US annually, according to the automaker.
Joe Wiegand, Ford’s global brand protection manager says a full-time [...]

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