Autoblog

While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn't plan to release its final rules and regulations for the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), otherwise known as Cash-for-Clunkers program, until July 23rd, Hyundai has decided that its customers don't have to wait. Alexandria Hyundai in Alexandria, VA has already accepted the first trade-in and doled out its first rebate. The clunker is a 15-mpg 1995 Ford Explorer, and Katherine Michon of Arlington, VA traded it in for a $4,500 credit on a brand new 26-mpg Hyundai Elantra Touring.

How can Hyundai get away with accepting clunkers early? The automaker is giving dealers short-term cash advances to cover the cost of its rebates until the CARS program officially kicks off later this month. Hyundai has 13 models with particular engine combinations that qualify for CARS, and the NHTSA has already confirmed that transactions on or after July 1, 2009 are eligible.

This could be a brilliant move on Hyundai's part, since its own internal research shows that 11 percent of car shoppers have delayed their purchase to take advantage of the rebates. If Hyundai is the only game in town that's accepting trade-ins and giving rebates early, it could steal a few sales away from other brands that are waiting patiently for the program to officially begin.

On the other hand, the NHTSA warns on the CARS official website that "interested dealers and consumers may want to wait until all of the detailed issues that must be addressed in the implementing regulations are resolved and the final rule is issued." By that time, however, you'll be driving around in a new car and getting reimbursed for the rebate will by Hyundai's problem.



[Source: Hyundai]

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The Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place this weekend, and every year the Earl of March, who manages the 12,000-acre Goodwood estate that hosts the event, commissions a giant art piece honoring that year's featured marque. Audi is the featured marque this year, which is timely since the Ingolstadt-based automaker is also celebrating its centennial.

This year's sculpture that was commissioned for Audi is a big swoosh of tire tracks with a 1937 Auto Union streamliner and new Audi R8 V10 suspended at either end. Standing 135-feet tall and weighing 40 tonnes, as they say in Britain, the piece is made entirely of steel to support itself without braces or cables. Gerry Judah is the designer, as he has been for Goodwood's featured art installations since 1997 when he first designed one for Ferrari. This is also the second time he's produced a piece for Audi, the first one being back in 1999.

It goes without saying that we all want to stick this in the flower bed in our front yard, but unfortunately you'll only be able to see it if you're in West Sussex this weekend to enjoy the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Check out more pics of this year's Audi sculpture, as well as art pieces from prior years, in the gallery below.



[Source: Audi, Photos courtesy of Gerry Judah]

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FoMoCo falls only 11%, Chrysler Group drops 42%

Want more proof that Ford Motor Company made the right move in avoiding bankruptcy, unlike General Motors and the Chrysler Group, its cross-town rivals? Sales figures for the month of June 2009 show that Ford sharply lessened its sales slide with a fall of just 10.85 percent versus the same month last year. Compare that with drops of 33.6 and 41.85 percent for GM and Chrysler respectively. It appears that Ford has remained on track during these tumultuous times, and its improved performance last month could signal the beginning of a turnaround for which it may be ideally suited to take full advantage. We're sure the guys and gals at Ford are smiling today, even if the Camaro did outsell the Mustang for the first time in 15 years.

Subaru has again managed to post impressive numbers, with June 2009 sales up 3.4 percent by volume compared to last year. Volvo even posted a slight gain thanks in large part to the introduction of the all-new XC60.

Check out the rest of the numbers below. Brands and Companies are both displayed in ascending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 25 selling days in June 2009 compared to 24 selling days in June 2008, so the change in average daily sales can be found in the right three columns.

Brand	Volume %	June 2009	June 2008	DSR* %	DSR 6/09	DSR 6/08
Subaru	3.40	18,620	18,007	-0.73	745	750
Volvo	0.59	7,042	7,001	-3.44	282	292
Kia	-5.11	26,845	28,292	-8.91	1,074	1,179
Ford	-8.26	133,684	145,715	-11.93	5,347	6,071
Audi	-8.28	7,524	8,203	-11.95	301	342
Buick	-10.69	8,601	9,631	-14.27	344	401
Pontiac	-16.41	23,740	28,402	-19.76	950	1,183
Lexus	-16.68	16,874	20,253	-20.02	675	844
Volkswagen	-18.02	19,027	23,208	-21.29	761	967
BMW	-20.05	16,744	20,944	-23.25	670	873
Mini	-21.22	4,105	5,211	-24.38	164	217
Nissan	-21.86	51,994	66,543	-24.99	2,080	2,773
Mercedes	-22.58	15,155	19,576	-25.68	606	816
Hyundai	-24.16	37,943	50,033	-27.20	1,518	2,085
Lincoln	-26.56	7,137	9,718	-29.50	285	405
Honda	-29.17	92,140	130,083	-32.00	3,686	5,420
Infiniti	-32.25	6,304	9,305	-34.96	252	388
Chevy	-33.30	106,712	159,998	-35.97	4,268	6,667
Acura	-33.53	8,280	12,456	-36.18	331	519
Toyota	-33.65	114,780	172,981	-36.30	4,591	7,208
GMC	-35.96	19,668	30,713	-38.52	787	1,280
Mercury	-37.10	7,332	11,657	-39.62	293	486
Jeep	-37.66	16,608	26,642	-40.16	664	1,110
Dodge	-40.43	37,936	63,687	-42.82	1,517	2,654
Cadillac	-40.90	8,473	14,337	-43.27	339	597
Mitsubishi	-41.79	4,362	7,494	-44.12	174	312
Mazda	-42.24	13,729	23,771	-44.55	549	990
Hummer	-47.97	1,078	2,072	-50.05	43	86
Chrysler	-49.30	13,753	27,128	-51.33	550	1,130
Smart	-56.15	1,116	2,545	-57.90	45	106
Saab	-58.39	779	1,872	-60.05	31	78
Saturn	-60.24	7,520	18,912	-61.83	301	788
Porsche	-65.96	902	2,650	-67.32	36	110
Suzuki	-78.04	2,149	9,784	-78.91	86	408
COMPANIES
Ford Mo Co	-10.85	155,195	174,091	-14.42	6,208	7,254
BMW Group	-20.29	20,849	26,155	-23.48	834	1,090
Nissan NA	-23.14	58,298	75,848	-26.21	2,332	3,160
Honda America	-29.55	100,420	142,539	-32.37	4,017	5,939
Toyota Mo Co	-31.87	131,654	193,234	-34.59	5,266	8,051
General Motors	-33.60	176,571	265,937	-36.26	7,063	11,081
Chrysler Group	-41.85	68,297	117,457	-44.18	2,732	4,894

Cars.com has once again published its annual American-Made Index that rates vehicles built within the United States based on their sales and percentage of domestic parts content. This year's list has a number of movers and shakers based mainly on the fact that a troubled economy has torpedoed sales of some models and others are now ineligible because their parent brands are being canceled.

The Ford F-150 has lost its top ranking in the American-Made Index for the first time since Cars.com began producing the list back in 2006. The new No. 1 is – gasp – the Toyota Camry. Assembled in Georgetown, KY and Lafayette, IN, the Camry's upswing in domestic parts content helped it barely edge out the F-150, which has seen both its sales and domestic parts content fall year-over-year. Toyota, in fact, had four models make the American-Made Index this year including the Sienna, Tundra and first-timer Venza.

General Motors placed the Chevrolet Malibu, Silverado and GMC Sierra, while Ford had the aforementioned F-150, and list newcomer Ford Taurus, which enjoys the highest domestic parts content of 90 percent. No Chrysler vehicles made the top ten, although one Honda did: the Lincoln, AL Odyssey has an 80 percent domestic parts content rating and thus sewed up the #10 spot. You can view the full list after the jump and visit Cars.com to read more about how the index was produced.

[Source: Cars.com]

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Episode 2 of Top Gear's 13th season aired last night in the UK, and the main event was a one-mile drag race between the McLaren F1 and the Bugatti Veyron. Notice that we didn't say a McLaren F1 and a Bugatti Veyron. These two supercars are so super (and rare) that any single example tends to represent the whole run of each, and since your chances of encountering two of either kind in the same place are practically nill, they might as well be the only ones in existence.

The Top Gear crew chose Abu Dhabi as the location for its supercar shootout. With an arid climate that sees practically no rain or freezing-and-thawing cycles, the roads in Abu Dhabi are long, straight and, most importantly, free of pot holes. Richard Hammond chooses to pilot the Bug and The Stig takes the centrally located wheel of the F1. We won't spoil the results except to say that this is the most real and nail-biting competition that we've seen on Top Gear in a long time.

Follow the jump to watch yesteryear's supercar, the McLaren F1, go head-to-head with today's top dog, the Bugatti Veyron. Thanks for the tip, Will!

[Source: YouTube]

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Following weeks of speculation, General Motors finally made its decision official this afternoon. Its new small cars will be built in Michigan with final assembly taking place at the Lake Orion plant with stampings coming from the nearby Pontiac Metal Center. As a result of the decision, 1,400 jobs will be preserved in hard-hit Michigan.

The Lake Orion factory was due to be idled in September, when production of the Pontiac G6 ends there. Instead it will be re-tooled to build a new small car that has not yet been announced. The plant will be specified as a B/C plant, meaning it will have flexibility to build both B and C segment cars. The first will be a B car, which will replace the Aveo and may be called the Viva. The plant will also be able to build C cars like the new Cruze and possibly a Buick version of the Opel Astra. The Viva would be a B-segment car similar in size to the new Ford Fiesta. Powertrain components will also be sourced from GM's North American operations although no specifics have been announced yet. GM emphasized that this is the first car of this size to be built in the United States from any major automaker.




[Source: General Motors]

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In the coming weeks before the U.S. Department of Transportation finalizes the rules and regulations for the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), otherwise known as Cash-for-Clunkers, we expect every automaker who operates in this country to start promoting which vehicles they sell that meet the program's eligibility requirements. Ford Motor Company has got 20 vehicles spread across its Ford and Mercury brands, and less than 24 hours after President Obama signed CARS into law, the automaker has launched a new web page to help you determine if your clunker is eligible.

The website is called Let Ford Recycle Your Ride and features an eligibility calculator that will help you easily determine if your particular vehicle is both less than 25 years old and gets 18 mpg combined or less. Oh, then it will try and sell you a Ford product, but that's to be expected. Regardless of the sales pitch, the calculator is an easy tool to use if you're seriously thinking about trading in your clunker for a credit worth between $3,500 and $4,500 courtesy of Uncle Sam.

[Source: Let Ford Recycle Your Ride]

The actress Farrah Fawcett passed away today at the age of 62 from cancer. She was known for many roles in her long acting career, but historians of popular culture will remember her most as a private investigator on the 1970s TV show Charlie's Angels and the pinup girl who posed for a poster that sold 12 million copies and made this actress an icon of sexuality.

But automotive enthusiasts will remember Farrah for another role. She played Pamela Glover in the original Cannonball Run movie that was written by Brock Yates and released in 1981. Her co-stars included Burt Reynolds as J.J. McClure, Dom DeLuise (who also passed away this year) as Victor Prinzim and Captain Chaos, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Roger Moore, Jackie Chan and many others who combined to this movie a cult classic. Those with really good memories may also remember Farrah's appearance in a commercial for the 1975 Mercury Cougar XR-7 (follow the jump to watch).

[Source: Inside Line | Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty]

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We're not sure where they came from, but official-looking images of the upcoming BMW 7 Series M Sport just popped up on the interwebs today. The car you see here is identical to the one we saw in spy photos just a few weeks ago. Since the M6 will reportedly remain the brand's top dog in terms of big performance cars, the 7 Series M Sport will be to the standard 7 Series what all M Sport models are. That is, it gets more aggressive fascias front and rear, unique wheels, an M steering wheel, M shifter and M footrest. Rumor also has it that the 7 Series M Sport will be powered by the brand's newly updated 3.0-liter, twin-turbo diesel engine producing 306 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque. No, it's still not an M7, but if you want a lightning quick 7 Series, you can go buy an Alpina B7 Biturbo for now.



[Source: Bimmerpost, BMWBlog]

Designed by Roman Mistiuk, the Peugeot Metromorph Concept looks like a set piece from Minority Report or the discarded idea for a new Transformers character. That's because the Metromorph has dual modes: One as a battery-powered electric vehicle and the other as... a balcony. Cars that climb up buildings and park themselves right outside your bay window were first seen in the sci-fi thriller Minority Report starring Tom Cruise. The Metromorph, however, has a purpose other than as a landing platform for Tom Cruise during a chase scene.

The idea is that real estate for parking will be scarce in the future, so the Metromorph will go vertical up the side of your building and park outside your apartment, at which point it becomes a balcony. This is where the Transformers bit comes in, though we admit transforming into a balcony isn't likely to scare Megatron into a quivering mass of mechanized steel. Nevertheless, the Metromorph will save the humans by freeing up parking spaces for other uses, like a quidditch stadium or whatever else becomes the national past time in the future.

With space for two, the Metromorph features seats held by rotating arms to keep them vertical regardless of the car's orientation. Two in-wheel electric motors housed in the rear wheels motivate this balcony-on-wheels, while two giant doors will slide up and over the vehicle to allow entry and exit. Is this what the future holds for urban dwellers? Time, and the movies, will tell.

Follow the jump to watch a conceptual video of the Metromorph in action.



[Source: Roman Mistiuk]

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