Leather Moonroof Factory Warranty Satellite Radio All Power Off Lease Only on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Hurricane Sandy cost automakers 15,000 vehicles, may have ruined up to 200k

Hurricane Sandy was the largest Atlantic storm in US history, and its total economic impact is just now coming into view. According to Automotive News, Toyota, Chrysler, Nissan and Honda are set to scrap around 15,000 new vehicles ruined by the storm. Nissan alone accounts for about 40 percent of those, with 6,000 Nissan and Infiniti models deeded "un-saleable" due to damage. The company saw 56 dealerships shuttered due to the storm, but 51 of those have since reopened.
Toyota, meanwhile, had some 4,000 vehicles at its Newark port facility, and of those, 3,000 may be scrapped. An additional 825 were dealer inventory when they were ruined. Honda and Acura dealers are reportedly sending 3,440 vehicles to the salvage yard. By comparison, Chrysler weathered the storm fairly well with 825 units destroyed, while Hyundai suffered only 400 lost units and Kia scrapped around 200.
As you may recall, Fisker also suffered some losses, and Automotive News reports the manufacturer saw 320 Karma models damaged beyond repair. Ford and General Motors have yet to come up with estimates, and no automaker has commented on the full cost of replacing the vehicles.

Singer Porsche, Koenigsegg, NSX: Leno's life doesn't suck

Jay Leno had quite a productive trip this year during Monterey Car Week. Not only did he get to pal around with Ian Callum and check out the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, but the denim-clad comedian also headed to The Quail to talk to some prominent figures in the modern sports car scene. Capping off the fun, he got to take a drive in a Mercedes-AMG GT S, too Perhaps the highlight of this show is a nearly 10-minute interview with Christian von Koenigsegg. The founder of the Swedish hypercar company digs deep into the Agera One:1's engineering details, relating interesting facts about the aerodynamics and transmission. In addition, Leno chats with Rob Dickenson of Singer about its newly reimagined Porsche 911 Targa, and he gets the latest scoop on the Acura NSX's progress from newly promoted Acura Vice President and General Manager Jon Ikeda. If you like hearing about the nuts and bolts of sports car development, then this video can't be missed. Of course, we were there at Monterey, too, and we pointed our own cameras at some of the amazing machinery, both vintage and modern, at all the various car-focused events of the week. Take a look back at some of our own cool footage in the videos below. Related Video:

Acura NSX production delayed

Listeners of the Autoblog Podcast will be familiar with my opinions on the Acura NSX. While I love the idea of Acura building a halo car again, I've routinely joked on-air that the car will never, ever reach production and will continue being teased and previewed ad nauseam. So I'm chuckling at this news: the NSX is being delayed again. To be fair, while it sounds like a big deal – pushing the NSX back from model year 2016 to 2017 – this is a fairly minor delay in the grand scheme. Instead of starting production this fall, as previously announced, the new supercar will start rolling down the line at Honda's Marysville, OH factory in the spring. "Trial production" has already started, Honda says, while briefly acknowledging the delay in the attached press release. While Honda offered no reason for the delay in volume production, Automobile claims it's the fault of the move to fit two turbochargers to the V6, which was made midway through development. Fitting the two iron lungs meant rearranging the six-pot into a longitudinal layout. Here's hoping there are no further delays. Scroll on for a look at Honda's press release, which does its best to gloss over the NSX delay while talking about the company's new Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville. Related Video: Performance Manufacturing Center: Precision Craftsmanship Aug 14, 2015 - CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. The next-generation Acura NSX is produced at the new, dedicated Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio, using domestic and globally sourced parts. With trial production already underway and production start-up scheduled for spring 2016, this world-class manufacturing facility employs groundbreaking techniques in weld, body construction, body painting, final assembly and quality confirmation to ensure the highest levels of precision and craftsmanship. More details on the unique and innovative manufacturing processes at the PMC will be rolled out over the months leading up to the start of production, but the following highlights of the new facility were shared during the 2015 Monterey Automotive Week: Innovative blend of people and technology: throughout the PMC, NSX production is centered around the skills of approximately 100 experienced engineers and technicians building the NSX to precise levels of quality and craftsmanship.