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No diesels in the running for 2016 Green Car Of The Year

It's a new era for the Green Car Of The Year. In the past, the theme of the award was to take a broad look at alternative powertrains and pick the best among them. "Clean diesels" from the Volkswagen group were often among the finalists and won the award twice. For the 2016 edition - which will be handed out at the LA Auto Show next month - not a single diesel made the list. There's little wonder why. Green Car Journal, which names the winner with a panel of experts, had to strip two VW brand vehicles of their past wins. The 2009 VW Jetta TDI, which won in 2008, and the 2010 Audi A3 TDI, which won in 2010, have both lost their titles now that the world knows about the "defeat devices" that VW installed in many of its TDI vehicles around the world. So, what does that leave us with for 2016? Two plug ins, a hybrid, and two gas vehicles. The two electric vehicle are the Audi A3 e-tron and the Chevy Volt, while the all-new Toyota Prius (which will come with a plug-in version later) is the lone pure hybrid. Rounding out the pack are two efficient gas models: the Hyundai Sonata and the Honda Civic. This is the tenth year for the Green Car Of The Year, and it will be interesting to see if diesels can come back into the award's good graces (for the record, no diesels were among the finalists in 2013, either) in the future. For now, we'd like to know who you think should win. You can read more about the finalists in the press release below and then cast your vote in our poll. Show full PR text FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2016 GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR Green Car Journal to Reveal Winner of 11th Annual Award at LA Auto Show Press & Trade Days, November 19 LOS ANGELES, CA (October 15, 2015) – Green Car Journal has announced its five finalists for the magazine's prestigious 2016 Green Car of the Year® award. The 2016 models include the Audi A3 e-tron, Chevrolet Volt, Honda Civic, Hyundai Sonata, and Toyota Prius. An increasing number of vehicle models are considered for the Green Car of the Year® program each year, a reflection of the auto industry's expanding efforts in offering new vehicles with higher efficiency and improved environmental impact. Green Car Journal has been honoring the most important "green" vehicles every year at the LA Auto Show, since its inaugural award announced at the show in 2005.

Bonhams sells '85 Audi Sport Quattro for record $427k at Goodwood

1960s Ferraris and pre-war Bugattis tend to fetch the highest prices at auction, but the Audi Sport Quattro is coming into its own. Just this past January in Scottsdale, RM Auctions sold one for an investment-worthy $401k. But during its sale at the Goodwood Members' Meeting this past weekend, rival auction house Bonhams set a new record for the prototypical hot hatch at GBP287,100 – equivalent at today's exchange rates to over $427,000. The pristine white 1985 example has had three owners to date and 26,000 miles on the odometer, and was joined by a 1982 Audi Quattro A1 Group B rally car that won the 1983 championship and sold for nearly as much as its road-going counterpart at GBP253,480 ($377k). Those weren't even the highest-grossing lots at the auction though. The headline price was achieved by a 1959 Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupe that sold for a nice round GBP470,000 ($700k). Other highlights included a 1962 Aston Martin DB4s that went for the equivalent of $382k and a '66 Aston DB6 Vantage that brought in $288k. This was just the first of three auctions that Bonhams will hold at Goodwood this year, with the Festival of Speed scheduled for June 26 and the Revival for September 12. 1980S MOTORING LEGENDS LEAD THE WAY at Bonhams Goodwood Members' Meeting sale 21 Mar 2015, Goodwood 73rd Members' Meeting The ex-Kitty Maurice 1959 Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupe was the top lot of the day, selling for GBP470,000. 1980s models achieved excellent prices, with the 1985 Audi Quattro Sport SWB Coupe setting a new world auction record for the model at GBP287,100, and the ex-works, Hannu Mikkola/Arne Hertz 1982 Audi Quattro A1 Group B Rally Car selling for GBP253,480. The first of three Bonhams auctions scheduled at Goodwood for 2015, the Sale saw three-quarters of motor cars finding new homes. Restoration projects also proved popular, with a 1962 Aston Martin DB4 Series IV Sports Saloon achieving GBP256,860, and a 1963 Porsche 356B Super 90 Coupe doubling estimate at GBP32,200. Bonhams inaugural Sale at the 73rd Goodwood Members' Meeting showed a strong trend for iconic 1980s sports cars, achieving a new world auction record for an Audi Quattro as the hammer fell at GBP287,100 for the 1985 Sport SWB Coupe model.

Google poised to release Apple CarPlay rival this month

Apple and Google. They're the Michigan and Ohio State of the tech world. They're New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, Real Madrid and Barcelona, or whatever sports-based rivalry you want to cook up. Bottom line, if one company expands into a segment, it's only a matter of time before the other follows suit. And now, that rivalry is about to carry over to your car's dashboard.
Unnamed sources are reporting to Automotive News that Google will unveil its very own challenger to Apple's new CarPlay in-car operating system later this month at the Mountain View, CA company's annual developer conference. The system, allegedly called Google Auto Link, will be the first product to come from the Open Automotive Alliance, a partnership between Google, General Motors, Hyundai, Audi, Honda and hardware manufacturer NVIDIA.
The official announcement is expected to be made on either June 25 or 26, at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco. Expect to hear a lot more about Google Auto Link then.