1964 Chevrolet Corvette on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Consumer Reports declares most and least loved cars [w/video]

Consumer Reports is crunching the numbers from its annual owner-satisfaction survey, and part of that process is finding out how attached drivers are to their cars. CR simply asks readers of models up to three years old if they would buy the same vehicle again in light of their entire ownership experience, and tallies the results. After looking at the responses for about 350,000 vehicles, it turns out that people really love a certain California-built, electrically powered luxury sedan. That's right, this year's the overall winner was the Tesla Model S with a whopping 98 percent of owners saying they would purchase another one (the Model S also won this award last year, with 99 percent satisfaction). The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray came in a close second with 95 percent of drivers hoping to park another one in their garage. A few models weren't quite so favored, though. The Nissan Versa Sedan was the least loved model among its owners; a mere 42 percent said that they would purchase another. The aging Jeep Compass didn't do much better, with just 43 percent of drivers willing to buy the softroader again. On average, about 70 percent of owners say they would buy their car again, and only four cars ranked below 50 percent in CR's findings. Check out the video above to see some of the winners and losers in a few of CR's categories. If you're a subscriber, you can check out the full list on its website. Related Gallery Consumer Reports Most Loved Cars 2014 Related Gallery Consumer Reports Least Loved Cars 2014 News Source: Consumer Reports - sub. req., Consumer Reports via YouTube Chevrolet Ford Mazda Mercedes-Benz Porsche Subaru Tesla Ownership Videos car ownership

Buick Velite is a not-so-Volt-like plug-in hybrid concept for China

Is the Buick Velite a Volt by any other name? That's a question worth asking after General Motors said that the Buick Velite concept vehicle will make its global debut at the Guangzhou Auto Show later this month. GM says the car "will provide a template for upcoming models being launched under the Buick Blue new energy vehicle strategy." Whether that means the Velite is a variant of the second-generation of the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in is open to interpretation. Some automotive publications, including Autoweek, are saying that's the case, but GM China doesn't mention the Volt in its press release, only saying that the car is a "high-performance" plug-in hybrid vehicle. As we know, GM doesn't use the "PHEV" descriptor for the Volt, which makes us thing the Velite's powertrain is more like the Cadillac CT6 PHEV. Either way, the concept was developed by the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), which is a joint venture between GM and Shanghai-based SAIC. As far as the name, GM has been shopping the Velite moniker around for a while now. The automaker first used Buick Velite for the convertible concept vehicle it showed off at the 2004 New York Auto Show. More recently, GM in 2014 filed to use the name for the US variant of its Opel Cascada four-seat convertible model, which debuted in 2013. As for the second-generation version of the Volt, that model appears to be gaining favor in the US. Domestic sales of the Volt through October have surged 64 percent from a year earlier to more than 18,500 units. The new version boosted its all-electric range by 40 percent to 53 miles while increasing its power output by 20 percent. Related Video: News Source: General Motors via Autoweek, Automotive News-sub.req. Green Buick Chevrolet Electric Hybrid PHEV buick velite

Nissan Leaf hits 3,000 sales in July, Chevy Volt climbs over 2,000

It was a good sales month for both the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt, with the two 'elder statesman' plug-in vehicles reaching numerical milestones in July. The Leaf sold 3,019 units and the Volt crossed the 2,000 sales level for the first time in 2014, hitting 2,020 sales. With Tesla also announcing it is delivering around 2,500 Model S EVs a month (but that's globally, compared to the US-only numbers for the Volt and Leaf we're talking about here) and Ford's plug-in vehicles selling well, we are certainly in a golden moment for EV sales. The Volt was a bright spot for the Bowtie brand last month. For the Volt, the 2,020 units sold represents a 13 percent increase from July of 2013 even thought year-to-date sales are down 8.7 percent this year compared to last year. Overall, total Chevrolet deliveries for July 2014 were up eight percent compared to 2013, so the Volt was a bright spot for the Bowtie brand last month. On the Leaf front, this is only the second time that the EV has sold more than 3,000 units in a month (the other being in May of this year). The year-over-year increase for the Leaf was 62 percent in July and represents the 17th straight month of record sales, as Nissan is more than happy to report each month. Overall, Leaf sales are up 34.6 percent, year-to-date, and Nissan's director of Leaf sales and infrastructure, Brendan Jones, said in a statement that a free public charging incentive was responsible. "Since we launched the No Charge to Charge promotion in the first 10 markets, we've seen a surge in Leaf sales in those areas. Leaf sales in the northeastern US are also picking up with new tax incentives for Massachusetts and Maryland residents." With No Charge To Charge set to expand to 25 markets over the next year, we expect Leaf sales to continue to grow. We will have our monthly look at all green car sales available soon, so stay tuned. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric PHEV ev sales