1962 Yellow! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Recharge Wrap-up: Lexus CT 200h is NWAPA's favorite hybrid, 'No Charge to Charge' in LA

The Northwest Automotive Press Association (NWAPA) has given the Lexus CT 200h its Favorite Hybrid title. It named the compact luxury hybrid its favorite of 2014 at its Drive Revolution in Portland (where it also named the new Volkswagen Golf TDI the Northwest Green Car of the Year). According to NWAPA president Nik Miles, the CT 200h earned the honor for "impressive combination of state-of-the-art small car luxury and hybrid technology." For 2014, the Lexus CT200h got an updated front end, including the spindle grille we've been seeing on new Lexus vehicles, plus a redesigned steering wheel and sliding sun visors. Read more in the press release below. Chevrolet credits the Malibu for helping make stop-start mainstream. Chevrolet started including stop-start technology standard in Malibus equipped with the four-cylinder engine. Chevy has sold about 83,000 of that model, so 97 percent of 2014 and 2015 Malibu sales include stop-start. Now, that technology has made its way into the 2015 Impala. With drivers idling an average of 16 minutes a day, stop-start can significantly reduce harmful emissions and save fuel. According to Navigant Research, we can expect annual sales of cars equipped with stop-start technology to surpass 55 million by 2022. Read more in the press release below. Nissan Leaf customers in Los Angeles will get access to free charging beginning August 15. Nissan is extending its "No Charge to Charge" promotion to LA, which will allow customers to charge at public charging stations at no cost. Leaf customers - including those who bought or leased their car from the participating dealerships on or after July 1 - will get an EZ-Charge card, allowing them to use ChargePoint, Blink, CarCharging, AeroVironment and NRG eVgo chargers for free. Rapid chargers can charge the Leaf's battery to 80 percent in 30 minutes. Nissan plans to offer the "No Charge to Charge" in at least 14 more markets in the US, bringing the total to 25, within the next year. See the press release below for more details. California will get six all-electric school buses for three school districts as part of a demonstration program. The California Energy Commission awarded a grant of $1.4 million for the program to National Strategies LLC; this is in addition to a $2.2-million grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The EV buses use vehicle-to-grid technology, allowing them to sell energy back to the grid when it is needed.

GM raises 2023 guidance on strong sales, higher profits

General Motors beat first-quarter profit estimates and raised its full-year earnings and cash-flow guidance after vehicle demand at the start of the year surpassed expectations. Its shares rose in premarket trading. GM made $2.21 a share in adjusted profit in the first quarter, compared to a consensus forecast of $1.72 a share. Revenue rose 11% to $39.99 billion, it said Tuesday, which was more than the $39.24 billion analysts expected. The stronger results stem from rising sales in the US, even in the face of higher interest rates and inflation. GM executives said demand was strong enough to revise 2023 guidance upward, boosting profit estimates for the year by $500 million to between $11 billion and $13 billion. “We did it with strong production and inventory discipline and consistent pricing,” GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said on a call with journalists. “All in all, weÂ’re feeling confident about 2023.” The Detroit automaker raised per-share full-year guidance to between $6.35 and $7.35, up from $6 to $7 a share, and said free cash flow would also increase by $500 million to a range of $5.5 billion to $7.5 billion.  GMÂ’s shares pared a gain of as much as 4.4% before the start of regular trading Tuesday, rising 3.5% to $35.50 as of 6:55 a.m. in New York. The stock was up 1.9% for the year as of the close on Monday.  North American Strength The automakerÂ’s sales were particularly strong in North America, where first-quarter earnings rose before interest and taxes rose to $3.6 billion. Vehicle sales rose 18% to 707,000 in the region. Jacobson said the company originally expected to sell 15 million vehicles in the US this year, slightly less than the 15.5 million annualized rate automakers foresaw in the first quarter. North American demand was enough to offset a weak performance in China, GMÂ’s second-largest market. The automaker continues to struggle in the country, where its vehicle sales fell 25% to 462,000 vehicles in the quarter. Profits from its joint ventures in the market slumped 65% to $83 million.  The market has struggled overall in the wake of Covid-19 restrictions and foreign automakers have had to overcome a growing preference for Chinese brands by competing on price, squeezing profit margins. The situation in China probably wonÂ’t significantly improve until the second half of the year, according to Jacobson. GM remains on target to sell 150,000 electric vehicles this year, the CFO said.

Has Chevrolet gotten the formula right with the Malibu?

Since the Malibu's return in 1997, there has been an internal issue with Chevrolet with getting the midsize sedan formula right in its own way. Let's be frank, the Malibu had a boring beginning as a midsize sedan in 1997. We got the dreadful sixth-generation Malibu in 2004 that brought us an SS model that really didn't deserve the SS badge on it. Hell, its saving grace was fleet sales. But the tides seemed to shift when the seventh-generation Malibu came on the scene in 2008. With the determination of making the Malibu more competitive with other cars in its class, a lot of hard work and effort was put into making the seventh-generation Malibu a timeless and well-crafted vehicle. As an owner of a 2012 Malibu 1LTZ, I have to say that Chevy has fully accomplished it. I love the nicely designed exterior, the interior was comfy enough for those long trips to work each and every day, and it was a very quiet car in my opinion. And its fuel economy was decent, not too bad. The New York Times in 2008 referred to it as "A super Accord, but from GM." In some comparisons, the Malibu was ranked higher than the Honda Accord and the Nissan Altima. It also received the North American Car of the Year award. Love it or hate it, the seventh-gen Malibu was an overall big success for GM. But then in 2013 we got the eighth-generation Malibu. GM gave it a botched release, releasing an Eco model first (that was later discontinued), then later in the year GM released the regular Malibu models. Shifting to a new platform didn't help it either. Even though it separated it further from the Impala, which was built on the same platform as the last-gen Malibu, the shrinkage in legroom, its OK design language, and a poorly crafted interior helped contribute to its overall lackluster sales performance. Not to mention the cars in its class got 10x better than the Malibu as well. Just 18 months after the 2013 Malibu went on sale it received a mild refresh to try to help its OK design, but it didn't help at all. The fate of the eighth-gen Malibu was sealed early on. But wait, a new light came from GM early last year. It came in the form of the ninth-generation Malibu. I have to say, when the curtain came off of it last year, a huge sigh of relief came from me. To me it seemed that Chevrolet took that determination it had in crafting the seventh-gen Malibu and increased it this time around.