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2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray priced from $51,995*

After months of speculation, Chevrolet has finally revealed the official starting price of the 2014 Corvette Stingray. The base MSRP for the 450-horsepower Stingray Coupe will be $51,995, while the Stingray Convertible will go for $56,995 (*both prices include a $995 destination fee). This means that the price increase from 2013 to 2014 is just $1,400 for the coupe and $2,395 for the convertible - pretty modest increases considering the upgrade in specifications. Of course, neither price accounts for the sort of dealer markup that might grace early C7 window stickers, especially since less than a third of all Chevrolet dealers will be allocated Corvette models to sell at the car's launch.
Now, these prices are for the base car, so if you're wondering how much a fully loaded Stingray will run, Chevy has given us a good indication of that as well. The coupe we saw on display at the Detroit Auto Show (shown above), for example, would run $73,360 including options such as the $2,800 Z51 Performance Package, $2,495 competition sport seats and the $1,795 Magnetic Ride Control option - just to name a few. Stepping up to the 3LT trim level that brings a full leather interior will run an extra $8,005 over the base price.
While $20,000 in options may seem like a lot, this "as-tested" price still has the C7 competitively priced against rival coupes like the Porsche 911 and Nissan GT-R. Speaking of price comparisons, Chevrolet also points out that the C7 Stingray Z51 costs $2,200 less than the C6 Grand Sport while delivering better acceleration (0-60 mph in less than four seconds) and improved track performance (including more than 1 g in cornering).

2014 Chevrolet Cruze TD fires up its new diesel motor

Ever since General Motors confirmed plans to produce a diesel-powered Cruze back in 2011, we've been eagerly awaiting its arrival. And as part of the 2013 Chicago Auto Show, Chevrolet has pulled back the cover on its oil-burning compact sedan, set to go on sale in the near future with a starting price of $25,695, not including $810 for destination.
The heart and soul of the Cruze TD (that's its official name) is a 2.0-liter turbo-diesel inline four-cylinder engine rated at 148 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, mated solely to a six-speed automatic transmission. The engine also has an overboost function that will increase torque to 280 lb-ft for up to ten seconds. The full brace of official specs haven't been released, but GM tells us that highway fuel economy will come in at 42 miles per gallon. If that number sounds familiar, it's because the Volkswagen Jetta TDI has the exact same rating. Unlike the Jetta, however, the Cruze TD can run on B20 biodiesel, where as the Volkswagen can only accept B5.
Model-specific changes to this 2014 Cruze TD include an aero kit and unique 17-inch alloy wheels. Inside, there's a full leather interior, and Chevrolet will provide two years of complimentary scheduled maintenance, not to mention a 100,000-mile powertrain warranty.

BMW, Hyundai score big in JD Power's first Tech Experience Index

While automakers are quick to brag about winning a JD Power Initial Quality Study award, the reality, as we've pointed out before, is that these ratings are somewhat misleading, since IQS doesn't necessarily distinguish genuine quality issues. JD Power's new Tech Experience Index aims to solve that problem. The new metric takes the same 90-day approach as IQS but focuses exclusively on technology – collision protection, comfort and convenience, driving assistance, entertainment and connectivity, navigation, and smartphone mirroring. It splits the industry up into just seven segments, based loosely on size, which is why the Chevrolet Camaro is in the same division (mid-size) as Kia Sorento and the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class is in the same segment as the Hyundai Genesis (mid-size premium). It makes for some screwy bedfellows, to be sure. Still, splitting tech experience away from initial quality should allow customers to make more informed and intelligent decisions when buying new vehicles. In the inaugural study, respondents listed BMW and Hyundai as the big winners, with two segment awards – the 2 Series for small premium and the 4 Series for compact premium, and the Genesis for mid-size premium and Tucson for small segment. The Chevrolet Camaro (midsize), Kia Forte (compact), and Nissan Maxima (large) scored individual wins. Ford also had a surprising hit with the Lincoln MKC, which ranked third in the compact premium segment behind the 4 Series and Lexus IS. This is a coup for the Blue Oval, whose woeful MyFord Touch systems made the brand a victim of the IQS' flaws in the early 2010s. But Ford and other automakers might not want to celebrate just yet. According to JD Power, there's still a lot of room for improvement – navigation systems were the lowest-rated piece of tech in the study. Instead, customers repeatedly saluted collision-avoidance and safety systems, giving the category the best marks of the study and listing blind-spot monitoring and backup cameras as two must-have features – 96 percent of respondents said they wanted those two systems in their next vehicle. But this isn't really a surprise. Implementation of safety systems from brand to brand is similar, and they don't require any input from users, unlike navigation and infotainment systems which are frustratingly deep.