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Lexus, Mazda win KBB 5-Year Cost To Own Awards

We focus a lot on what new cars are like to drive, but it's difficult on a one-week loan to really get a sense of what a car is like to live with. Sure, we try to recreate that sense with our long-term vehicles, but even after a year, it's impossible to know fully learn about a car, particularly in terms of reliability and cost of repairs. For 2014 model year vehicles, Kelley Blue Book has put together a list of the most affordable vehicles over a five-year period.
At the tippy top of the list are Mazda and Lexus, with the Zoom-Zoom automaker winning the award for best non-luxury brand. Lexus, meanwhile, was the most affordable luxury marque over a five-year period. It's interesting to note, though, that not a single Mazda won its segment in this year's awards.
General Motors did quite well, taking eight segments, including both the subcompact and plug-in segments, with the gas-powered Chevrolet Spark and Spark EV. The Chevy Camaro SS and ZL1 took the high-performance car award. Toyota was well represented, with five winners split between the main brand (Corolla, Prius C and Tacoma) and Lexus (LS and RX).

Lexus Eco Challenge rewards schools for clean water, briquette press projects

Teams from one New Jersey high school and one Michigan middle school reversed the old adage by thinking locally and acting globally. And that strategy won them the grand prizes in the most recent edition of the Lexus Eco Challenge. The future is indeed bright. The Toyota luxury-vehicle division gave out a half-million dollars in this year's contest. One $30,000 grand prize was awarded to the Pinelands Eco Scienteers from Little Egg Harbor, NJ, which produced and distributed low-cost briquette presses to rural villages beset by deforestation. The other grand prize went to the E.T. Electrical Team from Byron Center West Middle School in Michigan. That middle-school group raised money to send water filters to Haiti, Kenya and the Philippines. Lexus also awarded eight $15,000 first-place awards, with the winners including high schools from California, Florida, Missouri and Pennsylvania as well as middle schools from Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas. A special shout out goes to Daniel Boone Area High School in Birdsboro, PA, where students created an educational and public-relations campaign to publicize algae-based biofuels. In all, Lexus has doled out more than $4 million in Eco Challenge awards in seven years. Check out Lexus's press release below. Students Get Dollars and Sense in Lexus Eco Challenge - $500,000 Awarded to Teams Who Learn About Environment and Community Empowerment Two Grand Prize Teams Earn $30,000 Eight $15,000 First Place Awards Given to Innovative High School and Middle School Teams Students Bring Ideas to a Larger Audience and Make a Positive Impact on the World TORRANCE, Calif., (Feb. 24, 2014) – It's a win, win situation! Communities become a better place, and students, teachers and schools have the chance to share $500,000 in scholarships and grants through the Lexus Eco Challenge. This year, the $30,000 Grand Prize winners are the Pinelands Eco Scienteers from Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, and the E.T. Electrical Team from Byron Center, Michigan. The Lexus Eco Challenge is an educational program and contest that inspires and empowers young people to learn about the environment and take action to improve it. High school and middle school teams nationwide define an environmental issue that is important to them, develop an action plan to address the issue, implement the plan, and report on the results.

Weekly Recap: Automakers rethink the definition of luxury

Variety is the spice of life, but it's becoming a prerequisite for luxury carmakers in the ultra-competitive US market. The Detroit Auto Show was strong evidence of this reality. It's not enough to offer attractive and well-appointed cars and SUVs anymore. Luxury brands that want to be competitive need to invest in everything from high-powered supercars to clever hybrids. To be relevant, you need to be green and mean – and everything in between. As General Motors product chief Mark Reuss said after the reveal of the 640-horsepower Cadillac CTS-V: "We are not leaving anything on the table." He was speaking for Cadillac, but he might as well have been speaking for the luxury car market. The CTS-V debuted in Detroit about an hour after Lexus surprised showgoers with the reveal of the RC F GT3 race car and then announced ambitious plans to return to competitive racing. That almost overshadowed the fact Lexus had just revealed another potent addition to its growing F line, the 467-hp GS F. View 20 Photos But for luxury brands, it's not just about maximum horsepower for well-heeled enthusiasts or decadent amenities for the Grey Poupon set. Strong competition from all corners has forced automakers to refine and expand their lineups in ways unforeseen even a few years ago. Case in point: Mercedes-Benz finally has an answer to the BMW X6, rolling out the GLE coupe in Detroit. The X6, which blends coupe-like styling cues with some of the functionality of an SUV, debuted in 2008. Back then it was a punchline, but seven years and more than 260,000 sales later, the X6's success has compelled Benz to respond. Mercedes – one of the strongest proponents of diesel technology – also debuted the C350 plug-in hybrid sedan, which promises a range of 20 miles on electricity, though fuel economy figures were not announced. The car pairs Mercedes' well-received 208-hp turbocharged four-cylinder with an electric motor for total output of 275 hp and 443 pound-feet of torque. Meanwhile, Infiniti will add the Q30 hatchback to its lineup by the end of the year, new president Roland Kruger reiterated in Detroit. It's expected to be joined by a crossover variant, and the additions will help strengthen Infiniti in the United States and abroad. "While we're expanding our product line, we're also expanding our market reach," he said. That's something echoed by Jaguar executives, who are preparing to launch the brand's first crossover, the F-Pace, in 2016.