2007 Toyota Tundra Sr5 Extended Crew Cab Pickup 4-door 5.7l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2015 will be the biggest year ever for cars at CES

Like the SEMA Show, major automakers are paying increasing attention to the CES, with 2015 expected to be one of the most auto focused yet. Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, General Motors, Hyundai, Mazda, Audi, BMW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will all be in attendance when CES 2015 kicks off next week, taking up a record-breaking 165,000 square feet of space at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "We've come a long way from a single car on a carpet," Ford's Alan Hall told Bloomberg. Unlike SEMA, or a more traditional auto show, like the upcoming festivities in Detroit, CES doesn't necessarily focus on entire cars or the way they perform, but on the way our technology will interact with vehicles, and in how those vehicles will deliver information to drivers. "CES has become a major launch point for a lot of the big automakers," IHS tech analyst Mark Boyadjis told Bloomberg. "CES is a way for them to get on a global stage for technology." As for what kind of wares automakers will trot out in Las Vegas, we already know that BMW will show off an autonomous i3 electric car that can navigate its way through a multistory car park and can be hailed via a smartwatch app. According to Bloomberg, Hyundai will show off its own smartwatch app for the Genesis sedan, while Audi and Mercedes-Benz will show off autonomous vehicles next week. Automakers won't be the only companies looking to capitalize on CES. Tech firms, like chipmaker Nvidia, are becoming increasingly involved in the automotive game and will be in town showing their wares off to OEMs. "Two years ago, our booth would have been filled with PCs and people playing video games," Danny Shapiro, Nvidia's senior director for automotive business, told Bloomberg. "This year we made a strategic decision to shift the focus of the booth on automotive and de-prioritize some of the other things." Needless to say, you can expect to see a lot of news out of Las Vegas come next week. Stay tuned. News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Julie Jacobson / AP CES Audi BMW Chrysler Fiat Ford GM Hyundai Mazda Toyota Volkswagen Technology CES 2015

Mazda3 sales off to rocky start despite massive critical acclaim

Like just about every other auto publication we've seen, we loved the way the Mazda3 drove when we reviewed it a few months ago, but those glowing reviews apparently aren't helping its sales. The new compact may be falling victim to a sales war between the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, with the newcomer getting squeezed out by those with more established names and bigger marketing budgets.
According to Automotive News, Mazda3 sales have fallen every month since last August, and its sales are down 27 percent in the first two months of 2014. It certainly isn't helping that the entire compact segment is down five percent this year as well.
The biggest problem for the new model seems to be its price compared to rivals. Mazda is not offering the incentives that are on the hood of competitors. With the previous generation, the company offered more than $2,700 on the hood to move them out, but the current model only carries about $1,233 in markdowns, according to AN.

Honda, Subaru airlifting parts to bypass port labor diputes

It should be abundantly obvious that a vital element in building cars is actually having the components on hand to assemble them. A labor dispute on the West Coast between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and management is not making that quite so easy for some Japanese automakers. Work slowdowns at the ports have pushed Honda and Subaru parent Fuji Heavy Industries into flying some parts into the country. The two automakers began shipping by airplane late last month to avoid production delays, according to Bloomberg, but it has been an expensive solution. Subaru's chief financial officer said the decision cost around $60 million more per month than sending components by cargo ship. They aren't the only companies dealing with the problem, either. Toyota reportedly stopped overtime assembly at some of its factories here because of the delays in getting parts, according to Bloomberg. The dockworkers have been negotiating on a new contract since May 2014, and the current offer on the table to them has offered a 3 percent raise, according to Bloomberg. Although, the union is reportedly considering another slowdown at 29 ports along the West Coast in the coming days. News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Nick Ut / AP Photo Auto News UAW/Unions Honda Subaru Toyota shipping port labor dispute