Kia Stinger Takes Down Mustang in Drag Race

Many of us can remember the days where we used to practically scoff at the idea of newcomer (at the time) Kia making a vehicle that was truly worth buying. The thing is, practically every used Kia car has stood the test of time and they have become a company that’s pretty awesome to watch grow. Enter this year’s Kia Stinger. Not only is this thing a beauty to behold, but apparently it’s quicker than even the street-race-royalty Ford Mustang. Check out this video if you don’t believe me:   With its focused handling and twin-turbo V-6 engine, the Kia Stinger GT is one of the most interesting cars to hit the market this year. And a new quarter-mile test shows that the Korean sports saloon might actually be quicker than one of America's automotive icons: the Ford Mustang GT.First, the caveats. This is an independent test set up Down Under by Motoring Australia, and as such it's dependent on variables like weather, lane conditions, and driver skill. And the Mustang in question is equipped with a manual six-speed transmission, while the Stinger has an 8-speed automatic. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Ford Looking to Dethrone Toyota in Consumer Electric Cars

When Toyota originally released its Prius, the future of electric and hybrid vehicles was somewhat shaky but ended up becoming a huge share of the market thanks to fuel efficiency and that the technology became more affordable to more consumers. Now that hybrids and electric vehicles have been proven to sell (and sell well), Ford has announced it’s going to offer hybrid and electric versions of many of its top selling vehicles. They also think they’ll outsell Toyota in fuel efficient vehicles by 2021, but that seems like a tall order.   Ford expects to beat Toyota in hybrid vehicle sales by 2021, the company said Thursday.The No. 2 U.S. automaker unveiled a plan to overhaul most of its lineup of vehicles over the next two years at an event at its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.The strategy focuses on shifting attention to high-margin trucks, SUVs and performance vehicles, while also offering electrified versions of the bulk of its lineup, including its iconic full-size F-150 truck.In doing this, Ford aims to make hybrids mainstream by integrating them with the company's most profitable and best-selling vehicles, said Jim Farley, the company's president of global markets. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Supra Lovers Get Great News from Toyota

Although the Toyota Supra always had a fanbase behind it, Toyota stopped making this sporty model back in 2002. The end of the Supra was a pretty tough pill to swallow, especially for people who enjoy e Thankfully, those of us who loved this car and were bummed by the ending of the line have something to really sink our teeth in. Toyota (and BMW) has released a concept for an upcoming Toyota GR Supra that looks great and is expected to be available to consumers come 2019.    In good news for fans of Toyota Motor Corp.'s popular Supra, the automaker plans to reintroduce its iconic sports car after 17 years in a collaboration with BMW AG.The first vehicle to be developed with Toyota’s German partner is expected to be released in the first half of 2019 both in Japan and abroad.The move comes as Toyota is accelerating efforts again into developing sports cars.While more traditional car buyers currently want general-purpose vehicles, demand is also growing for sporty vehicles and other luxury models among automobile enthusiasts. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Volkswagen Preparing to Duke it Out with Tesla

Being one of if not the biggest auto manufacturers in the world, Volkswagen is making moves to dethrone Tesla as the default king of electric vehicles. Because of their posturing, their stocks rose while Tesla’s dropped. For most of us, though, this means that electric vehicles should be a lot more affordable soon, which will likely mean Tesla will have to start dropping its prices somehow.   German automobile giant Volkswagen has the scale and the scope to take on and beat pioneer electric car maker Tesla. And after watching Tesla pioneering the electric market, it is jumping on the electric car bandwagon with its own line of battery and hybrid cars – and according to the Wall Street Journal, has plans to create 16 plants in which to build them by the year 2025.Nine of those plants are expected be in operation by 2020. Investors have taken notice of this development, sending Volkswagen’s shares higher and Tesla’s lower at Tuesday’s Wall Street opening. The shares of the two companies have been trading in tandem in the last three months, with Volkswagen’s shares faring better in the last six months and Tesla’s faring better over the last two years—see table. Click Here to Continue  Reading

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Honda Looking to Break Speed Record… With a Lawnmower

While our attention is primarily on affordable used cars online, we couldn’t help but share Honda’s latest video of what they’re calling the “Meanmower”. The current speed record (with a lawn mower) is 134mph - but the meanmower is likely to shatter that considering its ridiculous setup.   Back in 2014, Honda secured the absurd record of World's Fastest Lawn Mower, with its 116.57-mph "Mean Mower." The following year, some Norwegians paired their own mower with a 405-horsepower V-8, snatching the record from Honda, and escalating it to 134 mph. After some time spent in the shop (and maybe the bar), Honda decided to recapture the record, and announced Monday that its Mean Mower has received a serious overhaul in the form of a new, modern bike engine. The original Mean Mower used the 996 V-twin from a Honda VTR 1000F Firestorm, which produced 110-hp, and 72 pound-feet of torque. Updated with an engine pulled from Honda's CBR1000RR Fireblade superbike, the Mean Mower Mark 2 uses the bike's 999-cubic-centimeter inline four with dual overhead cams and 16 valves, which squeezes out 189-hp at a tall 13,000 rpm, and 106 pound-feet of torque, according to Honda's spec sheet on the bike. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Market Tracking for the Future of the Auto Industry

Although understanding the market as a whole has been fairly easy for the car industry over the last century, it hasn’t really been able to track the actual customers who are buying cars. Still, KPIs are starting to be developed that will allow customer tracking on more than just a few new levels, which could lead to car companies developing and building cars that more closely match what we really want as buyers.   The automotive industry needs digital KPIs across its value chain, both upstream and downstream. These are also required across all departments from supply chain management, R&D, production, and sales & marketing, to vehicle life cycle management.To my mind, the killer KPI that OEMs have never tracked—and could never track in the past as they lacked access to vehicle drivers—is the Customer. This entity needs to be their No. 1 focus. Customer satisfaction, which was consistently identified as the most important management KPI in previous years (and has now been substituted by Net Promoter Score), will now organically transform into a more sophisticated metric. In this avatar, it will not be a single, monolithic KPI.  Instead, multiple customer-focused KPIs will offer more granular or nuanced insights into specific segments like customer spend or loyalty. Click Here to Continue Reading  

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Carmakers’ Stocks Stagnant After Stale February

Although there had been some growth in sales through the end of last year, February was fairly stagnant for the auto industry. Because of that, those companies’ stocks have been pretty flat since the end of last month. Maybe instead of buying new cars, people are starting to understand buying used cars online is a lot more cost effective.   Major automakers reported lower U.S. new vehicle sales for February on Thursday as consumerMajor automakers reported lower U.S. new vehicle sales for February on Thursday as consumer demand continued to cool despite strong crossovers and SUV sales, but surprisingly weak pickup truck sales dented the share prices of Detroit carmakers."Trucks are higher-margin products and from a mix standpoint, February was disappointing," said John Toohey, head of equities at USAA Asset Management Company in San Antonio, Texas, which has $166 billion in assets under management. "If this continues, that's a profitability headwind." Continue Reading

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