http://www.thecarconnection.com/tips Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:00:03 -0500 Tips and Advice -- find out how to maintain, service, insure, wash and wax, and change the oil in your car with tips from TheCarConnection.com. Lifestyle/Fashion http://static.thecarconnection.com/website/tcc-feed.jpg http://www.thecarconnection.com/tips http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1038337_were-gonna-walk-down-to-electric-avenue-with-earplugs http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1038337_were-gonna-walk-down-to-electric-avenue-with-earplugs Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:20:00 -0500 Halloween is done and Thanksgiving is looming, so that can only mean one thing: just two more months until the 2010 Detroit auto show! This year's gathering will see a new display area for up to 20 electric vehicles -- many of which come from smaller companies like San Jose's Green Vehicles that couldn't ordinarily afford to display at the ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1037010_for-automakers-brand-loyalty-hits-the-skids http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1037010_for-automakers-brand-loyalty-hits-the-skids Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:02:00 -0400 Not so long ago, brand loyalty played a major role in keeping the auto industry healthy. Many of our parents bought vehicles from one particular manufacturer, and they often inherited such preferences from their own parents. Here in the U.S., brand perception was frequently rooted in national pride: 40 years after VJ Day, my grandparents ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1035542_must-see-graphic-cheat-sheet-for-todays-new-auto-industry http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1035542_must-see-graphic-cheat-sheet-for-todays-new-auto-industry Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:54:00 -0400 Over the past eighteen months or so, the auto industry has been going through one of the most pronounced periods of change ever. While the Japanese and South Korean auto industries have avoided major upheavals, two major U.S. automakers have gone bankrupt, long-held brands have been sold to overseas companies, and other international companies ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034846_2010-chevrolet-camaro-outsells-ford-mustang-again http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034846_2010-chevrolet-camaro-outsells-ford-mustang-again Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:00:00 -0400 When comes to Detroit's Big Three, Ford is the belle of the ball these days: the company never accepted bailout dough from the U.S. government, and as a result, Ford's brand and its sales are both doing pretty well. However, one of the company's flagship models -- the Ford Mustang -- has recently been losing ground to one of its primary ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034719_five-questions-ford-evp-mark-fields http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034719_five-questions-ford-evp-mark-fields Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:40:00 -0400 Ford is in by far the best shape of the Detroit Three right now. Their sales are up compared to GM and Toyota, and their 2009 Ford Focus and 2009 Ford Escape were two of the top-selling cars bought using Cash-for-Clunkers credits. TheCarConnection.com was lucky enough to attend a Ford social event in New York City last night, part of a ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1033850_off-topic-friday-detroit-draws-artists http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1033850_off-topic-friday-detroit-draws-artists Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:15:00 -0400 We can't say for sure, but many analysts are predicting sunnier skies for Detroit's auto industry. Chrysler and GM got new leases on life, Ford's doing fine on its own, and car buyers have gone cuckoo for Cash-for-Clunkers. As for the city itself, the forecast is a little cloudier, but there's at least one sliver of silver lining: Detroit's ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022749_breaking-house-adds-2-billion-to-cash-for-clunkers-senate-is-next http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022749_breaking-house-adds-2-billion-to-cash-for-clunkers-senate-is-next Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:30:00 -0400 Well, that was quick. Just four days after the launch of the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program, better known as "Cash for Clunkers," it appears that it may be suspended due to its own success. Apparently eager buyers have blown through the $1 billion allocation, and dealers are worrying they won't get paid for clunkers they've ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022751_end-of-the-world-hint-detroit-paper-cant-tell-cadillac-from-lincoln http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022751_end-of-the-world-hint-detroit-paper-cant-tell-cadillac-from-lincoln Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:25:00 -0400 Detroit's been going through tough times for, oh, the last 40 years or so. That's both Detroit as in the carmakers formerly known as The Big Three, now more commonly called The Detroit Two and a Half, and Detroit the city. About which one can only say, oh dear. But the rot is spreading. We read Detroit's newspapers regularly, and were ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022226_consumer-groups-lobby-for-liability-warnings-on-chrysler-vehicles http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022226_consumer-groups-lobby-for-liability-warnings-on-chrysler-vehicles Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:16:00 -0400 The United States Federal Trade Commission has received a petition from consumer organizations worried about Chrysler vehicles manufactured prior to April 30, 2009, when the company entered bankruptcy court. Specifically the organizations are concerned about Chrysler Group (aka "New Chrysler") and its liability for those automobiles, and ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022201_gms-rick-wagoner-gets-8-6-million-consolation-prize http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022201_gms-rick-wagoner-gets-8-6-million-consolation-prize Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:26:00 -0400 Good news: former General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner has finally been given a retirement package. Bad news (for Rick): it's about a third of what he was hoping for. When the Obama administration's auto industry task force booted Wagoner from his position at General Motors last March, details of his retirement plan were thrown into the air, and he ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022176_steve-rattner-surrenders-car-czar-crown http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022176_steve-rattner-surrenders-car-czar-crown Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:16:00 -0400 Just a few months into his tenure as President Obama's "cars czar", Steve Rattner has resigned from the federal auto industry task force. Little detail has been given about the step-down, which, in its Palin-esque way, seems to have taken many by surprise. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made the announcement to the press, saying that ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022141_lutz-saves-pontiac-g8-chrysler-gives-lutzs-dodge-viper-a-reprieve http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022141_lutz-saves-pontiac-g8-chrysler-gives-lutzs-dodge-viper-a-reprieve Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:48:00 -0400 What once was old is new again -- and we're not just talking about GM's beloved Bob Lutz, who was lured out of retirement on Friday  to serve as the company's "vice chairman responsible for all creative elements of products and customer relationships". No, we're also referring to the Pontiac G8 and the Dodge Viper, which had been cruising ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022105_bobs-back-lutz-returns-to-gm-for-pr-development-duties http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022105_bobs-back-lutz-returns-to-gm-for-pr-development-duties Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:10:00 -0400 Just when Bob Lutz thought he was out, they pulled him back in. As a key element of its massive restructuring endeavor, the new General Motors Company asked the former Vice-Chairman of Global Product Development for General Motors Corporation to return to his desk pronto, and Lutz has agreed. The company hasn't given his official title, but ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022100_general-motors-corporation-has-become-general-motors-company http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022100_general-motors-corporation-has-become-general-motors-company Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:03:00 -0400 Forget what you knew about GM. The lumbering entity known as General Motors Corporation is gone, and today, its surviving staff and assets have been reborn as the lighter, more nimble General Motors Company. To be sure, GM isn't entirely out of the woods--not yet. Among the obstacles that the General and its recently restructured competitor, ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022073_disenfranchised-dealers-battle-chrysler-gm-in-d-c http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1022073_disenfranchised-dealers-battle-chrysler-gm-in-d-c Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:02:00 -0400 The U.S. House of Representatives is considering not one, but two bills that would provide legal remedies to the 2,100 dealers cut from the Chrysler and GM networks during each company's recent restructuring. Although the text of those bills hasn't filtered into the congressional database just yet, reports indicate that both would return ..]]>