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Back in March, VW confirmed it would sell the Polo in the US in 2011. The five-door hatchback model was unveiled earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show, and now Volkswagen has released details of the three-door hatch as well. US details to come It's like that VW will also offer a four-door sedan Polo model for the US market, just as its Volkswagen Golf hatchbacks are supplemented by the Jetta four-door sedan. Which, it's worth pointing out, consistently outsells the Golf models. How much the US-bound Polo will be altered from its German counterparts is open to question. Stefan Jacoby, CEO...
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2010 Toyota Prius Price-Gouging Pops Up
We've just read some nice investigative reporting by DailyTech's Jason Mick on a well-known but infuriating phenomenon: auto dealer price gouging, in this case on the sought-after 2010 Toyota Prius. We're far from the only outlet to note that the Cash-For-Clunkers plan boosted sales of the 2010...
John Voelcker -
2010 MazdaSpeed3: Sporty Green Sizzle, Zoom-Zoom Style
Once in awhile, High Gear Media editors get lucky. Last Thursday, our own Bengt Halvorson managed to snag a drive in the 2010 Mazda MazdaSpeed3 before any other reporter. Which means those sites that just posted their reviews yesterday (they know who they are ...) were just a tad behind the curve...
John Voelcker -
BREAKING: Cash-For-Clunkers May Be Over, Out Of Money, Kaput
As we enter the news day on Thursday, it appears that the "Cash For Clunkers" program could well be out of cash. The National Association of Auto Dealers (NADA) asked the US government to suspend the program as of midnight last night, and warned dealers they are at risk of not getting reimbursed if...
John Voelcker -
2011 Scion iQ To Go On Sale By End of Next Year
In March, when Toyota unveiled a concept version of the 2011 Scion iQ at the New York Auto Show, it said only that it was studying the idea of bringing the "micro-subcompact car" into the US. Now it looks like the iQ will arrive by September or October of 2010. That's a few months earlier than the...
John Voelcker -
Yet Another Reason To Buy a Toyota Prius: Cheap Insurance!
There are many excellent reasons to buy a Toyota Prius, new or used, leading off with the hybrid's superb fuel economy: 50 miles per gallon for the new 2010 Toyota Prius. Now you can add to that list another justification. It turns out that the Toyota Prius will save you money on insurance. The...
John Voelcker -
By now, anyone who's shopping for a 2010 Toyota Prius knows that Toyota's newest hybrid is a smash hit. Global demand is high, the company is making as many cars as it can get battery packs for, and the US Cash-for-Clunkers program has boosted sales of the new hybrid even above already-high demand for the redesigned 2010 model. But the company got caught off-guard in another way, too: The solar moonroof option has been far more popular than Toyota expected, and buyers have ordered it at rates much higher than the company had imagined. Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales, told last...
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How Does The 2011 Chevy Volt Get 230 MPG? By Making Assumptions
UPDATE: GM confirms that the 2011 Chevrolet Volt will get 230 mpg city, and a composite fuel economy (city and highway) of more than 100 mpg according to draft regulations being developed at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). If the rumors are correct, this morning General Motors CEO Fritz...
John Voelcker -
Clunkers Success: 2010 Toyota Prius Almost Sold Out
Last Tuesday, we noted that sales of the 2010 Toyota Prius have soared due to the Cash-for-Clunkers program. In fact, it's the fourth most popular vehicle purchased to replace a clunker trade-in. The unexpected success of the Clunkers trade-in system, formally known as the Car Allowance Rebate...
John Voelcker -
Top Clunker Buys Compared: Toyota Corolla vs Ford Focus vs Honda Civic
Thinking about trading in your clunker for a nice, new, fuel-efficient car? Take a breath; the first-week success of the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program, better known as "Cash for Clunkers," looks to be continued at least through Labor Day. Last Friday, the US House of Representatives...
John Voelcker -
UPDATE: Cash-For-Clunkers Adds $2 Billion, Lasts Through Labor Day
As expected, the US Senate voted yesterday to add $2 billion more to the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program--better known as "Cash for Clunkers". President Barack Obama is expected to sign it today. The vote approved a bill identical to the one passed last Friday by the US House of...
John Voelcker -
Surprise, Surprise: That GM Plug-In Hybrid Is a Buick After All
Well, the other shoe finally dropped. General Motors said today that the plug-in version of its Two-Mode Hybrid system would be fitted to a Buick crossover to be introduced next year, with the plug-in arriving in 2011. That'll be at least a few months after the arrival of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt...
John Voelcker -
This morning's Detroit News lists the amount of cash each state has gotten thus far under the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program, better known as "Cash for Clunkers". The paper notes, "Michigan ranks No. 1 in the nation ... with $34.4 million requested from the federal government as of Tuesday." Following Michigan are Ohio ($29.3 million), California ($26.4 million), Minnesota ($26.2 million), and Texas ($25.0 million). Knowledge vs data: Beware! But there's data, and then there's knowledge. Michigan and California have a lot more people than, say, Rhode Island. Just listing total...
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2010 Toyota Prius Sales Soar, Boosted By Clunkers Cash
Never let it be said US car buyers don't know a good deal when they see one. The Toyota Prius has become the fourth-most popular car purchased under the first 80,000 Cash-for-Clunkers vouchers processed by the US Department of Transportation. In fact, Toyota sold 19,173 Priuses during July, almost...
John Voelcker -
Cash For Clunkers: The Data On Why It's Working
Who knew? Turns out Americans just needed a little nudge to visit their car dealers, but the promise of an extra $3,500 or more in incentives was enough to push car buyers over the hump and get them to trade in their clunkers. And how. As we reported Friday on our sister site TheCarConnection.com...
John Voelcker -
July's Most Popular Prius Posts: 2010 Reference Guide Rocks, Again
It's the very last day of July, so it's time again for us to recap the five most popular posts of the month on AllAboutPrius.com. Compared to June's most-popular list, we're back to the basics, with our posts on the the making of the "Harmony" commercial and the followup MPG advertisement falling...
John Voelcker -
2011 Chevrolet Cruze: Good Reviews for US-Bound Global Compact
We write about a lot of advanced technologies here, including hybrids, diesels, electric cars, and even natural-gas vehicles. But the hard truth is that all of those added together will be only a small fraction of cars sold in the US, even 10 years from now. Most of the green cars of tomorrow will...
John Voelcker -
Surprise: Heavier, More Powerful Cars Get Worse Gas Mileage
Here at GreenCarReports.com, we read a lot. And increasingly, our friends send us stuff they think we'd be interested in. Which is how we came across an abstract of a study done by one Christopher R. Knittel at the University of California-Davis. Knittel looked at the factors affecting carmakers'...
John Voelcker -
While the 2010 Honda Insight has gotten a lot of attention lately, it's far from Honda's only hybrid. Now the company has announced that it will put two more hybrid-electric vehicles on sale in Japan next year: the 2011 Honda CR-Z and the 2011 Honda Fit Hybrid. Honda had previously announced both cars, but this is the first time it has confirmed timing. The CR-Z goes on sale in Japan next February, and will likely be shown at this fall's 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. The Fit Hybrid will go on sale "before the end of 2010". Small, sporty two-seater The 2011 Honda CR-Z will be a small, sporty hybrid...
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Chrysler PT Cruiser Survives Through 2011
We're all irrationally fond of some cars, and one of ours is the 2009 Chrysler PT Cruiser. Technically, it's a small minivan, but the retro-styled gangster look has always disguised that fact completely. And, it's a remarkably practical car. Now comes the news that Chrysler reversed its previous...
John Voelcker -
The Truth About Cars Reconsiders: 2010 Toyota Prius Is Fantastic
Three weeks ago, when Jay Shoemaker from The Truth About Cars reviewed the 2010 Toyota Prius, he didn't hold back. He hated it. Loathed it. Despised it. He didn't like the car, its looks, the driving experience, the interior, or the instruments. We poked some fun at him, and at the cranky...
John Voelcker -
BREAKING: Cash for Clunkers Passed By Senate
All that's left now is for President Barack Obama to sign the bill. Late last night, the US Senate voted 91 to 5 to pass a $106 billion supplemental spending bill for US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan that includes $1 billion in "Cash for Clunkers" funding. Earlier, the Senate had barely defeated...
John Voelcker -
2010 Toyota Prius vs. 2010 Honda Insight: Running The Numbers
If you've been comparing the new 2010 Toyota Prius to the smaller, less expensive 2010 Honda Insight, Toyota would like to have a little chat with you. They think that you think you'll save money buying the cheaper Insight. So, licking the corporate pencil and pulling out the compact calculator...
John Voelcker -
GM Mild Hybrid System To Return In 2011, On Steroids
As Mark Twain is supposed to have said, "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." (Although, sadly, he actually didn't say it.) In this case, the "my" is the General Motors mild-hybrid powertrain, sometimes known as the Belt-Alternator-Starter or BAS system. And it will return for 2011...
John Voelcker