1996 Chevrolet Lumina - Used - 205843 on 2040-cars

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Sunday Drive: Taking a gaze into the automotive crystal ball

Mankind has long been fascinated by the future. So it makes sense that this past week's top stories were all about cars, trucks, and SUVs that won't be hitting the market until the 2019 model year. And right at the top of the list is the Ram 1500. We've come to know Ram as the truck maker that styles its pickups with cues cribbed from big rigs, but that look has slowly evolved over time into something uniquely its own. The next Ram 1500 continues this trend, with a newly refined look that we can't wait to see in person. Up next is the 2019 Chevy Silverado. Pickup trucks have been, continue to be, and will remain the best-selling vehicles in America. And General Motors is a leader in the field, with two distinct offerings with which to entice buyers, one from the bread-and-butter Chevrolet brand and one wearing the slightly more upscale GMC badge. The Chevy looks to get LED lighting elements for 2019, which ought to keep the truck from looking dated when compared to the Ford F-150 and the previously mentioned Ram 1500. From there we move past pickup trucks and into SUVs and sedans. The 2019 Jeep Cherokee looks to get toned down a bit with its next refresh, and the '19 BMW 3 Series continues its slow evolutionary journey at the top of its aspirational sales pedestal. Finally, spy shots give way to official production reveals for the 2019 Audi A7 and Polestar 1. This pair of European luxury cars won't compete with one another – one is a rakish hatchback and the other a sports coupe – any further than for the eyeballs of our readers, but both proved popular enough to merit inclusion in our weekly roundup. As always, tune in to Autoblog next week for a front-row seat to all the happenings worth following in the automotive industry. 2019 Ram 1500 spotted without the classic crosshairs 2019 Chevy Silverado spied with new LED accents 2019 Jeep Cherokee reveals a much more normal face 2019 BMW 3 Series spy shots reveal production lights, new interior details 2019 Audi A7 revealed: More torque, refined styling Polestar 1 First Look | The 600 horsepower hybrid Scandinavian Green Audi BMW Chevrolet Jeep RAM Volvo Truck Hatchback SUV Future Vehicles Hybrid Luxury Performance Sedan sunday drive polestar 1

Let's Drive NYC is GM's car sharing program for the Big Apple

Under a new car sharing program offered by General Motors and others, a New York Minute will cost about 15 cents. GM is working with a luxury-apartment building owner and a parking lot operator to run a car sharing program in Midtown Manhattan. The program is called Let's Drive NYC and it was announced Thursday. Let's Drive NYC is being offered to residents of the Ritz Plaza, a 479-unit luxury apartment building near New York's Times Square. The program is being run with the help of Icon Parking Systems, which runs about 200 parking garages in Manhattan where the cars can be parked. GM is contributing eight Chevrolet Trax crossovers and two Chevrolet Equinox SUVs, and the automaker is slated to add more vehicles "later." Residents of the Ritz Plaza, which is owned by Stonehenge Partners, can make "periodic apartment lease payments" and in exchange receive electronic credits for three hours of driving a month. After those three hours are up, the drivers will be charged less than $10 an hour, or as much as $75 a day. The program was piloted earlier this year to some of the apartment's tenants. The program marks the second bit of car sharing news in New York within the past two months. In August, Mercedes-Benz and Smart parent Daimler announced that its Car2go car sharing service would expand into Queens and add about 100 Smart ForTwo two-seaters to the city's program. Car2go made its New York debut in Brooklyn last October and has attracted more than 27,000 members since then. You can take a look at Let's Drive NYC's press release below. GM Unveils 'Let's Drive NYC' Car-Sharing Program NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Running an errand to a big box store or planning a weekend excursion are about to get easier for some Manhattan residents because of a car-sharing program revealed today by General Motors. It's the company's latest move to deliver urban mobility options to customers around the globe. Let's Drive NYC is available to eligible residents of The Ritz Plaza, a 479-unit luxury apartment building at Times Square in midtown Manhattan, owned and managed by Stonehenge Partners. Residents use a GM-developed mobile app to reserve a vehicle and access parking in one of 200 garages throughout Manhattan managed by Icon Parking Systems. The fleet currently includes eight Chevrolet Trax small SUVs and two Chevrolet Equinox compact SUVs, with more vehicles to be added later.

Weekly Recap: Volvo buys Polestar, makes performance a priority

Volvo is taking its performance business in-house, and the Swedish carmaker announced Tuesday that it bought tuning company Polestar, which has long been known for producing sporty Volvos. The move allows Volvo to ramp up its performance business, and it plans to increase Polestar-branded vehicle sales to 1,000 to 1,500 annually, up from the 750 total projected for this year. The companies have been working together on motorsports projects since 1996. Financial terms of the sale were not released, and Polestar workers will move over to Volvo. Former Polestar owner Christian Dahl will keep control of the Polestar racing team and operate it under a new name. In addition to sales volume, Volvo has ambitious plans for other parts of Polestar, including its aftermarket business. Volvo also said it will use its twin-engine hybrid technology for Polestar models in the future, though specifics and timing were not revealed. Meanwhile, Volvo announced it will offer a run of 265 total Polestars in the United States for the 2016 model year, with S60 and V60s available. "Driving a Volvo Polestar is a special experience. We have decided to bring this experience to more Volvo drivers, placing the full resources of Volvo behind the development of Polestar as the model name for our high performance cars," Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement. OTHER NEWS & NOTES 2016 Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra, get nose jobs Automakers tend to refer to light updates as 'facelifts,' and that's exactly what Chevy gave the 2016 Silverado and GMC Sierra. Chevy slightly changed the front end of the truck. Using the one photo released of the new Z71 model as a guide, we can see that the headlights went from a stacked vertical design to single bulbs, and they are set on top of LED running lights. The grille has more body-colored elements instead of shiny metal, and the hood has a new line running down the middle (look really closely). The design theme will be similar across the portfolio, though materials and details will vary, a spokesman said. Some models, like the High Country and LTZ will have more chrome, and the LEDs are only for the upper trims. Chevy also said it will use the eight-speed automatic transmission on more versions of the Silverado, and it updated the MyLink feature to support Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.