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Hurricane Sandy cost automakers 15,000 vehicles, may have ruined up to 200k

Hurricane Sandy was the largest Atlantic storm in US history, and its total economic impact is just now coming into view. According to Automotive News, Toyota, Chrysler, Nissan and Honda are set to scrap around 15,000 new vehicles ruined by the storm. Nissan alone accounts for about 40 percent of those, with 6,000 Nissan and Infiniti models deeded "un-saleable" due to damage. The company saw 56 dealerships shuttered due to the storm, but 51 of those have since reopened.
Toyota, meanwhile, had some 4,000 vehicles at its Newark port facility, and of those, 3,000 may be scrapped. An additional 825 were dealer inventory when they were ruined. Honda and Acura dealers are reportedly sending 3,440 vehicles to the salvage yard. By comparison, Chrysler weathered the storm fairly well with 825 units destroyed, while Hyundai suffered only 400 lost units and Kia scrapped around 200.
As you may recall, Fisker also suffered some losses, and Automotive News reports the manufacturer saw 320 Karma models damaged beyond repair. Ford and General Motors have yet to come up with estimates, and no automaker has commented on the full cost of replacing the vehicles.

Ken Block's Gymkhana 8 to feature Dubai Police cars?

Yesterday we showed you the shiny Ford Fiesta that Ken Block will slide, spin, and hoon through the next Gymkhana video. In case the image above isn't clear, that video will drop at midnight EST on February 30th on the Ford Performance YouTube channel. We don't know all the entire premise of the video yet, but this Tweet from the man himself reveals that the video will be set in Dubai. Block is standing on the Fiesta we saw yesterday, and arrayed behind him are a handful of those famous Dubai Police cars you're probably familiar with. The force has a fleet of sportscars and supercars, and the purpose is outreach and goodwill among its citizenry, not necessarily the pursuit of criminals. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. From left to right, we can see a Maserati GranTurismo, Porsche 911, what looks to be a Nissan GT-R obscured by Block's Fiesta, a McLaren (likely a 650S), Ford Mustang, and a Ferrari 599 of some ilk. Will they take part? Maybe Block will try and run from what might be the most horsepower-intensive police fleet in the world. We'll have answers (and a few minutes of pure Block hooniganism) in a few days. Related Video:

Renault-Nissan has sold 200,000 EVs, claims 58 percent global share

The all-electric Renault Zoe sold 10,000 units during its first year on sale and the French automaker has sold a total of about 51,500 EVs since starting sales of its four-vehicle EV lineup in 2011. Renault's collection also includes the Twizy two-seater, the Fluence sedan and the Kangoo van – just look at the awesome concepts from 2009 in the gallery above. Throw in the fact that the Nissan Leaf has sold around 150,000 around the world and some sales of the e-NV200 delivery van, and we get to a banner headline for the Renault-Nissan Alliance: the companies have sold over 200,000 EVs since the Leaf went at sale in the end of 2010. The Alliance announced it crossed the 100,000 EV sales mark in July 2013, so we can calculate that the two companies are selling roughly 6,250 EVs a month, with the Leaf making up the bulk of that figure (the car is averaging around 3,000 units a month in the US alone). Nissan says that Leaf has cumulatively sold around 67,000 Leafs in the US, 46,500 in Japan and 31,000 in Europe. The 6,250 sales per month is a rough estimate, since the Alliance says its sales are up 20 percent this year compared to last. Still, all told, Renault-Nissan claims it has 58 percent of the global market share for EVs, and its battery-powered vehicles have driven four billion kilometers (2.48-billion miles), which has prevented 450 million kilograms of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Who wants to bet when the 300,000 threshold will be crossed? Renault-Nissan Alliance sells its 200,000th electric vehicle Renault-Nissan EVs have driven 4 billion kilometers and enjoy 58% of zero-emission global market share Nissan LEAF remains best-selling EV ever; Renault led in Europe last month Alliance launches monthly video series introducing electric vehicle owners from around the world sharing their personal stories with their zero-emission car PARIS/YOKOHAMA (Nov. 26, 2014)-The Renault-Nissan Alliance has sold its 200,000th electric vehicle and has a leading 58% market share for zero-emission cars. Together, Renault and Nissan EVs have driven approximately 4 billion zero-emission kilometers – enough to circle the earth 100,000 times. Renault-Nissan's EVs represent 200 million liters of fuel saved – enough to fill about 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Alliance EVs also represent 450 million kg of CO2 that has not been emitted while driving.