1966 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Convertible on 2040-cars

Auto blog

First 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray spotted crashed in the wild

This restyled blue 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is wearing manufacturer plates, and it appears to be the same one seen around the internet in various pictures lately. This crash is likely not part of the Chevrolet testing regimen, however. Digital Corvettes forum member gpetry posted the shot with a note: "got this picture e-mailed from a friend in Arizona last week..." No circumstances are given, other than the incident occurred in the thick of a set of curvy roads, and the coupe ping-ponged off a guardrail and into the rock wall. Hopefully everyone involved in the incident walked away.
It may not be a pretty thing to see, a crashed sports car that's not even available for sale yet, but rest easy. Many pre-production cars are used for development and then unceremoniously crushed and scrapped, anyway. If that's the case here, that makes this wrecked 'Vette less of a tragedy and more of a case of exceptional efficiency.

December sales for Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf are what you expected

It was another month of as-expected sales for the two pioneering plug-in vehicles in the US. The Nissan Leaf is basically treading water and the new-generation Chevy Volt is getting back to old habits with a big increase in sales compared to where the car was last year. It wasn't a surprising month, but there wasn't any reason to expect a surprise. In fact, we don't suspect this trend to veer too far from where it's at right now until gas prices shoot up or Nissan introduces a new Leaf. Neither of those things is likely to happen any time soon. Let's start with the mediocre news. Nissan reported today that Leaf sales for December 2015 totaled 1,347 units. That's a 56.6-percent drop from where the Leaf was a year ago, and contributed to the all-electric vehicle's 42.8-percent drop in 2015 sales compared to 2014. This past year, 17,269 people bought Leafs, down from 30,200 who did so in 2014. The Volt sold 2,114 copies last month, bringing the plug-in hybrids 2015 total up to 15,393. That's an 18.1 percent drop from the 18,805 Volts sold in 2014. We shouldn't see the past year as a total flop for the Volt, though, since the much-improved second-generation model was introduced late in the year. In fact, if we just look at December 2015 and compare it to the last month of 2014, we see the Volt was able to post a 41.9-percent increase. It'll be quite fun to see where the Volt's numbers go in 2016. As you probably know, we'll have our complete wrap up of green car sales for you soon. Stay tuned. News Source: Nissan, Chevy Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales

GM is the latest automaker accused of diesel emissions cheating

Volkswagen and Ram need to make room on the diesel-emissions bench for General Motors. America's largest automaker was accused in a lawsuit on Thursday of rigging hundreds of thousands of diesel trucks with at least three so-called defeat devices to ensure that the trucks would meet federal and state emission standards, even if they generated more pollution in real-world driving. According to the complaint, on-road emissions testing conducted for the plaintiffs found that Duramax-equipped trucks produced NOx pollutants, comprised of nitrogen and oxygen atoms, two to five times higher than legally permitted, and "many times" higher than their gasoline counterparts. The proposed class-action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Detroit on behalf of people who own or lease more than 705,000 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks fitted with "Duramax" engines from 2011 to 2016 model years. The lawsuit seeks remedies including possible refunds or restitution for lost vehicle value, plus punitive damages. It adds to legal problems for Detroit-based GM, which has already paid about $2.5 billion in penalties and settlements over faulty ignition switches linked to 124 deaths. GM joins at least five automakers whose diesel emissions have been scrutinized by regulators or consumers. They include VW, which has admitted to cheating; Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler; Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Peugeot and Renault. GM spokesman Dan Flores called the claims "baseless," and said the trucks comply with US Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards and California's own tough standards. Shares of GM were down 69 cents, or 2.1 percent, at $32.50 in afternoon trading, after earlier falling to $31.93. The GM lawsuit was filed by several law firms, including Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, which helped reach multibillion-dollar settlements with VW on behalf of drivers and dealers. The case is Fenner et al v General Motors LLC et al, US District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, No. 17-11661. The named plaintiffs are Andrei Fenner of Mountain View, California and Joshua Herman of Sulphur, Louisiana. They said they would not have bought their respective 2011 Sierra and 2016 Silverado trucks, or would have paid less for them, had they known about the alleged rigging. Joseph Spak, an RBC Capital Markets analyst, in a research report said "negative publicity" from the lawsuit could drive buyers to trucks from Ford or even Fiat Chrysler's Ram.