One of three Finalists The Toyota Prius , Mercedes Benz E Class, and the Volkswagen Polo have been chosen as the 3 Finalists for the World Car of the Year to be announced April 1st at the New York Auto Show. The Prius, along with the Honda Insight , is also up for the World Green Car

A ray of hope? Just about spit out my coffee when I saw February’s sales numbers for the Toyota Prius . Up 10 percent. Sure, Toyota dealers were willing to shave up to $1500 off MSRP, but in light of the recalls, up 10 percent is surprising. Down 10 percent would have been less surprising. So, I guess the question becomes, where

Watch out BMW The Audi A1 stormed into Geneva and showcased how Audi might be in the process of redefining itself as an automaker by accepting BMW’s Mini Cooper success. Fortunately, the A1 is about more than just small car luxury, as the A1 will also be offered in a

The new American sedan? A new Lexus hybrid usually isn’t that exciting to me, but the latest photos of the Lexus CT 200h have piqued my interest. Honestly, I’m a little disappointed. If this were the latest Scion hybrid, it would be a home run. No. A grand slam. But it’s not. Certainly, the Lexus version will be nice…

Aiming for 200 hp Early reviews of the upcoming Honda CR-Z hybrid have often included phrases like ‘not quite as fast as expected’. Consequently, Honda is planning to bring a high performance version of the CR-Z hybrid to market as well. According to reports , the new CR-Z hybrid will increase the 113-horsepower 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine closer to 150 hp and replace the 14-horsepower electric motor with a 50-horsepower motor to…

Americans don’t want small cars Surprise, surprise. New analysis demonstrates that since 2008 small car interest has decreased significantly as SUV interest has increased. Even the recent run up in gas prices could not reverse this trend. Unless gas prices hit $5.00, foreign oil dependence is here to stay for a very, very long time.

Americans don’t want small cars Surprise, surprise. New analysis demonstrates that since 2008 small car interest has decreased significantly as SUV interest has increased. Even the recent run up in gas prices could not reverse this trend. Unless gas prices hit $5.00, foreign oil dependence is here to stay for a very, very long time.

North American Car of the Year The Ford Fusion hybrid picked up the 2010 North American Car of the Year Award at the Detroit Auto Show beating out the Buick La Crosse and a few VW Jetta models.

Japan goes green While hybrid cars only make up about 2.8 percent of US new vehicle market share, they make up 10 percent of market share in Japan. In 2009, the Toyota Prius was the top selling vehicle in Japan, where Toyota sold 208,876 of the hybrids. The Honda Insight was the fifth best selling vehicle in Japan last year, selling

Inside the CR-Z With Honda’s CR-Z hybrid moving closer to reality, new leaked pictures of the car are becoming more common. Check out more here .

The Ford Focus EV If Ford can acquire about $120 million in state funding from Michigan , the automaker will invest up to $500 million to develop batteries for its EVs in the state while hiring up to 1,000 workers. If the future of the automobile is the battery, it seems Michigan has no choice but to acquiesce to Ford’s demands if keeping Ford in

The UP Lite at the LA Auto Show There aren’t many details, but it has been reported that an EV version of the UP, based closely on the UP Lite concept version pictured in this post, is coming to the US market. Early word suggests the new EV will be called the Space UP!