Thursday, 10 September 2015

Mercedes Beats Audi for No. 2 Spot in Luxury Auto Sales

Mercedes Beats Audi for No. 2 Spot in Luxury Auto Sales

Mercedes Beats Audi for No. 2 Spot in Luxury Auto Sales

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Mercedes has passed Audi in the luxury sales race.

Through the first eight months of 2015, Mercedes sold 1.19 million units and edged out Audi by 10,880 deliveries to become the world's second best-selling luxury automaker. Both automakers are still behind luxury leader BMW, which has sold 1.21 million vehicles over the same time period. Both Audi and BMW are struggling to match Mercedes-Benz's sales growth in China, where Mercedes is profiting from increased sales of its C-Class sedan and SUV models. In fact, Mercedes was the only automaker of the three to see sales growth in China last month.

Mercedes hasn't outsold Audi on an annual basis since 2010, but experts believe Mercedes will overtake Audi and will stay ahead for the next two years.

SEE ALSO: Is Lexus Actually the Best-Selling Luxury Brand in America?

Last month, BMW sold 135,735 vehicles, an increase of 7.6 percent. Audi's sales went up 2.7 percent to 128,650 units, while Mercedes soared with an 18-percent jump to 139,802 units. For Mercedes, deliveries in China rose 53 percent to 32,763 units while Audi saw a drop of 4.1 percent to 45,196. BMW saw a slight decrease in sales in China, declining 0.9 percent to 34,168 cars.

Discuss this story on our Mercedes-Benz Forum

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2016 Chevrolet Malibu Priced Lower Than Competition

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The 2016 Chevrolet Malibu is priced from $22,500 including destination.

The new Chevrolet Malibu will be offered in five trim levels: L, LS, LT, Hybrid and Premier. Stepping up to an LS model will cost $23,995 and adds standard Chevrolet MyLink Radio with a seven-inch touchscreen, available compatibility with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a rear vision camera.

The 2016 Chevrolet Malibu LT will start at $25,895 and is expected to return 27 mpg on the city and 37 mpg on the highway when equipped with the Ecotec 1.5-liter turbocharged engine with stop/start. Those figures are based on General Motors' estimates, as official EPA estimates are not yet available. The LT trim adds LED daytime running lights and eight-way power driving seats.

SEE ALSO: 2016 Chevrolet Malibu Trims 300 Lbs of Fat

The LT and Premier models also have an optional 2.0-liter turbo engine paired with an eight-speed transmission, starting from $29,495 and $31,795, respectively. GM estimates that the 2.0-liter turbo engine will return 22 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on the highway.

Pricing for the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid will be announced closer to the model's launch and GM is currently estimating that it will return 48 mpg in the city and 45 mpg on the highway.

Comparing it to the competition, the Malibu is cheaper than the Ford Fusion ($22,985), Honda Accord ($22,925), Toyota Camry ($23,895) and Nissan Altima ($23,125).

Discuss this story on our Chevrolet Malibu Forum

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2017 Cadillac XT5 Crossover Previewed in First Official Photos

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Although we've already seen what the 2017 Cadillac XT5 crossover will look like thanks to spy photos, Cadillac has given us the first official preview through a handful of new shots.

In addition to releasing three official photos of the car, Cadillac tweeted and shared a set of photos of the XT5 on its Facebook page, showing the crossover in a metallic gunmetal colour. We've previously only seen the XT5 in black.

ALSO SEE: 2017 Cadillac XT5 to Debut at Dubai Motor Show in November

The dramatically redesigned XT5 will replace the aging SRX for the 2017 model year. The luxury crossover adopts the design language that has already made its way onto the CTS, ATS and upcoming CT6 flagship. It also gets the new wreath-less emblem and the brand's new signature grille and angular headlights.

Cadillac XT5

The 2017 Cadillac XT5 could be be powered by a 3.6-liter V6 engine or a 2.0L turbo four that could be mated to GM's nine-speed automatic transmission. A hybrid model is also rumored and the lineup will be built in Spring Hill, Tenn., but no other details have been released. The crossover will make its official debut at the Dubai motor show in November.

Check out Cadillac's photos and a teaser video on Twitter:

Discuss this story on our Cadillac XT5 Forum

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More Than 1M Ram Trucks Affected by 3 Different Recalls

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More than one million Ram pickup trucks are being affected by three separate recalls today. 

The first recall affects 1.06 million trucks in the U.S. and 235,925 in Canada. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is voluntarily recalling certain model-year 2012-2014 Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups and 3500, 4500 and 5500 Chassis Cabs to fix a wiring harness in the steering wheel. The harness could wear because of contact with a spring, and such wear could cause a short circuit that may lead to the driver side air bag to deploy inadvertently. FCA is aware of two injuries relating to this issue.

The next recall affects 156,498 heavy-duty trucks in the U.S. and 20,603 in Canada for an issue relating to a weak bracket weld that could lead to diminished steering response. FCA isn't aware of any injuries relating to this recall. Affected trucks are certain 2013 Ram 3500 pickups, 2014 Ram 2500/3500 pickups and 3500 Chassis Cabs.

ALSO SEE: 2015 Jeep Renegade Recalled Over Hacking Concerns

The third recall affects 188,000 model-year 2014 and 2015 Ram 1500 Quad Cab pickups in the U.S. FCA is recalling these trucks to make their side curtain air bag compliant with federal regulations to reduce the risk of "rear occupant ejection during a rollover." FCA isn't aware of any injuries related to this recall.

Ram owners can visit here to see if they are affected by these recalls. Notices are being mailed to affected customers and FCA will inspect all affected vehicles and make all necessary fixes free of charge.

Discuss this story on our Ram Forum

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2016 Nissan Leaf Gets Best-in-Class 107-Mile Range

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The 2016 Nissan Leaf will have an available upgraded 30-kWh battery giving it an EPA-estimated best-in-class range of 107 miles.

The new battery is standard on the 2016 Leaf SV and Leaf SL models and marks a 27-percent improvement over the previous 24-kWh battery. In addition, the 2016 Nissan Leaf will offer an enhanced infotainment system that is more user-friendly and gives drivers greater vehicle connectivity.

All Leaf models are powered by an 80-kW AC synchronous motor generating 107 horsepower and 187 pound-feet of torque.

The Leaf SV and SL models will offer NissanConnect with Navigation and Mobile Apps featuring a seven-inch color display with multi-touch control and Nissan Voice Recognition as standard. According to the Japanese automaker, the menu screen graphics and customization process have been improved, while charging screen information is now automatically updated each time the ignition is turned on and with every 12 miles of driving.

SEE ALSO: 2015 Kia Soul EV vs. 2015 Nissan LEAF

For the 2016 model year, the Nissan Leaf will be available in three colors: Forged Bronze, Coulis Red and Deep Blue Pearl.

The 2016 Nissan Leaf SV will be priced from $35,050 including destination but excluding a federal tax credit of $7,500. Stepping up to the Leaf SL model will cost $2,590 additional. The standard Leaf S will continue to be equipped with the 24-kWh battery with an EPA-estimated range of 84 miles with an unchanged price of $29,860.

"Since Nissan LEAF launched in December 2010, we've become the global leaders in electric vehicle (EV) sales with an all-electric car specifically designed for the mass market," said Andrew Speaker, director, Nissan Electric Vehicle (EV) Sales & Marketing. "We know that to maintain that leadership, we must continue developing battery technology that strikes that ideal balance between capacity, packaging, durability and affordability."

Discuss this story on our Nissan Forum

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Lotus 3-Eleven Records Stunning Unofficial Nurburgring Lap Time

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The Lotus 3-Eleven has unofficially lapped Nurburgring in 7 minutes, 6 seconds.

Billed as the quickest and most powerful production Lotus road car ever, the British automaker is out to prove just how nimble the 3-Eleven is after conducting more than 1,242 miles of testing on the Nurburgring. The two-week test session took place during an industry pool test where Lotus put the 450-hp, supercharged V6 engine to the test with three different drivers.

Unfortunately for Lotus, it never had the track to itself, meaning the 3-Eleven couldn't do a clear, proper lap on its own. Regardless, the company combined the quickest sector times achieved during the fastest two laps on the Sport Auto magazine lap configuration with a total lap time of 7 minutes and 6 seconds recorded by the vehicle's data logging acquisition system. The unofficial data isn't a perfect representation, but it also can't be ignored, either.

SEE ALSO: Lotus 3-Eleven Revealed as Quickest, Most Expensive Lotus Ever

One of the drivers, Marc Basseng, believes that the Lotus 3-Eleven is capable of doing a 7-minute flat lap time if the car had the track completely to itself. That would make the Lotus 3-Eleven one of the fastest cars to ever lap Nurburgring, faster than a Nissan GT-R NISMO and putting it on the heels of the Lamborghini Aventador SV that turned in a time of 6:59.73. It would however, still lag a few ticks behind the Porsche 918 Spyder's 6:57, the Radical SR8's 6:55 and the Radical SR8 LM's 6:48.

"The success of this test session is proof that our development philosophy for the 3-Eleven is the right way to go," said Jean-Marc Gales, CEO for Group Lotus. "We've always said that to make a car faster, you must make it lighter and this new car carries that philosophy to a new level. It condenses all of our engineering know-how into an undiluted performance-focused package and we're pleased to showcase to the world, the quickest and most powerful production Lotus to date. The 3-Eleven achieved one of the fastest ever lap times around the Nürburgring for any class of car and faster than many other supercars."

Discuss this story on our Lotus Forum

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