vehicles news stories on Newser

The 9 Cars Most Popular With Women

Nick McMaster — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:22:45 CDT

Women seem to agree on the cars they want to drive—just nine vehicle models have more female registrants than male, according to a survey of vehicle records. The top pick for women is the Volkswagen Beetle, and after that, a strong preference for small sport-utility vehicles emerges, the LA...

For 4th Time This Year, Texas Baby Dies in Hot Car

Kevin Spak — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:50:00 CDT

A 1-year-old girl became the fourth Texan child of the year to die inside a hot car on Wednesday, when her mother left her in the driveway for 45 minutes in 91-degree heat. The mother had just returned from picking up her children, police tell the Corpus Christi Caller-Times . A...

Fired Worker Hacks System, Disables 100 Cars Remotely

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:50:45 CDT

More than 100 Texas drivers got an unexpected surprise late last month when their cars started honking inexplicably or simply stopped working. The hacker charged with causing the problems was arrested yesterday, Wired reports. Omar Ramos-Lopez used to work at the auto center that sold the cars—which were armed...

BMW to Zap Calif. With 500 Electric Minis

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:26:53 CDT

BMW will roll out an electric model of its iconic Mini in California, which has mandated that automakers in the state must offer no-emission alternatives, reports Automotive News. The cars will be mostly assembled in BMW's England plant, but sent to Munich for electric powertrains. The initial 500 electric Minis...

Sinking SUV Values Slap Drivers

Rob Quinn — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:19:18 CDT

The end of America's love affair with the SUV is turning into an expensive divorce, the Washington Post reports. Drivers wanting to get rid of the gas-guzzlers as pump prices hit $4 a gallon are losing a lot of money on the sales—if they can even find buyers. Some...

Ford Sales Slump in December

Dustin Lushing — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:15:49 CST

Ford Motor Co. reported a 9% dip in US sales of cars and light trucks between last December and December 2007, capping off a dismal year for the company and the auto industry, the Wall Street Journal reports. Ford, which is third in US auto sales behind Toyota and leader...

Lexus Reaches for Luxury Cachet

Colleen Barry — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 11:23:32 CDT

Stodgy luxury standby Lexus is trying to trade up to the hot "prestige luxury" market with a new line of $70,000 and up automobiles. Along with the new models comes a massive rebranding effort that aims, says a marketing manager, to get "Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci and Lexus all...