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Ford unveils industry's first* production inflatable seat belts [w/VIDEO]

They started out in our steering wheels before taking up residence across the dash. They then migrated to the side of our vehicles and grew to be full-sized curtains. Automakers seem to stick them everywhere, so where else can airbags go to protect our fleshy, organic bodies when metal meets metal in an accident? Ford has the answer: seatbelts. Today Ford is introducing the auto industry's first* inflatable seat belts, which are scheduled to enter production in 2010 on the next-generation Ford Explorer before being offered across its ... Read more →

BMW M3 GTS unveiled! Noah Joseph

Well that was fast. As well it should be. Because what you're looking at is the most hardcore roadgoing M3 to date. It's called the GTS – not, as had been previously speculated, the CSL, GT ...

BREAKING: Dodge to end Viper production in July 2010, new car in 2012 Sam Abuelsamid

At the Chrysler business plan meeting this morning, Ralph Gilles, CEO of the Dodge car brand, dropped big news on the Viper. After going back and forth for the past 18 months on what to do with ...

Officially Official: Toyota confirms departure from Formula One Noah Joseph

The buck's got to stop somewhere. Toyota has been pouring in hundreds of millions of dollars into its Formula One racing program for seven years now and has little to show for it. Now after both ...

BREAKING: GM board opts to call off Opel sale Chris Shunk

After months of negotiations with supplier Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank, General Motors has decided not to sell its Opel unit. The General mentioned in the post-jump press release that ...

A new Chrysler logo takes wing? 3 days ago on Autoblog

Tomorrow, we'll get the official skinny from Chrysler on what the automaker's product plans are over the next few years. As the Fiat-directed new (and new again) Chrysler looks to break free from the shackles of mediocrity and reinvent itself, a filing at the U.S. Patent and Trademark office ...

BREAKING: Hyundai developing competitor for OnStar, Sync... but new system needs a name 4 days ago on Autoblog

As part of its product and marketing development process, Hyundai has reached out to owners and enthusiasts to create a network of consumers with which to discuss everything from future models and technologies to advertising tactics, polls, and so on. Autoblog has learned of a ...

Spy Shots: First longer-wheelbase Ferrari 612 Scaglietti replacement spotted 5 days ago on Autoblog

Ferrari is reportedly currently working on the three V12 cars that will replace its comparable current offerings: the 612 Scaglietti, 599 GTB, and Enzo. The 612's follow-on will be the first one to arrive, likely in early 2012, and another mule has been spotted out and about. It still sports the ...

Dodge Challenger NASCAR Nationwide Series racer unveiled 6 days ago on Autoblog

NASCAR's rollout of its new Nationwide Series race car design has garnered buzz already with the introduction of the first-ever Mustang-branded stocker, and it got another shot in the arm yesterday at Talladega when Chrysler pulled the wraps off its brand-new Dodge Challenger Nationwide racer. ...

Tesla Roadster sets world EV record of 313 miles on single charge 8 days ago on Autoblog

It's no secret that how you drive influences a vehicle's efficiency. Case in point: This week's Global Green Challenge in Australia where Simon Hackett shipped his 2008 Tesla Roadster down under and proceeded to set a new world record for a production battery-powered vehicle. Hackett and ...

BREAKING: Acura confirms Euro Honda Accord Tourer coming as TSX sport wagon! 9 days ago on Autoblog

When we polled you yesterday afternoon about whether Honda was right in choosing to build the insurrectionary 2010 Accord Crosstour instead of picking the Accord Touring from its overseas showrooms, we didn't know that Acura was going to announce that it was doing just that today. Honest. In ...

Ford makes biggest gains in Consumer Reports annual reliability report, Japanese still lead 10 days ago on Autoblog

Consumer Reports has just released results from its annual reliability survey and the findings show that Ford has made major gains to place itself among or ahead the most reliable Japanese brands. CR reports that 90 percent of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products scored average or better ...

Officially Official: Fisker buys GM's Wilmington Delaware plant 10 days ago on Autoblog

In Wilmington, Delaware this morning, Governor Jack Markell was joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Henrik Fisker (seen at right) for the official announcement about the purchase of General Motors' closed plant there. Fisker will re-tool the plant to build a new, more affordable plug-in hybrid ...

VIDEO: Lexus LF-A breaks cover before Tokyo unveiling 17 days ago on Autoblog

In less than six hours the wraps will officially come off the Lexus LF-A at the Tokyo Motor Show. And about 36 hours after that, we'll be piloting Lexus' first foray into supercardom on and around Florida's Homestead-Miami Speedway. But in this day and age, any auto expo wouldn't be complete ...

Congress approves three-wheelers for DOE funds 19 days ago on Autoblog

Following months of debate, Congress has approved a bill that will pave the way for three-wheeled vehicle manufacturers like Aptera to qualify for funding from the Department of Energy. Next step: President Obama's desk, and the Commander-in-Chief is reportedly expected to sign the bill into law ...

Officially Official: Regal named next mid-size sedan for Buick 23 days ago on Autoblog

Drum-roll please. After making a point of pausing to listen to its dealers for input and suggestions, Buick has just announced the name of its next mid-size sedan. Plucking a nameplate from its not-too-distant past, the brand has introduced its newest model for America, the 2010 Buick Regal. ...

Mustang stock car unveiled for NASCAR Nationwide Series 24 days ago on Autoblog

Hold on to your butts, people. Ford Racing and Roush Fenway Racing have unveiled their new stock car based on the poniest of pony cars. Prior to this, Ford teams in NASCAR have driven Fusions. Well, all right, none of them were actual Fusions or will be actual Mustangs. Rather, they'll be ...

BREAKING: GM officially sells Hummer to China's Sichuan Tengzhong 28 days ago on Autoblog

General Motors has reached an agreement to offload Hummer onto China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, with Tengzhong taking an 80 percent stake and a private investor consuming the rest. Details on the deal (available in the press release after the jump) include Hummer contacting ...

BREAKING: Mark LaNeve leaving GM effective October 15 1 month ago on Autoblog

Mark LaNeve, General Motors' head of U.S. sales, is reportedly set to leave the company on October 15th. LaNeve had been appointed GM North America vice president of marketing and advertising back in September of 2004 after starting his career as the brand manager for the now-defunct Pontiac ...

2010 Honda Crosstour interior images released, V6 power to be standard [w/VIDEO] 1 month ago on Autoblog

There's been no shortage of digital egg-throwing and epithet uttering when it comes to Honda's 2010 Crosstour – this, despite the fact that essentially nobody has seen it in the metal. Thankfully, judging by these first interior shots furnished by Honda, the cabin's design will likely ...

Toyko 2009 Preview: Toyota FT-86 Concept brings back the Hachi-Roku 1 month ago on Autoblog

Toyota's President Akio Toyoda has said the automaker is in desperate need of an excitement injection, and here's the first dose: the Toyota FT-86 Concept. Inspired by the Corolla-based AE86 sports coupe of the '80s, the FT-86 concept was designed by the automaker's ED2 styling studio in ...

The cops get a Zeta sedan: GM unveils 355-hp Chevy Caprice police car 1 month ago on Autoblog

Well, it's official. General Motors has resurrected the Australian-built Zeta sedan for North America, only this time around, it's just for the cops. Set to arrive in your local muni's police fleet in 2011 is the Chevrolet Caprice police patrol vehicle (PPV). First thing's first: it is not the ...

BREAKING: Penske walks away from Saturn deal, brand to "wind down" 1 month ago on Autoblog

Saturn fans will be saddened to hear that the brand is about to be history. Penske Automotive Group (PAG) and General Motors have been in the final stages of negotiations to transfer the brand, but late this afternoon, both parties issued statements that Penske was walking away from the deal. ...

Tokyo Preview: Near-production Honda CR-Z "Concept" unveiled 1 month ago on Autoblog

One of the most highly-anticipated new model releases scheduled to debut at next month's Tokyo Motor Show would have to be the production version of Honda's CR-Z hybrid hatchback. That's not happening. Instead, we're getting a concept version of the production car. First unveiled at the Tokyo ...

Tokyo Preview: Honda EV-N concept is retro-adorable, has unicycle storage 1 month ago on Autoblog

When the curtain rises on the Tokyo Motor Show next month, Honda's green-themed display will include what it calls the HELLO! Zone, a showcase for electric vehicles. Why "HELLO! Zone"? Well, we have no idea, other than it reminds us of a certain feline and that the Japanese clearly have a ...

Tokyo Preview: Honda Skydeck concept van achieves door Nirvana - scissors AND sliders 1 month ago on Autoblog

This is the Tokyo Motor Show-bound Honda Skydeck concept, a minivan that is, essentially, a perfect storm of non-standard-hinged door technology. Those doors lead to a passenger cabin featuring center-mounted floating seats that are stackable for easier access to the third row. From there, ...

Toyota recalling 3.8M vehicles over floormats, its largest ever in U.S. 1 month ago on Autoblog

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has just issued a safety alert to owners of particular Toyota and Lexus models from 2004-2010 (see list below) that will soon involve a full recall of some 3.8 million vehicles. The issue involves a nagging problem Toyota has had with floor ...

Tokyo 2009: Mazda previews next-gen SKY clean engines, transmission and Kiyora concept 1 month ago on Autoblog

Mazda has just dropped off a bunch of info about their next-generation clean engines that will be officially unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in October, and we have two words for you: Direct and Diesel. Along with its next-gen 'Mazda SKY Drive' high-efficiency automatic transmissions, visitors ...

BREAKING: Fisker gets $528.7 million loan from U.S. DOE for Karma, Project Nina 1 month ago on Autoblog

Fisker's goal of becoming profitable by 2011 received a shot in the arm today thanks to the U.S. Energy Department's announcement that the upstart automaker will receive a $528.7 million conditional loan. The DOE says the loan, "will create or save about 5,000 jobs for domestic parts suppliers." ...

BREAKING: Renault F1 placed on suspended two-year, Briatore banned indefinitely? 1 month ago on Autoblog

The World Motor Sports Council took only 90 minutes to reach a verdict in the case of Crashgate – wherein former driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. intentionally chucked his car into the wall at last year's Singapore GP to hand the win to Renault teammate Fernando Alonso. Realizing that Renault was ...

The A-Team van spied in action on set in British Columbia 1 month ago on Autoblog

Joe Carnahan's big-screen adaptation of the '80's TV classic, The A-Team, is apparently coming together up in British Columbia. That's where Splash News caught the movie version of the familiar black GMC van in action kicking up dirt for the cameras. The film's slated for a 2010 release, starring ...

VIDEO: Drew Barrymore takes Jay Leno's Green Car Challenge 1 month ago on Autoblog

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that NBC, apparently incapable of producing compelling scripted television not named The Office or 30 Rock, has nuked its entire 10 PM primetime lineup (and effectively thrown Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show under the bus) on the gamble that Jay Leno ...

BREAKING: Robert Farago leaving The Truth About Cars 1 month ago on Autoblog

Robert Farago, the equal parts eloquent and bellicose editor of The Truth About Cars (TTAC) and former blogger for Autoblog and Jalopnik, will be leaving in 60 days. Details are just beginning to trickle in, but so far we know this: TTAC was recently purchased by a company called VerticalScope. ...

BREAKING: Mazda2 coming to the U.S. 1 month ago on Autoblog

This just in: that fantabulous little Mazda we've admired from afar for the past couple years, the Mazda2 (also known as the Demio in Japan), is coming to all of North America, the U.S. included. President and CEO of Mazda's North American Operations Jim O'Sullivan has just told the automaker's ...

BREAKING: Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds leave Renault F1 1 month ago on Autoblog

Flavio Briatore might have wished that he had been a little kinder to client and former Renault F1 driver Nelson Piquet. After Piquet was sacked for non-performance following the Hungarian Grand Prix this year, he sought revenge by saying that Briatore and team engineering director Pat Symonds ...

Frankfurt 2009: Mini Coupe & Roadster Concepts 1 month ago on Autoblog

Some automakers celebrate their birthdays with special editions. Some celebrate with big parties. Mini has celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Frankfurt Motor Show with not one, but two new performance-oriented models. Now that's more like it. Okay, so they also unveiled a couple of ...

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Autoblog Podcast #151: With Car & Driver's Eddie Alterman

Eddie Alterman wades in with Sam, Chris, Dan, and Jonny to talk about SEMA and other recent events.

 
 

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