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Tuesday, January 7, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for January 7, 2020

Jan 07, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

Zombie cars: 9 discontinued vehicles that aren't dead yet

Even after cars are discontinued, new, unsold ones still show up in monthly sales reports. We look at the worst-selling cars that are already dead.

2019 Honda Civic Type R Drivers' Notes | Have fun, bring paper bag

If the VW Golf R is for people who'd rather have their go-fast car stay stealthy and fly under the radar, the Honda Civic Type R is basically a squadron of Lancaster bombers blaring ZZ Top. It's basically impossible to miss it. There's the huge wing.…

Mercedes-Benz Vision AVTR takes inspiration from the creatures of 'Avatar'

It seems like movie tie-ins are becoming more common for concept cars. First Porsche designed a spaceship for "Star Wars," and now Mercedes has created a concept car inspired by and named after the "Avatar" film series from James Cameron. It's called…

Sony built a car — a concept to show off company's sensors, infotainment

The car industry has loads of electronics suppliers that create everything from screens to sensors. And it's a sector that's becoming bigger and more important in today's age of sophisticated driver assists and infotainment systems. One of those supp…

Toyota plans to build 175-acre 'Woven City' of the future housing 2,000 people

Every year, automotive manufacturers release ideas, sketches, and renderings of and for their visions of the future. The fantastical presentations and proposals capture imaginations and theorize how these near-future communities would change society …

Rolls-Royce posts 25% jump in sales thanks to Cullinan demand

Luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce said on Tuesday it recorded a 25% jump in sales in 2019, underpinned by solid demand for its first-ever SUV, Cullinan, just a year after the launch. The 116-year-old British company said it sold a record 5,152 cars in 201…

Ford still sold 226,193 endangered Fusions and Fiestas in 2019

Ford closed out 2019 with a 3% drop in full-year U.S. sales as the continued phase-out of models including the Focus and Taurus helped offset strong performance from its F-Series trucks , Transit vans and Lincoln luxury SUVs . But combing through its y…

Trucks helped carry the market in 2019 to 17.1 million vehicles sold

With the December reports tallied, the U.S. auto industry ended 2019 with 17.1 million vehicles sold, falling short of the post-recession boom years as buying habits continue to swing in favor of profitable trucks and SUVs. Thanks to a slow 4th quart…

Audi AI:Me Concept First Ride | Pointing the way forward

Introduced at the 2019 Shanghai auto show, the Audi AI:Me is a one-off concept that's difficult to put a price on. Its value lies deep in seven-digit territory; it's likely worth more than Bugatti's $3 million Chiron . And yet, I didn't think twice ab…

Elon Musk unleashes dance moves at Tesla Model Y launch in China

SHANGHAI — Elon Musk showed off his dance moves at the launch of Tesla's Model Y electric sports utility vehicle program at its new Shanghai factory on Tuesday, where the company delivered its first cars built outside the United States to the public.…

Monday, January 6, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for January 6, 2020

Jan 06, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

6 electric vehicles we're watching in 2020

The short list of important electric vehicles to pay attention to this year.

Somebody created a Dodge Challenger SRT Demon droptop

The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is a vehicle built with one purpose in mind: going fast down a drag strip. Weight is the enemy when it comes to acceleration, and one surefire way to add weight to a car is to make it into a convertible. However, that's…

2020 Honda Civic Sport Touring Manual First Drive | No compromises but price

One of the common laments among modern-day car enthusiasts is that the companies that still offer manual transmissions on cars only put them on the stripped-out versions or otherwise compromised performance cars. For example, the current-generation H…

Ford will buy first two bipedal robots for commercial vehicle research

Last spring, we told you about Ford's partnership with an Oregon-based company that is developing a two-legged, walking work robot that unfurls from the back of a delivery van, kind of like the battle droids in "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace." Now, F…

Ford patent describes four-wheel steering for F-Series trucks

Lots of cars have employed four-wheel steering over the years, but it's not currently available on any of the vehicles that you'd think could really benefit from increased low-speed maneuverability: fullsize pickup trucks. General Motors dabbled in t…

Lamborghini Huracan Evo Rear-Wheel Drive promises lots of oversteer

The debut of the Lamborghini Huracán EVO Rear-Wheel Drive can be seen as a propitious start to the Gregorian New Year, or a starburst finale for the Chinese Year of the Rat – either take works. Coming 12 months after the reveal of its all-wheel-drive…

Fisker introduces the $37,499 Ocean EV crossover ahead of CES 2020

Fisker unveiled an electric crossover named Ocean during a private event held before the model's official debut at CES 2020. Due out in 2022, the Ocean will compete in the same growing segment of the market as the upcoming Tesla Model Y and the recen…

Bosch creates a sun visor that automatically blocks the sun

German supplier Bosch traveled to CES 2020 to introduce an artificial intelligence-powered sun visor called Virtual Visor. It's a major update to a part that has barely evolved in the history of the car. The Virtual Visor takes the form of a rectang…

Mercedes-Benz recalls 750,000 cars for sunroofs that can fly off

Mercedes-Benz is recalling nearly 750,000 cars because the vehicles' sunroofs could potentially detach and fly off, causing road hazards. A full list of affected models can be found here in PDF form . The cars include the Mercedes-Benz's C-Class, E-C…

This wonderful 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEC AMG Widebody is up for auction

Long before its purchase by Mercedes and subsequent hyphenation, AMG was an independent company doing some very wild stuff, even by late 1980s standards. This 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEC AMG Widebody was on the cusp of madness, with a heavily breathed…