Cadillac Roster

The 1971 Cadillac roster started with the Calais series, though the Calais models weren't that much cheaper than the better-equipped DeVille models. Perhaps because of this, Calais sales declined to below 10,000 units by 1974, and Cadillac dropped the entry-level line after 1976. The Calais series consisted of two- and four-door hardtops listed in these years, with the two-door becoming a fixed-pillar style after '73.

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Cadillac's Tripmaster

Another new option available on every 1979 Cadillac was Cadillac's Tripmaster on-board travel computer. First offered on the 1978 Cadillac De Ville, Tripmaster provided digital readouts for average miles per gallon and speed, miles to destination, and estimated arrival time. It also displayed engine rpm, coolant temperature, and electrical system voltage. This basic system would evolve with newer technology, but has been a Cadillac staple ever since.

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Nissan increased

Nissan increased U.S. sales of Versa compact cars more than fivefold and those of Altima sedans by 22 percent in the first nine months. Sales of sport-utility vehicles fell, with demand for Xterra and Pathfinder SUVs declining 17 percent and 12 percent, respectively, in the same period, according to Autodata Corp.

it's an all-new 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 that generates 480 horsepower and goes from zero to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) in 3.6 seconds.

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Auto industry

Sales incentives offered on new cars dropped nearly 4 percent in October in the U.S. market, contributing to the expected weak showing for retail vehicle sales.
Auto industry tracking service Edmunds.com estimated that the average manufacturer incentive was $2,195, down $89, or 3.9 percent, from a month earlier.

"Incentive averages declined because the majority of vehicles being sold now are 2008 model year and don't require overly generous marketing support," said Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com.

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Chrysler reported

Chrysler LLC said Thursday it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs and remove four models from its lineup.
Scaling back their capacity to match their production would seem to be a necessity for survival.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that "The scope of the cuts stunned workers and suggests the now-private Chrysler won't hesitate to lower production and jettison vehicles that aren't selling well.
On Thursday, Chrysler reported October sales fell 9% compared to a year ago.
Inspiration may come standard, but it's going to take a lot of perspiration and hard choices to make Chrysler profitable again.

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Ford's wholly owned brands in China

BEIJING - Ford Motor Co. said its joint venture in China, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co., sold 168,015 passenger vehicles in the January-October period, up 60% from a year earlier.
Total sales of Ford's wholly owned brands in China, including Ford, Lincoln, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover, rose 31% in the January-October period from a year earlier to 166,539 units, Ford spokesman Kenneth Hsu told Dow Jones Newswires late Tuesday.
The automaker said it is looking at options to increase local production capacity, including the possibility of setting up a new plant. Those are some impressive numbers, and given the size of the population being marketed to, there would seem to be a lot of upside potential.

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Nissan and Chrysler

Nissan and Chrysler are in talks to provide each other with vehicles in a deal that would enable the carmakers to expand product offerings and keep factories busy in the face of slowing markets.
I'm trying to figure out how Nissan comes anywhere close to benefitting as much as Chrysler from this potential collaberation.
Nissan has a bigger footprint than Chrysler outside North America and could provide Chrysler with products in fast-growing markets, particularly in Asia.

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The Chevy Volt by 2010

While Chevy is still promising to have the kinks worked out and deliver the Chevy Volt by 2010, Mercedes-Benz, will launch an S-Class hybrid next year equipped with a lithium-ion battery supplied by Continental in what Daimler said on Friday was a crucial technological breakthrough.

Meanwhile, Chevy has announced that the Volt's price will be $5,000 higher than expected because of features like windshield wipers and a stereo system that drain power from the battery. Since the Volt has no alternator, expensive redundancy systems had to be introduced to power accessories.

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Electric Vehicles and Cars

The electric vehicle (EV), or, more colloquially, electric car, is gaining traction as a viable alternative form of personal transportation, and remains just out of arms' reach as a mainstream way to get around. The cars run on energy stored in large packs of batteries instead of the more conventional internal combustion engine, making them very attractive to those concerned with using less oil and causing fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Toyota, Honda, Ford and General Motors all produced EVs in the 1990s in order to comply with the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, which was later defeated by the manufacturers and the federal government.


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Chevy Volt

There are two things that make the Volt’s E-flex drivetrain noteworthy. First, it is a series hybrid, which means power is fed directly to the motor, not the battery. It can be plugged into a household electric socket and charged fully within about six hours. Completely charged it can drive roughly 40 miles on electricity alone.

The second significant aspect is that the gasoline-driven generator engine can easily be replaced with an engine that runs on E85, diesel, bio-diesel, pure ethanol or even a hydrogen fuel cell.

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