MX-5 Miata owns the entry-level sports car market | detnews.com | The Detroit News
For two decades, despite challenges here and there, Mazda's MX-5 Miata has owned the popular-priced sports car market. It was a sensation when it appeared in 1990 as the embodiment of the traditional open two-seater, dominated for generations by roadsters and convertibles from Great Britain. They included the Austin-Healey Sprite, 100 and 3000; Lotus Elan; MG TC, TD, A, B and Midget; Triumph TR and Spitfire, and Sunbeam Alpine and Tiger. All offered top-down exhilaration with a low center of gravity and...

Business briefs | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Toyota Motor Corp. , the world's biggest automaker, will become the biggest seller of vehicles in the U.S. market next year after overtaking General Motors Co. , according to forecaster IHS Global Insight. It sees Ford Motor Corp. and GM essentially tied in second place for a couple of years until 2013, when GM is expected to move ahead. Honda Motor Co. , in fourth place, will gain market share slowly, according to the Waltham, Mass.-based firm. UAW local to hold rally at endangered plantThe United Auto...

'Clunkers' rules ease as sales soar | detnews.com | The Detroit News
The Obama administration agreed Thursday to expand the "cash for clunkers" program to vehicles already in the production pipeline. Car buyers had been limited to fuel-efficient vehicles in showrooms and on lots, and some dealers reported shortages. The Transportation Department's decision to broaden it came just days after a request by Michigan lawmakers who said it would increase consumers' choices and encourage more to take advantage of the incentive program, which already has spurred a dramatic...

Japanese sales climb in 'clunkers' program | detnews.com | The Detroit News
-- Japanese automakers have gained significant ground on domestic automakers in the U.S. government's $3 billion "cash for clunkers" program. General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC saw a dropoff in sales while those of foreign rivals rose in the latest tally of "cash for clunkers" sales, as Toyota Motor Corp. dethroned GM as the top seller. Toyota has sold 18.9 percent of vehicles purchased through the clunkers program, surpassing GM's 17.6 percent. Through the first two weeks of the...

'Clunker' sales borrow from 2010 market | detnews.com | The Detroit News
The unexpected success of the government's "cash for clunkers" program is boosting sales dramatically -- but is probably pulling forward some purchases that would have taken place next year. Forecasting firm IHS Global Insight has increased its U.S. auto sales estimate for this year because of the robust response to the government-funded plan. But it is paring its 2010 forecast. George Magliano, director of North American auto industry research at IHS, said the annualized selling rate this month has...

Auto firm nurses Superbird back to original form | detnews.com | The Detroit News
It's a Bird that chased planes: a government-contracted, NASCAR-legend-built, ice blue freak -- the muscle car that helped kill muscle cars. The 1970 Plymouth Superbird in Brian Chaffee's Middlefield, Conn., shop emerged recently from three years of detective work and restoration. It was posted for sale via auction last week. The materials, labor and -- most of all, Chaffee says -- the car's place in American history set the starting bid at $3 million. "There's nothing about this car," he says, "that...

Metro Detroit police cars cool with authority | detnews.com | The Detroit News
It stands to reason that the communities surrounding the Motor City would field some cool cop cars. Many of us who are 40-plus remember fleets of Ford LTDs with 429-cid Police Interceptor engines and Dodge Monaco Police Pursuits with 440 Magnums. The tradition continues. Need for speedWhen driving on I-94 through Harper Woods, don't be surprised to see a black Mustang GT with silver Le Mans stripes sitting on the shoulder. The car isn't sidelined by a flat tire or an overheated radiator. It's shooting...

Custom $4,000 grille sets a Camaro apart | detnews.com | The Detroit News
When we first saw the $4,000 price tag on the Camaro Marquise Collection grille for Chevrolet's 21st century muscle car, we wondered if people really would invest that much to customize the look of a car with a base price sticker of less than $23,000. Turns out, they will, and they are. "We used the same thinking we did when we developed the Bentley-look grille for the Chrysler 300," said Tommy Gaut, general manager of Strut, which produces automotive jewelry, especially for very high-end vehicles such...

Getting grip on in-car technology | detnews.com | The Detroit News
At the dawn of the auto age in Britain, a law required a motorist to drive behind a man walking with a red flag because cars were considered a hazard to other road users. Now, a century or so later in the United States, we have legislators and automotive safety organizations suggesting that motorists should only do one thing -- drive -- when in a vehicle. The point here is that a hysterical reaction to the evolution of technology is not going to serve the best interests of any of us. Certainly driver...

Dealers push new program to boost trade-in values | detnews.com | The Detroit News
-- A group of car and truck dealers have banded together to offer their own sales incentives in hopes of getting drivers who don't qualify for the "cash-for-clunkers" program to buy vehicles. The privately funded Automotive Stimulus Plan, which involves about 40 dealers from across the country, is designed to help fill in the gaps left by the government's program, said Brian Benstock of Paragon Auto Group in New York City. Benstock, who sells both new and used Honda and Acura vehicles at his...