Developing cars and pieces thereof is getting increasingly costly, and that’s why even the fiercest rivals band together to share the mounting financial burden. GM and cross-town rival Ford agreed to jointly develop a new line of nine- and ten-speed automatic transmissions, Reuters says. (Read More…)
What do the Volvo XC60 and Lexus RX F-Sport have in common? Not much. Yet. Today’s vehicles aren’t just built on “modular” platforms, sharing parts with other vehicles from the same manufacturer, they are also “parts bin creations.” You’ll find the same power mirror switch in a Chevy, Jeep, Peugeot, Citroën, Lancia, Lincon and many more. That’s because car parts are like Lego pieces, made by a handful of car parts companies and designed to be everything for everyone. It’s cheaper for everyone to design one switch, one control module, one key fob and just alter some of the plastics and a connector to suit your new car design.
It probably won’t help Herr Dr Martin Winterkorn’s indigestion any, but Automotive News [sub] reports that Hyundai Motor Group (the technical umbrella firm that supplies technology to both Hyundai and Kia) is developing a new 10-speed automatic transmission, which
will be for luxury models starting in 2014, possibly including the Hyundai Genesis and Equus luxury sedans.
Hyundai debuted an eight-speed autobox over a year ago, matching the industry standard for luxury cars. But with ZF announcing a new nine-speed box, Hyundai is taking things a step further… or is it a cog too far?
(Read More…)
AutoWeek reports:
GM doesn’t use [Continuously Variable Transmissions] now. But they could be used on models such as the Chevrolet Spark, Aveo and Cruze in the next three years, said Mike Arcamone, CEO of GM Daewoo Auto & Technology.
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1984 Chrysler New Yorker |
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1986 Chevrolet Sprint |
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1990 Geo Metro-amino Pickup |
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1974 Porsche 914 |
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1987 Volvo 740 Turbo Art Car |
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1975 Volvo 245 DL |
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1979 Volvo 262C Bertone |
Recent Comments
Marcelo de Vasconcellos - Just to clarify, I love the style and idea of all 3 cars spoken of here. The original Multipla, so quirky, so adequate for its time. The pictured...
Zackman - A trailer hitch? Really? Whoda thunk it! I’d be interested to know if it’s possible that the socket for the shaft and ball would turn into a...
bachewy - Physics of going so fast or design flaw? That incredible fire is of great concern. Shouldn’t a...
krhodes1 - Well, I HAVE seen the aftermath of just this sort of accident. A couple times. I worked for a funeral...
kkt - Weird stuff. Is NTSB investigating, or is it going to be left up to local police?
08Suzuki - There’s a serious issue with pollution in China as a whole, needless to say. Frankly they need to adopt some of the public transportation...
OneAlpha - Absolutely. Plenty of blame. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago won’t sink economically, because their economies are not only huge, but...
Nick 2012 - I love the Multipla, particularly the 2nd gen one. When in Italy, I sought these out from the taxi ranks and they have an unbelievable amount of room and...
DenverMike - @Sunridge – Actually this has everything to do with the launch of GM’s new trucks coming in weeks. The...
galloping_gael - what a snarky piece of crap. Fox News-ian in the way it conflates details. That aside, why *did*...