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Volvo Cars has recently announced the recall of some 56,000 vehicles due to separate problems.

According to Volvo Cars spokeswoman Maria Bohlin around 38,000 diesel cars of the S60, V70, XC70, and XC90 models that were made in 2006 were being recalled in Europe due to material fault that could cause the motor to catch fire.  She further explains that the fuel injector plants or bolts that are located on top of the motor cylinder were defective and might cause for diesel to leak out into the motor.

All affected vehicles will be given injector plants or bolts for free in a procedure that will take about two hours.

The other reason for the recall is due to air bag defects which affect 18,000 of the latest V70 and XC70 models. Ms. Bohlin said that there is a high risk that these air bags will not launch fast enough.

The recall is being conducted even though it is not yet clear how many British fire accidents happened caused by the said defects. Ms. Bohlin has also not revealed how much the recalls and maintenance work would cost the company.

 

Thanksgiving is over and soon it will be Christmas and you know what that means—shopping, shopping, and more shopping. Expect also for problems to arise such as limited parking space and auto thefts.

Michelle Staton, Executive Director of the Pa. Auto Theft Prevention Authority said, "We often see spikes in auto theft rates across the state during the cold winter months -- particularly December and January. It is not surprising that thieves are active while folks are out shopping and filling their vehicles with gifts. The good news is there are simple steps everyone can take to reduce their risk of becoming a victim of auto theft. It begins with common sense. Park in well-lit areas, don't leave holiday gifts in plain view, lock the doors and take the keys and never leave a vehicle running unattended! Believe it or not, many thefts occur when vehicles are left running or unlocked because they are easy targets. Whether you start early or wait till the last minute, always lock your car when holiday shopping."

The Auto Theft Prevention Authority will be giving away for free VINgraving kits through their website at www.watchyourcar.org/. VINgraving is a theft prevention kit that chemically etched your vehicle identification number (VIN) on all the auto glass. It may seem invisible to you but thieves notice it---this part is what I don’t get. Anyway of you are interested to have this kit simply visit the web site of Auto Theft Prevention Authority.

The Authority for the past 12 years has been coordinating state-wide law enforcement efforts to put an end to auto thieves. It also encourages residents to take an active role in protecting their vehicles. For details and information about auto theft in Pennsylvania and for the 50 tips on how to prevent your vehicle from theft simply visit www.watchyourcar.org/.

Gasgoo.com has recently reported that China’s Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co Ltd which is a 50-50 joint venture between Dongfeng Motor Corp and Peugeot Citroen will recall around 5,609 206 model sedans starting November 16 due to problems found in the gearbox.

AQSIQ or the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said that the affected vehicles are those produced between January 22 and July 5 of last year. Fortunately as of now there are still no reports of injuries caused by the said gearbox flaw.

Peugeot Citroen has already notified all owners of affected vehicles and asked them to go to any Peugeot dealership to have their heat exchanger and torque converter replaced.

Aside from Peugeot, Shanghai Volkswagen has also announced a recall for some 2,240 Passat GP due to faulty control key of the luggage compartment that may cause property losses. The models to be recalled are those produced between August 11 and August 24 of this year.

 

America’s leading automotive lifestyle publication, AUTOMOBILE Magazine has announced recently the winners of its 2008 Automobile Magazine All-Stars Awards.

Each year the editors and bureau chiefs of AUTOMOBILE Magazine gathered to test, assess, and debate on the performance, significance as well as the pure enthusiast appeal of the cars that have made the biggest impact in the automotive world. The complete list of the 2008 AUTOMOBILE Magazine All-Star Awards will be featured in the January 2008 issue of the magazine which will available on newsstands by December 4, 2007.

The All-Stars for 2008 were chosen by the AUTOMOBILE Magazine staff, including its worldwide bureau chiefs, and its contributors. The vehicles that were considered for the All-Stars possess the following characteristics:

•    Gives a new meaning to an existing category or creates a new market segment
•    Offer excellent value and performance for the money
•    Possess an exceptional design
•    Offers pure driving enjoyment

Here is the AUTOMOBILE Magazine’s list of 2008 All-Stars complete with editorial assessments sourced from The Auto Channel:

•    Chevrolet Malibu – The best Chevrolet family sedan AUTOMOBILE Magazine’s staff has ever driven. Smooth, quiet, well-finished and more than able to keep up with more powerful cars, it represents a true sea change in what GM is offering the public. This is the kind of car Americans have wanted from Detroit for years.

•    Infiniti G37/G35 – The yin to the BMW 3-series’ yang. Picking a winner between them—which is to say, choosing the best sport coupe/sedan in the world—is less about what the cars can do than it is about what their drivers want. The interior of the Infiniti is a pleasure dome, but the car’s power is obvious the instant you punch the push-button starter and hear the feral growl of the engine.

•    Volvo C30 – A perfect example of smoothly chic, Scandinavian cool. The C30 is whisper-quiet, perfectly composed and has a six-speed manual that you could teach your grandma to row flawlessly in fifteen minutes. The car embodies the one perfect criterion for All-Stardom: anyone would have it.

•    Chevrolet Corvette – Evolutionary improvements keep the Vette in a class of its own. The revised 2008 edition does the 0-to-60-mph sprint in 4.3 seconds—with an automatic transmission. There are faster new cars than the Corvette, but all of them cost a lot more.

•    Mazda CX-9 – Trucks and sport utilities seldom earn a berth on the All-Stars list, but when was the last time you could call such a vehicle’s engine charming, or its transmission silky? The CX-9 ventures beyond the obligatory nine-to-five routine to play party animal in the off-hours.

•    Volkswagen GTI – The GTI is magic. What else do you call a hatchback that can shame supercars? The GTI eclipses the class-clown Mini Cooper for spark and verve, and makes sense for real people who actually have to lead real lives. Fast, fun, cheap, and German. If you don’t like it, you’re probably dead.

•    BMW 3-series – Maybe we should give it a lifetime achievement award. We didn’t set out hoping to give the 3-series another All-Star award—this is the car’s thirteenth—but then we got in the car and started driving. BMW still does chassis tuning like no other carmaker. The 3-Series is the car that instantly makes any mope who slides behind its wheel a better driver.

•    Mercedes-Benz S-class – This year, Mercedes got it just right. The car drips with luxury accoutrements and high-tech accessories, but the S-class is more than just the sum of its equipment list. Rides and handles in a way that belies its size, and comes with a quartet of engines that range from supremely competent to mind-blowing.

•    Lotus Elise – The mid-engine sportster is a bravura engineering performance that reprises the truest Lotus virtues, namely light weight and fealty to handling excellence. The best-handling sports car we know—an audacious-looking thing that goes from 0 to 60 mph in less than five seconds.

•    Porsche Boxster/Cayman – If you’re afraid people will think you bought a Cayman because you can’t afford a 911, we hereby inform you that those people are fools. The Boxster and the Cayman are exquisite to drive, with steering so communicative you’ll feel more of the road’s surface only if you crawl along it on your hands and knees. Few cars are as entertaining to drive at school-zone speeds.

 

Basing on the new study conducted by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) consumers are exerting all efforts to change their driving and vehicle care behaviors especially with fuel prices threatening to reach $4 a gallon.

Six out of ten people surveyed said that their driving behavior has changed due to the increase in gas prices. Still one-third of the motorists surveyed have stated that they would make changes when the price of gasoline reached $3 a gallon while the other 32 percent said that they would change their driving behavior if prices reach $4 a gallon that is according to the result of the survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation.

And when asked about their driving behavior with the gasoline cost increasing, 90 percent of those surveyed said that they are driving less while 75 percent has stated that they are maintaining their vehicle. The other specific behavioral changes were carpooling more (31 percent), purchasing more fuel efficient vehicles (30 percent) and then making greater use of public transportation (24 percent). Plus in order to save more cost half of the consumers surveyed have revealed that they are capable of performing light maintenance and repair jobs themselves.

The interviews were conducted online wherein 500 people ageing 21 and older have participated. The data was weighed basing on gender, age, and geographic region. The maximum error range is plus or minus four points at a 95 percent confidence level.

For additional maintenance tips and advice on how to improve gas mileage simply contact visit Car Care Council at www.carcare.org.

Hard as it is to accept but the fact remains that it was the Japanese automakers that popularize the green revolution in the automotive industry. And basing on the recent national poll, Americans do credit the Japanese automakers for the changes in the auto industry.

It no secret that the Japanese automakers lead by Toyota has made environmentally friendly vehicles to be widely available in the US market and basing on the data provided by Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), around 82 percent of Americans believe that the competition from the Japanese automakers is somewhat pressuring Detroit’s Big Three to finally offer hybrid technologies as well as more fuel efficient cars.

The survey also revealed that around 63 percent of Americans say that fuel efficiency would become a big factor in their decision to purchase their next car. At present there are at least 425,000 Americans that help design, build, and sell Japanese-brand vehicles as a matter of fact 63 percent of the Japanese-brand vehicles sold in the US are produced in North America.

Still 86 percent of Americans surveyed also believe that the jobs provided by these Japanese automakers have contributed significantly in the American economy. Meanwhile, 70 percent of the surveyed Americans also believe that a car made in America by Americans is a US product regardless of the brand it bears.

The survey was conducted among 1,013 Americans last September 2007 by Opinion Research Corporation and is included in the new JAMA publication Japanese Automobile Manufacturers: Cars and Trucks for Vibrant America and a Better World.

The brochure contains reviews of current and historical Japanese automaker investment in America and showcase how JAMA member companies are answering the demand for energy-efficient, eco-friendly vehicles in the US market.

The brochure also reports (source: The Auto Channel):
 
* JAMA members have cumulatively invested $31 billion in 29 U.S. vehicle, engine, and parts manufacturing facilities.

* JAMA members purchased a record-high amount of $48.8 billion in auto parts from U.S. companies between April 2006 and March 2007 (Japan’s fiscal year).

* JAMA members employ 60,000 Americans in manufacturing, nearly 3,600 in research and development, and more than 363,000 in dealerships and distribution.
 
* JAMA members’ U.S. plants produced more than 275,000 cars and trucks for export overseas, accounting for more than 19 percent of total U.S. car and truck exports.

For more info on Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) kindly visit their web site at www.jama.org.