– Automaker GM Daewoo Auto & Technology is suing Chery Automobile Co., charging that the Chinese automaker is copying one of its vehicles. The suit says Chery’s QQ mini car copied its Daewoo Matiz and Spark brands, which Chery denies. Malcolm Bricklin plans to bring certain Chery models into the U.S. through his Visionary Vehicles operation in 2007.
– Exotic sports-car manufacturer Lamborghini is again considering a sport-utility vehicle to boost sales. The Italian make had offered a LM002 SUV beginning in the 1980s. “This is something we are working on–the SUV market is growing faster and faster,” says Lamborghini President Stephan Winkelmann.
– The highway fatality rate sank to a record low last year, the government estimates, but the number of traffic deaths increased. Overall, 42,800 people died on the nation’s highways in 2004, up from 42,643 in 2003, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration projections. The fatality rate slid to 1.46 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2004 from 1.48 deaths in 2003.
– The Chevrolet Malibu SS and Malibu Maxx SS receive an instrument cluster that separates them from their counterparts. It features sport graphics, chrome-ringed gauges, red pointers and the SS logo. The instrument panel also has a redesigned “PRNDM” display, with the “M” designating the manual shift mode for its 4-speed automatic transmission.
– GM has delivered 18 diesel/electric buses to Yosemite National Park in California, the first U.S. park to use hybrids to shuttle visitors. The buses use GM’s “two-mode” hybrid system scheduled to be available in 2007 on the automaker’s full-size SUVs. Two-mode refers to powering the vehicle primarily with an electric motor at low speeds and primarily with the diesel engine at higher speeds. GM says the system improves fuel economy and acceleration by about 50 percent while reducing emissions.
– Volvo, AAA, the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Sheriffs’ Association and NHTSA are asking parents to be aware of their teen driver’s habits as part of the Drive For Life campaign. Teen deaths, as driver and passenger, are the highest between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The campaign urges parents and teens to sign a contract outlining safe driving practices at www.driveforlife.com.
