Westlake Financial Services revealed its top auctions for the first quarter and many came out as repeat winners. The choices for top overall auctions went to Manheim Nevada, Norwalk Auto Auction and Brasher's Salt Lake City Auto Auction.
Franchise dealers enjoyed their strongest April for used-car sales in five years, according to CNW Research. Meanwhile, independent dealers saw an increase greater than 17 percent on a year-over-year basis. Franchise dealers sold 1.32 million used vehicles, which is 10.7 percent stronger than April 2010 figures, CNW's Art Spinella reported. Used sales for independent dealers reached 1.33 million units, up from 1.13 million vehicles a year ago.
Google is quietly lobbying Nevada lawmakers to allow self-driving cars. The proposed bill would also allow drivers to use cell phones. Efforts come as Google acknowledged it is developing cars that could be safely driven without human intervention.
The World Traffic Safety Symposium honored the Ford Explorer and its rear inflatable seat belts with the 2011 Traffic Safety Achievement Award. The seat belts also won a gold medal at the 2011 Edison Best New Products.
The federal government is converting its fleet of vehicles to more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. The stated goal is to reduce dependence on imported oil. To meet the government's requirement for fuel- efficient vehicles, E85 will be an important part of the strategy. Currently, however, there are not enough E85 fuel pumps nationwide to achieve this target and ethanol producers are not converting enough corn to blend with gasoline.