Smartphone applications are bringing Internet music services to vehicles with the help of Google's Android software and interfaces designed to safely exploit hands-free access.
The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index continues to show double-digit gains, with two months of record high values and five straight months of increases in all major segments, says chief economist Tom Webb, with compact pickups and full size vans as leaders.
Car sharing is changing. Sunil Paul, the clean-tech entrepreneur behind a new San Francisco service called Spride Share, looked at the numbers and decided that 10,000 shared cars in the U.S. was not likely to change the world. The answer, Mr. Paul says, is personal car sharing, in which car owners can get modest payments of $5 to $8 an hour to allow their often-idle car or truck to be shared, either by friends and neighbors or the larger car-sharing community.
Automotive Digest publisher Chuck Parker led an OEM Panel at the annual NAFA convention and said the fact that nearly all major automakers again participated in the panel is a positive sign of commitment to the market. While committed to participating, panel members have not yet agreed upon a single solution to the demand for alternative fuels.
Boston is the first city in America to approve the Ford Transit Connect Taxi. Officials say the taxi companies can start using it later this year. Ford will offer CNG and LPG versions for cleaner operation, and is also working to integrate infotainment systems into the vehicles.