Archive for the ‘First Look’ Category
Debut echoes Waymo/Walmart partnership.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Aug.16, 2018
The Kroger project won't completely solve the "last mile" challenge. Customers still will have to go out and grab their bags from the delivery vehicle.
While it may take some time before you can hail a driverless ride-sharing vehicle, you may soon be able to have your groceries delivered autonomously – at least if you live in certain parts of greater Phoenix.
Kroger has teamed up with Nuro, a self-driving tech firm to launch a trial grocery delivery program in one part of the Southwest community, and could roll it out to other parts of the country if it proves successful. The move comes shortly after rival Walmart announced a similar pilot program pairing it with Google’s autonomous vehicle spin-off Waymo.
Stay on Top of Breaking News!
“Kroger wants to bring more customers the convenience of affordable grocery delivery,” Kroger Chief Digital Officer Yael Cosset said in a statement.
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Tags: auto news, car news, driverless truck, kroger delivery, kroger driverless delivery, kroger nuro, nuro delivery, nuro kroger, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, uber driverless, walmart waymart
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, Autonomous Driving, Business, Concept Cars, Driverless Vehicles, First Look, Ride-Sharing, Safety, Sales, Semi-autonomous Driving, Technology, Uber, waymo | No Comments »
Show car will “underline the electrified performance theme."
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Aug.09, 2018
Infiniti is offering a tease of its Pebble Beach Concept.
It’s going to be a busy week when everyone starts rolling into California for the week-long celebration leading up to the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Automakers from around the world are promising to use the Concours and related events as backdrop to unveil an array of production cars and concepts later this month.
That includes Infiniti which today dropped some hints about the electric luxury model it will launch on the Pebble Beach show. While the Nissan luxury brand is being coy about details, it hints that the show car will “underline the electrified performance theme” that it has announced for future products, virtually all models set to be offered with some form of battery-based drivetrain – with an emphasis on plug-in hybrids and pure battery-electric vehicles.
What a Concept!
“Our new concept provides clues to where the Infiniti brand is heading,” said the brand’s design director Karim Habib, in a statement accompanying this teaser image. “For us, electrification means performance – our electrified cars will be powerful, efficient, and a joy to drive, and the new concept is a physical representation of our electrified performance future.”
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Tags: 2018 pebble beach concours, Infiniti concept, Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, auto news, car news, infiniti electric, infiniti electric concept, infiniti news, infiniti pebble beach, nissan news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, Business, Classic Cars, Concept Cars, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Environment, First Look, Fuel Economy, Hybrids, Infiniti, Luxury Vehicles, Nissan, Pebble Beach Concours, Product Reveals, SUVs, Sales, Technology, Trends | No Comments »
Sponsors aim to revive what's been North America’s leading car show.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jul.23, 2018
Toyota Pres. Akio Toyota is shown here revealing the 2019 Camry during this year's NAIAS.
The North American International Auto Show will move from January to June in 2020, a new timeslot that organizers are betting will help revive the flagging momentum of what had long been one of the industry’s most important annual events.
The Detroit Auto Dealers Association had signaled its intention of abandoning its traditional, mid-winter schedule, though a switch to October was also under study. But that would have conflicted with other shows in Europe and Asia, the dealer group’s Executive Director Rod Alberts told TheDetroitBureau.com in an exclusive interview.
We Keep You In the Know!
In a background briefing ahead of today’s official announcement, Alberts said one of the advantages of a summer event is the ability to add new functions that expand beyond the confines of Detroit’s sprawling Cobo Hall convention center. “We realized we have to change the show (and) showcase Detroit, too,” said Alberts, who has been running the DADA for the past 28 years.
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Tags: 2020 detroit auto show, 2020 naias, Consumer Electronics Show, auto show trouble, auto shows, auto shows fading, car news, car shows, ces, detroit auto dealers, detroit auto show moving to june, dieter zetsche, naias moving to june, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisensteinauto news, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Advertising, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, Autonomous Driving, BMW, Beijing, Business, CES, Chevrolet, Citroen, Concept Cars, Daimler, Detroit, Driverless Vehicles, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Executives, FCA, Fiat, First Look, Ford, Frankfurt, GAC, GM, Geneva, Honda, Infiniti, Infortainment, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Lexus, Los Angeles, Markets, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Monthly Results, New York, Nissan, Paris, Personalities, Sales, Sales, Semi-autonomous Driving, Technology, Tesla, Tokyo, Toyota, Trade, U.S./North America, Volkswagen, Volvo | Comments Off
Paris debut planned, U.S. launch could follow.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jul.18, 2018
VinFast turned to Pininfarina to design its new models, the sedan shown in this rendering.
The first “volume” Vietnamese automaker will reveal two new models designed by Pininfarina during the Paris Motor Show this coming October, setting into motion what it hopes will be a global rollout over the next few years.
VinFast, which will be setting up a new “state-of-the-art manufacturing facility” in the northern part of Vietnam plans to launch the two vehicles – an SUV and a sport sedan – in September 2019, though it will initially focus solely on “affluent” buyers in its home country before targeting opportunities elsewhere in Asia and in Western markets.
Insight!
“Our show stand will…prominently feature the best of Vietnam, demonstrating the passion and tenacity that we will bring to the global automotive stage,” said James DeLuca, CEO of VinFast Trading and Production LLC. “We have the resources, scalability and commitment to become a significant new player in the global automotive industry.”
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Tags: auto news, car news, paris motor show, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, vietnam auto, vietnam car, vinfast, vinfast paris
Posted in Asia Pacific, Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, Business, Concept Cars, First Look, Markets, Paris | Comments Off
All-electric Polestar 3 SUV already in the works.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jul.17, 2018
The Volvo 40.2 Concept hints at what's coming with Polestar's first all-electric vehicle.
Volvo’s performance electric brand is getting ready to charge into the market with two additional models over the next two years, starting with the all-electric Polestar 2 which, a senior official claims, will deliver range of up to 350 miles per charge.
And, in keeping with the mandate of the brand – which traces its roots back to the track – the Polestar 2 “five-door coupe” will deliver around 405 horsepower, according to the brand’s Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Goodman. That figure might actually underplay the potential performance of the all-electric offering, as battery-electric vehicles can deliver incredible off-the-line performance because they punch out maximum torque the moment their motors start spinning.
We Keep You Plugged In!
The Polestar 2 is expected to share the same underlying Compact Modular Architecture, or CMA, as the new Volvo 40-Series line-up. That was an obvious choice considering Volvo itself is planning to offer electrified versions of all future models and the CMA, its newest platform, was designed specifically to allow mounting a large battery pack under the load floor.
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Tags: Polestar 1, Polestar news, auto news, battery car, car news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, polestar, polestar 2, polestar 3, polestar electric, polestar geneva motor show, polestar tesla, polestar volvo, thedetroitbureau, volvo news
Posted in Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, Business, China, Concept Cars, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Environment, Europe, First Look, Geneva, Hybrids, Luxury Vehicles, Markets, Polestar, SUVs, Sales, Sports Cars, Super Cars, Technology, Tesla, Trends, U.S./North America, Volvo | Comments Off
Racing between the raindrops.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jul.13, 2018
The new GTS is the second most powerful model in Maserati's GTS line-up.
What has been an otherwise hot and dry summer turned into a storm of almost biblical proportions as I headed up to the M1 Concourse near Pontiac, Michigan for a chance to check out the latest products from Maserati and sibling Italian brand Alfa Romeo. But almost as if on cue, the rain clouds briefly parted when I was handed the keys to the new Maserati Levante GTS for some lap time on the tight and twisty circuit.
There were plenty of skeptics when Maserati announced plans to get into the SUV game – as there were when Porsche revealed similar plans a decade earlier. But the Levante won over most of those naysayers when it made its debut two years ago, initially offering two versions powered by a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6. The GTS turns things up a notch.
Product News and Reviews!
The latest version of Maserati’s first-ever sport-utility vehicle is, certainly on paper, an impressive piece of machinery, thrumming out 550 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque from its 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-6 – just a slight bit less than the Levante Trofeo first unveiled at the New York Auto Show last spring. That’s enough to launch the GTS from 0 to 60 in just 4 seconds – and to take a broadside at the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, destined to be its most direct competitor.
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Tags: 2019 maserati levante gts, 2019 maserati levante gts review, SUV review, auto news, car news, levante trofeo, luxury SUV review, maserati levante, maserati levante gts, maserati news, maserati suv, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, performance suv review, porsche cayenne turbo, porsche news, thedetroitbureau, tim kuniskis
Posted in Alfa Romeo, Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, FCA, First Drive, First Look, Maserati, Muscle Cars, New York, Porsche, Reviews, SUVs, Super Cars | 3 Comments »
“Possessed by the Demon.”
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jun.28, 2018
Dodge continues to bring out new variants of its popular Challenger model. The Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye puts out 797 horsepower.
The Dodge Demon may be gone, but it’s certainly not forgotten, and Fiat Chrysler’s muscle car brand is again pushing the limits with another spin-off of its Hellcat line.
While the 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye won’t quite match the numbers delivered by last year’s limited-edition Demon, it looks to have little to apologize for considering it will still make 797 horsepower – 90 more than the original Hellcat coupe. That will be enough to launch it from 0 to 60 in just 3.4 seconds, with a top speed of 203 mph.
Muscle Up!
“The Dodge Brothers would be proud that we’re leveraging the power and performance of this proven engine to bring a Demon-possessed Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye to an even wider high-performance enthusiast audience,” proclaimed Dodge boss Steve Beahm, during a debut event at FCA’s proving grounds in Chelsea, Michigan.
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Tags: 2019 dodge challenger, 2019 dodge challenger srt hellcat redeye, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Demon, Dodge Hellcat, auto news, car news, dodge challenger redeye, dodge news, dodge redeye, dodge srt challenger redeye, muscle car, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, Business, Dodge, FCA, First Look, Markets, Motorsports, Muscle Cars, Sales, Technology, U.S./North America | Comments Off
BMW's flagship coupe returns after two-decade absence.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jun.15, 2018
This is the first BMW 8-Series since the original was abandoned in 1999.
It may be time for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the big news, trackside will turn to a new street model, BMW using the annual endurance race as backdrop to reveal the long-awaited rebirth of its flagship 8-Series model.
It’s been nearly two decades since the Bavarian automaker abandoned the original 8-Series, but we got word that it would make a comeback last year with the May 2017 debut of the Concept 8 at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on Italy’s Lake Como. Finally, we’re getting a look at the production version.
The Last Word!
Like the original, the new 8-Series opts for a coupe body, albeit one with a much more modern, streamlined design. The pop-up headlights, for one thing, are gone, replaced by slim LED lamps and the automaker’s new LaserLight technology. Indeed, as you’d expect of a BMW flagship, everywhere you look the new coupe is loaded up with the latest in technology, from its optional carbon fiber roof to its self-parking system.
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Tags: 2019 bmw m850i xdrive, 24 hours of le mans, auto news, bmw 8-series, bmw coupe, bmw le mans, bmw news, car news, german coupe, luxury coupe, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automobiles, BMW, Business, Concept Cars, First Look, Luxury Vehicles, Sales, Semi-autonomous Driving, Sports Cars, Technology, Trends | 2 Comments »
Volvo takes performance to new level with modified S60 sedan.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jun.13, 2018
The 2019 Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered gets unique Brembo brakes, among other modifications.
Few brands have done more to try to transform their image in recent years than Volvo, and the new S60 T8 Polestar Engineered sedan should continue shifting the Swedish marque in its new direction.
The latest version of the S60 not only puts more of a premium on sporty styling but backs it up with a 415-horsepower engine. But that’s no ordinary powerplant. No V-8s or turbo-sixes for this new Volvo. It’s a Polestar-modified version of the carmaker’s T8 plug-in hybrid, the top-performing version of its all-four-cylinder line-up.
First Look!
“The new S60 T8 Polestar Engineered is an electrified car that does what you want it to,” said Volvo’s Senior Vice President of R&D Henrik Green. “All components have been fine-tuned to work together, delivering a responsive and exciting driver’s car.”
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Tags: 2019 volvo S60 T8 Polestar Engineered, 2019 volvo s60, Polestar news, Volvo S60, auto news, battery car, car news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, performance ev, plug-in hybrid, thedetroitbureau, volvo news, volvo performance, volvo polestar
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, Business, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Environment, First Look, Jaguar, Luxury Vehicles, Markets, Muscle Cars, Polestar, Porsche, Product Reveals, Safety, Sales, Technology, U.S./North America, Volvo | Comments Off
Handling and control matches power and speed.
by Michael Strong on Jun.11, 2018
The 2019 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 offers plenty of power and improved handling.
The competition in the sports car segment is hot, and Ford is one of the better automakers about finding ways to constantly improve its entry, the Mustang, on a regular basis.
Whether it’s a full makeover or simply an upgrade of its special edition vehicles like the new Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 — and the upcoming GT500 — the automaker continually ensures its legion of loyal fans are sated while drawing new fans to keep sales up over the years.
Product News!
The new GT350 has a variety improvements to keep that tradition rolling along. (more…)
Tags: 2019 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350, Ford improves GT350, Ford upgrades Shelby GT350, Ford's new GT350, TheDetroitBureau.com., auto news, ford mustang, ford news, ford shelby, michael strong, new Mustang offering, new Shelby GT350, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, First Look, Ford, Markets, Muscle Cars, Reviews, Sales, Sports Cars, U.S./North America | Comments Off
