Ford and Dodge Flop, Lexus and Honda Top JD Power’s 2011 U.S. Initial Quality Study

The results are in for JD Power’s latest 2011 U.S. Initial Quality study that looks at the first 90 days of ownership and the news is not good for Ford Motor Company. The Dearborn-based company tumbled from fifth place and highest-ranking non-luxury automaker last year to 23rd in 2011 with 116 problems per 100 vehicles. Analysts claim that Ford’s freefall is due to complaints related to the company’s onboard MyFord Touch infotainment systems.

Even worse, Dodge was placed last in the list with 137 problems per 100 cars. Scion, MINI, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi and Suzuki didn’t fare well either occupying the last places in the study.

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Study Says 2020 EPA Targets can be met with Gasoline Engines

Even though hybrids and EVs are all the rage these days, a study by the Boston Consulting Group found that most automakers will be able to meet 2020 EPA emissions targets using gasoline engines that will be 40% more fuel efficient than the current powerplants.

Advances in technology concerning engine downsizing, turbocharging, direct fuel injection, more efficient cooling, electric power steering and variable valve timing will help achieve this, according to the 23-page study.

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Europe’s 50 Most Congested Cities, according to a Study from TomTom

Navigation system specialist TomTom has compiled a list with Europe’s 50 most congested cities in 2011 based on its real travel time database, which includes more than 800 billion speed measurements sent anonymously by more than 30 million users of firm’s software.

Brussels lead the table, with the capital of Belgium showing a 1.2% increase in traffic compared to 2010. Britain is Europe’s most congested country: London, despite a 0.2% decrease in traffic, has climbed up to third place, while both Manchester and Edinburgh are in the top 10. A total of 16 UK cities are included in the top 50.

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BMW Takes Top Spot Among Automakers and 4th Overall in New Study for the World’s Most Reputable Companies

A recently released study by research-based consulting firm Reputation Institute, found that BMW is considered the world’s most reputable company in the automotive sector and fourth overall behind Google, Apple and the Walt Disney Company. German automakers in general performed well in the study with Daimler, owner of Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Smart, ranking 7th overall, while Volkswagen finished in 10th place, followed by Honda (29), Toyota (60), Nissan (61) and Suzuki (63). Read more »

And the Unluckiest Car in Britain is…the Honda FR-V

Well, the question and the answer have already been given to you in the title, so let us elaborate for a moment. A UK-based car insurance price comparison website called “Confused.com” conducted a study to find out which vehicle make and model had the highest accident rates in Britain in the last five years. The company notes that the statistics you’re about to read show only a snapshot of accident-related claims made by owners of a particular make and model of vehicle.

According to the results, the Honda FR-V, a compact 6-seater minivan marketed in Europe and Japan from 2004 to 2009, topped the list with 2,529 owners of the model making 466 accident claims in the past five years, which is equal to a claim rate of 18.4 per cent, or close to one in five.

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Study Says Men Seven Times more Stressed than Women in Traffic Jams

A new research by satellite navigation company TomTom reveals that men’s stress levels rise seven times higher than a women's when stuck in heavy traffic. British psychologists reached this conclusion after testing volunteers for the rise in stress chemicals in their saliva when caught up in a traffic jam.

The study found that women's stress levels increased by 8.7 percent, while men's soared to 60 percent in the same traffic jam scenario. According to UK specialists, this could prove unhealthy as it puts pressure on the heart and causes dizziness and breathing problems. However, many of the volunteers had no idea they were experiencing stress. 67 percent of the women and 50 percent of men said they did not feel any stress after 20 minutes in heavy traffic, even though the readings showed otherwise.

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British Study Reveals the Most Popular Hairdresser’s Car in Real Life

And no, despite what you may have heard or read, the Audi TT ain’t the most popular car among hairdressers – or at least not in Britain. According to a new study made available today by UK women's car insurance specialist Diamond, that title goes to…*drums please*…the one and only, MINI One hatchback. In fact, the BMW Group’s MINI brand had two vehicles in the top five positions.

The UK insurance firm came to this conclusion after looking at data from over 18,000 hairdressers in Britain. The company said the MINI One is three and a half times more likely to be driven by someone working as a hairdresser than everyone else.

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Hyundai Set to Become Sixth Biggest Automaker in the U.S. In 2011

In the realm of U.S. automotive sales, 8% is a magic number. When an automaker hits 8%, they know they’ve become one of the big guns. Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, Dodge and Nissan have all made it, and 2011 is expected to be Hyundai’s year.

So sayeth market research firm Polk, and I’m tempted to agree. Hyundai and its partner-brand / internal rival Kia have steadily been evolving into truly world-class carmakers. They’re keenly priced, inoffensive to look at and comprehensively covered quality-wise – everything the vast majority of new car buyers want in this day and age.

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Lexus Loses Big In the U.S.A.: Outpaced by Two of its German Rivals

It took eleven years for Lexus to earn the title of top dog of the U.S. luxury car market, and roughly the same amount of time for it to lose it. As a result of parent company Toyota’s accelerator pedal recall saga and the fifty percent drop in production capacity caused by the Tōhoku earthquake, old guard automakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz have left the Japanese upstart gasping for air in third place.

According to automotive forecaster IHS, Mercedes-Benz will most probably sell 254,100 cars and SUVs in the States topping BMW’s estimated deliveries of 250,400 units. Lexus is projected to drop to third place with 192,900 sales.

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Report: Do Speed Cameras Save Lives?

No matter where in the world you live, speed cameras are bound to be a hot button item for most drivers and especially automotive enthusiasts. With a recent proposal by the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) suggesting that the operation of and collection of fines from speed cameras in the hands of local government, the issue has once again come to the forefront of public opinion. The big question on many people’s minds is: are speed cameras actually effective at saving lives and preventing accidents?

First, let’s eliminate any prejudice against speed cameras. I and many others object to the sometimes devious ways our nation’s police force use speed cameras. Camera vans hidden in the bushes, signage placed in front rather than behind the vans and the use of unmarked vehicles have all soured public opinion on this supposed accident-reducing device. This is not about how speed cameras are used; it’s a question of whether or not they actually do what they’re intended to do.

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Toyota Overtakes BMW as World's Most Valuable Brand

The BrandZ Top 100 annual study revealed that Toyota is once again the world's most valuable auto brand, after losing the position last year to BMW due to the massive recall campaign. Toyota saw an 11 percent increase in its brand value, which is now rated at $24.2 billion (€16.85 billion). The research company Millward Brown, whose global brand director said Toyota’s recall had not affected consumers’ confidence in the carmaker, compiled the ranking. Read more »

Britain’s Wonderland Syndrome: Motorists Deliberately Causing Accidents and Claiming Big Payouts

Godfather of Soul James Brown once sang, “Stock market going up, jobs going down,” and he’s never been more right. Only it’s not the stock market going up, its car insurance in the UK. And it’s going up a lot. Twelve months ago, drivers were paying (on average) £633.55 to insure their cars. Now they’re £892.08 or forty percent more, and there was a similar 40% increase the year before and the year before that. Yet with accidents declining and the competition increasing more than ever before, premiums – you’d think – would be lower than ever.

So what gives? Well, insurance companies are making bigger payouts thanks to litigation. Litigation! Roughly 200 claims a year to be exact, executed by those nefarious, “no win, no fee” lawyer-types. And this is in the UK; a country that I’d have thought would have more sense than that. Fortunately, it seems some people in the UK do have more sense than that as British Parliament has finally woken up to this litigation bully.

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