Ford, GM and Chrysler all land at least one spot on Automobile magazine’s All-Star list!
Automobile magazine named it’s list of 2009′s All-Stars and the list has some big names on it. Cars from Audi, BMW, Porsche, and Jaguar all made the list. The surprises are the 4 domestic cars that made the list! The Dodge Ram 1500, Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Flex and Fusion all made the list! This just shows you how good these cars really are! What I can’t seem to put my finger on is which automakers are not in the 10 All-Star list…lets see…oh wow, NONE of the Japanese automakers made the list! That’s SOO weird! I thought their cars were the best of the best??? This surely must be a mistake. Or the magazine just knows what true car fans know, that the Japanese cars are too boring to be All-Stars. For more on the list, head on over to Automobile magazine.
(Image source: Automobile magazine)
Forbes ranks the dirtiest vehicles, it appears the Big 3 are learning!
Some might see this list and say, “that’s why I refuse to buy American!” However, when I look at this list created by Forbes, I see two things. The first thing I see is that the article is totally biased in the fact that it fails to mention that 4 of the top 10 dirtiest vehicles are from German manufacturers. The second thing I notice when looking at this list is that it appears that the Domestic 3 are learning. Of the 6 American made vehicles on the list, 3 are out of production, another 1 is nearing its end and the other 2 are being substantially reworked to put them among the best in their class for fuel efficiency. The list is below, along with the air pollution / greenhouse gas scores next to each vehicle.
- Jeep Grand Cherokee (3/1)
- BMW M5 (6/0)
- BMW M6 (6/0)
- Chevrolet Trailblazer (6/0)
- Mercedes-Benz CL600
- Mercedes-Benz S600
- Chrysler Aspen (6/1)
- Dodge Dakota (6/1)
- Dodge Ram 1500 (6/1)
- Dodge Durango (6/1)
The other small annoyance to me is the fact that the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango showed up on the list even though they are basically the same vehicle and received the same score. I know it’s not good to have a vehicle fall on this list, but the American 3 are making a comeback in this area with vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt and Ford Fusion hybrid. (Note: vehicles in red are out of production/nearing the end of production, vehicles in blue are up for significant updates.)
In what I thought was old news, Chrysler has put development of it’s light duty Cummins diesel engine for the Ram 1500 pickup on hold. Mainly due to current economic conditions, but also due to Chrysler bankruptcy, the diesel would have gone up against similar “light duty” diesels from Ford and GM had those units also not been shelved.
Apparently the contract between Cummins and Chrysler was severed when old Chrysler filed for bankruptcy, and new Chrysler has yet to pick up the contract again. There is some speculation that the engine could end up under the hood of a Nissan consumer grade vehicle…for more head on over to PickupTrucks.com.
