Shanghai, China Good Morning Warren and friends, I'm back from Shanghai, China and I am glad to be back! This week I drove the Honda CRV and the Chevy Camaro. Right now I have a Kia Sorrento in my driveway. I was helping 90-year old Jeanie clean out a storage unit and I was quite [...]
Host John Batchelor talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com, about the 2013 Shanghai auto show. Batchelor had heard that Great Wall Motors, the largest SUV maker in China, would be the first Chinese automaker to enter the United States in volume. The key word is in volume. BYD's Chairman Wang says they will start [...]
Washington Auto Show When Scott Keogh, President, Audi of America, was at the 2013 Washington Auto Show he talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com, about the difference diesel has made in the United States, "Since Audi brought out its first diesel in 2009 till now, it has reduced US fuel consumption by 4.6 million [...]
Paul Jones, product line developer for the Bentley Continental and Flying Spur talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com about the new 2013 Bentley Flying Spur. Bentley - Bent-ley - it even sounds British, but Bentley is owned by a German parent. What is the history of Bentley? The new Flying Spur comes with some [...]
Long Beach Transit Board of Directors voted to recommend BYD Motors as the provider of 10 full-electric buses for Long Beach, CA, a city 30 miles south of Los Angeles, CA. On the last day of Governor Brown's visit to China he announced that BYD buses will be assembled in Lancaster, CA. On May 1, [...]
BYD on Washingtonpost Good morning Warren and friends Today we have as a guest, Michael Austin, Vice President of BYD Co. BYD is around 25% owned by Chairman Chuan Fu Wang, and 9.9% owned by Warren Buffett's Mid American Energy Holding Co. 50% of the stock holdings are US-owned. BYD Co., a company known for [...]
Detlev von Platen, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA), talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com, about Jerry Seinfeld's 911, 50 years of Porsche, the new GT3 and the awards Porsche won at the 2013 New York International Auto show (NYIAS). Porsche already has a Cayenne diesel and a Panamera hybrid. [...]
Fiat 500 EV We are at a Fiat 500 EV event. Some of the information (the most important things, like the price! are still embargoed, but I've got some folks that can answer the questions that aren't embargoed. The top on the list is Nicole Longhini's product manager for 500e! Ask any questions you want [...]
Sam Hoyt, Ford Fusion Marketing Manager, Ford Motor Company, talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com about the 2013 Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid. The Fusion PHEV is the third, behind the C-MAX Energi and Focus Electric, in the line-up of Ford's electrifying vehicles. When was the last time you paid $1.00 to go 20 [...]
Timothy Kuniskis, recently named President and CEO of the Dodge Brand, is the former head of the FIAT Brand for North America. Before he left Fiat, Kuniskis talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com about the 2013 Fiat 500E. Fiat gives you two options, buy or lease. The Fiat 500E goes on sale this summer, [...]