It’s worth the 10 minute trip from Bowmanville to test drive Durham’s largest inventory of  used cars, trucks, and SUV’s, including the award winning Chevy Cruze. As the top dealer of Used Chevy Cruze vehicles, our friendly and knowledgeable staff will ensure a world class Cruze-buying experience.

Exterior

Many of our vehicles have been reconditioned to make you feel as though you are getting a new Cruze, but at a used price. With it’s fantastic exterior design, our used Cruze’s have sharp angles, taunting curves and the beloved Cruze grille. The sculpted and attention-grabbing look of our Used Chevrolet Cruze’s will turn heads.

Interior

The interior is stylish and functional. Still boasting the latest in automotive technology, our used selection of Cruze’s have low kms, and many still have factory warranty. With bold, elegant dials and rich colours, our Used Chevrolet Cruze selection still keeps up with the “Ward’s 10 best interiors of 2011″ award. No other used car can even compare to these standards.

Engine Specs

With its terrific 1.4L turbocharged engine, the Chevy Cruze delivers 138hp and gives  new meaning to economical acceleration.  Along with its 6-speed transmission, our selection of Used Chevrolet Cruze’s comes with rack-mounted electric power steering and race proven Z-link rear suspension. This allows the Cruze to get up to 42 mpg on the highway.

Tech Tips

Our Used Chevrolet Cruze’s also come with some of the best technology available in terms of used and new cars. Our selection of Cruze’s all have the standard and available technology that is easy to see, touch and use all while being ergonomic and sharp looking. The Used Chevrolet Cruze’s also come with Onstar, Hands free technology and USB ports.

This Chevy Cruze ad reinforces the myth of the street artist/singer, that their lives are always worry-free and happy. The artist humbly serves no matter how many people are listening or attentive to them. They are impulsive, free spirits who sing everywhere and inspire people around them to be happy.

Stations throughout Windsor bumped their price from around $1.31 Wednesday morning to around $1.37 a litre by the afternoon. In Montreal the price per litre went from $1.41 to $1.54.

“I think that’s kind of ridiculous,” said A.J. Happy, 23, a Wayne State University criminology student putting a bit of gas in his 2000 Dodge Dakota to get across the border to school, and the prospect of cheaper gas stateside.

“I’m just filling up enough to get there and I’ll get more when I come back over. I think it’s ridiculous. A lot of people can’t afford this. You couldn’t take as many trips this summer. It’s really unfair to everybody.”

Happy said he has cut back on his driving, even though his four-cylinder pickup is relatively good on gas.

“I find I’ve cut back a lot this summer,” said Happy.

“I’ve walked a lot of places, I actually took the bus, which I haven’t done since high school.”

Drivers fill up at the Zehrs Gas Bar on Tuesday, September 12, 2012.  TYLER BROWNBRIDGE / The Windsor Star

The price at the Macs gas bar at Ouellette Avenue and Erie Street was at $1.377, as well as at the Seven-11 at Tecumseh Road East and McDougall Street. At the Petro Canada at Tecumseh Road West and Ouellette Avenue the price was $1.379.

By late Wednesday afternoon motorists were lining up for gas at the Great Canadian Superstore on Dougall Avenue, where the price was still just $1.294 a litre.

“I heard on the news it was going up so I was surprised to see it was under $1.30 here,” said Will Thomas, 24, while filling up his Chevrolet Cruze.

He said the price of gas has led him to cut back on unnecessary car trips, but sometimes it’s a necessity.

“I don’t drive when I don’t have to but I have to drive to some things,” said Thomas.

“I don’t drive a tonne so it doesn’t really affect me. It’s frustrating. But I guess it’s just one of those things. I don’t really understand the pricing, why it is what it is. I kind of assume there’s a reason for it. Nobody tells me.”

Former Toronto-area Liberal MP Dan McTeague, who now operates the website tomorrowsgaspricetoday.com, has studied the industry extensively and even he can’t explain why prices are going up now.

“There are all sorts of games going on right now and it’s really hard to – not everybody follows these things but generally there is a trend currently by the major oil companies to drive the prices up to the $1.37 range, between $1.33 and $1.37,” said McTeague, who chaired a House of Commons committee that investigated the issue of gas prices about a decade ago.

“My gut tells me that what we’re seeing is jumping the gun by Canada’s major refiners who are anticipating, one, the call for stimulus by the federal reserve in the United States and two, the move to economic stimulation in quantitative raising that will lead to a sudden and dramatic increase in commodity prices and so our refiners are trying to, as it were, forward the possible U.S. refiners coming north looking for supply at bargain-basement prices two or three days from now.”

McTeague said the wholesale price in Windsor Wednesday was 90 cents a litre, while it was only 78 cents on the NYMEX exchange in the U.S., where prices are set.

“It’s very hard to decode silence but based on the previous assumptions and patterns there is nothing really behind this so unless someone wants to use the scarcity word, in which we don’t have enough supply to supply ourselves, how else to explain the sudden and dramatic and, quite frankly absurd increase at the pumps?” said McTeague.

Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, according to estimates provided to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts. GM on Monday issued a statement disputing the estimates.

Cheap Volt lease offers meant to drive more customers to Chevy showrooms this summer may have pushed that loss even higher. There are some Americans paying just $5,050 to drive around for two years in a vehicle that cost as much as $89,000 to produce.

And while the loss per vehicle will shrink as more are built and sold, GM is still years away from making money on the Volt, which will soon face new competitors from Ford, Honda and others.

GM’s basic problem is that “the Volt is over-engineered and over-priced,” said Dennis Virag, president of the Michigan-based Automotive Consulting Group.

And in a sign that there may be a wider market problem, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi have been struggling to sell their electric and hybrid vehicles, though Toyota’s Prius models have been in increasing demand.

GM’s quandary is how to increase sales volume so that it can spread its estimated $1.2-billion investment in the Volt over more vehicles while reducing manufacturing and component costs – which will be difficult to bring down until sales increase.

But the Volt’s steep $39,995 base price and its complex technology — the car uses expensive lithium-polymer batteries, sophisticated electronics and an electric motor combined with a gasoline engine — have kept many prospective buyers away from Chevy showrooms.

Some are put off by the technical challenges of ownership, mainly related to charging the battery. Plug-in hybrids such as the Volt still take hours to fully charge the batteries – a process that can be speeded up a bit with the installation of a $2,000 commercial-grade charger in the garage.

PLANT SHUTDOWN

The lack of interest in the car has prevented GM from coming close to its early, optimistic sales projections. Discounted leases as low as $199 a month helped propel Volt sales in August to 2,831, pushing year-to-date sales to 13,500, well below the 40,000 cars that GM originally had hoped to sell in 2012.

Out in the trenches, even the cheap leases haven’t always been effective.

A Chevrolet dealership that is part of an auto dealer group in Toms River, New Jersey, has sold only one Volt in the last year, said its president Adam Kraushaar. The dealership sells 90 to 100 Chevrolets a month.

The weak sales are forcing GM to idle the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant that makes the Chevrolet Volt for four weeks from September 17, according to plant suppliers and union sources. It is the second time GM has had to call a Volt production halt this year.

GM acknowledges the Volt continues to lose money, and suggests it might not reach break even until the next-generation model is launched in about three years.

“It’s true, we’re not making money yet” on the Volt, said Doug Parks, GM’s vice president of global product programs and the former Volt development chief, in an interview. The car “eventually will make money. As the volume comes up and we get into the Gen 2 car, we’re going to turn (the losses) around,” Parks said.

“I don’t see how General Motors will ever get its money back on that vehicle,” countered Sandy Munro, president of Michigan-based Munro & Associates, which performs detailed tear-down analyses of vehicles and components for global manufacturers and the U.S. government.

It currently costs GM “at least” $75,000 to build the Volt, including development costs, Munro said. That’s nearly twice the base price of the Volt before a $7,500 federal tax credit provided as part of President Barack Obama’s green energy policy.

Other estimates range from $76,000 to $88,000, according to four industry consultants contacted by Reuters. The consultants’ companies all have performed work for GM and are familiar with the Volt’s development and production. They requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of their auto industry ties.

Parks declined to comment on specific costs related to the Volt.

In its Monday response, GM said the Reuters estimate was “grossly wrong,” but again declined to provide specific figures.

GM said it allocates development costs across the lifetime volume of the program. Reuters calculated the per-vehicle development costs based on the number of Volts sold through the end of August.

(For the full GM statement: link.reuters.com/myw52t)

The independent cost estimates obtained by Reuters factor in GM’s initial investment in development of the Volt and its key components, as well as new tooling for battery, stamping, assembly and supplier plants — a price tag that totals “a little over” $1 billion, Parks said. Independent estimates put it at $1.2 billion, a figure that does not include sales, marketing and related corporate costs.

Spread out over the 21,500 Volts that GM has sold since the car’s introduction in December 2010, the development and tooling costs average just under $56,000 per car. That figure will, of course, come down as more Volts are sold.

The actual cost to build the Volt is estimated to be an additional $20,000 to $32,000 per vehicle, according to Munro and the other industry consultants.

The production cost estimates are considerably higher than those for the Chevrolet Cruze, the Volt’s conventional gasoline-engine sister car, which Munro estimates at $12,000 to $15,000 per vehicle.

Production costs typically include such items as parts, material, labor and the cost to run the factory, according to manufacturing expert Ron Harbour, who heads the North American Automotive Practice at Michigan-based consultant Oliver Wyman.

COST PENALTIES

The Volt costs more to build for several reasons, mostly related to the car’s richer content, complex technology and still-low sales and production volumes.

The basic model has a higher level of equipment and features than the Cruze, which is assembled in Lordstown, Ohio, and has a starting sales price of $17,925. The Volt also has a number of unique parts, including the battery pack, the electric motor and the power electronics.

Some of GM’s suppliers also impose cost penalties on the automaker because the Volt’s production volume remains well below projections.

Still, as the company wrestles with how to drive down costs and increase showroom traffic, Parks said the Volt is an important car for GM in other respects.

“It wasn’t conceived as a way to make tons of money,” he said. “It was a big dip in the technology pool for GM. We’ve learned a boatload of stuff that we’re deploying on other models,” Parks said. Those include the Cruze and such future cars as the 2014 Cadillac ELR hybrid.

The same risky strategy — gambling on relatively untested technology — drove massive investments by Toyota Motor Corp in the Prius hybrid and Nissan Motor Co in the Leaf electric car.

Toyota said it now makes a profit on the Prius, which was introduced in the United States in 2000 and is now in its third generation. Sales of the Prius hybrid, which comes in four different versions priced as low as $19,745, have almost doubled so far this year to 164,408.

Other such vehicles haven’t done nearly as well. Nissan’s pure-electric Leaf, which debuted at the same time as the Volt and retails for $36,050, has sold just 4,228 this year, while the Honda Insight, which has the lowest starting price of any hybrid in the U.S. at $19,290, has sales this year of only 4,801. The Mitsubishi i, an even smaller electric car priced from $29,975, is in even worse shape, with only 403 sales.

Toyota’s unveiling of the original Prius caught U.S. automakers off guard. GM, then under the leadership of Rick Wagoner and Bob Lutz, decided it needed a “leapfrog” product to tackle Toyota and unveiled the Volt concept to considerable fanfare at the 2007 Detroit auto show.

The car entered production in the fall of 2010 as the first U.S. gasoline-electric hybrid that could be recharged by plugging the car into any electrical outlet. The Obama administration, which engineered a $50-billion taxpayer rescue of GM from bankruptcy in 2009 and has provided more than $5 billion in subsidies for green-car development, praised the Volt as an example of the country’s commitment to building more fuel-efficient cars.

NEXT-GENERATION CAR

GM’s investment in the Volt has so far been a fraction of the $5 billion that Nissan said it is spending to develop and tool global production of the Leaf and its associated technologies and the reported $10 billion or more that Toyota has plowed into the Prius and various derivatives over the past decade.

But there will inevitably be more development costs for future generations of GM plug-ins and it could still could be years before GM sells enough Volts to bring the cost down to break even.

The average per-car costs for development and tooling will drop as sales volume rises. But GM will need to sell 120,000 Volts before the per-vehicle cost reaches $10,000 — and that may not occur during the projected five-year life cycle of the first-generation Volt.

Parks said the company also is continuously reducing production costs on the current Volt and its successor. “There is a strong push on the cost of the Gen 2 to get the car to make money and to be more affordable . . . Virtually every component in the next-gen car is going to be cheaper,” he said.

One obvious way to pull down costs is to push up volume — but GM is paying a hefty price to do so.

The automaker just ended a special Volt lease program that offered customers a low monthly payment of $279 a month for two years, with some high-volume dealers dropping the payment to $199 a month after receiving incentive money from GM, with down payments as low as $250. The company said about two-thirds of Volt customers in July and August leased their vehicles, compared with about 40 percent earlier this year.

Before GM resorted to discounting Volt leases, sales were averaging just over 1,500 cars a month. A huge part of that reason was consumer push back over the price, according to Virag of Automotive Consulting.

Volt’s nearest competitor, the Prius, is priced at $24,795, with a newer version, the Prius Plug-In, starting at $32,795.

Parks said the sales pitch for the Volt was “difficult” because of the sticker price and the car’s technical complexity. But the discounted leases have helped lure more non-GM buyers into Chevy showrooms. Their number-one trade-in: Toyota Prius.

Raymond Chevrolet, in suburban Chicago, sells an average 1,000 Chevys a month, including three to seven Volts. Dealership president Mark Scarpelli said that “some people who like the concept of an electric vehicle find it cost-prohibitive.”

Chevrolet Cruze 2011-2012 CCFL Halo Projector Headlights Black (Fits: All)

Product Description

Vehicle Fitment:11-12 Chevy Cruze

Chevrolet Cruze 2011-2012 CCFL Halo Projector Headlights Black (Fits: All) Feature

• Directly replaces your stock/factory lighting.
• Projector headlights were created with high quality in mind. These lightings offer an intense and concentrated beam pattern.
• Compared to the stock lighting, this lighting delivers both an excellent style and vision.
• Each lighting has been individually tested inside and out to meet all restrictions and standards.
• These CCFL-based halo projection lighting are up to three times brighter and up to three times longer than any previous released halo rings.

Chevrolet Cruze DVD GPS Navigation

Product Description

7 inch Chevrolet Cruze Car dvd gps with IPOD function

1,7.0 inch digita car dvd player(800*480)
2,high speed camera alert function Or connect reversing radar function
3,DVB-T can be optional(30km/per hour,support wire antenna,impove signal sensitivity)
4,E-book function–E-book:read,browse pics and games
5,steering wheel control
6,Bluetooth:BT-music,phonebook,call
7,Mucic:MP3,MP4,IPOD
8,TMC optional:Traffic Message Channel
9,SD card:store NAV software or multi-media document.support new type SDHC card,biggest 32GB
10,offer USB-HOST1.1 Jack,can read U disc,card reader
11,the language of OSD have 17 kinds: English, German ,French, Spanish, Dutch, Hungarian, Czech, Danish, Norwegian,Swedish,Portuguese,Italian, Finland ,Roumania, Greek, Russian,Poland
12,CAN BUS
13,Compatible with DVD,VCD,CD,MP3,MPEG4,CD-R,WMA and JPEG playbacks
14,Built-in FM/AM Radio, RDS, movie,Time, calendar
Navigation Software equest
1,WinCE.net 5.0 CORE
2,Built in GPS–17 lanugages can be choose:English,German,French,Spanish
,Dutch,Hungarian,Czech,Danish,Norwegian, Swedish,Portuguese,Italian,Finland,Roumania,Greek,Russian,Poland 3,GPS dual zone function
4,Navigation PCB:COM2,Baud Rate:9600bps, The path of storageing SD Cards map: Storagecard*.exe; The path of storageing NandFlashs map :NandFlash*.exe.
5,support map:Igo 8,Route66,Gate5,Papago

Chevrolet Cruze DVD GPS Navigation Feature

The Cruze is the latest compact car from Chevrolet, the same brand that brought you the Cobalt and Cavalier before it. In many ways Chevy’s previous small car offerings struggled when compared to icons like the Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. With the Cruze Chevrolet has stepped up its game, producing a car with the features, safety, style and efficiency needed to take on the best in class.

GM India Launches All New Chevrolet Cruze

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Chevrolet Cruze Cars (3 Variants ) 

(95,972 Views on zigwheels)

http://bit.ly/QMiEbO

New Chevrolet Cruze

http://bit.ly/OAnVQm

Chevrolet Cruze Versions

http://bit.ly/NHRcpW

“Was that the car? or the road?”  I worry to myself.

My mind tried to assure me that it was the road.  My gut knew it was the car.

The 1988 Cadillac Sedan de Ville was a bequest from Grandmother.  It was the final rung in her Ladder of Respectability.  Throughout a marriage old enough itself to qualify for Social Security benefits, Grandfather’s question was always, “Vivian, tell me when and of what are you going to die?” so that he could budget around her latest fad.

Except for Cadillacs.

“Cadillacs are ostentatious, pretentious, and priced for people who respect displays of wealth over the value of a dollar.”  Grandfather grumbled.

So, on the day that Pap was too ill to stay at home, Nanny made sure he was as comfortable as possible at Walnut Place Nursing Home.  She, then, returned to her slim-line telephone, pink, hard-wired, bedside.

“Carl?” she had spoken to the President and CEO of Sewell Cadillac as a long-time friend of his mother’s before, but never as a customer.  ”Carl, could you send over some cars for me to look at?”

Within the hour, her Oldsmobile ’98, which she hated, and Pap’s Mercury Zephyr were on their way to trade-in.  In the garage directly below her apartment parked a brand-new 1988 Cadillac Sedan de Ville, metallic champagne with beige leather interior, LOADED, and the worst engine Cadillac ever built. 

It was what she wanted.  It is what she’d always wanted.   Eight years and 16,000 miles later, it was mine.  When she died, Nanny wanted to me to have her crowning achievement.

Robert Red Ford built a rental property portfolio and restored a boat.  Hauling loads of material from Home Depot to job sites and tons of debris away, he remodeled one apartment after another, either in our inventory or someone else’s.  With the acquisition of the boat, he went to the lake at least one week a month and one month a year for two years until Betty Jane was seaworthy.  Doris Faye, our Dalmatian, stood guard in the passenger’s side.

“No compression in one of the cylinders.”

After we got back to Cincinnati, Dale diagnosed the Grannilac’s shudder.  He rebuilt the engine in 2000 so he was familiar.  ”It is a slow death; there’s no rush.”

Except that on the way home from test driving a Honda Accord and a Toyota Corolla, she could not climb the slightest of grade without losing her breath.

“She’s worse than I thought.”

Minor leaks in the Robert’s cooling system required the constant addition of coolant; even then, he overheated in traffic jams on hot summer days with the air-conditioning on.  We suspected obstructions in the radiator.

Gone are the cars which showed us the sites and broadened our horizons, but not their memory:   the transformation of bulldozer-bait properties to cream puffs;  the camp outs on the Outer Banks, the Grand Canyon, and rafting down the Colorado River; the breakdowns in tropical storms; dying parents and their funerals; splashing Betty Jane in the Arkansas; putting down Doris Faye.

“Don’t worry,” comforted the salesman, “they’ll find a hill-billy who will think they’re the most wonderful cars in the world.”

I hope so.

Tom, a Chevy “Cruze”, is our new car.  Stripped down to nothing but four under the hood, six on a stick, and a back seat for Kohl; he’s light-weight, compact, and Mid-life blue.   25 mpg/city, 35 mpg/hwy.

A page turns.

Kelley Blue Book (KBB) Consumer Reviews give the Cruze 8.8/10, and KBB says you’ll like this car “If you’re shopping for a compact car with a more refined look, ride and interior quality than the average economy sedan, the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze sedan is sure to win you over. The Eco model’s 40-mpg highway fuel rating also can’t hurt.”

Parents Magazine and Edmunds.com listed the Cruze Eco as one of the ‘Best Family Cars for 2012‘, and General Motors just announce they will invest $220 million for tooling and equipment to build the next-generation Chevrolet Cruze in two northeast Ohio plants retaining more than 5,000 jobs.

Everywhere you look people are saying great things about the Chevrolet Cruze!

If you want to learn more about the Cruze, stop by Sport Chevrolet. If you’ve heard enough and are ready to get into a Chevy Cruise of your own, they are on sale now until September 4 2012. Or you can lease a 2012 Cruze LS w/ Auto Transmission for $149/month for 24 months with $1929 due at signing*. (For qualified leasees. *Tax, title, license, dealer fees and optional equipment extra. Mileage charge of $0.20 /mile over 24,000 miles. Take delivery by September 04 2012.)

Sport Chevrolet Company Inc
3101 Automobile Blvd
Silver Spring, MD 20904
(240) 293-4102

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Related articles

• Sport Chevrolet’s Chevy Cruze Lease Giveaway (sportchevrolet.wordpress.com)
• Best Family Cars for 2012 – Parents and Edmunds.com (sportchevrolet.wordpress.com)

Johnson spoke about the impact of General Motors’ announcement that the next generation compact Chevrolet Cruze would be built at the Lordstown, Ohio plant.

The facility, located  75 miles west of Pittsburgh, has produced the current Cruze since September 2010 for its introduction as a 2011 model.

Click below for the full interview:

Listen to Drivetime with Vinnie Richichi and Rob Pratte Saturday 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Newsradio 1020 KDKA

A total of $220 million will be invested to help develop GM’s best-selling compact sedan, which is now entering its third model year. Set to launch in the fall of 2014, the 2015 model will offer better mileage, storage space, and new style features. Most of the money will go to the Lordstown plant where the car is assembled. Upgrades to the Parma stamping plant will also be funded by the investment. GM also says more than 5,000 jobs will be preserved.

Since being introduced internationally in 2009, more than 1.6 million Chevrolet Cruzes have been made – 500,000 of which came from Lordstown.

Sales of the Cruze fell this summer, most noticeably in July when sales plummeted 39 percent. Earlier in the year, more than 475,000 Cruzes were recalled for a flawed design issue that could have led oil to spill on a plastic engine shield.

- Carl Harp / 98.5 WNCX

The company says the investment in new equipment will preserve more than 5,000 jobs at factories in Lordstown, Ohio, near Youngstown, and Parma near Cleveland.

GM says the new Cruze will get fresh styling, a nicer interior and better gas mileage than the version on sale now. The Cruze now gets 35 to 42 miles per gallon on the highway depending on engine and transmission.

GM wouldn’t say when production of the new Cruze will start. The compact is GM’s second-best selling car with nearly 129,000 sold so far this year.

The Lordstown factory complex has built 500,000 Cruzes since production began in September of 2010.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

A recent survey of car shoppers on kbb.com found that 51% of respondents are now considering a smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicle, while 20% are considering an alternative-fuel vehicle such as a diesel or hybrid. “GM’s strategic investments in four-cylinder and turbocharged engines, advanced transmissions and vehicle electrification have been very well timed,” said Mark Reuss, president of GM North America. “Three years ago, about 16 percent of the vehicles GM sold achieved at least 30 mpg on the highway. Today, that number is about 40 percent, and we have more new fuel-economy leaders on the way…”

What are the Chevy fuel economy leaders on sale today? Here is the lowdown: (all mpg totals are estimated)

• Chevrolet Volt: mpg-e 95 city / 93 hwy / mpg 35 city / 40 hwy
• Chevrolet Cruze Eco: mpg 28 city / 42 hwy
• Chevrolet Spark: mpg 28 – 32 city / 37 – 38 hwy
• Chevrolet Sonic: mpg 25-29 city / 35-40 hwy
• Chevrolet Malibu Eco: mpg 25 city / 38 hwy
• Chevrolet Cruze: mpg 25 city / 36 hwy
• Chevrolet Malibu: mpg 17-22 city / 26-33 hwy
• Chevrolet Equinox: mpg 22 city / 32 hwy
• Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid: mpg 20 city / 23 hwy
• Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid: mpg 20 city / 23 hwy
• Chevrolet Impala: mpg 18 city / 30 hwy

If you’re looking for an environmentally responsible car that fits your budget and your lifestyle, visit Win Kelly Chevrolet Buick GMC, we have plenty of options for you.

Win Kelly Chevrolet Buick GMC
12421 Auto Drive
Clarksville, MD 21029
Phone: (877)840-7541
Email: Contact Us

Facebook   |   Twitter   |   Google+   |   foursquare   |   Pinterest   |   Win Kelly

Tourism transport Tangier

Police say Yolanda Murchison of Columbia, Md., was arrested early Saturday. Police say she drove her 2012 Chevrolet Cruze over a curb, across a median and into the right rear of an occupied police vehicle.

The police officer driving the vehicle was taken by ambulance to a hospital and is listed in stable condition. Murchison was not injured.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The Cruze has brought in awards such as the IIHS 2011 Top Safety Pick and a 5-star overall vehicle safety score by the National Transportation Safety Administration. Awards like this can almost be expected when you take into consideration all the safety features that the Cruze is equipped with. It has 10 air bags that are meant to protect heads, chests and knees. The Cruze also has a collapsible pedal system that helps reduce leg and or ankle injuries when in a frontal crash.

The Chevrolet Cruzes body is also engineered to keep you safe as it has a high-strength safety steel cage with roof-crush resistance technology. The Cruze is also built to withstand very tight and rugged turns without the risk of rolling over.

Like all GM vehicles, the Cruze comes equipped with the OnStar system that gives you continuous protection, no matter when you need it.

Make sure to check out our inventory of Optimum Certified used Chevrolet Cruze’s!

If sales volumes accurately predicted quality, we might think Justin Bieber were a better musician than Mozart. But in many areas of life, the most popular things are not always the greatest. That certainly holds true for cars: the Ford F-150 and Toyota Camry may be the two top-selling vehicles in America, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are absolutely the best new cars on the market.

Many of the nation’s most popular vehicles are purchased because their nameplates are well-known or because the manufacturer has a huge number of dealerships. Subjective qualities like driving enjoyment and styling frequently take a figurative back seat, meaning that consumers often overlook great cars from lesser-known manufacturers. We at Automobile Magazine, by contrast, often look beyond the obvious and popular choices to find cars that are truly fun to drive, exciting to look at, or outstanding in some other way. We see cars not simply as a tool for traveling from home to a destination, but as a way to have fun along the way. Cars can be beautiful, thrilling, and expressions of identity. Our magazine was even founded on the simple motto, No Boring Cars.

Unfortunately, not every car that we love becomes a hit with consumers. We sometimes fall for more obscure, more expensive, or more unusual vehicles than the typical driver. That’s in part because we have the luxury of driving nearly every new car on the market, whereas most shoppers are only able to test-drive a handful of models. Although we of course love luxury and sports cars, many of our favorite rides are very practical choices that just don’t meet the needs or budgets of typical consumers.

Here is our list of excellent cars that most buyers bypass, despite the cars’ virtues. Each of the models here sells fewer than 3000 units per month, based on rounded average monthly sales figures for the first six months of 2012. To put that into perspective, sales of the Toyota Camry average more than 35,000 each month.

Buick Regal

Average monthly sales: 2471
The Buick brand is going through a reinvention, and one of the first signs that the luxury marque has changed its ways is the Regal sedan. Sourced from Europe and offered in varieties from the eAssist hybrid to the high-performance GS, the Regal is the most impressive sedan that Buick has built in years. The car has elegant, upscale styling that is far more modern than the drooping lines of previous Buicks. It has buttoned-down suspension that is gentle enough to satisfy Lexus converts, yet firm enough to please aggressive drivers. Moreover, the 220-hp Regal Turbo and 270-hp Regal GS are genuine sports sedans that provide more driving pleasure than we have found in a Buick for years.

Unfortunately, the car will struggle to find buyers until the Buick brand manages to reinvent its reputation. The average Buick buyer is approaching 60 years old, and so the nameplate unfortunately is saddled with the stigma that it’s only for retirees. The brand has tried to rejuvenate itself with new products and refreshed marketing, and even launched the Verano compact sedan. Based on the Chevrolet Cruze, the Verano is the cheapest Buick on the market and is meant to help pull in younger buyers. But identities can’t be changed overnight. Reinventing impressions of the Buick brand will be a lengthy process, and while the Regal is an important part of that transformation, there’s still a long way to go before perceptions of modern Buicks will match up with reality.

    

Ford Flex

Average monthly sales: 2748
We’ve been fans of the Ford Flex since the handsome three-row crossover was launched in 2008. The Flex has an upscale design, is surprisingly good to drive, and is very commodious inside. We especially like the EcoBoost model, which has a 365-hp, twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 good for 365 hp that makes for strong acceleration. But we’re pretty much the only fans of the Flex: it sells in very low numbers, despite receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews.

One of the leading factors in slow Flex sales is within the Ford showroom: the Explorer. It offers similar three-row capability and the same choice between front- and all-wheel drive optional all-wheel drive to the Flex, but has the benefit of nameplate recognition that stretches back more than two decades. A much bigger problem concerns the bottom line. The Ford Flex struggles in its segment because it is comparatively quite expensive; the top-spec Limited trim starts at $40,055. In fact, even the base Ford Flex is $2260 more than the three-row Honda Pilot, and $1375 more than the Chevrolet Traverse. Finally, there’s the issue of styling. While we love the bold rectilinear design, the straight-edged look is too unusual for some buyers in this segment. Based on the continuing success of bland, bloated-looking crossovers, it seems many customers pay little attention to design when picking a family hauler, and prefer choosing a vehicle that fits in with the mainstream. As a result, sales of the Ford Flex have remained slow.

    

Hyundai Genesis Sedan

Average monthly sales: 1500-2000 (approx.)
Hyundai launched the Genesis sedan in America for the 2009 model year with a big goal: to take on the established luxury sedans from Europe and Japan. “Hyundai aims to shatter premium automobile paradigms,” the automaker said at the launch of the Genesis, boasting that it had “capabilities and features comparable to the world’s leading premium sports sedans.”

We were impressed by the Genesis, calling it not long after launch, “a very credible Lexus competitor.” After spending 12 months with a Four Seasons example, we were even more enamored of the Korean luxury sedan. But the buying public hasn’t been quite so thrilled, relegating the Genesis to an also-ran in the sales reports. Hyundai reports combined sales figures for both the Genesis luxury sedan and the sportier Genesis Coupe, but says about half of the 3164 average monthly sales are for the sedan. That means the Hyundai Genesis sedan sells only around 1500 to 2000 cars monthly, the BMW 5-Series easily averages more than 4000 sales per month, and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class approaches 5000 units per month.

    

If its appearance and luxury appointments live up to competitors, why hasn’t the Hyundai Genesis become a bigger success? The problem is that German rivals BMW and Mercedes don’t sell any cheap cars, while Hyundai offers cars for as little as $13,320. Customers know that every BMW or Mercedes is an expensive car, but some well-heeled buyers will be turned off by the fact that Hyundai also peddles economy sedans. That’s why Hyundai has mulled launching a luxury brand called Genesis, which would exclusively sell the Genesis and the Equus luxury sedans at more upscale showrooms.

Despite the slow market penetration of the Genesis, corporate sibling Kia is planning to forge ahead with its own Korean luxury sedan, likely called the K9. It remains to be seen whether that car will be able to take on the German and Japanese luxury sedans, or whether it will suffer the same fate of sluggish sales as the Genesis.

Mazda 5

Average monthly sales: 1158
The Mazda 5 strikes us as a very smart package. The European-sized minivan is a bit smaller than some of its competitors, and provides plenty of room for people with smaller families. The virtues of a smaller minivan include not having to park, gas up, and drive a giant vehicle at all times. Oh, and there’s one other simple reason we love the Mazda 5: it is the only minivan available in the U.S. with a manual transmission.

Even recognizing that almost every Mazda 5 will be sold with an automatic transmission, the minivan remains surprisingly fun to drive. Like many other Mazda products, the 5 has communicative steering and firm suspension damping, making it feel much sportier than we would expect from a three-row box. So why does it sell so poorly?

    

When shopping for minivans, few buyers put fuel efficiency, driving enjoyment, or efficient packaging at the forefront of the decision process. Space and storage compartments tend to take precedence, and that’s where the Mazda 5 loses. Although it offers a surprising amount of space for its size, the Mazda 5 just isn’t as spacious as other minivans. At 180.5 inches long, the 5 is nearly two feet shorter than every other minivan on the market. That means the 5 doesn’t offer quite as much interior space or cargo room, both of which are prime reasons for buying a minivan. Moreover, the 5 can’t be outfitted with as many family-friendly features as competitors from Chrysler, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota. The Mazda 5 doesn’t offer power-sliding doors, a backup camera, parking sensors, or an audio-visual input for its optional DVD player.

It also doesn’t help that “Mazda 5″ has far less recognition and prominence than the Grand Caravan, Odyssey, Sienna, and Quest names.

If buyers could realistically assess their vehicular needs, many smaller families might find that they don’t need the biggest minivan available. If they instead test-drove a Mazda 5, they would experience a minivan that is comfortable, stylish, and surprisingly fun to drive. Best of all, a smaller van is easier to park and uses less gas. But most buyers bypass the Mazda showroom and head directly for larger, better equipped vans that provide little fun for drivers.

Mazda MX-5 Miata

Average monthly sales: 571
The Mazda MX-5 Miata may hold the Guinness World Record as the best-selling roadster of all time, but it still hasn’t sold that many copies. Drivers around the world have purchased 900,000 MX-5s since the car launched in 1989; by contrast, Smart has managed to sell 1.3 million copies of its Fortwo city car since 1998. In other words, a compromised city car has found far more buyers in 14 years than a lively roadster has in 23 years.

Those relatively low sales volumes are in stark contrast to the rave reviews the MX-5 draws from enthusiasts around the world. The Mazda Miata has long been a favorite car at Automobile Magazine, owing to its simplicity and pure, connected driving experience. The MX-5 is the cheapest roadster you can buy in America, which makes it an ideal choice for sun-loving drivers who want an affordable drop-top. At the same time, the car’s light weight, nimble suspension, and prominence in racing series has made it an easily attainable choice for racers and driving fanatics on a budget.

    

Frankly, however, even true enthusiasts are ready for an update to the MX-5. Although we love the car, it has changed very little over the past 23 years. The current generation, known by devotees as the NC Miata, has been on sale with only a few tweaks since 2005. Fortunately a new version will arrive by 2015 at the latest. Mazda recently inked a deal with Alfa Romeo to share development of two new rear-wheel-drive roadsters; the next MX-5 and Alfa Romeo Spider will share a platform, but each will have unique styling and an engine from its parent company’s lineup.

The Miata’s dedication to driving enjoyment also means it isn’t the most well-rounded vehicle on the road. The passenger compartment is cramped, especially for tall drivers, and the 5.3 cubic-foot trunk won’t accommodate that much luggage or groceries. Fuel economy is only average. Couple that with an abundance of wind noise and a buzzy highway demeanor, and it’s easy to see why the Mazda MX-5 isn’t an ideal everyday car for many people. Although it offers a lot of fun for the money, the MX-5 is more often a second car or weekend toy than a primary vehicle.

Porsche Cayman

Average monthly sales: 67
Cheaper, smaller, and less powerful than the vaunted 911 range, the Porsche Cayman is nonetheless a rewarding car thanks to the nimble handling afforded by its mid-engine layout. The Cayman is so much fun to drive that it has long been a favorite at Automobile Magazine, but the coupe apparently hasn’t become a favorite with customers. Sales of the Cayman have been slow for several years, and so far in 2012 it’s the worst-selling Porsche.

One explanation could be that the Cayman’s convertible cousin, the Porsche Boxster, was just redesigned for 2013. As true Porsche fans probably know a new Cayman is in the works, they could be waiting to buy the new model. However, that doesn’t explain why sales have been so sluggish since the Cayman was launched in 2006.

    

It’s also tempting to assume that the Cayman struggles because its performance doesn’t match up to that of the 911. While its engines are smaller and less powerful engines than those of the 911, the Cayman is still a serious sports car. Even the slowest Cayman has a top speed of 165 mph and can run from 0 to 60 mph in just 5.5 seconds.

Instead, the real reason is that the Cayman is overshadowed by the iconic Porsche 911. Not only does the three-digit nameplate have five decades of heritage behind it, the 911 name and design are synonymous with the Porsche badge for many people. Customers who are ready to buy a Porsche want the quintessential, traditional Porsche 911, and are unlikely to settle for a Cayman just because it’s cheaper.

Porsche will soon unveil the next generation of the Cayman, but if it seems that would help draw more attention away from the 911, think again: a new, more powerful version of the 911 debuted last year, and Porsche already is hard at work developing many more variations of that car.

Suzuki Kizashi

Average monthly sales: 503
What’s not to love about the Suzuki Kizashi? It’s a smart family sedan that actually offers steering feel, attractive design, and a buttoned-down suspension. It’s a supremely practical car that also makes driving enthusiasts smile, and the Kizashi is even available with all-wheel drive for wintry climes. Sadly, the Kizashi sells at a slower rate than the Chevrolet Corvette sports car. The problem is not the car itself, but that buyers just aren’t aware of the Kizashi.

    

A big part is a lack of a dealer network: Suzuki only has 250 automotive showrooms scattered across the country. Volvo, by contrast, has 350 dealerships, and Toyota has over 1200. Suzuki also has a far stronger reputation for building motorcycles and ATVs than cars. The Kizashi also struggles because it tries to straddle several segments: it may be far better than many compact cars, but it’s just a bit too small to be competitive with midsize sedans. And while Suzuki would have you believe the Kizashi’s quality and performance are on par with the likes of an Audi A4, the car is still saddled with a low-rent Suzuki badge.

Finally, there’s the issue of the other products in the showroom. Most Suzuki models on sale today are several years old and no longer very competitive, and quality new products like the Swift haven’t been imported from Asia and Europe. Add it all up, and it’s easy to see why many new-car buyers might skip visiting the Suzuki showroom. In doing so, they’re missing out on a gem of a family sedan.

Volvo S60

Average monthly sales: 2075
We just wrapped up one year with our Four Seasons Volvo S60, and came away very impressed. The Volvo sedan was something of a sleeper hit that seduced us with its fabulous interior, smooth yet powerful engine, and outstanding steering. Whether being used as a luxury cruiser to blast along the highway, or as a grocery-getter to run around town, we found the S60 to be versatile and rewarding. Still, since it went on sale here in 2010, the Volvo S60 hasn’t sold in very large numbers.

One problem could be that, despite offering two powerful turbocharged engines, the S60 isn’t really seen as a sports sedan. Purists looking for cars in this segment may ignore the S60 because it is front- or all-wheel drive, whereas enthusiasts tend to gravitate toward rear-wheel-drive cars like the BMW 3 Series or Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Luxury buyers could be put off by the Volvo badge, which lacks the driveway cachet of a Lexus or a Mercedes emblem. Volvos tend to have a reputation as staid boxes for dull drivers. Based on the modern looks and lively personality of our S60, those connotations are totally unwarranted.

Twelve months behind the wheel convinced us that the Volvo S60 has the refinement, style, and performance to take on the best from Japan and Germany. Now Volvo just needs to convince customers of the same thing.

    

By: Jake Holmes/Automobile Magazine

“Last year around the Fourth of July the American new car buyer chose to purchase vehicles that were built in the USA or had an American nameplate,” said Kristen Andersson, Senior Analyst at TrueCar.com. “Made in the USA is a strong statement that resonates with consumers as evidenced by the vehicles most purchased around the 4th of July holiday. Due to the massive product improvements over the last few years by the domestic automakers, it is no longer a coincidence that American buyers would gravitate towards these vehicles…”

Chevrolet holds three of the top five spots of the Made in America models:

1. Silverado 1500 2WD Ext Cab

2. Cruze 4dr Sedan LTZ

5. Equinox FWD 4dr LTZ

Visit us at Bob Bell Bel Air Chevrolet for savings worth celebrating alongside Independence Day… We’re offering savings on the 2012 Cruze, Traverse, and Silverado until July 9th.

Bob Bell Chevrolet of Bel Air
1230 Belair Road
Bel Air, MD 21014
(888) 844-0314

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2012 New Hyundai Elantra Fluidic Spotted Testing

2012 New Hyundai Elantra Fluidic on June 21st that Hyundai India is all set to launch the much awaited sedan in the month of July. This has been one project, which is on super priority for the company.  Here comes yet another piece of information that further supports are claim, the all 2012 New Hyundai Elantra Fluidic was recently spotted doing test runs in India uncamouflage. It was first showcased at the Auto Expo 2012 in Delhi. The all 2012 New Hyundai Elantra Fluidic will come equipped with the features like electronic front seat, dual zone climate control, start/stop feature, leather upholstery, cruise control, parking sensors, panaromic sunroof and various others ultra modern features



The all new Elantra is expected to power two engine options, a 1.8-litre petrol and a 1.8-litre Common-rail diesel engine. The petrol engine has the capability to produce the maximum of 148bhp and 177Nm of torque. But since Hyundai doesn’t have 1.8-litre CRDi U2 engine, so there is a possibility that it can power the similar 1.6-litre, used in the Verna.  The company’s successful fluidic sculpture, efficient engine and advanced features in and out, prove the fourth generation  2012 New Hyundai Elantra Fluidic   to be a probable threat for the other D segment cars including Toyota Corolla, VW Jetta, Skoda Laura and Chevrolet Cruze. The coming Hyundai Elantra should be priced between Rs 15 and 18 lakh.
Stay tuned for more updates on the same.