In tribute of the cars during the ’60s and ’70s, the carmaker rolls out their reworked SRT8 ACR Challenger which started as the SRT8 392 Challenger. The car features strut tower braces, upgraded suspension system, front splitter, short-throw shifter, custom headers, and performance exhaust.

Dodge also trimmed off some weight and added some cool elements to the car. They gave it door panels made of carbon fiber, racing seats, a roll bar replacing the rear seats. The interior tweak is completed with 3-spoke steering wheel, a gauge cluster for SRT, and customized pedal kit.

The looks of the car is actually inspired by the SRT10 ACR Viper with a charcoal roof and white body. The car also sports a hood made of carbon fiber, red accents on the rear end , a rear spoiler, and a tail lamp surround. The mirror caps and brake calipers also get a red pain treatment. The 20 inch rims are painted in black.

The interior styling continues the theme of the exterior so it is dominated by red, white, and black. The door panels made of carbon fiber get white accents while red is used for the armresst ars, door latch, roll bars, and accents for the racing seats.

Some of the lucky ones in the audience were given away a 2012 VW Beetle. This is one swanky and hell of a car that hasn’t even been launched in the market. Imagine being in possession of a car of this magnitude without having to pay a dime for it. But, wait did you say not having to pay a dime for it. Then, wait as the people who were so fascinated by this completely free gift will have to end up paying a huge amount of tax in the year 2012 when they file their tax returns.

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The way that this goes is that the coming of this car into their lives might also mean that they are pushed into a far higher tax bracket than they are already at. This can be quite a pain and an unexpected one. This audience member would have certainly not expected to be in this kind of a predicament. What they could do is to sell off the 2012 VW Beetle and continue to drive whatever they have or buy another new car — they could sell it and buy one of the classic VW Beetles even!

I wish I was in that audience, I so would have sold it right away. :p

At the car show what was on display was the latest of hybrid and luxury cars not to leave out the latest entrant into the market of cars, the electric cars. There were several wonderfully high end cars that one could just eye at and wish to have in their garage.

This car show on Black Friday had the most wonderful mix of customer’s right from the serious ones who were out there checking out what was on sale to the ones who were window shopping and enjoying the experience. Most people were of the opinion that this was certainly the right time to visit a car show rather than brave the crowds at the overly crowded malls.

The thing that drew the buyers to the car show at Phoenix was the number of different kinds and models of cars that were on sale. There were at least 400 different models that were on sale out here. The best of the lot were the Chevrolet Volt, the Honda CR-z, and the Nissan Leaf electric , the things that were discussed at the car show were the chassis of the car, the durability and of course the price that one could get it at.

The first phone-booth-cum-EV-charger can be found at the Ronda de la Comunicacion. Look for the Endesa logo. The charging booths are strategically located near curbs to make it more accessible from the parking space.

There will be reserved spaces for parking right next to the charging station. EV owners can recharge their cars for free as long as they have the zero emission card from the city council of Madrid.

According to Green Car Fuels, the goal of the project is to demonstrate the viability of the technology and its feasibility for commercial use. The initial run will go until the end of 2010. Prepaid cards can be ordered via vehiculoelectrico@endesa.es. The prepaid card will also give information with regard to consumption and usage. The commercial setup will be launched once they are done with the pilot run.

The private sector and the Madrid government see the move as an important tool to combat climate change.

In case you don’t know yet, the standard E63 AMG car received a hand-crafted 6.2-L V8 engine. This engine can generate up to 518bhp of power and a peak torque of 465 pound-feet. Mated with a seven-speed MCT 2-clutch transmission, the sedan is able to accelerate from zero to 60mph in just 4.1 seconds. That’s a pretty impressive sprint in this segment. The top speed is electronically limited to 155mph.

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The Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG also boasted alloy wheels as well and huge cross-drilled brake discs. Aside from its similarities to other E-range vehicles, the E63 AMG showed a more aggressive body package and a “more intentional”, broader posture. It debuted at the New York Auto Show, and its Estate Wagon version was announced to be in the showrooms by this year as well.

The tuning company is better known for its packages for BMW models. The new take on the Mercedes-Benz AMG was pretty unexpected. So far, there are no negative feedbacks regarding the German tuning company’s AMG upgrade. If all goes well, it might even attract new customers who are looking for a “lighter” AMG.

The German tuning company also mentioned that it intends to give the Rapide its own set of GT-R 21-inch light alloy rims. The rims will be covered in 255/35R21 front tires and 295/30R21 rear wheels. Once offered to the public, interested buyers of the Rapide will also be given a choice between the GT, I-10 and Sport rims. These will come in dimensions of 20 to 22 inches.

Cargraphic will also give the Aston Martin Rapide an A-grade steel flap at the exhaust. This can be remote controlled paired with a polished shield. The tuning company proudly calls the car’s exhaust system the “Stradvarius of mufflers”. According to the tuner, this alteration should push the car to deliver some extra power from its 6.0 liter V12 engine.

According to the press release, the Aston Martin Rapide will be the first four-door model that the company will be releasing since the Legonda. The external details of the car are considered “discreet” despite the fact that its production marks the company’s 25^th anniversary.

The specific tire dimensions of the Rapide are made for optimum traction on the road. The car designers are opting for optimum car performance without losing the heritage behind lines of Aston Martin cars.

The aid will be a whopping $551 million in loan guarantee for American car manufacturer Ford to develop greener technologies in their factories in across the UK.

It was earlier announced by Nissan that it will be utilizing its Sunderland factory to make the much anticipated electric car, the Leaf. This moved will be backed by about $30.7 million of funding from the British government.

The production of the Nissan Leaf in the UK and the batteries it will be using will generate some 550 highly technical and highly skilled jobs.

The support for the projects of Nissan and Ford follow an earlier move of the government of Britain committing about $412 million loan guarantee for the European arm of General Motors. The loan will be used to secure the operations of the carmaker in the Europe particularly in the UK.

The automotive industry is very important to Britain. The sector supports research and development, innovation of technologies,  and provides a critical supply chain for the manufacturing sector.

Ford will be investing a lot of money to develop low emission vehicles that will secure about 2,800 jobs across their plants in the UK.

The converted van is aimed at urban fleets who take a predictable route on a day to day basis going through the stop and go traffic. The Transit Connect Electric is also expected to a certain recharge point every end of the day.

The Transit Connect is being imported by Ford from their plant in Turkey with all the electric conversion done by Azure Dynamics in Michigan.

The partner company of Ford installs a 135 kW electric motor and 28 kW lithium ion batteries which are liquid cooled. The motor of the Transit Connect Electric is coupled with a Borg-Warner gearbox.

The van can be recharged in about 8 hours using a 220 Volt socket. It will take a bit longer if you use a 110 V wall socket.

The weight of the vehicle is around 3950 pounds and makes the vehicle suited for flower deliveries and shipping of light packages since the payload is cut to 1,000 pounds.

The top speed of the car is 75 mph and it can go from 0 to 60 in 15 seconds when loaded. The life of the vehicle is about a decade or roughly 120,000 miles. The powertrain has a warranty of 5 years.

In the long haul, the maintenance of the Transit Connect Electric will be a lot cheaper than a regular vehicle.

The exterior of the car gives away that it is an R-Design with the side mirror housings, metal matte silk finishing, skid plates, and tailpipes on twin chrome setup. The mags of the new C30 also feature the trademark 5-spoke Cratus that is very unique to the R-Design line up.

If you really want to know what makes the 2010 C30 R-Design new, you should go beyond the paint and the setup. Volvo focused on the steering and chassis design of the car.

The steering of the car is more accurate with the designers opting for stiffer bushings. The steering has a quicker response time, reacting to inputs by as much as 10% faster. The stiffness of the spring was increased by 30% to give the car better handling capabilities. Rolling tendency during cornering was also reduced with the stiffer configuration of the stabilizers. Volvo also used stiffer dampers for the R-Design Volvo C30 which makes use of a single tube that allows faster build up of pressure.

The interior also gets a sporty treatment with aluminum components used on the steering wheel, center stack, and door sidings. The pedals also used aluminum units. The seats have a dual tone look on leather finishing. The R-Design emblem sits at the center of the steering wheel.

Some brands like BMW and Porsche may takeover the top position from the American big three according to a study made by Grant Thornton LLP.

In recent researches, figures have shown the Ford is about to over take General Motors in terms of production. The big three though will suffer though as car makers from Europe and Asia step up their production and marketing.

Production of the North American brands is set to decrease between 4 million and 7.5 million every year. On the other hand, other auto manufacturers have plans to increase their production of vehicles by as much as 20% which translates to 8 million more units.

If the prediction of experts will really happen by 2012, it will be the first time in American car industry history that foreign brands will take over the top spot in production and the big three lagging behind.

BMW for example is building new facilities to boost the production of the Mini by double digits and its production is set to increase two-fold by 2012.

Toyota in North America may be the third largest car producer in the U.S. taking the spot of Chrysler.  It is a relative gain though for the Japanese car maker which itself decreased production for the first quarter of 2009. The decline in fuel prices hurt the hybrid car campaign of Toyota.