اخبار معارض 2009

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Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Concept Cars, Sedans/Saloons, Volkswagen

It made its debut over the summer at Pebble Beach. It showed up again in November at SEMA. And finally, we have a set of our own live shots of the CC Gold Coast concept because Volkswagen sent the swanky 4-door to Chi-town.

The Gold Coast is doused in a rich-looking brown finish dubbed "Pepe Pepper" by DuPont, and it adopts a squat, muscular stance riding on a set of KW coilovers. 19-inch wheels fill out the wells nicely, and a full ground effects kit brings the look even closer to the ground. Veedub's 280-horsepower 3.6 FSI V6 sits underhood, mated to a six-speed DSG. Stopping power on this looker is further enhanced with a set of the Audi R8's ceramic discs in front.

While the CC Gold Coast is technically a concept, VW's making sure it gets in front of as many eyes as possible. Hence, we wouldn't be surprised to see the "concept" moniker eventually turn into "special edition" - minus those supercar stoppers.

Gallery: Chicago 2009: Volkswagen CC Gold Coast

Photos copyright Frank Filipponio/ Weblogs, Inc.

Chicago 2009: Volkswagen Passat CC Gold Coast concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Aftermarket, Chicago Auto Show, Motorsports, Sports/GTs, Hatchbacks, Subaru

Click above for high-res gallery of the Subaru Travis Pastrana Impreza WRX STI

Tucked away in a corner of McCormick Place was this custom WRX STI built in as part of a cooperative effort between Subaru and Travis Pastrana's race team, Vermont SportsCar. The car commemorates Pastrana's third consecutive Rally America National Championship, and although a one-off, many of the parts on the car can be purchased through your local authorized Subaru dealer.

The exterior features custom yellow paint, a carbon fiber hood and rear spoiler, front chin spoiler, and a set of PIAA 2100 HID driving lights. Handling is improved thanks to an SPT strut tower brace, lower chassis brace, and super-sticky BFGoodrich G-Force Super Sport A/S tires wrapped over satin black Work Evolution XD-9 wheels.

Under the hood, the 2.5-liter boxer engine gets an upgraded ECU and custom downpipe, while the interior now sports custom blue Alcantara seats with yellow piping, short-throw shifter, Kicker sound system and... an XBox 360. Full details in the press release after the break, and high-res photos from the show floor in the gallery below.

Gallery: Chicago 2009: Subaru Travis Pastrana Impreza WRX STI

Photos copyright (C)2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Subaru]

Continue reading Chicago 2009: Subaru Impreza WRX STI Travis Pastrana Edition

Chicago 2009: Subaru Impreza WRX STI Travis Pastrana Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Car Buying, Chicago Auto Show, Trends, Videos, Carsumer Advocacy

Dutch Mandel from AutoWeek, Terry Rhadigan from GM, John Neff from Autoblog and David Thomas from Kicking Tires (l-r)

It's not often that we report on ourselves, but our own illustrious editor-in-chief, John Neff (third from the left in the snazzy corduroy sport jacket his grandma got him last Christmas), participated in a symposium titled "Engaging the Blogosphere" at this year's Chicago Auto Show. It was a look at what the internet, and blogging in particular, means to the future of automotive journalism and marketing. Anchored by a brief analysis of the power of the internet on new car buyers, the event ended with a panel discussion that included representatives from "traditional media," an OEM, a car buying site and our own little professional blog. While the discussion produced some heated debate, it also helped put some outdated misperceptions of blogging to rest.

Follow the jump to read the whole story and learn what happened to shake up the room during the panel discussion. We've also embedded a video of the panel discussion so you can see for yourself what went down.

NOTE: We deliberately resisted the urge to add speech bubbles to the image above, so feel free to download a copy, add your own and post a link to it in the comments section of this post.

Continue reading Chicago 2009: The blogosphere has been engaged [w/VIDEO]

Chicago 2009: The blogosphere has been engaged [w/VIDEO] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Podcasts, Government/Legal, Opinion/Editorial

Click above for the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes, RSS or listen now!

It's a two man effort for Autoblog Podcast #116, which sees editor Neff returning to fill the host slot. John and Dan kick the ball around about the GM and Chrysler viability plans, wayward efforts to "Engage the Blogosphere" at the Chicago Auto Show, and the new SHO that dropped in Chi-town. The usual suspects return for next week, and we'll pay more attention to your thoughts and questions, so keep them rolling in to Podcast at Autoblog dot com. Thanks for listening!

Follow the jump to subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes, add the show to your RSS aggregator or listen to it right now!

Continue reading Autoblog Podcast #116

Autoblog Podcast #116 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Trends, Marketing/Advertising, GM, Earnings/Financials

Click above for high-res gallery of the Transformers cars from GM

When you're forced into a life-and-death situation like General Motors, a lot of tough calls have to be made - yet some are more obvious than others. In this case, The General has made it clear that it plans to slash its North American marketing spending - by some $800 million dollars.

That's an extra $200M on top of the $600M that already GM vowed it would cut by 2010 in a disclosure it made back in December. And it isn't just things like SuperBowl commercials, and print ads - vehicle incentives will also be impacted, something that will doubtlessly affect the already tough sledding that dealers are experiencing.

Another example: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Despite early efforts to tie Chevrolet to the Shia LaBeouf/Megan Fox Paramount sequel with efforts like the Corvette Centennial Concept and "Jolt" Volt unveiling at the Chicago Auto Show, trade publication Advertising Age is reporting that GM will not spend much money to co-promote the movie.

For the initial 2007 Transformers movie, GM is said to have spent "tens of millions" of dollars in advertising-related initiatives, but not only can the financially-strapped automaker not afford to do so, it realizes it may also not be a good idea in light of the taxpayer bailout. AdAge is quoting one insider as saying:

"You're not going to see any TV media that I know of. Even though you can make a case for it from a marketing standpoint, it's the kind of thing that might get you roundly criticized in light of today's climate. It's viewed as too risky, sort of like Citibank's deal with the Mets. GM can't afford to do that.

The message is clear: Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Jolt and Mudflap... you're on your own.

Gallery: Chicago 2009: GM Transformers cars LIVE

[Sources: Automotive News; Advertising Age]

Snip-Snip: GM slashing $800M from marketing budget (yes, even Transformers) originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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