Beginning with the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, Chevrolet plans to apply eco-impact labels on all of its brand-new vehicles by 2013. As the first of any automaker to present its cars in this manner, Chevrolet’s Ecologic label allows customers to assess environmental impacts associated with any particular Chevrolet vehicle in all stages of its product life.

First, “Before the Road” presents the environmental impact of the vehicle’s manufacturing and assembly. Next, “On the Road” notes fuel-saving features such as cylinder shut-off systems, aerodynamics, and low-resistance tires. Finally, “After the Road” reveals how much of the vehicle can be recycled at the end of its useful life.

With these Ecologic labels, GM makes itself more attractive to environmentally conscious consumers. According to GM North America President Mark Reuss, “Customers want companies to be honest and transparent about their environmental efforts and sustainability goals, and rightly so. Putting an Ecologic label on each Chevrolet is just one more way for us to share our environmental progress.”

The numbers and data on the Ecologic labels are determined by independent, third-party sustainability agency Two Tomorrows, a company that provides environmental audit and assurance services to companies.

[Source: Forbes]

In North America, Buick is trying hard to shed its blue-rinse, AARP image. In China, however, the brand’s status is very much revered. In fact, to own a Buick in many aspects, is to know that you’ve arrived.

Perhaps its not surprising then that among the best selling cars in China, Buicks rank right up there. In fact, last year, the best selling model of all wore a Tri-Shield logo, the Buick Excelle, sold stateside as the Verano.

With sales of some 253,514 units (by contrast the entire US Buick lineup sold 177,633 cars and SUVs last year), it clearly indicates that GM’s “premium” division is absolutely going gangbusters in the world’s largest auto market.

Other “global” cars that fared well include the Chevy Cruze (which was the third best selling car in China in 2011) and the Ford Focus, which ranked number 10.

2010′s best seller, the Chinese BYD F3, saw demand plummet last year, ranking as 11th on the best seller list. Recently, the Chinese government passed legislation that aims to restrict the sale of some imported cars in an effort to spur demand for home grown vehicles, which so far have been largely overlooked by Chinese buyers, especially in the premium and luxury segments.

Volkswagen, which was among the longest established and largest  presence among Western automakers in China, had no fewer than four vehicles on the best seller list last year, the Bora, Jetta, Lavida and Santana.

[Source: Automotive News]

At present, save from slight trim and equipment (such as the Denali trim package shown above) there really isn’t much to differentiate the GMC Sierra from it’s Chevy Silverado counterpart. However, that’s set to change.

During an interview in Detroit, Mark Reuss, GM’s North American President said that for the next generation of GM full-size pickups, due for launch as 2014 models, the plan is to move the Sierra more upmarket with a greater list of standard equipment, more distinctive sheetmetal and corresponding higher sticker prices; a similar strategy has so far proved quite successful for GMC’s line of SUVs.

Such a move finally sweeps away the last vestiges of badge-engineering at America’s biggest automaker, something the “old” General Motors was notoriously known for.

“I think you will see equipment and models attacked very differently,” Reuss declared. “If we are going to carry two brands, we are going to make them pay their way.”

[Source: Autoweek]

After an extensive two-month investigation into the Chevrolet Volt’s fire related incidents, the U.S. safety regulators of the National Transportation Safety Administration have announced that the case is closed. The conclusion: the Volt’s plug-in hybrid battery pack does not pose a significant fire risk following a crash.

According to NHTSA’s statement, the organization “does not believe that Chevy Volts or other electric vehicles pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles.” GM also added that NHTSA’s decision to close the case is, “consistent with the results of our internal testing and assessment.”

Even though there are no known real-world Volt crashes that resulted to a fire, NHTSA strongly believed an investigation was important and necessary in order to “ensure the safety of the driving public with emerging [electric vehicle] technology.”

Earlier this month, GM had already taken preemptive measures, enhancing structural reinforcements surrounding the Volt’s 435 lb. lithium-ion battery pack to reduce its risk of damage. Addressing the action, GM stated that the change simply “is intended to make a safe vehicle even safer.”

[Source: Autonews]

With the craze for new smart phone apps continuing unabated, Chevrolet has jumped in with both feet releasing one that ties in with this year’s Superbowl.

Dubbed the Game Time App, it allows users of smart phones and tablets to play trivia related to the game, Tweet each other and participate in polls or contests while watching the Superbowl; with the chance to win prizes from Chevrolet and other game sponsors such as Bridgestone, Motorola, the NFL, Papa John’s Pizza and Sirius XM satellite radio. Among the prizes up for grabs are no fewer than 20 Chevrolet vehicles.

According to GM’s marketing chief Joel Ewanick, the Chevy Game Tim app, “is the first time any company has attempted such a large-scale app, which will enhance the game watching experience and help them engage in the online conversation about the Super Bowl.”

Chances to win a prize, begin the moment a viewer downloads the app to their smart phone or tablet. Upon doing so, each player receives a unique license plate number. If their particular plate appears on a Chevy commercial during the game, or online, they win a new vehicle.

The Game Time App is just one of several Superbowl initiatives being put together by GM’s Bowtie brand; others include game day live stream coverage with advertiser exclusivity on NBCSports.com, teaming up with the NFL and Twitter on the former’s NFL Huddle Site and Twitter’ s “Road to the #Superbowl,” plus automotive exclusivity for the branded USA Today Facebook Superbowl Ad Meter and additional interactivity via Chevy’s own social media channels.

“With these initiatives, the traditional ads on the Super Bowl broadcast and additional initiatives we will announce soon, we expect more than 1.5 billion impressions of our message on game day and beyond,” declared Ewanick.

To download the app, visit the Chevy Game Time site here

Toyota might not have announced its final tally for 2011 sales, but it’s safe to assume that GM will take the crown and remain the world’s largest automaker after reporting 9.03-million in global sales for 2011.

Last month, Toyota estimated that its 2011 annual sales would be around 7.9-million vehicles, which would make it third behind Volkswagen‘s 8.16-million global sales total.

GM’s impressive number of 9.03-million is a 7.6-percent increase from its 8.39-million figure from 2010. GM announced that it sold 2,503,820 vehicles in America and China saw 2,547,203 vehicles sold. But the announcement isn’t without controversy as GM includes the sales of its joint Chinese venture partners which is generally not a practice other manufacturers follow. For GM’s figures, they included 1,285,820 vehicles sold by SAIC-GM-Wuling, which the American auto giant does not have a controlling interest in.

At least that’s the findings from Evalueserve’s White Paper, entitled “Platform Strategy Will Shape  the Future of OEMs.” Like many facets of  the auto industry, the concept of platform sharing is nothing new, automakers have been doing it for decades.

Yet, the realities of doing business in the 21st century mean that not only is it no longer acceptable for automakers to offer a range of badge engineered models (think back to GM’s J-cars of the 1980s), it simply isn’t financially feasible to have a range of unique, dedicated platforms either.

According to Evalueserve’s own analysis, last year, the top 20 global passenger car platforms accounted for some 40 percent of global sales, with realistic projections set to see these top 20 account for almost 50 percent of all global vehicle sales by 2015.

Yet as we move forward and automakers seek to maintain economies of scale, the number of vehicle architectures is expected to shrink still further, even as many brands aim to proliferate their model offerings as well as adding localized production, all in an effort to make their products appeal to a wider range of consumers in different global markets, while minimizing supply and tariff issues.

Evalueserve estimates that by 2020, the  major vehicle manufacturers; Daimler AG, Fiat/Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, PSA Peugeot/Citroen, Renault/Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen Group will have reduced the total number of vehicle architectures they use by a third.

In fact, not too long ago, GM declared that by 2018, it will have reduced its number of global vehicle architectures to just 14, down from 30 in 2010. The company also said this strategy should help it save some $1 billion each year, money that’s primarily contributed by product development programs.

Earlier this month a new reports noted that Chevrolet Volt sales were more successful in its first year than the sales numbers of the Toyota Prius hybrid on its first year back in 2000. What little optimism Chevrolet might have had on the Volt’s sales performance were quickly silenced when data revealed that Toyota dealt a quick knockout as its new Prius v wagon (also in its first year) out sold the Volt. And it did so with just 10 weeks on sale.

Official numbers for Chevrolet Volt’s 2011 sales are 7,671 units delivered. Toyota managed to sell 8,399 hybrid wagons, which did not arrive to U.S. dealerships and showrooms until the last week of October.

President of Toyota U.S. Sales Jim Lentz says, “Prius v is off to a great start.” For 2012, Toyota aims to deliver 220,000 Prii to U.S. customers, a 60 percent increase from 2011. Toyota’s offensive includes offerings of the original Prius, the Pruis v wagon, and the Prius c subcompact that arrives in March.

GALLERY: Toyota Prius v wagon

[Source: Bloomberg]

Read AutoGuide’s 2012 Toyota Prius v Review here and watch the video review below:

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You can probably still remember being a kid in the back seat on a long car ride. It was horrible. The dog wouldn’t stop breathing on you and licking your ears. It smelled bad. Worst of all, there was almost nothing to do for more than a few minutes without getting car sick. “Look out the window,” your parents might say, “it’ll make you feel better.”

Well, thanks to some creative thinking and truly futuristic innovation, more kids might be looking out the car window voluntarily. GM turned to the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Israel and asked its students to think of ways to make car rides engaging, enriching and educational. What they came up with will probably peak interest in the most technologically indifferent individuals. Interactive windows.

What’s this? Well, the students from Bezalel essentially got free reign to dream about how to implement smart glass in cars to integrate the outside environment with the passenger experience. There aren’t any plans at the moment to put this technology into production vehicles, which meant they could imagine freely. Their projects didn’t actually use smart glass, though GM said that would be possible in the future.

They came up with many ideas including a character projected into the outside environment that reacts in real time to landscapes, weather and car performance. Another idea allows users to share a window with others around the world. One Project played with the idea of different cars being able to share music with each other, expanding on the curiosity behind being on the highway wondering if that trucker next to you is giving a jubilant rendition of Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl (or not). Finally, one of the ideas evolves from something almost everyone experiences, drawing things in hot breath fog.

This isn’t actually the first example outside Hollywood grandeur that we’ve seen of such technology floating around. Last month we reported a story about Toyota showing off a similar and more focused iteration of smart glass. Toyota’s technology would allow children to tap on things to identify them, zoom in on distant objects and even understand distance and speed by dropping a marker that displays proximity to the car in real time.

Neither manufacturer is ready to bring this sort of stuff to market, but it can’t be that far away either given that Audi is already implementing an environmentally interactive heads up display for drivers as early as 2013.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering at length the changes that could be made to its 5-star crash-assessment testing. Rather than concentrate only on crash-worthiness, the NHTSA is looking into new technologies that put an emphasis on accident-avoidance.

NHTSA Administrator David Strickland says, “Crash-worthiness has been the guiding star for NHTSA. But if there’s an opportunity to prevent a crash– that is the goal.” Holding a speech for the Society of Automotive Analysts the day before the North American International Auto Show, Strickland wants to raise consumer awareness towards these new technologies.

On top of accident-avoidance devices like lane departure warning sensors, Strickland says NHTSA is also working on a framework for in-vehicle electronics in order to minimize driver distraction. Strickland explains, “We don’t want to stifle innovation, but we recognize technology (can impact) safety, so we will be setting in-vehicle guidelines so auto makers can innovate within a zone of safety.”

In order to collect data on driver distraction, NHTSA’s research program will be conducted on 2,000 vehicles with cameras to monitor driver behavior over a 2 year period. “The goal is to make sure we have an accurate picture of what is happening in the vehicles so that we’re not creating something that is a risk for every driver.”

The holy grail for automotive safety would be through the development of vehicle-to-vehicle communications, which NHTSA is committed to turning to reality. Studies have proved that the V2V system could eliminate 80% of crashes involving non-impaired drivers. This effectively lowers the number of traffic fatalities by almost 33,000 a year.

While it is unknown exactly when the V2V systems will be ready for mass use, a 3-year test program is currently being conducted, with automakers GM, Ford, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen all taking part.

[Source: WardsAuto]