By Chris Haak

The Chevrolet Cruze compact has been on the market in the rest of the world for over a year, and has done reasonably well for GM in markets like Australia and South Korea.  US production in Lordstown, Ohio began in July, and it’s slated to hit dealer lots this month.  The car is sold as a Chevrolet Cruze in Europe, a Holden Cruze in Australia, and a Daewoo Lacetti Premiere in South Korea, but the only visual differences are powertrain choices, design details like grilles and bumpers.  All sheetmetal is identical among the variants.  Overall, GM currently sells the Cruze in 70 countries worldwide.

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By Charles Krome

Remember when the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) was passed back in 2007? Me neither. But it turns out that EISA calls for the EPA to come up with revised window stickers for the 2012 model year, with the goal being to make it easier for customers to sort out the fuel-efficiency and emissions performance of new vehicles.

The redesigned stickers will still provide the traditional EPA fuel-economy ratings as well as information about greenhouse gas emissions, other air pollutants and annual fuel costs, and, again, the goal is to end up with a sticker that can “help consumers make easy and well-informed comparisons between vehicles.”

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By Charles Krome

Back in March of 2009, Kia execs announced plans for the automaker’s future green-focused products, and that included a tried-but-true industry tactic: Kia would differentiate its most fuel-efficient products, and those featuring new fuel-saving technologies, by sticking a new badge on them. The badging wouldn’t represent the birth of a new automotive brand—at least not in the standard sense of the term—but be more of a separate trim level.

At least that was my take.

But a recent news report from Wards.com puts a whole different spin on things, and it’s one that shows a surprising disconnect between Kia and U.S. buyers.

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By Charles Krome

Okay, here’s another one for the “what were they thinking?” file:

Let’s say you’ve got an auto company that’s seen some relatively big success outside of the U.S. but has never quite found its mojo in the states. Not so many years ago you were selling 100,000 vehicles a year here, but at this stage in the game, your total monthly sales are under the 2,000-unit mark and your best-seller in July only found 788 customers.

But one of those products is a sharp new mid-size sedan with notably nimble handling—its development included the requisite trip to the Nurburgring—as well as a trunkful of kudos from reviewers, third-party quality groups and customers alike. For what it’s worth, the vehicle was even rated as the top car from the whole industry in the 2010 AutoPacific Ideal Vehicle Awards.

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By Charles Krome

As most people likely know by now, an off-road racer named Brett Sloppy flipped his truck into the crowd at the California 200, leaving 8 people dead and another 12 injured. For those who follow racing history, it no doubt brought back thoughts of the infamous 1955 Le Mans disaster, in which Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (like the one pictured below) left the track at 150 mph. The car began disintegrating almost immediately, with pieces flying off the car and into the crowd with lethal affect, and once the racer’s magnesium-based body began to burn, the scene quickly turned into an inferno. In the end, Levegh and more than 80 people died, and 120 were injured.

Now, you might think that this loss of life would have been enough for all of motorsports to rethink its safety measures, but not so. There were certainly major immediate changes to LeMans, but the pace of improvements to spectator safety in other series, even major ones, has often bordered on the glacial—especially for non-oval racing.

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By Charles Krome

GM’s OnStar technology has been around for some 15 years now, and its impact on the auto industry is hard to overstate. OnStar essentially kicked off the whole automotive telematics industry in 1996, blazing the trail for today’s ubiquitous nav and hands-free calling systems, as well as more comprehensive offerings like Ford’s SYNC.

It’s not just an expensive toy, either. The current OnStar system offers functionality that can be legitimately called “life-saving.” If you’re in an accident, for example, the system can automatically send emergency medical services to your location in minutes, even if you’re unconscious or can’t otherwise respond. And it can come in pretty handy when dealing with a range of less serious annoyances, from getting yourself locked out of your car to having it stolen. In the latter case, OnStar can track down your ride and then shut down power to its engine in some situations.

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By George Straton

Is a Premium Compact Hatchback with the Three Pointed Star from Sindelfingen (via Hungary) coming to a U.S. Mercedes-Benz dealer near you in 2013?

Few Americans associate the luxury car builder or its Three Pointed Star emblem, with anything other than large, stately, robust and expensive luxury sedans and sporty cars and the lifestyle engendered by the same.  Yet in markets outside the U.S., where gasoline retails for $7 U.S. per gallon and urban parking is space on the sidewalk that hasn’t been taken by a two perpendicular parked SMART cars, the company has found some decent success with a FF (Front Engine, Front Wheel Drive) compact layout.

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By Charles Krome

In my last article, I spouted off a bit about how the next generation of minivans may finally see the kind of design changes that would make hauling the kids around look like a cool thing to do. But it turns out that parents don’t have to wait for a Dodge man van, or even the 2011 Nissan Quest, to play Jimmie Johnson with junior in the back. You can just order one of Recaro’s new child safety seats.

Yes, the company renowned for protecting the butts of some of the world’s best race-car drivers—and outfitting some of the world’s top-performing production vehicles—now offers a line of top-quality safety seats for children ranging in size from 5 lbs. to 120.

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By Charles Krome

On the odd chance Autosavant readers haven’t yet heard, GM will be launching a new, extended-range electric vehicle in a few months, with that product slated to offer both a 40-mile all-electric range and the ability to go a further 300 miles by leveraging an on-board, gas-powered generator.

Now, the Chevrolet Volt is far from perfect, but it surely doesn’t deserve the vitriol being spewed in its direction by certain members of the media. I mean, some of these people seem to think the Volt rollout will be the worst thing to happen to this country since the BP oil disaster.

Take the Volt’s sticker price. Sure, $41,000 looks kind of steep, and for some of the GM haters, the federal tax credit of $7,500 only makes things worse. For these people, the car is priced artificially low, preventing the free market from determining the Volt’s fate. On the other hand, other analysts claim the Volt is priced too high and that GM should be following the strategy used by Toyota when it introduced the Prius. When that car first went on sale, the automaker sold it at a $15,000-per-vehicle loss to ensure it would be popular, giving up short-term profits for long-term success.

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By Charles Krome

A recent study in cultural anthropology sought to evaluate human behavior in five different European capitals to determine which city was the “naughtiest.”  The outcome was announced on July 28 and, unsurprisingly, the winner was Paris. More surprising: The whole thing was actually part of a Volvo marketing campaign.  For the full version of the lead photo in this story, click here.

Yep, those wacky Swedes are still at it.

In my very first piece for Autosavant, I took a look at how Volvo is trying to widen its appeal by developing unexpected marketing campaigns aimed at attracting new customers. In that story, I mentioned the automaker’s efforts to reach the much-coveted vampire segment through some nifty product placement work in the latest “Twilight” movie.

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