If you listened to Paul Eisenstein on NPR this morning, you might think Japanese car companies and in particular, Toyota, are on the way down. Eisenstein is publisher of The Car Connection and a commentator on NPR. Check out his site's conclusions about what he and his editors took away from the Detroit Auto Show last week. My patriotic side hopes his affinity for GM is justified. But Eisenstein isn't alone in his belief that a reinvorated GM is at hand. The company's Saturn Aura (which looks like an older Honda Accord) took the top car award and its Chevy Silverado won the top truck honors against stiff competition from Japanese rivals. This was according to the 49 auto writers who vote on their favorites. And a restyled Chevy Malibu (my first car was a 1965 Chevelle 300, one step down from the original Chevelle Malibu essentially from Chevy) got high marks, too. When Eisenstein was talking about GM's comeback this morning, I prayed he would ask how much wishful thinking and patriotism figured into the voting. I wondered.
So who do you trust? Well, maybe it's these auto writers. But the real test is Consumer Reports, which has long favored Honda and Toyota models across the board. CR buys the cars its tests and has long been the most objective and squeaky clean reviewer of vehicles. Who doesn't check out the CR reports before plunking down big bucks for a new car?
Lo' and behold, even CR seemed swept up with domestic models taking the top three spots among its "Show Standouts." Nary a Toyota made the list! Let's hope the GM buzz coming out of this big show translates into sustainable progress.
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 3
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
2 
