Thomas Ieracitano

Thank you, Thomas Ieracitano Thomas@Ieracitano.com www.DigitalCarGuy.com (229) 251-2462 P.S. Are you 'Advertising' or 'Marketing' ? Ask me the Difference?

What if you went car shopping based on your occupation or profession? + Firefighters: A Chevy Blazer + Entomologist: Mitsubishi Spyder + Meteorologist: Honda Element or Buick Tornado + Astronomer: Mitsubishi Eclipse + Optometrist: Ford Focus + Ornithologist: Ford Falcon + Prison Guard: Ford Escape + Lawyer: Honda Civic + Housekeeper: Plymouth + Mountain Climber: Chevy Avalanche + Fortune Teller: Saturn Aura + Marathon Contestant: Toyota 4Runner + Foreigner/Traveler: Hyundai Accent And what would historical figures drive? What about celebrity cars? + Dawg The Bounty Hunter: Mercury Tracer + Cruella: Cadillac Deville + Picasso: Nissan Cube + Jacques Cousteau: Plymouth Barracuda + Clint Eastwood: Dodge Magnum + Carl Sagan: Mercury Comet + Bruce Jenner: AMC Javelin + Stephen Hawking: Smart Car + Michael Phelps: Ford Freestyle + Neo: Toyota Matrix + Courtney Cox: Mercury Cougar + Dizzie Gillespie: Dodge Coronet + Thomas Edison: Chevy Volt + Arnold Schwarzenegger: Ford Flex + Ben Franklin:

Ford Motor announced Wednesday that 85 percent (by weight) of each Ford vehicle made now is recyclable. Apparently, CEO Bill Ford's misspent youth carousing with "known and suspected environmentalists" back in the day has paid off. And it seems to be the little things that count, according to Ford Motor.          (Credit: Ford Motor) In addition to the usual car parts that have been recycled for years, Ford has also been adding sustainable raw materials or recycled materials for components in select cars. Ford's use of components like splash shields and engine covers made from post-consumer recycled plastics has prevented an estimated 25 million to 30 million pounds of plastic from going into landfills, according to company statistics. The 2010 Ford Taurus, for example, will be the 11th Ford vehicle to have seat cushions, seatbacks, and headrests made from soy and biomass-based foam. Ford-produced vehicles that already have this include: the Fo

A Famous Speech by Vince Lombardi Thank you, Thomas Ieracitano Thomas@Ieracitano.com www.DigitalCarGuy.com (229) 251-2462 P.S. Are you 'Advertising' or 'Marketing' ? Ask me the Difference?

Haven't we seen this movie before? Carmakers bring out a flurry of new small entries in response to a sudden rush of demand driven by spiking gas prices. TV talking heads intone that "gasoline is not going to get any cheaper," but then it does, and U.S. car buyers, whose collective memory is about as long as a snail darter's, revert to form and embrace size and power again. But it really does seem different this time. While most international auto shows have pushed a green theme recently, at the Detroit auto show in January, it was all about small. Noting the lack of truck and SUV debuts, Audi chief designer Stefan Sielaff said, "I have a feeling that there is a paradigm shift." With gasoline prices well off their historic highs - which were nearly two years ago - why are carmakers so eagerly jumping on the small-car bandwagon? Well, there are new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards - 35.5 mpg by 2016, although that's not a hard-

God bless the Chevrolet Camaro. If it weren't for the 2009 revival of the General's muscle car, we might still be driving Mustangs saddled with old, underpowered engines. But last year, the Camaro's V-6 was just 11 hp shy of matching the Mustang's V-8 output. Ford had to respond, because Chevrolet hadn't simply won the spec-sheet battle; both six- and eight-cylinder Ford engines were unreasonably crude for duty in anything claiming to be a sports car. Action comes in the form of two new engines for the 2011 Mustang that pit Blue Oval versus Bowtie as never before. The new 305-hp V-6 rings in exactly one horsepower stronger than the Chevy six-cylinder. It also produces 95 hp more than the outgoing V-6 Mustang. The headliner, however, is a new V-8 that brings back Ford's famous 5.0 badge. Rollin' in the 5.0 At 412 hp, the 5.0-liter falls short of the 426 hp in a Camaro SS but the Mustang GT also has a 244-pound advantage over the Chevy. Once

Edward Lapham Automotive News -- April 5, 2010 - 12:01 am ET The March sales numbers made a lot of people in the industry feel pretty darned good last week. But the nagging unemployment numbers, unenthusiastic consumer spending levels and lack of a strong economic recovery -- plus my razor-sharp skepticism and decades of experience observing sales cycles -- made me doubt that the March sales uptick was the start of a genuine recovery. So I called an expert -- a salesman for a General Motors dealership. I have known him for years and trust him to give me an unvarnished view of life on the front line selling automobiles. I asked him, "Are things back to normal?" The salesman started out by telling me what a great month he'd had. The best month in a long time, he said, reminding me what a good, customer-friendly salesman he is. But are things back to normal? Things are better, he said, but not the best they've ever been. Then he started grumbling. He still can't beli

Edward Lapham Automotive News -- April 5, 2010 - 12:01 am ET The March sales numbers made a lot of people in the industry feel pretty darned good last week. But the nagging unemployment numbers, unenthusiastic consumer spending levels and lack of a strong economic recovery -- plus my razor-sharp skepticism and decades of experience observing sales cycles -- made me doubt that the March sales uptick was the start of a genuine recovery. So I called an expert -- a salesman for a General Motors dealership. I have known him for years and trust him to give me an unvarnished view of life on the front line selling automobiles. I asked him, "Are things back to normal?" The salesman started out by telling me what a great month he'd had. The best month in a long time, he said, reminding me what a good, customer-friendly salesman he is. But are things back to normal? Things are better, he said, but not the best they've ever been. Then he started grumbling. He still can't beli