Kia absolutely crushes it at SEMA with stunning DUB custom Stinger, K900

2019 DUB Kia Stinger custom build at SEMA 2018.
Photo by Bill Hayward

At their opening-day press conferences at SEMA 2018 yesterday, some of the other major automakers drew bigger crowds than Kia did, and had more to boast about in terms of new developments like performance upgrades.

But Kia stole the show when it comes to customizations that can surprise and delight a crowd by bringing out hidden potential, provoking a fresh reassessment of strengths in their production lineup that could be easy to overlook.

This was especially true of two of Kia’s eight reveals at SEMA: a 2019 Kia Stinger and a 2019 Kia K900, both reinterpreted by DUB, the southern-California-based magazine publisher and customizer.

Nexen Tire announces more booths at SEMA, salutes injured veterans with hot Dodge Challenger build

Photo: Nexen Tire America

Nexen Tire America announced yesterday that they are expanding their booth locations for the 2018 SEMA Show (Las Vegas, October 30–November 1), where they will showcase five custom builds, including the Custom Nexen Tire Purple Heart Dodge Challenger R/T, on display in Booth #61012 along with Nexen’s other show vehicles.

Yes, young people are interested in driving and accessorizing cars, SEMA research finds

Photo: Ford Media Center

Whether your business is cars or automotive accessories, if you’re a smart business operator you know that a thorough, data-enriched understanding of demographics is critical to your success—at least in the long run.

See you at SEMA 2018?

Photo: SEMA.

Yes, it’s official. Auto Enthusiasts Newsblaster will indeed be represented at SEMA 2018 (October 30-November 2 in Las Vegas) this year, by yours truly.

I will of course want to check out the many cool builds scheduled to be on display, like the Maxlider Brothers/Union Pacific Industries 1966 Ford Bronco resto-mod and the Prestone Javelin AMX by Ringbrothers. Watch for photos of goodies like these to show up on our website and social media.  I plan to be posting throughout the show to our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

If you’re shopping for a $450,000 car, here’s some good news: Ford will make an extra 350 Ford GT supercars

Photo: Ford Media Center

Apparently, there are more people around with an extra $450,000 burning holes in their pockets, because Ford announced on Thursday that they will increase production of the current-generation Ford GT to 1,350, up from the 1,000 they had originally planned.

Eat your heart out, Tesla—check out this cool electric car that a Nissan predecessor company built over 70 years ago.

Photo: Nissan Official Media Newsroom.

OK. So it’s not quite as sleek and sexy as a Tesla Roadster.

But this vintage 1947 Tama electric vehicle built by Tokyo Electro Automobile Co., Ltd., has a funky charm of its own. And for Japanese car enthusiasts, it might be pretty cool to think that a company that is part of Nissan’s history was thinking this early about the benefits of electrification, in response to an energy crisis of its time.

Chevrolet set to show off new crate engines in delicious vintage Chevy builds at SEMA 2018

Photo: Chevrolet Pressroom.

If the term “crate engine” makes you think only of the “Put a 350 in it, man!” crowd, it might be time for you to take a fresh look.

While it may be true that, as Matt Farah observed during a chat with Jalopnik’s Kurt Bradley on The Smoking Tire podcast this week, a lot more people are talking on the Interwebs about doing crazy LS swaps these days than actually doing them, the Chevrolet crate engine lineup offers a considerable depth and breadth of swap-friendly options, with nearly 50 motors to choose from.

GM says optional extended ‘bumper-to-bumper’ warranty ‘breaks new ground’

Photo: GM Corporate Newsroom.

Coming off a rough third quarter that saw an 11 percent sales drop, GM now seems to be betting that an option announced today to purchase a “no questions asked” limited warranty offering an extended period of “bumper-to-bumper” coverage will be enough to entice more consumers to buy a new Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, or Cadillac vehicle.

If you’re interested in automotive industry jobs, FCA might make you very happy, survey says

Recruiters greet candidates at an FCA job fair.
Photo: FCA USMedia Website

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) stated this week that they have scored among the top companies in the United States—not just in the car business, but overall—in providing a positive, transparent, and insightful experience for career seekers.

The automaker’s performance as a prospective employer was good enough this year to earn them a 2018 North American Candidate Experience Award (CandE Award), in a competition organized each year by Talent Board, a nonprofit that conducts research on the quality of the job candidate experience.

Well, son of a DAT: Here’s one vintage Datsun/Nissan product that you probably won’t find a tuner chip for

Photo: Nissan USA Official Media Newsroom

My weekly travels often involve a stop at a strip shopping center where there is both an e-cig store and a Domino’s pizza location. No, I’m not patronizing either of those establishments—my weekly visits have an entirely different purpose that there’s no real need to go into.

Apparently, having both a vaping store and a mostly-delivery pizza joint in the neighborhood is the perfect formula for making a parking lot look like there’s a cars and coffee for the tuner-dudes crowd going on, even when there is not a planned car-guys event taking place.

Dammerman car collection helps drive Saratoga Auto Auction to nearly $6 million in sales

Photo: Saratoga Automobile Museum.

The Saratoga Automobile Museum has credited the 44-vehicle Dennis Dammerman car collection, consigned by the estate of the late GE Vice Chairman Dennis Dammerman, with an important role in propelling sales to nearly $6 million in the second annual Saratoga Auto Auction on September 21 and 22 in Saratoga Springs, New York.

We’re looking forward to seeing this stunning 1966 Ford Bronco resto-mod at SEMA 2018

Photo: United Pacific Industries.

To restore, or to resto-mod?

In the automotive hobby, it’s one of those eternal questions of nearly Shakespearean proportions. And it’s a question that can become very personal and emotionally charged depending on the point of view of the individual enthusiast.

The votes are in: and this year’s SEMA Award finalists are…

Photo: SEMA.

The Specialty Equipment Manufacturing Association announced yesterday that automotive-industry exhibitors of the upcoming 2018 SEMA Show (October 30–November 2 at the Las Vegas Convention Center) have voted to select finalists for the SEMA Award, which honors automakers for producing accessory-friendly vehicles.

Finalists for the 2018 SEMA Award were selected in five categories: car, truck, 4x4/SUV, sport compact, and powersports vehicle—the latter of which is a newly created category for the SEMA Awards competition. Awards will be presented to winners at the SEMA Vehicle Reveal in Las Vegas on Monday, October 29, the day before the official opening of the 2018 SEMA show.

RECALL ALERT: Toyota recalls nearly 170,000 Tundra, Sequoia, and Avalon vehicles

Photo: Toyota USA Newsroom.

Approximately 168,000 Toyota vehicles, including certain 2018–2019 Toyota Tundra pickups and Toyota Sequoia SUVs, as well as some 2019 Toyota Avalon passenger cars, are being recalled to address an airbag defect, the automaker announced today.

Citing “inappropriate programming,” Toyota states that the airbag electronic control unit (ECU) may erroneously detect a fault as the vehicle starts, potentially disabling one or more of the crash-detection sensors. If a crash occurs in these conditions, the result could be the failure to deploy of side curtain airbags, front and knee airbags, or both, increasing the risk of injury.

RECALL ALERT: Toyota recalls more than 800,000 Prius and Prius v vehicles

Photo: Toyota USA newsroom.

Toyota announced a safety recall today that affects some 807,000 vehicles in the United States, including 2010-2014 model year Toyota Prius and 2012-2014 Prius v vehicles.

The automaker states that, in certain situations, the affected vehicles may not enter failsafe driving mode as they are designed to do in response to certain hybrid system faults. In this situation, the vehicle may lose power and stall. Although Toyota states that power steering and braking would remain operational, a stall at higher speeds could make a crash more likely.

Automotive safety technology might save your life… but it might not save you much money on your car insurance, study finds

Photo: FCA Media website.

Research organizations such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety are now compiling evidence that automotive technology features like blind-spot monitoring and lane departure alerts are proving effective in preventing accidents, as reported in the Insurance Journal and elsewhere.

Fiat Chrysler reports record September sales, Ford and GM down

2019 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. Photo: FCA Media website.

September sales reports from the automotive industry are out. Although it turned out to be a bearish month for two of the Big Three, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles boasted their biggest September in nearly two decades, with sales of 199,819 vehicles led by Ram and Jeep.

Auto Enthusiasts Newsblaster recognized on top automotive blogs list

Feedspot, a news aggregation and topic-driven content discovery website, has recognized Auto Enthusiasts Newsblaster on its international list of top automotive blogs that “every car enthusiast must read.”

Gaining entry to this list puts Auto Enthusiasts Newsblaster in the respected company of such widely know automotive websites as Motor Trend Magazine, Car and Driver, Autoblog, and Jalopnik.

In their evaluation process for inclusion on this list, Feedspot ranks blogs on a set of criteria that includes:

• Reputation and ranking in Google
• Popularity and influence on social media sites
• Content quality, consistency, and frequency

Each website is also individually vetted by Feedspot’s editorial team.

“It is delightful that Auto Enthusiasts Newsblaster, after less than one year of publishing history, has been able to make enough of an impact in the online automotive media space to gain entry to Feedspot’s list of top blogs in the category,” said Bill Hayward, Editor & Publisher, Auto Enthusiasts Newsblaster.

“As always, I am grateful for the support of the readers who are already enjoying our content, and hopeful that our presence on Feedspot will facilitate our discovery by more enthusiasts who share our passion for maximizing their enjoyment of automotive life and culture—no matter what they drive.”

Waking up to the debate about the efficiency and environmental impact of electric vehicles

I guess I really do eat this stuff for breakfast.

When I awakened this morning, the first things I saw in both my Facebook feed and my email inbox were highly relevant to the ongoing debate on the merits of electric vehicles. The first was a Facebook post featuring photos of a Tesla at a charging station, and the second was an e-mailed press release announcing a partnership between technology company Semcon and hydrogen fuel-cell producer Powercell.