#IMPORTS DOMINATE SCORECARD OF BEST CARS TO OWN

Latest News Imports Dominate TrueCar.com Scorecard Subaru, Toyota and BMW topped the list in TrueCar.coms Performance Scorecards for March. TrueCar.com, which provides new car pricing information, trends and forecasting, recently released its March Performance Scorecards for automobile manufacturers and brands. The Performance Scorecards grade each manufacturer and brand on eight different measurements related to pricing, sales, incentives, customer loyalty, market share and days in inventory data. Overall, the top manufacturers on the March Performance Scorecard were Subaru, Toyota and BMW. Near the bottom of the list were Volvo, Mitsubishi and General Motors. The brands that received the highest grades for the period were Scion, MINI, Subaru, Lexus and Audi; while the brands with the lowest grades were GMC, Buick and Dodge. The manufacturers with the largest gains, from February to March included: Toyota, which moved from a B- to an A and Porsche which moved from a C+ to a B+. The manufacturers with the steepest declines, from February to March were: Mitsubishi, which moved from a B+ to a D+; Mazda moved from an A to a B-; and Ford moved from an A to a B.

#TOP BEST CAR BUYS FOR TEENS

USAA, a financial services provider, unveiled its third-annual Best Value vehicles list naming the top 2013 automobiles offering affordability, safety and reliability. It also listed its top cars for teens. The 2013 Best Value list includes: Large Sedan, Dodge Charger; Midsize Sedan, Dodge Avenger; Small Sedan, Mitsubishi Lancer; Large Luxury Sedan, Lincoln MKS; Midsize Luxury Sedan, Audi 4; Large SUV, Chevrolet Traverse; Midsize SUV, Ford Explorer; Small SUV, Kia Sportage; Midsize Luxury SUV, Lexus RX 450h (hybrid); Large Pickup, Toyota Tundra; Sports, Scion Fr-S; Coupe, Honda CR-Z; Wagon, Audi 3; and Minivan, Dodge Grand Caravan. No vehicles met the USAA Preferred requirements in the large luxury SUV and small pickup categories this year. This year we raised the bar on the importance of safety standards. Vehicles must earn a top safety pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) to qualify as USAA Preferred, said Steve Thompson, vice president responsible for the USAA Car Buying Service. A USAA Preferred vehicle is a great value financially, and is among the safest vehicles on the road. According to USAA, Best Value automobiles offer the best overall value of all vehicles USAA evaluates as part of its proprietary rating system called USAA Preferred, which uses quantitative data to evaluate vehicles cost, safety and reliability, among other factors. There are nearly 70 cars, trucks and minivans currently designated as USAA Preferred vehicles. The Best Value list represents the vehicles that rose to the top of each category.

#INFINITI CONSIDERING PLANT IN THE US

NISSAN MOTOR CO is considering a new automobile plant in North America that can produce 100,000 premium Infiniti vehicles per year starting in 2017. The Infiniti brand in previous years has been concentrated in Japan. However, Nissan has been the most aggressive in Japan's BIG 3 to shift production outside the country in recent years. The existing operations plant in Smyra, Tenn could get a boost in opportunties to expand their facility and hire more employees.

#USED CAR DEALER COMPLAINT SETTLED IN PENNSYLVANIA

Latest News Dealer Settles Consumer Complaints A Pennsylvania used-car dealer has settled with the states attorney general on a number of consumer complaints. Nicholas B. Dizes, owner of Olympic Motors Inc. in Folsom, entered into an assurance of voluntary compliance, filed by the Bureau of Consumer Protection. The AVC resolves concerns that Olympic Motors failed to: sell vehicles as they were advertised; honor advertised prices of vehicles; sell vehicles that were roadworthy; inform consumers of defects in their vehicles that made them unroadworthy; deliver titles and registration to consumers in a timely manner; sell vehicles with the features that were advertised; honor warranties; make repairs to consumers' vehicles as guaranteed at the time of sale; and respond to consumers' telephone calls, complaints and refund requests. In the AVC, Olympic Motors Inc. agrees to comply with the Consumer Protection Law and the Auto Regulations, pay restitution to all consumers who have suffered losses as a result of its conduct, and pay civil penalties of $1,000 for each violation of the Consumer Protection Law and Auto Regulations and $3,000 for consumers age 60 or more.

FEDS ARREST MAN FOR SELLING FAKE AIRBAGS#

Shop Amazon - Best Selling Products - Updated Every Hour Feds Accuse Man of Selling Counterfeit Airbags A 25-year-old Vancouver, Wash., man was arrested April 2 on a four-count indictment charging him with trafficking in counterfeit goods. Prosecutors allege that between June 2011 and June 2012, Vitaliy Yaremkiv sold more than 900 counterfeit vehicle airbags he had purchased from a source in China. If convicted, Yaremkiv faces up to 10 years in prison and a $2 million fine. Trial in the case is scheduled for May 28. According to the indictment, Yaremkiv operated a business, Vital Auto Parts and Sales, out of his Vancouver home. He allegedly imported counterfeit Honda, Subaru and Toyota airbags from sources in China and elsewhere, and sold them over the internet representing them as the genuine product. Yaremkiv sold at least 964 of the counterfeit airbags via eBay with a sales total of $137,243. Yaremkiv sold individual Honda airbags for an asking price of $110. Investigators believe that many of the airbags were sold to independent garages who installed them in vehicles believing they had purchased a genuine airbag.

CONSUMERS WOULD RATHER SELL THEIR USED CAR THAN DONATE IT TO CHARITY

Latest News Consumers Prefer to Sell Cars Rather Than Donate A new Kars4Kids survey revealed that despite high awareness and knowledge (88 percent) of tax credit eligibility for making non-cash charitable donations, most U.S. adults opt to sell their used cars instead of donate them. The survey also indicated that only 10.5 percent of U.S. adults have donated a car. The study was conducted in March among 1,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. Additional findings show that 94 percent of U.S. adults donate goods to charity by de-cluttering their homes more than once per year. Of the 94 percent who donate to charity, 36 percent of those surveyed claimed the garage is the space at home most in need of de-cluttering. More than a quarter of respondents indicated that de-cluttering is the topic argued about most in their household. Despite the convenient and cost effective process of donating a car, only 5.4 percent of adults reported donating their used cars when they purchased a new one. Additionally, 4.6 percent of adults will keep their old cars and not use it, contributing to the clutter. The survey also revealed that 69.4 percent of adults are making an effort to reduce their carbon footprint. However, of that number, only 6.5 percent of respondents purchased a hybrid vehicle. Furthermore, nearly 63 percent of those surveyed are not participating in one of the most effective ways to reduce their carbon footprint: donating an old vehicle for potential recycling.

KIA RECALL FOR MODEL YEARS 2007-2011

Kia Motors Corp. is recalling certain model year 2007-2010 Rondo and Sportage, model year 2007-2011 Sorento, model year 2007 Sedona, model year 2010-2011 Soul, and model year 2011 Optima vehicles. The stop lamp switch in the affected vehicles may malfunction. A malfunctioning stop lamp switch may cause the brake lights to not illuminate when the brake pedal is depressed or may cause an inability to deactivate the cruise control by depressing the brake pedal. Additionally, a malfunctioning stop lamp switch may also result in intermittent operation of the push-button start feature, affect the operation of the brake-transmission shift interlock feature preventing the shifter from being moved out of the PARK position and causing the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) malfunction light to illuminate. Failure to illuminate the stop lamps during braking or inability to disengage the cruise control could increase the risk of a crash. Kia will send an interim notification to owners in May. When parts are available, owners will receive a second notification and dealers will replace the stop lamp switch, free of charge. Kia's recall campaign number is SC098.

TESLA EXPECTS PROFIT AS CAR DELIVERIES PICK UP#

TESLA MOTORS INC. the Silicon Valley Auto Maker said it would report a first-quarter profit, sending the luxary electric-maker's shares surging 16% on Monday. The Palo Alto, California maker of $70,000 vehicles lifted its forecast for the quarter after delivering more Model S electric vehicles. Tesla has a backlog of 15,000 orders and books revenue for the vehicles as soon as they are shipped to customers. In 4 p. m. NASDAQ Stock Market trading reported TESLA finished up $6.04 at $43.93. It is reported that TESLA vehicles are being seen more and more throughout the San Francisco Bay area streets and highways. TESLA's business model unlike FORD, GENERAL MOTORS, and CHRYSLER place a store in a Mall with very little if any inventory. The TESLA customer basically builds his car from scratch in the store and the vehicle is shipped out after built. TESLA MOTORS operate state of the art stores however, old school car dealerships have tried to slow them down in their expansion citing out of date State Motor Vehicle Codes requiring dealerships to have a minimum of several thousand square foot of space for inventory storage. The older dealerships of yesterday do not seem to get the message that the days of carrying a million dollar inventory and paying interest on vehicles that are not selling is coming to an end.