News & Events

In President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech on Tuesday night brought the current state of the American automobile manufacturing industry to center stage. All of Detroit's Big Three received prominent mentions by President Obama. "General Motors," he said, "is back on top as the world's number one automaker… Tonight, the American auto industry is back."

Is it though? Based on the numbers, it appears that the American auto industry is indeed once again healthy and growing. The Sacramento Bee reported that J.D. Power is projecting January 2012 U.S. auto sales to finish up the month at 681,000 units, representing a 6% increase over the figures from January 2010. Furthermore, light-vehicle production in North America finished 2011 up 10% over 2010.

In the effort to improve gas mileage and wear on tires, some consumers are filling their tires with nearly pure nitrogen instead of the standard compressed air. While tire makers say their tires are designed for plain air, others say nitrogen provides noticeable benefits. Let's look at the available data and see if there really is a difference.

With gas prices threatening to break household budgets all over America, more and more families are looking at hybrid vehicles as a way to save on gas and lower their driving costs. Indeed, hybrid vehicles do offer some pretty impressive mileage ratings. According the U.S. Department of Energy's fueleconomy.gov website, the best of the bunch from the 2011 lineup is still the Toyota Prius which offers an impressive 51 miles per gallon…