AUTOS: Top 10 News Stories Of 2011
Domestic brands rose, Saab went down and natural disastors took their toll during a roller-coaster year.
Natural disasters ? The deadly earthquake and tsunami in Japan, horrendous flooding in Thailand and the U.S. Midwest, and crushing blizzards across the U.S., also took their toll on automakers and the auto industry. Beside the terrible loss of many thousands of people, the Japan disaster did serious damage to several major automakers, mainly Toyota and Honda. The floods in Thailand, where many parts for Japanese cars are sourced, hampered recovery. 
Honda recently scrapped more than 1,000 new cars destroyed in Thailand flooding. (Photo: Honda) Rise of the domestics ? The U.S. automotive market?s gradual recovery was most notable for the resurgence of a streamlined General Motors, Chrysler under new leadership, and Ford?s continuing success under chief Alan Mulally. Chrysler in particular surged with double-digit increases. Also notable was the increasing influence of the conjoined South Korean brands, Hyundai and Kia, as well as Volkswagen.
The death of an enthusiast brand ? Throughout 2011, we were treated to the slow, tortuous demise of Swedish automaker Saab. Sold off by General Motors in 2010 to Dutch supercar builder Spyker, which later became Swedish Automobile, cash-strapped Saab stopped building cars in April. Hopes rose several times that Chinese investors would save the day, but after months of dodging bullets, Saab went bankrupt in early December. The final blow came with GM?s refusal to sanction a sale to a Chinese company for fear that its technology used in Saab cars would fall into the hands of competitors.
Return of performance ? From Chevy and Ford to Nissan and Lamborghini, high-performance cars for driving enthusiasts came back with a vengeance, highlighted by such new entries as the 580-horsepower Camaro ZL1 and the 2013 Mustang GT500, which debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show with no less than 650 horsepower under its hood.
Dodge reintroduced a blast from the past with the Charger SRT8 Super Bee. (Photo: Dodge) Chrysler made its SRT8 performance arm an independent division that continues to crank out impressive muscle, Nissan brought out a new GT-R, and the new Lamborghini Aventador gives us all something to dream about.
More with less ? Muscle was also generated by smaller engines, with CAFE-minded automakers producing four-cylinder engines that churn out 200 horsepower and more, with or without turbocharging or supercharging, as new technology and creative engineering lead the way. The rise of direct fuel injection helps small-displacement engines get cleaner as well as meaner. A burgeoning interest in sport compacts has also resumed, with many tuners on display at the recent SEMA show. Meanwhile, Ford proved that full-size-pickup drivers will buy trucks with powerful, fuel-efficient V6 engines instead of V8s, which they did in droves.
40 is the new 30 ? Chevy, Ford and Hyundai all hit the 40 mpg highway-mileage mark with non-hybrid compacts and subcompact cars, and a number of other automakers came close, according to EPA results, making 40 miles per gallon the target spot that used to be occupied by a mere 30 mpg.
Source: http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/autos-top-news-stories-of-2011/
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