We Aim to Be the **Dumpster of Automotive Podcasts

Auto makers and car dealers ended the year with a bang, as sales rose 9% compared with last year and 19% over November. The month capped a comeback year for the industry as sales hit 14.5 million and all the big companies posted significant percentage gains.

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For 2013, most of the industry expects strong gains in the U.S. helped by trucks, while Hyundai -- which has been rolling in the last few years -- sees weaker growth ahead.

Sandy cars spurred sales.
Image by Doug Kuntz via Autoblog

On car that had a great year -- the Chevrolet Volt, which had started slowly.

Moving on from car sales to other sales, Avis Budget bought Zipcar this week and it looks like a good deal for both sides.

CES is about to get rolling and cars and vehicle technology promises to be a big deal, with autonomous cars on the horizon from Audi and Toyota. Google and Kia got a head start by announcing a new deal to infuse Google into Kia's Uvo system.


**Dumpster is actually a genericized trademark for a type of mobile garbage bin (MGB)

We Obsessively Podcast the Obsessive Coverage of the Detroit Auto Show

It takes a little time to get Mathew excited about the Detroit Auto Show, but I persevere. We talk about all the exciting -- and realistic -- production and concept vehicles that auto makers showed off. And the new gadgets and infotainment systems that are drawing buyers. We also go through Autoblog's list of concepts and pick out which ones are likely to reach the market.

The two concepts from Chevrolet -- the Tru 140s and the Code 130R -- are designed to appeal to young people. But as the WSJ reports and we've discussed lately -- young people don't care about new cars or driving much.

Smart was one of those brands that was to designed for young people, but has seen sales slip. Now the company is hoping a new concept and a focus on new markets can turn things around.

A Segway-like enclosed scooter called the C-1 from Lit Motors could be the kind of thing that does draw young buys. And it never tips over.

Finally, sharing cars, sharing rides, now comes sharing parking spaces. Yet another market is being created for personal spaces thanks to digital communication and smartphones.

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Podcasting by the Seat of Our Pants

Welcome to our 2011 end of year car sales extravaganza. We talk about:

• December U.S. auto sales
• 2011 full-year sales
• Top selling by category
• Top selling vehicles
• Chevrolet Volt vs. Nissan Leaf

Other than sales, we also look at the decrease in recalls during 2011.

Ford Concept

Next week is both CES and the Detroit auto show and in addition to interesting vehicles from Ford, Chrysler and others, vehicular gadgets will be on display, including a slew of new apps for Ford's SYNC.

One piece of technology that might be too wacky even for CES is a system that uses people's behinds to identify them.

Perhaps HiGear could use that system to prevent the vehicle thefts that is leading the peer-to-peer auto rental to shut down.

Speaking of criminals, Jimmy Hoffa is apparently buried under GM's headquarters in Detroit. Not Giants stadium.

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Delivering Our Own Keynote Podcast for the Detroit Auto Show

Hyundai Veloster at the NAIAS

The Detroit auto show is underway (technically the North American International Auto Show) so we get down to business discussing the coolest concepts and the most interesting new production vehicles.

As always, the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards were given out and no surprise the Chevrolet Volt took the car category. the Ford Explorer nabbed the truck award against weak competition.

The show was more exciting and vibrant than years past, and Chrysler was part of that. After a year under Fiat's stewardship, the auto maker showed a new 300 sedan and announced that the Italian company was taking a larger stake.

Last week, CES was taken over by the car companies. And they are bringing back the heads up display but with lasers.

Traffic is so bad in Beijing that they might start zapping cars with lasers. Until then, the Chinese government has banned car sales in the city while they implement a lottery.

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