Lehigh Valley Auto Dealers

It looks like Sweden is ahead of the curve when it comes to welcoming and catering to plug-in hybrid cars. Many roadside McDonald’s restaurants in the country will soon have charging posts for hybrid electric cars so they can recharge while you eat!

Currently, engineers at the Elforsk company is trying to find ways to shorten the time needed at the charging posts. The current charge time for an empty batter is between four and six hours. However, the company producing the posts says that the average charging time is between 30 and 45 minutes. That would be perfect timing for the people who go inside to have a Big Mac. While they figure that out, officials at McDonald’s are figuring out which restaurants in Stockholm should get the new feature.

One of the few things holding back the electric car revolution in Sweden is the infrastructure. There are not many charging areas where drivers of hybrid cars can stop and charge their batteries like they can fill up their fuel tank. Still, Sweden hopes to have more than a half million electric cars on its roads within the next decade. Maybe it will be an example to other nations that have been dragging their proverbial feet in the electric car revolution.

Your Allentown auto dealers wanted to discuss a recent article about Americans driving less. We all know people drove less during last summer when gas prices were over $4 a gallon. But those trends continued through the end of 2008 and possibly for the beginning of 2009.

The Department of Transportation released new data that stated drivers drove about 3.7 billion fewer miles in December 2008 than they did in 2007. The results are indicative of how people are cutting back in many areas of their lives.

“The nation’s driving decline is another indication of just how important the president’s economic recovery plan is,” said Ray LaHood, the U.S. Transportation Secretary.

The biggest decline in driving occurred in the western states. A 4.8 percent decrease occurred in Washington and Oregon, but researchers attribute some of that dip to the large amount of snowfall in December. And even though the average number of miles has dropped nationwide, there are some states that report increased driving. Colorado drivers, for instance, drove about 5.4 percent more miles in December 2008 than they did in December 2007.

Whether you’re driving more or fewer miles lately, enjoy every single mile with a new car from your Pottstown area Hyundai dealer. We have deals that are so good you won’t need to worry about how many miles you’re driving each month.

If you haven’t experienced the awesome restaurants in and around the Philadelphia area, your Allentown auto dealers encourage you to do so when you get a chance. Philadelphia has many savory restaurants that are sure to satisfy the taste buds of even the pickiest eaters. Here are a few of those restaurants:

LaCroix – The LaCroix is an elegant restaurant where you can still feel relaxed. You can order international dishes including Thai, Spanish, Japanese and American cuisine. It is located inside the Five-Diamond Rittenhouse Hotel and overlooks the beautiful Rittenhouse Square.

Naked Chocolate Café – The name may sound funny, but you can find some hand-crafted chocolate at this dessert establishment. Treats range from oversized cupcakes to hot cocoa and everything in between.

Caribou Café – Are you looking for a café with culture? The Caribou Café in Philadelphia has what you want. This Parisian-style café has a wine bar, Belgian décor and a creative beer with a wine list. Enjoy the elegance of bistro chairs and marble tables along with live jazz bands on the weekend.

These are just a few of the nice restaurants you can enjoy in Philly. Before you tour these establishments, consider going in style with a new car from your Doylestown area Honda dealer. It’s a great way to enjoy the posh eateries in style!

If you can get past the dumb comments that Jeanine Garofolo made about Conservatives and Republicans recently, your Allentown auto dealers encourage you to watch this season of Fox’s 24. Other than the fact that it’s one of the best shows on television, you’ll also notice our hero driving a Hyundai to save the world!

Specifically, Jack Bauer is driving a Hyundai Genesis this season. Since the integration into the show began in November, Hyundai has reported the highest year-to-year increase in the entire industry with 24,512 vehicles sold. That’s a 14.3 percent increase since last January. Those are numbers that are all but unheard of in today’s economic times.

“Our partnership with…24 provides a tremendous 360-degree platform to showcase our new flagship, the Genesis sedan,” explained Chris Perry, the director of marketing communications for Hyundai Motor America. “The unique in-show integration ensures exposure when the audience is most involved with the TV series…but the extensions allow us to build a relationship with consumers in the real world.”

Do you want to feel like a terrorist-fighting hero, too? Then visit your Doylestown area Hyundai dealer today and get behind the wheel of a Hyundai Genesis sedan or one of the many other models available for you.

President Obama’s stimulus plan means big things for many cities and states throughout the nation. One thing that the state of Maryland has decided to do with the money that’s coming to them is to buy 100 hybrid buses.

State officials planned on buying the hybrid diesel-electric buses before now, but there was not enough money in the state’s Transportation Trust Fund. With the new stimulus money, though, the state is spending $65 million on the efficient buses which will “more than double the number of hybrid vehicles in the Maryland Transit Administration’s bus fleet.”

Currently, the MTA utilizes 10 hybrids. There were 30 more planned for summer but the upcoming 100 will bring the fleet to 140 hybrids. Officials say the 10 hybrids that are now on the roads go “twice as many miles as diesel buses before they have to be brought into the shop for repairs.” The new transportation vehicles are not only more efficient, they are also less noisy and cleaner than their diesel-powered counterparts.

Why not join in the hybrid revolution? Visit your Glenside area Toyota dealer and get a deal on a hybrid car today. You probably won’t get any stimulus money for it, but the money you’ll save at the gas pump is almost like a stimulus!

Your Allentown auto dealers want to discuss the new Pennsylvania smoking ban and what it means for you. Initially, the smoking ban that went into effect in September 2008 applied to smoking in most public businesses and buildings. But some businesses may sue to get that law changed.

Trey Matheu, the general manager of a cigar bar in western Pennsylvania, bases the majority of his business on cigar smokers. With the new smoking ban, his business could be ruined. He is hoping the state will relax the legislation before it goes to court. “We’d like them to take a second look at the legislation,” he said in an interview. In addition, the state’s Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control is reviewing more than a dozen requests from hotel owners who are challenging the legislation and officials have granted seven exemptions thus far.

So far, you can still smoke in your car in Pennsylvania. If you’re a smoker, why not visit your Lansdale area Honda dealer and get a car in which you can feel comfortable smoking. If you’re a non-smoker, there are just as many Honda cars that will appeal to you as well. Check one out today!

Getting arrested in New York City just got more eco-friendly. According to the New York City Police Department is going to unveil a new fleet of 40 hybrids that officers are going to use on full-time patrol. The new hybrids are supposed to hit the “beat” in the next two weeks as part of the city’s plan for the men in blue to be more green.

The department already has some hybrid cars that they use, but the new hybrids will be the city’s first that will be used on patrol. These hybrids get about 35 miles per gallon while the non-hybrids that they now use only get about half of that. The city spent more than $1 million on the hybrids, but some still have their doubts. “We won’t know whether they are suitable for wider use until they are subjected to the NYPD’s demanding environment, which includes virtual 24-hour-a-day operation by multiple drivers,” explained NYPD spokesperson Paul Browne.

According to reports, 18 of the new hybrids will be marked, 20 of them will be unmarked and two of them will be disguised as yellow taxi cabs. If you plan on visiting New York City soon, be careful because you never know where the guys in “green” are going to be.

In an effort to reach out to new customers and existing customers with concerns, Hyundai Automotive CEO John Krafcik is going to host a live chat online tomorrow, February 17.

The live chat session will last one hour and you can log on and ask questions at HyundaiThinkTank.com. The website was created in November 2008 as a way to get consumers to respond the company and its products and brand. Currently, the website community has more than “700 members who either own a Hyundai vehicle or say they would consider buying one.”

According to Eileen Mahdi, the consumer insights manager for Hyundai Automotive, this is just the second in a series of monthly chats the automaker is going to host. The first chat session was held in January and features Michael Deitz, the product planner for the much talked about Hyundai Genesis sedan.

Hopefully, the chat sessions will make customers and potential customers feel more comfortable with the company and help the company connect with them. “We want to have a close connection with our customers so we can incorporate their feedback in all aspects of the business,” said Mahdi in an interview with Automotive News.

If you miss the chat or simply cannot log on during the event, you can always visit your Lansdale area Hyundai dealer and connect with them. They will listen to any concerns you may have as well and work hard to make you feel comfortable with the product you are considering buying.

One of the items in the new stimulus package that Congress is voting on this weekend affects new car buyers in the country. Authored by Barbara A. Mikulski, the Democratic Senator from Maryland, the new bill allows buyers of new cars to deduct the state sales tax and excise taxes on their returns next year if they buy a new car or other new vehicle during 2009. Could there be any better reason to consider a new Hyundai car this year?

“Everyone wants to save auto manufacturers, but now matter how much government aid we give to the…auto makers, they can’t survive if consumers don’t start buying cars,” Mikulski said of her proposal. She went on to say that her proposal “stimulates demand in the automobile industry so that people go to showrooms and buy cars.”

The tax break takes up more than $1.6 billion of the stimulus package and no longer has the interest deductions that her original plan had. The National Automobile Dealers Association supports the plan and has lobbied its representatives in Congress to help push the plan through.

Keep this in mind when you visit your Pottstown area Hyundai dealer in 2009. Deducting state sales and excise taxes is a great way to save money while enjoying a brand new car.

Your PA dealers would like to welcome Elton John and Billy Joel back to “The City of Brotherly Love” for their July 30 reunion concert at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. You can get tickets for this once-in-a-lifetime concert starting tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Just like previous tours in 1994 and 2002, the two ultra-popular singers/songwriters/pianists will open the show by “swapping vocals at twin pianos.” They will likely share each other’s songs like previous concerts, too. For instance, during the 1994 tour, they did duets on songs like Elton John’s “Your Song” and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” They also shared voices on Billy Joel’s hits like “Just the Way You Are” and “Honesty.” For the encore, they both performed Joel’s “Piano Man” to the delight of the audience. In 2002, the two superstars did six shows together at Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center. There is also a special tie between the two stars and Lehigh Valley. In 1973, Billy Joel was doing a show at the Roxy Theater in Northampton. After he ran out of his own original material, he played “Goodbye Yellowbrick Road,” one of Elton John’s biggest hits of the day.

Can you think of any better way to go to the concert than in a new car from your Pottstown area Honda dealer? Visit one today so you can go in style!