Weekly automotive section from the Waco Tribune-Herald. Feb. 2014 | Page 2
2 |WHEELS | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2014 | www.wacotrib.com
Waco Tribune-Herald
WHAT’S HOT FOR
A LOOK AT THE TRENDS SHAPING THE CAR INDUSTRY
T
he 2014 model year is shaping
up to be a great time for newcar shoppers.
As the economy improves, buyers
are starting to pour into showrooms
again after delaying the purchase of a
new vehicle for too long. Today’s vehicles have gotten better, safer and
more refined. And financing terms
remain favorable, with a combination
of low interest rates, longer loan
lengths and easier lending standards.
If you’re in the market for a new car,
here are some trends to know about
this year.
TECHNOLOGY
New cars are becoming more like
consumer electronics with each passing year.
Not only are they available with
more luxury add-ons — things like
adaptive cruise control, ventilated
seats, video cameras and blind-spot
sensors — but they’re also more customizable than ever before.
In a lot of new models, for example,
a digital display behind the steering
wheel can show different information
based on what the driver prefers to
see there. It’s a fancier, more powerful
version of the old-fashioned trip computer.
Perhaps the biggest trend for 2014 is
the ability for cars and smartphones
to work together. Most new cars today
offer some kind of system for playing
music, accessing apps and making
phone calls through your cell phone,
and the differences between them can
help push careful shoppers from one
car to another.
If you want to be blown away, make
a visit to your local car dealer and ask
them to demonstrate some of the
infotainment features on their new
cars. Even the most affordable,
entry-level economy cars are typically
available with the kinds of electronics
that would have been considered
extravagant luxuries just a few years
ago.
GAS MILEAGE
Another big trend involves technology under the hood: getting the most
mileage from every drop of gasoline.
As federal gas mileage standards
tighten and consumers look more
closely at the fuel economy figures
that can help lower their gas budget,
car makers are responding by making
impressive mileage a key feature on
their 2014 cars.
Turbochargers, quiet diesel engines
and dir X