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