We have all heard the saying that the second you drive it off the lot you lose x amount of dollars on your new car, here is why.

Contemplating buying a new car? The unfortunate downside of the experience is not the sales rep’s hackneyed opening lines or the stale showroom coffee, but the financial hit you’ll take the moment you drive your new pride and joy off the lot.

Wise consumers know the biggest expense of a new car is depreciation — that pecuniary penance that devalues your new ride as soon as you sign the ownership papers. One U.S. consumer website estimates buyers lose an average 11 per cent of their new car’s value while the ink is drying. After just two years, one-third of the purchase price has evaporated into thin air — that’s $10,000 of a $30,000 purchase.

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“What if?” It’s the powerful question that has fired the imagination of innovators throughout history. And would-be innovators too, sitting bored in school, imagining “what if?” when sketching their dream cars.

This was the kind of unrestrained thinking, backed by an unrestrained budget, that produced the original Bugatti Veyron, a shocking 1,000 horsepower, all-wheel-drive cruise missile of a car. But then someone said, “What if … we cut the roof off and made it a convertible?” and recently, the $2 million Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport was born.

Naturally, a $2 million car comes packed with enough gadgets for James Bond, some aimed at helping corral those thousand horses and others technology that performs the magicians’ trick of doing their work without attracting notice.

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What?! Maybe the only thing worse than having to leave your precious ride at an airport’s long-term parking is to come back and find it damaged. Door dings are one thing, but finding the wires of your car’s electrical system chewed by wild rabbits is another.

That’s what travelers at the Denver International Airport have to deal with, according to the local CBS TV affiliate KCNC-TV. “I see at least dozens every morning,” an airport shuttle driver told the station. “They go hide under the cars and the cars are warm.”

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U.S. auto sales maintained the strong upward trend that delivered a solid send-off to 2012, with most major manufacturers reporting double-digit gains for January.

A number of manufacturers set new sales records during the first month of 2013, and Detroit makers, in particular, recovered some much-needed momentum. Two of the Detroit Big Three ended last year with market share declines.

Industry observers credit a variety of factors for driving strong demand last month, including an improving economy and a bump in the long-struggling housing market. Notably, January saw demand surge in a variety of different segments, from high-mileage small cars and hybrid vehicles to full-size pickups.

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American Honda plans to recall more than 800,000 minivans and crossover-utility vehicles to address a problem that could cause the vehicles to slip out of park and roll away.

The Japanese maker, traditionally known for its high quality, reliability and customer satisfaction has been slammed by an ongoing series of recalls in recent years and appears to be on track for the dubious distinction of having more vehicles involved in safety-related callbacks than any other manufacturer operating in the U.S. for the second year in a row.

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Passengers have a habit of packing some unusual things in their luggage, but when a Ford engineer passed his bag through security recently, it clearly took the TSA X-ray technician by surprise. It wasn’t a gun, knife or illicit drugs but a big steel block.  More precisely, it was the main piece of a new 1.0-liter engine that Ford will begin offering on its Fiesta subcompact next year.

With gasoline prices surging to near-record levels and many experts forecasting a steady climb over the next few years, consumers are looking for ways to cut their fuel bills. There’s a clear trend towards downsizing, with compact and subcompact automobiles increasing their market share substantially.

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I guess the important part is that it is sturdy enough for you to ‘make sex’ in!

For an artist whose work is measured by the ton, George Tobolowsky’s scrap-steel sculptural works can be remarkably light and lyrical — even feminine in the case of the big metal bra. Talk about your underwiring.

The bra, also known as “Ann-e Girl,” is a 13-foot representation of the intimate garment — cups, straps and all — in heavy gauge welded shards of steel. Planted in its midst is a “tree of life” with a central circular element symbolic of hope, faith, home, security, stability.

“Every piece I make has a circle in it somewhere,” Tobolowsky says.

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As Dan Akerson nears his two-year mark as General Motors CEO on Sept. 1, executive upheaval has emerged as a hallmark of his tenure. And more may be coming.

The turnover — including last week’s ouster of marketing chief Joel Ewanick — has accelerated in Akerson’s second year, while GM’s U.S. market share slipped, losses in Europe widened and GM’s stock price languished. The management flux has created an air of uncertainty — and an undercurrent of fear, some insiders say — that impedes progress.

Pickup truck buyers are a stubborn lot, or so goes the conventional wisdom. What matters is payload and towing capacity; all else be damned.

But recent trends suggest that’s not necessarily the case. The latest generation of full-size trucks now offer the sort of high-tech, high-touch features you might expect in a luxury car. And, perhaps most shockingly, Ford Motor Co. is now selling more than half of its F-Series pickups equipped with V-6s, rather than the classic, heavy-hauling V-8.

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