Welcome to our first Weekly Digest. The purpose is to bring you more in depth news and articles about the world of Wheels Events.

Last week was a busy week for the Wheels Events staff. We Started out Monday morning on the American Wheels Events Radio Hour, Steve Natale our West Coast contributor and Blogger for Examiner.com, reported on the beginning of Goodguys Shows season.

We are taking a short break from the Radio Hour as we are moving to a new station. Garage 71 has graciously agreed to host the show at a new time. We have been to many shows together with Brian and the Rockabilly sound, we start April 7th at 7pm eastern time 4pm on the west coast. Now where is that Gibson jug I used to play?

The International Auto Show made its stop in Atlanta last weekend. Opening the doors Wednesday at noon for the public, the WE staff received a guided preview earlier in the morning while the displays were getting their finishing touches. See the video here. Click here to see the short video

Atlanta rates as a city big enough to get a stop on the International car tour, just not big enough to get the latest concept cars and industry previews.

That may be changing as Atlanta is emerging as the center of the south's new automotive manufacturing center. With Porsche headquartered in Atlanta, Kia's manufacturing just out side of down town, Nissan ever expanding in Tennessee and           

BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg South Carolina. The stature of this show will certainly be rising as more of the industry moves here in search of less expensive labor and affordable housing  See JP Brady's photo from the show/

A few high points, from my point of view. Ford Motor Company is on a roll! The only major us brand that did not have to take bail out money has made good use of the distraction the others were lost in. They have introduce many new models and update the whole fleet. EcoBoost is the operative word at Ford these days, smaller displacement direct injection engines with fast acting turbo chargers that high horsepower and torque while increasing fuel millage. In the F150 this translates into a 3.7 liter EcoBoost V6 that gets great millage and can out perform a Dodge 1500 Hemi, not only in millage put out pulls it when loaded down. Trucks are a huge part of the manufacturers business, Check out the video here,

If there is any one company that is moving up fast Kia Motors is the rising star. Watch out Toyota, the South Korean make that reinvented itself by hiring former BMW executives and stylist has finally come up with a winning formula for its complete fleet. It made a very strong investment in the assembly plant in Georgia USA, that is paying off by keeping vehicle prices down and creating jobs in an area that had lost much of its manufacturing base. The news conference was conducted by no less than Michael Sprague Vice President, Marketing & Communications of Kia Motors. It was a very strong statement on where KIA is heading.

The Nisan Leaf in my opinion is the most significant new car introduction of 2010-2011. This is the first pure electric car, that is right, no auxiliary internal combustion engine. This car has a range of 100 miles with out recharging, that is enough for the commute of most people. It also has reasonable performance. The price of the car with the federal incentive is about $25,000. The cost of a full charge is under $3.00. Watch the video it will answer most of your questions.

A few of us are bi vehicle, that is we have a passion for more than one type of transportation. If you are in the Atlanta area until June 13 you must go to MODA , Museum Of Design, Atlanta. The show is titled, Pasione Italiana. The design of these Motorcycles is an example why the Italians are the planets style experts. There is not much “off the shelf” stuff on their clothing or their Motorcycles. If you look closely you will see that every part not only does its job but is a work of art individually. The thought of how everything interacts with each other and the final aesthetic feeling that it evokes is pure genius. Enjoy my video and JP's photos

If you are a potential reporter please contact me via email at, miguel@americanwheelsevents.com We are looking for help in all of our regions please contact Mike Thies at 770-883-0160 or email mike@southeastwheelsevents.com