Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda is a regular Japanese guy: Shy in public, but blogging on his computer every day. Using the handle “Morizou,” he blogs about his love for sports cars and auto racing on Gazoo.com, which he founded in 1998, if Todayonline has it right. Akio Toyoda is also an avid racer. His  appearances at the 24 Hours Nürburgring endurance race in a Lexus LFA are legend. He is chickening out! (Read More…)

Within my first mile in the original Kia Sorento I couldn’t help but wonder, “Is that a live rear axle I feel?” I stopped the vehicle, peered beneath it and, sure enough, there it was. The Sorento looked like a car-based crossover, but body-on-frame construction, a two-speed transfer case, and a live rear axle dwelled […]

The photo enforcement industry announced on Friday the creation of a new red light camera and speed camera advocacy group. The Partnership for Advancing Road Safety (PARS) describes itself as an organization that seeks to use best practices to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities on American highways. The group’s number one priority is countering the growing nationwide backlash against the use of automated ticketing machines that has resulted in multi-million dollar loses for camera vendors.
(Read More…)

Volkswagen and Porsche will set up a research and development center in Qatar, reports Arabian Business. Yes, you did read right, Qatar. Qatar Holding has signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), Volkswagen and Porsche. According to the MOU, research and development, testing and training facilities will be built in Doha. “Other avenues of cooperation” may also be visited. (Read More…)

When China’s Chery announced last December that they would be will be the first ever Chinese brand to enter the venerable Dakar Rally, a lot of people said: “Yeah, sure. Chinese cars, in the Dakar? Don’t they fall apart when they leave the lot?”

Chery’s team didn’t win, but they survived. (Read More…)

Usually, we don’t report every recall (you’d be pretty tired of it pretty quick,) but in the interest of things being in the spotlight, please be advised that Honda will recall more than 410,000 Odyssey minivans and Element small trucks from the 2007 and 2008 model years, says Associated Press. (Read More…)

All eyes are on Harrison, NY, today. Technicians from Toyota and NHTSA will head to the NYC burbs and pour over a 2005 Toyota Prius that crashed into a stone wall in the tony bedroom town of Harrison. Its driver claimed the hybrid had sped up on its own. Toyota will read out the data recorded in the Prius computer. According to the Associated Press, Toyota techs will “use equipment to determine how many times the driver hit the brakes and gas. It used the same tools earlier this week to cast doubt on a California driver who claimed his Prius sped to 94 mph before a patrol officer helped him stop it.” (Read More…)

Time to break out the (tasteful) shibari pictures. “Nissan would seriously consider joining a comprehensive tie-up between Renault S.A. and Daimler AG if the alliance they are discussing happens,” says The Nikkei [sub]. With Renault and Nissan tied-up both at the hips and on top, such a move would make more than just sense. (Read More…)

Despite being pretty rare nowadays, I can’t quite summon the inspiration to pound out a proper CC for this 1978 Datsun 310GX (Cherry/Pulsar). Seeing as it appeared three years after the first Golf, the general resemblance is not coincidental, especially the front grill, a virtual  dead ringer. It has some historical significance, since it marked the light at the end of Nissan’s tunnel of bizarre styling. This 310 replaced the F-10, which we titled as “The Ugliest Car Ever?” Although this hatchback looked fairly conventional, the coupe still had vestiges of F-10 ness in its rear quarters. (Read More…)

From the “how did we miss this?” file comes this story of Russian police pulling motorists over and using them to create a human roadblock. This incident built on anger in the wake of another recent incident [via the NY Times] in which the vice president of Lukoil apparently bribed police to cover up an accident in which his Mercedes crashed into a Citroen, killing two passengers. That incident inspired Russian rapper Noize MC to make this song, cleverly named “Mercedes S666.” As we noted the last time we covered the messy confrontations between Russia’s motorists and police, these incidents put the political problems of American motorists into much-needed context. We still have a lot to be grateful for.

How about 7 minutes and 48 seconds worth of Nissan Juke B-rolls? That this car exists isn’t puzzling: Europe is forever producing bizarre little segment-busters that look like they were styled by an eldritch abomination. What boggles the mind is that Nissan is going to try to sell this Versa-based “crossunder” in the US. Stare at the footage for a bit and try to imagine what business in your community you could see one of these in front of, and you’ll see what we’re on about. [Warning: more than 3 minutes of uninterrupted viewing could cause complete loss of sanity and/or a new appreciation for Toyota-bland styling]

Once again, last night’s clue went too quickly. Within minutes, yoribe called out the MB 240D. Commentator sfdennis1′s correct guess actually appeared on the front page first, but what happens is that first time comments get held up a bit in the back end. But they have a time stamp on them which is what we go by.

Anyway, in hopes of stymieing you id wizards, this car is not quite original; a mild custom actually. But its not something far out like the Envoy Epic, if you get my drift. Anyway, GI will only get you so far. Have fun.

Chrysler Group understands that the practice at this time may be a cause of concern among policymakers and among arbitrating dealers. As a measure of good faith, Chrysler Group will not proceed with network actions that directly impact an arbitrating dealer until the arbitrator has had a chance to rule in that case.

The Detroit News reports that the United Auto Workers are gearing up for battle for a surprising new cause: greenhouse gas emissions standards. Alan Reuther, Legislative Director of the newly-green union, wrote congress recently to warn against a bill authored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski which would prevent the EPA from declaring C02 a danger to public health, saying:

The UAW also is deeply concerned that overturning EPA’s endangerment finding would unravel the historic agreement on one national standard for fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions for light-duty vehicles that was negotiated by the Obama administration last year

Previous-gen Kia Sorento or Mercedes ML? Well, which is it gonna be, HuangHai Landscape? [via Autobild.de]