Unless a major disaster happens, (such as a falling sky, or a combined blood, fish, frog, and snake rain) Ford will retake the #2 slot from Toyota this year in  the U.S. The DetN came to this conclusion after studying the year to date market share of both. In his monthly sales call, Ford’s analyst George Pipas said that Ford has increased its domestic sales at nearly twice the market’s growth rate. Ford’s market share stands at 16.4 percent at the moment, up from 15.3 percent last year.  And Toyota? (Read More…)

Volkswagen had been trying for ages to get their foot in the door in Malaysia, but for some reason or another, it never worked out. In August, they signed a memorandum of understanding with DRB-HICOM. In September, it became known that the Malaysian government is evaluating applications from five foreign automakers, which put Volkswagen’s Malaysian move in question again. But fear not, the deal is done. (Read More…)

Japanese makers are jumping on the Made for China (or possibly Made for Export from China) trend that was started by GM with the Bao Jun.

Both Nissan and Honda are showing (allegedly) Made for China brands at the Guangzhou Auto Show. (Read More…)

What’s better than a Bentley 8-litre? A Bentley 8-litre with a 42 liter Packard V12 from a World War II-era torpedo boat, of course. [via The Telegraph]

The AP [via Google] reports that Toyota’s board has voted to pay $32.4m on top of the $16.4 it already paid the US Department of Transportation in connection with its handling of several recalls. The first involved Toyota’s handling of gas-pedal entrapment by floormats in its vehicles that were part of the Unintended Acceleration scandal earlier this year. The other involved steering rods in certain 4Runners and T-100 pickups that were not recalled despite a 2004 Japanese market recall for the same parts on Hilux pickups.

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The ’64 Datsun pickup had you guys stumped good, but I could tell you were working hard. There were some really good shots at an obscure vehicle. I’m guessing it was the fact that these very early Datsun pickups were essentially unheard of anywhere except pretty much just in LA and maybe the Bay Area. Now I try to avoid hints, but let’s just say that this vehicle was much more evenly distributed across the land, so you midwesterners have an equally good shot at it. Happy head scratching!

There’s a strange rumor afoot, which traces back to mibz.com, and it goes a little something like this:

Fiat plans to introduce a European version of the Chrysler 200. But the model will be sold by Lancia, with the Fiat logo on the front grille.

It looks like Fiat is not sticking to their initial plans, saying they will sell the Chrysler models under the name of Lancia. Unofficial sources say that the New Chrysler 200C will be sold on the Old Continent under the Fiat logo and not Lancia, as was anticipated. The reason is relatively simple, but a fair one: the American brand is not able to match the quality and luxury level of Lancia, a brand seen by many as a premium competitor.

We’re not yet completely convinced by this rumor, which flies in the face of Fiat’s plans for a Lancia-Chrysler co-branding experiment. Still, if the facelifted Sebring, pardon, 200 isn’t “premium” enough to be a Lancia, is the 300 up to the task? To help you formulate an answer we present Chrysler’s latest dump of high-resolution pictures of the new Chrysler flagship.

As recounted last week, I had been wanting for years to meet up with my best friend and both of our fathers in a pair of Mazda RX-8s for a spirited West Virginia road trip. Finally, the appointed day arrived for the drive from Detroit to West Virginia. The car selected for the task: a […]

In his piece on the approved-for-America Ford C-Max, Jack noted that the compact minivan would offer a “hands-free liftgate.” Well, here it is in action…

When oil and food industry groups sued to roll back the EPA’s ruling allowing E15 ethanol blends in 2007 and later model-year cars, we concluded

the political tail has wagged the scientific dog on ethanol ever since the farm lobby realized that ethanol could be the next corn syrup. With any luck, this lawsuit could just be the point at which science re-asserts itself.

The missing link: the automakers. Though auto manufacturers have been slowly climbing on board the anti-ethanol bandwagon, in no small part because large domestic OEMs like GM were once closely allied with the ethanol industry, it seems that the coalition to stop E15 is now complete. A new group known as the Engine Products Group, comprised of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, The Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, the National Marine Manufacturers Association, and the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, has filed a new petition to block the EPA’s E15 ruling.

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Surf on over to dodge.co.uk, and you’ll find that the only vehicle being offered for sale is the Journey crossover. Look a little closer and you’ll find that Dodge has announced new electric vehicles, an online reminder of the embarrassing bailout-era ENVI project which has since been expunged from Chrysler’s corporate history. Given this sorry state of affairs, is it any wonder that Dodge is getting the heck out of Dodge, er, Old Blighty?
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Andrew writes:

I’m a 21-year-old college student with a 2001 Chevy Cavalier with the 2.2L and 5-speed. I bought the car when I started college with 40,000 miles on it and I have driven it to 70,000 miles without any problems, despite not always being nice to it. But now the suspension — I think it’s coming from the front — is starting to make a good bit of noise.

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When TTAC’s Tal Bronfer caught a D-segment Hyundai station wagon brake testing in Austria’s Groβglockner High Alpine Road, we concluded that the “Sonata wagon” was

not a simple sheetmetal job

It turns out that was something of an understatement.

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Despite being introduced to the US back in 2006, sales of Nissan’s Versa are hardly slacking with age. Sales of the Versa have increased every year since its introduction except for last year, when volume dropped by about 2,000 units, and this year the subcompact sedan/hatch has already set a new annual sales record. Even the newer, arguably better-looking Kia Soul hasn’t been able to unseat the Versa from its perch as king of the subcompacts, having sold only about 60k units this year to the Versa’s 89,500. But despite this continued success, Nissan is replacing the slightly geeky-looking Versa with this, the 2012 Nissan Sunny, which has just been unveiled at the Guangzhou Auto Show in Southern China.

(Read More…)

The French parliament has taken a step toward significantly reducing the non-monetary penalties that accompany most speeding tickets. The National Assembly voted Thursday to diminish the amount of time that minor traffic violations affect a driver’s record, and consequently his insurance rates. The changes came in the form of a compromise amendment to a wide-ranging homeland security bill known by the acronym LOPSSI II.

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