It’s the fourth time that China’s BYD shows up at NAIAS. Every time, they announced an impending arrival at American shores. Which did not happen. Now BYD – cross my heart and hope to stay alive – BYD promises that they will really, honestly enter the U.S. en mass in spring of 2012, Reuters reports. Well, about time, because the luster is coming off BYD. (Read More…)
“Prius has become to hybrids what Kleenex is to tissues and Levis are to jeans.” So said Bob Carter, group VP and general manager of Toyota U.S.A. With so much brand power, it would be a waste to have only one Prius. From now on, Toyota has three. The Prius received a bigger and a smaller sibling, with the idea towards creating “a modern family with a Prius for everyone.” (Read More…)
Double-digit sales declines in the U.S. in the past two years notwithstanding, Toyota’s Gen X & Y Scion brand is in “no danger” of being put out of its misery, and new products are in the pipeline, Toyota Prez Akio Toyoda told The Nikkei [sub].
Toyoda confirmed that the subcompact iQ, recently reviewed by TTAC in Tokyo, will be coming early this year to the U.S., as a Scion.
Direct injection. Dual-clutch transmission. 40 MPG highway. Three doors. 2,580 lbs. A $17k-ish price point. That might just be one of the most unconventional sets of numbers to come out of this year’s NAIAS, and the Veloster is certainly one of the more unconventional cars to launch here at Cobo. From a more cynical perspective, it is based on the Accent platform, rear headroom seems a bit cramped, the third door seems a bit unnecessary, and its marketing is a bit overly drenched in Gen Y-centric nonsense (also, official EPA numbers aren’t out yet). Still, the Veloster is a huge step from the Tiburons that came before it, and it adds an intriguing new facet to Hyundai’s American assault.
Not many of us wake up in the morning and say to ourselves, “I think I’m going to shorten and narrow a ’57 Chevy wagon, give it a truck bed, and install a 427 with a 5-speed!” (Read More…)
Want to know how to get a good chunk of the Detroit 3, no money down? Easy: Today, Fiat increased its ownership of Chrysler from 20 percent to 25 percent. What did they pay for it? Niente. Fiat received the extra shares “upon the Company’s achievement of the first of three performance-related milestones,” as a Chrysler Group LLC press release proclaims. And what is that milestone? They started making an engine. (Read More…)
Rather than host its event at a booth-side stage, Ford booked the Cobo Arena for its highly-produced (yet not without its stumbles) presentation. It began with the usual corporate propaganda, centering around the “One Ford” theme and highlighting the Blue Oval’s global operations. Then Alan Mulally zoomed into the middle of the arena in a 2012 Focus ST and, to gales of spontaneous sycophantic applause, began introducing the K-Car-like range of future products based on Ford’s Global Compact platform.
Did you know that there is rogue SUV production? Not to worry, it will be brought under control: Nissan will move production of its Rogue crossover from Kyushu, Japan, where it is built now, to Smyrna, Tennessee in 2013, Nissan’s America chief Carlos Tavares told The Nikkei [sub] today. (Read More…)
Peter writes:
My question is about getting out of a car lease.
Last night I was speaking to a recent widow. A few months before her husband died, he had taken out a lease on a 2010 car. She still has 14 months to go on the 36-month lease for a 2009 Toyota RAV4. She doesn’t need to carry the lease on two vehicles and wants to hold on to the newer one.
The RAV4 has 18,000 miles and the lease is $359 a month, which is high (there’s no deposit). That leaves about 18,000 miles for someone to take it over before it expires in Feb. 2012.
She’s listed it with Swapalease and isn’t getting any interest there. I’ve also mentioned Leasetrader.com, CarLeaseDepot.com, and EasyRelease.com as alternatives, but don’t know their reputations. And of course there is Craigslist.
Can you think of other alternatives that might be helpful for getting out of this, including negotiation with Toyota Financial if such a thing is possible? Thank you.
Ford introduces something totally new and unexpected at NAIAS: Jobs! 7,000 of them. The Freep has it from “a person familiar with the planning.” (Read More…)
Chevy’s Volt and Ford’s Explorer won North American Car and Truck of the year, a result which surprised precisely nobody here at Cobo Hall. The Volt beat out Nissan’s Leaf and Hyundai’s Sonata, while the Explorer beat out Dodge’s Durango and Jeep’s Grand Cherokee. But forget the well-fed journos who make up the NACOTY jury… what is your car and truck of the year… and why?
How’s this for a way to kick off a car show? The Porsche 918 RSR looks tastier than the complimentary breakfast that preceded its launch this morning, all gullwings and gleaming sidepipes. Its direct-injected V8 makes 563 HP at a dizzying 10,300 RPM, and electric torque-vectoring motors on the front wheels add a combined 150 kW, for a total power output of 767 HP. Porsche says the interior is more “gentleman’s racer”-oriented than the 918 Concept… but what gentleman makes his consort sit atop the energy-storing flywheel that replaces the passenger seat? And don’t get us (specifically Jack Baruth) started on the copious 917 references in Porsche’s promotional literature. Still, this Porsche is hard not to like… right down to the giant orange “Hybrid” splashed across its rear wing.
California courts continue to find the evidence provided by photo enforcement citations to be lacking. In both Orange, and San Mateo Counties, appellate division judges found the images presented in court by private vendors to be inadmissible hearsay. Late last month, Kern County joined the growing number of jurisdictions troubled by the quality of traffic camera evidence packages.
It’s official: China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) announced that in 2010, Chinese bought 18,061,900 vehicles, an increase of 32.37 percent over 2009. Automobile production rose to 18,264,700 units, an increase of 32.44 percent.
As predicted several times, China handily broke the world record of annual sales, established by the U.S.A. way back in 2000 with sales of 17.4 million units. (Read More…)
So Volkswagen took the wraps off its first (well, since the late 80s) Made-in-the-U.S.A. car last night. The name of the New Midsize Sedan had remained a matter of high suspense until the last minute. But didn’t we offhandedly mention that “some think it might be called Passat?” That’s what it will be called. “Volkswagen says it will keep the Passat name for its new midsize vehicle that will be built at the company’s new U.S. plant in Tennessee,” reports Businessweek.
Meet the Volkswagen value meal, designed for Americans: Bigger, beefier, cheaper. (Read More…)
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