Tata is looking at twinning a new aluminum smelter with a vehicle assembly plant that would build Land Rover products.

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Owners of Saab cars who replace their vehicles are choosing Hondas over other OEMs, according to a study of “defections” by automotive consultancy Polk.

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I’ve been maintaining an unhealthy obsession the Mitsubishi Cordia for a while now, but what about the hatchback Cordia’s sedan sibling, the Tredia? Very, very few Tredias made it into the United States, and I thought I’d never see one in a wrecking yard… but look at what I just found in California! (Read More…)

Editor’s note:  There is a review of this model back  from the Farago days. We have an awful lots of old reviews. So feel free to read up on them.

Hello again, Steven,

You may recall our email last March regarding our 1992 Lexus SC300 5-Speed. Thanks for the reply; guess the timing was bad for you with tax time coming up. As you may recall, the car is all original, black with gray interior, looks and runs great, and has slightly less than 25K miles. Here’s the backstory:

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After sharing with you a couple of world updates (Top 150 best-selling models in June 2012 and our monthly World Roundup for July 2012), its is with a solemn tone that I announce to you that today is a special day.

Today I am launching the Africa Project, to try and bring African countries to a similar level of data and car sales information as the rest of the world.

If you live in Africa or have data on any African country please be sure to comment on this post and I will get in touch with you directly.

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All the complaints about Japan being a “closed market” are hogwash; look at all the imports coming in to Japan from places like Thailand, Malaysia and China.

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TTAC’s eulogy on Saab was premature. The Chinese willing, there will be new Saabs in the future. Surprisingly, Swedish defense contractor Saab AB licensed the Saab name to National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) to be used in future vehicles, a press release of NEVS says. NEVS also “finalized its acquisition of the main assets of Saab Automobile AB, Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB, effective August 31, 2012.”

The ultimatum given to NEVS last week apparently instilled fresh urgency into the parties, and an undisclosed amount changed hands on Friday. For the money, NEVS also received  “IP rights for the Saab 9-3, IP rights for the Phoenix platform, tools, the manufacturing plant, and test and laboratory facilities.” There are others who think they also own that Phoenix platform. And the people of Trollhättan better don’t get their hopes up on EV exports to China. (Read More…)

Japan’s new car sales are coming back to normal as the government subsidies are running out. Sales of all vehicles climbed 12.4 percent in August, combined data of two industry associations show. (Read More…)

People in Europe had a lot of time to think about their troubled future during their long vacation. Coming back to work, they are “ready to shut plants and lay off staff,” as Reuters observes. Executives and union leaders are said to be in rare agreement over who to emulate: Obama, the UAW, and Detroit. Europeans want their bailout too. Some do, at least. (Read More…)

Public beta tests are common in the computer world where a group of fanatics pound your beta to death and help you find the problems. In the automotive world this activity is not only rare, it runs contrary to the cash spent on dressing future cars in swirly vinyl. The Prius plug-in is different. Toyota […]

Everyone knows about the Cressidas of the 1980s, but we often forget that Toyota sold Cressidas in North America through the 1992 model year. That means that the Lexus LS400 and Toyota Cressida were available at the same time for three model years, giving Toyota shoppers the choice of two different rear-drive luxury sedans. I can’t recall ever seeing a ’92 Cressida prior to this one, so here’s a super-rare Junkyard Find from Denver. (Read More…)

We continue our coverage of the 15^th Chengdu Motor Show, brought to you courtesy of China coverer extraordinaire Tycho de Feyter of Carnewschina.

“The BMW M6 Coupe, decked out in China’s national color,  was launched today on the China auto market during the Chengdu Auto Show. There is only one, priced at a rather sick 2.33 million yuan, or 367.000 USD. Not cheap indeed and most of da money goes directly to the Chinese tax office. Big engined cars are taxed up to 40% of value in China. But no matter, the M6 Coupe is worth it, just for that brilliant 4.4 twin-turbo V8 with 550hp and 680nm.“

Of course, there are the female product specialists of the Chengdu Motor Show. They bring them out en masse on the second press day. Warning: If you are offended by insufficiently dressed Asian females with garters, DO NOT click the jump. We promise it won’t be a picture of big – ears. (Read More…)

I am tickled you-know-what to see our pink mailbox at shootthepink@gmail.com flow over with seas of pink. We have so much that we make this weekend a pink twofer, with pink oodles to spare.

I bet reader russty1 did not take that picture of Connie Kreski on a pink Shelby GT 500, ca. 1969.himself. If he did, well, time will have taken its toll on Connie and Shelby by now. Good that we have another one from the glorious days of 69. (Read More…)

They say they are all pink inside. A surprising number is pink on the outside, as our weekly hunt for the crimson cars certifies, so much that our mailbox at shootthepink@gmail.com is all pink inside…

This time, the hunt starts with a big game trophy. Reader Kevin Jaeger bagged this pink cement truck in Ottawa, Canada. “Not something you see at every construction site,” Kevin says, and we agree. There are more … (Read More…)

As a moderator on a Golf/GTI forum, the past weeks have been overrun with posts like ”THE REAL GOLF MKVII!!” with information inside saying it will have 600 horsepower, 12 transmission options, and the ECU will call the FBI if you attempt to tune it. They are always accompanied by an image that is as authentic to reality as a photo of Sadam’s secret WMD garage. (Read More…)