Earlier this year, Subaru was denied approval for a new factory by the Chinese government. The rationale behind the move was that Fuji Heavy, parent company of Subaru, and Toyota, were already too cozy, and that a Subaru factory would give Toyota one too many joint ventures in China. And then the boycott happened.
Consumer Reports tested the latest offerings of Detroit automakers, did not like the Dodge Dart, was frustrated by the Cadillac XTS, was underwhelmed by the Lincoln MKS, and put off by the Chevrolet Spark. CR ended up recommending a Japanese Lexus ES instead. (Read More…)
Nissan showed a refreshed version of its all-electric Leaf today. Available to the Japanese market at first, it offers both more and less. (Read More…)
Hi Steve and Sajeev,
I’m a longtime reader but first time commenter. I am looking for a late model “luxury” SUV for my wife who will only accept a BMW, Mercedes or Lexus.
(Read More…)
U.S. gasoline prices averaged $3.47 a gallon last week on weak demand, says Reuters. At the same time, record low mortgages instill life in the real estate market and rev up housing starts. All of this makes auto companies bet on a pick-up of pick-up sales. (Read More…)
While the Earth Dreams gasoline engines will underpin everything in Honda’s lineup going forward, Europe will get at least one diesel version – and we’ll probably miss out.
Japan, everyone’s favorite closed market, is about to get a couple new products from Chrysler, which will return to the market after a nearly four year absence.
Hmm. Fox News has the story about a bolt-on kit that converts just about any car into a plug-in hybrid that gets “ 50 percent to 100 percent better mileage” at a cost of only $3,000. But will it qualify for the tax credit and the HOV sticker? (Read More…)
The bidding kept going down and down at the inop auction. A sale where all cars are usually either dead or dying.
“$200! would-a-give-me $200! $100! $100! How about-a-hundred!”
Pretty soon the bidding went all the way down to $50. For a whole car! No takers. No sale. Until…
A year ago, we wrote about China’s suicidal brand binge:
“If Chinese carmakers will do what they say – and they appear to be utterly committed – then China will soon wallow in a sea of car brands nobody has ever heard of, and nobody will ever be able to remember. Sometimes, it feels as if it is the long-term goal to give each and every of the 1.3 billion Chinese his or her individual car brand.”
A year later, the brand disease claims its first victim, and it is Chery. (Read More…)
Buried deep within a piece on the proliferation of car plants in Mexico is a musing from University of Michigan professor Jeff Liker, about the future of Toyota and Mazda.
Mention China to Daimler managers, and with a pained look, they will quickly change the subject. China is the superpower when it comes to conspicuous consumption, and even more conspicuous choices of cars, and horrors, Mercedes is lagging far behind Audi and BMW, brands that previously had been looked upon with disdain by Daimler managers. Daimler won’t take it anymore, and wants to put a board member in charge of its lagging China business, says Der Spiegel. It will be a demanding job. (Read More…)
In a world where many alleged car buying services are little more than bounty hunters that feed willing buyers to the sharks, TrueCar stood out for truly identifying dealers with the lowest price. This is about to change. Earlier in the year, one of the dearest wishes of some car dealers and OEMs nearly came true: TrueCar, the Santa Monica company that empowered customers by giving them heretofore top-secret pricing information, was under fire from OEMs, dealers, and state regulators. Losing thousands of dealers in a matter of weeks, the company nearly went out of business.
“It was a near death experience, absolutely. The company almost died,” says Scott Painter, TrueCar’s CEO in an interview with Thetruthaboutcars. (Read More…)
The latest TWATs thread/shortlist update saw our commenters raise some valid and insightful questions about the awards process. I’ll try and tackle some of them below.
TTAC Commentator jco writes:
Sajeev:
In response to your call for more reader-submitted queries, I realized I’ve had one right in front of me and have never thought to ask my fellow TTAC commenters. I have a 2006 Toyota 4runner with the amazing 4.7L 2UZFE V8 engine, currently with 90,000 miles. I purchased the truck with 55,000 miles. However, this motor seems to have a fairly common weakness. (Read More…)
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