The fifth installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise was a nearly perfect wrap-up for the series; deeply satisfying, thoroughly enjoyable, visually stunning. Your humble author gave it the equivalent of two thumbs up and recommended it without reservation. Most importantly, I noted that the central themes — fatherhood, family, young men searching for role models — were enduring enough to carry all the twenty-ton-safe gingerbread. These themes, which have underpinned three of the five movies we’ve seen so far, differentiate the series from, say, Redline. They’re important.

There was no way Fast and Furious 6 was going to measure up to its predecessor. Not only would that violate the odd-numbered-movies-rock-even-numbered-movies-suck pattern established up to this point, the way Fast Five had ended didn’t leave much room in the plot for those enduring themes mentioned above. It’s a relief to see, therefore, that instead of trying to be a better movie, it settles for being different. And in the course of being different, the franchise sets a strong course for what it was always going to become, if it could stay alive long enough: fantasy.

Spoilers, both contextual and carbon fiber, ahead.

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If and when China’s car export machine ever gets going in earnest, the city of Chongqing in Western China could become one of its main export hubs. Chongqing is not a sea port. It is the far eastern terminus of a 7,000 mile railroad line that connects Chongqing with Duisburg in Germany. (Read More…)

(Editor’s note: Despite being a close neighbor, ally, and NAFTA  member, Canada usually receives short shrift when it comes to the counting of cars. TTAC is a prime offender. We cover sales in Europe, Japan, China, and of course America – but Canada? Our resident car counter Cain will now cover the Canadian market on a monthly basis. Any volunteers for Mexico?)

For the second time in what was predicted to be yet another year of growth for the Canadian auto industry, volume grew significantly in May 2013. January volume was down 2%. By the end of February, the market was off 2012’s pace by 3%. March’s decline wasn’t as bad, but through the first quarter, sales were still down 2%. After April’s 9% increase, auto sales in May reached their highest level in six years. (Read More…)

The electric vehicle revolution has eaten another one of its children. “U.S. electric car manufacturer Miles Electric Vehicles filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early on Tuesday, court documents showed, highlighting the difficulties faced by battery-powered vehicles in gaining wide market acceptance,” says Reuters. (Read More…)

The recent rise in U.S. car sales emboldened forecasters to predict that 16 million units will be made in North America this year. Some already raise a specter that was thought to be dead for nearly a decade: Capacity constraints.

According to Automotive News [sub]

“Automakers are expected to build more than 16 million light vehicles in North America this year, the region’s highest output since 2002. Two major forecasters, LMC Automotive and IHS Automotive, predict that production will rise from last year’s 15.5 million units as the U.S. economy continues to improve. “

LMC’s Jeff Schuster  said: (Read More…)

I know a guy who used to own a BMW 318ti. Like most 318 shoppers, he paid way too much because it had a roundel on the front. At some point he realized that 25-grand (in 1997) was an awful lot to have paid for an asthmatic 138-horsepower rattletrap and sold it. Likewise, the fog […]

Joe writes:

Hi Sajeev,

As the resident car enthusiast in family, I’d appreciate your input on the following situation I’ve been asked for my input on.

My parents (in their late 60s) are currently looking to replace one of their two vehicles with a new small crossover. Their current vehicles are as follows:

– 2000 Chrysler 300M w/sport package, 80k miles, virtually all city miles
– 2003 Chevy Impala, 110k miles, virtually all highway miles (my dad was a salesman and bought the car for peanuts after he used it as a company fleet vehicle) (Read More…)

When Spyker sued GM for mucking with Saab’s failed deal with Youngman, and wanted $3 billion for its trouble, TTAC’s resident garage lawyers did not give Spyker big odds.

Yesterday, the suit was thrown out. (Read More…)

When I saw the TTAC alias “gimmeamanual” the first time, I thought the guy wanted a stick. Today, I received an email from someone called  JustGiveMeTheDamnManual. Again, I thought he must despise the automatic, and must want a stick shift real bad.  Then, I visited his website.

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Spend enough time on the autoblogosphere and you’ll know that most “rumors” propagated by various auto sites are at best worthless garbage created to generate pageview clicks. The best stuff usually doesn’t make it to the pages of the publication, because sources need to be protected, and the juiciest rumors would inevitably somebody’s cover if they were revealed.

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Apple just announced a bunch of new stuff today as part of their annual developers conference. Most TTAC readers don’t really care that iOS7 is ditching the old skeuomorphic look (fake brushed metal, fake leather, etc.) for a flat design that is damn near identical to what Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows 8 have been doing. However, they’ll care about this.

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Doug writes:

I really like the Jeep Grand Wagoneer.  I think that’s because I like all boxy SUVs, which is why I’ve owned most of them.  I have never, however, owned a Grand Wagoneer.

One look at the local used car market tells you precisely why that is: they’re expensive.  For instance:

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GM is sitting on 4.5 months of slow-moving Volt inventory, says the Detroit News. To make matters worse, production on the 2014 model is about to start. To make a dent into the 140 days of Volt supply, what do you think GM will do? (Read More…)

“Detroit autoworkers have long been stereotyped as hard-drinking, overweight smokers,” says the Detroit News. Soon, Ford workers will be able to make more money by giving up smoking and by losing weight. Booze has not been mentioned yet. (Read More…)

The Chinese car market keeps plodding along. Total vehicle sales were 1,761,500 in May, up 9.81 percent. Passenger car sales were up 9.04 percent to 1,419,700 units. Commercial sales were up 12.88 percent to 364,600 units, the Chinese auto manufacturer association CAAM says.
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