For the first time in more than a decade, new car sales in India have failed to post a year-over-year increase. Instead, a sharp drop in sales spells bad news for carmakers with heavy investments in that important developing market.

(Read More…)

While I was at Cobo Hall straightening out press credentials to the upcoming Detroit auto show for a colleague, Mercedes-Benz was rehearsing their media presentation, including the North American reveal of the Concept S-Class Coupe, a two door version of Daimler’s flagship sedan. The Concept S-Class Coupe isn’t really a secret, having already been shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. (Read More…)

No specs yet but photos galore!

The new-for-2014 Silverado charmed our very own Winston Braithwaite when he tested it earlier this year. But if you ran right out to buy one after reading the review (YES ADVERTISERS THIS HAPPENS EVERY DAY) you might be without it for a few days in the near future.
(Read More…)

One of my pet peeves are “worst cars of all time” lists, partly because they are so predictable (Edsel, Pinto, Vega, Gremlin, Subaru 360 etc. etc.), but also because they usually include cars whose makers could point to some level of success, either as innovators or because they sold lots of them. Cars become punchlines and get stigmatized with urban legends. I’m not saying that Chevy Vegas didn’t start rusting before they left the Lordstown factory, but if you’re going to mock it as a failure, at least mock it as an interesting failure. After all, there are people who collect and restore Vegas and if you are a car enthusiast they are worthy of as much of your respect as folks who own and treasure Duesenbergs.
(Read More…)

There’s been some speculation that after Ford’s big multi-continent reveal of the all-new 2015 Mustang that the new pony car will not be seen in public again till the New York Auto Show in the spring. As you can see from the photos taken today at Cobo Hall while the big Detroit show is being set up, the new Mustang be on display. Not just on display, Ford is making a big deal out of the new car and the nameplate’s 50th anniversary. A 1965 Mustang will be on display along with at least one concept car that was part of the original Mustang’s gestation and Ford has set up a Mustang memorabilia shop where attendees to the public part of the NAIAS will be able to buy personalized Mustang mementos. The most obvious sign that the ’15 Mustang will be on display was a 2015 Mustang convertible already on a turntable, under a sheet of protective plastic. An empty turntable nearby will probably hold the coupe. (Read More…)

Trent was a poser. He was the kind of guy who wore a fake Rolex, an imitation Italian suit and “alligator” shoes that were actually made out of vinyl. His $100 hair style cost $8 at Supercuts and his midwinter suntan, the one made him look like he had just returned from a lengthy South American stay, came from a spray can. Determined to climb from the bottom rung of society, he was forever trying to get over on people by manipulating his image and the truth is I really could have cared less. What really tore it for me, however, was the day he decided to put SS emblems on his tatty old Malibu. (Read More…)

Multiple sources are reporting that, yesterday in Quebec, Nissan announced the return of its world supermini, the Micra/March, to the Canadian market.
(Read More…)

Recently, while searching through some, ah, Japanese-market literature left in a bathroom stall by a former TTAC E-I-C, we found out something so shocking that it cannot possibly be true. Did you know that the Toyota RAV4 was initially designed from the ground up to “destroy” the Jeep Wrangler?
(Read More…)

“There aren’t many bad cars on the market,” is the trope trotted out by auto reviewers when justifying their enthusiastic response to whatever is trotted out in front of them at the Lowes Santa Monica on Wave 2 of the latest press launch. The post-recession era is one where the quality of the average car has never been higher, at the expense of idiosyncratic flaws that give cars character. Sure, there are always the whipping boys of the market, namely cars people actually buy like unibody crossovers and some that people don’t, like big, front-drive sedans.

(Read More…)

This week’s Ur-Turn comes from David Ruggles, a noted industry figure, prolific TTAC commenter and author of the Autos and Economics blog.

In my 44 years in the auto industry there have been a couple of continuing themes I have observed.  First, there is never ending change.  Second, consumers are uncomfortable with the negotiating process required when buying a vehicle.  These days vendors to auto dealers are trying to sell dealers on the concept that “transparency” is the key to success in selling cars.

(Read More…)

I just got a job that involves a fair amount of driving and I am looking to spend about 11-13k on a car that is fun to drive but at the same time practical and reliable.

(Read More…)

In a sign that the 21st Century could belong to China after all, Porsche’s head of sales and marketing Bernhard Maier predicts that the United States will finish second on the podium to China as far as 911s and Macans are concerned by the end of 2014 at the earliest.

(Read More…)

Another day, another early unveiling prior to the 2014 Detroit Auto Show, this time from Volkswagen AG with their 42-mpg Passat BlueMotion Concept.

(Read More…)

Should you happen to be at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show next week, you might find Vice President Joe Biden checking out the 2015 Corvette Z06, and a number of Cabinet members trying to hold him back from taking it for a test drive.

(Read More…)