Canadians have long been privy to a stripped down, lease-special BMW in the form of the 320i. Thanks to BMW’s insatiable quest for volume, Americans will be too. For $33,445, you’ll get a 180 horsepower turbo 4-cylinder and an 8-speed automatic, with a 34 mpg highway rating. And the unbearable stigma of the 320i badge.
In the nascent contest between the Lexus IS and Infiniti Q50, the Infiniti appears to be in the lead. Full details here, thanks to our guest editor Mark Stevenson
Lincoln tries to do an Evoque by taking a Ford platform and an Ecoboost engine while going heavy on the premium.
Any hopes of taking a look at the interior of GM’s full-size trucks were dashed, as GM briefly opened the doors up for pictures and then promptly locked them. Come on guys, what have you got to hide? Even Lexus had the doors of the $445,000 LFA Nurburgring Edition opened.
Someone at Nissan left the new Versa Note aka Versa Hatchback uncovered.
“Oh yeah, that’s my new BMW 428i sDrive” doesn’t sound nearly as cool as “328is” does it? Didn’t think so.
I thought the Mini Paceman was an extraordinarily stupid idea until I saw it on the show floor. The execution is much better than the bloated Countryman. This one has the John Cooper Works engine, which means you’ll get charged an exorbitant amount for 208 horsepower, giant wheels, awful ride quality and $2 worth of badges. But it does have all-wheel drive. Think of it as a cut-rate Evoque. That still costs a lot.
So, here’s the inside of the Cadillac ELR. It looks pretty ATS-esque, save for the Volt-style power readout in the center.
No surprises here…the Cadillac ATS and Ram 1500 are North American Car and Truck of the Year. Thank god it wasn’t the FR-S. Sergio Marchionne quipped that “we deserved to win” the truck award. And I don’t disagree with him. GM’s new full-sizers are going to have a tough battle ahead of them.
Just in case you need further proof that luxury has been democratized, Mercedes-Benz has blessed us with the CLA250. It’s got front-drive, a 208 horsepower turbocharged 4-banger, and it looks like a pastiche of every M-B design and “lug-zhu-ree” styling cue in existence. Yech.
Discuss this further at our Mercedes CLA Forum
Chevy’s revived both the LT1 and the Stingray name for the C7 Vette. Apparently it’s got a better power/weight ratio than the Porsche 911 or Audi R8, though GM didn’t say what the car weighs. Personally, I think the C6 is gorgeous, so I’ll have to reserve judgement until I see this thing in the flesh tomorrow. Right now, I’m not so sure I’d take this one over a C6, crappy interior and all…
Among the key features:
-5 Driving modes including “Eco”
– A 7-speed manual with skip shift and active rev matching
– A digital display
-Lots more carbon fiber
An Escape-based Lincoln crossover? Sounds like it would be a total snooze, right? Could be a lot worse. The 2.0L Ecoboost is under the hood and it looks fairly production-ready.
Here’s Volkswagen’s replacement for the Routan – since that didn’t quite turn out the way VW wanted it to. This one won’t be based on the expensive Touraeg platform. It will probably be derided by the press as further evidence of VW losing its way, while selling in significant volumes. Onwards to 1 million units in 2018! I’ll get some live shots if I don’t fall asleep during the typically dry press conference.
Blame Canada! Infiniti Canada’s website blew the cover of the Infiniti Q50 before the big reveal at Detroit. Since I’ll probably be stuffing my face with free bacon when the press conference is happening, here’s a photo gallery to make up for the lack of instantaneous coverage.
Imports led the majority of the government’s green car purchases last year, with 54 percent of the nearly 1,800 green vehicles purchased by the federal government coming from Hyundai, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Honda. The federal government’s most-purchased hybrid wasn’t a Big Three product either. Instead, it was the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid.
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