Nowadays, the only way to make cars profitably is to take advantage of economies of scale; and nobody is better at maximizing the “one sausage, many lengths” method of automobile production than Mini. Forget talk of “brand values” and “heritage” – we’re in a different era now.
Category: Future Vehicles
Opel may be in the crapper, but GM’s British arm, Vauxhall (which is intertwined with Opel) is happy to tout their new convertible, dubbed the Cascada.
Ford unveiled a number of new products at its European dealer meeting in Amsterdam, including new crossovers and an all-new Mondeo powered by a three-cylinder engine.
Auto makers in Europe are freaking out about excess capacity, but Honda can’t get enough of it.
Mazda has released official pictures of what will likely be the best-selling car in the United States, should it ever be sold here; the 2014 Mazda6 Wagon, which will be available with the new Skyactiv-D engine and a manual transmission.
A shocking report from Automotive News has broached a previously unfathomable development; Alfa Romeo’s U.S. launch is apparently delayed, catching countless observers off-guard, after expecting an efficient, trouble-free re-introduction for the historic marque.
While discussing the future of a Mazda/Fiat collaboration last week, one industry insider trusted by TTAC had this to say
“It’s a bit like a first dance during the sixth grade…the Roadster, I mean. They’re leaving room for Jesus, but still able to cop a feel if they’re lucky.”
Now we’ve got more info on the Alfa/Mazda collaboration, and the possibility of more co-operation between Fiat and Japan’s last auto maker.
The rotary engine and Mazda have had a tumultuus, on-and-off relationship that rivals an Old Hollywood marriage. Market conditions and government regulations have made mass production of the rotary a constant challenge, and the death of the Mazda RX-8 looked like the final nail in the Wankel’s coffin.
In rapper parlance, the word “ignorant” often denotes someone or something that is offensively ostentatious, lacking in taste, discretion or refinement. It’s a great descriptor for the Cadillac Escalade, and according to an Automotive News report, things aren’t going to change when the next generation debuts.
Now that we’ve finally got real pictures of the 2014 Mazda6, powertrain details have emerged as well. For anyone who thought the 2.0L Skyactiv 4-cylinder was underpowered, there’s good news.
More bad news for Suzuki fans; the marque won’t have any new product for the Untied States until at least 2015.
Few cars are subject to such intense rumor-mongering as the Ford Mustang. Luckily, an Automotive News report has confirmed two nuggets of information that will mark some of the biggest changes to Ford’s pony car.
Charles Murray’s Coming Apart, an examination on the class divides in present-day America, features a handy quiz for “cultural elites” to answer, as a means of getting a sense of how much of a “bubble” one lives that isolates them from rural America. Among the questions asked are whether one owns or has owned a pickup truck (also: whether one knows an evangelical Christian, whether one has eaten at T.G.I Friday’s in the past year, and have you ever participated in a parade that did not involve global warming, gay rights, or a war protest). Read More >
Datsun’s association with Africa might be best linked with the East African Safari rally – but 42 years later, Datsun could return to the continent, though not in a motorsports capacity.
The already fragile egos of HPDE drivers are about to take another hit. Shelley, the autonomous Audi TT-S developed by Stanford, has tried her first lapping day, and the results were promising.














Recent Comments