Jay-Z may have been the biggest celebrity booster (certainly TTAC wasn’t) of the Maybach line, but the brand’s demise is going to leave Hov high and dry for new wheels. So will Hov go back to the Lexus GS that he started out with? Probably not. It’s up to the Best and Brightest to determine what will take Maybach’s place in the whip game. Perhaps something British?
Are in-car CD players the mark of a vehicle aimed at geezers? According to an Automotive News report, the CD may be going the way of the cassette or 8-track player in certain cars – namely those aimed at younger, “Gen Y” buyers, who use smart phones as music devices.
The Chevrolet LUV may have been one of the dorkier car names in the annals of automotive history, but it’s arguably better than the moniker of its Japanese counterpart, the Isuzu Faster. Korean car maker SsangYong’s new truck, the Korando Sports, is being dubbed the “Leisure Utility Vehicle”, and if parent company Mahindra can get their act together, the USA stands a chance of getting some LUV in the future.
Good writers go to heaven, but TTAC writers go everywhere. Justin Berkowitz went to Car & Driver, where he found out some news that will no doubt be welcomed by xtreme outdoor athletes everywhere.
It was around April of 2011 when I noticed an ad in the Toronto subway for the 2012 Ford Focus, touting fuel economy of 59 MPG. I dwelled on that outrageous figure for a second, made a mental note to check if they were using Imperial MPG measurements and then promptly fell asleep on the train home and missed my stop. A Google search for the Ford Focus mpg claims didn’t yield anything from the Blue Oval, but did reveal a Google ad showing Mazda touting the same figures for its 2012 Mazda3 SkyACTIV, rated for 40 mpg on the highway. Even so, this would only be 48 mpg Imperial. So what gives? 10 mpg is not an insignificant difference.
You would think (and I secretly hoped) that Toyota would see the wisdom in handing me a corrupt-assed perk the same way Cadillac does MotorTrend randomly accepting my application to buy an FR-S, but NOOOOOOOOOOO! I’m “on the waitlist”. Did any TTACers make the cut? Speak up so I can ban your IP.
Chrysler is facing a dilemma straight out of “Sophie’s Choice” – whether or not it should kill the wretched Dodge Avenger to help the marginally better Chrysler 200 thrive. But words straight from the mouth of Dodge boss Reid Bigland made it seem like it’s all but a done deal.
Ford’s Australia branch is getting $34 million AUD (roughly $35 million U.S. dollars) plus an unspecified contribution from the government of Victoria (an Australian state), to sustain a Ford plant in Melbourne. Total investment is said to be roughly $105 million USD. Holden, GM’s Australian division, is looking for some government funds too, and its raising questions about the viability of Australia’s domestic car industry.
The die is cast for Ultramarine and six-speed manual. What did my mortal enemies fellow TTAC hachi-roku-ers pick?
Ahead of the Geneva Auto Show, we have our first look at the Opel/Vauxhall Mokka, which is known here as the Buick Encore. The Euro twins get a stop-start system across the board, and two extra engine options. A naturally aspirated 1.6L gasoline engine making 113 horsepower, or a 1.7L diesel making 128 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque. Looks better dressed down, no?
BMW will launch a new line of cars dubbed “M Performance Automobiles”, keeping cars like the rumored high-performance diesel X6 away from the sacred M lineup.
Say what you want about the Volt, the Malibu, or a pair of concepts described by a friend of mine as “ripoff of the ugliest BMW and a 1993 Mitsubishi,” but Chevrolet knows how to satisfy their Corvette customers. In the C6’s final year, the parts bin has been shuffled to create perhaps the most interesting and satisfying Corvette in recent history: the 427 Convertible Collector’s Edition.
This is the new Boxster. We will all call it the “981”, because that is its marketing-designated “engineering project name”. It’s supposed to have a little more power, a little more room, a little less weight, and a little more oomph on the window sticker…
Scion’s “First 86” promotion opens tomorrow at noon EST. The first eighty-six deliveries of the new FR-S will be allocated to “winners” of the competition. To enter, one simply has to be willing to put $500 down within 72 hours — and willing to take delivery of the FR-S when it’s ready.
I am willing to do both.
While hit rapper Drake may favor Range Rovers as his ride of choice, the may have been talking about the new Buick Encore when he rapped on his hit song “Headlines” “You gon hype me up and make me catch a body like that”. The Buick Encore, barely unveiled just 48 hours ago, has generated lots of hype at TTAC, and according to Automotive News, has already “bodied” a future GM product – the GMC Granite.
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