TTAC Commentator theduke writes:
I bought a 2003 Subaru Legacy SE sedan a little while back for my girlfriend. It has the “Phase 2” EJ25 SOHC motor. Living in Michigan the AWD is nice, and it was a one owner car with documented service history and I got a good price. The car has 105,000 miles on it, and the previous owner had the head gaskets and timing belts replaced about 10k miles ago by the Subaru dealer. Read More >
If the road outside of your house gets a new layer of blacktop, and you forget to move your car before the work crews arrive, what would happen? In America, you’d probably have to look for your vehicle in to impound lot. In China, the car would still be there. But it would wear asphalt shoes. Read More >
This is the weekend – if the predictions of Reuters prove correct – when British sports car maker Aston Martin will get a new owner – yet again. An Italian private equity fund and an Indian company known for its off-road vehicles compete for the business. Read More >
Sajeev asks:
I started my professional (so to speak) automotive writing career as a moderator of an automotive message forum. Perhaps you, dear reader, are like me: actually giving a crap about the Internet once you realized there were forums to learn more about your car. If so, I need your advice when it comes time to help the place that helps so many. Read More >
It’s an open secret that the Fiat 500L will debut in North American trim at next week’s Los Angeles Auto Show, but the 500L will bow in somewhat different form than what we may have been expecting.
MG, now owned by Chinese auto maker SAIC, is apparently gunning for Kia and beyond. But despite their lofty ambitions, MG hasn’t made much headway in the automotive world.
Bloomberg is reporting that weak demand in Europe will lead to B-Max production being cut at Ford’s Romanian plant.
Ford will have to deviate from its “One Ford” strategy if it wants to break into the Chinese market in a serious way, says Reuters. Ford is developing what it calls a “Value B” model that is aimed at the increasingly important sub $10,000 market in China. And that’s only the beginning … Read More >
Nissan showed technology that protects both walls from cars, and drivers from their own stupidity lack of judgment. Sonar devices in the front and rear of the car detect hard obstacles. If the system decides that the driver is about to hit the wall, the computer cuts the gas and applies the brake. Read More >
Renault’s plans for a plant in Algeria have stalled, amid the French auto maker’s desire for an agreement barring auto makers from setting up shop in the country for 5 years after the plant comes online – and Volkswagen is apparently what’s keeping Renault up at night.
The boycott of Japan-branded cars by Chinese customers appears to be abating faster than feared by some, but not as fast as hoped by others. Nissan expects its November sales in China to be down by approximately 25 percent, Hideki Kimata, senior general manager of Nissan’s joint venture with Dongfeng, told Reuters. Yesterday, Mazda’s China chief said he expects sales in China to be down by around 35 percent in November. Read More >
Motor Oil! Must Buy Motor Oil!
Forgive me for offering the two millionth article about Black Friday shopping. But this personal screed will not be about, “Buy! Buy! Buy!”
It will be all about, “Don’t! Nein! Nyet!”.
Bailed-out GM agreed to pay about $4.2 billion for the European and Latin American operations of likewise bailed-out Ally Financial, formerly known as GMAC. Read More >
One of the reasons for Volkswagen’s current strength dates back four years. During the carmageddon of 2008 ff, multinational carmakers such as GM and Toyota drastically cut back investments into new cars and technologies. Volkswagen did not change R&D spending. Four years later, this translates into a host of new models, and revolutionary platform architectures (MQB, MLB, MSB) that promise even more new models at lower cost. Read More >
Toyota will launch two China-only brands next year, one for each of its two Chinese joint ventures, a Toyota executive told Reuters today. Toyota had been one of the last hold-outs in the China-only business, after most other makers had caved in to the strong suggestions of the Chinese government that China-only brands are good for the Chinese joint venture. Read More >
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