Derek’s capsule review of the 2012 Hyundai Azera gave the car a resounding “meh”. My own impressions weren’t going to be quite so positive, but then something happened: I test drove the Buick LaCrosse and refreshed 2013 Ford Taurus. Suddenly a $37,000 Super Sonata didn’t seem such a bad way to go.
(N.B. Photos of the Lacrosse and Taurus are in the gallery below)
Unlike most of the TTAC community, I am something of a Panther agnostic. To me, the venerable rear-drive Ford sedans are like cigarette ads in back issues of Car and Driver – a quaint relic of an era where “Occupy” was something you saw on the door of an airplane bathroom – because the Occupant was trying to suck down a Camel Light .
A driver from Scotland became involved in a six car pileup. The airbag deployed, the man escaped uninjured. Then, the airbag slowly killed him. Read More >
After admiring the Broughamism of today’s Junkyard Find, and still awed by the Broughamic zenith represented by the ’72 Mercury Marquis Brougham Junkyard Find, I can’t help but think that the automotive industry needs to bring back the Brougham! Only thing is, it’s tough to decide which 2012 American-market car or truck would benefit most from Broughamization. Read More >
Easy credit is coming back: U.S. lenders extended to car buyers some of the easiest credit terms since the financial crisis in the first quarter, credit research company Experian told Reuters. Read More >
Following the product-centric interview Marchionne gave to Automobile (which is still not available online), Sergio Marchionne revealed even more Chrysler/Fiat product plans at a media event last week.
| 4 Months 2012 | 4 Months 2011 | |
| BMW ActiveE | 879 | – |
| Smart electric drive | 2 | 79 |
| Chevrolet Volt | 5,377 | 1,703 |
| Mitsubishi i | 215 | – |
| Nissan Leaf | 2,103 | 1,025 |
| Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid | 2,552 | – |
| Total plug-in | 11,128 | 2,807 |
| EV share | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Table courtesy Automotive News |
“A disconnect is emerging between the White House and the auto industry over the short-term future of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids,” says Automotive News [sub]. The White House wants to go forward. The auto industry is backpedaling. Read More >
Pictures of a burning BYD e6 sent the already beaten down BYD stock on a nose-dive yesterday. The e6 is one of the rare BYD electric cars, used in a taxi test in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. A Nissan GT-R had crashed into two taxis, one a conventional Santana, the other an electric e6. The e6 immediately did burst into flames. Two female passengers and the driver were killed. Read More >
A week after Nissan’s Infiniti finally, officially moved into its new digs in Hong Kong’s Citibank Tower, the company finally, officially confirmed that Infiniti cars will be produced in China starting in 2014. If you think you heard that before, you did. Nissan’s worst kept secret had kept the Chinese rumor mill in motion for more than a year. Read More >
If there ever was a day to wave the white flag, it was today…
A 1999 Lincoln Continental in gold with 75,000 miles went for the jaw dropping price of $4900 after the auction fee.
A 1998 Olds Intrigue in the tannest shade of brown, 135k, cloth seats… $3350.
A 2002 Ford Crown Vic with plenty of chipped paint and 173k, $4000 even.
That was just a couple of samples of irrational exuberance on the domestic front… and keep in mind these were pre-recon prices. Trade-in vehicles without a spiff, a repair or a shine.
These were only the tip of the rough iceberg. The imports which are usually in far higher demand were far, far worse.
Japanese carmakers published worldwide sales and production numbers for April and the first four months of the year today. As expected, they look pretty wild, with triple digit percentage gains. Hidden in the numbers: Toyota stands good chances to regain the title World’s Largest Carmaker, which it lost last year. Read More >
Many of our readers have some interesting first-car-ride memories, but most of us had no personal choice in the matter. At some point after your very earliest hazy memory of being in a moving steel room on wheels, however, you remember the first car that made you do a double-take and say the little-kid equivalent of “Damn! Look at that thing!” In my case, this car was a thing, and I mean that literally; the Volkswagen Thing first appeared on California streets when I was six years old, and I was utterly hypnotized by the weird boxy car that looked something like an Apollo Lunar Rover. Read More >
Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover is working on a bigger version of the Range Rover Evoque, which is set to debut after 2015, if my sources in India are correctly informed, and they swear they are. This bigger Evoque has been codenamed L560. The renderings were made at the time I received this information. However, these renderings can hardly be accurate as the styling of this bigger Evoque hasn’t been frozen yet and the company is still working on the design. However, my source says the drawings are mighty close. Read More >
A (hecho en Mexico) Cadillac SRX costs between $67,700 and $91,000 once it’s sold in China. It doubles its price compared to the U.S. because of a monster tariff in China. Soon, there will be a more affordable version. A much, much, much more affordable version. Except that it won’t be from GM. Read More >
Tomorrow will kick off the start of our new video series; TTAC Track Days with Jack Baruth. Our first vehicle will be a Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 Track model.
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