The launch of the Acura ILX kicked off on Sunday, and Acura told the crowd of assembled journalists that their new ILX sedan will cost “around $27,000”.
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Volkswagen will begin producing Porsche Boxsters at an old Karmann plant in Osnabruck, Germany starting this fall. The Boxster will be built alongside the Volkswagen Golf Cabrio.
Allegedly, China’s enthusiasm for new cars has waned. Don’t tell that to a Shanghainese. In Shanghai, exuberant carbuying has been dampened by limiting the amount of license plates, which are auctioned off. In March, prices of new license plates hit a record high. The average bid for a license plate was 58,625 yuan (9,380 U.S. dollars), Xinhua reports. Read More >
Hyundai’s sister company Kia might want to use some of those hypnotic powers to get badly needed parts. Kia’s U.S. plant in Georgia has been shut down, following a fire at parts supplier Daehan Solution. The West Point, GA, factory makes the Optima sedan, the Sorento SUV, and Hyundai’s Santa Fe SUV. Read More >
For the first time in recorded history, Hyundai is using true hypnosis to sell a car. Hypnosis expert Peter Powers designed an ”Online Hypnosis Experiment” for the new Hyundai i30. All you need is this computer, headphones, and 15 minutes of your time. Do NOT perform this experiment while at work! Read More >
For members of the North American Small Car Love Association, this might seem to be a golden age. Lately every manufacturer (with the notable exception of Volkswagen) seems to be taking the B-segment seriously. GM, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Hyundai, and Kia have all recently introduced new or substantially redesigned models. Yet, amidst this orgy, where’s the love? With so many new cars, why aren’t we lusting after ANY of them? Case in point: the 2012 Kia Rio SX.
Mercedes-Benz will no longer sell the R-Class crossover (minivan? SUV? wagon? we’re not sure) in the United States as of the 2013 model year. Slow sales meant it was hard to justify continuing sales of the car in America, but the R-Class will live on elsewhere.
In Bertel’s post about Toyota Prius C sales outstripping those of the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf, longtime reader geozinger said, concerning TTAC, “I can’t remember the last time I saw anything about the iMiev.” Let nobody say that TTAC is unresponsive to our readers. So I checked and geozinger has a point, the i-MiEV has been getting short shrift compared to the Volt and Leaf.
In Jim Boswell‘s great revisionist automotive history The CAFE Continuum, a Cadillac salesman shows off the “wonders of fin-mounted 3-D backup camera imaging”. Stereo backup cameras are still waiting for automakers to adopt autostereo (glasses free) display panels but forward-looking stereo cameras in cars are no longer the stuff of science fiction. Subaru has announced that the North American debut of their EyeSight™ driver assistance system will take place at the New York International Auto Show next month. Unlike the more common radar based ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) devices, EyeSight uses algorithmic analysis of the video stream from a camera. Well, actually cameras, since the system uses parallax information from two CCD cameras mounted near the top of the windshield.
We get all kinds of silly and nonsensical emails at our TTAC inboxes, but when they come from a major OEM, it’s always a little more entertaining. Check out this absurd release from Ford, boasting the 2013 Escape’s towing prowess.
Even though GMC made a fuss over their Terrain Denali, with its new 3.6L V6, this past week, the hot ticket seems to be the 4-cylinder Terrain, along with its Chevrolet stablemate, the Chevrolet Equinox.
An I.P.O for a physical product is a refreshing change from the Tech 2.0 bubble we’ve been subjected to lately. Allison Transmission, formerly of General Motors, just issued their first I.P.O, raising $600 million for the company. Allison is now valued at $4.2 billion.
Toyota is getting frisky. Per a press release, Toyota U.S.A. reports brisk sales of the game-changing Prius c compact hybrid. Then, TMS goes on to say that “In its first three days on the market, it sold 1,201 units, making it one Toyota’s fastest-selling vehicles and eclipsing Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf sales for the entire month of February.” Read More >
Sergio Marchionne told Auto Express that Fiat may stick to small cars in the future, with vehicles like the 500L and the much-lauded Panda acting as Fiat’s “bigger” offerings. The reason behind the move appears to be greater consolidation with Chrysler and Fiat’s larger cars meeting a cool reception in the market.
Contrary to initial reports, Ford CEO Alan Mulally told Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail that the Ford B-Max MPV will be coming to North America after all.
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