A Ford dealer has leaked power figures for the upcoming 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor, showing what Blue Oval engineers can do with a 3.5-liter Ecoboost V6.
According to dealer product document posted on Ford Raptor Forum, the high-output version of Ford’s upgraded twin-turbo six will make 450 horsepower and a whopping 510 pounds-feet of torque. Read More >
In keeping with my current life stage, a bunch of my friends own minivans. Three of my four siblings have each owned multiple minivans. I own a minivan.
And this week, the test vehicle at GCBC Towers is this FCA Canada-supplied 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Limited, with a not-at-all limited array of options. As-tested, U.S. market pricing for this Pacifica climbs just beyond the $50K marker to $50,270.
Honda Odysseys top out below $46,000; Toyota Siennas below $49,000. FCA, however, wants the new Pacifica — which adopts the name of a failed crossover that died eight years ago — to be perceived as the automaker’s premium player. Buyers who want a value-oriented FCA van continue to have the Dodge Grand Caravan as an option, at least for the time being.
But we wonder if it’s a tenable position in the long-term; if, when FCA’s Windsor, Ontario assembly plant finishes its Grand Caravan run, the Chrysler brand can maintain the automaker’s longstanding dominance in the minivan sector. Read More >
Mitsubishi Motors has flicked the light switch on a new concept vehicle that hints at its next-generation large SUV.
Unveiled in advance of the Paris Motor Show, the Mitsubishi GT-PHEV Concept’s dimensions and design elements could find their way into the next Outlander, as the automaker seeks a larger stake in the utility vehicle market.
And yikes, what a face. But that isn’t the whole package. Read More >
It’s a sad day for Volkswagen Golf GTI purists and fanboys. The GTI — one of autodom’s quintessential hot hatches — will lose its two-door variant in the U.S. as the scandal-rocked automaker jettisons low-volume offerings.
A very familiar face and name broke the story at Jalopnik after a Volkswagen product manager mentioned the cancellation during the company’s Golf Alltrack media test drive. Read More >
After promising to surpass the storied 200-mile mark with its upcoming “affordable” electric car, General Motors has revealed that the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt will boast an EPA-estimated range of 238 miles.
The space-maximized EV’s long electric legs gives GM bragging rights over its chief rival, the Tesla Model 3. Read More >
As 2017 Honda Civic Hatchbacks roll off ships on the Atlantic coast of North America, we’ve learned that Honda expects to send 40 percent of the company’s Swindon, England, Civic assembly plant output to North America.
In an article discussing the launch of the European-market Civic Hatchback at the upcoming Mondial de l’Automobile in Paris, Automotive News Europe says 20 percent of Civic Hatchback production will remain in the United Kingdom. Another 40 percent will head to the rest of Europe. ANE also says the United States “will take 40 percent of the 120,000-unit annual production, the company predicts.”
Long live the crossover? Honda’s about to put another 48,000 hatchbacks on North American roads. Read More >
Short answer: it’s anyone’s guess.
Michigan-based specialty car company VLF Automotive, maker of heavily modified versions of (mostly) existing vehicles, plans to slap a unique bodystyle on a well-known mass-produced model, The Detroit Bureau reports.
The news comes as VLF readies a Corvette-powered, restyled Fisker Karma for sale, alongside a 700-horsepower Mustang and rebodied Dodge Viper. Read More >
Jeep’s upcoming Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs promise to make the high-flying brand plenty of moolah, but where exactly the top-shelf models will be built remains hazy.
Automotive News reports that Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne might backtrack on a tentative plan to build the models at the Warren Truck plant — a move that could impact the production of other models. Read More >
Everyone needs an SUV. That’s the mantra in today’s automotive market, and it’s not solely applicable to consumers.
Jaguar, an automaker that’s traditionally sold sedans and grand touring coupes, has seen its sales skyrocket atop an F-Pace emblazoned missile. Also from England, the Bentley Bentayga sports a fascia only a mother could love. Yet, it seems Bentley has found a number of maternal mothers with deep, offshore bank accounts more than willing to adopt Crewe’s latest offspring, resulting in 56 percent of Bentley’s total U.S. sales coming from its new SUV in August, the Bentayga’s first month on sale.
But those are established, luxury automakers. Surely, a small, single-model automaker can buck the SUV trend if its plan is to offer a limited number of models.
Or maybe it’s more important that it offers an SUV to its deep-pocketed clientele.
Apple’s self-driving car project seems to have reached the point in a TV show where new actors take on old roles and the script flies out the window.
According to the New York Times, the tech giant’s Project Titan has been hit with a slew of layoffs, leaving several areas of the project boarded up and in the dark.
Is the shadowy Apple car, once the dream of nerds everywhere, powering down? Read More >
Nissan is filling in all the unfilled niches today.
The automaker unveiled a turbocharged variant of the sensible and unexciting Sentra today at the Miami International Auto Show, promising a performance version of a sedan known mostly for its value and grocery capacity.
In doing so, Nissan implies that a hotter NISMO version is around the corner, while closing the casket lid on the IDx concept once and for all. Read More >
The crossover market isn’t just hot — it’s radiating the brilliant, scorching intensity of a million suns.
Naturally, any automaker with the means to do so would prefer to offer a lineup as diverse as possible, allowing even greater numbers of utility-hungry buyers to fall into its arms. Nissan looked around, saw some spare cash, then looked over at the Toyota RAV4, America’s best-selling compact crossover, with its regular and hybrid variants.
“Gotta get us a hybrid Rogue,” Nissan execs thought. Read More >
Chevrolet has hauled the axe out of the “break in case of low sales” box, chopping prices on almost all 2017 Camaro models.
The revised prices, effective today, apply to all 2017 model year Camaros — not just those yet to be built, GM Inside News reports. The move comes after a rocky summer for the recently restyled model, which saw the Camaro battle to stay out of last place in the pony car standings. Read More >
Ford’s electronic keypad is a delightful throwback to the days when drivers would proudly unlock their new Town Car by punching in a code on the window sill, or just below the door handle.
However, a Ford patent published by Autoblog raises the possibility that the automaker might do away with the time-honored feature. Read More >
Buy an Electra Meccanica SOLO and never argue with a passenger again.
The Vancouver-based company’s single-seat, three-wheeled electric commuter vehicle went on sale in Canada today, promising a range of about 100 miles and plenty of double takes from other motorists. Read More >
Recent Comments