Honda CEO Takanobu Ito stepped up and assumed responsibility for the Honda Civic’s miserable start in the United States, telling Automotive News that “The ultimate responsibility rests with me.” The Civic was left off the Consumer Reports list of recommended vehicles, a rarity for any Honda product. Cheap interior materials were blamed, and many reviewers reported...
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The head of Toyota‘s Prius program thinks that Toyota will be able to sell as many as 1 million hybrids anually by 2015. Satoshi Ogiso, who was responsible for developing the original Prius, said that hybrids could sell as many as 2 million units by 2020. Toyota Hybrid sales topped out at 690,000 in 2010,...
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An alert reader spotted a lightly disguised Subaru BRZ on what appears to be a California freeway. Clad in only a tiny bit of camo, the spy photos don’t reveal much more than we’ve already seen, but are a neat look at the hotly anticipated Subaru sports car. Aside from the shared RWD platform and...
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While the Chevrolet Volt has struggled a bit to get traction in the marketplace, Nissan‘s all-electric Leaf is well on pace to sell 10,000 units in the United States, meeting its initial sales targets. 60 percent of all Leafs sold are in California (no surprise there), but we’ll get a better regional breakdown sometime later...
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Our spy photographers have done it again, this time finding the 2013 Mercedes-Benz S-Class in the wild. The S-Class is an important product for Mercedes, but this generation has the added burden of replacing the now-dead Maybach sedans, as well as acting as the flagship for Mercedes-Benz. Expect to see VIPs, celebrities and African desposts chauffeured around...
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An article in Automotive News suggests that the Cadillac ELR, which will share major driveline components with the Chevrolet Volt, will actually be rear-wheel drive. The report states that the ELR has been dubbed a 2+2, meaning two small seats in the rear, similar to a Porsche 911. The Volt uses a t-shaped battery pack...
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Toyota has announced that starting in 2013, it will sell Lexus vehicles in India. No specific products were announced for sale, but likely contenders include the LS and GS sedans, as well as the RX crossover. Given India’s less than perfect roads, the LX and GX SUVs (based on the popular Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs)...
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While Chevrolet is readying a diesel version of their Cruze compact in 2013, an interesting tidbit of information leaked out regarding another gas-saving variant of the Cruze – a plug-in hybrid model. Australia’s GoAuto reports that the Cruze will be a traditional plug-in hybrid, where the engine and hybrid system work in tandem, rather than...
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Volkswagen is out testing the 7th generation Golf, as seen here in spy shots, and the new car looks like it will retain much of the current car’s styling, but get a lower, wider and more aggressive profile. For North America, expect the 2.0TDI diesel to carry over, but the base 2.5L 5-cylinder is out, to be...
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Robert Kubica, one of Formula One’s most promising young drivers, will sit out the start of the 2012 F1 season as he continues to recover from a crash that partially severed his arm. While Kubica is making a recovery, the pace is not as rapid as some had hoped for. Kubica can move his arm,...
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BMW and Toyota are in talks for a technology sharing agreement, one that would reportedly see BMW provide Toyota with a diesel engine for its midsize cars in Europe. Specific timetables and other details were not announced, but Toyota is believed to be pursuing the deal to help offset the increased cost of importing Japanese-built...
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BMWs in certain markets may be getting a “Made In China” code in their VIN numbers starting at the end of 2011, as the company plans to export Chinese made 5-Series sedans to certain markets. The Truth About Cars quotes the CEO of BMW’s Chinese operations as stating “We will find some markets, maybe in the...
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Vladimir Antonov, the Russian “businessman” who attempted to buy Saab earlier in the year, has been arrested in England over charges of involvement in a massive money laundering scheme in Lithuania. Antonov, owner of Portsmouth F.C. (a British soccer team) and his partner Raimondas Baranauskas, were released on bail and ordered to surrender their passports. Both...
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Mercedes-Benz‘s Maybach luxury brand will be axed, much to the consternation of rappers (pictured above), athletes and insipid nouveau riche types everywhere. While Mercedes had high hopes for the brand, Maybach’s sales have slumped to around 200 units annually, whereas targets called for sales of 1,000 cars per year. Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche told German...
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The North American version of the rear-wheel drive Subaru BRZ sports car will bow at the North American International Auto Show in January, 2012, but what exactly that means is anyone’s guess. No details regarding changes between the North American version and the rest of the world were announced. The car’s basic layout and 2.0L...
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Kia design boss Peter Schreyer took Automotive News reporter Ryan Beene on a tour of the Los Angeles Auto Show, outlining his favorite designs of the show floor. The big winners for Schreyer were the Range Rover Evoque (“If it wasn’t labeled a Range Rover, you’d recognize it as one”), the Porsche 911 and the...
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“Reclaimed” is one of those buzzwords that’s come along in the last year or two to described mundane things like dead wood that’s been turned into a high priced consumer good. Think of a tabletop made from “reclaimed wood” and sold at a premium in a bougie furniture store and you get the idea. French...
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Even as the Occupy movement is being disbanded around the world, one branch of the movement just had a resurgance, as Saab fans “occupied” the Facebook page of General Motors. Saab fans blame GM for holding up the sale of Saab to their potential saviors – whoever they may be (so far it’s been Russian businessmen, American...
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While automakers and outside research firms publish sales figures and earnings reports on a regular basis, one metric we rarely get a glimpse of is how profitable each vehicle is. In an era of re-badging and platform sharing, one would think that the most profitable vehicles are those with a large number of derivatives to...
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Honda announced today that they would use excess capacity at their Alabama plant following a $300 million investment in the facility. The investment will allow for a total of 340,000 units anually. Rising exchange rates are forcing Honda to devote more resources to North American production while reducing exports. Honda will shift their Acura MDX...
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Sergio Marchionne, head of Fiat, told reports that he expects combined sales of Fiat and Chrysler vehicles to hit 6 million units by 2014. Marchionne’s remarks come even in the face of declining auto sales in Europe, as well as an overall shaky economic climate. Marchionne said that he was reviewing Fiat’s 2012 European targets,...
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Tata Sons has named Cyrus Mistry as its next CEO, as current CEO Ratan Tata prepares to retire. The unmarried, childless Tata named Mistry as CEO of the holding company responsible for Tata’s numerous divisions, among them their automotive sector which owns Jaguar and Land Rover, along with the namesake Tata Motors brand. “The appointment...
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Even as General Motors readies their new Chevrolet Colorado mid-size pickup, Ford and Chrysler are hedging their bets that consumers won’t return to the floundering small truck market, and continue to opt for full-size pickups instead. General Motors has claimed that the new Colorado will do most of what a full-size truck can do with...
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Canadians should get ready to kiss the Chrysler Town and Country goodbye, as Chrysler seeks to trim its minivan lineup down to a single nameplate – but the opposite will be occurring in the United States, with the Dodge Caravan getting the axe, as the Caravan will now become the exclusive minivan sold by Chrysler...
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