Chrysler set its Mopar division on the Fiat 500 for the 2011 Detroit Auto Show and the Italian runabout emerged with a matte black makeover and a number of other upgrades. Double blue stripes stand out sharply against the black paint while chrome accents provide some added flair. Other accessories include gloss black wheels, a...
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You may have never heard of Guangzhou, China, but with nearly 12 million people, the industrial metropolis is a major player in the Chinese auto market. Making its debut at the show is one of China’s most anticipated new cars, the MG3 hatchback and MG6 sedan. Although Chinese cars are a laughing stock in much...
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After 71 years of acting as Ford’s middle child, the final nail in the Mercury coffin was pounded in, as dealers removed all remnants of Mercury logos and signs from their dealerships, marking the end of the brand’s existence once and for all. Mercury vehicles ended production in October, although a final order for government...
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When most people think about Saudi Arabia, they think about a country that produces 10-million barrels of crude oil every day, a country where temperatures in the summer can reach over 130-degrees, and a country where the Sheikhs live in mansions bigger than some high-end resorts. While there is a huge car culture there, with...
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The importance of the Chinese market for car companies is growing at an astounding rate. Hoping to capitalize on this growth, Honda has launched a new sub-compact car at the 2010 China International Automobile Exhibition. The new model is called the S1 and is launched under the Chinese market only brand of Li Nian, a...
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Brazil has become a very important market for car companies. It is now the fourth-largest car consuming market in the world, and one of its most popular segments is car-based pick-up trucks. These vehicles make-up about 7 percent of the market in Brazil. Fiat, which is the largest volume brand there, is now going to...
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If you are the owner of an Apple iPhone and a Ford vehicle equipped with the SYNC system, you may have noticed that your phone and your car don’t like talking to each other. That’s probably due to the fact that the SYNC system was developed by Microsoft, and since Bill Gates is not exactly...
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There was a time when Hyundai was a back-marker among car companies, and not very highly respected among buyers. Those days are well behind them now as they keep posting record sales year after year. 2010 will go down as an exceptional year for this South Korean manufacturer, as it sold over 200,000 units of...
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To say Suzuki is struggling a bit in North America is an under statement. After posting record sales of 101,884 units in 2007, their sales took a drastic turn for the worse in 2009 when they shifted just 38,689 vehicles. 2010 is not looking good either as sales are again down by a lethal 42%....
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Several spy photos have already given us a good idea of what the next-generation Hyundai Accent will look like, but we now have the first look at the hatchback model. Unveiled at the Guangzhou auto show in China, the Accent will be sold as the Verna overseas. In China two engines will be offered including...
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Toyota has officially taken the wraps off its new Japanese Vitz model, sold here as the Yaris. That might not at first be obvious, as the sub-compact has received quite the makeover, with an edgier design. It might not get your heart racing, but it won’t send you into a coma where you’ll dream about...
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After the Second World War, BMW produced a city car that was cheap and compact, and it was called the Isetta. Since then the company has gone onto create bigger and better machines, but it seems that BMW wants to go back into the city car business. For the past year, rumors have been circulating...
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Lotus, a company best known for producing great sports cars like the Elise and the iconic Esprit, is about to head into a whole new direction. While it will continue building sports cars, Lotus CEO Dany Bahar has announced that in October, 2013 the company will produce its City Car, which was shown as a...
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n the Civic’s case, it drops from a four-star overall rating in 2010, to three, largely due to a side impact test where it earned just two stars. Other small cars fared about the same or even worse.
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Nissan has unveiled the design of its new global compact sedan at the China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition. Going by the name Sunny in China, it will be badged as the Versa in North America. Historically, the Sentra and the Sunny were the same vehicle, but that began to change two model year’s ago when...
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Nissan is keen to maintain the Versa’s appeal as a value driven small car, as a result, the base sedan with a five-speed manual gearbox has a MSRP of $9,990 which is unchanged from last year.
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BYD, the Chinese automaker backed by American investment magnate Warren Buffet, has delayed plans to bring their B6 electric car to America to better engineer the car for American tastes. The Wall Street Journal, having spoken to a BYD representative, claims that, “the holdup was caused by BYD’s efforts to make the car roomier, especially...
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Hot on the heels of Mitsubishi’s joint venture announcement with Nissan comes word that the Japanese conglomerate is developing all of their future products with the ability to use hybrid or electric drive technology. Mitsubishi’s German spokesman, Helmut Bauer, would only give a cryptic statement to a German magazine, claiming that “Every new car we...
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Finalists for the North American Car and Truck of the Year have been announced, with Chrysler dominating the truck field, and electric vehicles comprising 2/3rds of the car category. The Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee, both built on the same platform, were nominated in the truck category, as well as the re-designed Ford Explorer....
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The 1999 and 2000 Honda Civic Si (known as the SiR in Canada) have been named as Canada’s most stolen cars, with the 2000 model taking the top spot, and the 1999 following it. Previous years have seen the Subaru Impreza WRX, Acura Integra GSR and Integra Type R claim the title, but the Civic...
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Volkswagen is recalling 380,000 Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Golf, Rabbit and New Beetle models made between 2007 and 2009 due to a possible fire risk. In a statement released by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, the government body stated that “The Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Golf and Rabbit vehicles may have a small plastic tab...
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The Honda Fit and Mazda 2 will headline a new racing class, known as B-Spec, that’s been designed as a new showroom stock racing series. The rule set is expected to be finalized within the next 60 days, and both the SCCA and NASA sanctioning bodies have expressed interested in adopting the class. Using OEM...
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Hyundai is celebrating its first ever year in which it sold 500,000 vehicles, with the Sonata leading the charge, moving over 183,000 units. The Elantra and Santa Fe were second and third, respectively. The company’s previous record was 467,009 units in 2007, but Hyundai expects to sell about 537,000 units this year. The record year...
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Honda will unveil a concept of the upcoming 9th generation Civic at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. The updated Civic will go on sale this spring, but Honda will be showing the car at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) and via a live webcast on January 10, 2011. Rumors have suggested a 1.5-liter...
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