To celebrate the 900,000th Mazda MX-5 sold (as well as the 20th anniversary of Mazda’s most famous product), the company is introducing a Special Edition model for the North American market, set to debut at the Chicago Auto Show on Wednesday. Based on the Grand Touring trim level, chrome accents adorn the interior, as well...
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The 2012 Infiniti M35h Hybrid, the brand’s first hybrid vehicle, has been rated at 27 mpg in the city and 29 mpg highway, while returning 350 horsepower from its V6 engine. With a net rating of 360 horsepower when the hybrid system is taken into account, the M35h should offer a good blend of power...
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An estimated 14,000 taxpayers claimed $37 million in tax credits meant for buyers of plug-in or electric vehicles, while attempting to pass of vehicles like the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Camaro and “golf cart” as worthy of the credit. Among the most ignominous offenders were 88 prisoners and IRS employees who attempted to claim the credits....
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Forget the Hummer, the Chevrolet Suburban or the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor. The Toyota Land Cruiser is bar none the off-roader. Whether it’s serving UN peacekeepers in far-flung conflict zones, traversing the Australian Outback or ferrying American kids to grade school, the Land Cruiser has done it all, and we salute its six decades of...
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The best-selling car in Japan is about to change as government subsidies on hybrid cars has lead to a drop off in sales of the Toyota Prius. Analysts expect the Honda Fit to take the top spot. Prius sales began to dip in September after the government subsidy program ended, but Fit sales remained strong, buttressed by the introduction...
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The Aston Martin Cygnet, the British luxury brand’s take on the Toyota iQ, is almost ready to go on sale, and the ultra-lux city car will start £30,995, or about $50,000 USD. Using the 1.3L Toyota engine and a 6-speed manual or CVT gearbox, the iQ’s 11 second 0-60 sprint is decidedly not Aston-like in...
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Mitsubishi‘s American plant will transition from making less-than-thrilling cars like the Eclipse and Endeavor SUV to producing vehicles for the global market. The transition will occur in 2014 as part of its new business plan. The vehicles will share a common platform with the Lancer compact car and Outlander crossover. Along with the Eclipse and...
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Honda‘s previous Civic launches have seen the base models get the star-treatment right out of the gate, with performance and eco variants following later on. But this time will be different, as Honda plans to launch the regular Civic, Civic Si, Civic Hybrid and a natural gas powered Civic within weeks of each other. The...
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Nissan‘s Cube has had a lukewarm reception outside its home market of Japan, and sales have been so poor in Europe that Nissan has decided to axe the vehicle entirely. Nissan is citing exchange rate issues between the yen and the euro as the underlying cause, but the dismal sales are likely an equal culprit...
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The United Auto Workers continued its campaign of irrelevancy as its President, Bob King, launched a series of veiled threats at foreign automakers with American plants (such as the Honda plant seen above), while simultaneously stating that the very survival of the UAW is at stake – and the organization of a foreign automaker’s plant is the...
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The Mitsubishi Colt is one of the oldest nameplates in the compact car market, having been sold across the globe in fairly substantial numbers. While North Americans missed out on the previous incarnation, the Colt was well regarded as a practical and inexpensive subcompact that was also a competent driver’s car. For the next generation...
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Images leaked on the internet purport to show a new version of the Honda Jazz (sold as the Fit in our markets) that looks somewhat like a stretched-in-all-directions version of the current car. The tall-wagon/”people-mover” segment is a major one in much of the world, and the new car, which may be sold as the...
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While prototype units of the Lexus LF-A have been in production for over a year, the first units destined for retail customers began rolling off the line at the company’s facility in Toyota City, Japan. With 15,000 parts assembled largely by hand, an LF-A requires 170 people to be produced. Every step of the assembly...
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Honda is recalling 2,277 Accord and CR-V models due to a wiring defect that may have occurred during the vehicle’s assembly. An electrical coupling that was possibly damaged during the engine installation process could lead to the vehicle stalling. While no incidents have been reported, Honda is keen to fix the defect, which only affects 2010 model...
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‘ The Mazda5 may be about to get overshadowed by the Ford C-Max, but that doesn’t mean Mazda’s engineers can’t have fun with their venerable but well regarded compact van. Designers at Mazda’s Irvine, California studio were given free reign to design their dream Mazda5, and the vehicle above was the end result. Lowering springs...
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Honda has a history of releasing “concepts” of their newest products that are barely disguised versions of what they’ll be selling to the public, and the Honda Civic Concept is no different. Both sedan and coupe concepts resemble the current car quite strongly, but the styling is more aggressive, with swoopy lines and big 19″...
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Ford‘s F-Series truck is America’s best selling vehicle for the 34th straight year, moving an astounding 528, 349 units, up nearly 28 percent from 2009. In second place was the Chevrolet Silverado, which moved a relatively paltry 370,135 trucks, but saw a 17 percent jump in sales. The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord duked it...
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Tesla‘s Model S Sedan will be profitable for the company, even at lower volumes thanks to its cheaper batteries. While Tesla says it only needs 20,000 vehicles a year to make money, whereas competitors like Nissan need to move 500,000 units annually to amortize the R&D costs of their EV systems. Tesla’s battery systems are...
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Few people pay attention to minivans, but an interesting sales war is heating up, with what could be Chrysler’s first major sales victory in their post-bailout era. Chrysler‘s Town & Country minivan, which just underwent a pretty substantial refresh, is the leading minivan according to sales data, moving 102,495 units through November. The perennial leader,...
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While the Honda CR-Z has had only a tepid reception in North America, its home market of Japan seems to be taking well to the controversial hybrid sports car. Hybrids have always been a hit in Japan, and the nation’s automotive journalists recently awarded the CR-Z the title of “Car of the Year”. To celebrate...
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Analysts at Goldman Sachs’ Japanese arm have a dim forecast for Toyota, projecting an operating loss through the 2013 fiscal year, with Goldman predicting continued sales downturns in the United States, Europe and Japan, which comprise Toyota’s three biggest markets. Toyota sales, hammered hard by recalls earlier in 2010, are not projected to keep pace...
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143,8003 Honda Fit hatchbacks from the model years 2007 and 2008 are being recalled in North America due to a defect that could cause the low beam headlights to stop working. Plating on the vehicle’s headlight connector has been identified as the culprit, with the automaker stating that it “can become warn after repeated use...
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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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If you’ve ever taken an auto shop class, you’ll remember the shop cars as being anything but desirable. K-Cars, T-Body GM’s and Ford Panthers involved drug related homicides often littered the garage area, while a crusty old teacher instructed you on the finer points of rebuilding a 3-speed automatic transmission. For some lucky kids in Orange County,...
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