Honda Accord Crosstour Cabriolet – Click above for high-res image
Are unconventional droptops becoming the darling of the automotive industry? is evidently paying close attention to the new from , and apparently it likes what it sees. Historically averse to convertibles (small-volume jobs like the excluded), the Japanese automaker now plans to offer a soft-top CUV of its own, and the unlikely choice for a roofectomy is the slow-selling .
Unimaginatively dubbed the Accord Crosstour Cabriolet, this convertible features a two-plus-two interior seating arrangement and unlimited headroom. Under the hood sits the familiar 3.5-liter V6 engine, which produces 271 horsepower and 254 pound-feet of torque. Like the fixed-roof Crosstour, the Cabriolet will be offered with front- and all-wheel drive, giving it more configurablility than the AWD-only Murano. Like the Nissan, the cabrio conversion has resulted in two fewer doors and the merciful exclusion of a basket-handle structural support. Oddly, to our eyes, the Crosstour Cabriolet almost looks more attractive than the hunchbacked hardtop – at least with the top down.
When it goes on sale this summer, the Honda Accord Crosstour Cabriolet will sit atop the Crosstour’s pricing structure. The had a sticker price of $36,930, so expect the convertible to come in right at a stitch over the $40K mark. That’s a bit less than the .
Corvette Racing, Sebring 2011 – Click above to view video
managed to snag third and fourth place in GT2 at the ALMS 12 Hours of Sebring, beginning a much-anticipated racing season for . Now the team has released the third installment in of the buildup to the season and Corvette Racing’s fortunes.
Sebring proved to be a tough test for Racing. The number 4 car went for a spin early on after a nudge from a Porsche, and car number 3 needed a new windshield during the night. Despite those hiccups, things went well for Corvette Racing, and the team says they’re confident going into the next round in Long Beach, California. to see the official video from this season’s race at Sebring.
2012 Audi A6 – Click above for high-res image gallery
Jeff Kuhlman, head of USA’s communications department, recently confirmed to Inside Line that the will be available with a four-cylinder engine when it goes on sale this summer. This will be the first time a U.S.-spec A6 will be offered with four-cylinder power.
The engine, Audi’s familiar (and lovely) 2.0-liter turbocharged four, will be paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission. No power numbers are available as of this writing, but Inside Line reports that the A6 2.0T should be able to hit 28 miles per gallon on the highway.
Kuhlman also tells IL that the automaker has no plans to offer the next-generation in our market. A shame, too, since the black RS4 Avant would look oh-so-good in the Autoblog Towers parking lot.
Audi is already planning to launch the in the third quarter of 2011, followed by the in the summer of 2012. Kuhlman says that Audi does not want to over-extend the RS range here in the U.S., though if we had our choice, at least a few of us would gladly scrap the RS5 in favor of the new RS4. We think.
2010 Toyota Prius – Click above for high-res image gallery
The Japan earthquake and tsunami has left the vast majority of Japanese auto plants without parts or power at least temporarily, and the good folks of California are beginning to feel the pinch. The Los Angeles Times reports that the is in very short supply in The Golden State, leading many car buyers to move up their purchases in fear of not being able to get their precious hybrid at a later date.
It’s no surprise California would feel the pinch of limited Prius inventory first, as the state is the largest market for the ultra-efficient hatch. Many dealers have less than a two week supply, while others have zero models in stock. Meanwhile, Toyota restarted the Prius plant late last week in an effort to keep the popular hybrids flowing to the U.S. and around the world. But for the short term, the automaker is running the line at about half its normal pace, and the plant was shut down on Wednesday to gauge parts availability.
Given the fact that the Prius plant is one of the only Japanese facilities even up and running right now, California dealers will likely continue to see a trickle of new models hitting their showrooms. In the short term, the Prius supply issue could actually deteriorate, with May inventories looking worse than April. Just as big a concern is the fact that other plants still haven’t begun producing vehicles, which means that the situation playing out in California with the Prius could soon affect many Japanese autos in dealerships around the world.
Ford Fiesta ST spy shots – Click above for high-res image gallery
Much like its big brother – the – ’s B-segment will get a sportier ST version in the coming years. We’ve seen of what is clearly a tuned up Fiesta out testing, complete with a front-mount intercooler, larger wheels and a performance exhaust.
Autocar now reports that when the Fiesta ST launches near the end of 2012, it will be powered by Ford’s 1.6-liter EcoBoost inline-four, cranking out somewhere around 180 horsepower. The front-drive hatch will likely use a six-speed manual transmission to send its power to the wheels, and with revised suspension geometry, beefier brakes and a host of interior upgrades likely on tap, we expect the ST to be a worthy competitor for pint-sized hot hatches like the .
Ford has confirmed that the will be sold here in the United States, but the fate of the Fiesta ST is still undecided. Naturally, consider our fingers crossed.
Ally Financial, formerly GMAC Financial, has filed the paperwork necessary for an Initial Public Offering. The Detroit News reports that the filing will go to the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval before Ally can go public; a process that could take months. The federal government, which owns 74 percent of the lending arm due to its $17.2 billion 2009 bailout, is the only party listed as a stockholder.
The next step for Ally Financial is to go on a tour to entice investors to buy into the financial firm in advance of the SEC’s decision. Ally isn’t yet close to announcing a price for the stock, nor has the government disclosed the amount of shares it plans to unload, but the DetNews reports that the fed plans to net $5.5 billion from the transaction. The government also owns $5.9 billion in convertible preferred stock.
still owns 9.9 percent of Ally Financial, but the automaker reportedly won’t participate in the sale. The General that it sold its preferred stock, though, for $1 billion.
Over the years, we’ve heard of the supposed vast riches of the United Auto Worker. When accounting for health care and legacy costs, the typical UAW floor-sweeper earns over $70 per hour. The hard truth, however, is that even the tenured line worker receives less than half that amount in their paycheck before taxes, and about 20 percent of the UAW workforce makes only $14 per hour.
After spending some time at training facility within the automaker’s Orion assembly plant, Forbes reporter Joann Muller firmly believes that those workers are worth every penny they make. Her team, which consisted of 16 auto journalists, didn’t fare so well when it came to mass-producing wooden mock-ups of vehicles.
The journalists had to drill bumpers, headlights and taillights in the wooden ‘vehicle’ frames, and in 20 minutes of work there were 22 safety violations and 25 quality defects. The scribes eventually got better at their tasks, as teamwork and diligence helped cut down on mistakes. In short, making cars isn’t all that easy, and it’s probably not journalist work, either. Head over to Forbes to read .
The Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced a partnership with 13 states to conduct surprise inspections at popular vacation destinations. The new inspections come as recent bus accidents in New York, New Jersey and Arizona provided reminders that safety regulations must be stiffened.
In 2009 alone, the FMCSA conducted over 130,000 inspections, which led to 4.3 percent of bus drivers and 7.6 percent of buses being put out of service due to safety and hours-of-service violations. These new inspections should should lead to still more violators being uncovered, which should help protect the reported 750 million passengers who utilize motorcoach transportation every year.
Beyond inspections, the FMCSA also plans to standardize testing and training of drivers. The new tests will help prevent testing fraud, while at the same time helping to better-equip new drivers to handle the responsibility of transporting large numbers of passengers. The training sessions will consist of 80 hours of instruction, including 32 hours of behind-the-wheel experience.
has released a study it conducted across Europe to determine which of its colors are most popular in each country. The results reveal that white, black and silver remain the most popular colors, edging out the company’s bolder hues.
It turns out people in Turkey choose white Fords more than any other color. Danes dig black, Swedes go for orange and blue takes the cake for people in the Czech Republic. Ford found that its popular color choices tend to buck stereotypes – the Irish choose silver more than any other shade, despite the national identity with green.
Ford’s marketing people are using the color study to determine how to stock dealerships in certain countries to move the most cars. The study also gives a glimpse into changing trends – according to Ford, earth tones like browns and coppers are making a comeback after years in the doldrums.
To see which colors are popular in which countries, .
Lightweight BMW M3 Sedan – Click above for high-res image gallery
In addition to officially debuting the M3 pickup here in Munich, BMW trotted out a lightweight version of the M3 sedan before its debut at the M Festival at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring race later this year.
BMW is mum on the exact details on this stripped-out sedan, only saying that it’s designed to slot in between the standard model and the race-ready GTS coupe. Output should remain close to the standard 420 horsepower, but the brakes, suspension and exhaust will be tweaked for maximum performance. There’s no word on how many pounds the M division stripped from the sedan, but we should have all the details when the big ‘Ring race happens this June.
BMW M3Pickup – Click above for high-res image gallery
It’s the First of April and the fun has officially begun here in Munich. has officially taken the wraps off the pickup after late last month. And as we exclusively revealed, it’s .
However, that doesn’t mean that the uteified M3 isn’t a full-fledged performer. It’s packing the same 420-horsepower 4.0-liter V8 as its sedan, coupe and convertible brethren, but despite lopping off the back, BMW discovered during wind-tunnel testing that it’s coefficient of drag is close to that of the M3 coupe. It comes complete with a with a removable targa top, weighs some 110 pounds less than its drop-top sibling and topped out at the Nurburgring at 186 mph. Pop the removal roof and the M3 pickup sheds another 44 pounds, and in keeping with every automaker’s standard measurement of trunk capacity – the golf bag – the pickup can tote 20 bags of irons. Oh, and there’s a trailer hitch to boot.
Naturally, serial production isn’t going to happen, but the M3 pickup will serve as the workshop transport vehicle for BMW’s M division. Full details in the press blast .
Gallery:
Gallery:
: 420-hp BMW M3 Pickup hauls ass, nearly 1,000 pounds
1967 Toyota 2000 GT – Click above for high-res image gallery
The 1967 2000 GT is a unique beast in that it seems above reproach by even the harshest automotive critics. 44 years after the first 2000 GT rolled out of the Toyota factory, it checks all the right boxes. It’s fast, gorgeous, insanely rare and marked a new era for its manufacturer.
Prior to the 2000 GT, Toyota was known for spitting out small, reliable, cheap sedans and four-by-fours that got the job done admirably, but lacked a little je ne sais quoi. The 2000 GT changed all that, and showed that Toyota could hang with Italian blue-bloods like almost at the flip of a switch.
Toyota wound up building just 351 2000 GTs for worldwide consumption. Just 84 of those were left-hand-drive, with only 62 making it to the States. This is one of perhaps 40 American-delivery 2000 GTs that still exist. It’s a one-owner car, bought in St. Louis, Missouri. After a long time in storage, the car got a thorough detail job, engine rebuild and interior freshening at Maine Line Exotics in Biddeford, Maine. It’s available with a stupefying $650,000 Buy-It-Now. If you have the means, we suggest you do just that.
Mystery Chevy SUV prototypes – Click above to watch the video
Crossovers have gained the lion’s share of America’s utility attention over the past few years, but the SUV is anything but dead and gone. Until gas prices began to spike, those surviving body-on-frame (br)utes were actually selling fairly well. So is kicking itself for ending Trailblazer production instead of refreshing it? New spy video from Inside Line suggests that The General may have another off-road- and tow-ready utility vehicle on the way.
The post-jump video shows a pair of mid-size SUVs that appear to be based off the , a prototype of which also makes a cameo in the video. Judging by the chunky-looking running boards and solid rear axles, these prototypes are definitely SUVs and not tall cars. The heavily camouflaged vehicles appear to be tall and very square in appearance, and the shape of the grille appears pominently despite efforts to conceal its identity. Inside Line speculates that the finished product will likely hit the world stage in the next year, with production likely for 2013, though just because these prototypes were spotted around Detroit is no guarantee that the model will find its way into U.S. showrooms.
If such a vehicle were to arrive stateside, we expect GM to improve fuel economy with small engine options and perhaps a truck version of the company’s eAssist hybrid technology. to watch the spy video for yourself. Top tip, Ed!
The entry-level luxury sedan category is chock full of viable options and the 2011 Lexus IS 250 AWD is a perfectly acceptable (if run-of-the-mill) choice. The styling is conservative, the driving dynamics are a mixed bag of sport and luxury, but the engine is better than we anticipated.
Kia will be unveiling its 2012 Rio sedan at the 2011 New York Auto Show. The four-door Rio will complement the hatchback bodystyle that bowed at the Geneva Motor Show in early March.
General Motors has released this official teaser shot of its new Malibu, showing off its new Camaro-inspired LED taillamps.
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Get ready for Marvel Comics and Paramount Pictures to rule commercial time leading up to their new Thor movie that premiers on May 6. The film, which will be followed up with Captain America later this summer, follows two Iron Man movies and the 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. Those films make up the lengthy run-up to the release of The Avengers movie next summer that will feature all the good guys on one silver screen.
Predictably, Thor will be jammed with corporate sponsors and product placements, which will lead to still more Thor commercials. Even has gotten in on the act, as the upscale brand has nabbed the roll as the vehicle of choice for the good guys at S.H.I.E.L.D., who are working hard to get all the superheros on the same team (hello, Avengers). Acura, whose corporate styling language already involves the shield-shaped front fascia that so many have complained about, were more interested in the role due to S.H.I.E.L.D’s high-tech, cutting edge reputation. The automaker will reportedly receive an amazing two minutes of air time during the movie, and Acura even allowed the bad guys to blow up some of its vehicles.
Acura no doubt paid big bucks to get all that screen time, but that’s not all it plans to do. Variety reports that Acura will push the movie in commercials, while also hosting Thor events at local dealerships that include giving away some tickets for advanced screenings. to watch the latest movie trailer. Top tip, Stewie!
is serious about food. The automaker sponsors Bravo’s popular Top Chef Masters television series, and now it’s decided to form a culinary dream team of its own. The luxury marque has announced the creation of the Lexus Culinary Masters, and its roster is filled with world-renowned restaurateurs and a couple of Iron Chef mainstays.
Making their debut team appearance at the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival will be the following celebrity chefs:
Michael Symon
Masaharu Morimoto
Daniel Boulud
Michael Ciarello
Dean Fearing
Christopher Kostow
The festival begins on April 28 and runs through May 1. As you might have guessed, Lexus is the main sponsor of the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival, and its Culinary Masters team will hold a series of tasting events over the course of the event. Of course, Lexus won’t just gather up these sharp knives for just one event – it vows to include them in “multiple initiatives, including Lexus customer appreciation programs, charitable outreach, and multimedia productions.”
A serious accident likely saved a trucker’s life Tuesday near Reading, Pennsylvania. Richard Paylor, 55, of Bucks County, was reportedly eating an apple behind the wheel of his when a piece of the fruit got lodged in his throat, causing him to choke. According to the Reading Eagle, Paylor subsequently blacked out and slumped over the steering wheel.
As the story goes, Paylor’s big rig then bounced off a guardrail and hit a concrete wall. The impact dislodged the apple from his throat and likely saved his life. Before Tuesday, Paylor had been accident-free for his entire 23-year career.
Paylor was taken to the hospital with a cut on his head and a slight fracture of one of his vertebrae, but very much alive. For his part, Paylor says he’s sorry caused a traffic jam and admits he’s glad to be alive.
James “Bubba” Stewart, Jr., two-time AMA Supercross champion, was reportedly arrested in Osceola County, Florida on Monday night on charges of impersonating a police officer. Stewart allegedly approached a car on State Road 417 in his 2008 Toyota Tundra and turned on a set of red-and-blue flashing lights. When the car pulled over, the occupants identified themselves as two off-duty Florida state troopers and an off-duty Orange County sheriff’s deputy. Oops.
With that revelation, ESPN reports that Stewart sped away from the officers, who phoned in a description of his rather distinctive-looking truck. Not long after, Stewart was pulled over near Orlando International Airport and the lights were found in his passenger’s luggage. The was impounded.
Stewart has been charged with impersonating an officer, and his friend has been charged with tampering with evidence, both felonies. Stewart and his friend both posted bail and were released on Tuesday morning.
Stewart has since apologized for the incident, saying without apparent irony that he wants to prove he’s “someone who upholds the law.”
“Enjoy The Ride” PSA – Click above to watch the video
Remember the that urged auto occupants to use their safety belts? It’s a beautiful safety ad with a very powerful message. The Road Safety Council of Western Australia must have been watching, because they’ve taken their safety message to the next level of serenity.
Beyond the jump is a three-minute ad titled “Enjoy The Ride.” The first two minutes of the video explain how important it is to slow down in every day life. If you don’t, the PSA explains, you’re on the fast track to early aging, heart disease and even erectile dysfunction. You wouldn’t know this is an auto safety spot until the last minute of the PSA, when the real message reveals itself. Slow down and enjoy the ride. to view the video – just be prepared to breath a little deeper… you may want to join yoga after this. Hat tip to Chris!
has announced it will resume production at its Japanese plants effective April 11. Though the factories are ready to be up and running at full capacity again, Honda is keeping production levels at 50 percent due to a shaky parts supply.
The company says production at its U.S. facilities will have to slow in the coming weeks because of this parts issue. The reductions at American plants are scheduled to last until April 15, but may go on longer depending on when supplies come back on line. Honda says it’s working with suppliers who haven’t resumed production and is seeking new sources of critical parts in hopes of resuming full production soon.
Honda’s UK factory is yet to see slowdowns as a result of the earthquake in Japan, but it will likely face cutbacks if things don’t turn around soon.
Ally Financial, formerly GMAC Financial, has filed the paperwork necessary for an Initial Public Offering. The Detroit News reports that the filing will go to the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval before Ally can go public; a process that could take months. The federal government, which owns 74 percent of the lending arm due to its $17.2 billion 2009 bailout, is the only party listed as a stockholder.
