If you didn’t think the Prius delivered good enough gas mileage, get ready for the Prius C, which is estimated to be able to average 53 mpg in the city and 48 mpg on the highway. Known as the Aqua in Japan and the Prius C in the United States, it appears this model will [...]
When you look under the hood of most new cars on the market today, you wouldn’t know what you’re looking at. Half the time you’re just looking at a big plastic cover that discourages you from ever wrenching on it yourself. Cars today are full of technology, sensors and computers for every possible need. The [...]
As a columnist in the past, I have taken to task Prius drivers for their allergy to speed limits, their belief that texting and driving are tasks that can be accomplished simultaneously, and that it is perfectly OK for them to violate nearly every rule of the road known to the California Department of Motor [...]
Although many will argue the Toyota Camry isn’t the epitome of automotive enthusiasm, it’s impossible to argue against its tremendous sales in the U.S. In fact, it’s been a best seller in America for 13 of the past 14 years, and Toyota has built 6.5 million of them in its Georgetown, Kentucky facility. But for [...]
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if brand new cars came in a box from the factory? As soon as you buy one, you would have to open it up, right? Apparently Toyota thought the same, so they enlisted Adam Frucci to unbox a brand new 2012 Toyota Yaris. Check out the [...]
Poor vanilla… the noun ‘vanilla’ takes on some negative connotations when it is used as an adjective. You hear this noun-adjective used quite a lot in our daily lives, ‘…plain as vanilla…’ or ‘…boring as vanilla…’, for example. But, is vanilla so bad? Vanilla is, by far, the best selling flavor ice cream, if I [...]
I guess in our business, sometimes trying to be the first ones to break a story, you tend to jump the gun a little too early. A couple of ‘obssessed’ car blogs have reported that Toyota will not be offering the 2012 Toyota Rav4 EV (electric vehicle) in the US maket for general consumption. Yesterday, [...]
There’s no doubt. Toyota Camry has been the top selling car in the US for the last 13 years out of 14. Enthusiasts and automotive journalists bash it for being boring and soft, but the ‘mainstream USA’ buy these things in droves… but I digress… The current 2011 Camry was introduced in 2006 as a [...]
It was only a few weeks ago that the joint manufacturing venture between GM and Toyota ended, and both parties pulled out of the Fremont, CA NUMMI plant. When GM announced their pull-out, the public was a bit sympathetic due to the sad state of affairs going on at GM at the time. However, when [...]
In the middle of GM’s meltdown, government bailouts, mergers and sales, there is a real battle for market share brewing. While GM slowly slid down the slope in global sales, Toyota took over the throne. Positioned right behind Toyota, Volkswagen is charging up with their fangs out. While everyone is taking a blow from the [...]
The Toyota brass, in their typical wait-and-see approach in product development, released the Toyota iQ last year in its home market. It is a Smart Car competitor, placed in a new segment called the micro-mini. The Smart ForTwo is an excellent vehicle in Japan and Europe’s densely packed city roads. So while the iQ was [...]
It looks like Hyundai is positioning its Kia brand as a Scion fighter. They’ve just introduced the Kia Soul, with the best car commercial in a long time (the cute hamsters), which is a direct challenge to the Scion xB. At the 2009 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), Kia unveiled the Forte Koup – [...]
The new hip term in the automotive industry is Crossover or CUV (Cross-over Utility Vehicle). The company that started this whole trend is Toyota with the Lexus RX300 and its sibling Highlander. The first generation RX300 was ground breaking. It had the utility of a SUV, but rode and handled like a car. It was [...]
Most of us outside of NYC, Boston, and Washington D.C. have to drive to our work and home. The daily grind that we call ‘commuting’ can be a chore or a joy depending on the automobile that we pilot. For some, the commuter might be a BMW 3-series or a Chevrolet Tahoe, but when someone [...]
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