2010 Nissan Cube Gets Voyeurcam Reveal
Nov 18, 2008
We're supposed to see the official version of the 2010 Nissan Cube when it's unveiled at Nissan's press conference tomorrow, but one of our Car Lounge readers has come across pictures of a whole slew of JDM-spec Cubes in transit. The Cube retains its slightly bulbous, slightly mad asymmetric styling, although sources say we should expect to see the wraparound window, as well as the door hinge, on the other side of the Cube's rump for countries that drive on the rightproper side of the road. Check out the full smattering of pictures in our forums!
Ford Sells $540M Worth of Mazda Stock
Nov 18, 2008
Okay, so it's not as severe as GM's shuttering of escalators in the RenCen to save money or eliminating voice mail for its low-level staffers so it doesn't have to pay the phone company as much, but Ford knows how to pinch pennies in a crunch. The company has just announced the sale of 20 percent — or $540 million — of its shares in Mazda. $186 million of that is a direct stock repurchase by Mazda itself, while the remainder is made up of Mazda's "strategic business partners" — Sumitomo, Itochu and five insurance companies.
While Ford will remain Mazda's largest shareholder, and the Mazda will still have access to Ford's global technology, powertrains, and chassis subsystems, were glad to see Mazda move away from American ownership and its retreat to the waiting arms of the keiretsu where it properly belongs.
L.A. 2008: 2010 Ford Mustang
Nov 18, 2008
Little-known fact: The Plymouth Barracuda beat the Mustang to market by six weeks. Not that it mattered, because the Mustang would go on to sell nearly a quarter of a million units in 1964, while the Barracuda would simply be mocked for its fastback Valiant styling.
Ever since, though, the Mustang has been a cultural touchstone for Americans — from the horrible less-is-more bathos of the Mustang II to the 1980s excesses of Vanilla Ice and his "five-point-oh" (New Kids on the Block drove a Camaro, and look where it got both of them), to Steve McQueen outrunning an evil black Charger along the streets of San Francisco. The Mustang even had the distinction of inspiring its future designer, when a white Mach 1 displayed in Vietnam to boost troops' morale had the unintentional side effect of igniting the lust of a young Hau Thai-Tang, who would go on to become the Vehicle Engineering Manager for the current Mustang.
So for 2010, Ford had a lot of heritage to live off of, and a lot of promise that had to be delivered. Did they get it right? Check out the changes for the new Mustang after the jump.
Audi Introduces Extended A4 in China
Nov 17, 2008
The wholly inappropriate question is one we must nonetheless ask: The average height of a woman in China is five feet two inches, and the average man is five foot six. There's a demand for a car with more rear legroom? Starting in January, Audi's assembly plant in Changchun, China, will crank out a long-wheelbase version of the A4 sedan. With an extra 2.36 inches of rear stretch, the A4L is said to be the first long-wheelbase B-segment car for sale in the People's Republic. (Volkswagen already sells a long-wheelbase Passat, but evidently that's not luxe enough to qualify.)
The rest of the car is standard-fare Audi, with a 180-horsepower turbo four or a 265-horsepower 3.2-liter V-6. Like most cars in China, the A4L's suspension has been softened to cope with Chinese roads.
GM Selling Stake in Suzuki, Sticks Finger in Dike
Nov 17, 2008
Back in the early '80s, every American automaker was hitching up with a Japanese automaker. Ford hooked up with Mazda, Chrysler was tied at the hip to Mitsubishi, and GM found itself in bed with Suzuki. The fruits of some of those deals — the '91 Ford Escort rode atop a Mazda Protege chassis, as an example, or the Talon, Eclipse, and Laser — proved hugely successful for the parent companies. Then there was Suzuki, which gave GM the three-cylinder Chevy Sprint, the Pontiac Firefly, and the Geo Tracker. In exchange, Suzuki got to flesh its lineup in the U.S. out with all manner of Daewoo-built GMDAT clones, like the class-trailing Forenza and Reno.
Some people might miss those cars if they were to go away, but there wasn't a wet eye in the house this morning on the announcement that Suzuki was repurchasing GM's 3% stake in itself for $230 million. On paper, it makes sense — GM gets to raise extra cash in exchange for unloading a business venture of dubious value. But, at GM's current omnivorous burn rate, that $230 mil is going to keep the lights on for only another three days.
Toyota, Subaru Caught Experimenting With DEX
Nov 14, 2008
When Toyota purchased its first stake in Subaru in 2005, it bought 8.7 percent of the company. The tie-up allowed Toyota to utilize assets like Subaru's assembly plant in Lafayette, Indiana, and gave them access to Subaru's product planning. Evidently, Toyota liked what they saw, because back in June the giant bought an addition 61 million shares of Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries.
With 16.5 percent of Fuji in its pocket, Toyota's started hunting for more strategic alliances with Subaru, and the first of those is the Subaru DEX shown above. Based on the JDM-only Toyota bB, which shares a lineage with our first-generation Scion xB and the current Toyota Yaris, the DEX features the a Toyota 1.3-liter K3-VE transversely-mounted inline four, and will be available — since it's a "Subaru", after all — with all-wheel drive. Subiesport tells us that there will also be a swankier "1.3i S" model that also includes a bodykit and a three-spoke MOMO steering wheel. Prices start at $15,000 in Japan, which — and we're sure Eliot Spitzer will agree here — ain't a whole lotta cheddar for a really nice box. There's a range of pictures available in our forums.
Sirius XM Launches New Channel Lineups
Nov 14, 2008
The government gave the newly-merged Sirius XM Radio its blessing on July 29th, but it's taken until the night of November 12th for the companies to merge their lineups. XM is touting 22 new stations in its lineup while closing down fifteen others, and Sirius says they've added 11 new stations while sending 10 existing ones packing.
If there's an upshot to this, it's the two services seem to have merged their satellite networks. KickingTires reports getting reception in areas that were previous black holes for Sirius, such as in the bowels of their 11-floor parking garage. Why the difference? Sirius has only three satellites in orbit, which make an elliptical path (known as a "tundra" orbit) over North America. XM has four in geostationary orbit, hovering somewhere over the equator. This meant Sirius could get away with fewer ground-based signal repeaters, but it also meant that Sirius signals could wink out at the darnedest of times. Whatever. We're just pissed that we lost both Fred and Lucy in this deal.
Nissan 370Z Out Roaming Again, This Time With Red Paint
Nov 14, 2008
We've seen the official photos, but they've left a bit to the imagination. As have the first few real world shots of the 370Z. But this set from GTR-World are a tell-all tale of the 370Z's outer appearance. Like how the body lines through the hood carry through to the roof, or how there's a fog/reverse light (or trailer hitch?!) center-mounted below the license plate. And wow, are those ever some stout crossbars under the hood and behind the seats. Also, look close and you'll see that a covered compartment replaces the in-dash navigation in standard form. See more at GTR-world.net or talk about it in our forums.
(Source: Autoblog)
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MotiveMag.com is an independent media publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any automobile manufacturer.