The Crank: Is Toyota’s luxury hybrid strategy a flop?

By John LeBlanc When Lexus launched its HS 250h last year, I was a bit befuddled. Why parent Toyota went to the trouble of stuffing the hybrid Prius’s drivetrain into the chassis of the European Toyota Avensis compact sedan (which less rear legroom than a Corolla), style it like a Lexus RX SUV, and price […]

The Crank: April’s showers could mean Fall flowers for new car buyers

By John LeBlanc April’s Canadian new car sales numbers came in this week. And as is the continuing trend, new car customers are dividing up the automakers into roughly three groups: the Haves, the Have-nots and those Treading Water.

Comparo: BMW Z4 sDrive35i vs. M Roadster

[svgallery name=”2009_BMW_Z4_hirez”] Old versus new How does the hottest third-gen Z4 compare against the hottest second-gen BMW roadster By John LeBlanc When the second-generation 2009 BMW Z4 Roadster had its coming out party at last January’s Detroit auto show, the usual superlatives flew from most seasoned observers on hand. What was there not to like? […]

The Crank: New Nissan EV’s Canadian availability dependent on government incentives

By John LeBlanc If you haven’t heard, Nissan’s new Leaf electric vehicle is becoming a big deal. The five-passenger car will be the first fully electric car launched by a major automaker and could become a future collectible. It is designed to provide a 160 km range on a full charge. And it looks like […]

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