The Crank: Kia’s naming conundrum

[svgallery name=”2010_Kia_Seoul_preview”] By John LeBlanc On a recent trip to Hyundai-Kia Motors world headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, attending media had some time to chat with Kia head pen, Peter Schreyer. While the discussions centred around the brand’s’s new European-influenced (Schreyer is a former Audi designer) styling, inevitably, the topic turned to all the automaker’s […]

Top 10s: Dollar-per-Horsepower Bargains

[svgallery name=”Top_10_Perf_Bang_Buck”] By John LeBlanc Forget what your Granddad told you about the 1960s, right now is the Golden Age of cheap horsepower. A bad economy and a generation of drivers addicted to gobs of horsepower have created a near perfect storm for performance car junkies on a budget. But which new cars today offer […]

The Crank: Toyota needs to lighten up

By John LeBlanc Like a ketchup stain you can’t get out of your favourite shirt, Toyota’s woes caused by this year’s recall crisis just won’t go away. Last week, company head cheese, Akia Toyoda, kept on laying on the apologies at a shareholders meeting.

Road Test: 2010 Toyota Tacoma 4×4 Double Cab V6 TRD Sport

[svgallery name=”2010_Toyota_Tacoma_pics”] Not-so-tiny truck Is Toyota’s so-called midsize Tacoma all the truck you really need? By John LeBlanc Despite the politically correct movement to small, fuel-efficient cars, gas-guzzling full-size pickups still make up a large portion of new car sales in North America. And it’s not just our friends south of the border who like […]

The Crank: Mazda’s Nagare, no more

By John LeBlanc Well, so much for that. After four years of teasing us with concept after concept, highlighted by the Furai concept (below, left) from the 2008 Detroit show, it looks like Mazda is canning its much bally-hooed Nagare design language.

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