First Drive: 2011 Ford Explorer

Exploring new worlds In the search for fuel economy, Ford’s iconic Explorer evolves from SUV to crossover By John LeBlanc SAN DIEGO, Calif. – You would be forgiven if you thought Ford’s decision to move its Explorer to a car-like unibody chassis after riding for a quarter-century on a body-on-frame truck-style chassis is late. After […]

The Crank: Despite the awards, Chevy’s Volt hasn’t won anything yet

By John LeBlanc Without much effort, General Motors media materials will tell you that its new Chevrolet Volt gasoline-electric plug-in-hybrid is a “winner”. In fact, at this year’s Detroit auto show, the Volt was named 2011 North American Car of the Year, and before that, various American pubs (Automobile Magazine’s 2011 Automobile of the Year; […]

Preview: 2011 Chevrolet Volt

It’s alive! After an over four year wait, General Motors’ electrification of the car is finally driveable By John LeBlanc DETROIT—At the 2006 Los Angeles auto show, in a windowless and locked conference room, General Motors gathered a few select journalists. They had some big news for the upcoming Detroit auto show in January. And […]

The Crank: This year’s most important auto show won’t happen in Detroit or Frankfurt

By John LeBlanc The highlights on my annual business calendar are the “big” car shows. Call me a geek. But for me at least, there’s nothing more exciting than to dive into these auto orgies, whether its Detroit in the winter, Geneva, New York, or China in the spring or, Paris, Tokyo, Frankfurt or Los […]

The Crank: Is Saab Chairman’s optimism surreal or substantiated?

By John LeBlanc As the cofounder of the perennially money-losing Dutch supercar operation Spyker, Saab Chairman Victor Muller fundamentally has to be an optimistic guy. Yet as he makes the rounds in the next few weeks drumming up customer interest in the new 9-4X crossover, left, and evaluating investor intentions to see whether or not […]

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