Top 10s: New Hot Hatches

[svgallery name=”Top 10 Hot Hatches”] By John LeBlanc Driving enthusiasts are well aware of the Hot Hatch Formula. Made popular during the first Oil Crisis in the early 1970s, which saw the neutering of the American muscle car and the near-extinction of the V8 engine, the idea of adding a bit of performance to a […]

Road Trip: 2010 Fiat 500 1.4 Sport

[svgallery name=”2010_Fiat_500_road_trip_pics”] Driving la dolce vita Touring Tuscany in the Canadian-bound Fiat Cinquecento Story and photos by John LeBlanc SIENNA, Italy – Zipping by the vineyards that cover central Italy’s Chianti Hills like designer shag carpet, our Fiat 500’s tach freely swinging to its redline, we’re trying to coax the most from the small, Italian […]

2010 Beijing: Is Fiat missing the boat in China?

[svgallery name=”09_Fiat_500″] By John LeBlanc One Western automaker that was noticeably absent from this year’s Beijing auto show was Chrysler’s new caretakers over at Fiat. This is the third time Fiat has skipped a major Chinese auto show, after taking a pass from the Shanghai show last April and the Guangzhou show in November. And […]

Can Chrysler count on Canadians buying Fiats?

By John LeBlanc Can Chrysler count on Canadians buying Fiats?Canadians love small cars. And Chrysler Canada knows this. While compact cars made up for more than half of all vehicles sold here last year, outside of our borders, the majority of the automaker’s sales are generated from minivans and pickups. Which is why Chrysler Canada […]

Crystal Ball: The Future is Small

By John LeBlanc Eventually, historians will write that the past decade was one of the most tumultuous and significant eras in the auto industry—the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; the roller-coaster of fuel prices; the public’s growing environmental and road safety awareness; the rise of the Chinese automakers; the fall of the Detroit Big […]

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