The Trouble with Toyotas: Silver lining found in latest round of recalls

By John LeBlanc Ho-hum. Another week, another batch of troubles with Toyotas found. I don’t know about you, but I’m becoming a bit desensitized to all these Toyota recalls. This week its stalling engines. The week before that, it was post-crash-test fuel spillage issues. Previoulsy, it was luxury sedans that couldn’t steer straight. And before […]

The Crank: Will ‘Benz GLC answer a question no one is asking?

By John LeBlanc At the same time U.S. Automobile magazine’s Jamie Kitman accurately points the finger at German automakers for the demise of the more enjoyable to drive and environmentally-friendly station wagon in North America, word out of Germany suggests Mercedes-Benz is copycatting BMW again in the never-ending game called Fill That SUV Niche!

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 […]

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.

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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