The Crank: After its annus horribilis, Toyota Canada perseveres

By John LeBlanc Making lemonade from lemons. That seems to be the mantra around Toyota Canada these days. After what is admittedly a less than successful 2010, I recently had the chance to sit down with Toyota Canada’s head man, managing director Stephen Beatty, to get his straight reactions to some of the issues brewing […]

2010 in Review: Most Boring New Car I Drove

By John LeBlanc Toyota can blame all they want its current recall crisis for its poor sales performance (down 20.5 per cent in Canada this year in a market that’s up 13.6 per cent). But stodgy product, like the “new” 2011 Avalon sedan I drove this summer, is also at the top of the list […]

Feature: Aston Martin Performance Driving Academy

Story by John LeBlanc/Photos by Aaron Kiley. ROMEO, Michigan – Exclusivity is part and parcel when you enter the realm of Aston Martin. Even in its best sales year ever, 2007, the British automaker only rolled out about 7,000 hand-made sports and grand touring coupés. To put that in perspective, Porsche sells about 1.2 million […]

The Crank: Mustang vs. Camaro winner depends on which side of the Canada-U.S. border

By John LeBlanc The bleating from General Motors’ U.S. PR flacks about the Camaro beating its archrival Mustang on the sales charts, can be heard all the way north of the 49th parallel. So far in 2010 in the U.S., Chevy has sold 75,685 Oshawa-built Camaros, 7,421 more than its bitter, pony car archrival, Ford’s […]

Road Test: 2010 Toyota Yaris Hatchback RS

[svgallery name=”2010_Toyota_Yaris_RS”] Yaris cries “Uncle!” Toyota’s subcompact quickly losing ground in competitive class By John LeBlanc In a subcompact segment that’s already crowded and is set to get even more so in the near future, Toyota’s 2010 Yaris is starting to feel its age. This year alone will see more sophisticated rivals like the new […]

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