The Crank: Which are “dumber”?: Newly Americanized VWs, or the people buying them…

By John LeBlanc Recently, over at Automotive News, my colleague Diana T. Kurylko, asked the question that fans of inexpensive German wheels have been pondering for some time now: Is Volkswagen of America cheapening its cars to boost volume at the cost of its German engineering image? Based on the evidence, the answer is a […]

The Crank: Would Spain’s Seat fly in Canada?

By John LeBlanc FRANKFURT, Germany – Station wagons, manual transmissions, rear-wheel-drive and diesels—it’s the burden of many an automotive scribe—including yours truly—to bemoan of the lack of availability of all or any of the above in the Canadian new car market. And now after a day spent on Germany’s autobahn, west of Frankfurt and zipping […]

The Crank: Are car enthusiasts ready for sportier Kias?

By John LeBlanc Fresh from its debut at this month’s Geneva show, Kia officials are already hinting that a hot hatch version of the Korean automaker’s new 2012 Rio subcompact, seen left, is being seriously considered.

The Crank: Will upcoming 2012 Honda Civic retain its sales crown?

[svgallery name=”2012_Honda_Civic_PR”] By John LeBlanc Without a doubt, the compact Civic sedan is the most important model in Honda Canada’s lineup. Despite a drop in sales of 8.2 per cent in 2010 compared to 2009, and an extension of its usual four-year model changeover to an extra-long six years, the Civic was still the best […]

First Drive: 2012 Ford Focus

Fab Ford Ford’s new Focus flies to the top of the compact class By John LeBlanc MALIBU, California – As a follow up to its return to the subcompact market with the Fiesta, Ford is getting ready to release a second sampling from its European Greatest Hits album. Like the Fiesta, the all-new 2012 Focus […]

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