The Crank: Are Saab’s new caretakers at Spyker in trouble? Again?

By John LeBlanc As we wait to hear about the supposed 20-or-so Canadian dealers who are ready, willing, and able to start selling and servicing Saabs again, it looks like the Swedish automaker’s new parents at Dutch super car maker Spyker are continuing right where former owner Government Motors left off: losing money.

2010 Beijing: The land where Saabs go to retire

By John LeBlanc BEIJING – It’s the first of two media days here at Auto China 2010. And while trolling the massive halls of the China International Exhibition Center, about an hour’s drive outside of China’s capital city, I stumbled across the ghosts of Saab past.

Top 10: Worst SUV Wannabes

[svgallery name=”Top_10_SUV_Wannabes”] By John LeBlanc What with today’s small car craze, it’s hard to believe that at one point in the late 1990s, sports-utility-vehicles roamed the North America byways like herds of 18th century bison. Large, ill-handling and gas-guzzling contraptions like the Ford Explorer, Chevrolet Tahoe and Jeep Grand Cherokee were some of the top-selling […]

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 […]

Top 10s: Of all the (used) cars I’ve loved, before…

[svgallery name=”LeBlanc_used”] By John LeBlanc Back in the days when I was slogging it out in the design and advertising business, a new set of wheels wasn’t just in the cards. Looking back at some of those pre-loved rides, let’s just say I had some eclectic choices. Some good. Some bad. When it comes to […]

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