Ever wonder if Mini would eventually run out of ways to repackage the basic look and attributes of the Mini? Apparently, the folks at Mini haven’t stopped thinking of new ideas to fill out the lineup. Making its world premier at the Detroit Auto Show, the Mini Roadster essentially chops off the top of the … Continue Reading →
Admitting that 2011 was a year best forgotten for Acura, Jeff Conrad, vice president of sales for the Honda luxury division revealed three new models aimed at reviving the company’s fortunes. Coming to market this spring will be an all new entry-level luxury sedan called the ILX along with a new version of the existing … Continue Reading →
Lexus took the wraps off a new 2+2 coupe hybrid concept car – the LF-LC – which will set styling standards for the luxury subsidiary of Japan’s Toyota in coming years. Mark Templin, general manager of U.S. Lexus, said the LF-LC would help set the pace for Lexus’s third phase. The first phase was the … Continue Reading →
Many buyers may still associate the Hyundai brand name with affordable, if uninspiring, econoboxes, but the Korean carmaker is out to create a very different image with the two aggressive new offerings it has brought to this year’s North American International Auto Show. Both target the small but high-profile coupe market, one taking aim at … Continue Reading →
Lined up with 27 other supercars at the Gallery exotic car exhibit in the MGM Grand on Sunday was McLaren’s MP4-12C, complete with a window sticker listing its price at $296,175. Other cars in the collection did not bother with price labels given the fact that most of the invited guests were multi-millionaires and unlikely … Continue Reading →
“I like this blue collar town,” said Wolfgang Puck, the famous restaurateur as he previewed a luxury car collection at the Detroit MGM Grand on Sunday. “The unions, politicians and management finally got together and realized they needed to make new product a priority,” said Puck, whose many restaurants across the US include one in … Continue Reading →
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, in Detroit for the North American International Auto Show, taped a segment with me for Am I Right this morning and said he isn’t worried that tough new fuel economy mandates will limit consumer choices. LaHood said Detroit “has the best engineers in the world” and would be able to meet … Continue Reading →
General Motors Co.’s said today it is focused on wooing younger buyers who will make up an increasingly important part of the auto buying public — introducing two low-cost — but upscale — concept cars aimed at winning new buyers. “The young market is everything,” GM North America President Mark Reuss, noting the huge pool of 80 million young … Continue Reading →
Sitting next to a Ferrari 458 Italia at the exclusive MGM Grand Gallery exhibition for luxury car buyers was the newest entry into the exotic car arena, the $225,000 Falcon F7 made right here in Michigan. Built in Holly entirely of carbon fiber and powered by a GM LS7 V-8 with 620 hp, the Falcon … Continue Reading →
Audi North American chief Johan de Nysschen said Audi plans to build a plant in North America by 2015 — but hasn’t decided when. “As our business in the U.S. is growing now, it becomes strategically ever more important to begin to find a way of natural currency hedging,” de Nysschen said on the sidelines … Continue Reading →