For the longest time, the Ford Crown Victoria has been a criminal’s worst nightmare, not because the car has some sort of crime repellent, but because it is, by far, the most used police cruiser in North America.
But now, word has it that Ford is ready to retire the Crown Victoria in favor of a newer – albeit less intimidating – line of cruisers: the new Taurus.
It has to be mentioned that the Crown Victoria has been synonymous with police cars as much as hamburger and fries. But the model has been used for well over 30 years now so it seems that the model is fit and ready for the retirement home.
With the new Taurus, police officers will be getting behind the wheel of a car that isn’t as powerful as the Crown Victoria. But it’s not a pushover either. The car comes with a set of V6 powertrains, and combined with the Taurus’ reputation for being toughness and efficiency, makes it a formidable adversary for law breaking citizens across North America.
Leaving behind a legacy that saw it being used by over 85 percent of the 75,000 police cruisers being every year, the Crown Victoria rides off into the sunset to leave the criminal-chasing duties to the new Ford Taurus.
Concept cars are supposed to be premium examples of what a car brands future would look like so you’d probably expect that these manufacturers woulsd treat them with a little more respect. With Suzuki, that apparently is not the case.
The Japanese brand that gave us the ultra-chic Suzuki Kizashi has relegated their beloved concept vehicles to the scrap heap. And that’s not a figurative expression for anything; we’re talking about a real dump site comprised mostly of wrecked pieces of twisted metal.
While the location of the said lot remains a mystery, images of those concept Kizashis stacked one on top of the other has us cringing and shaking our heads. What a waste, right?
We figured that if Suzuki went through great lengths to have the car showcased, they could have at least given it a proper send-off, not throw it to the proverbial chopping block that is an incinerator.
Maybe that’s just how Suzuki rolls.
Photo courtesy of 7tune.com
Weismann engineers will put their skills to the ultimate test when they assemble a car live at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
A disclaimer, though. They’re not going to build a car from scratch because, well, we assume that’s going to take more than a day, especially if you’re doing it by hand. What the engineers – we heard that there will only be two on hand for the public demonstration - are going to do, however, is to put the final detailing on a GT MF4 during the introduction of the company’s new GT M5 Roadster.
It’s a unique ploy by the German manufacturer to attract a crowd at the motor show, most of whom, have probably never seen a car being worked on by its engineers up close and personal. Weismann’s rationale behind this quick-fix-‘er-upper is to showcase the company’s exceptional skills and efficiency in building a car while in front of guests, customers, and media personnel.
We can’t think of any other reason – maybe apart from giving a car for free – to drum up interest in your brand than building a car in front of the whole place to see, so you can accept that just like us, a lot of people will be curious to see just how the engineers at Wiesmann handle the pressure of building a GT MF4 in front of what we expect to be a strong gathering of curious onlookers.
It may not come off as strikingly different at first glance, but rest assured, there is a difference. As part of the company’s 100th anniversary, Audi has decided to tweak the very symbol that has made it one of the most successful car brands in history: the company’s official four-ringed logo. Taking you back to history, Audi’s logo involves four overlapping rings that represent the four original marques of Auto Union back in the ‘30’s: Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer.
While the look of the logo remains virtually the same, Audi did some chrome detailing on it, making it more three-dimensional-looking than the previous logo. The other minor change Audi made with its logo was to change the typeface and move the ‘Audi’ name towards the left corner, as opposed to the previous logo where the name was positioned in the center.
We like the new touch of the logo, although were not big fans of the new font Audi decided to use. Nevertheless, we’re equally happy that the company didn’t do any drastic changes on their new insignia. Logo’s are the first thing people associate your brand with and with a brand that has as much history – 100 years worth, to be exact – as Audi, changing the entire look of the logo would have been tantamount to company suicide.
It didn’t take as long as anticipated and you can’t question the fact that the Cash for Clunkers program got the results it wanted. The program that was supposed to last until November on a $1 billion budget has finally come to an end – and not without the government having to shell out another $2 billion for the program.
All in all, the program generated a little over 700,000 car sales with a total estimate of a staggering $2.877 billion. Percentages of car sales saw that the most popular purchase were pick-up trucks, with 84% of all participating customers buying one of their own. Additionally, 59% purchased passenger cars while the remaining 41% fell on the other vehicle lines.
Curiously, the three most purchased cars under the program – although it is still being questioned by a number of sources – all belong to Japanese manufacturers. Sitting on top was the Toyota Corolla followed closely by its chief rival, the Honda Civic. Rounding out the top 3 is the Toyota Camry. As far as local brands are concerned, the Ford Focus – which for a time, was in the top spot - and the Ford Escape were the top sellers.
The CFC program also showed that most Americans actually prefer foreign brands more than their local counterparts – 61.8% of all cars sold were from foreign automakers while the 38.6% belonged to the three Detroit brands.
Speaking of anniversaries, Land Rover is set to celebrate its 40th birthday next year and in line with the occasion, the company is planning on unveiling its new flagship luxury SUV, the Range Rover LRX.
The tentative date set for the SUV’s official release is June 17 - the day Land Rover turns 40 – with plans for the car’s production to begin on June 17.
While the car’s concept has already been revealed, it seems that rumors abound that the production car will retain very little from what we saw with the aforementioned concept vehicle, although the notable exception would be the optional hybrid drivetrain that both the conception (has) and what the production version will eventually have.
It’s never an easy task for a company that has lost so much money as Land Rover has on a luxury SUV, especially given its market, which has dried up faster than a desert lake on a hot Sunday afternoon.
Nevertheless, Land Rover is hedging their bets on their flagship luxury SUV – a car that has been a perennial hot seller for the company.
Now we’re not exactly sure how elaborate Land Rover’s 40th anniversary celebration is going to be, but judging from the way a lot of manufacturers celebrated their milestone years in 2009, we’re going to expect nothing less than spectacular from Land Rover.
Judging from this announcement, we dare say that they’re off to a good start.
The Cadillac Converj has caused quite a stir amongst the head honchos of General Motors.
Ever since it made a successful debut at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year, the fate of the Converj – which is based on the Chevy Volt – has been a hot topic of debate but now, it appears that GM’s big brass is finally on the verge – we say ‘on the verge’ because with GM, anything can still happen – of putting the Converj up for production.
But it’s not entirely the fault of the bosses at GM. The economic crisis and, to be more specific, GM’s filing for bankruptcy a few months ago all but spelled doom and gloom for the Converj. But now that GM has somehow regained its footing, a number of GM higher-ups, including vice chairman Bob Lutz, have steadily voiced their support to – finally – build the car.
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Lexus has been a busy bee these days. Fresh of showing teasers of their latest premium hatchback, Toyota’s luxury brand is now announcing that the car, which is set to make its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, has now been penciled in for a US release sometime in 2012.
While we welcome the addition of the Lexus hatchback in the States, we remain skeptical as to how the car is going to perform in this part of the world, especially when you consider that hatchback cars aren’t necessarily in demand in the US these days.
Nevertheless, Lexus is pushing through with their plans in hopes that their new car can give the Audi A3 and the BMW 1 Series a run for their money.
Apart from a few renderings loitering around the Web these days, the car is still being kept under wraps before it makes its grand entrance at the Frankfurt Motor Show. From what we’ve gathered though, the car is set to come with the same hybrid drivetrain that’s currently powering one of Lexus’ hybrid vehicles, the HS 250h. If that’s the case, expect Lexus’ new compact car to come with a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine with a total of 187 horsepower.
Though not yet confirmed, it seems to be in line with what a compact car’s engine should be.
Stay tuned for more updates.
MINI is set to reach another milestone on August 26 - the day that the automaker officially turns 50 years old!
We don’t want to pre-empt the brand’s monumental milestone but it’s worth noting that MINI has been one of those few brands that have transcended generations of car users all over the world. We dare say that we can count on one hand the number of car brands that can rival MINI as far as producing vehicles that have stood the test of time. From 1959 up to the present – and into the future – MINI has given countless of people the joy and pride of being seen behind the wheel of one of their compact cars.
As a sign of its popularity, the MINI has spawned countless of other variants over the years, all of which have been received positively by the worldwide consumer audience. This year alone, MINI has produced a number of different special edition MINIs to commemorate the company’s golden anniversary.
The brand has also gone as far as branching out to a number of different car markets, none of which it has ever treaded on in the past, signalling that after 50 years of pure compact car madness, the company is ready to turn a new chapter in their storied history.
Then again, any talk of future plans can be discussed at another time. The important thing is that MINI is turning 50 on August 26, and for that achievement alone, the company deserves a toast from all of us.
Cheers to you MINI!
KTM has long been one of the premier motorcycle brands in Europe and with their success, it seemed like venturing into producing vehicles of the four-wheeled persuasion would be seamless.
Their first offering, the X-Bow track car was supposed to be the car that would put KTM on the map as an up-and-coming car manufacturer. And while the car is a must-have by all accounts, the global financial crisis has proven to be a much stiffer opponent than any of them ever considered.
After a promising start that compelled KTM to double their production – from 500 cars to 1000 - because of high interest at the car. But with the economy taking a surprising nose dive, all those who showed previous interest suddenly didn’t have the money – or was being thriftier – to pay for it.
As a result of the supply far outstripping the demand for the car, KTM has only sold 80 of the said X-Bow’s, which has forced the company to cease production until they sell off the remaining cars sitting idly at their factory in Graz, Austria.
It’s an auspicious debut for KTM’s venture into the four-wheeled market; even more bittersweet considering the car held such high promise before the economy had to ruin everything.
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