Can Toyota’s 'Jesus car' change the company's vanilla reputation?

 

It’s been five years in the making. But finally (finally!), Toyota President Akio Toyoda unveiled his company's new back-to-basics sports car this week ahead of its official debut at the Tokyo auto show, a vehicle that’s being built not to bloat sales, but to gain respect for the troubled Japanese automaker.

Can this new car be the automaker’s saviour?

From the Fleet: 2012 Mini Cooper S Coupe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FROM THE FLEET are brief synopses of manufacturer-supplied rides that happen to end up in my laneway – John LeBlanc

Like in the fashion industry, if the seasons have changed, it must be time for a new Mini model to hit the runway. Last spring saw the new arrival of the VW Golf-sized Countryman—the largest Mini, yet. And now, for this fall, the Mini collection gains the new two-seat Coupe lineup—the smallest modern Mini yet.

Can Kia transcend beyond its price-point marketing?

 

Arguably—and even with no new cars to present—Kia’s presser at last week’s L.A. show was the best in a long day’s worth of corporate droning on.

2011 L.A. Show: Ford contrasts its mean with lots of green

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES - Contradictory in philosophy to its new, and more powerful 2013 Mustang GT (now 420 hp), and the “most powerful production V8 in the world” (the new 650 hp, 321 km/h-plus Shelby GT500), Ford had its trio of pure-electric and hybrid vehicles lined up in a tidy row, here in L.A.

2011 L.A. Show: Mitsu doubles its EV fun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES - With Japan’s Mitsubishi saving most of its 2011 auto show goodies for next month’s Tokyo show, here in L.A., the quickly-becoming-a-niche automaker rolled out a "woody version of its iMiEV electric car (now available in Canada for $32,998), and an almost three-year old concept.

2011 L.A. Show: Honda's Fit goes electric

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES - Honda had three “green” North American auto show debuts, with an all-new production version of its subcompact Fit EV, and updates to its existing Civic and Insight gasoline-electric hybrids.

2011 L.A. Show: Interested in a Chinese-made electric car?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES -If so, you’re in luck. If you live in California, at least. Because Coda Automotive is offering its appropriately named Coda Sedan, above, a compact EV that reputably can go about 240 km on a  single charge.

2011 L.A. Show: Lexus drops a pair of new hybrids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES -This being California, home of the largest group of hybrid car lovers, it only made sense for Toyota’s Lexus to launch a couple of gas-electric models at this year’s show.

Are Europeans killing the manual transmission?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those damn Europeans. Not only are the Continent’s free-spending politicians killing what little economic recovery we cost-conscious Canadians had going, it looks like new car buyers over there are eschewing cars with clutch pedals.

Jaguar tries wrong-wheel-drive. Again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even if you didn't know Jaguar isn't being run by a bunch of Brits anymore, at least you know it sells large, rear-drive sedans—or saloons—in the parlance of its heritage. But, once upon a time in the naughties, when U.S. Ford was stroking the cheques and looking for exaggerated sales growth beyond Jaguar's natural as a niche player, the storied Brit brand sold a small, front-wheel-drive car: the legendry-for-all-the-wrong-reasons 2000 to 2009 X-Type.