Mercedes ready to answer a question no one seems to be asking

At the same time U.S. Automobile magazine’s Jamie Kitman accurately points the finger at German automakers for the demise of the more enjoyable to drive and environmentally-friendly station wagon in North America, word out of Germany suggests Mercedes-Benz is copycatting BMW again in the never-ending game called Fill That SUV Niche!

Not content with the midsize ML, fullsize GL, crossover (nee minivan) R, and militaristic Geländewagen, Mercedes is looking at yet another SUV, this time, similar in fashion to BMW’s odd-duck X6 Sports Activity Coupe, according to a German report.

Dubbed the Geländecoupé—or GLC, as speculated above—the coupe-SUV is said to be smaller than the X6, more than likely based on the 'Benz C Class chassis and debuting in 2014. If you’re keeping score, you may remember ‘Benz already has the C-based GLK SUV. Of course, I don’t have to remind you that the German automaker stopped bringing the more rational C Class wagon to Canada, apparently to help insure GLK sales. And the GLC, if it goes ahead, will essentially be a “coupe” version of the GLK,  But apparently the brains in Stuttgart figure there’s a niche to be filled there, whether customers are asking for a vehicle like the GLC or not.

Do new car buyers need an X6 rip-off?

Is Mercedes heading in the right direction offering more SUVs and less wagons to Canadians?

[Sources: Automobile, AutoZeitung]

2010 Beijing: Audi stretches its flagship

BEIJING – China may be the world’s largest new car market, but no one wants to really drive here. Especially in the larger cities, like here in Beijing (population 22,000,000) or Shanghai (19,210,000.)

The uninitiated are stunned by the telepathic confluence of cars, trucks, pedestrians, motorcycles, rickshaws and bicycles, where traffic lights and lane markings are mere suggestions on the jam-packed streets

True story: On the way to the show on Friday, I saw a car drive towards our bus the wrong way on a four-lane boulevard. Right by a police car. No one blinked.

So it’s no wonder that chauffeur-driven cars are the cat’s pajamas here. Status symbols, too. It seems like every executive car is a black Audi A6 stretch sedan of some vintage or another. That’s why almost every Western automaker shilling here in China here offers a lengthened version of a standard sedan.

Stretched versions of BMW (535Li), Mercedes-Benz (E Class) and Volkswagen (Phaeton) sedans, all made world debuts at this year’s Beijing show. But the most impressive may have been Audi’s new stretched version of its new-this-year flagship A8.

As I wrote in this week’s Autonews, the long-wheelbase A8L is about 150 mm longer than the regular-length A8 that debuted earlier this year, and 500 hp W12 will be the sole engine at launch.

Audi Canada’s Cort Nielsen says, expect the long wheelbase A8 to arrive in Canada before Christmas this year, about three months after the regular length version goes on sale at the end of the summer.

2010 Geneva: Plagiarism is the sincerest form of laziness

What with Detroit losing its mojo (Wha? A new Focus is the most-exciting car? Meh...), and Frankfurt taking a break this year, next week’s motor shindig in Geneva is shaping up to be “the” car show of the year.

One of the best features of the annual Swiss show is the appearance of the Italian styling houses. Like Bertone, for instance.

Ah, yes, Bertone. It’ll be showing up at the show with its Pandion concept, above, allegedly based on the super-sexy Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione.

Looks good, eh? Take a gander at the two-seater’s swoopy side glass. Or how about those curvaceous fenders. Mmm…

Except that—hold on a second—haven’t we seen the Pandion before?

Oh yes… the BMW’s Vision EfficientDynamics concept, below, from last Fall’s Frankfurt show seems to be Bertone's, er, inspiration.

  Check back here early next Tuesday, when I'll be blogging live during the show's media day. No promises, but hopefully I'll find some cars and concepts that haven't been designed via a Xerox machine.

Would you pay $10,000 for a Tata Nano?

If founder Ratan Tata has his way, it’s a question we may be asking in three years. At this week’s New Delhi auto show, the Indian automaker head confirmed he’s considering selling the über-cheap Nano in the U.S., following a possible launch in Europe in 2011.

"We also recognize there is a market (for the Nano) not only in developing countries, but possibly in the developed countries," Tata said in an Automotive News report.

Could a separte Hyundai Genesis brand put some hurt on Toyota's Lexus?

If you had read my crystal ball article from last Saturday, you already know I think 2010 will be another banner year for value brands Hyundai, Kia and Suzuki. And now it looks like Hyundai is ready to take that momentum and firmly establish itself as a threat to Toyota’s Lexus by creating a sub-brand of Genesis products.

It’s no secret that the 2009 Genesis sedan was supposed to be the first of a separate, premium Hyundai brand marketed under its own banner like Lexus, Infiniti and Acura. At the time though, the Korean automaker’s dealers had individually just spent millions on upgrading their dealerships, and balked at further capital expenditures on an unproven strategy.

Toyota’s Scion confirmed for Canada for 2010. Again.

One year after its first press release on this subject matter, Toyota Canada felt compelled last week to issue another statement about its so-called U.S.-only “youth brand”, Scion, effectively saying, yes, it will be coming to Canada. Really.

In the past twelve moths, the auto world has seen a few changes, n’est pas? So maybe some calming of the cynics was in order.

But the basics of last week’s release hasn’t changed much from the original October 19, 2008 presser.

Scions for sale initially will be the European Toyota Avensis-based tC coupe (left), subcompact xD (middle) and compact xB (right) wagons; store-within-Toyota-stores in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver only; and no prices yet.

We now know, though, the launch month (September). A dealer list has been announced. And potentially optimistic sales figures have been thrown into mix just for fun.

Toyota says, that when the brand rolls out across Canada by 2013, it hopes to be selling 30,000 Scions annually here. Other models, like the Smart ForTwo-like iQ city car, may help the cause.

However, using the basic 10:1 ratio, with U.S. sales of 114,000 in 2008, I expect Scion to move more like 12,000 to 15,000 cars—max. We’ll see.

Do you think Toyota needs another brand in Canada to sell to young buyers?

Will Scions cannibalize sales from the existing small Toyotas like the Yaris and Matrix?

[Source: Toyota Canada]

No Brainer Alert: Acura decides sports wagons may catch on

 When Cadillac beats you to the punch, you know your product developers are asleep at the wheel.

That’s the only reason I can think of why the braintrust at Honda’s North American premium brand, Acura, has finally woken up and smelled the sports wagon roses and decided to sell here the Euro-only Accord Touring (above and below right) next Fall.

Yikes!! What's next for Acura? Something wild and crazy, like diesels?

Anyhoo, as the North American TSX is a rebadged Euro Accord, so will the wagon.

After years of BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Saab and now Cadillac, selling sports wagons, I think this is a No Brainer.

But are sports wagons on the up- or downswing?

Do you think peeps are finally fed up with cute-utes, like Acura’s RDX?

[Source” Acura]

Honda's reincarnated CR-X two-seater confirmed for Canada

As expected, Honda debuted the second concept of its CR-Z two-seat hybrid coupe, left, yesterday at the Tokyo auto show.

Better yet, Honda Canada confirmed the CR-Z will be coming to Canada next year.

The production model will make its global debut at the 2010 Detroit show in January.

No horsepower figures yet. But the CR-Z will use a larger (1.5 versus 1.3-litre) version of the Insight's gas-electric powerplant.  And—hallellujah!—the coupe will ditch the Insight's CVT and be the first hybrid ever to use a stick, a six-speeder, to be exact.

Regardless, I'm hoping Honda gets smart and offers a gas-only version, eventually, as well.

Just a warning Honda: As a former 1990 CR-X Si owner, the new CR-Z has some very high standards to live up to. Know what I mean...

[Source: Honda Canada]

Lexus's LF-A supercar finally breaks cover

Toyota is very serious about it's new Lexus LF-A exotic V10 super duper car. It officially debuted at this year's Tokyo auto show today. And tomorrow morning, courtesy of Lexus Canada, I'll be just southwest of Miami to briefly drive production prototypes around the Homestead-Miami race course.

You'll get my driving impressions afterwards. But for now, here's some initial specs (560 hp, 354 lb-ft,  4.8-litre, V10; six-speed sequential gearbox; 0-100 km/h = 3.7 seconds; top speed = 325 km/h; 500 copies) still shots of the car, as well as videos of various LF-As lapping various tracks around the world.

[Source: YouTube, NAGTROC, FT-86.com]

Toyota's FT-86 and the Nürburging make nice

We already got a peek at what Toyota's return to the affordable performance coupe market looks like in the virtual world. But the PR machine is getting cranked up ahead of the FT-86's official debut at this month's Tokyo show with de rigueur Nürburgring nudge-nudge, wink-wink "spy videos." If the production model can live up to this cinematic snippet, Hyundai better start working on some upgrades for its Genesis Coupe. [Source: FT86 Club]